Re: WMEX to end all-local talk

[dan.strassberg@att.net]

Depends how you count "day 1." In both of its 
incarnations as a low-power daytimer focused on 
MetroWest (the original WGTR Natick from 1972 to 1981 
and the original WJLT from 1997 until February of this 
year), 1060 was quite successful.

The station ran into trouble from which it never fully 
recovered when it increased its day power and went on 
the air full-time in 1981. Just at that time, John 
Garabedian, who owned WGTR, realized that, as a music 
medium skewed to younger audiences (which were all he 
was interested in), AM was finished.

So he thought he'd do all news and create an interesting 
24/7 news operation in conjunction with Channel 66 
(which, at first, was to be called WGTR-TV). Garabadian 
was still building Channel 66 when WGTR (AM) received 
program test authnority for its 25 kW-D/2.5 kW-N 
operation (which was almost immediately limited to 13 kW-
D/1200W-N).

But the late Jim MacAlister, the young fellow who had so 
ably headed WGTR (AM)'s news operation from the time the 
station first signed on, decided to quit and go into the 
family landscaping business. Garbedian also had too many 
irons in the fire at the time--TV was only one--and WGTR 
went rapidly downhill from there. The problems with 
obtaining a license (it was never granted) to cover the 
full-time operation certainly didn't help.

What followed was a series of LMAs. The first, with a 
lady from Texas, resulted in the station becoming WSTD, 
the first all-satellite music station in greater Boston. 
Besides calls that had a lot of people joking about the 
station being named for sexually transmitted diseases, 
WSTD, one of the first affiliates of ABC/SMN's StarDusT 
adult-standards Stardust format, was very poorly 
executed. But then, there were very few 100% satellite 
stations from which to learn.

Another early LMA was with Pat Whitley, who rechistened 
the station WTTP and changed the format to locally 
originated talk. (Sound familiar? Of course, nearly all 
talk radio was local then. Networked talk existed only 
during the overnight hours.) Whitley blamed most of the 
problems on the signal, which would have been much 
better if the FCC had allowed the station to operate at 
the power specified in its CP.

I've lost track of the other LMAs. I think a Chritian 
format was next, followed by brokered ethnic, followed 
by Christian again, and eventually by going dark until 
Langer and LMA partner Great Commission Broadcasting 
(now Grace Broadcasting) umm, resurrected the station 
(couldn't resist) as Christian-formatted WJLT.

As a Boston signal, 1060 has several liabilities. In 
town, the daytime signal is merely adequate, 
notwithstanding the great signal in much of New England. 
Because WBZ, whose TX is in Hull, is only 30 kHz away, 
this situation cannot be improved. At night, 1060 will 
never be able to put an adquate signal into Boston.

Nevertheless, the channel is very clean during the day, 
and unless the CRTC puts a 1060 station back on the air 
in Quebec City (an application has been filed), this is 
true even during critical hours. However, even when WGTR 
was using relatively high daytime power, the Quebec 1060 
used to decimate WGTR's signal over most of the market 
from mid-afternoon until sunset during the autumn.

There are, however, two sides to being only 30 kHz away 
from WBZ. It may be less important now that most people 
use digitally tuned radios, but with analog tuning, a 
lot of people would just happen upon the 1060 station. 
Few dial positions in this market have a similar 
advantage.

When Langer was about to put WMEX back on the air last 
winter, I gave it 18 months tops. Then I heard the 
product and the signal and I was greatly impressed. I've 
never been highly optimistic about the station's 
prospects, but I've felt--and still feel--that it may 
have a chance. I don't understand why guys like you and 
Mike Thomas seem to derive so much pleasure from writing 
off anything decent that appears on the air.

> 1060 has been a dog frequency since day 1 (as
> was 1510 for most of the past 30 years)