Metro-Boston AM Radio 1963

(a write-up done 50 years later in 2013)

WEEI - 590
talk, CBS news, variety. Personalities included Paul Benzaquin and weatherman E. B. Rideout. The CBS radio dramas including Yours Truly Johnny Dollar and Suspense had been discontinued in 1962 but WEEI did still carry Arthur Godfrey and possibly Art Linkletter's House Party.
5 kW day and night, two-tower DA Medford, MA same as present WEZE

WNAC - 680
talk, variety, Yankee Network news, Texaco Metropolitan Opera broadcast on Saturday afternoon, affiliated with TV Channel 7
50 kW day and night, three-tower DA Burlington, MA same location as present WRKO (which has a somewhat different pattern in day operation)

WTAO - 740
middle-of-the-road music, local news
250 watts day, one-tower ND Cambridge, MA same as present WJIB (which has added 5 watt night operation)

WHDH - 850
middle-of-the-road music (famous DJ's include Jess Cain and Bob Clayton), sports (Red Sox, Celtics), news-talk, affiliated with TV Channel 5
50 kW day and night, three-tower DA Needham, MA same as present WEEI

WORL - 950
variety, talk, middle-of-the-road music, Mutual network with Paul Harvey at noon
5 kW watts day, one-tower ND Saugus, MA same as present WROL (which has added 90 watt night operation)

WBZ - 1030
Top 40 music (famous DJ's include Carl DeSuze, Dave Maynard, Jay Dunn, Jefferson Kaye, Bruce Bradley, Dick Summer), talk (Bob Kennedy Contact), high-grade news operation, affiliated with TV Channel 4
50 kW day and night, two-tower DA Hull, MA same as present

WILD - 1090
black R&B, gospel, ethnic programs (including Italian Hour) / religion weekends
1 kW day, one-tower ND Medford, MA one mile north of present site which is now co-located with 1430. Station now runs 5 kW, still day only.

WCOP - 1150
light middle-of-the-road music (had quit Top 40 in 1962)
5 kW day and night, three-tower DA Lexington, MA same as present WWDJ

WESX - 1230
variety, talk, news
1 kW day, 250 watts night, one-tower ND Marblehead, MA about 5 miles northeast of present Lynn site which is now co-located with 1360.

WEZE - 1260
easy-listening Muzak and vocals. WEZE had largely dropped NBC's Monitor by then, except for news.
5 kW day and night, three-tower DA Milton-Quincy line, MA same as present WMKI

WJDA - 1300
local talk and news (famous Slim Pickins weather), light music
1 kW day, one-tower ND Quincy, MA same as present (low power night operation has since been added)

WCRB - 1330
classical music ("Charles River Broadcasting")
5 kW day, possibly less at night, three-tower DA Waltham, MA near Brandeis U., about 5 miles north of present WRCA Newton site which is now co-located with 1600.

WLYN - 1360
local talk and news, light music
1 kW day, one-tower ND Lynn, MA same as present (low power night operation has since been added and 1230 is now co-located at the site near the G.E. River Works)

WHIL - 1430
light music, country for a while (had quit Top 40 in 1962), Suffolk Downs horse racing
1 kW day, one-tower ND Medford-Everett line, MA same location as present WKOX - 1430 though current set-up is 5 kW day / 1 kW night with two-tower DA and co-located 1090.

WMEX - 1510
Top 40 music (famous DJ's include Arnie Ginsberg, Melvin X. Melvin, Fenway, Dan Donovan), talk (Jerry Williams)
5 kW day and night, two-tower DA Quincy, MA about half a mile east of then/now 1260 site. Present WUFC - 1510 site in Waltham, MA (about 12 miles NW) got started around 1981 when 1510 went to 50 kW day and night.

WBOS - 1600
Ethnic programs including Kamelakis Hour (Greek), Kenny Mayer Sunday night comedy show. A. Joseph Ross adds "By 1963, WBOS was running 'Music Theater' during the daytime and late at night. This was a beautiful music format, almost as eclectic as present-day WJIB, but with fewer vocals. There was news on the hour, headlines on the half hour, and commercial breaks on the quarter-hour. They ran ethnic programs from about 7:00 to 10:00 p.m. and all day Sunday until about 10:00 p.m. WBOS-FM 92.9 ran Music Theater for the entire broadcast day, simulcasting when Music Theater was on AM."
5 kW day and night, two-tower DA Newton, MA. The Sawmill Road site is still used but with a different tower configuration, more power, and co-location of 1200 (ex-1190 Framingham) and 1330.

Some of the outer suburban stations:

WCCM - 800 Lawrence
WCAP - 980 Lowell
WKOX - 1190 Framingham
WPLM - 1390 Plymouth
WLLH - 1400 Lowell + Lawrence
WOKW - 1410 Brockton
WBET - 1460 Brockton
WSRO - 1470 Marlborough
WNBP - 1470 Newburyport
WHAV - 1490 Haverhill
WMRC - 1490 Milford
WMLO - 1570 Beverly (went on at end of '63)

These stations, as well as several from Worcester, MA; Fitchburg, MA; Providence, RI; and Manchester (/Nashua), NH could be heard reasonably well in the Boston metro area on better receivers.

One of the better portable radios I had back in those days:

Marlborough's 1470 and Framingham's 1190 were eventually located to cities-of-license inside Route 128; 1190 became 1200 WXKS. Newburyport's 1470 moved to 1450. A number of these stations (e.g. 1570) have changed power, pattern, site etc. Brockton's 1410, silent as of NOV 2013, is due to be relocated to Dedham, MA.

Present day eastern MA stations on 650, 830, 890, 1060, 1120, 1170, 1530, and 1550 had no corresponding 1963-era stations.

Thanks to Rob Landry, Kevin Vahey, Donna Halper, A. Joseph Ross, Martin Waters, Chris Sullivan, and Dan Strassberg for useful comments adding to the original content of the article.

Mark Connelly, WA1ION
South Yarmouth, MA

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