BOSTON - The radio landscape in Massachusetts is about to get shaken up for the first time in a long time after one of the most prominent stations in the entire state was sold to a group that is going to change the programming quite drastically.

Since 1970, WAAF has been one of the definitive homes for rock music on Boston radio. It could be found on the wavelength of 107.3 FM, but this station is going to be markedly different. Educational Media Foundation (EMF) has come to an agreement with Entercom Communications, the radio organization that owned the 107.3 FM station in Massachusetts, to purchase the station for $10.75 million. EMF has long been known as a radio broadcaster that focuses on modern Christian music and it is located in California.

With the purchase, changes will go into effect this Saturday, per Boston Herald. The station will continue to be broadcast on 107.3 FM, but it will also come onto Entercom's HD stations, like 104.1 HD2 and 93.7 HD2. Additionally, the broadcast will continue on the Radio.com website.

One might know EMF from the stations Air1 and K-LOVE, which have become popular radio networks for religious broadcasting, a type of music that is certainly in contrast with what WAAF has played for all these decades. WAAF has a long and storied history of rock music introduced to the greater Boston and Worcester communities, but they have also helped boost the profiles of radio DJs like Opie and Anthony and Greg Hill, both of whom found greener pastures elsewhere.

This purchase comes after many other classic rock stations in New England went dark over the past couple of years, including WBCN and WFNX, but now, sadly, WAAF joins them. Many even treated the news as if it was a funeral because they know that Christian music is going to draw a completely different audience from rock music. There might be no overlap in the Venn diagram whatsoever. For local rock fans, this is the end of an era. After all, songs about God and faith just seem counterintuitive to the rock and roll music of groups like The Beatles that helped cement WAAF has a major player in Boston radio for fifty years.

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