WPKZ (1280
AM) is a
radio station broadcasting a
News Talk Information
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 ...
format and licensed to
Fitchburg, Massachusetts, United States. The station is owned by John Morrison through licensee K-Zone Media Group, LLC, and features programming from
Westwood One,
Fox News Radio
Fox News Radio is an American radio network owned by Fox News. It is syndicated to over 500 AM and FM radio stations across the United States. It also supplies programming for three channels on Sirius XM Satellite Radio.
History
In 2003, ...
,
Premiere Networks, and
Fox Sports Radio
Fox Sports Radio is an American sports radio network. Based in Los Angeles, California, the network is operated and managed by Premiere Networks in a content partnership with Fox Corporation's Fox Sports division and iHeartMedia, parent company ...
. WPKZ's studios are located on Water Street in Fitchburg, across the street from the
Wachusett Potato Chip Company
Wachusett Potato Chip Company in Fitchburg, Massachusetts was founded in 1937, by Polish-American brothers Theofil and Steven Krysiak. The company takes its name from nearby Mount Wachusett. The company was originally founded in Clinton, Massachus ...
factory; its transmitter is located on Alpine Road, also in Fitchburg.
History
In 2001, Fillipone's WEIM Corp. sold to David Wang's LiveAir Communications, Inc. LiveAir changed format to
News/Talk/Sports and began 24-hour programming, airing local, regional, and national talk. LiveAir sold the station in 2005 to Central Broadcasting Company, who returned music programming to the station and relaunched it as "AM 1280 The Blend" on October 2, 2006.
In 2007, longtime morning host Ray Chalifoux ("Ray C") concluded an over-30-year full-time run with the station. "Ray C" began a part-time stint as Public Service Director and co-host of the Saturday morning program Smart Shopper which he did from 2007 until his death on March 13, 2016. In November 2007, the station began airing a
Spanish tropical format during the evening hours, branded "Mega 1280".
On April 6, 2009, after nearly 68 years as WEIM, the call sign was changed to WPKZ in anticipation of its new FM translator which went on the air on March 28, 2010 on a frequency of 105.3 MHz. The station remains mostly a news and talk station, with some sports programming. The station also discontinued its music programming (including the nighttime Spanish tropical format), with
Fox Sports Radio
Fox Sports Radio is an American sports radio network. Based in Los Angeles, California, the network is operated and managed by Premiere Networks in a content partnership with Fox Corporation's Fox Sports division and iHeartMedia, parent company ...
being broadcast in the evening hours, except when professional sports run.
WPKZ became one of several radio stations in
New England to carry the
New York Yankees in 2012; it had previously carried the
Boston Red Sox for 45 years,
but
Entercom, owner of Red Sox flagship station
WEEI, did not offer a renewal of WPKZ's contract. However, the Red Sox returned to the station the following season. An ownership change occurred in August 2015 when the station was purchased by an entity headed by John Morrison, a local businessman and owner of local baseball team the
Wachusett Dirt Dawgs.
Translators
After the callsign change to WPKZ, the owners bought a
Gloucester translator, W245CD at 96.5 FM, and through a series of 13 location and frequency change filings, moved it to Fitchburg.
References
External links
*
*
*
{{clear
PKZ
News and talk radio stations in the United States
Radio stations established in 1941
1941 establishments in Massachusetts
Fitchburg, Massachusetts
Mass media in Worcester County, Massachusetts
Fox Sports Radio stations