NorthEast Radio Watch 12/17: WWLP, WENY-TV Sold

[Scott D Fybush <fybush@world.std.com>]

*Our promised look at 1999 In Review, Part One will appear early next
week.  Sorry about the delay -- we've got a building implosion this
weekend here in Rochester, and planning live coverage is keeping your 
editor busy at the ol' day job.  Never fear, the Year In Review and
the Year End Rant will be in your mailboxes next week.  In the
meantime, a quick look at the little bit of news from the past week
around the Northeast, beginning in MASSACHUSETTS, where Springfield's
NBC affiliate is getting a new owner.  WWLP-TV (Channel 22)'s owner,
Benedek Broadcasting, is spinning the station as part of its purchase
of Chronicle Broadcasting's Nebraska and Kansas properties (Chronicle
flagship KRON-TV San Francisco just set a record for the sale of a
single TV station, over $800 million, earlier this month).  

Benedek is paying Chronicle $141 million for WOWT-TV Omaha and KAKE-TV
Wichita, in a roundabout transaction through which the stations are
actually being sold to LIN Broadcasting.  LIN will then transfer them
to Benedek, in exchange for WWLP (valued at $123 million) plus $18
million cash.  

The deal works well for LIN, since it creates a natural connection
between WWLP and LIN's New Haven ABC affiliate, WTNH (Channel 8).
WTNH engineering staffers will help WWLP with its move into new
studios in Chicopee next year, and news partnerships between the two
stations are expected as well.

Conn River Broadcasting is growing in both Massachusetts and VERMONT.
Following its purchase of WHAI (98.3/1240) earlier this month, we hear
Conn River is also picking up Bob and Shirley Wolf's WMXR (93.9
Woodstock) and WCFR-FM (93.5 Springfield), which simulcast as "Magic."
No purchase price just yet...

*Up in MAINE, WCLZ (98.9 Brunswick)'s new owners will launch a new
format Monday.  The station is running a computerized voice countdown
to 9 AM Monday, when its AAA formt will be replaced with...well,
anybody's guess.  The hot rumor in the Portland market is that Citadel
will use the new 98.9 to showcase Lori Voornas, whose non-compete from
Saga expires in February.

*We've been hearing rumors about this one for a few weeks, and now
it's official: WENY-TV (Channel 36) in Elmira, NEW YORK is being sold
for $4.8 million.  The buyer for the little ABC affiliate is Kevin
Lilly's Lilly Broadcasting LLC, based in Natick, Mass.  WENY-AM/FM
(1230/92.7) aren't included in the transaction; wonder if this means
the TV station can finally move out of the garage behind the radio
stations in Horseheads (a landmark of sorts, considering all the
upstate New York TV people whose careers have started there...)

Can Rochesterians pronounce "Watervliet" and "Skaneateles"?  They'll
have to learn, at least if they want some of the jobs opening up at
WHAM (1180) in the Flower City.  Sources tell NERW Clear Channel is
planning to implement the statewide news networking the company
pioneered in Ohio, with anchors in Rochester handling newscasts for
Clear Channel stations like WSYR in Syracuse, WIBX in Utica, and WGY
in Schenectady.  Those newsrooms, in turn, would be reduced to offices
for a small staff of street reporters.  We'll bite our editorial
tongue on this one until next week's Year-End Rant...

One more Clear Channel/Rochester note: WHAM is also looking for a 
Rochester-only anchor to replace Shelly Tripp, who leaves at year's
end to do PR for a local hospital group.

Downstate, AAA Entertainment (formerly Back Bay Broadcasting) crosses
Long Island Sound to pick up WEHM (96.7 East Hampton) and WBEA (104.7
Montauk).  Those East End stations are now Webcasting, albeit with the
technically-flaky Webradio service...find them at
<http://www.wehm.com> for WEHM's AAA format and
<http://www.beachradio.com> for WBEA's hot AC format.

*Listeners in CANADA have two new all-news sources, with Tuesday's
launch of "Info 690" (CINF) and "940 News" (CINW) in Montreal.  The
690 night signal is a new showcase for "La Chaine Nouvelle," the
French-language all-news TV service of commercial TV network TVA.  LCN
audio will run overnights beginning at 11, 10 on weekends, on CINF.

*DX'ers get ready: Sunday night (actually Monday morning, Dec. 20,
Eastern Time) will be your best chance to hear WJIB (740) from
Cambridge, as station owner (and friend-of-NERW) Bob Bittner 
fires up the 250 watt day transmitter for a 20-minute DX test
beginning at midnight.  Bob promises "recognizable" music and 
a QSL for correct reports to 443 Concord Ave., Cambridge MA 02138 --
so fire up the radios and have a listen (and for once -- and once
ONLY -- NERW is actually grateful that Toronto is off the air!)

*Finally this week, we send our best wishes and prayers to Pat Townson,
the veteran moderator of Telecom Digest (comp.dcom.telecom) and 
interim moderator of Airwaves Online (rec.radio.broadcasting).  Pat
suffered a stroke two weeks ago and has been unconscious in a Kansas
hospital ever since.  We're hoping for a successful recovery...

*That's it for this week; look for Part One of the Year in Review sometime
this weekend (once the old Hotel Rochester has been successfully 
reduced to a pile of rubble!) and Part Two, plus the Rant, next
weekend.

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

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