WATD(AM) now WBMS

[Donna Halper]

On 3/5/2019 11:07 AM, Rob Landry wrote:
>
> WBMS 1090 ran a classical music format and was programmed by Richard 
> L. Kaye, according to what I was told. When it dropped the format 
> circa 1950, Ted Jones at WCRB saw an opportunity and hired Richard to 
> program classical music on 1330. The transition to the classical 
> format took a couple years, according to what Dave MacNeill told me. 
> WCRB-FM 102.5 signed on in 1954, and the rest is history.


So, WBMS went on the air in late November 1946, owned by Templetone 
Radio Manufacturing Co.  The VP and GM of the station was Ivon B. 
Newman, who had formerly worked at corporate headquarters in New London 
CT. I don't know if Richard Kaye was involved.  Anyway, WBMS came in 
over budget when it went on the air, according to an interview with Mr 
Newman, and evidently it continued to lose money, because it was sold by 
Templetone to the Friendly Group in early June 1948; that company 
already owned four other stations, all in small markets. They briefly 
changed the format to popular music in 1950, and in April 1951, they 
changed to the (unfortunate) call letters of WHEE.  That was not a 
successful change-- the station returned to using WBMS in May 1952.  
Bartell Broadcasting acquired the station in September 1957 and that's 
when it became WILD.

-- 
Donna L. Halper, PhD
Associate Professor of Communication & Media Studies
Lesley University, Cambridge MA