STATION HISTORY

The earliest ancestor of WROL was WBSO, erected in Wellesley by Roger Babson, the founder of Babson College. (One reference lists the callsign as WBJS.) WBSO operated on 1240 kHz at 1,000 watts from a since-demolished structure at Babson College; the original studio building is now a faculty residence.

In 1935, Babson sold the station to the Crockwell Broadcasting Company, which moved the studios to a hotel in Boston, changed the callsign to WORL, and flipped the station to 920 kHz, still from the Wellesley site. Crockwell and his partners had financial difficulties, and the station was sold in 1938 to Harold Lafount. In 1941, the aftermath of NARBA moved WORL to 950 kHz, where it has stayed ever since.

WROL is now owned by Salem Communications and is a Boston institution for Irish music, famously known for its Irish Hit Parade.