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WNEB

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Coordinates: 42°16′23.34″N 71°49′21.26″W / 42.2731500°N 71.8225722°W / 42.2731500; -71.8225722
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WNEB
Broadcast areaWorcester, Massachusetts
Frequency1230 kHz
BrandingThe Station of the Cross
Programming
FormatCatholic radio
NetworkThe Station of the Cross
AffiliationsEWTN Radio
Ownership
OwnerHoly Family Communications
WESO
History
First air date
December 16, 1946
Call sign meaning
New England Broadcasting (original owner)[1]
Technical information[2]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID249
ClassC
Power1,000 watts unlimited
Transmitter coordinates
42°16′23.34″N 71°49′21.26″W / 42.2731500°N 71.8225722°W / 42.2731500; -71.8225722
Links
Public license information
WebcastListen live
Websitethestationofthecross.com/stations/worcester-ma/

WNEB (1230 AM) is a Catholic radio station broadcasting religious programming. Licensed to Worcester, Massachusetts, United States, the station serves the Worcester area. The station is owned by Holy Family Communications, and operates as part of The Station of the Cross.

History

WNEB signed on December 16, 1946,[3] under the ownership of the New England Broadcasting Company.[4] It was Worcester's fourth radio station (after WTAG, WORC, and WAAB), and its first independent station.[3] New England Broadcasting, owned by John Hurley, sold the station to George Steffy and Harold Glidden in 1960;[5] around this time, WNEB had a middle of the road (MOR) format.[6] Its independent status ended in 1963, when the station joined the CBS Radio Network.[7]

Glidden took full control of WNEB in 1975, shortly after Steffy's death;[8] soon afterward, the station shifted to a country music format.[9] The CBS affiliation had also ceased by this time, and moved to WAAB.[9] Two years later, WNEB was sold to Segal Broadcasting.[10] Segal reverted the station to MOR and affiliated it with the ABC Entertainment network.[11] WNEB shifted to a big band format in 1981;[12] the next year, it rejoined CBS.[13] AAMAR Communications bought the station in 1986.[14] Financial problems soon forced AAMAR to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on December 4, 1990; on August 23, 1991, WNEB went dark.[15]

Bob Bittner, owner of WJIB in Cambridge, purchased WNEB in 1994,[16] and brought the station back on the air October 24, 1996, with a simulcast of WJIB's beautiful music format.[17] A year later, Bittner sold the station to Heirwaves, Inc.,[18] which relaunched the station with a contemporary Christian music format on November 29, 1997.[19] Heirwaves sold WNEB to Great Commission Broadcasting in 1999,[20] which implemented a simulcast of similarly-formatted WJLT from Natick (which Great Commission programmed at that time) soon afterward.[21] Great Commission later changed its name to Grace Broadcasting.[22]

A financial dispute with Windsor Financial Corporation led to Windsor assuming control of WNEB's license in 2003.[23] The station's format and staff then migrated to WYCM (90.1 FM) (its station manager, Stephen Binley, had founded Heirwaves and remained with WNEB after the sale to Great Commission),[24] and Windsor operated WNEB with an automated contemporary Christian music format for several months before switching it to a simulcast of Leicester's WVNE (760 AM), a religious station owned by Blount Communications, that fall; as WVNE is a daytimer, WNEB continued the format on its own during that station's off-air hours.[25] Blount bought WNEB outright soon afterward.[26]

WNEB began moving away from religious programming in June 2007 with the addition of The Sean Hannity Show;[27] in March 2008, it switched to a full-time conservative talk format.[28] This format ended in April 2009, and the station went silent[29] for one week before the launch of a Spanish language talk format, also incorporating some inspirational music, on May 4.[30]

Blount sold WNEB to Emmanuel Communications, with plans to relaunch the station with Catholic radio programming, in October 2010.[31] Upon taking over on January 14, 2011, WNEB temporarily left the air once more while relocating to new studios;[32] it returned to the air with the new format on May 1.[33] As with most Catholic radio stations, WNEB was an EWTN Radio affiliate,[34] though it intended to produce some local programming as well.[33] Emmanuel Communications acquired a second station, WESO in Southbridge, in 2014.[35]

Holy Family Communications, owner of WQOM in Natick and stations in New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, began operating WNEB and WESO under a local marketing agreement on January 1, 2022. The stations became part of Holy Family's The Station of the Cross network.[36] In early 2024, Holy Family bought the stations outright for $1,000.[37]

References

  1. ^ "Call Letter Origins". Radio History on the Web. Retrieved March 26, 2015.
  2. ^ "Facility Technical Data for WNEB". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  3. ^ a b "WNEB Takes the Air". Billboard. December 28, 1946. Retrieved February 21, 2011.
  4. ^ Broadcasting Yearbook 1948 (PDF). 1948. p. 146. Retrieved March 26, 2015.
  5. ^ "Changing hands" (PDF). Broadcasting. May 9, 1960. p. 80. Retrieved March 26, 2015.
  6. ^ "Many Top Radio Outlets Moving Toward Moderate Music, News". Billboard. November 13, 1961. Retrieved February 21, 2011.
  7. ^ Broadcasting Yearbook 1964 (PDF). 1964. p. B-75. Retrieved March 26, 2015.
  8. ^ "For the Record" (PDF). Broadcasting. January 27, 1975. p. 75. Retrieved March 26, 2015.
  9. ^ a b Broadcasting Yearbook 1976 (PDF). 1976. p. C-95. Retrieved March 26, 2015.
  10. ^ "For the Record" (PDF). Broadcasting. May 30, 1977. p. 31. Retrieved March 26, 2015.
  11. ^ Broadcasting Yearbook 1980 (PDF). 1980. p. C-110. Retrieved March 26, 2015.
  12. ^ Broadcasting/Cablecasting Yearbook 1982 (PDF). 1980. p. C-115. Retrieved March 26, 2015.
  13. ^ Broadcasting/Cablecasting Yearbook 1983 (PDF). 1983. p. B-117. Retrieved March 26, 2015.
  14. ^ "For the Record" (PDF). Broadcasting. September 22, 1986. p. 87. Retrieved March 26, 2015.
  15. ^ "Financial problems force WNEB off the air". Telegram & Gazette. August 24, 1991. Retrieved February 21, 2011. (pay content preview)
  16. ^ Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 1995 (PDF). 1995. p. B-197. Retrieved March 26, 2015.
  17. ^ Fybush, Scott (October 29, 1996). "New England RadioWatch". Retrieved February 21, 2011.
  18. ^ Fybush, Scott (August 7, 1997). "A Change of Sale". North East RadioWatch. Retrieved February 21, 2011.
  19. ^ Fybush, Scott (December 4, 1997). "North East RadioWatch". Retrieved February 21, 2011.
  20. ^ Fybush, Scott (March 5, 1999). "We Will Never Make Fun of Boston Weather Again..." North East RadioWatch. Retrieved February 21, 2011.
  21. ^ Fybush, Scott (June 4, 1999). "The End of CBL Is Near". North East RadioWatch. Retrieved February 21, 2011.
  22. ^ "Application Search Details". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved February 21, 2011.
  23. ^ Fybush, Scott (August 18, 2003). "Back from the Blackout". NorthEast Radio Watch. Archived from the original on June 28, 2011. Retrieved March 26, 2015.
  24. ^ Richards, Stephanie (April 2009). "Mortgage paid, local Christian radio station marks milestone" (PDF). The Sturbridge Times Magazine. Retrieved February 21, 2011.
  25. ^ Fybush, Scott (November 3, 2003). "WABC-DT Returns to Air". NorthEast Radio Watch. Archived from the original on June 28, 2011. Retrieved March 26, 2015.
  26. ^ Fybush, Scott (November 24, 2003). "Willcox Applies for 50kW at WNSH". NorthEast Radio Watch. Archived from the original on June 28, 2011. Retrieved March 26, 2015.
  27. ^ Fybush, Scott (June 18, 2007). "Barnicle Out at Boston's WTKK". NorthEast Radio Watch. Retrieved February 21, 2011.
  28. ^ Fybush, Scott (March 24, 2008). "NBC Wants to Sell WVIT - Again". NorthEast Radio Watch. Retrieved February 21, 2011.
  29. ^ Fybush, Scott (April 27, 2009). "On The Death of WARM*". NorthEast Radio Watch. Retrieved February 21, 2011.
  30. ^ Fybush, Scott (May 4, 2009). "Severin Off Air, CC Keeps Cutting". NorthEast Radio Watch. Retrieved February 21, 2011.
  31. ^ Fybush, Scott (November 1, 2010). "KDKA Turns 90". NorthEast Radio Watch. Retrieved February 21, 2011.
  32. ^ "Notification of Suspension of Operations". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. January 21, 2011. Retrieved February 21, 2011.
  33. ^ a b Kush, Bronislaus B. (May 2, 2011). "WNEB converts to Catholicism". Telegram & Gazette. Retrieved May 2, 2011.
  34. ^ O'Connell, Patricia (January 21, 2011). "Two groups to bring EWTN Radio into Worcester Diocese". Catholic Free Press. Retrieved February 21, 2011.[dead link‍]
  35. ^ Boynton, Donna (June 28, 2014). "Worcester Catholic radio to buys WESO station". Worcester Telegram & Gazette. Retrieved November 30, 2023.
  36. ^ Venta, Lance (December 9, 2021). "Holy Family Communications Expands In Massachusetts". RadioInsight. Retrieved November 30, 2023.
  37. ^ Venta, Lance (January 5, 2024). "Station Sales Week of 1/5". RadioInsight. Retrieved April 7, 2024.
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