Fitchburg's WEIM 1280 now WPKZ Pulse--news, talk, sports

[raccoonradio]

WEIM 1280 in Fitchburg has ditched the heritage calls and gone to WPKZ, with a news-talk/sports
format. Spanish programming relegated to overnights and weekends. They have Ben Parker (ex WRKO),
who's been there awhile, as part of a local morning team then they apparently take Fox News Talk's
Brian (Kilmeade) & The Judge (Andrew Napolitano) and John Gibson (also heard them run the short
feature with Mike Huckabee at 1 pm)

They have Red Sox and Pats and may be running other syndie sports

http://www.i1280.com

 

[Schuyler]

Yes, Sean Hannity in PM drive, then FOX Sports all night (or after the game). They still have ABC News, though.

Why they ditched the approximately 65 year old calls is beyond me, since before this they identified as "the Blend," an AC music format with John Tesh and Billy Bush, and only mentioned the calls at the top of the hour.

Of course, this new format fills a real need in the area as it's so difficult to find a station with conservative talk...unless you do something crazy, like turn an AM radio on and randomly tune to something. Sheesh.

 

[raccoonradio]

Yes--I just tuned in (it comes in on the North Shore as a fringe signal) and heard they have Hannity.

They used to run Howie Carr; one time when WRKO had the Celtics, a couple yrs back, there was an
afternoon game on Martin Luther King Jr Day so Howie got pre-empted. I think WCRN wasn't aboard yet so you had to try somewhere else to pick up Howie. I was out for a drive and got him on WEIM for awhile. (Howie
didn't get on till 5:30 or so)

 

[nd2023]

A station called Pulse that isn't a dance station? Say it ain't so!

 

[Time Traveler]

Kind of sad....although it doesn't matter anymore I guess...to see what was once "Fitchburg's Famous"....
"The Famous 1280"....completely give up its old heritage identity. During the late 60s and early 70s, WEIM was an outstanding small market Top 40 station which sounded far more hip and professional than one would expect in a market the size of Fitchburg/Leominster. RIP...

 

[raccoonradio]

>>A station called Pulse that isn't a dance station?

as it turns out the news/talk/sports station just outside Manchester NH, WTPL 107.7 has been the Pulse
for awhile.

 

[Channel Surf]

At the present time there is a very accurate history of WEIM on Wikipedia....

 

[Gadon]

Not sure why they would ditch the heritage call sign.. Unless they have become 'tainted' in the community, which I doubt.. They call call it what they want, a 65 year old habit is hard to break.. ???

 

[jlehmann]

They call call it what they want, a 65 year old habit is hard to break.. ???

This is the exact same thing that happened with 1460 in Brockton. To this day, it seem like every time they're mentioned in the local newspaper, they refer to the station as "1460 WXBR (formerly WBET)." I expect the same thing will happen with 1280, and it just doesn't make sense.

 

[wcasker]

WEIM had always been very active in Fitchburg, showing up at and broadcasting local events, including local election coverage, high school football games, as well as the Longsjo classic bike race. Their coverage during the ice storm was exceptional and helped so many people know what was happening when we didn't have power. They also did a great Hopefully they will retain some local coverage here.

 

[Gadon]

Are they still doing 5000 watts of English by day and 1000 watts of Spanish at night ??

 

[Mickey37]

Yes, WEIM was a lifeline for so many in north central mass who were left in the dark late last year. Good luck to them, hope this change works for them. Also hope they find a way to retain local flavor beyond mornings.

 

[raccoonradio]

The Spanish doesn't start till 11 pm or midnight I think--they're running Fox Sports & also Sox games after 6 pm

 

[ssetta]

Oh no!! I can't believe this! It was like one of the only popular music stations on the AM band left! Why would they have to get rid of it??

 

[Schuyler]

...It was like one of the only popular music stations on the AM band left! Why would they have to get rid of it??

I'll bet it was the high cost of music royalties. By going all-talk, paying for music goes away.

I agree with those who posted about their excellent ice storm coverage. I was glued to WEIM for the 12 days I had no electricity. Ben Parker and Scott May do a good local morning show and they've stayed put. But INHO, jumping in the sack with Fox lacks imagination and changing the call letters is just plain stupid.

 

[raccoonradio]

http://fybush.com/nerw.html

Fybush notes today that WPKZ owner Central Broadcasting Co. has obtained the license for a proposed
translator at 96.5 in Gloucester, which they hope to move to 95.9 and wonders "Will the next step be a series of hops to move that translator west into the Fitchburg market?" (Certainly I wouldn't think a 95.9 in
Gloucester would be possible what with WATD being down the coast on that freq...unless it were
directional) So who knows,
WPKZ could get an FM translator (Fybush also notes that UMass could get a translator at 88.5
in Amesbury; don't they already have WNEF 91.7, lic. to Newburyport but with a stick in Carriage-Town*?
So they'd have two Amesbury signals, in effect?'

*--Amesbury became famous for making carriages and there are signs in town pointing that out

 

[Laurence Glavin]

http://fybush.com/nerw.html

Fybush notes today that WPKZ owner Central Broadcasting Co. has obtained the license for a proposed
translator at 96.5 in Gloucester, which they hope to move to 95.9 and wonders "Will the next step be a series of hops to move that translator west into the Fitchburg market?" (Certainly I wouldn't think a 95.9 in
Gloucester would be possible what with WATD being down the coast on that freq...unless it were
directional) So who knows,
WPKZ could get an FM translator (Fybush also notes that UMass could get a translator at 88.5
in Amesbury; don't they already have WNEF 91.7, lic. to Newburyport but with a stick in Carriage-Town*?
So they'd have two Amesbury signals, in effect?'

*--Amesbury became famous for making carriages and there are signs in town pointing that out

A station operating in Fitchburg at 95.9? Isn't there a fairly STRONG signal nearby at 96.1...viz: WSRS!

 

[fybush]

A station operating in Fitchburg at 95.9? Isn't there a fairly STRONG signal nearby at 96.1...viz: WSRS!

It won't be on 95.9 by the time it gets to Fitchburg. Each hop the translator makes as it's moved west also allows it to move up or down the dial 3 channels (or up/down 10.6/10.8 MHz, too.)

It'll probably end up on 95.5, I'm guessing.

 

[Time Traveler]

http://fybush.com/nerw.html

Fybush notes today that WPKZ owner Central Broadcasting Co. has obtained the license for a proposed
translator at 96.5 in Gloucester, which they hope to move to 95.9 and wonders "Will the next step be a series of hops to move that translator west into the Fitchburg market?" (Certainly I wouldn't think a 95.9 in
Gloucester would be possible what with WATD being down the coast on that freq...unless it were
directional) So who knows,
WPKZ could get an FM translator (Fybush also notes that UMass could get a translator at 88.5
in Amesbury; don't they already have WNEF 91.7, lic. to Newburyport but with a stick in Carriage-Town*?
So they'd have two Amesbury signals, in effect?'

*--Amesbury became famous for making carriages and there are signs in town pointing that out

A station operating in Fitchburg at 95.9? Isn't there a fairly STRONG signal nearby at 96.1...viz: WSRS!

That would get crunched by both 96.1-WSRS and 95.7-WZID.

 

[Time Traveler]

A station operating in Fitchburg at 95.9? Isn't there a fairly STRONG signal nearby at 96.1...viz: WSRS!

It won't be on 95.9 by the time it gets to Fitchburg. Each hop the translator makes as it's moved west also allows it to move up or down the dial 3 channels (or up/down 10.6/10.8 MHz, too.)

It'll probably end up on 95.5, I'm guessing.

Again...95.5 would be SERIOUSLY challenged by the very strong coverage in that area of 95.7-WZID....