Yankee Network
Encyclopedia
For the radio network of the New York Yankees, see New York Yankees Radio Network.
The Yankee Network was an American radio network
. It was founded in 1930 by John Shepard III
; in 1949, a controlling interest in the network was purchased by General Tire
when Robert Shepard chairman of the network's parent company, The Shepard Company, decided that radio and its dependence on the FCC was too risky a business to bankroll any longer. Money was also needed to pay estate taxes following the death of John III's and Robert's father John Shepard Jr. the previous year. The flagship Yankee station was Boston
's 1230, later 1260 and finally 680 WNAC
. The Yankee Network had affiliates elsewhere in Massachusetts (Fall River
, Lowell
–Lawrence
, New Bedford
, Springfield
); Connecticut (Bridgeport
, Hartford
, Waterbury
); Rhode Island (Providence
); New Hampshire (Manchester
), and Maine (Augusta
, Bangor
, Lewiston
, Portland
).
In 1932 CBS
was streamlining its radio network by purchasing stations it would directly own and operate (O&O) in major markets such as Boston. CBS managed to acquire enough O&O affiliates to severely limit NBC
's options. When NBC did begin adding affiliates to its so-called Red network from the newly limited pool, it signed up John Shepard's Yankee Network. Then, with the help of the inventor of FM, Major Edwin H. Armstrong, the Yankee Network became the nation's first FM radio network, with a demonstration FM inter-city relay linking WNAC via Paxton, Massachusetts
, and Meriden, Connecticut
, to the parent broadcasting system based in New York. This network spread further north over the next few years.
The Yankee Network faced a powerful opponent—the Radio Corporation of America (RCA), which saw FM as a threat to its established AM
radio business. RCA was also concerned that Yankee's technique of "networking" their service around New England via inexpensive, off-air FM relays instead of AT&T phone lines, would open the door to many less well-funded groups establishing competition to RCA's established network, NBC. RCA, under general manager David Sarnoff
, successfully pressured the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) to move the FM radio spectrum from 42–50 MHz to 88–108 MHz in 1945. This required massive hardware retooling at all FM broadcasters. Some affiliates dropped out, forcing the Yankee Network to lease phone lines from AT&T to fill in the holes between stations. The added costs to broadcasters and the obsolescence of all FM radios at the time, set back FM broadcasting for a decade or more. Driven to despair over the FM debacle, Armstrong jumped to his death from the thirteenth floor window of his New York City apartment on January 31, 1954.
The Yankee Network continued as a modest, regional network with an hourly newscast originating from flagship WNAC in Boston. It was disbanded in 1967. By that time, affiliates had dwindled, and flagship WNAC was preparing to switch to a Top 40 music format (under the call letters WRKO).
The Yankee Network was also on the receiving end of the FCC’s first major act of censorship. In 1938, Yankee was airing editorials against President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The FCC requested that the network provide details about these programs. Yankee dropped the editorials. The FCC declared that radio stations, due to their public interest obligations, cannot be editorially devoted to the support of any particular political position. In application, this meant that airing President Roosevelt's presidential addresses was acceptable, but broadcasting a critique of his proposed legislation, or (presumably) advocacy of such proposals, would be unacceptably biased. The FCC would revisit this issue in the late 1940s with its Fairness Doctrine
.
The Yankee Network was an American radio network
Radio network
There are two types of radio networks currently in use around the world: the one-to-many broadcast type commonly used for public information and mass media entertainment; and the two-way type used more commonly for public safety and public services such as police, fire, taxicabs, and delivery...
. It was founded in 1930 by John Shepard III
John Shepard III
John Shepard III was an American radio executive and merchant. Among his many achievements, he was among the original board members of the National Association of Broadcasters and founded both the Yankee Network and the Yankee News Service....
; in 1949, a controlling interest in the network was purchased by General Tire
General Tire
The General Tire and Rubber Company is an American manufacturer of tires for motor vehicles.General Tire was founded in 1915 in Akron, Ohio by William F. O'Neil. Products included the low-pressure "General Balloon Jumbo" and the "Dual 90" tire...
when Robert Shepard chairman of the network's parent company, The Shepard Company, decided that radio and its dependence on the FCC was too risky a business to bankroll any longer. Money was also needed to pay estate taxes following the death of John III's and Robert's father John Shepard Jr. the previous year. The flagship Yankee station was Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
's 1230, later 1260 and finally 680 WNAC
WRKO
WRKO is a radio station based in Boston, Massachusetts, currently owned by Entercom. Its transmitter is located in Burlington, Massachusetts, next to the Burlington Mall.-1920-1940:...
. The Yankee Network had affiliates elsewhere in Massachusetts (Fall River
Fall River, Massachusetts
Fall River is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, in the United States. It is located about south of Boston, southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, and west of New Bedford and south of Taunton. The city's population was 88,857 during the 2010 census, making it the tenth largest city in...
, Lowell
Lowell, Massachusetts
Lowell is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, USA. According to the 2010 census, the city's population was 106,519. It is the fourth largest city in the state. Lowell and Cambridge are the county seats of Middlesex County...
–Lawrence
Lawrence, Massachusetts
Lawrence is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States on the Merrimack River. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a total population of 76,377. Surrounding communities include Methuen to the north, Andover to the southwest, and North Andover to the southeast. It and Salem are...
, New Bedford
New Bedford, Massachusetts
New Bedford is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States, located south of Boston, southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, and about east of Fall River. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 95,072, making it the sixth-largest city in Massachusetts...
, Springfield
Springfield, Massachusetts
Springfield is the most populous city in Western New England, and the seat of Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers; the western Westfield River, the eastern Chicopee River, and the eastern...
); Connecticut (Bridgeport
Bridgeport, Connecticut
Bridgeport is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. Located in Fairfield County, the city had an estimated population of 144,229 at the 2010 United States Census and is the core of the Greater Bridgeport area...
, Hartford
Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the capital of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960, it is the second most populous city on New England's largest river, the Connecticut River. As of the 2010 Census, Hartford's population was 124,775, making...
, Waterbury
Waterbury, Connecticut
Waterbury is a city in New Haven County, Connecticut, on the Naugatuck River, 33 miles southwest of Hartford and 77 miles northeast of New York City...
); Rhode Island (Providence
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...
); New Hampshire (Manchester
Manchester, New Hampshire
Manchester is the largest city in the U.S. state of New Hampshire, the tenth largest city in New England, and the largest city in northern New England, an area comprising the states of Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. It is in Hillsborough County along the banks of the Merrimack River, which...
), and Maine (Augusta
Augusta, Maine
Augusta is the capital of the US state of Maine, county seat of Kennebec County, and center of population for Maine. The city's population was 19,136 at the 2010 census, making it the third-smallest state capital after Montpelier, Vermont and Pierre, South Dakota...
, Bangor
Bangor, Maine
Bangor is a city in and the county seat of Penobscot County, Maine, United States, and the major commercial and cultural center for eastern and northern Maine...
, Lewiston
Lewiston, Maine
Lewiston is a city in Androscoggin County in Maine, and the second-largest city in the state. The population was 41,592 at the 2010 census. It is one of two principal cities of and included within the Lewiston-Auburn, Maine metropolitan New England city and town area and the Lewiston-Auburn, Maine...
, Portland
Portland, Maine
Portland is the largest city in Maine and is the county seat of Cumberland County. The 2010 city population was 66,194, growing 3 percent since the census of 2000...
).
In 1932 CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
was streamlining its radio network by purchasing stations it would directly own and operate (O&O) in major markets such as Boston. CBS managed to acquire enough O&O affiliates to severely limit NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
's options. When NBC did begin adding affiliates to its so-called Red network from the newly limited pool, it signed up John Shepard's Yankee Network. Then, with the help of the inventor of FM, Major Edwin H. Armstrong, the Yankee Network became the nation's first FM radio network, with a demonstration FM inter-city relay linking WNAC via Paxton, Massachusetts
Paxton, Massachusetts
Paxton is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 4,806 at the 2010 census.-History:Paxton was first settled in 1749 and was officially incorporated in 1765....
, and Meriden, Connecticut
Meriden, Connecticut
Meriden is a city in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. According to 2005 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 59,653.-History:...
, to the parent broadcasting system based in New York. This network spread further north over the next few years.
The Yankee Network faced a powerful opponent—the Radio Corporation of America (RCA), which saw FM as a threat to its established AM
AM broadcasting
AM broadcasting is the process of radio broadcasting using amplitude modulation. AM was the first method of impressing sound on a radio signal and is still widely used today. Commercial and public AM broadcasting is carried out in the medium wave band world wide, and on long wave and short wave...
radio business. RCA was also concerned that Yankee's technique of "networking" their service around New England via inexpensive, off-air FM relays instead of AT&T phone lines, would open the door to many less well-funded groups establishing competition to RCA's established network, NBC. RCA, under general manager David Sarnoff
David Sarnoff
David Sarnoff was an American businessman and pioneer of American commercial radio and television. He founded the National Broadcasting Company and throughout most of his career he led the Radio Corporation of America in various capacities from shortly after its founding in 1919 until his...
, successfully pressured the Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
(FCC) to move the FM radio spectrum from 42–50 MHz to 88–108 MHz in 1945. This required massive hardware retooling at all FM broadcasters. Some affiliates dropped out, forcing the Yankee Network to lease phone lines from AT&T to fill in the holes between stations. The added costs to broadcasters and the obsolescence of all FM radios at the time, set back FM broadcasting for a decade or more. Driven to despair over the FM debacle, Armstrong jumped to his death from the thirteenth floor window of his New York City apartment on January 31, 1954.
The Yankee Network continued as a modest, regional network with an hourly newscast originating from flagship WNAC in Boston. It was disbanded in 1967. By that time, affiliates had dwindled, and flagship WNAC was preparing to switch to a Top 40 music format (under the call letters WRKO).
The Yankee Network was also on the receiving end of the FCC’s first major act of censorship. In 1938, Yankee was airing editorials against President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The FCC requested that the network provide details about these programs. Yankee dropped the editorials. The FCC declared that radio stations, due to their public interest obligations, cannot be editorially devoted to the support of any particular political position. In application, this meant that airing President Roosevelt's presidential addresses was acceptable, but broadcasting a critique of his proposed legislation, or (presumably) advocacy of such proposals, would be unacceptably biased. The FCC would revisit this issue in the late 1940s with its Fairness Doctrine
Fairness Doctrine
The Fairness Doctrine was a policy of the United States Federal Communications Commission , introduced in 1949, that required the holders of broadcast licenses to both present controversial issues of public importance and to do so in a manner that was, in the Commission's view, honest, equitable...
.
Connecticut (3 stations)
- WICCWICC (AM)WICC is a news and information radio station in Bridgeport, Connecticut, owned by Cumulus Media. Its signal reaches down into Long Island, New York.-History:...
: Bridgeport - WTICWTIC (AM)WTIC is a 50,000-watt radio station operating out of Hartford, Connecticut, broadcasting news and talk radio. Its signal, located at 1080 kHz, can be picked up throughout southern New England by day and over several states as well as parts of Canada by night...
: Hartford - WNLC: New London
Maine (4 stations)
- WRDO: Augusta
- WLBZ: Bangor
- WCSHWZANWZAN is a radio station broadcasting talk radio format. Licensed to Portland, Maine, USA, it serves southern Maine. The station is currently owned by Saga Communications.- History :...
: Portland - WCOU: Lewiston/Auburn
Massachusetts (7 stations)
- WNACWRKOWRKO is a radio station based in Boston, Massachusetts, currently owned by Entercom. Its transmitter is located in Burlington, Massachusetts, next to the Burlington Mall.-1920-1940:...
: Boston (flagship) - WSARWSARWSAR is an AM radio station in Somerset, Massachusetts broadcasting on 1480 kHz. WSAR is the second oldest radio station in Massachusetts and the fifth oldest station in the United States.-Format:...
: Fall River - WHAIWHAIWHAI is an adult contemporary radio station in Greenfield, Massachusetts, owned by Saga Communications. The station operates on 98.3 MHz. WHAI has operated on the FM dial since 1948; however, its roots date back to the 1938 sign on of WHMQ, which shared the WHAI call sign with the FM side until...
: Greenfield - WLLHWLLHWLLH is a radio station in the Merrimack Valley region of Massachusetts, licensed to Lowell, Massachusetts. The station is owned by Gois Broadcasting, LLC, and airs a tropical music format. In addition to a transmitter in Lowell, there is a synchronous transmitter in Lawrence, together forming...
: Lowell-Lawrence - WNBHWNBHWNBH is one of the oldest broadcast radio stations in America , dating back to 1921. At one time WNBH had its studios at the New Bedford Hotel where it derived its callsign. In 1948 WNBH added FM service with WNBH-FM on 98.1 megahertz /Channel 251...
: New Bedford - WBRKWBRK (AM)WBRK is a radio station licensed to serve Pittsfield, Massachusetts. WBRK was the Berkshires 1st radio station taking to the air in 1938 in studios located on "Bank Row" in downtown Pittsfield. As with many stations of that era, the spacious studios allowed for live performances by the big bands...
: Pittsfield - WTAGWTAGWTAG is an AM radio station broadcasting on 580 kHz in Paxton, Massachusetts. WTAG programming is also simulcast on FM translator W235AV at 94.9 MHz, licensed to Tatnuck, Massachusetts...
: Worcester