Yesterday, media conglomerate CBS Radio pulled the plug on local radio station WBCN, in the process moving MIX 98.5 to the 104.1 frequency and turning 98.5 into a sports radio channel. After 41 years broadcasting a rock format, it's sad to see WBCN go - some have compared it to dismantling the Citgo sign or bulldozing Fenway Park, both popular landmarks here in Boston.
WBCN is living on in a limited form - on a subchannel of 98.5 that's only accessible to "HD Radio" listeners (as a side note, I don't even know anybody that owns an "HD Radio"). There's as of yet no word that WBCN's various personalities coming back on the new channel, which I imagine really detracts from the "new" channel's appeal. Judging by the four-day goodbye party that WBCN had, they and their parent company CBS Radio were well aware that moving the station over to HD radio would spell its death.
Given the huge number of Boston-based stations in CBS Radio's portfolio, I have to wonder: why take down such a historic and listened-to station as WBCN in order to make room for a new sports talk channel? It seems to me like a mind-bogglingly bad decision that's only gone to spark quite a bit of anger and nostalgia. For those displaced by the recent changes, WFNX is still independent and locally owned.