NorthEast Radio Watch 7/17: Another Nail in the Radio News Coffin

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

*Our top story this week comes from MASSACHUSETTS, Springfield to be
exact, where Clear Channel's WHYN (560/93.1) announced this week that
its newsroom will close at the end of August, with Metro Networks
taking over WHYN's news product on September 1.  

WHYN employed three full-time newspeople, and all of them (news
director Denise Vozella, Sid Whitaker, and Bill Erickson) have been
offered jobs at Metro's Hartford newsroom, which will provide news for
WHYN.

WHYN's Gary James tells NERW that "this is an opportunity for the WHYN
listeners to get even more local coverage because of the resources of
Metro," and he says that while the WHYN/Metro news staff will be based
in Hartford, they'll still do street reporting in Springfield and have
an office at the WHYN studios.

Other Springfield-area radio listeners aren't quite as optimistic;
recently-retired WHYN anchor Ron Russell (DeMatteo) tells the
Springfield Union-News that the change feels "like a death in my
immediate family."  And while WHYN management says listeners won't
notice any difference on the air, NERW has learned that the current
WHYN news staffers aren't in any hurry to accept Metro's job offers in
Hartford, meaning WHYN listeners could soon hear a new set of voices
at the top of each hour.  NERW has also learned that Hartford's WTIC
(1080), targeted as one of Metro's likely clients for the Hartford
newsroom, has decided to stick with its own news operation because of
concerns about the depth and quality of Metro's offerings.

NERW's editorial opinion: This is undoubtedly a good business deal for
WHYN and Clear Channel, which get to replace the personnel and
equipment costs of running a newsroom with a flat fee payment to
Metro.  WHYN may even be right in claiming that most listeners won't
notice that anything has changed right away.  But in the long run,
this is bad news for the Springfield community and for radio news in
general.  WHYN has always been the pre-eminent radio news operation in
Springfield, with quality local reporting and deep ties to the area.  

WHYN management may be deeply convinced that its reporters will be
able to function effectively while based in Hartford; certainly
they're making a lot of promises about maintaining a street presence
in Springfield.  But we've seen Metro in action over the last few
years, ever since ARS closed the newsrooms at WRKO (680) and the
former WHDH (850) in Boston and farmed the news product out to Metro.
Metro succeeds by keeping costs low and by consolidating resources for
multiple stations.  That means that the reporters and anchors who now
focus solely on Springfield could find themselves providing news for
New Haven (where local media circles are already buzzing about a
possible Metro contract at Clear Channel's WELI (960), another
venerable and highly-respected newsroom), Bridgeport, or Norwich,
while still trying to gather and report Springfield news.  NERW
suspects that within a year or two, the opportunities that Metro's
newspeople have to report from Springfield will probably disappear as
their workload grows.

Another thing we've noticed about Metro's news operations: a
near-total lack of original reporting.  Most of the news heard on
Metro's Boston clients comes from TV, the newspaper, or wire services
(although Metro tends not to subscribe to the AP wire).  Radio's
strength is its ability to be first with the news, something WHYN has
excelled at through the years.  Radio is of no value to the listener
if it's rehashing the news they've already seen on TV or read in the
morning paper.  In all the time Metro has operated a Boston newsroom,
we've never seen a Metro reporter out on the streets.  

This is also bad news for radio listeners elsewhere in New England.
WHYN's newsroom has long been an important source for the Associated
Press, as well as for other radio stations (WBZ in Boston, for
instance, has a long relationship with WHYN and often uses its
reporters as Western Massachusetts stringers) and for the ABC Radio
Network. 

And it's saddest of all for news consumers in Springfield, who lose
one of just four major local newsrooms (the others are the Union-News,
WGGB-TV, and WWLP-TV).  No matter how good the intentions, the fact
remains that you can't cover Springfield as well from 45 minutes away
as you can from the heart of downtown.  There's no substitute for
being there -- driving the city's streets every day, listening to the
scanner traffic, reading the newspapers, and interacting with the
locals.  That's much harder to do from across the state line.
Westfield's WNNZ (640) now becomes the only Springfield-station with a
local, full-time news presence, and while it tries hard, it's still a
smaller shop than WHYN ever was.

Finally, there's the whole issue of newsroom consolidation in
general.  Radio news thrives on competition; it used to be that the
most important thing about getting a story on WBZ was to beat WEEI and
WHDH (and vice versa).  When everybody's operating out of the same
newsroom, that competitive drive can't help but disappear.  And
there's no question that radio news is losing its ability to attract
quality talent.  As newsrooms close and jobs disappear, there are
fewer and fewer places for young journalists to hone their skills --
and consequently more reasons for them to choose careers in TV, print,
or on-line journalism instead.

It's an ugly time out there in radio news, whether you're a listener
or whether you work behind the scenes.  What's happening at WHYN is
just one small symptom of the disease that's killing the industry.

Soapbox mode off, and on with the rest of the week's news:

*The spring ratings are out, and we'll begin the first of a two-part
look at them with the Boston numbers.  In the 12+ ratings, WBZ stayed
on top for another book, dropping slightly with the end of the Bruins'
season and the start of nice weather.  WJMN and WXKS picked up a few
tenths to check in at numbers 2 and 3, with WRKO (down a bit) and WBCN
(up a full share) tied at fourth.  WMJX, WODS, WCRB, WBMX, and WEEI
fill out the rest of the top ten.  Other big gainers were WKLB-FM,
settling in at #11 as the only country station in town, and WAAF,
picking up seven-tenths of a point, perhaps helped a bit by the
temporary Boston simulcast on WNFT (1150).  Still sagging were WBOS,
down another five-tenths, and WFNX, dragging in at the #19 spot.

Down the Cape, it was a great spring for classical WFCC, which tied
for first place 12+ with AC WQRC.  Talker WXTK was third, with classic
rock WCIB, CHR WRZE, and standards WOCN following.  The rest of the
top 10 were AC WCOD, rocker WPXC, AAA WMVY, and rocker WKPE.
Satellite-fed rock WWKJ and standards WJCO brought up the rear.
WCIB led the 18-34 and 25-34 demos.

Checking things out in Providence, CHR WPRO-FM rose more than two
points to land at a solid number-one 12+, followed by winter #1 WWLI
and oldies WWBB.  Standards WLKW pulled in a hefty chunk of older
listeners, enough for #4 12+, followed by rocker WHJY, hot AC WSNE,
and talk WPRO.  Country WCTK, classic rock WWRX, and dance/CHR WWKX
brought up the rest of the top-10.  WWKX was off more than a share,
with a lot of the listenership defecting to dancer WDGF, which doubled
its winter book.  Top-rated Boston station in Providence was classical
WCRB, which landed at #13 12+, possibly helped along by its Newport
translator.

More ratings news next week!

*Around New England:  In MASSACHUSETTS, ARS has found yet another
station to simulcast over its WNFT (1150) in Boston.  The latest
programming to show up on 1150 is sister sports station WEEI (850); no
word on how long this one will last.  In New Bedford, an organization
called New Bedford Christian Radio has applied for a new station
at 88.1; NERW wonders whether they'll co-locate on the Tiverton RI
tower of New Bedford-licensed WLNE-TV 6 to minimize interference....or
whether WLNE will quash the application from the start.

Radio with pictures: WBZ-TV 4 has been seen with yet another new
variation on its logo; gone is "News 4 New England," in favor of "News
4 CBS Boston."  Channel 4 has also picked up EXTRA! to fill the 7 pm
slot vacated by Dan Rather when the CBS Evening News moved to 6:30
last week.  WHDH-TV 7 has added reporter Craig Steven from sister
station WSVN in Miami.  And Channels 4, 5, and 7 will all be adding
new viewers a few hundred miles away.  The cable system in St. John's,
Newfoundland has been granted permission to add Boston's big three in
place of the Detroit stations it had been carrying.  Meantime, local
programming continues to vanish from Boston University's WABU-TV
(Channel 68); it's cancelled the "Consider This" talk show that once
ran five nights a week.

Out west, Northfield's WNMH (91.5) has added legal IDs to its
satellite CHR summertime programming, with a liner announcing the "91
and a half days of summer" -- which, interestingly enough, is almost
exactly the correct length of summer...

Brian Dodge has applied for renewal for his network of translators
across northern New England, but he may not have anything to carry on
them.  Capital Media Corporation, the owner of WHAZ (1330 Troy) and
WMYY-FM (97.3 Schoharie NY), has sent Dodge a letter informing him
that his permission to rebroadcast WMYY on his translators is being
revoked at month's end.  Gary Kenny, the nominal owner of W221AP (92.1
Westfield), has been sent a letter saying his permission to relay WMYY
is denied immediately, because the station was allegedly operating
from the top of Mount Tom with more power than authorized.  Much more
on this one next week...

*A bit of MAINE news: Monticello's WREM (710) is running a simulcast
of the morning show from country WOZI (101.7 Presque Isle), followed
the rest of the day by a simulcast with Presque Isle talker WEGP
(1390).  The Maine Turnpike has joined the TIS game with a 1610 kHz
outlet near the Saco tolls.

*Not much new in NEW HAMPSHIRE, although we've heard reports that
Manchester's WKBR (1250) has been off the air sporadically as its sale
to Northeast Broadcasting goes through.  And there's word that the new
calls for WSTG (102.1 Hampton) will be WXBP, to go with simulcast
partner WXBB (105.3 Kittery ME).

*In VERMONT, WXPS (96.7 Vergennes-Burlington) is back on with a
sports-talk format; the calls stay where they are for now.  The FCC
has granted a translator at 96.3 in Quechee.  W242AG will be the new
calls for the relay of religious WCMD Barre.  Just to the north, we're
told 106.3 will be the new frequency for the CBC's CBV (980) in Quebec
City, while the plans are to move Ste.-Adele's CIME from 99.5 to
103.9, and Montreal's CBM from 940 to 88.5.  The FCC is still sparring
with the CRTC over plans to move the 88.5 allocation from Cornwall ON
to Montreal; they're worried about interference to WWPV (88.7)
Colchester VT and WXLU (88.3) Peru NY.

*In RHODE ISLAND, there's a new public radio station on the way.
Rhode Island Public Radio has been granted 88.1 in Westerly; expect it
on sometime in 1998.  West Warwick's WHIM (1450) is being sold by
Providence Broadcasting to Bruce Soscia.

*In CONNECTICUT, WDRC (1360 Hartford) and simulcasters WWCO (1240
Waterbury) and WSNG (610 Torrington) have dropped Westwood One
satellite programming middays.  PM drive host Bruce Owens moves to the
midday slot, while longtime Hartford talent Jack Carney moves to
WDRC(AM) from WDRC-FM in PM drive.  FM jock Doug Taylor fills the PM
drive slot on "Big D 103."

A few towers have vanished from the Connecticut skyline.  The two
towers of the old WQQW (1590 Waterbury) have been removed, leaving the
single stick of WWCO on the site they once shared.  And WTNH (Channel
8) has removed its old tower from its hilltop site outside New Haven
now that the new tower is up and running.

*Just two bits of NEW YORK news: The new calls for sports-talker WQBK
(1300 Rensselaer-Albany) will be WTMM, "the Team."  And two Long
Island stations are being consolidated under the "Hamptons Radio
Corporation."  WBEA (104.7 Montauk) is being bought from C&S Radio,
while WEHM (96.7 East Hampton) comes from a group of investors.

*And that's it for this week...see you next Thursday!

- -=Scott Fybush - NorthEast Radio Watch=-

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