New England Radio Watch 6/5: ARS Grows Again

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

*It's been a very big week for Steve Dodge and the folks at American
Radio Systems.  The largest New England-based broadcaster picked up
four more stations in its own back yard last week, paying a reported
$6 million for Precision Media's two AMs and two FMs on the New
Hampshire seacoast.  ARS gets standards WZNN (930) Rochester,
standards WMYF (1540) Exeter, adult AC WSRI (96.7) Rochester, and CHR
WERZ (107.1) Exeter.  

This is the second time in two weeks that a New Hampshire
Seacoast station's been bought by an out-of-town broadcaster; WSTG
(102.1) Hampton, now under Fuller-Jeffrey control, ended its
computerized countdown Tuesday afternoon and launched a simulcast with
F-J's classic rock WXBB "Arrow" (105.3 Kittery ME).  

There is no word yet on any possible format changes at American
Radio Systems' new seacoast properties; it will be interesting
to see whether the AMs begin picking up sports or talk from ARS's WEEI
and WRKO Boston, and whether the near-CHR of ARS' WBMX (98.5) Boston
shows up as a simulcast up the coast.  It will also be interesting to
see whether ARS can exploit WERZ's dial proximity to another new ARS
station, WAAF (107.3 Worcester).  WAAF's signal into Boston is
notoriously bad, although it got a boost this week when ARS took over
operation of WNFT (1150 Boston) from Greater Media and flipped it from
a simulcast of country WKLB-FM 96.9 to WAAF's hard rock.  WERZ had
been one of the factors limiting a possible eastward move of WAAF (the
others are 107.1 WFHN Fairhaven and third-adjacents WMJX 106.7 Boston
and WXKS-FM 107.9 Medford).  Could ARS slide WAAF to the northeast by
turning WERZ off?  Could Boston be treated to the sounds of "WAAF
Methuen"?  Only time will tell...and NERW will be here to let you
know.

*With so many sales up in the Seacoast area, it's a good time to run
down who owns what up there these days, so here goes:

ARS (from Precision Media): 

930 WZNN Rochester - standards
1540 WMYF Exeter - standards
96.7 WSRI Rochester - adult AC
107.1 WERZ Exeter - CHR

Fuller-Jeffrey:

97.5 WOKQ Dover - country
102.1 WSTG Hampton - classic rock // WXBB (from ADD Media)
105.3 WXBB Kittery - classic rock

Capstar (from Knight Quality Stations):

1380 WTMN Portsmouth - sports
95.3 WXHT York Center ME - hot AC
100.3 WHEB Portsmouth - rock

Garrison City Broadcasting (locally owned):

1270 WTSN Dover - talk
98.7 WBYY Somersworth - AC

Harvest Broadcasting:

1340 WWNH Madbury - religion, albeit without a license it seems

Noncomms: 90.5 WPEA Exeter (Phillips Exeter Academy), 91.3 WUNH Durham
(University of NH)

What's interesting is to see how the Seacoast is becoming something of
an adjunct to the adjoining markets.  Of the three biggest owners, ARS
has a huge concentration of stations (3 AMs and 4 FMs) in the Boston
market, while Fuller-Jeffrey is dominant in Portland with an AM and
five FMs, and Capstar inherited Knight Quality's nearby AM-FM combo in
Manchester.  It's a whole new world up there.

*On with the rest of the week's news:

In VERMONT, correspondent Doug Bassett reports Brattleboro's WKVT-FM
(92.7) has dropped the satellite classic rock in afternoon drive to go
live with longtime staffer Bill Howard at the mike.  Crosstown WTSA-FM
(96.7) had been the only live voice in town in the afternoons with
John Ashley.  This is the first big change at WKVT since it was bought
by Keene NH's WKNE AM/FM earlier this spring.

Doug also spotted a petition against the proposed new tower for the
yet-to-be-built WLPL (96.3 Walpole NH).  The petition stressed the
alleged "environmental impact" of the tower, and Doug reports it was
drawing hundreds of signatures.  Gary Savoie, who holds the WLPL CP,
has been engaged in a very long-running fight to get the station
built.

And Vermont Public Radio has won a round in the fight against
satellite-delivered religious translators.  The FCC has dismissed
Calvary Chapel of Twin Falls' application to put a KAWZ translator on
89.5 in Burlington VT.  VPR filed an informal objection last summer,
no doubt on the grounds of interference to WVPR (89.5 Windsor).  KAWZ
has filed a major amendment to seek a different frequency; no word yet
what they're after.

Just over the border, by the way, there will soon be some new TV
signals coming out of Quebec.  Quebec City's CKMI (Channel 5) is
switching from CBC to Global, and will put relay stations on the air
in several Quebec cities this September.  The CKMI relay in Montreal
will be on Channel 67, and may just make it into northern Vermont.
Montreal's CBMT (Channel 6) is expected to get a relay in Quebec City
to maintain CBC English TV service there.  Also expected on the air
soon will be Ottawa relays for Hamilton's CHCH-TV ("ONtv," Channel
11) and Toronto's CITY-TV (Channel 57).  The CHCH relay will also be
on channel 11, while Ottawa viewers will get Citytv on 60.

*Elsewhere in NEW HAMPSHIRE, the license for WVRR (101.7 Newport) has
been transferred from Mountain View Broadcasting to Real Rock Radio,
LLC.

*Very little MAINE news this time out; WWLA (Channel 35)
Lewiston-Portland has been granted another extension on its
construction permit.  WWLA is supposed to sign on this summer.  It
will be operated by Portland Fox affiliate WPXT (Channel 51) under an
LMA.

*In MASSACHUSETTS, we find Boston's WGBH trying for an experimental
television license from the WGBH-FM transmitter on Great Blue Hill.
The proposed station, which NERW guesses will be a test of DTV, will
operate on channel 17 with 6.839 kW visual power.  NERW research
director Garrett Wollman notes that the DTV Table of Allocations
recently released by the FCC gave WGBH spots at channels 19 (WGBH-TV)
and 43 (WGBX).  The table also includes a channel 18, for WMFP (NTSC
channel 62) Lawrence-Boston.

Boston's WBZ (1030) has made some changes in its nighttime news
lineup.  Gone are the one-minute ABC newscasts from 7 until 11 PM;
instead, national and local news is now being read by WBZ anchors.
ABC news is still being heard on the hour from midnight until 4 AM,
followed by a taped local newscast.

Ron Della Chiesa's "MusicAmerica" has added a second Boston-area
station to its network.  The show can now be heard on Gloucester's
WBOQ (104.9) as well as on Plymouth's WPLM (1390/99.1) each Saturday
night.

Wondering what's up with Radio Free Allston?  Station founder Steve
Provizer checked in this week to let us know he's still running
several nights a week from Herrell's Ice Cream in the heart of
Allston.  He's looking for a transmitter location that will allow him
to be on longer hours on 106.1.  We also found a web site for another
pirate, Worcester's "WDOA" (89.3).  Check out
http://members.aol.com/wdoafm for all the gory details.  By the way,
we found the site through BRS Radio Consultants' site at
http://www.radio-directory.com, which seems to be the most
comprehensive listing of everything (broadcast, pirate, cable, or
carrier current) on the web right now.

Another interesting web site is WJLT (1060 Natick), at http://www.jlight.com,
which makes the very interesting claim that it's the "only radio
station to reach Worcester, Providence, and Boston with one powerful
signal."  Leaving aside the question of whether a kilowatt is
"powerful," NERW wonders how stations such as Boston's WBZ,
Worcester's WSRS and WAAF, and Providence's WPRO-FM fail to meet the
same criterion...

The Massachusetts Reading Service is helping several Bay State
noncomms stay on the air all summer long.  Stonehill College's WSHL
(91.3 South Easton MA) is normally off the air in the summer, but now
it's back on with MRS programming.  Other stations running the reading
service include UMass Lowell's WJUL (91.5 Lowell), Framingham State
College's WDJM (91.3 Framingham), and WVBF (1530) Middleborough
Center.

Lowell Paxson's WHRC (Channel 46) Norwell has switched to home
shopping from religion.  And speaking of home shopping, the Global
Shopping Network, which is buying WNDS (Channel 50) Derry NH, is
reportedly in serious financial trouble.  GSN pulled out of a deal to
buy a station near Atlanta, and is also having trouble closing on the
purchase of KNWS (Channel 51) in the Houston market.  

*Once again, we find ourselves with nothing at all to report from
RHODE ISLAND, though we'd love to know if anyone in the Ocean State
has heard WEGM (or is it WKFD?) 1370 Wickford recently.  We've also
yet to hear from anyone who's logged the mysterious "WCTD 1620
Westerly" we mentioned a few weeks back.  You can drop us a line at
bra@radio.lcs.mit.edu if you can help solve these deep mysteries.

*The big news from CONNECTICUT is on the TV side, where Hartford's
WFSB (Channel 3) is being traded by Post-Newsweek to Meredith
Broadcasting, in exchange for WCPX (Channel 6) Orlando, another CBS
affiliate.  Post-Newsweek is throwing in $60 million dollars to
sweeten the deal, which gives P-N a third Florida outlet to add to
WPLG (Channel 10), Miami's ABC affiliate, and WJXT (Channel 4),
Jacksonville's CBS station.  Meredith is buying WCPX as part of a
larger deal, but it couldn't keep both WCPX and its WOFL (Channel 35),
the Fox station in Orlando.  Buying WFSB gives Meredith a station in
the backyard of CEO William T. Kerr, who's based in Litchfield CT.
The soon-to-debut Gayle King talk show, which is partially owned by
Post-Newsweek, will still be produced in space adjacent to WFSB's
Constitution Plaza studios.  The show debuts locally on WFSB this
summer, and goes national in September.

*On to NEW YORK, where two new stations are headed for the airwaves.
William Walker, who owns stations in the Hudson Valley (country WRWD
AM-FM and rock WBWZ), Glens Falls (oldies WCKM), and Mohawk Valley
(country WBUG AM-FM/WLFH) areas, has been granted a CP for 102.1 in
Jeffersonville, high in the Catskills.  Most of the existing stations
in the area, including WPDA 106.1 Jeffersonville, simulcast
Poughkeepsie-area broadcasters, and NERW expects to hear 102.1
relaying WRWD or WBWZ.  Walker beat out Michael Celenza for the
license.  Not far away in Saugerties (the site of the Woodstock '95
concert a few summers back), the Saugerties Broadcasting Company has
been granted 92.9 MHz, also with 6 kW.  SBC apparently bought out one
Thomas Williams to end what seems to have been a six-year fight for
the frequency, which will serve the Kingston area from a transmitter
site alongside the Thruway between exits 19 and 20, south of Saugerties.

Up in the North Country, correspondent Gavin Burt heard WYUL (94.7
Chateaugay) testing with a blend of country, AC, oldies, and classic
rock, saying it would do one of those four formats.  And if there's
any doubt about what areas WYUL is targeting, the ID mentioned
"Chateaugay-Montreal-Burlington."  Gavin also heard Malone's WVNV
(96.5) with satellite country instead of live, and WICY with satellite
standards instead of talk.  All three stations are owned by Tim Martz,
who's been busy buying more Canadian-border properties way up in
northern Michigan.

In Syracuse, Bill Baker has left news-talk WSYR (570) after a decade
with the station.  WSYR will soon have more company at its Plum Street
studios; sister stations WHEN (620, sports) and WWHT (107.9, CHR) are
planning to leave their longtime studios at the 620 transmitter in
Liverpool to head downtown.

The fight for 90.7 is heating up in the Buffalo area.  The Mary
V. Harris Foundation has weighed in with an application for the
frequency in Williamsville NY.  

In Watertown, WCIZ (1410) has changed calls to WUZZ.  No word on a
format change at the station, which was apparently holding the WCIZ
calls while they moved on FM from 97.5 (now country WFGY) to 93.5
(formerly CHR WTNY-FM).  1410 was formerly WNCQ, and before that WOTT.
Station owner Forever of NY likes using its AMs to hold calls; the
WFGY calls were warehoused at AM 1450 in Rome (formerly and again
WODZ) before going to Watertown.

When Lowell Paxson gets WAQF (Channel 51) Batavia-Buffalo on the air
later this year, it will come with two LPTV relays.  W69CS in Buffalo
and W63BM in Rochester will relay the infomercials from WAQF to the
big-city audiences that may have trouble getting Channel 51 off-air.

Also in Rochester, the WXXI Public Broadcasting Council has petitioned
the FCC to reconsider its application for a new station on 90.9 in
Spencerport, just west of Rochester.  The initial application was
dismissed last month.

This week's weirdness: The FCC has rejected an application from the
Evangelical Crusade of Fishers to build a shortwave station at
Brentwood, Long Island.  The shortwaver would have been located at 128
Merrill Street in Brentwood, and would have been the region's second
shortwave outlet (WVHA Scotts Corners ME is the only one now on the
air, although there's a long history of shortwave from Scituate MA,
Riverhead LI, and several other Northeast spots).

*As we promised last week, a quick look at what we found on the recent
NERW expedition to southern Ontario:

The really amazing thing about Canadian radio, at least to NERW's
American ears, is what regulation has done to the small-market
broadcasters.  Tuning in on a weekend afternoon, we heard live, local
programming coming from places like Simcoe, Welland, and
St. Catharines -- complete with local news.  We almost managed to
forget what satellite automation sounded like...

The massive directional arrays in the area held our interest while
driving; it was hard to miss stations like CFTR 680 (8 towers), CHOG
640 (8 towers), and CJCL 590 (9 towers!) lining the sides of the QEW
highway on the south shore of Lake Ontario.  

Many other AMs have vanished, replaced by low power FM; in the suburbs
around Toronto we heard little FMs like CKDX 88.5 Newmarket (dance
"Power 88.5," ex-CKAN 1480) and CJKX 95.9 Ajax (country "KX 96,"
ex-CHOO 1390).  In the US, changes like those would have turned the
suburban stations into big-city rimshotters; in Canada, the CRTC seems
to be trying hard to make sure the stations stay focused on their
cities of license.

We stopped by the 40th birthday party of CHUM (1050 Toronto), and had
a great time dancing to the live music outside the Yonge Street
studios.  CHUM sounds great in AM stereo, too.

We also had a chance to walk through the lobby of the new CBC
Broadcast Centre, right across the street from the CN Tower.  It's
quite the facility, complete with ground-level studios for CBL (740)
visible through several large windows.  By the way, a drive down
Toronto's King Street West proved to these ears that the CBC really
could use a better flagship signal in Toronto.  The CBL signal was
drowned out by the loud whines from the streetcar power lines, at
times to the point of inaudibility.  We actually had an easier time
hearing CHWO (1250) from way out in suburban Oakville!  The CBC is
still fighting for the vacant 99.1 spot in Toronto.

Returning to the US, we spent a few minutes enjoying the oldies on
Niagara Falls' WJJL (1440), as well as listening to Buffalo's modern
AC "Alice," now with its new WLCE calls.