WBZ NewsRadio marks 100 years on the air this Sunday

By Andrew Brinker Globe Correspondent, Updated September 17, 2021, 5:06 p.m.

WBZ NewsRadio, a pioneering voice in the early days of radio and a fixture in the Boston media landscape, is marking its centennial anniversary on Sunday.

The station’s first broadcast hit Massachusetts airwaves 100 years ago on Sept. 19, 1921, from the fairgrounds of the Eastern States Exposition in Springfield, now best known as “The Big E.” It’s one of the oldest radio stations in the US and was the first in the country to receive a commercial license, according to records.

To mark the occasion, tidbits of history from previous broadcasts have played on WBZ airwaves over the past 100 days, and the celebration will culminate on Sunday with a reporter broadcasting live from the Big E.

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WBZ Radio Marks 100 Years On The Air

By Paula Ebben September 17, 2021 at 5:51 pm

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President Biden sent along a letter of well wishes to the station saying in part, “The freedom of the press has always been vital to the function of our democracy, and stations like WBZ NewsRadio have pioneered a path forward for tother news networks to expand their reach to listeners across our Nation. Congratulations on your centennial anniversary.”



PAULA EBBEN

Award-winning journalist Paula Ebben co-anchors WBZ-TV News at 5:30PM and WBZ-TV 8PM News on TV38.
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WBZ (AM)



History
First air date: September 19, 1921
(100 years ago)
Former frequencies:
833 kHz (1921–22)
750 kHz (1922–23)
710 kHz (1923)
790 kHz (1923)
890 kHz (1923–25)
900 kHz (1925–28)
990 kHz (1928–41)

Call sign meaning: randomly assigned by the Department of Commerce; previously assigned to a cargo ship which burned the previous year

Class A
Power: 50,000 watts unlimited
Transmitter coordinates: 42°16′44″N 70°52′34″W (main); 42°21′52″N 71°8′4″W (auxiliary)

Website: wbznewsradio.iheart.com

WBZ (1030 AM) is a Class A clear channel radio station licensed to Boston, Massachusetts. Originally started by, and formerly owned for most of its existence by, Westinghouse Broadcasting and its successor CBS Radio, WBZ is owned and operated by iHeartMedia.

WBZ transmits using the HD Radio digital format, and its programming is carried on the HD2 digital subchannel of WXKS-FM. WBZ's studios and offices are located on Cabot Road in the Boston suburb of Medford, and its transmitter site is in Hull, Massachusetts. WBZ is the designated Primary Entry Point (PEP) for the Emergency Alert System (EAS) in New England.

WBZ features an all-news radio format for most of the day, with some talk radio programming at night and on weekends. Operating with a transmitter power output of 50,000 watts, and employing a directional antenna that sends a majority of its signal westward, the station can be heard during daylight hours throughout much of New England. Under the right conditions, it can be heard as far east as New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, Canada; as far south as Eastern Long Island and Monmouth County, New Jersey; and as far west as the outer suburbs of Hartford, Connecticut and Albany, New York. Its nighttime signal covers at least 38 American states and much of eastern Canada.

WBZ was granted its first license by the United States Department of Commerce on September 15, 1921, and was originally located in Springfield, Massachusetts, before moving to Boston in 1931. It is the oldest broadcasting station in New England, and one of the oldest in the United States.

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