WBZ-TV

WBZ-TV, channel 4, is a CBS-owned-and-operated television station located in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. The station is owned by the CBS Television Stations subsidiary of CBS Corporation, and is part of a duopoly with MyNetworkTV affiliate WSBK-TV (channel 38), The two stations share studios and office facilities located on Soldiers Field Road in the Allston-Brighton section of Boston; WBZ-TV's transmitter is located in Needham, Massachusetts on a tower site that is owned by CBS (which is shared with transmitters belonging to WCVB-TV, WGBH-TV, WGBX-TV and WSBK-TV).

WBZ-TV is also one of six local Boston television stations seen in Canada by subscribers to satellite provider Bell TV, and is also seen on most cable systems in Atlantic Canada.

History

As an NBC affiliate

As the only television station that was built from the ground up by the Westinghouse Electric Corporation, WBZ-TV began operations on June 9, 1948, at 6:15 PM with a broadcast hosted by Arch MacDonald. The station was from its inception associated with the NBC television network, owing to WBZ radio (1030 AM)'s longtime affiliation with the NBC Red Network. At its sign-on, WBZ-TV became the first commercial television station to begin operations in the New England region. The station originally operated from inside the Hotel Bradford alongside its radio sister; its current home was not completed at the time, although master control and its self-supporting tower over the building were in use at sign-on. The WBZ stations would not move into what was then known as the Westinghouse Broadcasting Center until June 17, 1948, when the building was finished.

WBZ

WBZ may refer to:

WBZ-FM

WBZ-FM is a sports radio station known as "98.5 The Sports Hub" and broadcasting on 98.5 MHz in Boston, Massachusetts. Owned by CBS Radio, the current WBZ-FM began on August 13, 2009 and competes with AM and FM sports talk station WEEI. WBZ-FM is home to the Boston Bruins, New England Patriots, Boston Celtics and New England Revolution radio networks. Its studios are located in Allston district of Boston, and its transmitter is in Newton.

WBZ-FM has been the callsign of three broadcast stations in Boston, Massachusetts since 1943, all associated with Westinghouse Broadcasting/CBS Radio: one from 1943 to 1954; one from 1957 to 1981 (which became WMJX); and the new format from August 2009, which uses the frequency of the old WROR/WBMX.

Callsign timeline

WBZ (AM)

WBZ is the call sign for an AM radio station in Boston, Massachusetts owned by CBS Radio, itself owned by the CBS Corporation. Originally based in and broadcast from Springfield, Massachusetts, WBZ may be considered the first licensed commercial radio station in the United States. WBZ moved to Boston in 1931 in a swap with a now-defunct synchronous repeater, WBZA. Its studios are in Allston, Boston.

WBZ radio, which broadcasts at 1030 kHz, is the oldest surviving commercial radio station in New England, as it began broadcasting from Springfield in 1921. WBZ currently runs an all-news format during the day and a talk radio format at night, with hosts including Dan Rea and Jordan Rich. The station has long been one of the highest-rated stations in the Boston area, and covers much of the eastern United States and Canada at night with its 50,000-watt clear-channel signal from its transmitter location in Hull, Massachusetts, which has been used by the station since 1940. For this reason, WBZ is a Primary Entry Point (PEP) for the Emergency Alert System (EAS). The transmitter is a two tower directional array where each tower is 160 meters (520 ft) tall. The signal is intentionally directionalized from its coastal location for maximum power transmitted into the continental United States, giving WBZ outstanding multi-state coverage after sunset. By day, its signal is audible through much of New England and as far west as the Golden Horseshoe in Central Canada.