WKAF

WKAF is a radio station in the Boston, Massachusetts market, simulcasting the rock format of WAAF 107.3. It broadcasts on 97.7 MHz, and serves the Metro Boston and South Shore areas of Massachusetts, which are unable to receive WAAF's main signal.

History

WKAF first went on the air in 1948 as WBET-FM, the sister AM station of WBET 1460 in Brockton (now WXBR). The two stations almost always simulcast programming for the next twenty-eight years. On November 1, 1976, WBET-FM went Stereo and broke away from the AM to broadcast a Top-40 format. On January 1, 1977, the call letters were changed to WCAV. In July 1982, the station switched to country music and targeted the South Shore of Massachusetts. This format continued until 1999. For some of that time, WCAV was the only country-music station on the FM dial in the Boston area.

In 1999, WCAV was purchased by Radio One, a company that owns and operates radio stations, most of which target African American communities. Radio One made many transmitter improvements and established new studios in Roxbury, a largely African American section of Boston. The station was relaunched in December 1999 as WBOT, "Hot 97.7", targeting the Greater Boston area with a Mainstream Urban format. For a full week, WBOT looped Tone Lōc's "Wild Thing". Hot 97.7's playlist included Common, T.I., Jill Scott, Jadakiss, and Ludacris.

From the very beginning, WBET-FM/WCAV/WBOT had been plagued by a poor signal in Boston and points north. However, after the relocation of the transmitter to Great Blue Hill in Milton, Massachusetts in summer 2005, the station's signal improved dramatically.

Over the years, WBOT had never made any significant strides against its main competitor, WJMN "Jam'n 94.5", a station which had no signal problem and depended chiefly on the region's large Caucasian population for success. At the same time, Radio One had been experiencing great success with the Urban Adult Contemporary/Urban Oldies format of WILD 1090, a weak AM radio station that was prohibited by FCC regulations from operating at night.

On October 20, 2005, Radio One moved the format and intellectual property of WILD to WBOT's FM signal. This move eliminated WBOT from the Boston radio dial, and created the new "97.7 WILD FM". WILD-FM had retained the Urban Adult Contemporary programming of the old WILD 1090 during the day, and aired the old WBOT's Mainstream Urban format during the late afternoon and early evening hours. The station officially changed to WILD-FM on October 26.

There was speculation that the format of the old WBOT would be reborn if Radio One acquired a second FM station in the Boston area, but there was nothing to suggest that such a move would occur. Hot 97's format is now airing on 87.7 WPOT, a pirate radio station without a license.

Entercom buys WILD-FM

On August 21, 2006, AllAccess.com reported that Entercom had purchased WILD-FM and would change the format to rock (a simulcast of WAAF 107.3). The end of WILD-FM came after "Wild Thing" by Tone-Loc at about 7:00 pm EDT on August 21, and the station began a stunt of a computerized voice counting down to 5:30 pm EDT the following day, August 22. At that time, the simulcast of WAAF began with the song "For Those About To Rock (We Salute You)" by AC/DC. The station changed its calls to WKAF on August 30, 2006, reflecting the new simulcast.

The move has expanded the signal reach of WAAF to more of the urban areas of Boston and the South Shore cities and towns of Massachusetts. However, both WAAF and WKAF have signal issues in the South Coast and Taunton areas.

This move has also made Boston the largest market in the country without an urban-formatted radio station. Former competition WJMN is often considered to be more of a Rhythmic.

External links

• WAAF website
• Query the FCC's FM station database for WKAF
• Radio-Locator information on WKAF
• Query Arbitron's FM station database for WKAF
• Boston Herald article on WILD format change
• Boston Globe article on WILD format change
• WAAF MySpace Tribute Page