WEZE (590
AM) – branded 590 AM The Word – is a commercial
Christian
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
radio station
Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...
licensed to
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
,
, serving
Greater Boston
Greater Boston is the metropolitan region of New England encompassing the municipality of Boston (the capital of the U.S. state of Massachusetts and the most populous city in New England) and its surrounding areas. The region forms the northern ar ...
and much of surrounding
New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
. Owned by
Salem Communications
Salem Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: SALM; formerly Salem Communications Corporation) is an American radio broadcaster, Internet content provider, and magazine and book publisher formerly based in Camarillo, California (moved most operations to Ir ...
, WEZE is the Boston affiliate for the
Salem Radio Network
Salem Radio Network is a United States-based radio network that specializes in syndicated Christian political talk, music, and conservative secular news/talk programming. It is a division of the Salem Media Group.
Network information
Salem Rad ...
. The WEZE studios are located in the Boston
suburb
A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...
of
North Quincy, and the station transmitter resides in neighboring
Medford. Besides a standard
analog transmission
Analog transmission is a transmission method of conveying information using a continuous signal which varies in amplitude, phase, or some other property in proportion to that information. It could be the transfer of an analog signal, using an ana ...
, WEZE is available online.
History
WEEI (1927-1994)
Early years
The
Edison Electric Illuminating Company built and signed on this station as the first incarnation of WEEI, from which the call sign was derived.
The electric company established WEEI as a public relations vehicle and extensively promoted the new venture weeks before launching, highlighting the usage of the latest and most advanced radio equipment. A ''Boston Globe'' profile specifically cited
AT&T
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the world's largest telecommunications company by revenue and the third largest provider of mobile tel ...
's success with
WEAF as Edison Light's inspiration for WEEI; while the company stressed that WEEI would not be a direct copy of WEAF,
WEEI agreed to simulcast programming from the New York station via a direct phone line. WEEI's debut on September 29, 1924, included a four-hour commencement program including a dedicatory address from Edison Light president Charles L. Edgar, in addition to live
classical music
Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...
selections, operating at 303 meters (990
kHz
The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that on ...
) with 500 watts of power.
WEEI's alliance with WEAF included airing the New York station's coverage of the
1924 World Series
The 1924 World Series was the championship series of the 1924 Major League Baseball season. A best-of-seven playoff, the series was played between the American League (AL) pennant winner Washington Senators and the National League (NL) pennan ...
, headlined by
Graham McNamee
Thomas Graham McNamee (July 10, 1888 – May 9, 1942) was an American radio broadcaster, the medium's most recognized national personality in its first international decade. He originated play-by-play sports broadcasting for which he was awa ...
.
WJAR
WJAR (channel 10) is a television station in Providence, Rhode Island, United States, affiliated with NBC. Owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, the station has studios on Kenney Drive in Cranston, Rhode Island (shared with Telemundo owned-and-ope ...
in
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay ...
, was added to the simulcast, while
WNAC suspended operations during the games to avoid any potential interference.
The station broadcast on various frequencies over the next several years, settling on 590 kHz in 1927.
In 1926, WEEI became a charter member of the
NBC Red Network
The National Broadcasting Company's NBC Radio Network (known as the NBC Red Network prior to 1942) was an American commercial radio network which was in operation from 1926 through 2004. Along with the NBC Blue Network it was one of the first t ...
and remained an NBC Red affiliate until 1936, when the station was leased by
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...
and became an affiliate of that network.
CBS bought WEEI outright from
Boston Edison on August 31, 1942.
An FM sister station, WEEI-FM (103.3 FM, now
WBGB), went on the air in 1948.
Until 1960, WEEI, through
CBS Radio
CBS Radio was a radio broadcasting company and radio network operator owned by CBS Corporation and founded in 1928, with consolidated radio station groups owned by CBS and Westinghouse Broadcasting/Group W since the 1920s, and Infinity Broadc ...
, was the last Boston radio station to devote a large amount of its program schedule to "traditional" network radio programming of daytime soap operas, comedy shows, variety shows, and similar fare.
For the remainder of the 1960s, WEEI was New England's first
talk radio
Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often featur ...
station (though the station also played
middle-of-the-road music)
and home of such hosts as Howard Nelson, Jim Westover and of
Paul Benzaquin, one of the most popular radio talk show hosts in Boston history. In the 1960s, the daily ''WEEIdea'' feature presented cleaning and cooking tips from housewives.
Talk and all-news years
![Pat OBrien WEEI Radio 1942](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ef/Pat_OBrien_WEEI_Radio_1942.JPG)
By May 1972, WEEI had six full days of call-in talk programming. On weekdays, morning drive time from 6 am to 10 am was hosted by newsman Len Lawrence (Leonard Libman), followed by Ellen Kimball from 10 am to 2 pm. Kimball was hired from
WIOD
WIOD (610 AM) is a commercial news/talk radio station licensed to Miami, Florida, serving the Miami metropolitan area and much of surrounding South Florida. Owned by iHeartMedia, WIOD serves as the Miami affiliate for ABC News Radio, ''The Glenn ...
in
Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
, where she had replaced broadcaster
Larry King
Larry King (born Lawrence Harvey Zeiger; November 19, 1933 – January 23, 2021) was an American television and radio host, whose awards included 2 Peabodys
The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program ...
after he was arrested on December 20, 1971. Ellen is believed to be one of the first women to host a daily, four-hour, call-in talk show, six days a week. Originally called ''Boston Forum with Ellen Kimball'', the name was eventually changed to ''The Ellen Kimball Show''. Later, newsman Ben Farnsworth took over the Saturday call-in segment from 10 am to 2 pm. Paul Benzaquin handled 2 pm to 6 pm weekdays.
Although its talk radio format was popular, the station went
all-news
All-news radio is a radio format devoted entirely to the discussion and broadcast of news.
All-news radio is available in both local and syndicated forms, and is carried on both major US satellite radio networks. All-news stations can run the ...
in 1974, following the lead of several other CBS-owned stations.
[ At first, WEEI was not 24/7 all-news; the station's late-night schedule featured the '']CBS Radio Mystery Theater
''CBS Radio Mystery Theater'' (a.k.a. ''Radio Mystery Theater'' and ''Mystery Theater'', sometimes abbreviated as ''CBSRMT'') is a radio drama series created by Himan Brown that was broadcast on CBS Radio Network affiliates from 1974 to 1982, an ...
'', an attempt to revive radio drama, as well as a local overnight talk show with Bruce Lee (no relation to the martial-arts actor), a holdover from the previous format. But by the end of the 1970s, WEEI was all-news around the clock.
On December 27, 1977, while engaged in traffic reporting, a Hughes 269B helicopter operated by WEEI lost power and crashed into an apartment building in Quincy while attempting an emergency landing, killing pilot Richard Banks and reporter Chip Whitmore. A fire developed in the building following the crash.
WEEI was put up for sale in April 1983, after CBS reached a deal to acquire KRLD in Dallas–Fort Worth from Metromedia
Metromedia (also often MetroMedia) was an American media company that owned radio and television stations in the United States from 1956 to 1986 and controlled Orion Pictures from 1988 to 1997. Metromedia was established in 1956 after the DuMo ...
; that September, a deal was reached to sell the station to Helen Broadcasting; the company was owned by the Valerio family, who also owned Papa Gino's
Papa Gino's, Inc. is a restaurant chain based in Dedham, Massachusetts, specializing in traditional thin crust pizza along with pasta, subs, salads, and a variety of appetizers. As of 2022, there are 80 Papa Gino's locations in Connecticut, Mass ...
. Although Metromedia canceled the sale of KRLD after it was granted permission to own both the radio station and KNBN-TV in Dallas–Fort Worth, the sale of WEEI still went forward. Helen Broadcasting continued the all-news format.[ CBS retained WEEI's FM sister station until the 2017 sale of its radio division to ]Entercom
Audacy, Inc. is an American broadcasting company based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1968 as Entercom Communications Corporation, it is the second largest radio company in the United States, owning 235 radio stations across 48 media ...
.
Switch to sports
The station was acquired by Boston Celtics Communications (a group that shared ownership with the Boston Celtics
The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of t ...
basketball team) on May 10, 1990; the Celtics also simultaneously purchased WFXT
WFXT (channel 25) is a television station in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, affiliated with the Fox network and owned by Cox Media Group. Its studios are located on Fox Drive (near the Boston-Providence Turnpike) in Dedham, and its t ...
(channel 25) from Fox Television Stations
Fox Television Stations, LLC (FTS; alternately Fox Television Stations Group, LLC), is a group of television stations located within the United States, which are owned-and-operated by the Fox Broadcasting Company, a subsidiary of the Fox Corp ...
.[ (pay content preview)] The Celtics initially pledged to continue the all-news format, hiring a new morning anchor[ (pay content preview)] and shifting the station to a 30-minute clock (it previously followed a one-hour clock);[ (pay content preview)] however, the CBS Radio Network's decision to shift its Boston affiliation to WRKO
WRKO (680 AM) is a commercial news/talk
Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. Most shows are regularly ho ...
effective September 3, 1990 (ending a 54-year link with WEEI) for reasons that included WRKO having a stronger news commitment,[ (pay content preview)] which compelled WEEI to join the ABC Direction Network,[ (pay content preview)] led to speculation that the station was shifting to an all-sports format.
Though this was played down by station officials, WEEI, which had already carried Celtics broadcasts since 1987,[ (pay content preview)] expanded its sports programming after the sale; WEEI became the flagship station of the Boston Bruins
The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team has been in existence since 1924, making t ...
(replacing WPLM-FM
WPLM-FM (99.1 FM broadcasting, FM, "Easy 99.1") is an adult contemporary music station licensed to Plymouth, Massachusetts. It is owned by Plymouth Rock Broadcasting Co. and has a sister AM broadcasting, AM station by the WPLM (AM), same callsign. ...
) in 1990[ (pay content preview)] (however, Celtics broadcasts were given priority, resulting in some Bruins broadcasts moving to WVBF or WMEX[ (pay content preview)]), and a nightly sports talk show with Craig Mustard was launched on August 20, 1990.[ (pay content preview)] WEEI also carried ''Sports Byline USA
Sports Byline USA is an international sports radio network based in the United States. ''Sports Byline USA'' is also the name of the flagship program on the network. It was the first national sports talk show and was launched on October 24, 1988. ...
'' and CBS Radio Sports
CBS Sports Radio is a sports radio network that debuted with hourly sports news updates on September 4, 2012, and with 24/7 programming on January 2, 2013.
CBS Sports Radio is owned by Paramount Global and distributed by Westwood One. Programming ...
broadcasts not cleared by WRKO. The all-news format continued in other dayparts until September 3, 1991, when WEEI became an all-sports station.[ (pay content preview)][ (pay content preview)] Following the format change, the station began simulcasting its programming on WVEI in Worcester
Worcester may refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England
** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament
* Worcester Park, London, Englan ...
to reach central Massachusetts Central Massachusetts is the geographically central region of Massachusetts. Though definitions vary, most include all of Worcester County and the northwest corner of Middlesex County. Worcester, the largest city in the area and the seat of Worces ...
.
Upon the change to all-sports, WEEI featured the Andy Moes show and ''Glenn (Ordway) and Janet (Prensky)'', a short-lived experiment in bringing a " Bickersons"-type format to sports radio. Also part of the roster was Boston sports talk pioneer Eddie Andelman
Eddie Andelman (born 1937 Stoda, Greg"Boston’s Eddie Andelman, godfather of sports talk, still feisty at 77" ''The Palm Beach Post'', July 7, 2014) is an American sports radio talk show host. He has worked over 40 years in sports talk radio in Bo ...
.[ (pay content preview)] WEEI also began to carry Boston College Eagles football
The Boston College Eagles football team represents Boston College in the sport of American football. The Eagles compete in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as a member of ...
in 1992, replacing WBZ.[ (pay content preview)] However, the change was followed by a dramatic drop in its ratings;[ (pay content preview)] additionally, the station struggled financially, at one point losing $80,000 a week, leading to rumors of a sale of WEEI.[ Still, WEEI improved its morning ratings after it became one of the earliest affiliates of '']Imus in the Morning
''Imus in the Morning'' was a long-running radio show hosted by Don Imus. The show originated on June 2, 1968, on various stations in the Western United States and Cleveland, Ohio before settling on WNBC radio in New York City in 1971. In Octob ...
'' from WFAN
WFAN (660 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to New York, New York, carrying a sports radio format known as "Sports Radio 66 AM and 101.9 FM" or "The Fan". Owned by Audacy, Inc., the station serves the New York metropolitan area while ...
in New York City on July 12, 1993.[ (pay content preview)][ (pay content preview)]
On March 16, 1994, the Boston Celtics reached a deal to sell WEEI to Back Bay Broadcasting;[''Boston Globe'', article, "Celtics Sell WEEI for $3.8m", by Jack Craig, March 17, 1994, Sec. 1. pg. 41] shortly afterward, the rights to Celtics broadcasts passed to American Radio Systems (ARS, which would shortly become part of CBS Radio
CBS Radio was a radio broadcasting company and radio network operator owned by CBS Corporation and founded in 1928, with consolidated radio station groups owned by CBS and Westinghouse Broadcasting/Group W since the 1920s, and Infinity Broadc ...
), owner of WRKO and WHDH, effective with the 1994–95 season, while the Bruins signed a deal with WBZ to carry its broadcasts starting in 1995.[ (pay content preview)] Sister station WFXT was sold back to Fox Television Stations soon afterward.
WBNW (1994-1996)
ARS then announced on August 15, 1994, that it would purchase the programming and call letters of WEEI from Back Bay Broadcasting, effective August 29. As part of this transfer, WHDH's call letters were changed to WEEI and its format was changed from talk radio to sports radio, with on- and off-air personnel also being reassigned; 590 AM's call letters were concurrently changed to WBNW. WBNW simulcast the "new" WEEI for a week before Back Bay Broadcasting launched a business news format. The ownership transfer also saw WVEI break from its simulcast of WEEI to become a separate sports radio station for Worcester, WWTM; WWTM was acquired by ARS in 1996 and gradually returned to a simulcast of WEEI, returning to the WVEI call sign in 2000.
As a business news station, WBNW's programming was mostly supplied by Bloomberg Bloomberg may refer to:
People
* Daniel J. Bloomberg (1905–1984), audio engineer
* Georgina Bloomberg (born 1983), professional equestrian
* Michael Bloomberg (born 1942), American businessman and founder of Bloomberg L.P.; politician and ma ...
; the station was the first affiliate of Bloomberg Radio
Bloomberg Radio is a radio service of Bloomberg L.P. that provides global business news programming 24 hours a day. The format is general and financial news, offering local, national and international news reports along with financial market up ...
, which had previously only aired on its New York City flagship station, WBBR
WBBR (1130 AM) is a Class A clear-channel radio station licensed to New York, New York. It serves as the flagship station of Bloomberg Radio, Bloomberg L.P.'s radio service. The station offers general and financial news reports 24-hours a day ...
. Local news segments were outsourced to Metro Networks. WBNW's lineup also included a local talk show, ''The Money Experts'', and Bruce Williams' syndicated talk show; both programs previously aired on WHDH.
WBNW also carried Boston Bruins games during the 1994–95 season; the games did not move with WEEI to 850 AM due to conflicts with Boston College basketball
The Boston College Eagles are a Division I college basketball program that represents Boston College in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. The team has competed in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) since 2005, having previously play ...
.[ In 1995, Peter Ottmar, who ran Back Bay Broadcasting, consolidated his broadcast holdings, which also included WARA in Attleboro, ]WWKX
WWKX (106.3 FM, "Hot 106") is a rhythmic contemporary station in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, serving the Blackstone Valley and much of the Providence metropolitan area. The Cumulus Media outlet operates with an ERP of 1.15 kW and is licensed ...
in Woonsocket, Rhode Island
Woonsocket ( ), is a city in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 43,240 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, making it the sixth largest city in the state. Being Rhode Island's northernmost city, Woonsock ...
, and WICE in Pawtucket, Rhode Island
Pawtucket is a city in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 75,604 at the 2020 census, making the city the fourth-largest in the state. Pawtucket borders Providence and East Providence to the south, Central Falls ...
, under the Back Bay name; that July, WICE was relaunched as WPNW, which largely simulcast WBNW but featured its own Metro Networks-produced local inserts for the Providence
Providence often refers to:
* Providentia, the divine personification of foresight in ancient Roman religion
* Divine providence, divinely ordained events and outcomes in Christianity
* Providence, Rhode Island, the capital of Rhode Island in the ...
market.[
]
WEZE (1996-Present)
American Radio Systems, which had held an option to buy WBNW since its launch, traded this option to Salem Communications
Salem Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: SALM; formerly Salem Communications Corporation) is an American radio broadcaster, Internet content provider, and magazine and book publisher formerly based in Camarillo, California (moved most operations to Ir ...
in 1996 in exchange for KDBX in Banks, Oregon
Banks is a city in Washington County, Oregon, United States which is located in the Tualatin Valley. It is the southern anchor to the Banks–Vernonia State Trail, which is a long linear trail popular with bicyclists, hikers, and equestrians. Th ...
. While WBNW initially announced that "there will be no change of owner" and that "as far as Peter Ottmar is concerned, no one has an option on the station," Salem exercised this option to purchase the station in December 1996. As part of this transaction, that December 15, Salem changed WBNW's call letters to WEZE and changed the station's format to Christian radio
Christian radio is a Christian media radio format that focus on programming with a Christian message. Many such broadcasters play contemporary Christian music, though many programs include sermons, radio dramas, as well as news and talk progra ...
; in effect, this new WEZE licensed to Boston became the successor to the previous WEZE (1260 AM) licensed to Boston. Concurrently, the previous WEZE changed its call letters to WPZE, and, after both simulcasting WEZE and airing a separate Christian format, was later divested (and became WMKI).[
WADN (1120 AM) in ]Concord
Concord may refer to:
Meaning "agreement"
* Pact or treaty, frequently between nations (indicating a condition of harmony)
* Harmony, in music
* Agreement (linguistics), a change in the form of a word depending on grammatical features of other ...
started adding financial programming in 1997, eventually changing its format to business news/talk entirely; WADN's call letters were changed to WBNW in December 1998 – a move to reinforce that station format's link to the former WBNW. Incidentally, a format similar to WBNW's was installed onto 1260 AM, renamed WBIX
WBIX (1260 AM) – branded Nossa Rádio USA – is a commercial Brazilian Portuguese radio station licensed to Boston, Massachusetts, serving Greater Boston. Owned by the International Church of the Grace of God, the WBIX studios are ...
, in September 2015 after Salem reacquired the frequency.
WEZE-FM
For a short period, Salem Communications operated WEZE-FM in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, billed as "Easy 104.7". Though unusual, FCC rules allow co-owned stations in different cities to share call letters between themselves. Salem purchased the Pittsburgh station as part of a strategic move to compete against a Christian-formatted AM/FM competitor, but would have to run another format until the contracts with the client ministries could be obtained. Salem chose to run an easy-listening format until the contracts were obtained in October 1991, when WEZE-FM evolved into WORD-FM
WORD-FM (101.5 MHz) is a Christian talk radio station based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Owned by the Salem Media Group, the station broadcasts with an ERP of 43 kW. Its transmitter is located in Reserve Township, Pennsylvania.
History
I ...
.
References
External links
*
FCC History Cards for WEZE (1924-1981)
{{Salem Communications
EZE
Eze (pronounced ) is an Igbo word which means King. Such words as Igwe and '' Obi'', plus others, are used by Igbo people as titles of respect and homage to the Eze. Igwe is derived from the Igbo word ''Igwekala'' or ''Eluigwekala'', "the sky or ...
Radio stations established in 1924
1924 establishments in Massachusetts
EZE
Eze (pronounced ) is an Igbo word which means King. Such words as Igwe and '' Obi'', plus others, are used by Igbo people as titles of respect and homage to the Eze. Igwe is derived from the Igbo word ''Igwekala'' or ''Eluigwekala'', "the sky or ...
Salem Media Group properties