Re: Inquiry: 1st with Rock

[Dan Strassberg <dan.strassberg@worldnet.att.net>]

At 04:47 AM 5/5/97 +0000, you wrote:
>
>I remember that sometime around 1956 or so, Paul Flanagan moved to WPTR.
>I think he was back in PM drive by then, and I think he did a Top 30
>countdown on Saturday afternoon, which I listened to regularly.
>
Yes, Flanagan did move to WPTR. He wasn't there for all that long, though.
Does anyone know what became of him after that? I don't think he made the
move to WPTR while I was still at RPI. That would put the time of his move
after May '56. If I had to guess, I'd say it was proably not until at least
1957.

>I had always wondered what brought about the great shift in network
>affiliations in Albany area radio stations.  CBS moved from WTRY to WROW,
>ABC moved from WROW to WPTR, and Mutual moved from WPTR to WOKO.  The only
>network that stayed put was NBC on WGY.
>
Boy was that complicated, and I don't think the dust settled for several
years! Here's my recollection of what happened: The ABC Radio affiliate in
the Capital District had been WXKW (850), which went silent because of
technical problems. I believe that several stations were involved in buying
out the license. At that point, ABC Radio moved to WROW, but it didn't stay
for long. (WROW had been the Mutual affiliate. As I recall, Mutual moved to
WABY, even though WOKO with a 5-kW signal, seemed a better choice.) ABC was
regarded as the weakest of the TV networks. WROW held a CP for Channel 41.
They wanted a better network than ABC. NBC was unavailable because WGY's TV
station, WRGB, the area's only VHF allocation, had it locked up.

The new owners of WTRY did not hold a TV CP and _did not want_ a radio
network affiliation. WROW's management (by then, maybe Capital Cities--WROW
was their first acquisition) were more than happy to take the CBS Radio
Network affiliation, especially because it would likely guarantee the CBS TV
affiliation for channel 41. WPTR held a CP for a never-built UHF on Channel
23. So ABC radio moved from WROW to WPTR, and it looked as if WPTR-TV was
going to be the ABC affiliate. But that left the owners of the permit for
Channel 35 (no longer the group that owned WTRY) with no network. That would
have been a disaster for them. Independent UHF stations in medium markets
(especially mixed UHF/VHF markets) were not able to survive in those days.
Through whatever means (building first was probably the main one), Channel
35 secured the ABC TV affiliation. That made WPTR's proposed TV station not
economically viable, so it wasn't built.

Over the years, the TV network affiliation have moved around. I no longer
know which network is on which station in the Capital District market. Also
there are more TV networks now--and more stations. And, of course, who can
keep track of radio network affiliations anywhere anymore?  

- -------------------------------
Dan Strassberg (Note: Address is CASE SENSITIVE!)
ALL _LOWER_ CASE!!!--> dan.strassberg@worldnet.att.net
(617) 558-4205; Fax (617) 928-4205

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