• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

How successful was News Radio 790 WEAN ?

S

Skynet74

I was a little kid when this station was on the air. I realisticly should not even remember it. I think I was 5 years old. My dad would have it on and it just stuck in my head. How successful was it for it's time. I think I still recall them airing CBS News. That sounder at the top of the hour is the one thing that I never forgot. How about a brief history lesson for me. I would appreciate it.

Thanks
 
I can remember WEAN was a music station back in the 70s, and a good one at that. Of all the Providence stations I think I listened to that one the most.
 
martin1945 said:
I can remember WEAN was a music station back in the 70s, and a good one at that. Of all the Providence stations I think I listened to that one the most.
Click to expand...

My 790 WEAN memory is of its News/Talk incarnation in the late 1970's/mid 1980's. I still remember John Martin's mid-day magazine-style interview-driven show (before he started doing a conventional phone-in show weekday evenings). To me, it was the sort of show you don't hear much these days outside of an NPR setting.

I also remember Chuck Wilson's early evening sports call-in show. What to say about Chuck except Class......Class......Class......Entercom Boston could learn a thing or two or three from him.

Slightly off topic. Remembering network news sounders......on those very rare occasions when 920 WJAR actually carried the top of the hour NBC Radio News, well...that sounder is still deeply etched in my memory bank, almost three decades later. Memory can be a strange and funny thing sometimes... ;)
 
I don't really have a handle on the timeline of events, but WEAN on 790 was all news & information with call-in shows like you mentioned. They were owned by The Providence Journal & housed across the hall from JB105 downtown. Other local names who worked there were Steve Bousquet, Dave Nickerson, & Pam Watts. They may have even made use of some Projo columnists to record features. I really don't recall how well they did, but that's an expensive format to run, especially considering they had quite a large staff. I also think somewhere along the line the WEAN calls ended up on the dreaded 990 frequency...maybe in the later 80s. Not long ago I found an old radio of my dad's who passed away over 20 years ago. No one had touched it in years & it was set to 790.
 
WEAN 790 used the now defunct NBC NIS(News And Information Service) as its network feed. Local news was at the top and bottom of every hour. I used to listen to John Martin's midday show; quite a different approach! And, yes, the WEAN call did migrate to the 990 spot. I was overnights there for awhile.

Dave Gardiner

WVCH 740/WNWR 1540

Philadelphia
 
Well the WEAN I remember was from the early 70's. I swear that I remember hearing them air CBS News at the top of each hour. Can someone confirm that I'm not dreaming?
 
Skynet74 said:
Well the WEAN I remember was from the early 70's. I swear that I remember hearing them air CBS News at the top of each hour. Can someone confirm that I'm not dreaming?
Click to expand...

You're not dreaming! I also remember CBS Radio news on WEAN at the top of the hour. However, my memories of that station are from a slightly later time frame (later 1970's through mid 1980's).

Dave could be correct about a second or alternate network news feed, but I have no memory of anything other than CBS.

dr
 
Dighton and John,

WEAN had the CBS affiliation for as long as I can remember. I think the network was also carried on WPJB as well. Not sure if that was the case in the "WEAN(spoken as the word)Means Music" days with former WARV'er Dave Nickerson at the helm...

Dave Gardiner

WVCH 740/WNWR 1540

Philadelphia
 
I clearly remember riding in the car with my mother during the early 60's in Salem, Mass where we lived always listening to WEAN 790 long form CBS network programming which included Arthur Godfrey and then Dear Abby at 9:55 AM followed by CBS Radio News at the top the hour
Clearly remember the day JFK was shot and hearing Walter Cronkite commenting
and it was on WEAN
 
Dave,

My memory is a bit vague, but I seem to recall when WEAN and 'PJB did some simulcasting. And their hourly ID went something like, "This is WEAN plus WBJB-FM, PROVIDENCE"!
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom