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| City of license | Boston, Massachusetts |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Greater Boston |
| Branding | 100.7 WZLX |
| Slogan | "Boston's Classic Rock" |
| Frequency | 100.7 MHz(also on HD Radio) |
| First air date | October 1948 (as WCOP-FM)[1] |
| Format | Classic rock HD2: Blues HD3: Freeform |
| ERP | 21,500 watts |
| HAAT | 235 meters |
| Class | B |
| Facility ID | 13806 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 42°20′50.00″N 71°4′59.00″W / 42.3472222°N 71.0830556°W |
| Former callsigns | WCOP-FM (1948–1976) WTTK (1976–1978) WHUE-FM (1979–1984) WCOZ (1984–1985) WKKT (1985) |
| Owner | CBS Radio (CBS Radio Inc. of Boston) |
| Sister stations | WBMX, WBZ, WBZ-FM, WBZ-TV, WODS, WSBK-TV |
| Webcast | Listen Live HD2: Listen Live HD3: Listen Live |
| Website | www.wzlx.com www.wbcn.com (HD3) |
WZLX (100.7 FM, Boston) is a classic rock radio station in the Boston, Massachusetts market. WZLX was one of the first classic rock FM stations in America.
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History [edit]
What is now WZLX was originally WCOP-FM, notable for being one of the first FM stations to break simulcasting with its AM partner. WCOP-FM's separate programming was initially classical music and was one of the first FM stations in the region to (briefly) broadcast in FM stereo (the station would resume stereo programming in the early 1970s).
In 1965, WCOP (AM) had become Boston's affiliate for the NBC Radio Network, and WCOP-FM would often simulcast the hourly NBC Radio newscasts. By 1969, NBC Radio's weekend series Monitor had moved from WCOP to WCOP-FM, to allow the former to broadcast more hours of country music on the weekends.
The station went through a number of format changes (and later callsign changes), including beautiful music in the late 60s until 1973, oldies (as “Total Gold 101, WCOP-FM”, 1973–74), country 1974–76), AOR (as WTTK "TK101" 1976–78), beautiful music (as WHUE, 1979–85), and Top 40 (as WKKT "The Cat", for a few months in 1985). Also, just before the switch to WKKT in December 1984, the station (as beautiful music station WHUE) sought and received the WCOZ call letters formerly on 94.5. Ironically, those calls belonged (legally) to the 100.7 frequency for just 2 weeks in December 1984.
100.7 FM adopted its current format and callsign, WZLX, in mid-September 1985. The station owners at that time, First Media Corporation, hired Gary Guthrie to design and implement a format aimed at people who experienced adolescence in either the 1960s and 1970s and enjoyed the music of those eras, but did not care for the then current heavy metal or top 40 'hot hits' of the 1980s. These were people whose mindset was getting too old for AOR and top 40 radio formats, but were too young for or not interested in the oldies radio format. WZLX is considered one of classic rock radio format's earliest success stories as reflected by the station's 19th to 2nd place climb in the Adults 25-54 demographic in its first ratings period.
A series of ownership changes made WZLX a part of Cook-Inlet Radio, then Infinity Broadcasting in late 1992. Currently, it is owned and operated by CBS Radio.
In 1997, WZLX radio host George Taylor Morris created a media frenzy about the "Dark Side of the Rainbow" phenomenon, in which Pink Floyd's album The Dark Side of the Moon is said to synch up with the movie The Wizard of Oz.[2]
In the spring of 2007, WZLX became the first station in the country to broadcast programming in full digital 5.1 surround sound. This flagship effort coincides with the recent move of the industry to implement the HD Radio format.
From 1991 to 2007 the station had its studios on the 24th floor of the Prudential Tower in downtown Boston, the location of its transmitter. On March 3, 2007, the station moved crosstown to the facility where sister stations WODS and WBCN are clustered in the CBS studios in Brighton. The transmitter is still atop the Prudential Tower.
Programming/personalities [edit]
There have been a few morning shows on the station in recent history. With the coming of Howard Stern to WBCN in the early '90s, the Boston legend Charles Laquidara and his show, The Big Mattress, took up residence at 'ZLX. With Charles's retirement, the short-lived Mornings with Tai and Steve Sweeney eventually gave way to Steve Sweeney's Neighborhood, (co-hosted by Lance Norris) which ended a 5-year run in 2005. Long time morning team Karlson and McKenzie took over on August 1, 2005.
WZLX HD2 [edit]
WZLX airs an all-blues format on its HD2 subchannel called "Radio Mojo".
WZLX HD3 [edit]
WZLX airs a freeform rock format on its HD3 subchannel called WBCN which continues the name of the former Boston AOR station.
Current on-air staff [edit]
- Karlson and McKenzie
- Carter Alan
- Chuck Nowlin
- Kenny Young
- Anngelle Wood
- Travis
- Mike Wendt
- Jack Lawrence
- Juanita
References [edit]
- ^ Broadcasting Yearbook 1949 (PDF). 1949. p. 306. Retrieved January 16, 2012.
- ^ Holley, Joe (August 3, 2009). "George Taylor Morris, 62: Radio Host Played Classic Rock". The Washington Post'. Retrieved August 10, 2009.
External links [edit]
- WZLX website
- Query the FCC's FM station database for WZLX
- Radio-Locator information on WZLX
- Query Arbitron's FM station database for WZLX
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