Re: WMEX business format

["Dan Strassberg" <Dan.Strassberg@att.net>]

Other FOUR stations? Besides WMEX, Langer owns two stations in Pennsylvania
that I know of plus WSRO and WJLT. WJLT has been LMAed for the last four
years (three on 1060 with low power and one on 650) to religious broadcaster
Grace Broadcasting, which as far as I know also owns WNEB.

Are you saying that Langer's LMA with Grace is done? Something that I
haven't figured out--and Bob Bittner, who at one time owned WNEB couldn't
help me out--is what has happened to WNEB? WNEB and WJLT were // for some
time but they don't seem to be now. Is WNEB even on the air? Is Grace going
to focus on Worcester and give up on MetroWest? Or is the company going out
of business?

Are you saying that Langer is going to include his Pennsylvania stations in
the business simulcast? The Boston Business Journal wouldn't seem to offer a
whole lot to listeners (if any) in McConnelsburg (or however it's spelled)
PA. In fact, it's unclear what the stations in Ashland and Marlborough bring
to a simulcast with WMEX, which has a great daytime signal throughout
MetroWest and well beyond. A simulcast does sound like a pretty cheap way of
keeping the licenses from lapsing, though.

I assume that Langer already has ISDN lines linking WMEX's Boston studios
with the TX and WJLT studios in Framingham. And there's probably another
ISDN line running from the Framingham site to WSRO's TX in Hudson. But if
the PA stations are going to be part of the network, won't there be be
uplink costs. Wouldn't TalkAmerica be cheaper?

And what of Gene Burns (and for that matter, Upton Bell)? I assume that
Burns' contract is up on February 1 and that Langer won't renew it. But Bell
may be LMAing the time for his show. If so, _he_ may not renew because the
time is costing him too much.

I would think that, with a business format, it might make sense to pick up
the Dolans instead of Dr Joy Browne from WOR. The hour of Browne's show that
WMEX carries is delayed. Perhaps that's because of contractual arrangments
between WCAP and WOR. But maybe WOR gives rakeoffs to stations that carry
its programs on delay. The Dolans air live from 1:00 to 3:00 EST. If
Higgins' show is airing from 12:00 to 2:00, one of those two hours conflicts
with a live pickup of the Dolans.

A less costly alternative to the Dolans is Don MacDonald's show from the
Business Talk Network, for which WBNW and WPLM are the local affiliates.
WBNW/WPLM don't carry MacDonald, however (or carry the show on delay from
2:00 AM to 5:00 AM), presumably because the advice MacDonald provides
conflicts with that of Barry Armstrong, who owns WBNW. MacDonald may just
have the best personal-finance call-in show on US radio.

And speaking of Armstrong, is WMEX going to pick up any of the programming
he syndicates? There's a surprisingly large amount of it. Or are Langer and
Mr and Mrs Bleidt planning to compete with Armstrong?

--

Dan Strassberg, dan.strassberg@worldnet.att.net
Phone: 1-617-558-4205, eFax: 1-707-215-6367

-----Original Message-----
From: Mark Shneyder <bostonradio@yahoo.com>
To: boston-radio-interest@bostonradio.org
<boston-radio-interest@bostonradio.org>
Date: Sunday, December 17, 2000 9:17 PM
Subject: Re: WMEX business format


>WMEX is changing to business in January...However,
>Langer will also be launching a new talk format
>with his other four stations. Higgins will have
>a 12-2pm show on the network. It's not clear whether
>he'll be heard on WMEX on weekday basis.
>
>The new business line-up is not fully finalized yet but
>Boston Business Journal will have a bigger presence
>in the morning drive. The guy who does Boston Stock Exchange
>reports for WBZ4(David Carusso? not the actor :) in the morning
>will play a bigger role in the new business format..