“Bob felt like a friend.”Īn announcement now running on the station says that Bittner, 73, passed away unexpectedly. “During COVID you could come home from the darkest day and all the cruelty in the world, and turn on WJIB, and it would wash everything away,” says Benedetti. “When you think about how people were so lonely, especially older folks, I really think he saved people’s lives,” says Ralich.
Bittner saw fund-raising numbers jump thanks to listeners who had both more time and more need for an escape. The station’s audience continued to grow when it finally hit the Boston FM airwaves at 101.3 in 2017.
I couldn’t wait to get home to play it for my wife, and I’ve barely turned it off since.” It was like a lightning bolt into my existence. “The mix of songs and styles was so different. Since the station can’t be streamed, he and his wife bought some old radios so they could hear WJIB throughout their home.ĭrummer Tommy Benedetti was at a photo shoot for his roaring reggae band Dub Apocalypse and wondered what Somerville photographer Mike Spencer was playing in the studio. Ralich, 36, says he found out about the station a decade ago from a friend at a skateboard park in Jamaica Plain. It could be heard at businesses like Ricky’s Flower Market in Somerville’s Union Square. WJIB reached far beyond the expected audience of seniors. “He was one of those people who was clearly driven by his passions and very focused on them, and because his passion aligned with a need that was out there, he was able to get love back from people who enjoyed it, creating a sort of magic circuit,” said filmmaker Derek Frank, who made a short documentary about Bittner. “Bob being Bob, he wanted to do what he did entirely by himself, and he found a community that bonded around him,” said Scott Fybush, who wrote an extensive memorial of Bittner for his NorthEast Radio Watch website.
#Easy listening music radio license#
In 2016 Bittner told the Globe that he and his wife lived on Social Security and the sales of his collectible license plates on eBay. Without ads, Bittner relied on listener donations, raising about $100,000 a year through occasional announcements that would stop as soon as the needed money was secured.
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