WBIX

Shepard launched a sister station to WNAC, WNAB, on May 13, 1925.^[10] WNAB became WASN (Air Shopping News) on February 1, 1927, an early experiment with home shopping by radio, in which updates from 15 department stores in Greater Boston aired in regular intervals alongside pre-recorded and live orchestra music.^[11][12] WASN was also notable in that all of the staff announcers and the program director were females;^[13] while the experiment was short-lived due to technical issues, the majority of the station's female staff enjoyed continued employment at WNAC.^[14] By July 5, the station became WBIS (Boston Information Service), maintaining some of the shopping programming but mixed with "helpful information and advice" in addition to pre-recorded music; the station operated with limited hours, from 8-10 a.m. and 2-4 p.m. on weekdays.^[15][16][17] WBIS merged operations fully into WNAC in April 1928, and the station was known in FCC records as "WNAC-WBIS" until 1933.^[13][18]

In 1927, WNAC became one of the sixteen charter members of the

Between February 1929 and July 1930, Shepard also launched The Yankee Network, with WNAC as its flagship; it was a regional network serving radio stations throughout New England and was a pioneer in radio news coverage.^[21][22] For many years, the Yankee Network was considered one of the best local/regional radio news operations in the country, WNAC and successor station WNAC (680 AM) would serve as the network flagship until its closure in 1967.^[23]

In 1931, Shepard purchased a second Boston station,

The year 1935 also saw the hiring of Fred B. Cole, a young announcer who would spend more than 50 years on the air, most of them in Boston at various stations.^[25] Cole left WNAC for network radio, and returned to Boston at WHDH (850 AM) in 1946.

In 1937, WNAC became an

In December 1942, the Winter Street Corp., the holding company for Shepard family interests—including WNAC and the Yankee Network—announced it would be sold to The General Tire & Rubber Company for $1.24 million.^[28] Winter Street was controlled by trusts set up for two of the children of founder John Shepard Jr.: John Shepard III (general manager of WNAC and Yankee); and Robert Shepard, who managed the family's remaining department store in Providence; the transactions, and the closing of the Shepard Stores location in Boston in 1937, were viewed as a strategy to convert the elder Shepard's assets to cash.^[28][29] John Shepard III remained with the station as general manager under a five-year contract.^[30] The son of General Tire president William F. O'Neil, William M. O'Neil, Jr., had already owned and operated WJW (850 AM) in Akron/Cleveland since 1940,^[31] but did so independently of his father and the manufacturer.^[32]

Later that same month, the FCC approved the transaction after securing an affidavit from General Tire's president that "no better deal" would be offered the tire company to buy "time, facilities and services" on Yankee Network stations, and that General Tire would "never" use its ownership to gain an unfair advertising advantage over competitors.

In 1947, the FCC denied a request to allow WNAC to move to 1200 kHz and boost its power, using a directional 50,000-watt transmitter.[35]^[36]

WVDA

In May 1953, General Teleradio – then the name for General Tire's broadcasting division – sold WNAC to Vic Diehm and Associates, Inc., for $125,000. At the same time, it bought WLAW (AM 680) and WLAW-FM (FM 93.7), both licensed to Lawrence, Massachusetts, from Hildreth and Rogers for $475,000.^[37][38] General Teleradio then surrendered the 93.7 license, as it retained its existing FM property, WNAC-FM (98.5).^[39] On June 17, 1953, General Teleradio changed WLAW's call sign to WNAC and moved 1260 AM's old format there. On- and off-air personnel were reassigned at the same time. In effect, the new WNAC (680 AM) licensed to Lawrence became the successor to the old WNAC (1260 AM) licensed to Boston. For this reason, this transaction is often reckoned as a "move" of WNAC from 1260 to 680. Vic Diehm and Associates subsequently changed 1260 AM's calls to WVDA and launched a new format on the station, using WLAW's former studios in the Hotel Bradford in Boston.^[37][40][41]

Most of WVDA's programming was from the

WEZE

The station was sold in 1957, to Great Trails Broadcasting Corp., owned by former Truman administration Commerce Secretary Charles Sawyer, for $252,000. It became WEZE, an NBC Radio Network affiliate. The station carried most NBC Radio programs, and some local DJ shows featuring softer music.

On October 19, 1959, WEZE began a

In his autobiography, comedian

From August 1975 until early 1977, WEZE tried "The Wonderful World Of Music" again (which was often branded "The Easiest Sound In Town" in newspaper ads, billboards, and television commercials).[43] Since FM radios still weren't widespread in automobiles, station management hoped that people who would listen to easy-listening FM stations like WJIB (96.9 FM, now WBQT) at home or work would listen to WEZE on their AM-only car radios while driving. The revival met with very little success, as the audience for "beautiful music" had largely moved to FM.

In early 1977, WEZE became one of the first stations to program what might now be called adult album alternative. This format, promoted as "AlbuM 1260" (stylized to denote its frequency as "AM 1260"),^[44] continued until the 1978 sale of the station to New England Continental Media.

New England Continental Media, which shortly became the Salem Media Group, instituted a religious format. Initially, WEZE's religious programming consisted of contemporary Christian music, Christian features, teaching, and preaching; half of the station's schedule was devoted to music. While a religious station, the station continued to operate commercially. By the mid 1980s, local Christian talk shows replaced some of the hours of weekday music programming. In later years, more teaching programs were added to replace the remaining weekday music hours; after 1984, WEZE only played inspirational music on weekends for a few hours.

Later years

Salem exercised an option to acquire WBNW (590 AM) in the fall of 1996, and that December, began a simulcast that resulted in