NorthEast Radio Watch 9/18: WERS Makes the Big Move

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

*Boston's oldest noncommercial FM will enter the 21st century in a new
home, and with a new round of controversy.

Emerson College's WERS (88.9) dedicated its new home at 180 Tremont
Street this week with the help of prominent station alumni, including
WZLX (100.7)'s Charles Laquidara.  But the decision to allow
Laquidara, WBOS (92.9)'s Robin Young, and others to preempt the usual
student broadcasts to play guest DJ met with static from students who
say they weren't consulted.

WERS has long been the only major college station in Boston run solely
by students, with no involvement from alumni or community members.
Tufts' WMFO (91.5), MIT's WMBR (88.1), and Brandeis' WBRS (100.1) all
use community members along with students, while WUMB (91.9) and WBUR
(90.9) are run by professionals with almost no student involvement.

In an on-air roundtable led by Laquidara, students said the college
seems to be more concerned about money (the station runs an annual
deficit of about $400,000) than programming.  Emerson officials denied
the accusations, saying students should have been consulted about this
week's preemptions.

WERS' new home in the Ansin Building (named after the former WHDH
owner who donated much of the building's $1.8 million cost) replaces
the station's old second-story offices at 126-130 Beacon Street.  It
also closes a huge circle in Boston radio history; the building was
built by Edison Electric Illuminating to house its then-new WEEI
almost seven decades ago.

*In other MASSACHUSETTS news, the WBZ-TV tower that rises over Route
128 from Cedar Street in Needham is about to rise a bit more.  CBS is
getting ready to add some 400 feet to the tower to accomodate new
antennas for WBZ-TV, WGBH-TV, WGBX, and WCVB-TV -- and their
respective digital counterparts.  (This helps to explain why the DTV
CPs for these stations specified tower heights several hundred feet
higher than the existing tower).  

Entercom has started shuffling personnel at its new Boston stations,
and the first casualty is WEGQ (93.7 Lawrence) GM Jenny McCann.  She
leaves the "Eagle," with WAAF (107.3 Worcester) GM Bruce Mittman
replacing her (and staying at WAAF as well).  

Down the Pike in Worcester, several familiar Boston voices are about
to resurface at WSRS (96.1).  Austin Davis, known to WODS (103.3)
listeners as "Austin of Boston," replaces Paul Connors on the morning
shift at 'SRS on Monday.  And Merilee Kelly, who's been at KYSR (98.7
Los Angeles) after stints at WBOS and WMJX (106.7), comes to WSRS on
September 28 to do middays and serve as assistant PD.  Across the hall
at WTAG (580), John Wensky moves from producing the defunct Upton Bell
show to morning drive and Jordan Levy's show.  Former Levy producer
Kerry Mathieson takes over as promotion director for WSRS and WTAG.

Congratulations to Tom Bergeron, the Boston radio and TV veteran who
starts a new gig this week hosting the syndicated revival of
"Hollywood Squares," and to the Middlesex News, which relaunches next
month under the new name "MetroWest Daily News."  

*Down to CONNECTICUT next, where after nearly two years, "Prayze
105.3" may finally be out of luck.  The religious music pirate signed
on back in November 1996, and its existence was reported for the first
time anywhere back in the December 16, 1996, NERW.  

The station was selling commercial time, significantly undercutting
licensed urban station WKND (1480) Windsor in the process, which was
enough to get WKND to alert the FCC to Prayze's existence.

This week, US District Judge Warren Eginton granted the government's
motion for an injunction ordering Prayze off the air "until it
receives a lawful license to broadcast from the FCC," which almost
certainly won't happen unless or until LPFM becomes a reality, since
105.3 is short-spaced to stations in Great Barrington, Groton,
Middletown, and Hartford's 105.9.  

The Hartford Courant says Prayze was still on the air Monday, defying
the injunction.  A NERW reader reports Prayze was off a few days
later, but that another long-running Hartford-area pirate, playing
Spanish-language tunes on 97.1, was untouched by the FCC.  We'll keep
you posted...

Back on the air in New Haven: WNHC (1340) resumed broadcasting Tuesday
morning at 6, now under the aegis of WYBC (94.3) and the Yale students
who run it.  The urban programming that WNHC ran until going bankrupt
has been replaced by an eclectic mixture of alternative rock, blues,
jazz, football games, and local talk.  NERW thinks the New Haven AM
dial has to qualify as the region's most interesting right now, what
with WNHC, Quinnipiac College's heavily-local WQUN (1220), and Clear
Channel's well-run talker WELI (960) and standards WAVZ (1300), not to
mention all the New York stations that make it up the Sound.

(And this note to all our Connecticut and Western Massachusetts
readers: The NERW-mobile will be in your area next month.  E-mail us
right away if you're going to be free October 3 for a special NERW
event...)

*Circling back 'round New England, RHODE ISLAND has a new news
director at Providence CBS affiliate WPRI (Channel 12) and Fox LMA
WNAC (Channel 64) Rehoboth.  Matt Ellis returns to New England from a
stint as executive producer at WCBS-TV (Channel 2) in New York.

*A NEW HAMPSHIRE station has returned to the air in just enough time
to avoid going dark for good.  WRND (91.7 Manchester) left the air
April 8, 1997, and was granted an additional one year of silence last
October.  With that authorization set to expire, WRND returned to the
air this week with an off-air pickup of New Hampshire Public Radio's
WEVO (89.1 Concord).  Notre Dame College says it's considering several
possibilities for the station's future.

Good news for Al Kaprielian fans (and we know you're out there): WNDS
(Channel 50) in Derry launches its new daily newscast Monday,
September 28.  We can't wait to see the tapes...

And that 87.9 pirate that's being heard in southern New Hampshire is
not the same one that used to be in Westford, Massachusetts -- at
least that's what one Westford-area reader tells us.

*WWBX (97.1) in Bangor, MAINE is shifting format again, this time from
soft AC to hot AC as "Mix 97.1," still mostly via satellite.

*Where Capstar goes, budget cuts seem to follow, and this week Steve
Hicks' ax fell in Burlington, VERMONT.  After 14 years, Brent Jarvis
is out the door as morning man at WEZF (92.9), replaced by production
director Jon Brooks from new Capstar sister stations WCPV (101.3
Essex), WXPS (96.7 Vergennes), and WEAV (960 Plattsburgh).  Frannie
Bastian remains as morning co-host on WEZF.  Also out is WXPS-WEAV
sports director George Commo, who was left without much to do when the
stations lost UVM sports rights.

WWSR (1420) in St. Albans has applied to move its transmitter from the
current studio site off Route 7.  The new tower would be about a third
of a mile west, off Newton Road (Route 38).

Stowe's WCVT (101.7) is applying to move from Mount Mansfield, where
it now runs a whopping 50 watts (albeit at 809 meters AAT) to Ricker
Mountain in Bolton, where its 140 watts from 630 meters might reach a
few more listeners.

In the Rutland market, Terry Jaye has returned to mornings at WJJR
(98.1), replacing Todd Chambliss, who exits.  Ken Gilbert is now doing
mornings at WMNM (92.1) Port Henry NY - Middlebury.

And what about these rumors we're hearing that Cumulus is interested
in the Rutland market?  

*Two northern NEW YORK stations are getting new owners.  Jeff
Shapiro's Border Broadcasting is selling WNCQ (102.9 Morristown) and
WYSX (98.7 Ogdensburg) to Tim Martz' Cartier Communications, giving
more credence to speculation that WYSX's "Yes" AC format will appear
on Martz' WYUL (94.7 Chateaugay) any day now.

While we're in the neighborhood, we'll note that the WB network is
coming to cable in Watertown, with Monday's debut of "WBWT."  It's
part of the "WeB," WB's partnership with local stations to launch
cable-only WB outlets in markets too small to support WB on broadcast
TV.  "WBWT" will be operated by ABC affiliate WWTI (Channel 50) from
its Arsenal Street studios.

Mark Williams' 3-6 PM talk show on WGY (810) Schenectady ended on
Friday, with the station claiming low ratings as the cause for
cancellation.  The syndicated Jay Gach show, currently heard in
Buffalo and New Orleans, will add WGY to its roster on Monday.

Cobleskill's WXBH (1190) has shifted to a talk format.  M Street
reports the calls stand for new owner Bob Heckler.  

There's a new program director at Rochester country giant WBEE-FM
(92.5).  Fred Horton takes over for the departing Loyd Ford, who
returns to Nashville to work in sales.  WBEE and sister station WBBF
(98.9) also survived the wind storms two weeks ago without leaving the
air, we're told.  Brockport's WASB (1590) still hasn't returned for
good; it pops on and off the air almost randomly.

On the TV side, the first sign of the new ownership at WOKR (Channel
13) comes with the departure of veteran reporter Jim Redmond, who
leaves (voluntarily) for a new job doing PR for Blue Cross/Blue
Shield.  WHAM (1180) loses a newsguy as well, with Kevin Bachman
moving crosstown to become assignment editor at Fox affiliate WUHF
(Channel 31).  Speaking of WHAM...is it just coincidence that the
homepage at http://www.wham1180.com features a link to the Starr
report, immediately followed by the WHAM "Cigar Dinner," or is it just
our sick mind at work here?

Keep an ear on the radio dial in Buffalo if the Sabres advance in the
playoffs; it's one of four cities where the NHL has applied for an
experimental license to transmit from the arena before, during, and
after the game.  The proposed call is "WN2XHL" (gee, wonder if they'll
call it "WNHL" on the air?); no word on frequencies.

Speaking of Buffalo, WUTV (Channel 29) has finished its new, taller
tower behind its Grand Island studios.  The candelabra will carry
WUTV, the future WUTV-DT, and probably WNEQ (Channel 23) and its DTV
successor as well someday.  Could co-owned WKSE (98.5 Niagara Falls)
move across Grand Island to the new stick, too?

Former upstate radio guy Peter King took a break from his usual duties
as CBS Radio's man in Orlando to fill in as anchor at the network in
New York, doing hourly news on NBC/Mutual and newsbreaks on CBS Radio
for a few days.

Downstate, Ken "Doc" Medek leaves his PD post at WBLI (106.1
Patchogue) to join WKRZ (98.5) in Wilkes-Barre PA as morning drive
guy.

Port Jervis' WTSX (96.7) has applied to build a new tower next to its
existing one, boosting its antenna from 50 to 186 meters and its power
from 650 to 890 watts.

Tales from translator-land: Mars Hill's WMHR (102.9 Syracuse) applies
for 89.1 in Riverhead, Long Island, with a very substantial 240 watts
of power.  This application marks the first time Mars Hill has strayed
far from its home base in Central and Northern New York.  Can
translators in Boise, Phoenix, and Tallahassee be far behind?  Sound
of Life stays closer to home, applying for 89.1 in Pawling to relay 
flagship WGFB (89.7 Kingston).  Sound of Life also lost a translator
this week, with the deletion of W246AD (97.1) in Defreestville (known
to you and me as Albany).  It wasn't needed, thanks to the arrival
last year of W255AJ (98.9), doing the job just as effectively from
high in the Helderbergs.

*And that does it for another week here at NERW Central.  A happy New
Year to our Jewish readers; and to all of you, we'll see you next
Friday.

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

------------------------------

End of boston-radio-interest-digest V2 #184
*******************************************