NorthEast Radio Watch 12/26: Citadel Bulks Up in Worcester (and The Year in Review Part II)

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

*In a moment, Part Two of NERW's 1999 Year in Review (the Rant will
follow in a separate mailing before year's end)...but first, the last
crumbs of news at the back of the cabinet before we sweep it clean and
launch headlong into 2000:

*The big news this week comes from central MASSACHUSETTS, where
Citadel is buying again.  Just weeks after paying $24.5 million for
Montachusett's WXLO and WORC-FM, Citadel is again opening its wallet
to the tune of $14.25 million, this time to acquire WWFX (100.1
Southbridge) from Wilks Broadcast Acquisitions.  WWFX and WORC-FM have
been sparring for Worcester's classic rock audience all year; a format
change at one or the other seems all but certain as soon as these
deals close (and we'll note again that Worcester has no country
station to speak of, while Citadel's next cluster over, in Portsmouth,
is led by country giant WOKQ).  

Also in the Worcester area, Mega Broadcasting is promising a better
signal from its WARE (1250 Ware).  An article this week in the
Telegram and Gazette says WARE wants to increase power to 10 kilowatts
from the current 5 by day.  NERW notes that no such application has
been filed, and suspects co-channel (with WKBR Manchester) and
adjacent-channel (with WOON 1240 Woonsocket and WPZE 1260 Boston)
issues would make such an increase a bit challenging, at least without
adding towers and becoming ever more directional.  

Speaking of 1260 Boston, it wins the honor of "Last Boston Call Change
of the Nineties," as it prepares to become WMKI, reflecting its Radio
Disney format.  The WMKI calls had been in Birmingham, Alabama (on the
once and future WYDE 850) during that station's Disney days.

Best Media is backing down without a fight on several of the company's
abusive translator applications.  The mysterious applicant withdrew
its application for 88.5 Lawrence (to relay WMWM Salem) after WFCR
Amherst complained.  Best also withdrew applications for 88.1 Leonardo
NJ, 90.9 "East Port" NY, 90.7 Staten Island, and 88.1 Hartford, not to
mention several outside the region, after petitions to deny from the
various licensed stations that would have been interfered with.  So
who is "Best Media" and why did they apply to relay secular noncomms
like WMWM and WSHU?  We still have no idea...

Speaking of holiday presents, we're listening to the best one of all
as we write this: the long-awaited Webcast of Haverhill's WXRV (92.5),
one of the best AAA stations out there.  It's now available in both RA
and Windows Media formats at <http://www.wxrv.com>, and we couldn't be
happier.

On the syndication front, Howie Carr goes national January 3 via ABC
Radio Networks; will his act play in Peoria?  NERW kinda doubts it,
but you never know...

*From NEW HAMPSHIRE this week comes word of an imminent format change
on WRCI (107.7 Hillsboro).  On Monday (12/27), new owner Vox Media
will switch WRCI's simulcast from the classic rock-and-Imus of WNHI
(93.3 Belmont) to the very local news/talk of WKXL (1450 Concord).  So
what becomes of the current WKXL-FM?  It'll keep simulcasting the AM
until New Year's Day, when it will go country as "Outlaw 102."  Vox
says the switch will allow it to offer more alternatives to
Concord-area advertisers, while maintaining an FM simulcast for
listeners who can't get the WKXL(AM) signal.

*Up in MAINE, a judge has ruled that Lori Voornas can stay on the air
at her new station, WCLZ (98.9 Brunswick), despite an attempt by her
former employer, Saga, to get a restraining order enforcing her
non-compete.  Judge Nancy Mills declined to issue the order, but left
open the possibility that Voornas could still be found in violation of
her Saga contract.  Voornas (and new employer Citadel) say a new Maine
law makes such non-competes unenforceable.

WGME-TV (Channel 13) in Portland has a nifty new logo; check it out at
<www.wgme.com> if you haven't seen it yet.

DTV in Maine?  It's getting closer...Maine Public Broadcasting has
applied for a license to cover for WCBB-DT (Channel 17) in Augusta.

*Another format change looms on the VERMONT-NEW YORK border, as
Excalibur gets ready to flip WXNT (92.1 Port Henry NY) from news-talk
back to oldies (the format it was running under previous ownership as
WMNM).  The new calls will be WLCQ, with "LC" standing, of course, for
Lake Champlain.

Elsewhere in the Empire State, the WPTR calls are coming home to AM
1540 in Albany.  Don Crawford has applied to change WDCD(AM) back to
its original calls on January 1; the betting line is that the
"Legends" adult-standards format now in place on Crawford stations in
Rochester, Denver, and Dallas will follow.  NERW wonders if the WPTR
calls will go back in place on the station's towers now?  (Religion
continues on Crawford's other Albany station, WDCD-FM 96.7 Clifton
Park).

WKLI (94.5 Ravena) has ended its holiday-music format to go soft AC, a
subtle but distinct change from the ABC soft gold format it had been
running before the holidays.  

New calls for the new 90.1 Watertown: WWJS.  Expect the new station on
the air sometime next spring.

Out west, add Family Life Ministries to the list of those applying
for 89.5 in Arcade.  The signal would improve Family Life's reach into
the Buffalo market, currently served by a weak signal from WCOU (88.3
Warsaw) at the other end of Wyoming County.

Finally, how better to end the year but with a correction?  No matter
what we reported last week, WIBX Utica is not a Clear Channel station
(well, not YET, anyway).  It's part of the cluster going from Forever
to Regent.  Clear Channel's Utica stations are the old Dame cluster
(WRNY/WADR/WUTQ, WOUR, WSKS), none of which do any significant local
news. 

And that, as they say, is a wrap.  We'll be back with an update on all
the New Year's broadcast activities Friday, January 7.  The Rant will
hit your mailboxes early this coming week.  Now...

*It's time for part 2 of NERW's jam-packed Year In Review 1999...and
without further ado, let's review 

THE YEAR IN FORMATS AND CALLS

-JANUARY: New Year's Day brought soft AC to WPLM-FM in Plymouth,
replacing smooth jazz with "Easy 99.1."  It also brought standards to
WNBP in Newburyport as "Legends 1450."  On Long Island, WGSM (740
Huntington) dropped Radio Disney when the format moved to New York's
WQEW.  WGSM became a simulcast of WHLI (1100 Hempstead) and
standards.  Up in Maine, home shopping came to an end on WJJB (900
Brunswick), replaced with a simulcast of WCLZ-FM.  Also going
simulcast: WXEX (99.7 Wakefield-Peace Dale) with classic rock WHKK
(100.3 Middletown), dropping modern rock.  New calls this month:
WPTR-FM (96.3 Voorheesville) becomes WAJZ ("Jamz"), unbuilt WAKX (97.9
Jewett NY) becomes WRIP, and the new noncomm CP in Woodstock VT gets
WCKP.  New to the air: WYAR (88.3 Yarmouth ME).  Gone: CBF, Montreal
(Jan. 21).

-FEBRUARY: Both of Southbridge's stations changed formats, WESO
from standards to satellite oldies, WQVR from country to temporary
silence, then to classic rock WWFX "the Fox" from a new transmitter
site aimed at Worcester.  Up in Campton NH, WVFM (105.7) switched
simulcasts from WLKZ to Haverhill's WXRV.  WJJB changed simulcast
again, joining WJAE (1440 Westbrook) as "WJAB" with sports.
Hartford's WPOP swapped One-on-One for the hometown sports network,
ESPN Radio.  One frequency change, up in Presque Isle: WOZI moved from
101.7 to 101.9 and a new stick up on Mars Hill.  In Canada, CHR came
to Toronto in the form of CISS (92.5), which dumped country, became
"Power 92" under new owner Shaw, lost the rights to the name, and
promptly became "Kiss."  Call changes: WODZ(AM) Rome to WYFY, WYSY
Irondequoit-Rochester to WKGS (to go with its "Kiss" nickname), WBAH
to WWRU on 1660 in Elizabeth NJ (creating no end of confusion with
WWRL on 1600 and WWRV on 1330!), CJBZ Ottawa back to CFGO, and WMEX
Westport NY to WCLX, setting the stage for those calls to return to
Boston at year's end.

-MARCH: The month dawned with a confusing set of format changes in
Augusta, as the country format from WKCG (101.3) moved north to WCTB
(93.5 Fairfield), while WCTB's "River" AC format became "Star" at
101.3.  Just south of Elmira, 96.9 in Ridgebury PA returned to the air
as religious WREQ "Q96.9."  Johnstown's WSRD (104.9) migrated to the
Albany market, becoming modern AC "The Point" from Altamont.  In
Portsmouth, WOKQ got some country competition from 95.3 York Center
ME, migrating from "Heat" WXHT to country WUBB "B95.3."  Standards
returned to New York via 1430 in Newark, which dropped ethnic WNJR to
become "Sunny" WNSW.  Ethnic programming resurfaced on WRKL in
Rockland County, which was sold to PolNet and began simulcasting WNVR
in the Chicago suburbs. Last, but far from least, March 31 brought the
end of "Eagle 93.7" WEGQ, replaced with rhythmic "Star," WQSX.  Call
changes: WPOR(AM) Portland to WBAE (we'll see why soon), WVAY
Wilmington VT to WMTT, WBIX New York to WTJM ("Jammin'), WHTT(AM)
Buffalo to WMNY, and -- though never used on air -- WSRD Johnstown to
WAAP Altamont.  New to the air: WEIB (106.3 Northampton), testing for
most of 1999.

-APRIL: WSKI Montpelier kicked off the month by swapping satellite
oldies for adult standards.  Up in Plymouth NH, WPNH-FM went modern
rock as "The Planet".  Watertown's WOTT transitioned from oldies to
"real rock."  WABY(AM) Albany started an all-news format, while up on
Lake Champlain, WEAV (960 Plattsburgh) dumped its country simulcast
for talk.  In Connecticut, WKCD Pawcatuck ditched smooth jazz for
modern AC as "Channel 107-7" mid-month.  Call changes: WZMT Hazleton
PA to WXBE ("The Bear," echoed by WXAR for WKQV-FM Olyphant later in
the year), WWVY Hampton Bays to WWXY (preserving the WWXY-WWYY-WWZY
order in the "Y107" group), WXLE Mechanicville to WABT ("Beat"),
WYKR(AM) Wells River VT to WTWN.  New to the air: WZEN Farmington NH,
first testing, then with oldies (Apr. 19) and WZKZ Alfred NY with
country.

-MAY: Radio Disney came to Syracuse on WOLF AM-FM/WKGJ May 3.  Jammin'
Oldies (or its generic variants) arrived in Hartford (displacing
classic rock on WZMX), Rochester (displacing the CHR "Kiss"
simulcast on WMAX-FM, er, Honeoye Falls, later "Cool"), and Kingston
(displacing automated CHR on WBPM as "Rhythmic 94.")   "The Point"
moved over in Albany, as WKLI/WKBE asserted their right to the
trademarked name, sending 104.9 to the end of the alphabet as "Z104.9"
(and, later, WZMR).  The sports talk on WSKW Skowhegan found a new FM
simulcast on WIGY-FM Madison, replacing WHQO 107.9 in Skowhegan
itself.  Standards arrived on AM 1490 in Portland to match
the new WBAE calls, and religion arrived in Rome on AM 1450 to match
the WYFY calls on the former WODZ(AM).  Other call changes: WCDQ/WSME
Sanford ME to WPHX-FM/AM, WPNT parked on the former WAQY(AM) East
Longmeadow MA, WWFY replacing WGTK on 100.9 Middlebury VT, "Y-100."
New to the air: WRRO 93.7 Addison VT, soon to be traded with WWFY;
WYDN-TV 48 Worcester with Texas-programmed religion; CHOW-FM Welland
ON, replacing 1470 AM and all them towers on Regional Road 58 (sob).  
Gone for good: CBM Montreal (May 13).

-JUNE: The month began with two format changes up North, as WXQZ
Canton NY dumpe its country simulcast to become rocker WRCD ("Rock
101.5"), while WPAC Ogdensburg ditched its longtime CHR sounds to gop
classic rock.  Albany's WABY-FM slid from standards to very soft AC
(later to grab the WKLI calls and "K-Lite" moniker from 100.9).  NERW
hit the road for a get-together in Providence, then for Toronto and
the demise of CBL (more sobs).  Meantime, Pax took over the former
Boston University TV stations, installing its programming and new
calls (WBPX Boston, WDPX Concord, WPXG Vineyard Haven), while the
former WBPX in Norwell became WWDP.  Rhythmic oldies hit Buffalo,
replacing "Alice @ 92.9" on WLCE with "B-92.9" on WBUF.  Call changes:
WSAH "Shop At Home" replaced WBPT-TV in Bridgeport.  New to the air:
Pax's WPXJ Batavia/Rochester/Buffalo (June 17), WWHW Jeffersonville NY
with weather service audio, CHKS "K106" Sarnia (replacing CKTY 1110),
WRVD Syracuse.  Gone for good: as noted, CBL Toronto (6/19).

-JULY: High atop Mt. Rialto, the lights in the Elegante Ballroom
flickered and died as WFNX's modern rock network replaced WCDQ-- now
WPHX-FM -- in Sanford, Maine.  AC replaced religion on WGLY (later
WDOT-FM and then WLKC) Waterbury VT, sending the WGLY calls over to
1070 Plattsburgh and the programming, eventually, to 91.5 (nee 91.7
WCMK) in Bolton.  Up in Ogdensburg, WSLB 1400 dumped its oldies
simulcast for talk. Call changes: WMHQ Schenectady became WEWB,
"WB45," WMAX-FM South Bristol became WLCL (sending the much-abused
WMAX-FM calls down to Georgia for some R&R), and WNFT Boston became
WAMG, "Mega 1150," reclaiming the sole record for most calls on a
single Boston station.  New to the air: Vermont Public Radio's WVPA
St. Johnsbury (July 21).  Gone for good: CKTY Sarnia and CHOW Welland,
both noted during NERW's swing through Ontario and Michigan mid-month,
which also caught the new 100.3 in Barrie, CJLF, testing with religion
(it would sign on in August).

-AUGUST: A switch of simulcast in Poughkeepsie, as WTND "Thunder
Country" broke rank with WTHN Ellenville and WTHK Hudson, instead
going for AC with WCTW Catskill as "The Cat" (the WCTJ calls would
follow later in the month on 96.1).  Catholic radio came to Western
New York in the form of WLOF, ex-WXOX Attica and ex-modern rock.  The
standards on WEOK Poughkeepsie and local talk on WALL Middletown gave
way to mostly-satellite talk on both as "News Talk 13."  Satellite R&B
oldies replaced satellite oldies on WUZZ Watertown; neither listener
noticed.  FM talk finally came to Boston on August 27, as Imus moved
to WSJZ (later WTKK) on 96.9, followed in September by local talkers
the rest of the day.  Call changes: WCPT ("Point") replaced WKLI
Albany, with WKLI then replacing WABY-FM on 94.5 Ravena.  New to the
air: Dennis Jackson's WRIP (97.9 Windham NY) August 5, WEXP (101.5
Brandon VT) testing at month's end, Connecticut Public Radio's WRLI
out on the East End of Long Island on Aug. 7, and the long-unbuilt
WCDJ Truro, with very low power and an intermittent schedule.

-SEPTEMBER: FM talk arrived in New York as well, with September 13
"the day the music died" at WNEW (102.7), replaced by Opie & Anthony,
Leslie Gold (ex-WRKO), Tom Leykis, but not Howard Stern, who stays at
WXRK for the moment.  On the AM dial, WLKW Pawtucket also went talk,
while WKBR Manchester dumped sports-talk for country (after a few
false starts).  Up in Canton NY, WVNC dropped AC for...AC, now under
the calls WVLF and the "Valley 96.7" nickname.  Also going AC, from
oldies: WLTN-FM Lisbon NH.  Up in Maine, WBYA Searsport dropped its
simulcast with talker WVOM to become "Quality Rock 101.7."  Call
changes: WGMF Watkins Glen NY became WBZD, warehousing the calls for
Sabrecom's station in Williamsport PA (it would change back by year's
end); WKAJ Saratoga Springs to WUAM "The Moon"; WXEX Wakefield-Peace
Dale RI to WHCK; WBVC for the 91.1 CP in Pomfret CT; and WRKW for the
92.9 CP in Saugerties NY.

-OCTOBER: Vermont Public Radio entered the Bennington market by buying
WBTN AM-FM and flipping the FM to a VPR simulcast.  Clear Channel's
generic "Mix" format painted the town beige in Springfield as it took
over WHYN-FM.  Smooth jazz went shuffling in Albany, as Clear Channel
dropped the format from WHRL (which in turn went modern rock, picking
up that format from WQBK/WQBJ, which went "active rock"), followed
three weeks later by Albany Broadcasting taking WZMR from modern AC to
smooth jazz across town.  Talk made some gains in the Hudson Valley,
replacing standards at both WGHQ Kingston and WGNY Newburgh.  In
Amherst, WFCR took over WTTT(AM) on a 24-hour basis for public radio
talk programming, renaming the station WPNI.  WCAV Brockton began a
two-month flirtation with the cutting-edge "all dead air" format,
setting new standards for cost-slashing in the programming
department.  WKZE Sharon CT dropped country for (mostly 70s) AC.  CHR
came to Rutland by way of WEXP and its permanent format.  Across Lake
Champlain, WCLX Westport NY prepared to go progressive rock with many
staffers from the original WEXP (back in Plattsburgh-Burlington a few
years ago).  Call changes: WMEX came back to Boston (well, Natick
anyway, on 1060).  The WJLT calls that were on 1060 moved to 650
Ashland, ex-WRPT.  WSHX Danville VT grabbed the WDOT calls left
hanging in the big WGLY-WCMK swap from the summer.  WERI-FM Block
Island became WADK-FM (and would dump AAA for standards later in the
fall).  New to the air: CKUE Chatham ON, with modern rock; WRKW
Saugerties, testing before launching a rock format Nov. 1.  Gone: WEHH
Elmira Heights, at least temporarily.

-NOVEMBER: Citadel announced (but doesn't implement - yet) a major
frequency shuffle of Binghamton's AMs, sending WNBF down the dial to
680, WKOP from 1360 to WNBF's old 1290, and spinning off the 1360
signal to the former owner of 680, standards WINR.  Outside Rochester,
WNNR Sodus dumped rock for country as "Big Dog."  WARE in Ware went
Spanish under Mega.  Out on Cape Cod, WYST switched satellite services
from AC to oldies.  WIPS in Ticonderoga NY joined the "Radio Lake
Placid" simulcast with WIRD/WLPW/WRGR.  Downstate, WZZN Mount Kisco
went a-simulcasting with WFAS-FM White Plains, using the ungainly
calls of WFAF.  Call changes: Still running dead air, WCAV Brockton
became WBOT.  Toronto's CHOG became CFYI.  

-DECEMBER: Brockton's 97.7 stunted with "Wild Thing" for a weekend
before going urban as "9-7-7 the Beat."  WNHQ Peterborough NH joined
the WFNX modern rock network, ending its simulcast with WJYY Concord.
WEIB Northampton began its permanent format, a smooth jazz-urban
hybrid similar to what it was testing with all summer.  Don Crawford
swapped religion for standards at Rochester's WDCZ(AM), now "Legends
990" WLGZ, and prepared to do the same at the once-and-future WPTR
Albany.  Up in Portland, Citadel put Lori Voornas back on the air at
WCLZ-FM Brunswick, reborn as hot AC "the Point" and aimed straight at
Saga's WMGX, Voornas' old station.  Two more changes were set for
year's end: WRCI Hillsborough NH dropping the classic-rock simulcast
of WNHI Belmont to duplicate news-talk WKXL(AM) Concord, and WXNT Port
Henry NY returning to oldies as WLCQ.  Call changes: WGMF returned to
Watkins Glen, replacing WBZD. Boston's WPZE grabbed the "Mickey Mouse"
calls of WMKI to reflect its format. WRHD Riverhead became WFOG but went
silent, at least for a while.  New to the air: Montreal's 690 and 940
returned under commercial ownership as all-news CINF ("Info 690" in
French) and CINW ("940 News" in English) on Dec. 14.  Gone for good:
WRND Manchester returned its license and signed off, soon to be
followed by CIQC 600 and CKVL 850 in Montreal, the predecessors of
CINW and CINF.  

*We finish the Year in Review, as we do every year, by remembering
those who left the broadcasting world for good in 1999:

BILL HECKBERT, Boston DJ (1/24)
CHRIS CONNORS, 34, former WGIR-FM Manchester morning co-host (2/1)
TOM MILEWSKI, 49, Greater Media executive VP (2/9)
DICK TOBIAS, 71, longtime Rochester newsman and commentator (2/11)
HELEN LAGIOS, 81, New Hampshire Greek broadcaster (2/12)
FREDERIC "Doggy Daddy" MEISNER, 77, Merrimack Valley radio host (2/24)
JOE "Highgear" HAGER, 54, former WAVZ, WDRC jock (Mar.)
DAVE KIERNAN, 69, former WNHC radio-TV newsman (3/7)
BEN GAILING, 100, Yiddish radio host in Boston for decades (3/27)
TOM SHOVAN, 59, former WKXL, WMEX jock, VP of CD Media (4/9)
MICHAEL DICKSON, 49, former WOTT/WNCQ jock, sales at WWNY-TV (4/13)
ALAN SAGAL, 59, WTIC newsman in the 70s and 80s (4/16)
BOB KIMEL, 74, Vermont radio owner (5/6)
SI GOLDMAN, Jamestown NY radio owner (5/10)
RAY DiORIO, 47, WHEN jock in the 70s and 80s (6/16)
WAYNE BEAROR, 56, Maine PD and Guy Gannett business manager (7/17)
PETER BORDES, 71, Greater Media chairman (7/19)
JOHN GROHAN, 69, WCOP GM, WPEP/WJCC owner, TalkAmerica founder (7/25)
PETER ORNE Sr., 64, WRKD/WMCM owner (8/2)
BILL PFEIFFER, Airwaves Radio Journal moderator (9/1)
RUTH CLENOTT, WBZ producer for Dave Maynard (9/14)
PARKER VINCENT, WMTW engineer (10/11)
JEAN SHEPHERD, 78, radio humorist extraordinaire (10/16)
JIM JENSEN, 73, veteran WCBS-TV anchor (10/16)
BILL CAVNESS, 75, former WGBH-FM announcer (10/18)
FRED CALLAND, former WFCR announcer, NPR producer (10/22)
MICHA (LEE) CONOVER, 21, WHWK DJ (10/24)
DOMENIC RUGGIERI (DON ROGERS), 40-year WEAN/WPJB veteran (10/27)
EILEEN KNEELAND, Boston radio/TV host (Nov.)
"Big" STEVE KRZEMINSKI, 54, Buffalo polka host (11/6)
GENE RAYBURN, 82, former Boston announcer and talk-show host (11/29)
JOHN OTTO, 70, Buffalo talk-radio legend (12/6)

*A happy and healthy New Year to you all (and we'd love to hear tape
of your local stations rolling things over from 1999 to 2000)...stay
tuned for the Rant coming within days.  See you then!

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

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