WEEI-FM

"WMKK" redirects here. For the airport with this ICAO Code, see Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

For the former WEEI-FM in Westerly, Rhode Island, see WVEI-FM.

For the former WEEI-FM in Boston, see WODS.

WEEI-FM

City of license	Lawrence, Massachusetts
Broadcast area	Greater Boston
Branding	Sports Radio WEEI
Frequency	93.7 MHz (also on HD Radio)
First air date	April 1960
Format	Sports
ERP	34,000 watts, Stereo
HAAT	178 meters
Class	B
Facility ID	1919
Former callsigns	WGHJ (1960-1963) WCCM-FM (1963-1974) WCGY (1974-1994) WEGQ (1994-1999) WQSX (1999-2005) WMKK (2005-2011)
Owner	Entercom (Entercom Boston License, LLC)
Sister stations	WKAF, WAAF, WRKO, WEEI
Webcast	Listen Live
Website	www.weei.com

WEEI-FM (93.7 FM, "Sports Radio WEEI") is a radio station licensed to serve Lawrence, Massachusetts. The station has a sports talk format, simulcast with WEEI (850 AM). Along with its AM sister, it carries Boston Red Sox baseball, Boston Celtics basketball, and the Boston College football and basketball teams. When local programming is not on WEEI, usually ESPN Radio will air. The call letters WEEI-FM, formerly on a station in Westerly, Rhode Island, were granted on September 21, 2011 as part of a call letter shuffle.

History

In the station's early days as WGHJ and WCCM-FM, 93.7 aired locally based programming that targeted Lawrence and the Merrimack Valley. In 1974 the station evolved into WCGY, an automated Stereo Top 40/oldies station that targeted the Greater Boston, Massachusetts area, due to the signal's strength. The call letters were chosen with the owner in mind as Curt Gowdy and his children owned and operated the station until the sale to American Radio Systems in 1994.

In 1983 WCGY flipped to an oldies format playing hits of the '50s and '60s. The station, however, did not perform well in the Boston ratings. Some early to mid '70s oldies were mixed in by 1984 and by 1985 the '50s music was gone. The station by then was called "Superhits WCGY". By 1986 the station leaned slightly toward classic rock still playing mostly music from 1964 to 1974. By 1987 WCGY evolved to more of a classic rock format and held on to this format until 1994. From 1992-1994 they were called "Rock 93, WCGY"

In 1994, immediately after the station was sold to American Radio Systems, WCGY became '70s-formatted WEGQ "Eagle 93.7", which received many changes over its five year existence. Initially they played music from 1970-79 ranging from classic rock to disco to pop to pop/rock to novelty to easy listening. As time went on they added late '60s and early '80s music. By 1995 they also leaned classic rock. The station's most notable air talent was likely its morning show, Karlson and McKenzie who are now on WZLX.

After American Radio Systems was acquired by CBS/Westinghouse, the combined company was required to sell two of their FM stations, along with three AM stations. WEGQ, along with WEEI, WRKO, and WAAF, was sold to Entercom Communications.

After the sale, Entercom changed WEGQ's format, as from April 1, 1999 until April 14, 2005, the station was WQSX "Star 93.7", which was a format that could be described as a combination of '70s and '80s-soul music, dance music, rhythmic hit music, and rhythmic adult contemporary tracks. This format, however, didn't catch any fire in the Arbitron ratings. The format is also available online as an internet-only station. During 2001, controversial "Survivor" winner Richard Hatch was a morning host briefly.

On April 14, 2005, WQSX became WMKK, with an adult hits format branded as "93.7 Mike FM". Inside Radio, a radio industry publication, released information that had this change not taken place, Infinity Broadcasting (interestingly, the group that was prohibited from owning 93.7 itself back in the late 1990s, and is now known as CBS Radio) reportedly would have transformed either WBMX, WZLX, or even WODS to Jack FM on April 15.

Following the Boston Red Sox victory in the 2007 World Series, the station re-branded itself as 93.7 Mike Lowell FM after the third baseman for one day. Similarly, MIKE FM paid tribute to Michael Jackson in July 2009 by re-branding themselves as "Michael FM" and playing Jackson's songs for the afternoon on the anniversary of his death.

On September 8th, 2011, it was announced that WMKK will begin simulcasting WEEI's sports radio format on Monday, Sept 12th, 2011. The switch took place at 6:00 AM that Monday after Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird". On September 21, 2011, WMKK changed their call letters to WEEI-FM.

Funkytown HD2

Funkytown HD2, is a Rhythmic AC HD2 subcarrier and Internet radio station belonging to WMKK/Boston, Massachusetts. The station is owned by Entercom Communications. Its slogan is "The Rhythm of Boston".

Prior to being an HD2 channel, the station was originally on the airwaves as terrestrial FM station WQSX. Its moniker and slogan were "Star 93.7" "Boston's Feel Good Station", where it had a moderate but successful run, from April 1, 1999 to April 14, 2005. That move was criticized by Star's listeners, who were upset that they would flip a week before a concert event that they were sponsoring. Entercom would later bring the format back as an internet-only station, where it still can be heard online today, especially over Windows Media.

On January 19, 2006, Star would return to the airwaves as an HD2 channel, this time as a commercial-free station with its mix of Dance, Disco, and Rhythmic Top 40 hits from the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and today remaining intact. Although it is jockless at times, they have started using a few voice-tracked DJs, most notably former Star and current WRKO personality Anthony "Pic" Picarello, to the station.

In 2007, WMKK-HD2 changed its moniker from "Star HD" to "Funkytown HD" to reflect its diverse mix of Dance and Disco fare.

External links

• WEEI official website
• Funkytown HD official website
• Station history on bostonradio.org
• Query the FCC's FM station database for WEEI
• Radio-Locator information on WEEI
• Query Arbitron's FM station database for WEEI
• Boston Globe Article