RIP Al Perry - former GM of WBCN

[Rick Kelly]

I don't think it was 1953 for WCRX either. I thought it was more like 1966.
I had a conversation with the Chief Engineer at WAQY when I was there in
the late 1970's, and he said the original plan was to just rebroadcast the
WCRB signal, at 102.5 on 102.1 from Provin Mountain in Agawam MA. However,
in testing the rebroadcast, the WCRB signal was not clearly readable and
overwhelmed by the 102.1 signal. The simulcast from Boston had to be
reconfigured (somehow...)

Rick Kelly

On Thu, Nov 25, 2021, 11:58 PM A Joseph Ross <joe@attorneyross.com> wrote:

> 1953?  That doesn't sound right.  I first became aware of WCRX classical
> around 1966.  If it existed sooner, I think I would have known of it.
> Besides, WCRB wasn't networking its classical programming until some
> time in the early 1960s.  Copying WQXR in New York, they first called
> their chain "the CRB Network," then called it "Concert Radio, the CR
> network."  WCRB-FM wasn't even on the air in 1953.
>
> On 11/25/2021 2:33 PM, Rob Landry wrote:
> >
> > You are right; WCRB's Providence station was 101.5 not 94.1. They
> > never owned any AMs other than 1330 in Waltham.
> >
> > I seem to recall that the Providence station was acquited from Mitch
> > Hastings (WXCN?) when Concert Network fell on hard times, only to be
> > sole some years later when CRB fell on hard times. It was largely
> > pointless as a WCRB simulcast because 102.5 covered Providence quite
> > well.
> >
> >> And WAQY was licensed to Springfield (as 102.1 remains today) and
> >> would have
> >> competed with Hartford's Concert Netwirk station, 105.9 WHCN.
> >
> > According to Wikipedia, Charles River was WAQY's original owner, the
> > station signing on as WCRX in 1953. So, it would have been a direct
> > competitor to Mitch Hastings' WHCN in Hartford.
> >
> >
> > Rob
>
> --
> A. Joseph Ross, J.D. · 1340 Centre Street, Suite 103 · Newton, MA 02459
> 617.367.0468 · http://www.attorneyross.com
>