Re: WCCM and CJAD fight it out in Lowell

["Bill O'Neill" <billo@erols.com>]

> Had my trusty Sony digital walkman with me in Section 106 (had to
listen to
> JibGuys farewell to CBL), and at 8:20 I could hear loud and clear
"Mary from
> NDG, you're next on CJAD"...... simple fact that the day pattern
from
> Montreal is aimed right at Lowell....

Section 117 here, but had to take the word of the guy next to me.  He
was not a "radio guy" and was removing the headphones, looking at
them, putting them back on.  I asked what the problem was and he said,
"I thought WCCM was doing the game.  Why are they doing a talk show?"
We left mid-game (young kids in tow) and your basic Delco had WCCM on
just fine, albeit some high frequency line noise, intermittently.  The
Bose at home struggled by 9:30 not to have a noticeable s/n (we live
about a linear mile from the ballpark).

> I give WCCM praise however for having a broadcast quality link from
the park
> to the studio, which is something WCAP would not do for the hockey
team.

Absolutely.  No excuse with today's technology.  In fact, WCAP had
ample opportunity to hardwire a (no cost, 80s solution) Marti shot
from Tsongas Arena (roof mount a yagi) to the local RPU hop atop the
Central Street studios.  Just lug the Marti out of the box, load, AC
and go.  I suspect that will be the case next season.

> The Weber family that owns the Spinners are not from the area (New
Jersey) ,
> so they are unaware of the tribal politics of the Merrimack Valley.
I am
> also sure they are unaware of the limitations of AM radio at night
as well,
> and if you went by the daytime signal they would figure fine.

I agree.  I suspect they went with a better deal, all things being
somewhat equal (as far as they were concerned).  There, indeed, was an
interest in retaining Ellis for the first chair.  Not sure why
Scoggins would not write for them on the road.  I do see that both he
and Ellis wrote promotional pieces for the playbook.

Any politics that may surface between the Lowells and Lawrences will
hopefully remain more of a spectator sport for the Webers so that they
can keep their eye on the ball.

Bill O'Neill

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End of boston-radio-interest-digest V3 #419
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