The Boston Radio Dial: WBCN(FM)

WBCN transmits at 104.1 MHz with an effective radiated power of 21.0 kW (analogue) from the Prudential Tower upper master antenna. This antenna, which is shared with WZLX, WMJX, and WXKS-FM, is a six-bay ERI COGWHEEL 1084-6CP, a non-directional, four-around, circularly-polarized panel antenna system; its center of radiation is 235 meters (771 feet) above average terrain (258 m above sea level). A two-bay shared backup antenna is located elsewhere on the Prudential Tower roof, at 220 m above average terrain; WBCN is licensed for 1 kW ERP when using the backup.

WBCN transmits a digital signal using iBiquity Digital Corp.'s “HD Radio” system.

Station History

WBCN first took to the airwaves in May 1958, as a standalone classical FM known as the “Boston Concert Network”. WBCN was part of a group of “Concert Network” stations, including WXCN 101.5 Providence (now WWBB), WHCN 105.9 Hartford, WRCN 103.9 Riverhead, N.Y., and WNCN 104.3 New York (now WAXQ). WBCN's studios were then located at 171 Newbury St. in Boston's fashionable Back Bay neighborhood.

By the late 1960s, WBCN began to feel the competition from other classical outlets, including WGBH 89.7 and WCRB/WCRB-FM. WBCN began leasing out time at night for ‘underground rock’ broadcasts, under the name “The American Revolution”. The first rock song heard on WBCN, on March 15, 1968, was “I Feel Free” by Cream.

Within a year, WBCN had become a full-fledged rock station, and classical music was history on 104.1. Early WBCN personalities included Peter Wolf, later to become famous as a member of the J. Geils Band, and “News Dissector” Danny Schecter, who brought a uniquely left-wing viewpoint to his newscasts.

WBCN's first few years found the station at the forefront of the underground FM music, as adventurous programmers experimented with playing longer album cuts and diverse genres of rock music. But by the mid-70s, WBCN had settled down to a more commercial approach, playing album rock from its new studios in the penthouse of the Prudential Tower. Several of the 1970s DJs, including morning man Charles Laquidara, were to stay with WBCN for decades.

WBCN moved to 1265 Boylston Street, in the shadow of Fenway Park, in the late 1970s. The station came under the corporate ægis of Hemisphere Broadcasting in 1979, becoming the start of the Infinity Broadcasting empire.

The 1980s saw WBCN continue on an album-rock course, outlasting longtime competitor WCOZ 94.5. By the early 1990s, WBCN began to feel new pressure, from stations such as WFNX 101.7 Lynn, that were playing more adventurous modern rock and drawing a younger audience, as well as from Cook Inlet's WZLX 100.7, playing the classic rock tunes that had made WBCN famous.

The changes at WBCN in the 1990s began with the addition of Howard Stern in evenings in 1993. Infinity's purchase of Cook Inlet that year brought WZLX into duopoly with WBCN, allowing WBCN to add more modern rock to its playlist.

In 1995, WBCN made a full break from its album rock format, switching to modern rock in direct competition with WFNX. Stern moved to mornings on April 1, 1996, sending Laquidara to WZLX after more than 25 years at WBCN. The addition of New England Patriots football with the 1995-96 season also helped draw more listeners to WBCN.

WBCN acquired two more sister stations in early 1996, with Infinity's purchase of Granum's WBOS 92.9 and WOAZ 99.5. The biggest change of all came on June 20, 1996, when CBS/Westinghouse announced a $5 billion deal to purchase Infinity, putting WBCN and the other Infinity stations under the same corporate roof as WBZ, WODS, and WBZ-TV. CBS's merger with Viacom would later add to that WSBK-TV.

As the rock radio universe in Boston, and nationally, struggled with change in the nineties, WBCN struggled as well. While some veteran staffers, including PD Oedipus and jocks Bill Abbate, Albert O and Bradley Jay, remained with the station as it swerved first toward WFNX-style alternative rock and then toward WAAF-style active rock, others departed: middayer Ken Shelton in 1993, afternoon veteran Mark Parenteau in 1997 and music director Carter Alan in 1998.

In 2001, WBCN began tipping away from music entirely, following the lead of stations such as New York's WNEW, Philadelphia's WYSP and Washington's WJFK (all Infinity/CBS sister stations) in adding FM talk to its lineup. In addition to Stern's top-rated morning show, former WAAF afternoon hosts Opie & Anthony returned to Boston, at least until their WNEW show was cancelled in 2002 after the “Sex for Sam” on-air stunt that prompted numerous complaints.

WBCN's music programming began to include some classic hard rock in 2002, though the presence of Stern in morning drive continued to give the station a strong talk lean as well.

Early in 2005, WBCN left the Fenway area to share studios on Birmingham Parkway with WODS.

With Stern's exodus to Sirius Satellite Radio, most of his former CBS Radio affiliates went to a mostly-talk format under the “Free FM” nickname. While WBCN picked up the David Lee Roth morning show that succeeded Stern, it eschewed the “Free FM” branding and the rest of the syndicated lineup, retaining its music programming with jocks Adam-12, Hardy and Mark Hamilton.

The Roth show was short-lived, replaced in April 2006 by a simulcast of Opie & Anthony's XM Satellite Radio morning show. In June 2006, WBCN added talk in afternoon drive, hiring “Toucher and Rich” (Fred Toucher and Rich Shertenlieb) from Atlanta's WNNX.

WBCN also added an HD-2 subchannel in 2006, playing new and indie rock as “Indie 104-1”.

The Boston Radio Dial: WBCN(FM)

Who, What, Where

Technical Parameters

Station History

See Also