Posted on 11/18/2006 12:36:24 AM PST by raccoonradio
The tradition-filled Salem-Beverly football game is losing one of its traditions.
For the first time since 1939, the Thanksgiving Day game between the two rival high schools will not be heard on the radio.
The game had been broadcast on WESX ever since the radio station began 67 years ago. But the Marblehead-based station was sold in May and moved to Chelsea, where it now broadcasts Brazilian and Hispanic religious programs.
The station's new owner, Otto Miller of Connecticut, said yesterday he didn't realize the lack of a broadcast this year will mark the end of a local tradition.
"It's too bad," he said. "Nobody called me. We might've been able to arrange something to let that game air."
The Salem-Beverly game is one of the state's oldest high school football rivalries, dating back to 1891, and is considered the premier Thanksgiving game on the North Shore. The 108th game will be played on Thanksgiving morning at 10 o'clock at Hurd Stadium in Beverly.
The game used to draw as many as 15,000 people and can still bring in close to 10,000 on a good day. But WESX's broadcast of the game on 1230 AM has for decades served as a backdrop for people who stay home on Thanksgiving morning.
"I think people will miss it big time," said Al Needham, who worked as an announcer for WESX for 36 years. "At the house where mama is preparing the meal, the game was the No. 1 fixture. That was probably our No. 1 listened-to program."
Another former WESX broadcaster, Norm Durkee, said he believes the station started broadcasting the Salem-Beverly game as soon as it went on the air in 1939. Durkee joined the station in 1947 and announced the Thanksgiving game for about 15 years.
Tom Lester, Spike Brown and Bill Newell are others who announced the game for years.
"I personally think it's a big loss," said Durkee, who is now 84 and lives in Wenham. "You just knew you had the listenership for that. It was part of people's holiday."
The only local station that now broadcasts high school football games, North Shore 104.9 FM, will carry the Danvers-Gloucester game on Thanksgiving, as it has done for the last two years.
North Shore 104.9 owner Todd Tanger said his station had already committed to this year's Danvers-Gloucester game before WESX was sold. He said he's received many calls from people who are upset that his station is not broadcasting the Salem-Beverly game but feels it's not fair to renege on his promise to carry the Danvers-Gloucester game.
"If anybody has a problem, they should call WESX and say, 'Why are you not doing the game this year?'" Tanger said. "I'm not going to turn my back on people in Danvers and Gloucester who were nice enough to let us do their game."
Tanger said broadcasting high school football games is more of a community service than a big moneymaker for a local radio station. He said his station began airing the Danvers-Gloucester game three years ago because he wanted to give other local schools a chance for their Thanksgiving games to be heard.
Tanger said there might be a way for his station to carry both games next year, with one of the games on tape delay.
"Somebody's going to be angry at us no matter what we do," he said.
The Salem-Beverly game will be broadcast on the Web by Rick Moore, a former WESX announcer who has a Web site called moorestuffonline.com.
The game will also be televised by the local Beverly cable station but will not be shown live, according to Rebecca Blizzard, a studio associate for BevCam. The Salem local access station plans to borrow the tape from the Beverly station and air the game on its channel at later dates, said Patrick Kennedy, SATV's training and production coordinator.
That's the free market for ya. Milton Friedman R.I.P.
We need a Brasilian FM station down here in SoFlo. Send their samba-dancin' tails here.
Note to Connecticut. Make more babies and teach them English!
Update: my own station (WMWM 91.7 Salem State College) will be carrying the game.
My bro's up there in Milford. Live in Trumbull and Westport myself for years. I miss it during the holidays, but not outside of them - lol! The fall through Christmas was just wonderful, though.
Well my station is non-commercial; we're urnning public
service annoucements!
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