agreement with Zapis Communications to carry WEEI programming full-time on Zapis's AM station in Worcester, WFTQ. This arrangement replaced a previous simulcast of co-owned WAAF (107.3 FM) on WFTQ after Zapis shut down local operations earlier in the year; the WEEI simulcast on WFTQ commenced with the WVEI call sign. After Zapis sold the renamed WWTM to American Radio Systems along with WAAF in 1996, it reincorporated WEEI programming into its lineup in 1997, and in 2000 reclaimed the WVEI call sign. What is now WVEI-FM was acquired from Phoenix Media/Communications Group in 2004, and what is now WWEI was purchased from Vox Radio Group in 2006. Entercom's initial plan to syndicate WEEI programming to non-Entercom stations was to place it on eleven New England stations owned by Nassau Broadcasting. The plan, announced on August 16, 2007, followed reports that Nassau was planning to use its WCRB (99.5 FM) as the flagship for a regional sports network featuring Dennis and Callahan, which was on hiatus from WEEI at the time during stalled contractual negotiations; the deal would have seen Entercom acquire a 50-percent interest in WCRB, which was to retain its classical music format, for $10 million. The Nassau-owned affiliates would not have aired Red Sox and Celtics broadcasts or Patriots Monday. The deal between Nassau and Entercom ended up collapsing by January 2008; one of the stations involved, WWHQ (101.5 FM) in Meredith, New Hampshire, joined the WEEI network as WZEI on January 4, 2013, after Nassau sold its stations. The first of WEEI's eventual affiliates began airing its programming in September 2008. WPPI, one of the first affiliates, initially carried WEEI programming (as WGEI) from September 2008 until April 2009, when it began simulcasting talk station WLOB; it rejoined the network in August 2011. Additionally, WAEI (910 AM and 97.1 FM) in Bangor, Maine carried WEEI programming from September 2008 until January 2010, when Blueberry Broadcasting terminated its affiliation following a breach-of-contract dispute. WZEI left the network on July 1, 2020, when it became soft adult contemporary station WWLK-FM. WRCH-HD3 converted to a WEEI simulcast after WRCH's former owner, CBS Radio, merged with Entercom in mid-November 2017; the channel had previously simulcast CBS-owned WBZ-FM, which was divested to Beasley Broadcast Group. References External links WEEI Network Stations; station map and list Lawrence, Massachusetts Sports radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1960 Sports in Boston