NorthEast Radio Watch 4/24: Pump Up The Kilowatts

[fybush@world.std.com (Scott D Fybush)]

*Crankin' out FIFTY THOUSAND WATTS OF POWER!!!: That could be the
slogan of Koor Broadcasting's new station in Hanover NH, if Bob
Vinikoor gets his way.  We've finally seen the FCC filing for the 720
kHz application, and wouldn't you know, it's for 50 kilowatts by day,
500 watts by night, separate patterns, using 3 towers by day and 4 by
night.  The transmitter site would be in Lebanon, just north of the
town center and east of route 120.  It goes without saying that the
new 720, if approved, would be by far the strongest AM signal in the
Granite State.  This should be interesting...stay tuned.

Not much else to report from New Hampshire this week, except for this
tidbit from NERW research director Garrett Wollman:  There is indeed
no valid license at the moment for Harvest Broadcasting's WWNH (1340)
Madbury NH.  The construction permit for the station was cancelled on
October 6, 1992, and the FCC database shows a reconsideration is
pending.  WWNH was nonetheless on the air the last time NERW was up
that way a few months ago.

*Some big shakeups on the radio dial here in Upstate New York, and
most of them are at Heritage Media's Rochester properties.  Oldies
WKLX (98.9) dumped most of its airstaff last weekend, and is now all
satellite outside of morning drive, where market veteran Mike Vickers
is now working.  Down the hall at classic rock WQRV (93.3 Avon, "The
River,") Chris Wittingham has replaced Coyote Collins as morning
jock.  Collins returns to his duties at country WBEE-FM (92.5).  
Still no word on a possible buyer for the Heritage radio/TV properties,
which also include WPTZ-TV (Channel 5) in Plattsburgh.

New call letters are in place at ARS's modern AC "The Zone" (94.1
Brighton-Rochester).  WZNE replaced WAQB last Friday.  Over in
Buffalo, meanwhile, "Alice at 92.9" is still hiding the old WSJZ calls
at the top of each hour.

There'll be a new AM signal on the air at night in the Rochester area
soon.  We've now seen it with our own eyes; Bob Savage has built three
additional towers at the Avon NY transmitter site of his WYSL, as he
gets ready to move the station from a 500-watt daytimer on 1030 to a
fulltime facility on 1040, with 2500 watts by day and 500 at night.
We'll see whether he beats another new AM to the air; Canandaigua's
WCGR has built a new three-tower facility for its 1310 kHz
construction permit, replacing the daytimer on 1550 kHz.

Rochester's public broadcaster will have to try again to put up an FM
service for western Monroe County.  WXXI's application for 90.9 MHz in
Spencerport NY has been dismissed by the FCC.

Speaking of new stations, there's word from way up North that WYUL
(94.7 Chateauguay) is about to hit the airwaves.  Owner Tim Martz is
no stranger to the Canadian border -- he runs WQHR and WBPW in Presque
Isle ME.  His 50kW directional signal from Lyon Mountain, the WPTZ-TV
(Channel 5) transmitter site near Plattsburgh, will head straight for
Montreal, and as Garrett notes, the "YUL" in the calls is also the
airport code for Montreal.  Word has it that Martz is hiring bilingual
DJs for the new station.

The calls that won't die have returned yet again to Long Island.
WDRE(FM) is the new set of calls on 98.5 Westhampton NY, ex-WLRI,
ex-WLIR-FM, ex-WMRW.  It's still simulcasting 92.7 Garden City, now
WLIR-FM again after a time with the WDRE calls itself.  Meanwhile, the
most recent WDRE, 103.9 Jenkintown-Philadelphia, is now WPHI, "Philly
103.9."  La plus ca change...

*An old Boston callsign has found new life in Downeast Maine.  WSNV
(103.9 Howland-Bangor) has picked up the WVOM calls that lived on
Boston's AM 1600 for a few years in the forties and fifties, before
the Brookline-licensed station became WBOS (and later WUNR).

WCME (96.7 Boothbay Harbor) is reportedly running very limited hours.
Several NERW correspondents in the area have checked in to note that
WCME is signing off around 11 o'clock most mornings, and has been off
the air completely some days.  We'll keep watching this odd situation.

*A bit of weirdness from Rhode Island, as seen in the back pages of
Radio World newspaper:  An outfit calling itself "WCTD AM 1620" in
Westerly is advertising a newsletter that, they claim, will tell you 
how to start your own commercial, legal, unlicensed radio station and
make money at it.  Somehow NERW doubts that it's possible to legally
"cover your entire town" with a Part 15 transmitter...but if anyone
down around Westerly wants to check things out at the high end of the
dial, we'd love to know what you find.

*From Connecticut comes word that Sound of Life, Inc. has asked the
FCC to dismiss its application for an 88.5 translator in New Milford,
after both WMNR (88.1 Monroe CT) and WFCR (88.5 Amherst MA) filed
petitions to deny.  The 88.5 translator would have relayed religious
WFGB (89.7 Kingston NY).  We're also hearing from people who have
heard the 92.9 pirate in the Danbury area, which apparently is calling
itself the "new Q," and playing foreign-language pop music.
Hartford's WRTC (89.3) at Trinity College has boosted its power and is
now operating with 300 watts vertical and horizontal from an antenna
just north of campus...and Hartford's high school broadcaster, WQTQ
(89.9) is seeking a power increase as well.

*Massachusetts news: Rumors of big changes at Boston talker WRKO
continue to swirl...the latest word is that Marjorie Clapprood could
also be on her way out of the morning show, along with co-host Pat
Whitley.  Gardner's WGAW (1340) is now simulcasting Fitchburg's WEIM
(1280) full-time, which should help fill some of the holes in WEIM's
nighttime pattern west of Fitchburg.  Still further out Route 2,
pioneering AAA station WRSI (95.3 Greenfield) is now going by "The
River" on-air.  And all the way out the Mohawk Trail, North Adams'
WNAW (1230) has reportedly dropped AP All News to return to satellite
standards.  Radio with pictures: WBZ-TV (Channel 4) in Boston has
hired Sean Mooney, late of WWOR Secaucus NJ, as its new 5pm anchor.
Mooney started last night, replacing John Dougherty in the 5pm seat.
And a hearty round of congratulations to our friends at WPVQ (93.9)
in Turners Falls, who have been granted their translator at 97.1 in
Amherst, W246AM.

*Digital TV is coming, and the FCC has released the latest proposed
allocations table.  Ready for WBZ-HD 30?  How about WRGB-HD 39?  You
can see the whole list at http://www.transmitter.com if you're
curious.

*And finally this week...our latest trip across the vast NERW coverage
area took us to New York's southern tier last weekend.  Here's what we
found:

There's not much radio left in the DUNKIRK/FREDONIA market, south of
Buffalo on Lake Erie.  WDOE (1410) was doing satellite oldies, WCQA
(96.5) was satellite country (albeit with a live remote on Saturday),
and WCVF (88.9) at Fredonia State College was missing in action.  Good
thing the Buffalo and Erie stations all blast in...

We found some neat viewing in the JAMESTOWN market, where WJTN (1240)
and WWSE (93.3) share a very impressive building at the base of the
WWSE tower.  "SE93" is the 50kW AC giant in town; we found them at a
Saturday remote opening a new supermarket.  Across town, WKSN "Kissin'
Oldies 1340" and WHUG "Huggin' Country 101.7" are co-owned.  Huggin'
was live and local, Kissin' was satellite (as was the talk on WJTN
most of the weekend).  From just across the border, Jamestown can also
hear one of the last beautiful-music FMs in existence, Warren PA's
WRRN (92.3), along with its sister AM, AC WNAE (1310).  Russell PA's
WRLP (103.1, "The Point") is another Jamestown rimshotter.  WKSN, by
the way, still has a rooftop transmitter.  Noncomm relayers WUBJ
(88.1, WBFO 88.7 Buffalo, news/jazz), WNJA (89.7, WNED-FM 94.5
Buffalo, classical), and WCOT (90.9, Family Life Radio) round out the
dial.

Down the road in SALAMANCA and OLEAN, the big gun in town is country
WPIG (95.7 Olean), running live from a nifty art deco building on
Route 417.  AC WMXO (101.5 Olean, "Mix 101.5") was automated all
weekend, with nary a legal ID to be heard except during the leased
Irish and Polish shows Sunday morning.  Salamanca's WQRT (98.3) was
satellite rock.  On the AM side, WPIG's sister station, WHDL (1450),
is satellite oldies; WMXO's sister, WMNS (1360), is business talk and
sports; and WQRT's sister, WGGO (1590), is locally-programmed
variety.  We caught them on a "CD Side Saturday," playing discs from
the Beatles, Barbra Streisand, and Frank Zappa with almost no
interruption.  Noncomms in town are WBFO relay WOLN (91.3) and
St. Bonaventure University's WSBU (88.3).

Just over the state line is Bradford PA, where we spent some time
enjoying WESB (1490), a little local station that believes in serving
the community.  The local newscast we heard at 9 o'clock on a Saturday
night was one of the most comprehensive we've heard on any small
station.  Oddly, the sister AM, WBRR (100.1, "Cool 100") was
all-satellite, as was rimshotter WQRM-FM Smethport PA (106.3, with a
99.3 Bradford translator, running standards).  Looking for live on FM?
St. Mary's WKVE (97.5, "the Peak") fills the bill with hot AC...we
even caught the owner pulling a weekend airshift!

Moving further east, WELLSVILLE has but two stations, satellite
country WLSV (790) and satellite AC WJQZ (103.5).

Heading back north again, only one of ALFRED's two college FMs was on
the air.  WALF (89.7) at Alfred University was playing rock music,
while there was nothing to be heard at SUNY Alfred's WETD (90.9).
There's also no sign yet of Robert Pfuntner's construction permit on
101.9, WZKZ (borrowing the heritage calls from Corning NY).

The final stop of the trip was in Hornell NY, where it was
all-automated at WLEA (1480, standards) and WCKR (92.1, country).
Down the road at Bilbat Radio's WHHO (1320) and WKPQ (105.3), we found
NASCAR racing on the AM and live CHR on the 50kw FM, with a very
talented teenage DJ by the name of Megan McCormick working the Sunday
afternoon shift.  The Bilbat folks seem to do a very good job of
keeping themselves tied in to the community...and you've gotta
love the cartoon logo of a bat with a duck's bill (you can
see it yourself at http://www.wkpq.com).  We also heard the
relatively new 99.3 translator of religious WCIK (103.1 Bath), as well
as the new satellite oldies format on Bath's WABH (1380).

And from there, it's back up I-390 to Rochester...

*Around the web: WNTK up in New Hampshire's Upper Valley has a 
nice site at http://www.wntk.com (though we're still waiting for
Pete Ferrand's photo!).  And at http://www.methuen-on-line.com/wccm
you'll find the start of a website for Lawrence's WCCM (800).

*And that'll do it for us this week...see you next Thursday!

- -=Scott Fybush - fybush@world.std.com=-

------------------------------