City | Boston, Massachusetts |
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Broadcast area | Greater Boston |
Branding | 98.5 The Sports Hub |
Slogan | Boston's Home for Sports |
Frequency | 98.5 MHz (also on HD Radio) |
First air date | October 1948 (as WNAC-FM) August 13, 2009 (current format as WBZ-FM) |
Format |
Sports radio HD2: WBCN HD3: WBZ simulcast |
ERP | 9,000 watts |
HAAT | 349 meters |
Class | B |
Facility ID | 1901 |
Transmitter coordinates | 42°18′27.4″N 71°13′25.2″W / 42.307611°N 71.223667°W |
Callsign meaning | from heritage sister station WBZ (AM) |
Former callsigns | WNAC-FM (1948–1958) WRKO-FM (1958–1968) WROR (1968–1991) WBMX(-FM) (1991–2009) |
Affiliations |
CBS Sports Radio New England Patriots Radio Network Boston Bruins Radio Network Boston Celtics Radio Network |
Owner |
CBS Radio (CBS Radio Stations Inc.) |
Sister stations | WBMX, WBZ, WBZ-TV, WODS, WSBK-TV, WZLX |
Webcast |
Listen Live HD2: Listen Live |
Website |
www www |
WBZ-FM is a sports radio station known as "98.5 The Sports Hub" and broadcasting on 98.5 MHz in Boston, Massachusetts. Owned by CBS Radio, the current WBZ-FM began on August 8, 2009 and competes with AM and FM sports talk station WEEI/WEEI-FM. WBZ-FM is home to the Boston Bruins, New England Patriots, Boston Celtics and New England Revolution radio networks. Its studios are located in Allston district of Boston, and its transmitter is in Newton.
WBZ-FM has been the callsign of three broadcast stations in Boston, Massachusetts since 1943, all associated with Westinghouse Broadcasting/CBS Radio: one from 1943 to 1954; one from 1957 to 1981 (which became WMJX); and the new format from August 2009, which uses the frequency of the old WROR/WBMX.
The first WBZ-FM had its origins in a construction permit held by Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company to operate at 42.6 MHz; this facility signed on as W1XK on November 7, 1940 from the Hull transmitter site of sister station WBZ. Westinghouse soon sought a commercial FM license, and on February 19, 1941 was granted a construction permit for W67B on 46.7; W1XK left the air for good on December 28, 1941, and W67B signed on March 29, 1942. The call letters became WBZ-FM on November 2, 1943. Initially, W67B/WBZ-FM was largely separately-programmed, though in later years it became a simulcast of its AM sister station.