WESX

WESX
City Nahant, Massachusetts
Broadcast area Greater Boston
Branding WESX 1230 AM
Frequency 1230 kHz
First air date December 10, 1939[1]
Format Religious/Ethnic
Power 450 watts
Class C
Facility ID 49301
Transmitter coordinates 42°27′10″N 70°58′50″W / 42.45278°N 70.98056°W / 42.45278; -70.98056Coordinates: 42°27′10″N 70°58′50″W / 42.45278°N 70.98056°W / 42.45278; -70.98056
Callsign meaning ESseX County
Former frequencies 1200 kHz (1939–1941)
Owner Mercury New York Fund, LP
(Universal Stations LLC)
Sister stations WJDA
Webcast Listen Live
Website wesx1230am.com

WESX (1230 AM) is a radio station broadcasting a religious and multi-cultural format, licensed to broadcast in the Nahant, Massachusetts precinct. The station is owned by Universal Stations.[2] Programming is in Spanish, Portuguese, Creole, and English. The transmitter is located in Lynn, Massachusetts with studios located in Chelsea.

History

WESX made its debut on December 10, 1939, at 1200 kHz on the AM band, with studios in Salem, Massachusetts; the transmitter was in Marblehead.[3] The station's original owner was Charles W. Phelan, who had been the director of sales for the Yankee Network in Boston from 1928 to early 1939. The station's first program manager also came from the Yankee Network— Van D. Sheldon, who had most recently been in charge of the Artists Bureau, where he auditioned and hired the bands that performed on the air.[4] The programming and advertising on WESX targeted the cities and towns north of Boston, the area known as the North Shore.[5] But by 1949, Phelan was in poor health; in early November, he sold the station to James D. Asher and Joseph H. Tobin, who also owned radio station WJDA in Quincy.[6] After James D. Asher died in 1973,[7] his son Jay ran the stations until May 2006, at which time they were sold to Otto Miller, who changed both stations from their full-service (news, talk, local sports, music) format to a Spanish-language format.[8] In 2017, the Principle Broadcasting Network sold its stations — WESX, WJDA, and WLIE in Islip, New York — to Universal Stations for $2.3 million; Universal's principals were also associated with Principle.[9]

BBC Up All Night

In 2004, BBC News presenter Rhod Sharp moved to Marblehead, Massachusetts. Wishing to continue to broadcast the BBC Radio 5 Live show Up All Night, he made an arrangement with WESX's owners to use the studios and ISDN line to connect him with Broadcasting House in London, England.[10] The arrangement came to an end in 2007, when Sharp and his wife moved to 18th-century house in Marblehead’s Old Town section, which included a suitably equipped home-studio.[11][12]

References

  1. ↑ Halper, Donna; Wollman, Garrett. "The Eastern Massachusetts Radio Timeline: the 1930s". The Archives @ BostonRadio.org. Retrieved April 1, 2012.
  2. ↑ "WESX Facility Record". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
  3. ↑ "What We Hear." Boston Globe, December 10, 1939, p. D12.
  4. ↑ "Sheldon Named Manager of WESX, Salem." Broadcasting, November 15, 1939, p. 36.
  5. ↑ "WESX Salem." Broadcasting, October 4, 1948, p. 14.
  6. ↑ "Transfer Requests." Broadcasting, November 28, 1949, p. 72.
  7. ↑ "J. Asher, Owner of Radio Station." Boston Herald, June 5, 1973, p. 19.
  8. ↑ Scott Fybush. "Remembering WJDA Quincy and WESX Salem." May 5, 2006
  9. ↑ "Charlie Banta Buys A Trio Of AMs, In Principle". Radio & Television Business Report. June 12, 2017. Retrieved December 27, 2017.
  10. ↑ "WESX's 'international' era closes, too". WickedLocal.com. 26 April 2006. Archived from the original on 13 December 2013. Retrieved 23 January 2013.
  11. ↑ Joseph P. Kahn (3 August 2012). "The BBC, live from Marblehead". Boston Globe. Retrieved 23 January 2013.
  12. ↑ "BBC broadcaster to discuss 'Avery's Fall' at Marblehead Museum". WickedLocal.com. 6 October 2011. Retrieved 23 January 2013.


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