WVEI (1440 kHz) is an AM sports station in Worcester, Massachusetts, operating with 5,000 watts. The station is owned by Audacy, Inc. Most programming is provided by Boston sister station WEEI-FM. History Origins in Boston WBET and the second WLEX The station that now operates as WVEI originated in Boston as WBET, the radio station of the Boston Evening Transcript, which was granted a license on December 18, 1926. The station was originally authorized with 100 watts on 780 kHz; however, when the station signed on February 27, 1927, it was operating with 500 watts on 1130 kHz. The inaugural broadcast was plagued by severe technical problems, leading to a front-page apology on the next day's paper, and the station went off-the-air until April 20, when WBET moved to 760 kHz and began operating from studios originally used by WGI. After moving to 1240 kHz and then back to 1130 kHz in June 1927, the station moved to 1040 kHz on August 15, sharing time with religious station WSSH; on November 11, 1928, the station moved to 1360 kHz, where it shared time with South Dartmouth station WMAF as well as WSSH. The city of license was changed to Medford in February 1928. However, WBET was plagued by continued technical issues and increasing expenses, leading the Transcript to sell the station; on February 15, 1929, it was purchased by the Lexington Air Stations, owner of Lexington radio station WLEX (now WLLH in Lowell and Lawrence) and experimental television station W1XAY. The new owners moved the station to Lexington and transferred the WLEX call letters from its new sister station (which became WLEY). On March 20, 1930, the station moved to 1410 kHz and was still time-share. The Yankee and Colonial Network WLEX became an affiliate of the Yankee Network on January 20, 1931, and soon thereafter the station moved back to Boston, changing its call letters to WAAB and sharing studios with WNAC (now WBIX) at the Hotel Buckminster at Kenmore Square; by April 20, John Shepard III of Shepard Stores, owner of WNAC and the Yankee Network, had acquired WAAB outright. Shepard had shown interest in the WLEX license as early as the fall of 1929, when he attempted to lease the station and relocate it to Worcester; this plan was rejected by the Federal Radio Commission (FRC) following objections from WTAG. By 1938, WAAB's studios were located at