Re: WPLM/Campbell Sports

[Keith Barry <barry@meol.mass.edu>]

>What I can't understand is how a.) two sports teams would be dumb enough to
>actually move to a station which can not be heard inside the city limits
>except maybe for Dorchester 

Strange, I have heard it PAST Boston and nearly into New Hampshire -
couldn't hear the other stations on 99.1 at all. 1390, I guess, was supposed
to serve the purpose of long distance, but a 5000 watt AM really can't do that. 

>and b.) how Campbell could actually afford to
>pay for the rights for the two teams. WPLM-FM could definitely be useful
>since the Red Sox could not sign up a Cape Cod affiliate for this season.
>Maybe those ties between Harrington and the Campbell family could provide a
>solution for 1998.

Well, I doubt that any ties with the Campbell family would help, because
they have nothing to do with the operation of the station now, I believe. If
I remember all this correctly, Campbell's daughter ran the programming for
the ill-fated "Variety 99.1", and now the only thing distinctly "Campbell"
about the station is the Rosary in the morning, with Perry Como singing the
"Our Father" and I don't even know if THAT is still there. When Bill
O'Connell left the station (he had the BEST overnight show) with the big
band format, after Campbell died, the station went downhill rapidly. Now,
there are practically thousands of billboards and placards placed on P&B
buses saying "Listen to Smooth FM!". But, the playlist includes everything
from Herb Alpert to soul to "instrumental rap" to actual jazz. 

  Another question - is this station satellite programmed? The jocks on
mornings and mid-day seem to be live and local, but after sundown and on
weekends, there is a prerecorded "Smooth FM" liner being continuously played
after nearly every song. And when I drive by the studios, as I do most every
day, there seems to be nobody there. 

                                                                - Keith Barry

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