New radio station based in Quincy looks to create buzz

QUINCY - Like many Quincy natives, Pat Ryan fondly remembers WJDA-AM. “JDA,” as it was known, was community radio day and night, from local news and talk segments to high school football and basketball games.

“It was a big part of our world,’ said Ryan, who grew up in the Houghs Neck neighborhood and now is general manager of the national Salem Media Group’s four Boston-area stations.

WJDA went off the air in 2006, after 59 years. Ryan wants to revive the station’s heritage at WBIX-AM, Salem’s newest local venture.

“I would love to flavor 1260 with some of that,” she said, referring to WBIX’s frequency. “There really isn’t that hometown station anymore.”

Nicknamed “The Buzz,” WBIX went on the air from Quincy’s Marina Bay in mid-September. With finance, business and discussion programs similar to the more widely-known WRKO-AM, “The Buzz” joins Salem’s other area stations, WEZE, WROL and WWDJ.

WEZE 590, an evangelical Christian station, has aired from Marina Bay since 1990. WROL in Boston and WWDJ in Chelsea also carry evangelical programs. All four stations broadcast with 5,000 watts.

Ryan said that’s enough to give Salem stations a potential audience of 2 million in greater Boston, but she didn’t immediately provide ratings figures. No Salem station was on the most recent Nielsen list of the top 30 highest-rated Boston stations. Only four of the top 30 were AM stations.

Salem owns and operates 114 stations across the country. Ryan said the company looked at Boston and decided there was a need for a “news, talk and business station,” despite WRKO’s well-established presence.

Ryan said “The Buzz” won’t be directly competing with WRKO, which features longtime talk show host Howie Carr along with syndicated national commentators. “The Buzz” will offer national shows, too, but Ryan said Salem will “customize” WBIX local programming – maybe even with some ballgames.

WATD-FM in Marshfield is the only South Shore station now carrying such programs, including news, advice segments and music. The area’s predominant religious station is the Roman Catholic WQOM-AM (1060), which airs national shows and is loosely affiliated with the Boston Archdiocese.

Boston College communications professor Michael Keith said the Boston media market is a challenge for new entries like WBIX because it’s already crowded with stations.

“There are enough conservative radio listeners to make a station viable if it can stand out from the rest,” added Keith, who’s the author of a widely-used college radio textbook. “As to whether there’s enough oxygen to support another conservative station, that all depends on execution and promotion.”

Ryan said local programs will help Salem stand out. She noted that WEZE is sponsoring a pastor appreciation luncheon Friday at the Lantana in Randolph, while she’s already lined up a daily personal finance segment for “The Buzz” – Braintree financial planner William Kelly.

As for additional South Shore-oriented programs, “we’re talking to different folks,” she said.

Lane Lambert may be reached at llambert@ledger.com or follow him on Twitter @LLambert_Ledger.