- Frequencies and licensed towns come from the FCC’s Public Inspection File.
- Several college stations sit at the low end of the FM dial.
- News and talk live mostly on AM in Boston.
Boston radio covers a lot of ground in a small dial: public news, classical, folk, college stations, sports talk, classic rock and hit music, plus two well-known AM news and talk stations. The list below runs from the bottom of the FM band to the top, then the AM band. We checked each frequency and licensed town in the FCC’s public files, and took each station’s description from its own website.
FM, low end: public and college radio
| Frequency | Call letters | Licensed to | How the station describes itself |
|---|---|---|---|
| 88.1 | WMBR | Cambridge | The MIT student radio station |
| 88.9 | WERS | Boston | Boston’s UnCommon Radio, on the air since 1949 |
| 89.7 | WGBH | Boston | GBH 89.7, public radio |
| 90.3 | WZBC | Newton | Boston College’s student-run station |
| 90.9 | WBUR-FM | Boston | Boston’s NPR news station |
| 91.9 | WUMB-FM | Boston | Folk and roots music from UMass Boston |
Under the FCC’s rules, the frequencies from 88.1 to 91.9 are the ones available for noncommercial educational FM stations, which is why the bottom of the dial is crowded with public and student radio. It is also where you find some of the most distinctive programming in the city. WUMB, for example, lists a network of repeater stations on its site so its folk and roots programming reaches beyond Boston.
FM, middle and top: music and sports
| Frequency | Call letters | Licensed to | Format the station names |
|---|---|---|---|
| 92.5 | WXRV | Andover | 92.5 the River, independent radio |
| 93.7 | WEEI-FM | Lawrence | New England’s sports radio |
| 94.5 | WJMN | Boston | JAM’N 94.5, hip hop and throwbacks |
| 95.3 | WHRB | Cambridge | Harvard Radio Broadcasting |
| 96.9 | WBQT | Boston | HOT 96.9 |
| 98.5 | WBZ-FM | Boston | 98.5 The Sports Hub |
| 99.5 | WCRB | Lowell | CRB Classical 99.5, part of GBH |
| 100.7 | WZLX | Boston | Boston’s classic rock |
| 102.5 | WKLB-FM | Waltham | Country 102.5 |
| 105.7 | WROR-FM | Framingham | 105.7 WROR |
| 106.7 | WMJX | Boston | Magic 106.7 |
| 107.9 | WXKS-FM | Medford | Kiss 108, hit music |
Tip: Licensed to a suburb does not mean hard to hear in the city. WCRB is licensed to Lowell and WEEI-FM to Lawrence, but both brand themselves as Boston stations.
AM: news and talk
| Frequency | Call letters | Licensed to | How the station describes itself |
|---|---|---|---|
| 680 AM | WRKO | Boston | The Voice of Boston, talk radio |
| 1030 AM | WBZ | Boston | WBZ NewsRadio, Boston’s news radio, traffic and weather together on the 3s |
WBZ is one of the oldest stations in the country; its own history pages say it was licensed in September 1921 and moved to Boston in 1924. Our guide to A Short History of Boston Broadcasting: From WBZ in 1921 to GBH’s 75th Year has more.
Which stations are easiest to receive?
That depends on your location, your radio and the building you are in. Hills and large buildings can weaken FM reception, and AM is prone to buzz from household electronics. If a station on this list is weak where you live, Better FM and AM Reception in Boston: Practical Fixes for Weak Stations has practical fixes.
Listening without a radio
Almost every station above also streams online. iHeart, Audacy and Beasley stations point listeners to their apps, and public stations stream from their own websites. Streams are handy at a desk, but they depend on your internet connection and can lag a few seconds behind the broadcast, which matters if you are listening to a game while watching it.
Spanish-language and specialty radio
The Red Sox list WCCM as their Spanish-language flagship. The station’s FCC license is for Haverhill, so reception in Boston itself can vary; check the team’s broadcast page for current details. For other specialty programs, the college stations on the low end of the dial are a good place to look, because their schedules often change by the hour rather than by format.
If you are new to the area, a good way to learn the dial is to scan it slowly over a week, morning and evening. Programming shifts with the time of day: morning shows, midday music, evening sports and late-night specialty programs on the college stations. You will soon know which few stations you actually return to.
How to use this list
Save your favorite stations as presets on every radio in the house and in the car, using the frequency rather than the brand name. Brands change; frequencies rarely do. If a radio shows station names from broadcast data on its display, the name may change while the frequency stays put.
Keep this list current
Formats and names change more often than frequencies. A station can switch from rock to talk overnight while keeping its spot on the dial. If a description here no longer matches what you hear, the frequency is still right; the station’s website will tell you what it plays now. For game broadcasts in particular, see Boston Sports Radio and Game Broadcasts: Where to Hear the Red Sox, Patriots, Celtics and Bruins.