WEZE
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| City | Boston, Massachusetts |
|---|---|
| Branding | 590 AM The Word |
| Slogan | Boston's Christian Talk |
| Frequency | 590 kHz |
| First air date | September 29, 1924 (license, as WEEI) |
| Format | Religion |
| Power | 5,000 watts |
| Class | B |
| Facility ID | 73594 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 42°24′24.00″N 71°5′14.00″W / 42.4066667°N 71.0872222°W |
| Callsign meaning | EZE = Easy |
| Former callsigns | WEEI (1924–1994) WBNW (1994–1997) |
| Former frequencies | 990 kHz (1924–1925) 630 kHz (1925–1926) 800 kHz (1926–1927) 860 kHz (1927) 670 kHz (1927) 820 kHz (1927) |
| Affiliations | Salem Radio Network |
| Owner |
Salem Communications (Pennsylvania Media Associates, Inc.) |
| Sister stations | WBIX, WROL, WWDJ |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | www |
WEZE is an AM radio station in Boston, Massachusetts on 590 kHz. The station is owned by Salem Communications and airs religious programming.
The history of the 590 frequency dates back to 1924 as WEEI, owned by (and whose callsign meant) Edison Electric Illuminating. In its earliest days, the station was a public relations vehicle for Edison. In 1926, the station had become a charter member of NBC Radio, broadcasting NBC Red Network programming, before CBS leased them out in 1936 in response to WBZ being leased by NBC for its Blue Network in 1932. Soon after, CBS completely bought WEEI from Edison.
CBS was the last network to maintain a full schedule of radio comedy programs, dramatic series, variety shows, and soap operas in the traditional sense, so such programming took up much of WEEI's schedule until 1960. By the early 1960s, WEEI had a MOR format interspersed with talk programming, making the station a talk radio pioneer. By the mid-sixties, WEEI was all-talk, except in the overnight hours, where "Music 'Til Dawn" would continue for a few more years. Popular WEEI talk hosts ("talkmasters") of the period included Paul Benzaquin, Howard Nelson, and Len Lawrence.
However, in 1974, this format was scrapped in favor of CBS's standard all-news format, which continued after Helen Broadcasting bought WEEI in 1983. (Its FM sister station remained—and continues to be—owned by CBS.)
By 1991, the Boston Celtics had become the owners of the station, and had interspersed sports programming into WEEI's schedule, before the remaining news programs were finally cancelled on Labor Day of that year, taking the station all-sports. The station also took over operations of WVEI in Worcester to simulcast its programming in central Massachusetts.
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