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1460 WBET Brockton now WBZB!?!?

S

soxandpats

Is the end of WBET near, or is this just someone at the FCC screwing up? It was said that the new owners wern't going to change much with the station, but the calls? Those are very recognizable to the people of the Brockton area!

I just checked this morning, and they're still doing local news as WBET. Anyone know anything?
 
Wow! - Either the new out-of-town owner doesn't know there's a similar-calls station just 15 miles away, or else they're overly brave. WBZB, tho, is a logical choice for a business format.
 
A search of the www.fcc.gov web page shows no results for WBET. WBZB will show up as 1460, Brockton. :'(At 4:00 P.M. this afternoon the ID on the station is still WBET and the answering machine still says WBET. Is there a mistake somewhere or is the full change ready to happen? ???

2 day a week production guy? ;)
 
I heard the switch of call letters will happen 12/1. WBZ is aware and is not happy about it.
 
'BZ can launch a protest. Years ago WCRB raised concern about the call letters of WCLB (now WKLB)
being so close to their own calls (and ironically enough, those two stations are now doing that switch)
 
did yahoo search and it turned up an AM station in North Carolina (AM 1090)...
And then on radio-locator.com when you type in WBZB it says AM 1460 Brockton MA
"All North Carolina Music"

huh?
the NC station supposedly is playing all local music. Is there some kind of mixup?

2002 CNN article "North Carolina station plays only local music"
http://forbin.qc.edu/mediastudies/m101/radio3.htm

radio locator: "WBZB-AM 1460 kHz
Brockton, Massachusetts
"All North Carolina Music"
>>Last FCC Update November 24 2006

address given as Raleigh (!)...well there was a WBZB (1090) in that area years ago but maybe not now...
 
A sad day. :( A once great local station now gone. There were some talented people that have passed through the 60 Main Street doors over the years. Joe Gallagher must be laughing all the way to the bank.
 
I listened to a brief minute of this station this afternoon, and heard a liner (not near the top of the hour) that said "WBZB, Boston". I'm sure they have to do a top of hour ID as "WBZB, Brockton", but I didn't keep listening.

But, even an off-the-TOH liner saying "WBZB, Boston" is ridiculous for that station. It barely comes in north of Route 128/95 in the Blue Hills area. It's quite weak around Boston by day, and inaudible at night. That signal could never be a Boston player no matter what they program.
 
That's just as silly as WARL indentifying themselves as a Providence station (however, they do air the proper legal ID...WARL Attleboro)...when 1320 AM can barely be heard in downtown Providence.
 
Does this break some Arbitron rules?
 
No, no Arbitron rules have been broken. And no FCC rules have been broken either. However is IS hilarious that a station unofficially identifies itself in a place it barely can be heard, but that is somewhat typical of fringe rim-shotter business stations in many markets. (NYC excluded).

The only thing negative about those call letters being so close to 1030's is that it is a no-no in the broadcast biz to do that. Prior to the 1990's the FCC required that for every call-letter change, the station wanting to make the change had to certify to the FCC that they sent out letters of intent, mentioning new proposed call letters, to every radio and TV station within 35 miles of its location. So if another station wanted to protest that, they could, to the FCC. After around 1988 or so, the FCC said we don't need all this paperwork... Call letters are a local issue...we'll assign them, but we don't want to get in the middle of it all. Their thoughts then (and now) were/are for the two or more conflicting stations can fight it out in local court..... which is likely to happen. And if that happens, then 1460 will get a lot of free press.

Now let's see what WBZB could mean. "We're the Busy-Bees of Business, 1460". ??
Or Beezlebub Radio?
 
WBET (1946-2006) was Re: 1460 WBET Brockton now WBZB!?!?

As an alum of the late WBET/WCAV, I find it sad that the new owner would ditch a 60 year old set of call-letters, ironically the day after Thanksgiving (11/24/06). The first broadcast of WBET (then on 990 kHz) was on Thanksgiving Day 1946, with the play-by-play of Brockton High School Football. The WBET call-letters had a lot of goodwill behind them. Mention Brockton, and somewhere WBET would show some significance. It was the station of record for the "City of Champions". I think of all of the great people that have graced the studios of WBET/WCAV over the past 60 years. The call-letters of WBET stood for Brockton Enterprise and Times, the local newspaper (still printing today as The Enterprise). This was a great station and the people there were nothing short of amazing.
 
I notice today that they are now acutally using the WBZB call letters on the air. The day I first posted this, they were not. Not sure when exactly they made the change. There have been a couple slip ups though.
 
soxandpats said:
There have been a couple slip ups though.
Click to expand...

That’s bound to happen. You say WBET 1460 for 20+ years (If you are referring to Steve Mason who has been there for a long, long time) a slip up now and then is going to happen and understandable.
 
Yes, as Peter said, that IS a shame.... the letters WBET gone now after 60 years with just one set of call letters on 1460. I'll "bet" that WBZB won't last quite as long..... Now Brockton doesn't have ANY local radio in English..... so sad.
 
http://www.irishradio.homestead.com/WBET.html

A tribute page to WBET. I think something similar happened with WJDA--someone put a page up,
maybe the previous owners of the station, with info on the past, pictures, etc. As someone who
grew up on the NORTH Shore not the South, I wasn't familiar with any of this. While that type
of station is now gone at least that site should remind us, sadly, of the past.
 
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