WBWL (FM)
 |
|
| City | Lynn, Massachusetts |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Greater Boston |
| Branding | 101.7 The Bull |
| Slogan | Boston's New Hit Country |
| Frequency | 101.7 MHz |
| First air date | August 5, 1963 (as WLYN-FM) |
| Format | Country |
| ERP | 13,500 watts |
| HAAT | 138 meters (453 ft) |
| Class | B1 |
| Facility ID | 40824 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 42°25′51.70″N 71°5′18.80″W / 42.4310278°N 71.0885556°W |
| Callsign meaning | BWL = Bull |
| Former callsigns | WLYN-FM (1963–1977) WLYN (1977–1979) WLYN-FM (1979–1983) WFNX (1983–2012) WHBA (2012–2013) WEDX (2013–2014) |
| Owner |
iHeartMedia (AMFM Radio Licenses, LLC) |
| Sister stations | WJMN, WKOX, WXKS, WXKS-FM |
| Webcast | Listen Live (via iHeartRadio) |
| Website | www |
WBWL (101.7 FM; "101.7 The Bull") is an American radio station licensed to serve the community of Lynn, Massachusetts. Established in 1963, WBWL is owned by iHeartMedia and serves the Boston metropolitan area. The station broadcasts a country music format. The station's studios are located in Medford and the transmitter site is on Murray Hill, also in Medford.
For a more detailed history, see WFNX
WBWL signed on August 5, 1963 as WLYN-FM, owned by Puritan Broadcasting Service along with WLYN (1360 AM). At the outset, WLYN-FM largely simulcast its AM sister station during hours in which the AM was on the air. During the 1970s, the simulcast was cut to drive time, with WLYN-FM brokering the remaining time to ethnic programmers; by 1974, the station's English-language programming included country music. Although WLYN changed its call letters to WNSR in 1977, WLYN-FM retained its call sign, but dropped the "-FM" suffix; both changes were reversed on December 31, 1979.
WLYN-FM began to devote its nighttime programming to new wave music in 1981; the following year, the station had become a full-time modern rock station known as "Y102," with the ethnic programming moving to the AM station. In September 1982, Puritan announced that it would sell WLYN-FM to Stephen Mindich, publisher of the Boston Phoenix; the station eventually became part of the Phoenix Media/Communications Group. Mindich retained the modern rock format upon assuming control in March 1983, relaunching it on April 11 as "Boston Phoenix Radio," with the WFNX call letters coming into use ten days earlier. WFNX would subsequently become one of the earliest alternative rock stations.
WFNX broadened its focus to Greater Boston after the sale to Mindich, opening a sales office at the Phoenix offices in Boston, but its studios remained in the same building as WLYN in Lynn. The station did move its transmitter from WLYN's tower in Lynn to Medford in 1987 and to One Financial Center in Boston in 2006 to provide a better signal within the market; from 1998 to 2006, a translator station, W276AI (101.3 FM) was operated from the John Hancock Tower to improve WFNX's reception in Boston, but was discontinued when the move to One Financial Center rendered it redundant. During 1999 and 2000, Phoenix Media/Communications Group also acquired WCDQ (92.1 FM, renamed WPHX-FM) in Sanford, Maine, WNHQ (92.1 FM, renamed WFEX) in Peterborough, New Hampshire, and WWRX-FM (103.7 FM) in Westerly, Rhode Island to serve as WFNX simulcast stations. WWRX-FM was sold to Entercom, eventually becoming WVEI-FM, in 2004, while WPHX-FM was sold to Aruba Capital Partners, becoming WXEX-FM, in 2011. Even with these expansions, WFNX broadcast at a lower power than other Boston market stations, limiting WFNX's signal in the outer portions of the market.
...
Wikipedia