WJFD-FM 97.3

[Arconseal]

Hi all. Sorry to breach etiquette by making my first post on the forum a new topic, but I registered to ask a question of Boston radio people in general:

I'm a journalism student at BU writing a story about WJFD, the Portuguese-language radio station broadcasting from New Bedford. I think their tower is in Fairhaven, if that matters. Their founder and owner died last month, leaving their status up in the air. I was wondering if anyone here were familiar with the history of the station or with that of ethnic radio in the area. If so, PM me and we'll work something out. I'd really appreciate it if someone could help, as it seems to be an under-explored topic around here.

If you think I ought to ask this in the Providence forum instead, I'll gladly go do that. Thanks.

 

[WLYNWAZNgm]

Welcome! No breach of etiquette at all - that is what this board is for -
to discuss new ideas. (as opposed of the same individuals who post
thousands of times, merely to get in the last word, on any
given topic). That said, the station in question is probably more aligned
with the Providence market. For your personal information, WLYN 1360
also broadcasts a large portion of its air time in Brazilian Portuguese.
More on our Facebook page: WLYN Boston.

 

[Deleted User]

Not the first time a principal in a radio station dropped dead and put things into havoc

The man was 85 years old I hope he had a succession plan in place!

If you want an idea of their coverage area (the maps are theoretical but somewhat accurate on the local and distant curves) look here http://www.radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=WJFD&service=FM&status=L&hours=U

In an better economy a 50KW class B would be worth a fortune, now it is worth half a fortune. They have a huge footprint, in an area with a lot of Portuguese and Cape Verdean heritage.

I would venture to guess they direct their programming more towards that audience, rather than the Brazilian community, but that is just a guess.

I would call down there and ask to meet with the GM, or PD. I bet you'll find that Mr Dinis turned down offers of big money for that signal as recently as a few years ago, and he kept the station and it's format the way it was as a labor of love.

Their Mass S.O.S. office info is here, ( http://corp.sec.state.ma.us/corp/co...ReadFromDB=True&UpdateAllowed=&FEIN=042675696 ) and you might look up some of the people involved in the corporation.

 

[Arconseal]

Not the first time a principal in a radio station dropped dead and put things into havoc

The man was 85 years old I hope he had a succession plan in place!

If you want an idea of their coverage area (the maps are theoretical but somewhat accurate on the local and distant curves) look here http://www.radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=WJFD&service=FM&status=L&hours=U

In an better economy a 50KW class B would be worth a fortune, now it is worth half a fortune. They have a huge footprint, in an area with a lot of Portuguese and Cape Verdean heritage.

I would venture to guess they direct their programming more towards that audience, rather than the Brazilian community, but that is just a guess.

I would call down there and ask to meet with the GM, or PD. I bet you'll find that Mr Dinis turned down offers of big money for that signal as recently as a few years ago, and he kept the station and it's format the way it was as a labor of love.

Their Mass S.O.S. office info is here, ( http://corp.sec.state.ma.us/corp/co...ReadFromDB=True&UpdateAllowed=&FEIN=042675696 ) and you might look up some of the people involved in the corporation.

Thanks for the link. I should have mentioned in the OP that I've spoken at length with Henry Arruda and others at the station itself, but my Rolodex lacks sources from outside of WJFD. From the people I've spoken to, I've found Dinis really has turned down big money.

Succession seems pretty stable there, incidentally. My impression was that Arruda was in charge.