Thanks to Donna Halper and maybe some others there are some pages on bostonradio.org
showing a timeline of Boston Radio history. As you go back through the decades you may
note some stations with call letters you know but they're on different frequencies than
you'd expect. FM of course used to have a different frequency range though on the 40s
page it mentions when it moved to 88-108. You'll find out such things as what the first
non-commercial/educational station was (see below) and that Westinghouse applied
for a TV license for WBZ-TV...on channel
5.
http://www.bostonradio.org/timeline/timeline-40s>>1949: Although the economy in general and radio in particular are doing quite well, many FM stations are in the red with no end in sight. The relocation of the FM band rendered most of the existing receiver base obsolete, and with many new AM stations taking to the air, there is little incentive for consumers to purchase expensive new FM tuners. As a result, new FM stations nationwide—some even licensed to deep-pocketed owners—begin to go off the air. In Boston, WBMS-FM (104.1) is the first, after just two years of operation.
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Now guess what band is "dying"...or at least let's say 75-80 per cent of listeners don't prefer it.
From the page above you can go to other pages for other decades.
Now whom was that first non-comm. station in Boston, debuting in 1949?
It was 88.1...
WERS
