WBWL (FM)
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Broadcast area | Greater Boston |
Frequency | 101.7 MHz (HD Radio) |
Branding | 101.7 The Bull |
Programming | |
Format | Country music |
Subchannels | HD2: Pride Radio |
Affiliations | Premiere Networks |
Ownership | |
Owner |
|
WBZ, WJMN, WRKO, WXKS, WXKS-FM, WZLX, WZRM | |
History | |
First air date | August 5, 1963 |
Former call signs |
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Call sign meaning | phonetically pronounced as "Bull" |
Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
Facility ID | 40824 |
Class | B1 |
ERP | 13,500 watts |
HAAT | 138 meters (453 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 42°25′52″N 71°5′17″W / 42.43111°N 71.08806°W |
Links | |
Public license information | |
Webcast | Listen live (via iHeartRadio) |
Website | thebull1017 |
WBWL (101.7
WBWL is a
History
WLYN-FM (1963–1982)
WBWL signed on August 5, 1963,[3] as WLYN-FM, owned by Puritan Broadcasting Service along with WLYN (1360 AM). At the outset, WLYN-FM largely simulcast its AM sister station during hours in which the AM was on the air.[4][5] During the 1970s, the simulcast was cut to drive time, with WLYN-FM brokering the remaining time to ethnic programmers;[5] by 1974, the station's English-language programming included country music.[3] Although WLYN changed its call letters to WNSR in 1977, WLYN-FM retained its call sign, but dropped the "-FM" suffix;[6] both changes were reversed on December 31, 1979.[7][8]
WLYN-FM began to devote its nighttime programming to new wave music in 1981. The following year, the station had become a full-time modern rock station known as "Y102", with the ethnic programming moving to the AM station.[5]
WFNX (1982–2012)
In September 1982, Puritan announced that it would sell WLYN-FM to Stephen Mindich, publisher of the Boston Phoenix;[9] the station eventually became part of the Phoenix Media/Communications Group.[5] Mindich retained the modern rock format upon assuming control in March 1983, relaunching it on April 11 as "Boston Phoenix Radio",[10] with the WFNX call letters coming into use ten days earlier.[8] WFNX would subsequently become one of the earliest alternative rock stations.[10] The classic rock of the previous owners were gradually replaced with new wave, "deep cuts", British punk, and a sprinkling of jazz and reggae. The first song on WFNX was "Let's Go to Bed" by The Cure.
WFNX broadened its focus to Greater Boston after the sale to Mindich, opening a sales office at the Phoenix offices in Boston, but its studios remained in the same building as WLYN in Lynn. The station did move its transmitter from WLYN's tower in Lynn to Medford in 1987 to provide a better signal within the market.[5]
At 7 pm on August 29, 1991, WFNX DJ Kurt St. Thomas gave Nirvana's album Nevermind its world premiere by playing the album from start to finish.[11] Nirvana's 1993 Nevermind It's an Interview limited-edition promotional release on Geffen Records was produced and engineered at the station by Kurt St. Thomas and Troy Smith. The original interview sessions were recorded by St. Thomas the night of Nirvana's first appearance on NBC's Saturday Night Live in 1992.
In October 1992, the station launched One in Ten, a program dedicated to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues.[12] The show was broadcast until 2010.
The station sponsored a free Green Day concert at the Hatch Memorial Shell in Boston on September 9, 1994. An estimated 70,000 to 100,000 showed up, which WFNX, the Metropolitan District Commission and the Massachusetts State Police were not prepared for. The concert ended 20 minutes into Green Day's set when the crowd became uncontrollable, leaving 100 people injured, 24 of whom were sent to local hospitals, and 31 were arrested.[13][14]
WFNX had a long history of breaking new bands.
WFNX continued to expand its reach starting in 1998, when it established a
On March 30, 2006, WFNX vastly increased its power after receiving permission from the FCC to begin broadcasting from a new transmitter and a new antenna located atop One Financial Center in downtown Boston. To promote its signal upgrade in downtown Boston, WFNX sold all of its commercial ad time to beverage maker Snapple from Memorial Day, May 29 through Independence Day, July 4, 2006, (both are national holidays in the United States). The unique deal allowed the station to eliminate traditional commercial breaks for that time. Following WFNX's move, operation of W267AI (101.3 FM) was discontinued as superflucious.[5] Even after its series of expansions, WFNX broadcast at a lower power than other Boston market stations, limiting WFNX's signal in the outer portions of the market.[10]
The combination of WFNX's signal upgrade and the departure of
WPHX-FM was sold to Aruba Capital Partners in 2011;[17] its simulcast of WFNX ended on August 11, when it relaunched as WXEX-FM.[18]
On May 16, 2012, Phoenix Media/Communications Group announced that it would sell WFNX to
The 2012 sale of the station to Clear Channel did not include WFNX's intellectual property,
WFNX.com officially relaunched as an internet station at midnight October 31, 2012.[27] The first song played on the revived station was "Comeback Kid" by Sleigh Bells.[28]
Shortly before the sale of the station, The Boston Globe announced plans for an online alternative rock station for its Boston.com website, and later hired former WFNX DJs Adam 12, Julie Kramer, Paul Driscoll, and Henry Santoro.[29] The station, RadioBDC, launched on August 13, 2012.[30]
On March 14, 2013, it was announced that WFNX.com would not continue in its current form after the announcement that the Boston Phoenix would be shutting down.[31] At midnight on March 19, 2013, WFNX.com was officially shut down; the final song played on the station was "Old Friend" by Sea Wolf.[32]
As for the WFNX call letters, they would later be picked up by a radio station in Athol.[33] After that station was sold and changed call letters to WKMY in 2020, the call letters (WFNX) would move to a station (95.3 FM; "The Otter") in Grand Marais, Minnesota. On January 23, 2024, 95.3 FM; "The Otter" returned its license to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rendering the WFNX call letters available for reassignment.[34]
On February 05, 2024, Scituate Community Radio, a new Low Power FM (LPFM) licensed to Scituate, MA was granted the WFNX-LP call letters bringing the legendary call letters back to Massachusetts.
WHBA (2012)
At approximately 4:28 p.m., WFNX relaunched as WHBA, an adult hits station branded as "101.7 The Harbor".[35] The first song on "The Harbor" was "Sweet Emotion" by locally founded band Aerosmith. The launch of WHBA marked the return of the adult hits format to the Boston market; a similar format aired on WMKK (93.7 FM) from March 2005 until it became WEEI-FM in September 2011. The station launched with commercial free music through Labor Day. During its short life, the station never had DJs.[36]
WEDX (2012–2014)
On December 20, 2012, at 6:00 p.m., the station flipped to
WBWL (2014–present)
On June 13, 2014, at noon, after playing "How You Love Me" by
iHeartMedia had filed with the FCC to downgrade the signals of stations it owns in Rhode Island (WWBB) and on Cape Cod (WCIB), which enabled WBWL to offer a non-directional, upgraded signal, from the previous transmitter site in Medford. The modifications were completed in August 2014.[45][46][47]
"Evolution" would be removed from WBWL-HD2 entirely on June 26, 2019, when it flipped to iHeart's "
Former simulcast frequencies
WFEX
In December 1999, 92.1 WFEX of Peterborough, New Hampshire, began simulcasting 101.7 WFNX. Previously WFEX was WNHQ, simulcasting 105.5 WJYY of Concord, New Hampshire.
WFEX was sold to Blount Communications Group, which uses it to simulcast WDER, a Christian religious station out of Derry, New Hampshire, as WDER-FM.[49][50]
WPHX
On July 21, 1999,
WWRX
From 2000 to 2003 and again briefly in 2004, WFNX was simulcast on 103.7 WWRX-FM in
References
- ^ "Facility Technical Data for WBWL". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
- ^ Radio-Locator.com/WBWL
- ^ a b Broadcasting Yearbook 1975 (PDF). 1975. p. C-89. Retrieved July 25, 2012.
- ^ "Listening to WFNX 1983-2012 - Music Features - Boston Phoenix". thephoenix.com.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "The Boston Radio Dial: WFNX(FM)". The Archives @ BostonRadio.org. Retrieved July 25, 2012.
- ^ "Call letters" (PDF). Broadcasting. February 21, 1977. p. 84. Retrieved July 25, 2012.
- ^ "Call letters" (PDF). Broadcasting. January 21, 1980. p. 74. Retrieved July 25, 2012.
- ^ a b c d "Call Sign History". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved June 30, 2014.
- ^ "Changing Hands" (PDF). Broadcasting. October 4, 1982. p. 55. Retrieved July 25, 2012.
- ^ a b c "Listening to WFNX 1983-2012". The Boston Phoenix. July 24, 2012. Retrieved July 25, 2012.
- ^ a b This Day In Music -29 August 1991 Guardian.co.uk
- ^ Greenwood, David Valdes (July 26, 2002). "Ten for Ten". Boston Phoenix. Boston. Retrieved December 21, 2016.
- ^ The 40 greatest concerts in Boston history: 6 The Boston Phoenix
- ^ Green Day Riot CelebrateBoston.com
- ^ "Allen Ginsberg's 'Howl': a groundbreaking performance". Boston Phoenix. July 17, 1997. Archived from the original on February 9, 1999. Retrieved October 16, 2012.
- ^ "WFNX On Demand: The Best of 1997". WFNX. Retrieved October 16, 2012.
- ^ "SBS Buys Another TV Station, While Sacramento AM Station Sells For $1.39 Million". All Access. May 9, 2011. Retrieved July 25, 2012.
- ^ Sanborn, Aaron (August 24, 2011). "Exeter radio station WXEX moving to FM". The Portsmouth Herald. Retrieved August 20, 2021.
- ^ van der Pool, Lisa (May 16, 2012). "Clear Channel to acquire WFNX; Lays off Kramer, Santoro and 15 others". Boston Business Journal. Retrieved July 25, 2012.
- ^ "WFNX SAYS FAREWELL". Radio Insight. July 20, 2012.
- ^ "WFNX Sale Price $14.5 Million". All Access. May 23, 2012.
- The Telegraph. May 18, 2012. Retrieved July 25, 2012.
- ^ WBUR. Retrieved July 25, 2012.
- ^ Shanahan, Mark; Goldstein, Meredith (July 23, 2012). "Celebrities spotted in and around Boston". The Boston Globe. Retrieved July 25, 2012.
- ^ a b - WFNX brand to live on as internet radio station Archived July 7, 2012, at the Wayback Machine - FMQB
- ^ Legendary program director Kurt St. Thomas returns as executive producer of the new WFNX.com The Boston Phoenix
- ^ WFNX.com relaunches on Halloween The Boston Phoenix
- ^ WFNX official twitter
- ^ The Boston Globe is Getting into the radio business WBUR
- ^ RadioBDC launch party Boston.com
- ^ Boston Phoenix to close Boston.com
- ^ "Facebook". www.facebook.com.
- ^ "WFNX Lives On ... Sorta". All Access. April 10, 2013. Retrieved May 15, 2013.
- ^ "Only Commercial FM on Minnesota's North Shore Returns License". NorthPine: Upper Midwest Broadcasting. January 28, 2024. Retrieved February 6, 2024.
- ^ Gottlieb, Jed (July 24, 2012). "WFNX signal to become Clear Channel's "The Harbor"". Boston Herald. Retrieved July 25, 2012.
- ^ "Clear Channel Reaches Boston's Harbor".
- ^ Browne, Ian (April 17, 2013). "Fenway Park's anthem started innocuously". MLB.com. Retrieved April 20, 2016.
- ^ Sisario, Ben (December 20, 2012). "Boston Radio Station Switches to Electronic Dance Format". The New York Times. Retrieved December 21, 2012.
- ^ from Sisanie's Twitter account (January 14, 2013)
- ^ Wright, Emily (June 13, 2014). "Evolution 101.7 Transitioning Off FM". boston.com. Retrieved June 13, 2014.
- ^ "WEDX/Boston Flips To Country". All Access. June 13, 2014. Retrieved June 13, 2014.
- ^ "Clear Channel Dumps EDM for Country in Boston". Radio Ink. June 13, 2014. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved June 13, 2014.
- ^ a b Chesto, John (June 13, 2014). "Clear Channel brings a new country music station to Boston". Boston Business Journal. Retrieved June 14, 2014.
- ^ "iHM Boston Debuts WBZ Simulcast on WXKS-FM-HD2". Radio Online. December 19, 2017. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
- ^ "CDBS Print".
- ^ http://radioinsight.com/blog/headlines/89644/clear-channel-to-modify-three-signals-to-upgrade-101-7-boston/ Clear Channel to Modify Three Signals to Upgrade 101.7 Boston
- ^ "CDBS Print".
- ^ "iHeartMedia Expands Pride Radio To 12 Additional Markets - RadioInsight".
- ^ WFNX’s NH side, 92.1 FM, bought by Christian radio station WDER in Derry David Brooks, Nashua Telegraph, May 17, 2012
- ^ "Blount Communications list of stations".
- ^ "North East RadioWatch July 30, 1999". Scott Fybush. Retrieved December 14, 2009.
- ^ "ALTERNATIVE RADIO: Ferrara joins 103.7 FNX crew". The Providence Phoenix. November 6, 2003. Retrieved June 15, 2012.
Bibliography
- 1992 Broadcasting & Cable Marketplace, page A-165
Further reading
- "Listening to WFNX 1983-2012". Boston Phoenix. July 24, 2012. Retrieved December 10, 2012.
External links
- Official website
- WBWL in the FCC FM station database
- WBWL in Nielsen Audio's FM station database