NorthEast Radio Watch 6/18: Dame Media Is Sold

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

*Chalk a big one up for Clear Channel Broadcasting.  On Wednesday, the
broadcaster picked up Pennsylvania-based Dame Media in an $85 million
stock deal.

Clear Channel is already a major owner in New Haven (WELI/WAVZ/WKCI),
Providence (WWRX/WWBB), and Springfield (WHYN AM-FM).  It's a TV owner
in Albany (WXXA-TV), and it's a major investor in Albany's WQBK/WQBJ,
WXCR, and WTMM.  The Dame purchase gives Clear Channel WGY (810
Schenectady), WRVE (99.5 Schenectady), and WHRL (103.1 Albany) to add
to the group, along with six Utica-area stations -- the trimulcast
standards WUTQ (1550 Utica)/WRNY (1350 Rome)/WADR (1480 Remsen),
rocker WOUR (96.9 Utica), CHR WSKS (102.5 Rome), and AC WRFM (93.5
Remsen).

*In other news from NEW YORK, it's official: New York City's WNEW
(102.7) is picking up former WAAF afternoon guys Opie and Anthony as
part of what looks like a former overhaul.  The CBS-owned station will
reportedly drop veteran DJs including Pat St. John and Scott Muni, as
it heads in more of an alternative-rock direction.

Binghamton's WIVT (Channel 34) remains off the airwaves, but cable
viewers are again seeing local programming.  Public broadcaster WSKG
(Channel 46) leased space in its Gates Road facility in Vestal to
WIVT, which was knocked off the air by a tornado that destroyed its
tower and much of its studio building.  It's something of an irony for
the folks at WSKG, who were rumored to be contemplating buying Channel
34 a few years ago (when it was still WMGC) and running it as a
commercial operation from the WSKG studios.  Broadcasting & Cable
magazine reports WSKG hopes to keep WIVT as a permanent tenant.

WGKP, we hardly knew ye: The Sound of Life religious network must
think it's covering Albany well enough with its translator on 98.9; it
asked the FCC last Friday to delete the construction-permit for
never-built WGKP (89.9 Rensselaerville), which would have broadcast
from the same New Scotland site that W255AJ is using.  NERW guesses it
must be much cheaper to run a one-watt translator than a 340-watt
"real" station.  

Up north, Ogdensburg's WZEA (98.7) went on the air "for real" this
week, as hot AC "Yes-FM."  New calls are already in place; list this
one as WYSX from now on.  We're told live jocks are now on the air at
this Tim Martz-owned station.  While we're in the area, we note that
CJSS (1220) in Cornwall, Ontario has applied for 101.9 MHz; part of a
slew of Canadian AM-to-FM applications in the last few weeks, it
seems.  Others include London's CKSL (1410 to 102.3), Sarnia's CKTY
(1110 to 106.3; we're sure WBT likes this one), and
St.-Georges-du-Beauce, Quebec's CKRB (1460 to 103.3, ending a regular
DX catch in the Boston area).  In Lindsay, CKLY has now gone silent on
910 and is only on 91.9.

A few more bits of Canadiana: The Toronto area's dance station, CING
(107.9 Burlington), is now being simulcast into the London area on
CKDK (103.9 Woodstock).  And the CBC wants to start limited local
service to London; it's applied to change CBCL (93.5) from a relay of
Toronto's CBLA (99.1) to a separate license with at least 2 1/2 hours
of local programming weekly.  As it is, CBCL splits off from CBLA on
weekday mornings, airing "Ontario Morning" instead of "Metro Morning."

*On to MASSACHUSETTS, where WJMN (94.5) is getting a new assistant
PD/music director.  Danny Ocean moves to Waltham from San Francisco's
KZQZ (95.7).  

The Lowell Spinners have started their season, and this year the
Spinners radio broadcasts are only on WLLH (1400 Lowell and
Lawrence).  The other members of last year's network, in Nashua and
Concord, did not return this year.  Other single-A fun 'n' games: The
Pittsfield Mets are reportedly on WBRK-FM (101.7) this year, and we
understand the Batavia Muckdogs in upstate New York will be heard on
college station WBSU (89.1) over in Brockport, whose signal into
Batavia is adequate at best.

A few corrections from last week: We know better -- 96.9 in Boston is
now WSJZ...and we hear its Soldiers Field Road studio location, shared
with WBOS, will be the new home of WBMX (98.5) once CBS moves "Mix"
out of the old ARS headquarters, and once Greater Media's new
facilities on Morrissey Boulevard are ready this fall.  Out of the ARS
stations that can't be transferred to CBS, only WNFT (1150) is in
trust for the moment.  And a clarification on the WBPS (890 Dedham)
situation: It's the WBPS folks, not prospective purchaser Salem, who
asked the FCC to kill the application.

Tunneling deep for some news: With the demise of "Tunnel Radio,"
regular AM reception has returned to Boston's Dewey Square Tunnel deep
below South Station.  A new system, similar to those in the Callahan
and Sumner Tunnels, provides in-car reception of most of the AM
band. NERW idly wonders: what will drivers hear in the underground
Central Artery when the Big Dig is finished?

WRKO (680) is gearing up for another Independence Day oldies marathon,
again asking listeners to vote for their favorite songs of the
sixties.  As it's done the past few years, WRKO will use its talk
hosts as prerecorded jocks when it goes back to music for a day July
4.

WJIB (740 Cambridge) "ADDs" more ethnic programming.  It's contracted
out most of Saturday (6AM-8PM) and Sunday afternoons (noon-8PM) to ADD
Media, the leased-time operator of WRCA (1330).  WJIB is also running
Chinese programming weeknights from 5 until 7.  On the flip side, the
college broadcasts on weeknights from 7 till midnight have ended for
the year.

And while it's not strictly broadcast, the demise this week of the
daily "Haverhill Gazette" is certainly broadcast-related.  The Gazette
was recently sold to the Lawrence Eagle-Tribune, which also controls
all the AM stations (save for WLLH-S in Lawrence) in the
Lawrence-Haverhill area through Costa-Eagle Communications.  RIP,
Gazette...

*One note from CONNECTICUT: Meriden's WMMW (1470) is being offered for
sale in the trades.  Station broker, broadcaster, and friend-of-NERW
Dennis Jackson is handling the sale.

*In VERMONT, we're told Brian Dodge's LOVE Radio translator network is
back up and running -- with the programming from WHAZ (1330 Troy NY)
that it dropped last year after being hit with a mammoth FCC complaint
alleging illegal ties between Dodge and the WHAZ folks.

And just north of Burlington, Montreal's CJAD returned to 800 from its
temporary lodging at CKGM (990) last Friday -- clearing the way for
CKGM to return to doing its own programming, which turns out to be
oldies, with jocks supplied by tape from CHUM in Toronto and the CHUM
Group stations in Windsor.  NERW's looking forward to hearing CKGM
when we hit Montreal in a week's time -- and to seeing CJAD's new
towers, replacing the ones that went down in the ice storm last
winter.

*Speaking of the ice storm, it's the reason WGAN (560) in Portland,
MAINE was on night pattern all last week.  The folks at 'GAN tell NERW
that one of their towers was so overloaded with ice last winter that
it sank several inches, driving the base of the tower right through
the base plate and crushing the insulator.  Engineers jacked up the
tower (all 300,000 pounds of it!) and replaced the insulator.  WGAN
returned to day pattern Saturday morning.

Say goodbye to W288AX (105.5) in Lubec.  Dudman Broadcasting asked the
FCC to delete the construction permit from its records.  

*In RHODE ISLAND, we're told listeners to WXEX (99.7 Wakefield-Peace
Dale) are now being treated to a hybrid format, incorporating 1980s
rockers like Guns 'n' Roses and Metallica, early '90s modern rockers
like Pearl Jam and Nirvana, and current modern rock.

*And that does it for the last regular NERW for two weeks.  On Friday,
we head off to Maine, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, and
eastern Ontario for a nine-day excursion.  We're looking forward to
meeting many of you, hearing a lot of good (and some pretty bad) radio
en route, and seeing more radio towers than anyone probably should.
Technology permitting, you can look forward to daily updates from the
road...and a regular NERW on Thursday, July 2.  We'll see you then!

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

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