NorthEast Radio Watch 3/24/2025: WJIB Makes Its Move

In this week’s issue… New signal for Boston’s WJIB – “New Standards” changes stations – New home for Maine FM – Remembering NYC’s Diaz, Maine’s “Mr. Mike,” Albany’s McGrath, Rochester’s Petschke

By SCOTT FYBUSH

Jump to: ME – NH – VT – MA – RI – CT – NY – NJ – PA – Canada

*It’s been many decades in coming, but as of Sunday afternoon, listeners in Boston are enjoying a stronger signal from WJIB, the quirky listener-supported “Memories” oldies/standards station started by the late Bob Bittner and now operated by radio legend John Garabedian.

On Sunday, WJIB moved from its longtime home at 740 on the dial down to 720, relocating from its longtime site near Fresh Pond in Cambridge to a new diplex on the WEZE (590) towers in Medford with a power increase from 250 watts day/5 watts night non-directional to 5 kW day/189 watts night using both of WEZE’s towers.

How long in coming was this power increase? As far back as 1990, before Bittner bought the 740 signal at a bankruptcy auction, then-WLVG had a construction permit to increase power from 250 watts to 5000 watts with a directional signal on 740 from what was then the WGTR 1060 site in Ashland. That was never built out, and once Bittner took over, he was content to operate WJIB from the same location it had been at since 740 hit the air way back in 1948, when the station was WTAO and the building belonged to its owner, Harvey Radio Labs.

That site, at 443 Concord Avenue, became a self-storage facility and functioned as both Bittner’s transmitter site and as his main studio for as long as he owned the station; in later years, it also became home to his FM translator at 101.3 and to a second AM station, WNTN (1550).

When Garabedian bought WJIB from Bittner’s estate, he closed the studio in Cambridge and began the planning to move the station down the dial, a move that required WJIB’s former sister station in Maine, WJTO in Bath, to go from 730 to 750, which it did over the winter.

“After MONTHS of exhausting work, time and money,” Garabedian announced the move on social media Sunday afternoon, followed immediately by reception reports from as far afield as Connecticut for the expanded daytime signal.

For now, the translator (and WNTN) remain in place at Concord Avenue, but we’d expect to see a move for the FM signal sooner or later, too, as development plans begin to encroach on the old Harvey Labs building. And in the meantime, we’re sure our old friend Bob would be looking down and smiling at the bigger reach his Memories station now enjoys across eastern New England.