WILD (AM)

WILD

Broadcast area	Boston
Frequency	1090 kHz (HD Radio)
Branding	"1090 WILD"
Programming
Format	Various / Brokered on weekdays, Classic Soul & Gospel on weekends
Ownership
Owner	Radio One
History
First air date	May 1946 as WBMS
Call sign meaning	WILD about Boston
Technical information
Class	D
Power	4800 watts (Daytime) 1900 watts (Critical)

WILD 1090 AM is a radio station licensed to Boston, Massachusetts. It broadcasts on 1090 kHz and is the Boston affiliate for Radio One's African American-targeted news/talk network, featuring hosts including Warren Ballentine, and Al Sharpton. The Tom Joyner Morning Show is heard weekdays 6:00am (Sunrise) to 10am eastern. On weekends the station does Classic Soul and Gospel formats.

History

WILD first went on the air in 1946 as WBMS, with a classical-music format. Eventually, the station went to a "popular music" format, briefly adopted the call letters WHEE, then went back to being WBMS. By the end of the fifties, the call letters were changed to WILD under then owner Bartell, who tried a personality DJ and music format.

However, the station's history is best known for a long-lasting urban contemporary format which began in 1973. WILD became the respected voice of Boston's black community for many years. Until 1999, the station was locally owned and operated by Kendall Nash and his Nash Communications. When Nash died, his wife, Bernardine, took the helm of the station's operations.

WILD first saw competition when 94.5 WZOU flipped to a Rhythmic Contemporary Hits format as WJMN ("Jam'n 94.5") in 1993. However, it was not until 1999, when African American-owned Radio One entered the market with WBOT, that WILD saw real competition for Boston's African American population.

In 2000, Radio One took control of WILD through an local marketing agreement, which became an outright purchase later that year. After purchasing the station, Radio One slowly evolved WILD from a rather mainstream Urban Adult Contemporary format to a station that focused more on classic soul music. In addition, the syndicated Tom Joyner morning show was added to the lineup, with the former morning host ("Coach" Willie Maye) relocated to giving local updates on the show.

In 2005, Radio One brought about the biggest changes to the station in many years. The 1090 signal was plagued with some problems, as while the signal covered the areas of Boston with large African American populations, the station was forced to sign-off every night as a result of former-clear channel station, WBAL in Baltimore. In addition, the strong Arbitron ratings of WILD had warranted a better and more-powerful frequency. However, Radio One had come up with a solution.

On October 20, 2005 Radio One moved the Urban Adult Contemporary format to the dial position of WBOT. The move replaced the "Hot 97.7" format for most of the day, but it remained from 4:00PM until 10:00PM. WBOT subsequently picked up the call letters of WILD-FM.

The move cleared the 1090 frequency for a new format, so when WILD signed on at sunrise on October 20, it was reborn as a new urban contemporary gospel formatted station, "Praise 1090", based on the success of WPZE-FM in Atlanta and WPPZ in Philadelphia.

But Praise 1090 was short lived. On January 30, 2006, the 1090 frequency changed formats again. WILD became the Boston affiliate for the company's African American-targeted news/talk network, featuring hosts including (then) Michael Eric Dyson and 2 Live Stews (no longer available). Today, current hosts featuring "The Truthfighters Show" with Warren Ballentine, Weekday Mornings 10:00am-1:00pm eastern, and "Keeping It Real" with The Reverend Al Sharpton, Weekday Afternoons 1:00pm-4:00pm eastern. A local morning program was also added, featuring Jimmy Myers, (currently hosting on 96.9 WTKK-FM), Sundays Afternoons 2-5:00pm eastern, taking the longtime Boston radio host out of his retirement. The station retained the Black gospel format for weekend programming. The Tom Joyner Morning Show is now cuurently back on WILD from 6:00am (Sunrise) to 10:00am eastern. While other affiliates of the network adopted the slogan, "The People's Station", WILD was unable to do so, as that was the slogan of WILD-FM. Instead, WILD used "Where Information is Power", the slogan of Radio One's longtime urban news/talk station WOL in Washington, D.C.; and now WILD is featured currently on YouTube.com.

On August 21, 2006, AllAccess.com reported that Entercom Communications bought WILD-FM and changed the format (after a "stunt") to rock (a simulcast of WAAF 107.3), a move designed to expand WAAF's signal reach. WILD-FM flipped to the simulcast at 5:30 p.m. August 22.

The sale of WILD-FM meant that the Tom Joyner morning show would return to AM 1090, and WILD would revert to contemporary inspirational and gospel music [1], ending the news/talk format. The news/talk format subsequently returned that December,. In summer 2008 the Tom Joyner Morning Show returned and the News/talk format got replaced by a "various / brokered format on the weekdays and Classic Soul on the weekends. The station website is now defunct.

The WILD callsign has been grandfathered years before Clear Channel trademarked The "Wild" branding (used on Rhythmic formatted Hip Hop stations) sometime in the 1990s or early 2000s. The WILD callsign on 1090 meant "Wild about Boston".

On June 1, 2011, the station began running Chinese-related programming under a lease agreement between Radio One and China Radio International.

External links

• Facility details for Facility ID WILD ({{{2}}}) in the FCC Licensing and Management System
• {{{2}}} in Nielsen Audio's AM station database
• Official TJMS Website WILD/Radio One Affiliation
• Official Truthfighters Website WILD/Radio One Affiliation
• Official NAN Website WILD/Radio One Affiliation