WILD (1090 AM) is a radio station licensed to Boston, Massachusetts. The station airs a Christian format, and is owned by Blount Communications, through licensee Blount Masscom, Inc. The station operates during daytime hours only. Its transmitter is located in Medford. History WILD first went on the air in 1946 as WBMS, with a classical music format. Eventually, the station went to a "popular music" format, briefly adopted the call letters WHEE, then went back to being WBMS. By the end of the 1950s, the call letters were changed to WILD under owner Bartell Broadcasters, who tried a personality DJ and music format. The station's history is best known for a long-lasting urban contemporary format which began in the late 1950s (after several years in which Italian-language programming and rhythm and blues programs for the black community shared the station's schedule). WILD became the respected voice of Boston's black community for many years. In 1958, Nelson Noble acquired the license of the station. In September 1966, WILD was sold to Dynamic Broadcasting Corporation owned by Leonard E. Walk. In 1972, the Sheridan Broadcasting Corporation purchased Dynamic Broadcasting. In August 1980, locally based Nash Communications, owned and operated by Kendall Nash, bought WILD. When Nash died in 1999, his wife, Bernadine, took the helm of the station's operations. WILD first saw competition when WZOU flipped to a rhythmic contemporary hits format as WJMN ("Jam'n 94.5") in 1993. However, it was not until 1999, when African American-owned Radio One entered the market with WBOT, that WILD saw real competition for Boston's African American population. Local ownership ends In May 2000, Radio One took control of WILD through a local marketing agreement, which became an outright purchase later that year. After purchasing the station, Radio One slowly evolved WILD from a rather mainstream urban adult contemporary format to a format that focused more on classic soul music. In addition, the syndicated Tom Joyner morning show was added to the lineup, with the former morning host ("Coach" Willie Maye) relegated to giving local updates on the show. On October 20, 2005, Radio One moved the urban adult contemporary format to the dial position of WBOT. The move replaced "Hot 97.7" for most of the day, but WBOT's mainstream urban playlist remained from 4:00 p.m. until 10:00 p.m. WBOT subsequently picked up the call letters of WILD-FM. The move cleared the 1090 frequency for a