WFCI was one of four radio stations in the pre-World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 Providence market (the others being WPRO

WPRO (AM)

WPRO is a radio station located in Providence, Rhode Island. The station is owned by Cumulus Media, and airs a talk format. WPRO's studio and transmitter are located in East Providence, at the Salty Brine Broadcast Center, named after WPRO's longtime morning host...

, WEAN and WJAR

WHJJ

WHJJ is a radio station in Providence, Rhode Island. The station was previously assigned the call letters WJAR, adopting its current call letters in 1980 when previous owner Outlet Communications sold the station.-History:...

). WFCI was an affiliate of the NBC Blue network which in 1943 became simply the Blue Network & finally changed to the American Broadcasting Company, or ABC, in 1945. WFCI added FM service on 101.5 MHz circa 1950. WFCI-FM is today's WWBB

WWBB

WWBB is a radio station in Providence, Rhode Island. The station mainly plays classic hits and oldies from the 1960s, 1970s, and early 1980s. The station is also carried as background music on several Public-access television cable TV in southeastern Massachusetts...

.

A listing for WFCI: Pawtucket dates from at least 1927, owned by Frank Crook. It is not known if he was a principal of the Pawtucket Broadcasting Company. If this WFCI is the same station, it was on 1330kc. on or before June 30, 1927, with 50 watts then moving to 1240 kHz (not yet a Class IV frequency as it would become under NARBA) a year later. WFCI's first studio/office location was at 450 Main Street in Pawtucket. WFCI moved to the Biltmore Hotel in Providence in 1949 and took WEAN's ABC affiliation. WFCI was relicensed to Providence in 1950.

WFCI was sold to the Providence Journal-Bulletin in 1952 which changed the callsign to WPJB, matching their radio station on 105.1 MHz, now WWLI

WWLI

WWLI is a radio station in Providence, Rhode Island that under ownership of Cumulus Media. This station is better known as "Lite Rock 105" and plays the adult contemporary format. Its transmitter is located in Johnston, Rhode Island.-History:...

. When the Journal-Bulletin bought WEAN in 1954, it surrendered WPJB's license back to the FCC.

1420 was not silent long as WBSM

WBSM

WBSM is an AM radio station broadcasting in the New Bedford/Fall River market area with a News/Talk format. It broadcasts on 1420 kilocycles and is under ownership of Cumulus Media, with studios in Fairhaven shared with fellow Cumulus station WFHN/Fun 107...

 in New Bedford, Massachusetts

New Bedford, Massachusetts

New Bedford is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States, located south of Boston, southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, and about east of Fall River. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 95,072, making it the sixth-largest city in Massachusetts...

was given permission to move to 1420 in 1956 where it remains to this day.