Community Corner

Does Boston Need Another Pop Radio Station?

The radio rumor mill in Boston is churning with news that 96.9 WTKK of Greater Media Boston could turn from talk radio to music radio sometime soon. Does Boston need another pop, rock, or R&B/hip-hop channel?

Change could again be coming to the Boston radio scene.

Not that Boston radio listeners aren't used to it by now, what with the sale of 101.7 WFNX to Clear Channel to form 101.7 The Harbor a few months ago, the launch of 103.3 AMP Radio by CBS and the change from 104.1 WBCN to CBS's MIX 104.1. 

But according to industry blog RadioInsight.com, some sneaky domain registrations indicate that more change could be on the way.

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"969BostonsBeat.com969TheBeat.comBostonsBeat969.comPower969.comVariety969.com, and TheStreets969.com were all anonymously registered last week," the blog reported. "The domains were all registered using the same registrar normally used by Greater Media Inc., owner of 96.9 WTKK Boston."

Greater Media Inc.'s 96.9 WTKK has played host to now-infamous radio show personalities such as Don Imus who was fired in 2007 over a comment he made about the Rutgers' women's basketball team, and Jay Severin, who was fired in 2011 after comments he made about sleeping with his interns. 

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The 96.9 WTKK recently rebranded itself as NewsTalk 96.9 in September, but it has failed to see any market growth against its competitors, according to RadioInsight.com. 

The blog speculates that 96.9 could turn into a music channel, possibly in an effort to compete with Clear Channel's JAMN 94.5, Kiss 108, and CBS's AMP Radio 103.3. 

A further recent shakeup on the radio scene was the firing of hip-hop radio personality Pebbles from JAMN 94.5 last week, a fact confirmed on her Facebook page on Tuesday. 

"I am in positive spirits and believe that something incredible is out there for me," she wrote. "I do believe in the idea that when one door closes, another one opens." 

Could Pebbles end up at this new mystery radio station? What kind of station would you want to see coming into Boston? Or have you had enough with all the recent changes and now listen to your music on the Internet? 


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