NorthEast Radio Watch 2/19: Chaos at 'CVB...and CBC

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

*It's been a confusing week for staffers and viewers of Boston's WCVB
(Channel 5).  Last Friday (Feb. 12), the station announced that
longtime anchor/reporter Susan Wornick was out of her job, the result
of an unresolved contract dispute.  Station management didn't
anticipate the result -- a series of articles in the local newspapers
criticizing WCVB for letting Wornick go, a flood of phone calls, and
pressure from upper management at Hearst-Argyle (according to the
Herald) to get Wornick back on the air.  The rest of the story?  By
midweek, Wornick had reached a contract settlement, as well as
delivering herself of a news release saying the decision to leave --
and to return -- had been hers.  NERW sees the times changing at
channel 5, anyway; our trip to Western Massachusetts earlier this week
(about which more later) gave us the chance to see WCVB on cable, and
we were sorry to see the "mayhem and violence factor" in abundance on
a station that once shunned such a focus for its newscasts.  (Thanks,
WHDH!)

*In other MASSACHUSETTS news on this relatively quiet week,
Southbridge's 100.1 returned to the airwaves with a new format, ending
its stunting by becoming "Worcester's Classic Hits, 100.1 the Fox,"
with new WWFX call letters reportedly being requested to replace
WQVR.  It's Worcester's second classic rocker, aimed straight at
WORC-FM (98.9 Webster, to be Spencer, "The Bus").  While we're in
Worcester, we note that Greater Media is exiting the cable business
there and in Springfield, selling its systems to Charter
Communications.

We promised an update on WKOX, and now we know enough to provide one:
the station's new owner is Ed Karlik, a former executive with Spanish
Broadcasting System.  And the $14.5 million deal includes three UHF
stations (LPTVs, we assume) in Massachusetts and Vermont; as soon as
we figure out what those are, we'll let you know!

*One of CONNECTICUT's minor-league baseball teams will be on the radio
in 1999, after all.  The future of New Britain Rock Cats broadcasts
was a bit uncertain after flagship WNTY (990 Southington) was sold to
ADD Media, but here comes WPRX (1120 Bristol) to the rescue, agreeing
to carry all 142 games this year.  And while WPRX is a
Spanish-language station most of the day, the play-by-play will be in
English -- with broadcasters running English ads during the game and
Spanish ads and promos before and after.  Some games will also be
heard on Hartford sat-caster WPOP (1410).

*A new website for RHODE ISLAND's all-sports station: WSKO (790)'s web
presence, at <http://www.790thescore.com>, debuted this week.

*A veteran NEW HAMPSHIRE broadcaster died this week.  Helen Lagios was
81.  She and her late husband co-hosted the "Jimmy Lagios
Greek-American Radio Program" on Nashua's WOTW (900/106.3, now WMVU
and WHOB) from 1949 until 1980.  Lagios died last Friday (Feb. 12) in
Concord.

Our friends on the Seacoast reminded us that we'd overlooked the
Portsmouth market in our rundown of the 12+ Fall Arbitrons.  Let's
rectify that: WOKQ had a very good Fall, jumping almost three points
into first place.  WERZ's CHR format was down a bit from its
first-place finish in the last book, entering a tie for second with
rocker WHEB (also down).  In fourth place was the blowtorch signal of
Boston's WBZ, followed by classic rock simulcast WXBB-WXBP.  Other
out-of-market signals filled up the top ten: Boston's WBCN,
Manchester's WZID, Boston's WRKO, Portland's WHOM, and Boston's WJMN.
Among the local AMs, WTSN was down significantly and, in their first
book as a simulcast of WGIR(AM), WGIN-WGIP failed to make any showing
whatsoever.

*In Bennington, VERMONT, WBTN (1370) has dropped its (very) eclectic
oldies format for talk.  We heard the Judy Jarvis show there in
midday; not sure what else is filling the day, but we do know that we
miss the oldies!

*NEW YORK is about to get adult standards back in its biggest market.
Arthur Liu's WNJR (1430 Newark) has hired Russ Knight as PD and
morning drive, and will begin running the format from 6AM until 7PM on
April 1 (gee, we hope this isn't an April Fools joke!), with plans in
the works to run 24 hours eventually.  Liu also reportedly hopes to
move the transmitter from its current site along the Garden State
Parkway in Union to the site of co-owned WPAT (930 Paterson) a bit
further north, and to change the calls eventually (the first time
since the current New Jersey-based 1430 replaced WBYN Brooklyn back in
1947!).  Liu also owns Korean WZRC (1480) and Spanish WKDM (1380) in
New York...and as long as we're thinking of WKDM, we'll note that the
1660 in Elizabeth NJ, which shares the WKDM towers along Paterson
Plank Road by day, has changed calls from WBAH to WWRU.

We can't leave the Meadowlands without noting that WLIB (1190) is
promoting 24-hour operation...but from up here at NERW Central, we
have yet to hear any evidence (under the WHAM splatter from 1180) that
WLIB is actually operating at night yet.  On the other hand, we also
haven't heard WOWO lately.

A few call changes: Dennis Jackson's WMEX (102.5 Westport) becomes
WCLX to match its current classic-rock format; unbuilt WDLS (94.1 Old
Forge) becomes WNOB.  Are the WMEX calls actually unclaimed now?  We
can't imagine this heritage Boston call would go away that easily...

A correction: We printed an incorrect URL for the website of WPAC
Ogdensburg last week; the right one is <http://www.pac93.com>.

One staffing change this week, at Albany-area classic rocker WXCR
(102.3 Ballston Spa): PD David Day has exited; no word on a
replacement.

No "Hockey Night in Canada"?  And on the night the new arena in
Toronto opens for the first time?  Unthinkable (well, it is if you're
Canadian, trust us) -- yet that's just what's happening as a result of
the strike by CBC engineers across the country (except in Quebec and
Moncton, New Brunswick).  The strike has disrupted most of the
programming on the English network, forcing most of its TV stations
off the air at 11PM, when the late local news would normally be
airing.  Other news broadcasts have been replaced with repeats of
entertainment shows or stripped-down newscasts produced by management
staff.  There's no local or regional news on TV for the moment.  On
the radio side, the Toronto Star reports that CBL/CBLA (740/99.1)'s
"Metro Morning" had a substitute host Thursday after Andy Barrie
refused to cross the engineers' picket lines.  Other CBC shows either
offered repeat segments ("This Morning") or were cancelled
("Richardson's Roundup," "Ontario Today.")  And the CBC Broadcast
Centre in Toronto, normally accessible to the public, is off-limits
for the moment; its atrium shops and studio windows are closed and
even CBC staffers have to sign in at the door, according to the Star.
The latest scheduled posted at the CBC website <www.cbc.ca> shows
temporary national shows called "Canada Today" (noon-2PM) and "All in
a Day" (4-6PM, and presumably a relay of the Montreal afternoon show
on CBM) replacing the local/regional programs in those slots; we'll
tune in Monday and check things out...

*Oh yeah, that trip...: We had a chance to hear the radio dial from
Rochester to the Berkshires for the first time since October earlier
this week, and here's what we were listening to:

Outside of Syracuse, we heard "Syracuse Community Radio" on new WXXE
(90.5 Fenner), and we weren't terribly impressed; the audio was being
fed over what sounded like a single standard phone line, in mono, and
the 7-watt signal, while decent around Thruway exit 34 (Chittenango/NY
13), was gone completely by the time we passed within I-481 heading
back towards Syracuse on the way home.  A noble attempt...maybe LPFM
will do well for this station?

Rome's WODZ (1450) hasn't changed calls (to WYFY) or format (to Bible
Broadcasting Network religion) just yet; it's still simulcasting
oldies WODZ-FM.  

We heard the "Jammin' Oldies" on WXLE (104.5 Mechanicville-Albany) and
"96-3 Jamz" on WAJZ (96.3 Voorheesville-Albany) for the first time,
and all things considered, we'd like the AAA and classic country back,
thanks.

Once in the Berkshires, we found ourselves really enjoying the music
format on WNAW (1230 North Adams).  Alanis Morrissette on AM?
Yep...and in a nice mix with older AC, as well, along with plenty of
local news and talk.  On the FM side, WMNB (100.1) is one of the last
holdouts for beautiful music.

In Pittsfield, we heard the legal IDs that were missing from WBEC
(1420) when we caught them having a very bad Sunday morning back in
October.  Nothing local in the morning, though...just Imus with a few
headlines dropped in.  We tried to listen to WUHN (1110)'s morning
drive as well -- but they're not using pre-sunrise authority, so
instead we tuned into "Charlotte's Morning News" on WBT until 6:45,
when we heard a few clunks, dead air, half an ID, and into the
satellite country format.  Graceful, graceful...

On the noncomm side, there was no sign of WTBR (89.7 Pittsfield), but
from the hotel garage, we caught a bit of WFNP (88.7 Rosendale), the
SUNY New Paltz station that shares the transmitter with WRHV, the
Hudson Valley relay of Schenectady classic station WMHT (89.1).  WFNP
was calling itself "The Edge" (wonder if Jacobs Media knows?) and
sounding pretty professional.  Also sounding good were WJJW (91.1
North Adams) at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts and WCFM
(91.9 Williamstown) at Williams College.

*And that's it for this week; we'll see you again next Friday!

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

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End of boston-radio-interest-digest V2 #311
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