RIP Al Perry - former GM of WBCN

[A Joseph Ross]

That's a little later than I thought, but it makes a lot more sense than 
1953.  I've just corrected the Wikipedia entry.

On 11/26/2021 8:56 AM, Scott Fybush wrote:
> You're correct in your recollections - WCRX 102.1 in Springfield came 
> on the air 3/15/67, according to the FCC history cards. The studio 
> (such as it was) was at the Sheraton Motor Inn on Chestnut Street, and 
> the transmitter was (and has always remained) at the WWLP-TV site on 
> Provin Mountain.
>
> WCRB only ran WCRX for five years. It was sold to the owners of WTYM 
> 1600 in 1972.
>
> The 101.5 Providence saga is longer and more interesting. T. Mitchell 
> Hastings put it on the air in 1955 with 20 kW from Jerimoth Hill near 
> the CT state line. It was WTMH then, before becoming WXCN in 1957 (and 
> apparently WPCN for a few weeks before changing back to WXCN). It 
> moved to Neutaconkanut Hill in Johnston in 1962.
>
> Mitch lost the station in bankruptcy in 1963, with the bankruptcy 
> trustees selling it to WCRB in 1964. It was WCRQ for four years, then 
> was sold to WLKW(AM) in 1968, becoming WLKW-FM.
>
> s
>
> On 11/25/2021 11:25 PM, A Joseph Ross 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