WBIX (1260 kHz), branded , is a commercial Brazilian Portuguese AM radio station licensed to Boston, Massachusetts, and serving Greater Boston. Owned by the International Church of the Grace of God, the WBIX studios are located in the Boston suburb of Somerville, while the station transmitter is located in Quincy.
History WNAC
The station was first licensed, to the Shepard Stores in Boston, on September 13, 1922, with the sequentially assigned call sign WNAC."New stations", Radio Service Bulletin, page 4. It was authorized to broadcast on the "entertainment" wavelength of 360 meters (833 kHz), on a timesharing basis with the other local stations. The station was founded through the efforts of John Shepard III."Shepard Station to Open July 31", Boston Herald, July 23, 1922, p. 8D. His father, John Shepard Jr., owned a chain of department stores throughout New England, and considered radio broadcasts as providing himself and his stores sufficient publicity to finance his son's venture."New Radio Station in Shepard Stores", Boston Globe, May 12, 1922, p. 8. The company had previously established WEAN in Providence, Rhode Island, on June 2, 1922.
Prior to WNAC's debut, the Boston store had made regular broadcasts, with an apparently unlicensed operation identified as the "Shepard Radio Station". This gave its first broadcast on August 6, 1922, of a morning religious service originating from the Cathedral Church of St. Paul, which was next door to the store."Service In St. Paul's Will Be Broadcast", Boston Globe, August 5, 1922, p. 2.
On January 4, 1923, using a antenna connected by a clothesline to the building's roof, WNAC participated in the first radio network broadcast, using a special telephone line connection to simulcast programming originating from the American Telephone and Telegraph Company station, WEAF, in New York City.
On May 13, 1925, Shepard launched a second Boston station, WNAB,"WNAC Has Sister Station in WNAB", Boston Herald, May 20, 1925, p. 27. which changed its call sign to WASN (Air Shopping News) on February 1, 1927, followed later that year to WBIS (Boston Information Service)."Alterations and corrections", Radio Service Bulletin, June 30, 1927, page 9. This was an early experiment with home shopping by radio, featuring updates from 15 Greater Boston department stores, that aired in regular intervals in addition to pre-recorded and live orchestra music."New Station Will Take Air Tomorrow", Boston Herald, January 30, 1927, p. 6A. This station was notable in that the staff announcers and the program director were all female. This station experiment was short-lived due to technical issues, the majority of the station's staff enjoyed continued employment at WNAC. After becoming WBIS, it maintained some of the shopping programming but mixed this 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."Radio Broadcast." Boston Herald, July 15, 1927, p. 11."Claire Crawford, Luminary of WBIS." Boston Herald, December 9, 1928, p. R7. WBIS operations were merged into WNAC in April 1928, and the station call sign changed to the dual call letters of WNAC-WBIS.
In 1927, WNAC became one of the sixteen charter members of the CBS Radio Network, it remained a CBS network affiliate for the next decade.Radio Digest, September 1927, quoted in: McLeod, Elizabeth (September 20, 2002). CBS—In the Beginning, History of American Broadcasting. Retrieved January 1, 2007. The station changed frequencies multiple times, and as of November 11, 1928 implementation of the Federal Radio Commission's (FRC) General Order 40, was assigned to 1230 kHz. In 1929, WNAC moved to new studios inside the Hotel Buckminster, with the entrance on the Brookline Avenue side (21 Brookline Avenue), that location served as the station's home for the next four decades."Plan Larger Studios for WNAC." Boston Globe, January 26, 1930, p. A16.
Between February 1929 and July 1930, Shepard launched The Yankee Network, with WNAC as its flagship; this was a regional network serving stations throughout New England and was a pioneer in radio news coverage."Yankee Network is Being Formed", New York Times, February 9, 1930, p. X20."Yankee Network Becomes a Reality", Boston Globe, July 13, 1930, p. 51. For many years, the Yankee Network was considered one of the best local/regional radio news operations in the country. The WNAC call letters were transferred in 1953 to a station on 680 AM, which served as the flagship until the network was shut down in 1967.Joseph T. Sullivan. "Yankee Network Soon to be Dissolved", Boston Herald, January 31, 1967, p. 35.
In 1931, Shepard purchased a second Boston station, WAAB, which became an affiliate of the Mutual Broadcasting System (MBS) in 1935, a year after MBS was formed. He also launched a second regional network, "The Colonial Network", with WAAB as its flagship station."What We Hear." Boston Globe, August 9, 1936, p. D6. Outside of Boston, Yankee and Colonial programming were usually heard on the same station. Additionally, Colonial carried Mutual programming to its affiliates. Between them, Yankee and Colonial carried home games of the Boston Red Sox and Boston Braves baseball teams as well as the Boston Bruins hockey team.
On May 15, 1933, after the FRC requested that stations using only one of their assigned call letters drop those that were no longer in regular use, the use of WBIS in the dual call sign was eliminated, and the station reverted to just WNAC."Double Call Letters Are Being Eliminated", Washington (D.C.) Evening Star, June 25, 1933, Part 4, page 6.
Fred B. Cole, a young announcer who would spend more than 50 years on the air, most of them in Boston at various stations, was hired in 1935. Cole left WNAC for network radio, and returned to Boston at WHDH (850 AM) in 1946. In 1937, WNAC became an NBC Red Network affiliate after losing CBS to WEEI (590 AM). Four years later, the North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement changed WNAC's frequency to 1260 kHz. In 1942, to comply with anti-duopoly regulations established by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), WAAB was moved to Worcester, about west of Boston."WAAB On the Air from Worcester." Broadcasting, December 14, 1942, p. 10. At the same time, WNAC lost NBC Red Network affiliation to WBZ. With WAAB having been moved out of Boston, WNAC took over the Mutual affiliation. The Colonial Network was also shut down, with Yankee picking up many of its programs; in other parts of New England, however, the only change for some former Colonial programming was in the time periods of these shows."John Shepard 3rd." Broadcasting, June 19, 1950, p. 23.
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."Yankee Network is Sold to General Tire Company." Christian Science Monitor, December 16, 1942, p. 3. 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."Boston Shepard Store Closes After 72 Years of Service." Boston Post, December 26, 1937, p. 9. John Shepard III remained with the station as general manager under a five-year contract.Two Major N.E. Networks Sold to Rubber Co." Boston Herald, December 17, 1942, p. 6. 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, but did so independently of his father and the manufacturer.
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. Some 40 years later, the company was forced to exit broadcasting for reasons including illegal reciprocal trade agreements. In addition to WNAC and the two networks, the sale included WEAN, WAAB, WICC in Bridgeport, Connecticut; and experimental FM stations in Paxton, Massachusetts, and Mount Washington, New Hampshire.
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.
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 93.7, both licensed to Lawrence, Massachusetts, from Hildreth and Rogers for $475,000. General Teleradio then surrendered the 93.7 license, as it retained its existing FM property, WNAC-FM 98.5. 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."Modification of License." Broadcasting Magazine, July 2, 1951, p. 81.
Most of WVDA's programming was from the ABC Radio Network, with some local programming. Among them were a few DJ shows, and for a brief time in the mid-1950s, a three-hour morning news block.
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 beautiful music format, branded as "The Wonderful World Of Music",WEZE Newspaper ad, Boston Globe, October 19, 1959. that targeted older listeners. The station programmed music in uninterrupted quarter-hour blocks during the daytime hours (half-hour blocks at night), and continued to serve as Boston's NBC Radio affiliate until 1966. It carried hourly newscasts, some feature programs, special news events, but very little of the network's Monitor weekend service. During the "Wonderful World Of Music" days, live announcers spoke only every fifteen minutes, to run down what had been played during the previous quarter-hour, read commercials, and give weather updates.
In his autobiography, comedian George Carlin describes his experiences as a disc jockey at the station. He was fired after he took the station's news station wagon to New York to buy marijuana, leaving the station unable to cover a prison riot. Carlin wrote that another future comedian, Jack Burns, also worked there as an announcer and newscaster at the station during this time. Although only 5,000 watts, WEZE was one of Boston's top-rated radio stations for most of the 1960s. Then, the beautiful music format made a big splash on FM, diverting listeners from WEZE's AM signal.
For many years, WEZE's studios were located on the ground floor of the Statler Office Building near Boston's Park Square, with a picture window on the corner of St. James and Columbus Avenues, allowing passers-by to see the announcer at work in the studio.