.................you probably would not have known that Senator Ted Kennedy had passed away.
With news of his death breaking at 1:15 A.M. EDT this morning (August 26th), most Boston-area radio stations were in automation, and unable to carry the story unless their automation systems were able to be "tripped" for a network bulletin.
But WBZ-1030, with a live local overnight talk-show hosted by Steve LeVeille, was able to not only carry a network bulletin (although CBS-owned, WBZ is also affiliated with ABC and broadcast a radio news bulletin from that network at 1:15 A.M. EDT), but was able to follow it up with local coverage.
Immediately after the initial ABC flash, WBZ broadcast a pre-taped memorial tribute (although newsmen Rod Fritz and Ed Walsh referred to Kennedy as having died, neither said that he had died late Tuesday evening nor gave time checks, so this 40-minute piece was taped).
At 1:55 A.M., LeVeille came back, joined by Dan Rea, whose "Nightside" show usually ends at 12 Midnight. In fact, Rea didn't participate by phone; he came back to the WBZ studios to join LeVeille live.
Instead of carrying the 2 A.M. EDT CBS hourly news, WBZ carried a brief memorial program from ABC News, and then LeVeille and Rea continued discussing Kennedy's life and career (I turned-off my radio just before 3 A.M., but I suspect Rea wasn't there much longer).
A few months ago, LeVeille had been briefly laid-off and replaced with the syndicated "Overnight America" (Whatever happened to it? Is it still even around?) in a move widely believed to be ordered by CBS Radio corporate.
WBZ's bringing back of LeVeille must now be regarded as a great move. Because the news of Kennedy's death broke in "the middle of the night", WBZ was the only Boston radio station that was able to provide substantial coverage of it.
(I believe Soft AC-formatted WMJX-106.7 was the only other Boston commercial station with a live overnight announcer, so if that's the case, that station might have broken-in with a brief bulletin)
