WROR-FM
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| City | Framingham, Massachusetts |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Greater Boston |
| Branding | 105.7 WROR |
| Slogan | 80s & More! |
| Frequency | 105.7 MHz (HD Radio) |
| First air date | February 10, 1960[1] |
| Format | Classic hits HD2: Classic rock |
| ERP | 23,000 watts |
| HAAT | 224 meters |
| Class | B |
| Facility ID | 20438 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 42°20′50″N 71°4′59″W / 42.34722°N 71.08306°W |
| Call sign meaning | Previously used on the former WROR (98.5 FM) in Boston, now WBZ-FM |
| Former call signs | WKOX-FM (1960–71) WVBF (1971–93) WCLB-FM (1993–95) WKLB-FM (1995–96) |
| Owner | Beasley Broadcast Group (Beasley Media Group Licenses, LLC) |
| Sister stations | WBOS, WBQT, WBZ-FM, WKLB-FM, WRCA |
| Webcast | Listen Live Listen Live (via iHeartRadio) |
| Website | wror HD2: wror |
WROR-FM (105.7 FM) – branded as 105.7 WROR – is a commercial classic hits radio station licensed to Framingham, Massachusetts. Owned by Beasley Broadcast Group, the station serves Greater Boston and much of surrounding New England, including portions of the Portsmouth and Providence radio markets. The WROR studios are located in the Boston neighborhood of Dorchester, while the station transmitter resides on the Prudential Tower in Downtown Boston. Besides a standard analog transmission, WROR broadcasts over two HD Radio channels, and is available online.
Contents
History[edit]
WKOX-FM (1960-1971)[edit]
The station signed on as WKOX-FM on February 10, 1960, the FM companion of WKOX (1190 AM).[2] Initially a simulcast of WKOX's daytime programming, WKOX-FM would exclusively air classical music programming at night oriented towards Boston's MetroWest suburbs.
In January 1969, the station began broadcasting a top 40/album rock format as The New FM 105, and then later as FM Stereo 105. WKOX-FM was the Boston area's first FM top 40 station featuring live disc jockeys, including hosts Bill Thomas, Brother Bill Heizer, FM Douglas, program director Dick Stevens, John Leisher, Alan Fraser, J. William Charles, with Kenny McKay and Jimmy Conlee. WKOX-FM converted to stereo broadcasting that July.
WVBF (1971-1993)[edit]
WKOX and WKOX-FM were acquired by Fairbanks Communications in July 1971. After the sale, WKOX-FM became WVBF (also known as the Electronic Mama), as a hybrid top 40/rock station, initially retaining some of the WKOX-FM personalities. The call letters officially stood for "Welcome, Virginia Brown Fairbanks", the wife of station owner Richard M. Fairbanks; Richard also had a station named after himself, WRMF in West Palm Beach. WVBF improved its signal coverage, targeting the Greater Boston area. Some hosts added to WVBF during their early months included Buddy Ballou, John "Big John" Gillis, Bill "BLF Bash" Freeman and Charlie Kendall.
During Fairbanks ownership in the 1970s, WVBF evolved from being a high energy top 40/rock hybrid station in 1971/1972, to becoming a mainstream top 40 station by 1975, and eventually evolved into a hot adult contemporary format over the years. WVBF also had many different nicknames in that era, including WVBF FM 105, WVBF Stereo 105, F105 WVBF and The New WVBF Boston 105.
WVBF debuted a morning show in 1981 hosted by the team of Loren Owens and Wally Brine; eventually joined on-air by character actor/parody musician Tom Doyle, newscaster Lauren Beckham Falcone, traffic reporter Hank Morse and producer Brian "Lung Boy" Bell. Loren and Wally would continue to air on the station even with multiple ownership, format and call letter changes until Brine's retirement in 2016.[3]
In the early 1990s, Delilah was a host on WVBF before she moved to Seattle and entered national syndication.
WCLB/WKLB (1993-1996)[edit]
On February 12, 1993, citing the growing popularity of country music, WVBF became WCLB, "The Country Club".[4][5] The format change was made in an effort to throw off Greater Media from launching a country format on newly acquired WCDJ (96.9 FM); that station's format switch to WBCS happened anyway. Confusion with other FM stations and WCVB-TV led to a call sign change to WKLB in 1995.
In 1995, WKLB was to be sold to Evergreen Media, and was widely expected to become a talk station. However, a series of subsequent trades in 1996 placed WKLB under common ownership with WBCS via Greater Media.[6]
On August 24, 1996, the intellectual property of WKLB "merged" with WBCS, with the newly merged country station utilizing the 96.9 frequency of WBCS along with the WKLB call letters, combining personalities from both stations. Some WKLB personalities remained at the station for the new format, including Loren and Wally. The two stations simulcast for eleven days.
WROR (1996-present)[edit]
After the simulcast ended, on September 5, 1996, Greater Media changed WKLB's call letters to WROR, and changed the station's format to oldies.[7] The WROR callsign had previously been used on 98.5 FM until 1991, later being been "parked" first on WMFN (640 AM) in Zeeland, Michigan, then on WROR (1150 AM); the latter was also owned by Greater Media at the time.
The "new" WROR played 1970s pop and rock oldies, disco, some 1960s oldies, 1980s soft rock and top-40 crossovers, along with some classic rock, and hired several staffers connected to the "old" WROR. Leading broadcasters involved with WROR in the 1970s and early 1980s included program director Gary Berkowitz and personalities such as: Joe Martell, Phil Redo, Larry Justice, Frank Kingston Smith, and current WROR General Manager Tom Baker.
By 1999, the format had been modified to classic rock, similar to co-owned WMGK in Philadelphia, but gradually moved back to more of a pop-based classic hits format in 2006, emphasizing pop adult rock hits while mixing in some R&B, disco, and harder rock songs. The station continues to emphasize the 1970s and 1980s, but also plays some well-known 1960s and 1990s hits. WROR became the market's lone classic hits station in 2012 following WODS's format switch to top 40. The Lost 45s hosted by Barry Scott returned to WROR on September 2, 2012; it was dropped on April 2014.
On July 19, 2016, Beasley Media Group announced it would acquire Greater Media and its 21 stations (including WROR) for $240 million.[8] The FCC approved the sale on October 6, 2016, and the sale closed on November 1, 2016.[9] Following Beasley's acquisition of WBZ-FM in 2017, WROR-FM began broadcasting Boston Celtics games that conflict with broadcasts of the Boston Bruins or the New England Patriots; WBZ-FM is the flagship station for all three teams.
Tom Doyle was let go from the morning show on November 19, 2014; in December 2016, Wally Brine announced his retirement.[10] Hank Morse was let go on June 24, 2019, four days before Owens retired, citing an inability to reach terms on a contract extension. Bob Bronson, formerly of WLTW in New York City and WZID in Manchester, was teamed up with Loren and Wally holdovers Lauren Beckham Falcone and Brian Bell.
Christmas music[edit]
From 2007 through 2011, WROR broadcast Christmas music format throughout the holiday season;[11][12][13] the station would also air a nightly call-in program for children hosted by "Santa Claus". After WODS's 2012 format switch, then-sister station WMJX assumed the role of playing Christmas music annually.
Current programming[edit]
The weekday schedule includes WROR personalities Bob Bronson, Lauren Beckham Falcone and Brian Bell (mornings), Julie Devereaux (middays) and Jaybeau Jones (afternoons).
The station now focuses on "The 80s & more".
The HD2 digital subchannel broadcasts a classic rock format under the brand "The Bone". Previous formats on WROR-HD2 have included all-comedy and 70s hits, respectively.[14]
References[edit]
- ^ "The Boston Radio Dial: WROR-FM". The Archives @ BostonRadio.org. Retrieved January 28, 2012.
- ^ Broadcasting Yearbook 1961-62 page B-81
- ^ Simon, Clea (July 26, 2001). "Loren and Wally: 20 years on air". The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved December 8, 2012.
- ^ http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-RandR/1990s/1993/RR-1993-02-19.pdf
- ^ 105.7 WCLB TV Commercials 1993
- ^ WBCS-FM owners to take over WKLB-FM, Boston Globe, June 15, 1996
- ^ ROR-FM back in letter and spirit, Boston Globe, September 5, 1996
- ^ "Beasley Acquires Greater Media". RadioInsight. 2016-08-03. Retrieved 2019-12-31.
- ^ "Beasley Closes On Greater Media Purchase; Makes Multiple Staff Moves". RadioInsight. 2016-11-01. Retrieved 2019-12-31.
- ^ http://wror.com/wally/#thanksservingb Wally Set To Retire His Alarm Clock!
- ^ Heslam, Jessica (November 7, 2008). "Oh, joy! Radio stations take Christmas carol plunge early". Boston Herald. Retrieved December 8, 2012.
- ^ "Radio Stations Kick Off Holiday Season". CBS Boston. November 18, 2010. Retrieved December 8, 2012.
- ^ "WROR flips to oldies music". Retrieved May 23, 2012.
- ^ Tucker, Ken (January 19, 2006). "Greater Media, Emmis Unveil HD2 Strategies". Billboard. Retrieved January 19, 2016.
External links[edit]
- Official website
- Query the FCC's FM station database for WROR
- Radio-Locator information on WROR
- Query Nielsen Audio's FM station database for WROR
