After 41 years, Boston radio station WBCN-FM signs off the air tonight. On Friday morning, it will reemerge as WBZ-FM, located down the dial at 98.5.   WBZ-FM will join a host of stations in the marketplace competing for Boston’s sports fans. The demise of WBCN has become one of the most-discussed topics in the local media, on Facebook and at the water cooler.    For more than one generation of radio listeners, WBCN was the destination on the dial.   One of the most influential rock stations ever, WBCN was born at a time when the art of programming lead to business success. Over the course of the past twenty years there has been a steady shift in this paradigm and radio has become a business first.  Thus, the demise of a iconic station.

 

 Oedipus, Charles, Ken and Mark, Tami Heidi, Kathryn Lauren, Adam 12, Bradley Jay, Tony Berardini, Tank, and dozens of others are part of radio history, helping to launch the careers of rock icons  The Who, The J. Geils Band, Aerosmith, and U2, among many more.   There are few radio stations that can evoke the attention and emotion WBCN has seen over the past two weeks.      There are so many great memories for so many people. Goodbye WBCN.