NorthEast Radio Watch 4/2: The Eagle Has Crash-Landed

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

*It's not exactly "Jammin' Oldies," it's not exactly rhythmic CHR, but
whatever you want to call the new format on 93.7 in Boston, it's
replaced "The Eagle" and classic rock.

At 10 o'clock Wednesday night, to the strains of "You Can't Always Get
What You Want," the classic rock on WEGQ (93.7 Lawrence) came to an
end, Prince's "1999" began playing, and kept playing until 3 PM Thursday,
when Entercom debuted "Star 93.7, the Rhythm of Boston."  Eagle PD
Pete Falcone is gone, replaced by Ron Valeri (formerly APD at sister
Entercom station WAAF) in the PD chair and Pat Paxton (formerly with
consultant Guy Zapoleon) as operations manager.  Paxton, who describes
the new format as "rhythmic oldies from the 70s, 80s, 90s, along with
some currents," also takes over as Entercom's group director of
programming for AC and CHR stations.

So what does "Star" sound like?  First song up was the Gap Band's "You
Dropped a Bomb On Me," followed by Michael Jackson, Gloria Estefan,
Cher's "Believe," and the Bee Gees.  No word yet on airstaff, although
we hear the Eagle crew may be out, and no official new calls, although
Entercom's said to be requesting WQSX.

NERW's take?  An interesting strategy, clearly aiming at a much more
female demo than the Eagle did, and apparently targeting listeners
from Chancellor's Kiss (and, to some extent, Jam'n's urban audience),
CBS' Mix (a former Eagle sister station in the ARS days), and Greater
Media's WROR.  Could it be that, with Mix out of 116 Huntington Ave.,
Entercom needed something with a less male-heavy demo to complement
the very testosterone-driven trio of WAAF, WEEI, and WRKO?  

If nothing else, the existence of Star is likely to deter any of the
other groups from doing all-out rhythmic oldies (without the 80s, 90s,
and currents), but then that's a Chancellor trademark (in the case of
"Jammin Oldies," literally so!) and Chancellor's unlikely to blow up
either of its two successful FMs and even less likely to be able to
buy anything else in the market.

That's not all from MASSACHUSETTS this week:  Staying at
Entercom/Boston, there's a new host for the 11PM-1AM spot on WRKO
(680).  Longtime New York talker Jay Severin will fill the hole
created by the Two Chicks' departure and Tai's move to the Chicks'
earlier time slot.  In mornings on 'RKO, there's a change in the
weather, as Jacquie Murphy leaves Metro Networks for a new gig with
The Weather Channel's Atlanta radio operation and Ivan Curtis takes
over.  

Not to be left out, Entercom rocker WAAF (107.3 Worcester) tried an
April Fools' stunt that WASN'T offensive (unlike last year's "The
Mayor of Boston Is Dead" gag), bringing former WBCN jock Mark
Parenteau back to the Bay State airwaves for the afternoon.  Parenteau
called it the "farewell show he never got to do" before CBS fired him
in Boston.  We're not sure who ends up with the last laugh here;
Parenteau , who's doing just fine for himself at WAXQ New
York -- or former WAAF afternoon guys Opie & Anthony, who were canned
for last year's stunt, only to repeat it verbatim this year in THEIR
new New York gig at WNEW-FM (102.7).  Hey guys, it's still tasteless,
OK?  (which, incidentally, is why you won't be reading in NERW about any of
the "Conceive the First Baby of Y2K" promotions that too many stations
are doing this month!)

Out in Dorchester, there's an empty room at Greater Media for the
moment.  WBOS (92.9 Brookline) "sent its DJs home for the week,"
according to the promotions folks...but we can't help but wonder if
Robin Young and the rest of the 'BOS jocks will be back at the end of
their one-week breaks, and if so, what format they'll be playing.
(You've gotta be versatile over there at 55 Morrissey Boulevard, at
least if you're J.J. Wright; one recent evening found him migrating
from the oldies on WROR across the hall to the smooth-jazz sounds of
WSJZ all in one long shift!)

Meanwhile, up on Wood Hill, WKLB-FM (99.5 Lowell) has applications in
to the FCC for two different changes to its current 26.5 kilowatts at
203 meters.  One, filed last month, would simply increase power to
28.5 kilowatts; the other, filed just this past week, would boost
power to 37 kilowatts but lower the antenna a bit, to 172 meters.

Digital TV news: Pax TV's WBPX (Channel 46) in Norwell applies for
WBPX-DT on Channel 52.  

Up in the Merrimack Valley, the Lowell Spinners will have a new radio
home this season, what with former flagship WLLH going Spanish soon.
WCCM (800 Lawrence) will broadcast 65 of the 80 games (the missing
ones are Sunday conflicts with WCCM's leased-time schedule), with the
WLLH team of Bob Ellis and Chaz Scoggins remaining intact.  Ellis, the
longtime voice of WLLH news, is switching his full-time job to
Costa-Eagle's WCCM newsroom soon -- but that may not mean a daily
commute up 495 to Lawrence.  Costa plans to build a WCCM studio in
Lowell to help improve the station's profile in that city.  Some
Spinners games may also be heard in Spanish this season on Costa's
WHAV (1490 Haverhill).

In Southeastern Massachusetts, another veteran radio news
director is changing jobs.  Jim Marshall is leaving WBSM (1420 New
Bedford) to become an aide to state Senator Mark Montigny.  His
replacement is Lynn Poyant, another veteran of the Bristol County
radio scene.  WBSM's sister FM, WFHN (107.1 Fairhaven), is getting out
a bit better, we're told, since "Fun 107" flipped on the new 6
kilowatt transmitter on the UMass/Dartmouth campus...

Down the Cape, two new Websites to report this week -- they're for
WKPE-FM <http://www.rock1047.com> and WOCN <http://www.ocean104.com>.

Western Mass This Week: We hear the April Fools' stunt on WMAS-FM
(94.7 Springfield) sounded almost like the WEGQ format change...except
that the day of "Disco 95" on Thursday really WAS a joke!

Congratulations to Tom Star, who becomes Acting President at Talk
America this week.

Did you attend the old Graham Junior College in Boston, in the classes
of 1970 or 1971?  If so, Randy Woessner wants to hear from
you...contact him at <randywoess@aol.com>.

And our sincere condolences to the family, friends, and colleagues of
Ben Gailing, who died on Saturday (3/27) at age 100.  Gailing was one
of the country's longest-running radio hosts.  His Yiddish-language
show with Hankus Netsky was still being heard on WUNR (1600) at the
time of his death.  

*Moving up to NEW HAMPSHIRE, the big news this week was the sale of
Concord's WKXL (1450/102.3) to a new group called Vox Media, headed by
Bruce Danziger.  WKXL had been owned since 1980 by an employee group
headed by 33-year station veteran Dick Osborne.  We hear Osborne plans
to retire once the deal closes, but Vox says it will keep the rest of
WKXL's staff and its local focus.  One possible change is a return to
split programming on the AM and FM, which have been simulcast since
1991.  Late word into NERW is that Vox is also buying WORK (107.1) and
WSNO (1450) in Barre, Vermont, and plans to make as many as a dozen
more small-market purchases in New England.  NERW hears sale prices of
about $1.5 million for WKXL and $2.2 million for WSNO/WORK...

Concord's WJYY (105.5) pulled an April Fools' format-change stunt, as
listeners awoke Thursday to "Kool Oldies 105," complete with Konrad
Kane, former morning man at *real* oldies station WNNH (99.1 Henniker)
in place of WJYY morning jocks Kevin Hilley and Suzanne Fox.  Hilley
and Fox 'fessed up after 8 AM and went back to the real format.

*Up in MAINE, WBLM (102.9) went for a public-service angle for April
Fools' week, keeping its morning team on the air for more than 30
hours to raise money for a day camp damaged by fire.  For a donation
of $20, listeners could request a song from 'BLM's rock format.  More
money could get ANYTHING played on 102.9 -- including several local
bands who used the stunt as a chance to get some rare airplay!

On the TV side, it's a return to New England for Kevin Kelly (formerly
of WSPR and WWLP-TV Springfield, among other stations).  He leaves his
post as news director at WLFL-TV in Raleigh-Durham, N.C. to take the
same post at Portland Fox station WPXT (Channel 51).

*Another bit of VERMONT news: After 14 years at WEZF (92.9
Burlington), production director Warren Baker leaves to edit a weekly
newspaper.  NERW wonders if anyone's left there from the Knight days
now...

*In CONNECTICUT, WKCI (101.3 Hamden) has won a tough fight for zoning
approval for its new tower.  The Planning and Zoning Commission voted
3-2 to allow Clear Channel to build the 625' tower, which WKCI will
need as its lease expires at the nearby WTNH (Channel 8) site.

Being the home station for the NCAA champions was certainly a good
thing for WFSB (Channel 3) in Hartford; the station says its 49.7
rating/66 share for the big game last Monday was the second highest in
its history, with only the Kerrigan-Harding Olympic skate-off back in
'94 rating higher.  NERW wonders what the other 34 percent of the
audience was watching...

*We'll start the NEW YORK news with a bunch of April Fools' stunts,
some clever, some asinine.  In the latter category fall the repeated
attempts to persuade listeners that their old $20 bills have to be
exchanged by the end of the day or they'll become worthless.  Who
pulled it this year?  Up in Watertown, the "Border" (WBDR 102.7/WWLF
106.7) morning team of Johnny and Erika Spezzano tried it a day early,
only to get a phone call from the Treasury Department at 9:05 asking
them to cut it out.  We hear station owner David Mance also heard from
the Secret Service later in the day, as well as from several local
banks deluged with gullible customers.  (The banks received chocolate
and flowers from the Spezzanos the next day by way of apology; no word
whether the Secret Service did as well).  And while it's tacky to pull
a stunt like this with your morning team, it's downright unforgivable
to do it with your NEWS anchor -- but there was WNYR (98.5 Waterloo)
and news guy Mike Smith doing the "story" as part of Thursday
morning's show.  More phone calls, more apologies...does anybody think
these things through ahead of time, we wonder?

On the "clever" side of the equation fell WISY (102.3 Canandaigua)'s
morning change to all-disco "Boogie 102" (which was over before we
could catch it on tape, alas) and the Syracuse stunt in which WNTQ
(93.1)'s Ted and Amy told listeners that the city was imposing a $78
tax on red cars, because it's the red ones that get in all the
accidents.  

Our favorite stunt this year, though, came courtesy of station owner
John Bulmer (whose WWFY 93.7 Addison VT is not yet on the air).  He
also owns WZOO (102.5 Edgewood OH) in the Ashtabula market, which
decided to take advantage of a "change in Canadian law" that allowed
the station to move to Pelee Island in Lake Erie and (play along
here, won't you?) boost power to a cool million watts.  Of course, a
move like that demands new calls, right?  Sure it does...so what else
but "CKLW"?  Throw in some classic jingles (tweaked by JAM to say
"Pelee Island" instead of "The Motor City"), some former CKLW jocks,
and presto -- "The Big 102."  Fun, classy, not hurting anyone; why
can't they all be that way?

Other news around the state: In Buffalo, the rumors of a format change
at "Alice" (WLCE 92.9) were for naught; the big announcement at 10
Thursday morning was nothing more than a new contest.  Buffalo's first
DTV station will also, it seems, be its least watched; religious
WNYB-TV (Channel 26) in Jamestown has applied for WNYB-DT on Channel
27.

CBS's Rochester market manager has left the building.  Bob Morgan was
closely associated with the former owners of WCMF, WPXY, WZNE, and
WRMM, American Radio Systems.  Now he's rejoining former ARS head
honcho Steve Dodge at American Tower Systems, where Morgan will head
up the ATS Tall Tower Division (now THAT's a job we like!).  No
replacement has been named yet, but CBS officials are promising a
quick decision.

Just across Chestnut Street, Entercom made some PD shuffles this week,
ousting Chris Whittingham at oldies WBBF (98.9) and Mario at classic
rock WQRV (93.3 Avon), and bringing Bobby Hatfield in as a replacement
(his previous stint at 98.9 was in the mid-80s country WZKC days).  We
hear Chris is looking for new employment and can be reached at
<whitt888@aol.com>.  Over at Jacor, Friday marked the debut of new
morning team Marc Murphee (from Nashville's WRVW) and Diane Dinero
(from CKEY Fort Erie/Buffalo) on "Mix 100.5" WVOR.  Noncomm WBER
(90.5) is reportedly in need of a new transmitter.  An article in the
local paper last Saturday quoted a station official as saying the
station could "go off the air any minute."  NERW would be more
inclined to care about the fate of the area's only pure modern rocker
if station management were more inclined to believe FCC rules applied
to them (and if YOU hear a legal ID on 90.5, or can spot a transmitter
remote control or telemetry, let us know, won't you?).

Geneva public broadcaster WEOS (89.7) made its big move this week to 4
kilowatts from the new Continental transmitter out on Lake-to-Lake
Road.  The new 89.7 signal is getting good reviews as far down as
Ithaca, while new translator W212BA covers Geneva proper on 90.3.  

Albany's newest FM station is playing the "Slogan of the Week" game,
it seems.  Just two weeks after WSRD (104.9) moved from Johnstown to
Altamont and became "the Point," things have turned, er, point-less.
The new moniker is the highly imaginative "Z 104.9," and word has it
that plans for new WAAP calls are being dropped while station
management searches for something good with a Z in it.  Also playing
musical slogans is WABY (94.5 Ravena/1400 Albany), which is now
calling itself "94.5 the Capital Region's light FM, WABY."  Albany
bureau chief Gavin Burt reports no big format change here yet...but it
sounds like WABY is moving ever further from standards and closer to
AC.

Downstate, two occupants of 92.7 are making changes.  WRRV in
Middletown is moving its tower a few feet and going from 3 kilowatts
at 97 meters to 6 kw at 82 meters, while out on Long Island, WLIR-FM
is finally ready to double its power from 1 to 2 kilowatts from its
rooftop stick.

And Big Apple DTV viewers will soon have something besides WCBS-DT to
look at.  WWOR-TV (Channel 9) in Secaucus NJ is applying for WWOR-DT
on Channel 38 from the World Trade Center.

*Up in CANADA, an end is finally within sight for the six-week CBC
technicians' strike.  A tentative agreement reached late this week
will give the 2,000 workers wage increases of up to 11 percent over the next
three years.  The union will vote on the deal on Saturday, and workers
could be back on the job by Tuesday, restoring the regional
programming and national news that fell victim to the work dispute.
The big question now is how well the CBC will recover viewers and
listeners who drifted away from strike-disrupted programming, and what
the strike will mean to the CBC as it heads into licence-renewal
negotiations with the CRTC.

The CRTC approved the application of CJSS (1220 Cornwall ON) to move
to 101.9 FM with 3000 watts; guess we need to point the NERW-mobile up
the St. Lawrence Valley, and soon, to catch this one before it goes.

*Finally this week, we get ready to say farewell to one of the
best-known names in radio, as well as some of the best-known voices in
radio news.  On April 17, Westwood One will offer the last newscast to
bear the "Mutual" name, some 65 years after the network first went on
the air.  "Mutual" newscasts have been a pale shell of their old
selves since last September, when the Westwood One newsroom in
Virginia was practically shuttered and news operations for "Mutual"
and "NBC Radio" moved to the CBS newsroom in New York.

While the disappearance of "Mutual News" is all but a formality, we're
more concerned about late word that impending budget cuts at CBS Radio
News will end the CBS careers of well-respected newspeople like
Claudia Marshall, Bill Lynch, Paul James, David Jackson, Lisa Meyer,
and Ed Crane.  NERW has been watching with some concern as CBS has
downsized its radio news division over the last few years (including
the inexcusable closing of the Radio Stations News Service in
Washington a few years back), and our sympathies go out to the
hard-working, talented CBS Radio newspeople losing their jobs, as well
as to the equally talented folks who'll have to work that much harder
to fill the gap.  We don't usually have a lot of nice things to say
about the Mouse, but we have to hand it to them this time -- they've
left ABC's sterling radio news division largely intact over the last
few years.  Still, we're hard pressed to see why anyone would get into
the radio news business right now, with each week bringing news of
another merger or cutback.  If only a few of them were April Fools
jokes...but the only joke right now seems to be the one being played
on newsroom after newsroom -- and on the listeners who will eventually
stop thinking of commercial radio for substantial news coverage of any
sort.  It doesn't have to be that way, though we admit the
counter-examples are becoming harder to find.

*And on that gloomy note, we'll close things out this week.  See you
next Friday!

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

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