WNTN is a daytime-only, 10,000 watt, omni-directional
radio stationRadio broadcasting is an audio broadcasting service, broadcast through the air as radio waves from a transmitter to an antenna and a thus to a receiving device. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast common programming, either in syndication or simulcast or both...
licensed to the city of
Newton, MassachusettsNewton is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts bordered to the east by Boston. According to the 2000 census, the population of Newton was 83,829, making it the tenth largest city in the state.-Villages:...
, serving the greater Boston area. It broadcasts on 1550 kHz on the
AMAM broadcasting is the process of radio broadcasting using amplitude modulation.-History:AM was the dominant method of broadcasting during the first eighty years of the 20th century and remains widely used into the 21st....
radio dial.
WNTN broadcasts a community based format that includes music, sports, talk and news shows. Much of the programming is aimed at the areas many ethnic cultures, including shows broadcast in
Haitian CreoleHaitian Creole language , often called simply Creole or Kreyòl , is a language spoken in Haiti by about eight million people, which is nearly the entire population, and via emigration, by about one million speakers residing in the Bahamas, Cuba, Canada, Cayman Islands, Dominican Republic, French...
,
GreekModern Greek refers to the varieties of Greek spoken in the modern era. The beginning of the "modern" period of the language is often symbolically assigned to the fall of the Byzantine Empire in 1453, even though that date marks no clear linguistic boundary and many characteristic modern features...
,
IndianThe languages of India belong to several major linguistic families, the two largest being the Indo-European languages—Indo-Aryan —and the Dravidian languages...
and Arabic languages.
WNTN is a daytime-only, 10,000 watt, omni-directional
radio stationRadio broadcasting is an audio broadcasting service, broadcast through the air as radio waves from a transmitter to an antenna and a thus to a receiving device. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast common programming, either in syndication or simulcast or both...
licensed to the city of
Newton, MassachusettsNewton is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts bordered to the east by Boston. According to the 2000 census, the population of Newton was 83,829, making it the tenth largest city in the state.-Villages:...
, serving the greater Boston area. It broadcasts on 1550 kHz on the
AMAM broadcasting is the process of radio broadcasting using amplitude modulation.-History:AM was the dominant method of broadcasting during the first eighty years of the 20th century and remains widely used into the 21st....
radio dial.
WNTN broadcasts a community based format that includes music, sports, talk and news shows. Much of the programming is aimed at the areas many ethnic cultures, including shows broadcast in
Haitian CreoleHaitian Creole language , often called simply Creole or Kreyòl , is a language spoken in Haiti by about eight million people, which is nearly the entire population, and via emigration, by about one million speakers residing in the Bahamas, Cuba, Canada, Cayman Islands, Dominican Republic, French...
,
GreekModern Greek refers to the varieties of Greek spoken in the modern era. The beginning of the "modern" period of the language is often symbolically assigned to the fall of the Byzantine Empire in 1453, even though that date marks no clear linguistic boundary and many characteristic modern features...
,
IndianThe languages of India belong to several major linguistic families, the two largest being the Indo-European languages—Indo-Aryan —and the Dravidian languages...
and Arabic languages. Programming is also produced for
ChristianA Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic, religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, who Christians believe was the Messiah prophesied in the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible, and the Son of God.The term "Christian" is also used adjectivally to...
audiences and the areas large
IrishThe Irish people are a Western European ethnic group who originate in Ireland, in north western Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolgs, Tuatha Dé Danann and the Milesians The Irish...
population. Programming in the
English languageEnglish is a West Germanic language that developed in England during the Anglo-Saxon era. As a result of the military, economic, scientific, political, and cultural influence of the British Empire during the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, and of the United States since the mid 20th century,...
includes local daily talk show "1550 Today with Sybil Tonkonogy and Paul Roberts".
In May 2007, a new Light Entertainment Irish Program began to air. The Irish Rambler Radio Show is now one of Bostons most popular Irish community programs. It is hosted every Saturday evening between 6 and 7 by Dan Hallissey who is also a well known Boston Irish Entertainer.
History
WNTN signed on April 1, 1968 broadcasting a "middle of the road" format. After a year of poor ratings, management was convinced, in 1969, to initiate an original format of free-form "Adult Rock" after 2 PM, somewhat similar in style to the radio industries current
adult album alternativeAdult album alternative is a radio format broadcast mostly on FM. A spinoff from the album-oriented rock format, its roots may have been established sometime during the 1960s from what was called freeform and later progressive...
format. WNTN's post 2 PM programming featured an eclectic,
freeform rockFreeform, or freeform radio, is a radio station programming format in which the disc jockey is given total control over what music to play, regardless of music genre or commercial interests. Freeform radio stands in contrast to most commercial radio stations, in which DJs have little or no...
-based format mixed with
folk musicThe term folk music originated in the 19th century as a term for musical folklore. It has been defined in several ways; as music transmitted by word of mouth, music of the lower classes, music with no known composer...
,
progressive rockProgressive rock is a form of rock music that evolved in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility."...
,
soul musicSoul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
,
jazz fusionFusion or, more specifically, jazz fusion or jazz rock, is a musical genre that developed in the late 1960s from a mixture of elements of jazz such as its focus on improvisation with the rhythms and grooves of funk and R&B and the beats and heavily amplified electric instruments and electronic...
and various other musical genres. With FM radios still a rarity in cars at the time, the station received a boost in listenership and notoriety, primarily due to the Boston area's high concentration of college students and musicians. The "free-form rock" hours were later increased to include the entire broadcast day, by 1970. Two of the earliest members of the staff were Music Director John Gorman, and afternoon host Denny Sanders, both of whom later relocated to Cleveland, and were instrumental in the rise of that city's influential
WMMSWMMS is a radio station in Cleveland, Ohio, with a rich history of broadcasting both locally and nationally. From April 1974 until September 2007, its longtime promotional mascot was "The Buzzard." At the station's peak of popularity in the 1970s and 1980s, it had a stable of personalities that...
in the early 1970s. The free form progressive rock format lasted until January, 1976, when the format reverted back to MOR after the station had been recently sold.
In 1977, the station became the first in the Boston radio market to adopt a
discoDisco is a genre of dance music that that had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, psychedelic and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and early 1970s...
music format. With its unique sound and popular
disc jockeyA disc jockey is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, dis
k referred to phonograph records, while dis
c referred to the Compact Disc, and has become the more common spelling...
s, including Wendy Hunt and Vinnie 'Disco Vinnie' Peruzzi, WNTN experienced a ratings rise and attention from the areas newspapers and television stations. The formats success, however, was short lived. By the spring of 1978 crosstown FM station
WBOSWBOS is a commercial radio station located in Brookline, Massachusetts, broadcasting to the Greater Boston area on 92.9 FM. The station airs an alternative music format branded as "Radio 92.9". WBOS is owned and operated by Greater Media...
began playing disco music in the evenings and adopted the format fulltime that autumn as "Disco 93". In addition, Wendy Hunt left WNTN to work at WBOS in 1978, followed by Vinnie Peruzzi who vacated in early 1979 to join another new FM disco station
WXKS-FMWXKS-FM, better known as Kiss 108, is a top-rated radio station in Boston, Massachusetts, licensed to nearby Medford broadcasting a top 40 format...
"Kiss 108".
Unable to compete with the two FM disco music stations, WNTN switched its format to
adult contemporary musicAdult contemporary music is a broad style of popular music that ranges from lush 1960s, vocal-based music to predominantly ballad-heavy music with varying degrees of rock influence"...
mixed with local news and information in 1979.
In 1987, the station dropped music and changed to a
talk radioTalk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often feature interviews with a number of different guests. Talk radio typically includes an element of listener participation, usually by broadcasting live...
format consisting of syndicated national talk shows with local and national news updates.
By the 1990s many local AM stations, including WNTN, experienced a downturn in advertising revenue. WNTN responded by adding leased-time programming, allowing groups and individuals to pay for an allotted amont of time on the station and program it to their taste. The station now airs a variety of talk and music shows aimed at numerous ethnicities and age groups.
Current Programs
- 1550 Today
- Grecian Echoes
Grecian Echoes is a variety show geared to the Greek American community of the Greater Boston area. The show includes both new and old music, community and social event announcements, and news from Greece...
- Vwa Lakay
- Roger Sturgis
- Sports Thursday
- Radio Compas
- Jhankar
- Sound of Erin
- The Benchwarmers
- Frugal Yankee
- Arabic Baptist Church
- Gallerie Haitienne
- Brase Lide
- Saturday Afternoon Live
Howard Stern
After graduating from
Boston UniversityBoston University is a private nonsectarian university located in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Although chartered by the Massachusetts Legislature in 1869, Boston University traces its roots to the establishment of the Newbury Biblical Institute in Newbury, Vermont in 1839...
in Boston, Massachusetts, future famous shock jock
Howard SternHoward Allan Stern is an American radio and media personality most notable for his radio show which since January 9, 2006, has been broadcasting on Sirius XM, an uncensored satellite radio service...
was an on air personality at WNTN, his first professional job in the radio industry. Stern claimed that the manager of WNTN at the time never paid him for his first week of work.