No Subject

And across the border, Toronto's CBC Radio One outlet could be on FM
as early as next month.  Once 99.1 FM signs on, the six-month clock
starts ticking for the demise of CBL on 740 kHz.  Speaking of calls,
the CBC has been granted CBME-FM for its 88.5 in Montreal (replacing
CBM 940), CBFX for its 100.7 Montreal (replacing CBF-FM), CBF for its
95.1 Montreal (replacing CBF 690), and CBFX-FM-1 and -2 for the
current CBF-FM-1 and -2 in Trois-Rivieres (104.3) and Sherbrooke
(90.7), respectively.  CBM-FM on 93.5 appears to stay CBM-FM, leading
NERW to renew speculation that it makes sense for the CBC to move the
flagship Radio One service to 93.5 and move Radio Two to the weaker
95.1 signal...

*Some changes to tell you about at the WOR Radio Network: Talker Bob
Smith has been hired away from Rochester's WXXI by WOR network PD Rich
Wood...no, wait, it must be April Fool's!  Here's some of the fun that
greeted radio listeners on Wednesday...

Up in Sanford, MAINE, the morning show on WCDQ (92.1) greeted
listeners with the news that the owner lost the station in a poker
game the night before -- then spent all day plotting on the air to
keep "Mount Rialto Radio" from becoming "Hot 92."  NEW HAMPSHIRE
listeners heard WOKQ (97.5 Dover) morning host Mike Martelle swap jobs
with the town's police chief.  In Manchester, WZID's Charlie O'Brian
was absent from his morning gig -- while his wife, Rhonda, took over
for the morning.  MASSACHUSETTS listeners tuned to WEGQ (93.7
Lawrence), where they heard all sorts of songs announced on the
Carlson and Mackenzie morning show...which all turned out to be the
Beatles' "Fool on the Hill."  In NEW YORK, Ted and Amy at Syracuse's
WNTQ (93.1) told listeners Leonardo DiCaprio was in town...and hired a
limo to drive around town pretending the "Titanic" star was inside.
Up in the North Country, the morning show at "Full Service Radio" WSLB
(1400 Ogdensburg)/WGIX-WIGS (95.3-1230 Gouverneur) was replaced by the
annual "Hall of Shame," with the worst songs in the stations'
collections.  And Rochester's Jacor outlets traded air talent for the
midday, with rustic talk host Bob Lonsberry moving from talker WHAM
(1180) to play modern rock tunes on WNVE (95.1 South Bristol), while
the Nerve's "E-Man" talked with callers on WHAM.  

*Finally this week, a quick look at what we heard as the NERW-mobile
headed for Pennsylvania and New Jersey (and topped the 100,000-mile
mark) last weekend: 

The SCRANTON/WILKES-BARRE simulcasts just keep growing, with WKQV-FM
(95.7 Olyphant) joining WZMT (97.9 Hazleton) as "The Bear."  Eclectic
WMXH (750 Olyphant) was gone from the airwaves.  NERW's quirky side
enjoyed the small-town local feel of standards WEJL (630
Scranton)/WBAX (1240 Wilkes-Barre) and beautiful music WICK (1400
Scranton)/WYCK (1340 Plains).  The towers of the old WTSS (1320
Scranton) on N. Keyser Avenue are gone now...

In the POCONOS, we heard local standards (and a pre-recorded local
newscast) on WVPO (840 Stroudsburg).  The former WPMR (960 Mount
Pocono) is now WILT, a simulcast of WILK (980 Wilkes-Barre), and a
sign on the studio door directs visitors to a local bait and tackle
shop to find the public files; the old studio building is empty now.
WESS (90.3 East Stroudsburg) was a nonstop BBC relay.

Not much has changed in ALLENTOWN-BETHLEHEM-EASTON since our last
visit last fall, but we did enjoy a nice visit to the Capstar stations
(WZZO/WAEB AM-FM/WKAP) with 'ZZO night jock Blake Dannen...not to
mention a yummy lunch at the City View Diner.  We rolled tape on
WRNJ-FM (107.1 Belvidere NJ) one last time; it's now a relay of the
Y107 country trimulcast from New York City, at least if the plans went
right.

On we went into NEW JERSEY, where we saw the many changes at the
Lyndhurst transmitter sites since our last visit in 1994.  Gone are
the stubby towers of WINS (1010), replaced by a tall four-tower
array.  Across Valley Brook Road, the two additional towers of WLIB
(1190) are in place, awaiting that station's nightttime operation
soon.  Just behind it, WJWR (620) now holds forth with its five
towers, replicating the array that's now demolished out in
Livingston.  And WOR (710) still dominates the neighborhood with its
big sticks at the end of the street.

Your NERW editors took a drive through suburban North Jersey on an
unseasonably warm Saturday afternoon, visiting (among others) the late
WNJW (88.7) Franklin Lakes, oldies WGHT (1500) Pompton Lakes, WXMC
(1310) Parsippany-Troy Hills, now in Spanish and with a very friendly
staff greeting us, WMTR (1250) and WDHA (105.5 Dover) in Morristown,
and the brand-new WJHR (1040) in Flemington, which was live, local,
and rather unfriendly to visitors on a Saturday night.  Was it
something we said?

Sunday brought us back through North Jersey, seeing the now-defunct
but still standing WRAN (1510) in Dover, WRNJ in Hackettstown, which
has taken over the 1510 frequency and was doing a neat local show
featuring VH1's top 100 artists of all time, and Sussex County's
stations, which are all housed in one building now (if you're
counting, that's standards WNNJ 1360 Newton, hot AC-ish WSUS 102.3
Franklin, classic rock WNNJ-FM 103.7 Newton, and country WHCY 106.3
Blairstown).  Great DX spot: High Point, the highest point in New
Jersey, from which we heard FM from NYC, Philadelphia, Allentown,
Scranton, the Hudson Valley, and even Connecticut.  Not a bad view, either...

And from there it was a stop at Port Jervis' WDLC (1490) and up
through Monticello to NY 17 (soon to be Interstate 86) to NERW home
base.

*And that's it for this week; we'll be back next Thursday.  See you
then!

- -=Scott Fybush - NorthEast Radio Watch - (c) 1998=-

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