WBCN (FM)


WBCN was an over-the-air radio station in Boston, Massachusetts. Originally broadcasting on analog 104.1 MHz from 1968 to 2009, and later broadcasting as a digital-only radio station, airing on WBZ-FM HD2 from 2009 to 2017. In December 2017, owner Beasley Broadcast Group discontinued WBCN, switching the station's format to "Hubcast", a replay of segments and podcasts from air personalities of the Sports Talk format of WBZ-FM.
Before switching to 98.5 HD2 on August 12, 2009, WBCN featured its rock format for 41 years as an analog radio station on 104.1 MHz. WBCN became a legend in the rock music industry for breaking many bands, most notably U2. WBCN was a modern rock/active rock station that mixed music that has been popular in the modern rock, alternative rock and classic rock genres. Known as "The Rock of Boston", its three main Boston-area competitors were Album Oriented Rock/active rock WAAF and alternative music stations WBOS and WFNX.
The station switched to digital only on August 12, 2009, with two digital-only automated streams, one continuing the modern rock format, the other Free Form BCN, airing an eclectic mix of rock, related genres, and a lot of new music - essentially the WBCN of 1968 to 1988, brought into the 21st Century. The station's battle of the bands' competition, the Rock 'n' Roll Rumble, survived the station's demise. WBCN's celebrated local music specialty show, Boston Emissions -- along with The Rumble -- moved to sister station WZLX in 2009. Boston DJ Anngelle Wood remains the host and music director of both the radio show and The Rumble -- these are the last remaining ties to the original 104.1 WBCN programming.
"Free Form BCN" began airing live freeform shows in September 2009 on WZLX-HD3 and at wbcn.com. While still digital and largely automated, the online stream was live Monday through Friday during the day. WBCN's first rock program director, Sam Kopper, was Program Director of WBCN Free Form Rock until being discontinued on January 29, 2016.

History

Before the mid-1960s, the station played classical music exclusively. The call sign stood for the Boston Concert Network. One of the on-air personalities at that time was Ron Della Chiesa, who also served as the music host and program director. Della Chiesa is still active in classical music broadcasting on WCRB. In 1965, Nathaniel Johnson was appointed Music Director of WBCN by station program director Don Otto. Johnson remained with the station until 1967, just prior to the changeover from classical to easy-listening, and then to rock. Johnson then left WBCN to assume a new position at WGBH.

Golden age of WBCN

The station slowly began to change to an "underground" progressive rock format on the night of March 15, 1968. BCN's first rock announcer, "Mississippi Harold Wilson", used the station's first slogan, "The American Revolution" and played the very first song "I Feel Free" by the rock group Cream. At first, the new "American Revolution" format was only heard during the late-evening and overnight hours, but in mid-May, the station expanded the rock programming to 24 hours a day. By June 1968, the station's air staff included Mississippi, Peter Wolf, Tommy Hadges, Jim Parry, Al Perry, and Sam Kopper was joined by Steven "The Seagull" Segal. Segal's arrival was critical to the station's early development since he came in from Los Angeles and San Francisco, where he had been mentored by the legendary West Coast DJ Tom Donahue, who was credited with starting the very first underground rock FM station at KMPX the year before. Segal's West Coast radical radio consciousness infused the early 'BCN. In the summer of 1968, Kopper was made the station's first program director. That fall, Segal and Kopper hired J.J. Jackson as a disc jockey. Twelve years later, JJ would become one of MTV's first VJs. In December 1968, Peter Wolf left to take the J. Geils Band full-time and, introduced to the station by Jim Parry, Charles Laquidara was hired to take over the 10p.m. to 2a.m. air shift. Between late 1968 and early 1971, as program director, Kopper sought out and hired Norm Winer, recently graduated from Brandeis; Andy Beaubien, recently graduated from URI; and Maxanne Sartori, who came in from her DJ position at KOL-FM in Seattle.
WBCN began supporting non-mainstream investigative reporting and alternative news coverage, including reports from demonstrations and highly produced montage news reports. The news department was initially headed by Norm Winer, who later became program director. For a brief period during that transition, Charles Laquidara, who was acting program director hired Robert "Bo" Burlingham as news director. Bo resigned shortly thereafter when his name appeared on a UPI news wire as one of several people being indicted by then-Attorney General John Mitchell—a charge which was later dropped. Danny Schechter replaced Bo Burlingham and immediately billed himself as "the News Dissector". Along with Andrew Kopkind, John Scagliotti, Bill Lichtenstein, and Marsha Steinberg, the news department evolved radically, introducing such novel concepts as a show oriented toward prison inmates, health warnings about the hazards of street drugs, a lost pet-finding service called the Cat and Dog Report, a travelers' aid service called the Travelers' Friend, live updates on the traffic problems at Woodstock, and by 1970, live-to-air concert broadcasts. WBCN's programming in 1971-72 bore little relationship to the Billboard Hot 100 or any other conventional programming. Classical music, jazz, or anything else might be played, as long as the skillful DJs could make it work. For the first time, the owners of the station began to make a profit. However, there was always tension between the artistic expression of the DJs, and management's need to run a business, resulting in the unionization of the station with the United Electrical Workers in 1971.
Popular legend holds that WBCN was sent a promotional copy of The Beatles' unreleased Get Back album and played it on the air before the release of the album was cancelled. The "album" had been compiled out of material the Beatles recorded in London in January 1969, the same sessions that would be used to create the Beatles' Let It Be album which was released in May 1970. While the existence of the promotional album is apocryphal, the truth behind the broadcast, though less dramatic, is equally as fascinating. In late summer of 1969, WBCN somehow obtained a reel-to-reel tape of a reference acetate of a potential album song lineup prepared by Beatles' engineer Glyn Johns on March 10, 1969. WBCN aired the tape on September 22, 1969. Although WBCN was not the only radio station, or even the first station, to air material from the Get Back sessions — WKBW in Buffalo was the first, and the tapes also aired on WEBN in Cincinnati, WBAI in New York City, and KCOK in St. Louis — WBCN's broadcast of the tapes has been immortalized because it was preserved on a high-quality reel, which spawned several widely circulated Beatles bootlegs.
By 1975, WBCN had gradually evolved from the underground/progressive format of the 1960s to the more mainstream album oriented rock format popular in the 1970s. Unlike most rock stations of the era, WBCN still allowed a degree of individual DJ control of the music. Their playlist in general was more varied than many of their competitors, there was some focus on local music, and the station was known nationwide for breaking acts and setting trends. Oedipus was hired first as a DJ in 1977, and then installed as program director in 1981, and helped to break The Ramones, The Clash, The Police, and countless punk and new wave bands out of Boston.
In the period around 1975, John Garabedian, now recognized for the nationally syndicated "Open House Party", was an afternoon DJ on WBCN.
In 1979, the station was purchased by Hemisphere Broadcasting, who let go several longtime employees who they determined "non-essential." This set off a local controversy in Boston that resulted in the entire airstaff walking off the air striking in protest. During the walkout, WBCN stayed on the air with substitute DJs imported from several out-of-town Hemisphere sister stations. The protest got local media coverage and the attention of several well-known Boston-based music acts, including The Cars, Aerosmith, and Boston, who got behind the protest. When several large advertisers pulled spots, and the union filed a challenge to Hemisphere's license, Hemisphere relented, the fired staffers were rehired and the DJs went back on the air. Charles Laquidara played Superman by The Kinks back to back for an entire show in celebration.
By the mid-1980s, WBCN had successfully fended off a number of challengers to become/remain the region's top rock station. Many of the DJs, particularly morning "Big Mattress" host Charles Laquidara, were now local quasi-celebrities. Laquidara had Billy West on the show on a daily basis, as well as Karlos, the first computer-generated on-air personality in radio history. Legendary Boston stripper Princess Cheyenne hosted a Sunday night sex advice show that eventually led to one of her appearances in Playboy Magazine in April 1986. The station was more commercial and "programmed" by this point, but still retained some of its progressive energy and edge.
By the 1990s, WBCN was at a crossroads. With its audience aging, it risked becoming a classic rock-focused station and losing its currency as an outlet for new music. For a long time, WBCN successfully balanced new and old music. In the early 1990s, the station began airing the nationally syndicated Howard Stern Show, but aired it in the evenings on tape delay instead of during morning drive. This allowed them to retain their "Big Mattress" morning show along with its large and loyal audience.

Active rock era

In early 1994, WBCN made its first major format adjustment since 1968. The old DJs, station IDs, and classic rock were gutted, replaced by an alternative music format featuring new, younger jocks; on April 1, 1996, the Stern show was moved to mornings. The station lost some of its longtime listeners, but quickly gained credibility among many younger people.
In the summer of 1999, WBCN moved its format away from strictly alternative music and more towards an active rock-leaning modern rock format. The station by this time was playing some hard rock and Nu metal acts such as Godsmack, Korn, Limp Bizkit, and Linkin Park. By the Fall of 2002, certain classic artists, such as Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin, and Ozzy Osbourne, were added back in the station's playlist rotation.
Much of the station's programming focused on syndicated talk shows. During the autumn months, WBCN became more focused on sports as the station broadcast the games of the NFL's New England Patriots beginning in 1995.
In early 2006, with the Howard Stern morning drive time show gone due to Stern moving to Sirius Satellite Radio, WBCN experienced a plummet in Arbitron ratings that the station had not observed since the late 1970s and early 1980s, when it fell behind then rock format competitor WCOZ. The station started to air the syndicated Opie & Anthony during morning drive. WBCN also launched The Toucher and Rich Show, a new locally produced comedy-based afternoon drive time show starring Fred Toettcher and Rich Shertenlieb. The duo formerly worked together at Atlanta alternative station WNNX.
In 2007, the station was nominated for the Top 25 Markets Alternative Station of the Year Award by Radio & Records magazine. Other nominees included KROQ-FM in Los Angeles; KTBZ-FM in Houston; KITS, in San Francisco; KNDD in Seattle; and WWDC in Washington, D.C.
In December 2008, the station ceased airing Opie & Anthony in morning drive and moved "Toucher and Rich" from afternoons. During the following months, industry insiders, local media, and even WBCN's on air staff speculated that, in a matter of time, WBCN could see a format change, especially after the Boston Herald ran an article in the March 30th, 2009 issue about WBCN's future, and the station airing a Top 40 format for a few hours the following day.
From 1995 through 2008, WBCN was the flagship station of the Patriots Rock Radio Network, which broadcast games of the New England Patriots. Gil Santos, former WBZ sports reporter, did play-by-play, while Gino Cappelletti, former Patriots star, provided color commentary. With WBCN's dissolution as an analog station, the Patriots flagship station became WBCN's sister station WBZ-FM on August 13, 2009.

WBCN goes digital-only

On July 14, 2009, CBS Radio announced that WBCN would sign off the 104.1 MHz frequency.
WBCN's last four days on analog radio were celebration and retrospective shows highlighting WBCN's history. Bradley Jay was the last DJ. The last two songs played were Cream's "I Feel Free" and Pink Floyd's "Shine On You Crazy Diamond", followed by a much-used collage of songs with the line "They're really Rockin' in Boston..." and station bits and ID spots used over the years, which then slowed to a halt. The final words were from the late Darrell Martinie, the Cosmic Muffin, saying his tag line, "Over and Out". At 12:05 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time on August 12, 2009, the station went into a static-like sound, and after a few moments, a voice read the new station identification: "WBMX, WBMX-HD1, Boston" over the "static". The static was broadcast on 104.1 until 2:00 AM. At that time, "Mix 98.5" officially moved to 104.1, playing "Use Somebody" by Kings of Leon as their first song after the move. That song was in heavy rotation on WBCN during the months leading up to CBS Radio's announcement of the station's demise, and continued until the four-day farewell began.
HD Radio substations on the FM frequencies changed as well:
This was done to make room for an all-sports talk format at the 98.5 FM frequency, known as 98.5 The Sports Hub WBZ-FM. WBCN's Toucher and Rich morning show began broadcasting on WBZ-FM on August 14, 2009. WBCN's afternoon DJ, Rob Poole, known on air as "Hardy", announced on his final WBCN show that he will co-host a sports-themed show on WBZ-FM on Saturday mornings.
WBCN formerly transmitted from the tower known locally as “FM-128” in Newton. It shared a master antenna with WJMN, WKLB-FM, along with backup transmitters for WBOS, WBQT, WROR-FM, WMJX, and WXKS-FM.
In order to keep the intellectual property of WBCN intact, without another station in Boston making claim to it, CBS Radio parked the WBCN call letters on WFNA, a station located at 1660 AM in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Charlotte station was a semi-satellite of WFNZ 610 AM, known then as "The Franchise", an all sports talk station. The FCC approved the transfer in the spring of 2009. As part of the switch, the WBMX call letters were parked on 1660 AM in Charlotte from July 29, 2009 until WBCN signed off for the last time at 104.1 in Boston on August 12. On September 14, 2009, WBCN split from WFNZ and became "America's Talk", a conservative-leaning talk station. It returned to sports programming in 2013 as a full-time satellite of CBS Sports Radio.

End of WBCN

On February 2, 2017, CBS announced that they will be selling their radio division to Entercom, which could have indirectly made what was WBCN a sister station to long-time rival WAAF. However, the combined company would have to shed some of its Boston stations in order to satisfy Federal Communications Commission and Department of Justice requirements. On October 10, 2017, CBS disclosed that as part of the process of obtaining regulatory approval of the merger, WBZ-FM would be one of sixteen stations that would be divested by Entercom, along with sister stations WBZ and WZLX, and Entercom stations WRKO and WKAF, with Entercom retaining WEEI AM and FM, WBMX, WODS and WAAF. On November 1, 2017, Beasley Media Group announced that it would trade WMJX to Entercom, in exchange for WBZ-FM. The merger was approved on November 9, 2017, and was consummated on the 17th. Beasley took complete ownership of the station on December 20, 2017. Shortly after the transfer to Beasley was completed, WBCN was replaced with "Hubcast", a replay of segments and podcasts from air personalities from "The Sports Hub."

WBCN Free Form Rock on WZLX HD3

WBCN Free Form Rock was a digital-only radio station broadcasting on the Internet and in the Boston radio market on WZLX 100.7 HD3. The station, programmed by BCN's original 1969 program director, Sam Kopper, began airing in February 2009 as WBCN Free Form 104, airing, until the demise of the original WBCN, on 104.1 HD2. Since WBCN's change to digital-only, the station was known as Free Form BCN and then WBCN Free Form Rock by late September 2009. WBCN Free Form Rock was formatted essentially the same as WBCN's 104.1 FM's 1968-88 incarnation, and was different from the current 98.5 HD2 version. "WBCN Free Form Rock" was formatted to play multiple music genres. WBCN Free Form Rock was advertised to be a replica of the original WBCN format circa 1968 to the early 1990s, playing any song it wants, including rock and relative genres. In late 2009, the station begun to increase its DJ'd programming. While it was automated most of the time, it was increasing its live weekdays, and hinting about the potential for more programming as listenership increased.
However, on January 29, 2016, "WBCN Free Form Rock" was dropped from WZLXHD3 and flipped to adult standards as "The Lounge."
On December 19, 2017, the HD3 channel was removed.

Notable station alumni