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WRKO City of license Boston, Massachusetts Branding AM 680 WRKO Slogan "Boston's Talk Station" Frequency 680 kHz First air date 1922 Format Talk radio Power 50,000 watts Class B Facility ID 1902 Transmitter Coordinates 42°29'25?N 71°13'05?W? / ?42.490278°N 71.218056°W? / 42.490278; -71.218056 Callsign meaning RKO General (former Boston Celtics New England Revolution Owner Entercom Webcast Listen Live Website http://www.wrko.com/ WRKO (680 AM) is a radio station based in Boston, Massachusetts, currently owned by Entercom. Its transmitter is located in Burlington, Massachusetts, next to the Burlington Mall. Contents [hide] 1 History 1.1 1920-1940 1.2 1940-1981 1.3 1981-Present 2 Programming 2.1 Programs 2.2 News 2.3 Sports 2.4 Skyway Patrol 3 References 4 External links // History 1920-1940 Settling on 1230 kilocycles (kilohertz) in 1922, WNAC was founded by John Shepard, a Boston businessman who's father John Shepard Jr. had a department-store empire throughout New England and saw the potential of radio to publicize himself and his stores enough to finance his son's venture. The previous month WEAN another Shepard owned radio station went on air in Providence Rhode Island. In 1927, WNAC became one of the sixteen charter members of the CBS Radio Network, and remained a CBS affiliate for the next decade. Shepard also launched a regional network to serve radio stations throughout New England; called "The Yankee Network", it was also a pioneer in radio news coverage. For many years, the Yankee Network was one of the best local/regional Shepard also purchased a second Boston station, WAAB, which became an affiliate of the Mutual Radio Network in 1935. He also launched a second regional network, "The Colonial Network", with WAAB as its flagship station. Outside of Boston, Yankee and Colonial programming were usually heard on the same station; additionally, Colonial carried Mutual programming to its affiliates. 1935 also saw the hiring of Fred B. Cole, a disc jockey who would spend more than 50 years on the air in Boston at various stations.[1] Cole left WNAC for WHDH in 1946. In 1937, WNAC became an NBC Red affiliate after losing CBS to WEEI. Four years later, WNAC's frequency changed to 1260 kilocycles (kilohertz). In 1942, to comply with FCC anti-duopoly regulations, WAAB was moved to Worcester. At the same time, WNAC lost NBC "Red" to WBZ and with WAAB having been moved, took over the Mutual affiliation. 1940-1981 By 1949, WNAC was sold to General Tire and Rubber. For a brief time in 1956 and 1957, WNAC - which moved to 680 kHz when General Tire bought 50,000 watt WLAW (based 25 miles north of Boston in Lawrence, Massachusetts) in the early 1950s - was affiliated with both Mutual and NBC. The station would remain a Mutual affiliate until the network, of which General Tire was a part-owner, was sold in the late 1950s. WNAC lost NBC to WEZE (the | ||||
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