NorthEast Radio Watch 1/29: WNED Dumps AM Programming

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

*So much for a third public radio voice in Buffalo, NEW YORK.  The
Western New York Public Broadcasting Association announced this week
that it will cease programming WNED (970) in mid-February, switching
the station to a simulcast of SUNY Buffalo's WBFO (88.7).  

WNYPBA has owned 970 since 1976, when it bought the former WEBR
(and its sister FM station on 94.5, now WNED-FM) and turned WEBR into
an all-news operation.  For a while, WEBR was one of the finest public
radio newsrooms in the country.  A few years ago, though, WEBR dropped
the all-news format, changed calls to WNED(AM), and switched to a more
traditional public radio news/information format.

WNED had fallen on tough times in the last few years, a victim of
WNYPBA budget problems brought on in part by the decision, under
previous management, to invest much of the association's resources
into the construction of a huge new studio/office building in downtown
Buffalo.  (NERW notes that the debt from that building was also cited
as a reason when WNYPBA put WNEQ-TV, Channel 23, up for sale last
year).

WNED(AM) employed five full-time staffers and six part-timers.  WNYPBA
officials say they'll try to find other jobs within the company for
them.  Meantime, Buffalo listeners will lose the daily "Live @ Noon"
talk show, weekend All Things Considered, overnight BBC broadcasts,
"The Connection," and "Marketplace," among other 970-only
programming.  As for 970's long-term future, WNYPBA president Don
Boswell tells the Buffalo News he'll consider an LMA for the station,
but doesn't plan to sell the station, in hopes that it will be
valuable if IBOC digital radio becomes a reality (NERW notes that the
DA-1 signal on 970 has a very tight pattern that does well in downtown
Buffalo and up towards Niagara Falls but is unlistenable in even
Buffalo's nearby eastern and southeastern suburbs).

NERW's sorry to see WNYPBA give up any pretense of offering a
public-affairs radio service to Buffalo (WNED-FM on 94.5 is 24-hour
classical music), and we're hopeful WBFO will be able to work out a
deal to provide some separate programming to 970 and, perhaps, even
expand its jazz service on 88.7.

Meanwhile, on the suburban fringes of Rochester, several stations are
changing hands.  Just a few months after signing on for the first
time, Brockport's WASB-FM (105.5) is being sold by Dr. David Wolfe to
George Kimble's Canandaigua Broadcasting.  In exchange, Wolfe will get
a 10-year consulting agreement, $360,000, and Kimble's WRSB (1310
Canandaigua), which Wolfe has been leasing since last fall anyway as a
simulcast of religious WASB (1590 Brockport).  There's no word yet on
what Kimble will do with 105.5; NERW hopes he's not planning to use it
to reach Rochester, since its signal is barely listenable in most of
the city and almost all of its suburbs, doing well only to the west of
Brockport in thinly-populated Orleans County.  Kimble also owns WCGR
(1550 Canandaigua).  Meanwhile, Jacor filed to transfer yet-unbuilt
102.1 Albion to the Calvary Satellite Network folks.  New calls on
that one are WBJA, last seen upstate on Channel 34 in Binghamton in
the 1960s and 70s.

Up in the Glens Falls area, WNYQ (105.7 Queensbury) has reached
agreement with the town of Moreau to take down its controversial
500-foot tower.  After the tower was built, the town claimed it had
erred in granting zoning approval, leading to a lengthy fight with
WNYQ's owner, Bradmark Communications.  What's not yet clear is
whether the town will give "Wink 105.7" time to locate a new site and
build another tower before being forced to dismantle its current one.
We'll keep you posted.

The FCC's been busy deleting silent translators this week, including
these in the Empire State:  W288AL Brocton (WHUG Jamestown), W285AD
Watertown (WMHR Syracuse), W288AR East Rochester (the old relay of
95.1 South Bristol in its WYLF days), Harvest Translator's W257AT
Schroon Lake, W261CF Lake George, and W265AN French Mountain,
St. Lawrence University's W219AC Blue Mountain Lake and W203AB Felts
Mills, Family Radio's W202AJ West Hurley and W219AQ Hurley, W288BA
Middletown (WSUL), and the never-built W215AD Lima (WMHN Webster).
St. Lawrence University is applying for a new translator this week,
too, on 88.7 in Old Forge.  W272AV (102.3 Newburgh) is now relaying
WDST (100.1 Woodstock), which makes those folks in Newburgh awfully
lucky (hey, can we get a WDST translator up here, please?), and W292CM
Poughkeepsie is now on the air at 106.3 relaying WCTW (98.5 Catskill).

Dennis Jackson's new 97.9 CP in Jewett has changed calls, from WAXK to
WRIP.  

And late word from Albany bureau chief Gavin Burt is that WPYX (106.5)
has dropped new rock from its playlist to become a straight-ahead
classic rocker...more on this next week.

*A US District Court jury has awarded $8.3 million to a CONNECTICUT TV
anchor who said she was the victim of age and sex discrimination.
Janet Peckinpaugh, now the morning anchor at WVIT (Channel 30), was
bumped from her 6 PM anchor slot on WFSB (Channel 3) in 1994.  In her
lawsuit, she claimed she lost the job because she was too old for WFSB
management.  She also accused former co-anchor Al Terzi of engineering
her dismissal in retaliation for what she described as a rebuffed
sexual advance Terzi made towards her in a hotel room while the two
were co-hosting a telethon for WTNH (Channel 8) in 1987. Terzi was
dropped as a defendant in the suit last year.

WNTY (990 Southington) is changing hands with the passing of owner
Donato Sarapo.  His estate is now the licensee of the station; no word
on what its ultimate fate will be.

Kevin Skiest's afternoon talk show on WELI (960 New Haven) has ended,
thanks to a dispute over WELI's rates for the show, which Skiest
programmed on time brokered from WELI.  The syndicated John and Ken
show is now running from 4-8 PM weekdays, extended from its former 6
PM end time.

"Jamz 910," WNEZ New Britain, has flip-flopped its DJs.  JJ Foxx
returns to his old late-night slot, with night jock Jackie Torres
taking over mornings.

*RHODE ISLAND's ABC affiliate has a new on-air look -- and a new lead
anchor team to go with it.  Larry Estepa and Pam Watts are out at WLNE
(Channel 6), replaced by Ron Harbaugh and Amy DeLuca.  You can get a
sense of the new look at http://www.abc6.com/, but looking for
information on most of the station's talent will lead only to broken
links.

*Peter Arpin's ADD Media is buying again in MASSACHUSETTS.  ADD
already owns WRCA (1330 Waltham) and WJYT (1320 Attleboro).  It's been
programming WLYN (1360 Lynn), and now it's making it official by
buying the station from Paul Feinstein's Puritan Broadcasting for
$1.06 million.  

Pirates, pirates, pirates...we've been hearing about a whole bunch of
foreign-language operations in Eastern Massachusetts in the last few
weeks.  The latest batch includes Boston stations on 102.1 and 102.9,
as well as "WRNM - Radio Noveaute Mattapan" on 1640 kHz and a
Lawrence-area Spanish religious pirate on 99.9.  There's Spanish
religion in mono on 105.5 down in the Providence area, and most
blatantly, we're told Portuguese "WKNM" (1570 Lowell) has built a
50-foot tower in back of its studios at 599 Central St.

Jim Radler is moving to the big time -- the former PD at WPKX (97.9
Enfield CT-Springfield) has relocated 90 miles down the Pike to take
over the night shift at WKLB-FM (99.5 Lowell).  

Our condolences to the family and friends of Bill Heckbert, the
veteran Boston jock most recently employed as a fill-in at WKLB-FM.
Heckbert succumbed to cancer last Sunday (January 24).  Donations in
his memory can be made to Boston's Dana-Farber Cancer Center.

And our best wishes go out to Judy Jarvis, the syndicated talk host
who returned to the airwaves this month after spending much of 1998
out sick. 

*Yet another Capstar firing to report in NEW HAMPSHIRE.  This time
it's WHEB (100.3 Portsmouth) music director and evening jock Scott
Laudani being shown the exit to Lafayette Road, thanks to those
ever-popular "budget cuts."  Maybe someday they'll find a way to run
that station without any employees at all; at least, that's what NERW
thinks their goal must be.

Up the Spalding Turnpike a bit, we hear UNH's WUNH (91.3 Durham) has
finished building a new tower some 15 feet from the old one, and will
soon sign on a potent 6000-watt signal for the Seacoast.

More translator deletions: Harvest's W276AT Goffstown, W257AS
Franklin, W244AQ Center Harbor, W228AV Northfield, and W244AP East
Andover have all been cancelled.

*In VERMONT, there are new calls for the 91.7 CP in Woodstock.  It
will be WCKP, and will be religious like Christian Ministries' other
stations in Bolton and Barre (and a still-unbuilt CP in
St. Johnsbury).

Still more translator deletions, again all Harvest's: W280CD Barre,
W280CG West Brookfield, W272AQ Morgan, W261CG Rutland, W272AP East
Haven, and W285DC Gilman.

*Southern MAINE's ABC affiliate could soon be broadcasting from
studios in Portland.  WMTW (Channel 8) is licensed to Poland Spring,
but has been operating from offices in Auburn for the past 15 years or
so.  Now it's considering building new studios right in Portland, as
the latest attempt to boost its flagging ratings.  A move to new
studios would likely coincide with the proposed transmitter move from
Mt. Washington, New Hampshire to a site near Sebago Lake.

Leslie Doppler has departed WGAN (560 Portland) after six years, the
last few as News Director.  No replacement has been named.

Mid-Maine Community Broadcasting is selling WFYW-LP (Channel 41) in
Waterville to Three Angels Broadcasting, which operates a nationwide
network of LPTV religious stations.

Maine Public Broadcasting is applying for 90.5 in Camden, which seems
a mite odd to NERW -- since it seems to us that we were right around
there on our Maine trip last summer when we were able to hear,
simultaneously, the MPBN radio outlets in Portland, Waterville,
Bangor, and Calais (and even a weak WMEM Presque Isle, if memory
serves).

So long, W237AP Madawaska.  The 95.3 translator of WBPW Presque Isle
wasn't on the air when we were there last summer, and has now been
deleted.  Speaking of Presque Isle, we note a license to cover for
WOZI's move to 101.9 from 101.7 -- anyone up there know if this change
has really taken place?

*Ratings, we got ratings...all from upstate New York this time:

In ALBANY, WFLY soared past perennial #1 WGNA to take first place.
WGNA dropped 3 points 12+ to land in second, just ahead of WGY.  In
fourth, and rising, was WPYX (which makes the format change to classic
rock seem a bit odd), followed by WYJB, WQBK/WQBJ, WABY AM-FM, WRVE,
and WTRY.  We'll know in the next book how new urban-targeted WXLE and
WAJZ (still legally WPTR) do.

Same old story in SYRACUSE: WBBS leading the pack, followed by WSYR
and WAQX (now in a near-tie for third place with a surging WYYY).
Also nearly tied are CHR rivals WNTQ and WWHT, followed by WKRL/WKRH,
WSEN, WLTI, and WTKW/WTKV.

ITHACA's WYXL again led the book, but without breaking a 20 share like
it did last time out.  In second and up slightly was country WQNY,
trailed by WHCU, WIII, and WVBR.  And pulling in at sixth, but
tripling its ratings, was WTKO in its first book after switching from
satellite sports to satellite oldies.

Finally, our home market of ROCHESTER found news-talk WHAM overtaking
country WBEE for the top spot 12+.  WRMM was flat at third, WDKX was
down but still good for fourth place, WCMF was up and in fifth.  "Mix"
WVOR gained a bit for sixth place, followed by oldies WBBF, another
down book for CHR WPXY, a flat book to end WNVE's stint as a pure
modern rocker (we'll know next time how the addition of classic rock
helped or hurt the Nerve), a down book for modern AC WZNE, and a
slight rise for WMAX-FM in its last book as dance-CHR "Jam'n 107."  It
will be interesting to see how the switch to more mainstream CHR
"Kiss" and the addition of the WYSY (106.7) simulcast helps Kiss in
the Spring book.

*And finally this week, you didn't really think NERW would fail to
comment on the FCC's historic decision to issue a Notice of Proposed
Rule Making for LPFM, did you?

We're pleased to see Bill Kennard and company taking action on this
issue instead of emulating their predecessors and hoping it would go
away.  We like some of the aspects they're proposing, in particular
the suggestion that LPFMs not be allowed to be owned or programmed by
existing commercial broadcasters.  But we're worried by a few other
aspects, especially the "1000-watt" category that sounds more like a
full-power station, the hesitation to move immediately on licensing
stations under 100 watts, and the idea that as many as 10 LPFMs might
be owned by the same individual.  

And we're most concerned about a few things that were never mentioned
at all -- specifically, the status of the existing translator
service.  In an ideal world, we'd like to see the FCC take seriously
the "secondary" status of translators and allow them, especially the
satellite-fed ones, to be bumped by LPFM.  In the real world in which
we're resigned to living, we'd at least settle for an immediate freeze
on translator applications, followed by a ruling that new translator
apps should be subject to the same ownership and control rules as
LPFM, which would effectively kill any further growth of the "national
translator networks" we've so often criticized in this space.  Without
such a move, we're afraid there simply won't be any spectrum available
for an LPFM service to flourish.

Comments on this proposal will be due in April; rest assured that
we'll be firing some off, and you'll read them here.  

*Been to the Boston Radio Archives lately?  Garrett's been busy adding
some new features, most notably a search engine that will (at long
last!) allow full-text searching of three years of NERW, all the radio
dials, station histories, and more.  Come check it out at
http://www.bostonradio.org/radio/bostonradio.html/ -- or visit 
the Upstate New York Radio Archives at
http://www.bostonradio.org/radio/nyradio.html/.

*That's it for this week; next time, ratings for Watertown,
Binghamton, Portland, and Lewiston-Auburn, plus all the week's news.
See you Friday!

- -=Scott Fybush - NorthEast Radio Watch - (c) 1999=-

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