WBZ (AM)

WBZ (AM)

WBZ is the call sign for an AM radio station in Boston, Massachusetts owned by CBS Radio, itself owned by the CBS Corporation. Originally based in and broadcast from Springfield, Massachusetts, WBZ is the first licensed commercial radio station in the United States. WBZ moved to Boston in 1931 in a swap with a now-defunct synchronous repeater, WBZA.

WBZ radio, which broadcasts at 1030 kHz, is the oldest surviving commercial radio station in New England, as it began broadcasting from Springfield in 1921. WBZ currently runs an all-news format during the day and a talk radio format at night, with hosts including Dan Rea, Steve LeVeille, and Jordan Rich. The station has long been one of the highest-rated stations in the Boston area, and covers much of the eastern United States and Canada at night with its 50,000-watt clear-channel signal from its transmitter location in Hull, Massachusetts, which has been used by the station since 1940. For this reason, WBZ is a Primary Entry Point (PEP) for the Emergency Alert System (EAS). The transmitter is a two tower directional array where each tower is 160 meters (520 ft) tall.

WBZ is an affiliate of the co-owned CBS Radio Network, as well as ABC News Radio and AP Radio for national and international news as well as some features (from 1980 to 2005, the station carried noted radio raconteur Paul Harvey's broadcasts from ABC Radio), but the bulk of the station's schedule, except some weekend programming, is produced in-house. WBZ has also been heavily involved in charitable work, with its annual Christmastime fund drive for Boston's Children's Hospital (which it does along with sister TV station WBZ-TV) being the most high-profile.

It was the home of talkmaster David Brudnoy for 18 years, until the day before his death in 2004. Other notable hosts included talk show host Bob Kennedy, poet/radio host Dick Summer, disc jockeys Bruce Bradley, Jeff Kaye, Ron Landry and later, Larry Justice, jazz DJ turned talkmaster Norm Nathan, late-night talker and humorist Larry Glick, and morning hosts Carl DeSuze, Tom Bergeron and Dave Maynard. It was also the radio home of legendary Boston meteorologist Don Kent, regarded by all within range of its signal as the most accurate weatherman in the world.

From 1929 to 1953, WBZ operated a shortwave station that eventually became known as WBOS; the call sign has since been reassigned to what is now a mainstream rock station. Additionally, from 1940 until 1981, the station made half-hearted attempts to launch FM service, at various points operating FM service on 100.7 (now occupied by WZLX, a current sister to WBZ), 92.9 (now occupied by the aforementioned WBOS, owned by Greater Media) and 106.7 (now WMJX, also owned by Greater Media); these stations were either closed down or sold to other chains, with the WBZ-FM call letters eventually being reused in 2009 on a co-owned sports radio station at 98.5.