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WROL (950 AM) is a radio station in
Boston, Massachusetts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
. The station is owned by
Salem Media Group Salem Media Group, Inc. (formerly Salem Communications Corporation) is an American radio broadcaster, internet content provider, and magazine and book publisher based in Irving, Texas, targeting audiences interested in Christian values and wh ...
. Most of WROL's programming is
religious Religion is a range of social- cultural systems, including designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relate humanity to supernatural ...
including local ministers as well as national radio hosts such as Dr.
Charles Stanley Charles Frazier Stanley Jr. (September 25, 1932 – April 18, 2023) was an American Southern Baptist pastor and writer. He was senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Atlanta for 49 years and took on ''emeritus'' status in 2020. He founded a ...
,
Jay Sekulow Jay Alan Sekulow (; born June 10, 1956) is an American lawyer, radio, television talk show host and politically conservative media personality. He has been chief counsel of the American Center for Law & Justice (ACLJ) since 1991. As a member of P ...
and
Eric Metaxas Eric Metaxas (; born June 27, 1963) is an American author, speaker, and conservative radio host. He has written three biographies, ''Amazing Grace: William Wilberforce and the Heroic Campaign to End Slavery'' about William Wilberforce (2007), ' ...
. Former
WBZ-TV WBZ-TV (channel 4) is a television station in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, serving as the market's CBS outlet. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division alongside independent WSBK-TV (channel 38). Bo ...
news anchor-turned-minister Liz Walker also has a program on the station. WROL also airs several
Irish music Irish music is music that has been created in various genres on the island of Ireland. The indigenous music of the island is termed Irish traditional music (or Irish folk music). It has remained vibrant through the 20th and into the 21st ...
blocks on weekends, including the ''Irish Hit Parade'' on Saturdays and ''A Feast of Irish Music'' on Sundays. WROL operates with 5,000 watts by day but must reduce power to 90 watts at night to protect other stations on 950 kHz. WROL uses a non-directional
transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter (often abbreviated as XMTR or TX in technical documents) is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna with the purpose of sig ...
located off Route 107 in the
Rumney Marsh Reservation Rumney Marsh Reservation is a Massachusetts state park occupying over in the town of Saugus and city of Revere. The salt marsh is located within the Saugus and Pines River estuary and provides habitat for many different migratory birds and m ...
in
Saugus, Massachusetts Saugus is a New England town, town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. The population was 28,619 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Saugus is known as the site of the first integrated iron work ...
. WROL is one of two religious formatted radio stations in the Boston
media market A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area (DMA), television market area, or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same (or similar) television station, television and radio broadcasting, ra ...
owned by Salem Communications;
WEZE WEZE (590 AM) – branded 590 AM The Word – is a commercial Christian radio station licensed to Boston, Massachusetts, serving Greater Boston and much of surrounding New England. Owned by Salem Communications, WEZE is the Boston affiliate f ...
is the other.


History

WROL's history dates back to 1927 and WBSO, owned by
Babson College Babson College is a Private university, private business school in Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States specializing in entrepreneurship education. Founded in 1919 by Roger Babson, the college was established as the Babson Institute in his We ...
. The station moved to Boston in 1935 after a sale and became WORL. During the late 1930s, WORL was the first station in Boston to adopt a popular-music format ("The 920 Club", named after the station's former frequency; the title remained even after the move to 950 on March 29, 1941) with disc jockeys spinning the tunes. Although only a daytimer then, WORL built up a following as an entertaining alternative to the daytime programming elsewhere on the Boston radio dial. The owners, Harold A. Lafount and two others (operating for the interests of Arde Bulova) became embroiled in a long-running dispute with the
FCC The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains ju ...
for having filed false reports regarding ownership and financial structure, and in 1947 their license renewal was rejected. After an appeals process that went to the
U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on question ...
, the rejection was upheld. The station, which had stayed on the air via temporary licenses, went off the air on May 30, 1949. Pilgrim Broadcasting purchased the license and returned the station to the air in October 1950. Later sales led to the station becoming WRYT, with WORL being taken by a station near
Orlando, Florida Orlando ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Orange County, Florida, United States. The city proper had a population of 307,573 at the 2020 census, making it the fourth-most populous city in Florida behind Jacksonville, Florida, Jacksonville ...
.
Carter Broadcasting Carter Broadcasting is a New England based broadcasting group owned by Ken Carberry. Its headquarters are in Braintree, Massachusetts. Currently-owned stations Massachusetts (2 stations) *WACE/730: Chicopee (sale to Holy Family Communications ...
took over in 1977, and after failing to be able to return the WORL call letters to Boston, settled on WROL. Carter immediately established a
religious Religion is a range of social- cultural systems, including designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relate humanity to supernatural ...
network with WROL as its flagship, with relays throughout
New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...
. While mostly religious, WROL featured two popular programs during the 1970s and 1980s, a weekday cooking show with longtime Boston radio/TV personality Gus Saunders, and a Saturday block of Irish music featuring John Latchford, and later Paul Sullivan, which remains extremely popular among the region's large Irish-American population. In April 2024, Paul Sullivan celebrated his 42nd year as host of the ''Irish Hit Parade'', one of the longest continuous tenures in Boston radio history. In recent years, WROL has expanded Irish music to Sunday afternoons as well. In 2001, as part of Carter Broadcasting dismantling its network and focusing its attention to
WCRN WCRN (830 AM) is a radio station in Worcester, Massachusetts, owned by Carter Broadcasting. The station broadcasts with a transmitter power output of 50,000 watts and can be heard from Maine to Providence, Rhode Island, and from Boston to Spring ...
in
Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engl ...
, the station was sold to
Salem Communications Salem Media Group, Inc. (formerly Salem Communications Corporation) is an American radio broadcaster, internet content provider, and magazine and book publisher based in Irving, Texas, targeting audiences interested in Christian values and wha ...
.


History of call letters

The call letters WROL were previously assigned to an AM station in Knoxville, Tennessee. WROL-AM 620 in Knoxville, Tennessee in the early '40s employed a then-little-known news announcer who went on to country stardom:
Tennessee Ernie Ford Ernest Jennings Ford (February 13, 1919 – October 17, 1991), known professionally as Tennessee Ernie Ford, was an American singer and television host who enjoyed success in the country and western, pop, and gospel musical genres. Noted for ...
. WROL's complete 1,000 watt radio transmitter and wire-array antenna was hand built by the station Engineer Joseph Wofford. The original transmitter was later encased in a glass cabinet and placed in the lobby of the studio.


Translator


References


External links

* * *
FCC History Cards for WROL
{{Salem Communications ROL Radio stations established in 1927 Radio stations established in 1950 1950 establishments in Massachusetts ROL Salem Media Group radio stations