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NERW Year in Review and the Rant
------------------------------E-MAIL EDITION-----------------------------
--------------------------NorthEast Radio Watch--------------------------
IN THIS ISSUE:
2000: The Year in Review
The Year-End Rant
-----------------------------by Scott Fybush-----------------------------
-------------------------<http://www.fybush.com>-------------------------
And so we arrive at the true millennium's end, at the close of a year
that saw few major changes in the region's radio and television
scene, yet brought the promise of significant developments in the
decade that's just beginning.
2000 brought the end -- for now -- of the consolidation boom, as the
big groups found there was little room to get bigger. It brought the
close of several long-running Northeast broadcast careers (we miss
you, Charles!) and the beginning of a significant expansion of the
Canadian FM dial.
As the year drew to a close, it brought politics, too, in the form of
a Congressional vote that ensured LPFM would remain the province of
religious translators instead of local voices, and in the form of a
presidential election that ensured deregulation would continue to be
the order of business at the FCC for the next four years.
But we're getting ahead of ourselves. First, the Year in Sales:
January:
Clear Channel still had some room to maneuver in the region in 2000,
and upstate New York was one of the big growth areas for the nation's
biggest radio operator. For $20 million, CCU entered the Binghamton
market with the former Majac group, one AM (WENE) and four FMs (WKGB,
WMXW, WMRV, and WBBI), none of them actually licensed to Binghamton.
Beasley Broadcasting entered New England by paying $6 million to Peter
Arpin's ADD Media for WRCA (1330 Waltham).
February:
A big buy in the Bangor market, as Communications Capital Managers
assembled a big cluster from two smaller ones: WVOM and WBYA from Moon
Song and WKSQ, WLKE, and WBFB from Mark Osborne and Natalie Knox.
Total price tag: just over $12 million.
Up in north central Massachusetts, Jeff Shapiro dealt WCAT AM-FM in
Orange and Athol to Citadel for $875,000; just down the road, Central
Broadcasting sold WINQ to Aritaur.
Here in New York, Floyd Dykeman sold venerable religious FM WJIV
Cherry Valley to Jon Yinger's Midwest Broadcasting for $1.3 million,
while Howard Green exited Elmira by selling WENY AM-FM to White
Broadcasting for $1.5 million.
March:
George Souhan exited Seneca Falls broadcasting by selling WSFW AM-FM
to Family Life Ministries, which traded the stations to George
Kimble's Radio Group for WLLW Clyde. Price tag: $875,000.
Clear Channel unloaded some of its "spare" properties, passing
Northampton's WHMP AM-FM to Saga, Rhode Island's WWRX to Steve
Mindich's Phoenix group, and working out a complicated deal with
Regent that gave that group Albany's WQBK/WQBJ, WTMM, WGNA AM-FM and
WABT, plus 3 Michigan stations, in exchange for 11 Ohio and California
stations and $67 million cash. (Clear Channel also planned to spin
WTRY 980 to Chase, but found later on that it could keep that signal.)
Vox Media entered the Glens Falls market by buying nearly the whole
thing, picking up WMML, WHTR and WZZM from Starview media and WNYQ,
WENU, WHTR and WBZA from Bradmark.
Downstate, Arthur Liu's Multicultural paid Bonita Bequet $850,000 for
Long Island's WNYG, while Nassau made plans to buy Aurora's
Westchester and Connecticut stations for $185 million, never guessing
that the market would turn before the deal could close.
Up in Maine, Communications Capital Managers added one more station to
its Bangor cluster, picking up WGUY Dexter from Innovative Advertising
Consultants for $1.475 million. Farmington's WKTJ also got new
owners; Marc Fisher and Nelson Doak took over that little community
operation.
April:
Vox kept growing, entering western New York and adjoining Pennsylvania
with a group of stations that included Dunkirk-Fredonia's WDOE and
WCQA and Jamestown's WKSN-WHUG.
Arthur Liu shed one of his New York City stations, trading WKDM (1380)
to Mega Broadcasting in exchange for two Washington, DC stations and
$24.5 million.
So much for independent FMs in Buffalo: holdout John Casciani sold
country WNUC to giant cable operator Adelphia.
May:
Clear Channel filled in another big gap, dropping $24 million to pick
up the ten stations of Straus Media in the Hudson Valley (though the
final price tag would be only $18 million after several of the
stations were spun off.) The San Antonio gang also grew in Syracuse
with the $5 million buy of Cram's WVOA.
J.J. Jeffrey added to his Atlantic Coast group with the $3.5 million
purchase of Portland's WLOB and Rumford's WLLB/WLOB-FM, some of the
Carter stations that never made it to closing in 1999.
The year's first big TV deals saw Entravision enter Hartford by paying
$26 million for WHCT (though bankrupt seller Astroline ended up with
just a fraction of that money, the rest going to two license
challengers). The massive CBS/Viacom merger put Boston's WSBK in the
same family as WBZ-TV, and put CBS in charge of New Bedford's WLWC,
too.
Radio One LMA'd Boston's WILD; the actual sale would come later.
June:
Way up north in New Hampshire, Berlin's WMOU was saved from permanent
silence when Arnold Hanson Jr. and Stephen Griffin bought the little
AM from Bob and Gladys Powell.
Clear Channel spun WCKL/WCTW Catskill and WHUC/WTHK Hudson to Concord
Media for $6 million, then turned around and grabbed Kingston's
WGHQ/WBPM and Poughkeepsie's WBWZ/WRWD as part of a $65 million
purchase of Roberts Radio.
Sabre Communications solidified its cluster in the Southern Tier,
paying $1.8 million for Bilbat's WHHO/WKPQ Hornell.
Up in Littleton, N.H., Bruce James turned his LMA of White Mountain
FM's WMTK into ownership.
July:
Saga picked up most of Ithaca, paying $13.4 million for Eagle's WHCU,
WTKO, WYXL, and WQNY. Galaxy added one more station to its Syracuse
group as Ed Levine paid Robert Short $3.75 million for WRDS. Down on
Long Island, Peter Ottmar's AAA added two more FMs, paying $2.7
million for MAK Communications' WBSQ and WBAZ.
ABC finally entered New England, though only in Radio Disney form with
the $49.8 million purchase of Hibernia, including Boston's WMKI, Rhode
Island's WHRC and Connecticut's WDZK.
Clear Channel set down stakes in the Bangor market, paying
Communications Capital Managers $10.2 million for the group it had
spent the spring assembling. A few hours north, McDonnel Smith picked
up Presque Isle's WEGP.
Robert Howe bought Bennington's WBTN(AM) from Vermont Public Radio
with a promise to return it to local programming, while Vox added one
more station in the Pioneer Valley as it bought WPVQ Turners Falls
from Cardwell Broadcasting.
August:
Vox grabbed three more in western New York, picking up Olean's WMNS,
WMXO and WRLP from Magnum. Binghamton dentist Paul Titus agreed to
sell WINR to Clear Channel after a deal to trade frequencies with
Citadel's WNBF and WKOP fell through. Rochester's WWWG passed from
American General Media to HHH Broadcasting for $975,000. Over in
Albany, Ernie Anastos added WMVI Mechanicville to his three-station
group, while to the south in Kingston, Clear Channel spun WBPM to
Concord for $4.6 million.
The big TV deal was Fox's purchase of Chris-Craft's TV stations,
putting New York's WNYW and WWOR under common ownership. Up in
Buffalo, Sinclair announced its own revised duopoly plans, paying
$51.5 million for Grant's WNYO to pair with its own WUTV.
New Hampshire's most powerful AM, Derry's WDER, changed hands from
Spacecom to Blount.
September:
The biggest single-station deal of the year in the region was the
long-rumored sale of Manchester's WMUR-TV to Hearst-Argyle, netting
seller Imes Communications $185 million. For $185 million, Canadian,
Metromedia CMR sold its four Montreal stations (CINF, CINW, CFQR and
CKOI) to Corus, while down the street Standard bought CHOM and CKGM
from the Chum Group.
Clear Channel moved west from its new Bangor cluster, adding Cumulus'
WFAU, WCME, WKCG, WABK and WTOS in the Augusta area (though still
leaving a big gap between that cluster and its next stronghold in New
Hampshire).
Binghamton's WBNG-TV and three other Gateway Communications stations
were sold to SJL, while an hour or so away, Delaware County
Broadcasting sold its WDLA AM-FM, WDHI and WIYN to growing group
operator BanJo Communications.
October:
The Hudson Valley radio scene, already abuzz over Clear Channel's
purchases, was rocked again when Rob Dyson announced the sale of his
Crystal group to Aurora. For $55 million, the Aurora folks got to
move north from Westchester/Putnam towards Poughkeepsie and the
Catskills with WEOK/WALL, WCZX/WZAD, WPDH/WPDA, WRRV/WRRB and
Kingston's WKNY, all just a few weeks after announcing that the sale
of the Westchester/Connecticut cluster to Nassau was off.
Vermont and New Hampshire had their share of sales, with Clear Channel
paying $11 million for Bob and Cheryl Frisch's WTSL, WGXL, WVRR and
WXXK, Family Broadcasting selling WGLV to Vox, and Dynamite selling
WRRO to the Addison Broadcasting Company for $434,000.
On the Spanish-language broadcasting front, Entravision picked up
WUNI-TV Worcester from Jasas for $47.5 million, while TV Azteca
announced a $37.5 million purchase of WSAH-TV Bridgeport that was
never consummated, leaving the upstart network without a flagship in
market numero uno.
And we can't forget the $50,000 spin of Carter's WLLB Rumford from
J.J. Jeffrey's Atlantic Coast to Richard Gleason's Mountain Valley
Broadcasting, can we?
November:
It wasn't the biggest deal of the month, but the $5 million sale of
Nash's WILD Boston to Radio One was certainly the longest in coming.
Out in Fitchburg, Live Air bought WEIM from Frank Fillipone.
Clear Channel filled more Vermont gaps, paying Excalibur $5.8 million
for the Rutland cluster of WSYB/WZRT, WWWT/WCVR and WLCQ.
LIN Broadcasting ended the long WNEQ saga in Buffalo (for now, anyway)
by agreeing to pay $26.2 million for the station, with an option to
take sister station WNED-TV instead (for an additional $5 million) if
the FCC won't switch the noncommercial reservation in Buffalo to
WNED's channel 17.
Across the border in Canada, Telemedia bought Affinity's
CKTB/CHTZ/CHRE in St. Catharines, CHAM in Hamilton, and CKSL in
London.
December:
A few big deals went down at year's end, including the $1.1 billion
sale of USA Broadcasting to Univision, dooming the upstart independent
WHUB-TV Marlborough in favor of "Univision Duo." Across the border,
the CRTC gave its approval to BCE's C$2.3 billion purchase of CTV.
On a smaller scale, Paul Allen's Vulcan Ventures dropped $100 million
for One-on-One's three stations, including Boston's WNRB.
Clear Channel opened the checkbook again, spending $3.5 million in
Maine for the Orne family's WMCM/WRKD Rockland, $1.1 million up the
coast for Scott Hogg's WNSX Winter Harbor, $2.15 million in central
New York for Kenneth Roser's WOWZ-WOWB and WLFH, and agreeing to pick
up Vermont's WMXR and WCFR at year's end, too.
Eastern Media bought WESO in Southbridge back from Evergreen. Up in
northern Vermont, Bob Steele sold WMOO and WIKE to Northstar Media.
John Bulmer traded his upgraded WWFY in the Barre market to Vox for
WDOE and WBKX in the Dunkirk, N.Y. market and $775,000.
On the TV side, Clear Channel sold Providence's WPRI to Sunrise, while
LMA partner WNAC went from Smith Broadcasting to Sunrise partner STC.
And up in Canada, CHUM Group paid C$800,000 for Lindsay, Ontario's
CKLY.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
It's hard to pick out many format developments this year that promise
to change the future of radio in any long-term fashion. Rhythmic
oldies faded, to be sure, and 80s pop came on strong at year's end to
take the title of this year's fad format. Adult standards made slow
gains in markets from Toronto to Albany. FM talk settled in for the
long haul in Boston and New York, albeit without much to show -- yet
-- for ratings. Sports made slow gains, debuting on FM in Buffalo and
adding AM outlets in places like Troy and Groton. Comedy radio,
albeit on satellite, made its debut in Syracuse.
Let's take a look at the whole 12 months, then, in the Year In
Formats, Calls, and People:
January:
One last-minute 1999 change happened too late for last year's review,
as WVVE Stonington (New London) ditched oldies for active rock
December 29, becoming WAXK, "Rock 102."
The first development of 2000 came just seconds into the year, as
daytimer WKZE in Sharon, CT popped on the air for a well-heard
"emergency" broadcast.
The dial spun in New Hampshire's capital city, as Concord's WKXL-FM
moved from 102.3 to 107.7, ditching the WNHI simulcast that had been
on the latter frequency (as WRCI) and flipping 102.3 to country as
WOTX, "Outlaw."
Religion gave way to standards in Albany on January 9 when Crawford's
WDCD 1540 returned to the WPTR calls as "Legends." Standards also
made a comeback at WMSA Massena, replacing an AC format there.
Entercom consolidated its Buffalo radio newsrooms, flipping
WGR to all-sports, leaving WBEN as the only commercial radio news
source in the Queen City and throwing several WGR staffers out of
work. Entercom also ended the satellite sports on WWKB, leaving the
50 kilowatt flamethrower as a temporary simulcast of hit radio WKSE-FM
for several months.
Two New England veterans said goodbye in January, with Al Needham
retiring after decades in the WESX (Salem) newsroom and George Taylor
Morris being shown the door after a stint as PD of WBOS (which, we'd
add, once more ended the year without a format change!)
A set of heritage calls returned to Boston January 24 with the debut
of the "new, new" WMEX on 1060 Natick, providing a new radio home (for
a while, anyway) for Jerry Williams, Gene Burns, and Upton Bell. The
WJLT calls and religious format that had been on 1060 moved to the
former WRPT (650 Ashland).
Call changes: Up in Maine, the WCLZ calls were replaced by WTPN at
98.9 Brunswick, then landed on 95.5 Topsham to replace WXGL. Rhode
Island Disney affiliate WDYZ (1450 West Warwick) became WHRC
("Hercules"). In the Catskills, WWHW ditched Weather Service
broadcasts for AP all-news as WDNB.
Up in Canada, CFMO (101.1 Smiths Falls) dumped soft rock for modern
rock as "XFM," later changing calls to CIOX. Out in London, classic
hits "The Hawk" and dance "Energy Radio" traded dial spots, with the
Hawk moving from CFHK 103.1 to CKDK 103.9 and Energy doing the
opposite.
Feburary:
More changes at WBOS, as morning host Robin Young left Morrissey
Boulevard, but still no sign of the oft-rumored format changes.
Down on Long Island, Ralph Tortora and Donna Donna landed at WBAB just
as PD Eric Wellman left. Ralphie Marino moved from afternoons at
Boston's WJMN to mornings at New York's WKTU.
Kevin Hilley departed Concord's WJYY for a brief stay at Albany's
WCPT, while Maynard High School's WAVM and UMass/Boston's WUMB tangled
over the 91.7 frequency in Boston's far western suburbs.
March:
The "Jaws" theme brought an end to the "Arrow" on the New Hampshire
seacoast, as WXBB/WXBP resurfaced as "the Shark," WSHA/WSAK.
The sale of George Souhan's WSFW AM-FM brought programming changes,
beginning with a sentimental tribute to the old guard and ending with
the move of WLLW ("The Wall") from 93.7 Clyde to the old WSFW-FM 99.3
signal. 93.7 went religious as Family Life's WCOV, while WSFW(AM)
went to satellite standards for a few months.
Oldies returned to the New London market when Hall's WTYD dumped soft
AC and its old calls for WKNL "Kool 101."
Rhode Island also-ran "The Hawk" ditched classic rock and the
WHKK/WHCK calls for a minor shift to classic hits "Z100" as
WZRI/WZRA. Of greater note in the Ocean State, veteran WPRI-TV anchor
Walter Cryan did his last newscast March 3.
At WBOS, Shirley Maldonado took over as PD, and even though her last
stint with Greater Media was programming smooth jazz WSJZ, there was
still no format change at 92.9.
Buffalo's WBEN and its Entercom sisters moved out of their old homes
in the city (for WBEN and WMJQ, the old NBC-built studio on Elmwood
Avenue) to an Amherst office park. Down the street in Williamsville,
country WNUC took on a new image as "the Bullet, high caliber
country."
Call changes: Rockland County's WLIR(AM) to WRCR; Watertown's WWLF to
WBDI (to match "Border" CHR sister WBDR); Auburn Disney outlet WKGJ
to WWLF (to match Syracuse sister WOLF); and in Peterborough, N.H.,
WNHQ to WFEX as the station flipped to a simulcast of Boston's WFNX.
New on the air: Sound of Life's WLJH (90.9 Glens Falls); WGBH's WNAN
(91.1 Nantucket, on March 15); and low-power Allston-Brighton Free
Radio (on AM 1580, March 11).
April:
The AC "Magic" on WMXR/WCFR-FM in the Upper Valley area of Vermont and
New Hampshire disappeared April 7, replaced briefly by "Quickradio" (a
stunt, of course) and permanently by country as "Bob."
Across the state, WXPS in the Burlington market ditched country to
become the year's only convert to smooth jazz (in this region,
anyway).
Central Vermont's newest station found a permanent format when WEXP
(101.5 Brandon) hired Jay Gadon as general manager, flipping from
automated CHR to classic rock as "the Fox."
Buffalo's WMJQ shifted AC gears, ditching "Q102.5" for hotter AC as
WTSS and "Star," and allowing Brockport's WASB-FM to grab the WMJQ
calls (albeit still simulcasting WASB 1590).
Up in Conway, N.H., WBNC AM-FM switched from country to oldies. In
Maine, Bangor's WWBX and WABI were crippled by a fire in their
downtown studios.
On the TV dial, Liz Walker announced cutbacks in her WBZ-TV schedule,
giving up the 5 and 11 PM newscasts to do the noon show and attend to
her family.
New to the air: WNSX (formerly WAKN) Winter Harbor, Maine,
simulcasting WMDI Bar Harbor.
New calls: WCKP granted to the 91.9 Putney VT CP.
Gone: CIQC (600) and CKVL (850) Montreal, ending their simulcasts of
the new CINW 940 and CINF 690 at midnight April 23.
May:
Berlin, New Hampshire's WMOU (1230) went silent while its owners
looked for a buyer. Down in Portland, Hal Knight departed WPOR
(101.9) after more than a quarter-century.
In Albany, Clear Channel killed classic rock WXCR (102.3), flipping to
its prefab "Kiss" format May 26 (and playing flyswatter noises, a dig
at competitor WFLY). New WKKF calls followed shortly. Crosstown,
Tele-Media turned WZEC (97.5 Hoosick Falls) from a simulcast of
Pittsfield's WBEC-FM into a clone of Albany's WCPT, playing modern AC
for the Bennington market.
The CRTC granted two new licenses in Ontario, for a smooth jazz
station on 94.7 in Hamilton and for a new station on 107.5 in Barrie.
On TV, WLWC in the Providence market swapped its WB affiliation for
UPN.
June:
WUMB and WAVM buried the hatchet, announcing a deal to share time on a
powered-up WAVM 91.7 signal in Maynard.
Little WPNT 1600 in East Longmeadow dropped its simulcast of WAQY-FM
to do travel information for the summer, rented out to Six Flags
amusement park. Over in Worcester, WORC-FM (98.9) switched from
classic rock back to oldies, getting out of the way of sister classic
rocker WWFX.
Up in Canada, the big changes were in Fredericton, N.B., where country
CKHJ moved from FM (105.3) to the AM/FM simulcast (1260 and low-power
95.5 and 103.5) that used to be CHR CIHI. Replacing CKHJ on the big
FM signal: AC "Fox" CFXY.
Over in Ontario, CKDX Newmarket dropped country for rhythmic oldies.
The CRTC announced the winners of the last new licenses in Toronto.
Michael Caine's CHWO (1250) got the big prize of 740 AM, while Denham
Jolly got 93.5 FM for urban and Aboriginal Voices Radio got 106.5 FM
for native programming.
Buffalo's WWKB dropped the FM simulcast of WKSE for business talk,
still keeping leased-time talk on weekend mornings, truckers' shows
overnight, and a smattering of sports.
The FCC released the first group of LPFM applications, including those
for Maine and Rhode Island.
July:
Jukebox Radio learned from the FCC that its unusual way of feeding
translators (buying a primary 100 miles away to serve a translator
that overlooked Manhattan) was, while technically kosher, not going to
be permitted to continue. What will that mean for primary WJUX
(99.7) in Monticello? We still don't know.
New York's WKDM (1380) went silent, sending its calls down to
Washington in exchange for WNNY (more on this later in the fall). Up
in Owego, WEBO (1330) ended a few years as an AM modern rocker to go
standards from new studios downtown. Over in Elmira, WENY (1230)
ditched talk for oldies.
On the shores of Lake Champlain, WDOT (1070 Plattsburgh) became WLFE,
simulcasting the FM of the same name in St. Albans. Rhode Island's
WLKW (550 Pawtucket) applied for WBZU, then went back to its old WICE
calls instead. Way up in Monticello, Maine, WREM (710) went rock.
Satellite radio made its first big talent grabs in the region, as XM
hired WRKO programmer Kevin Straley and WBCN/WZLX veteran Mark
Parenteau.
Up in Canada, the CRTC approved the return of 1220 in Cornwall as a
"new" station, using the facilities CJSS abandoned when it moved to FM
in 1999.
August:
The month's news began on the TV side, with the August 1 debut of
indie WHUB-TV, replacing home shopping WHSH on channel 66 in
Marlborough.
Just a few days later, on August 4, Charles Laquidara said farewell to
Boston, doing his last "Big Mattress" show on WZLX after more than
three decades there and at WBCN.
Northampton's WHMP-FM became active rock WLZX, "Laser." To the north
in Vermont, Wilmington's WMTT dropped its partial simulcast of WRSI
Greenfield to return to its original calls of WVAY, simulcasting WEXP
from Rutland.
In Maine, the country simulcast on WCME and WCTB was replaced by a
relay of the sports format from Skowhegan's WSKW.
After decades in Erie, Pennsylvania radio, Myron Jones handed over the
keys to WJET-FM and WFGO to Nextmedia.
Up in Canada, the CRTC approved a slew of new stations in New
Brunswick: a move to FM for CKCW Moncton, a second FM for crosstown
competitor CJMO, a new French outlet in Moncton on 99.9, and two
religious low-power FMs there as well. In St. John, the CHSJ folks
were granted a second FM on 97.3, as well as a new FM over in
St. Stephen, across from Calais, Maine.
September:
The WFNX network entered Rhode Island September 7 with the demise of
classic rock on WWRX 103.7. Up in Central Massachusetts, WCAT-FM
Athol switched from hot AC to 60s and 70s oldies. Syracuse's WRDS,
under new ownership, stunted with country as "Big Cow" before
replacing its urban format with soft AC as "Sunny 102." In Albany,
the WTRY calls left AM radio after half a century, replaced on 980 by
sports as WOFX. George Kimble took his four Finger Lakes AMs (WCGR,
WGVA, WSFW, and WAUB) to a mostly-simulcast news and talk format as
the "Finger Lakes News Network." Poughkeepsie's WEOK (and
Middletown's WALL) ditched talk for sports. In Southington,
Connecticut, WNTY (990) became the talk of the message boards with a
brief silent period (brought about by a dispute with a leased-time
operator) and a switch to hip-hop "Blaze 990" for much of its day.
The big news, though, came from New York's WOR, where John R. Gambling
was shown the door. His September 11 show marked the end of more than
seven decades of "Rambling with Gambling" on New York morning radio.
Call changes: Connecticut's WMMM to WSHU (officially, after some
months of using the call unofficially), Fredonia's WCQA to WBKX, "the
Bull," and Olean's WMNS to WOEN.
New on the air: CIWV Hamilton, with smooth jazz, and CHST London, CHR
"Star," both Sept. 1; public radio WCAI Woods Hole, Sept. 25.
October:
The region's AM stations looked for some new programming ideas this
year, and Citadel brought one interesting idea to Syracuse's WNSS,
flipping the station from AP all-news to a simulcast of Webcaster
comedyworld.com.
In New York City, Spanish-language all-news radio made its debut on
WNNY (1380). Over in Port Jervis, WDLC (1490) began simulcasting
sister FM WTSX. Out on Long Island, WFOG Riverhead returned from a
long silence to simulcast WRCN-FM. Across Long Island sound, WSUB
(980) traded talk for ESPN sports, while up in Springfield, the Six
Flags broadcasts on WPNT (1600) gave way to a simulcast of co-owned
WHMP Northampton under new calls WHNP.
Ernie Anastos began a new AC format in Albany on WMVI as "Sunny 1160,"
while to the north in Glens Falls, WBZA (1410) became WENU,
simulcasting the standards on WENU-FM.
Sports came to FM in Maine, where WCLZ in Topsham began simulcasting
WJAE-WJJB, and in western New York, where Adelphia flipped WNUC to
sports as WNSA.
More changes on FM: The "Bug Country" trimulcast in the Mohawk Valley
became a quadcast with the debut of WBGK (99.7 Newport Village). The
upgraded signal of WWFY (100.9 Berlin VT) went country as "Froggy,"
serving Barre and Montpelier. In Syracuse, rimshotter WHCD dropped
smooth jazz to return urban to the market as WPHR, "Power 106.9."
On TV, WWDP in Norwell went Spanish with Telemundo.
In Canada, Corus flipped Barrie's CHAY from soft AC to dance as
"Energy." In Quebec City, Yves Sauve was granted a new AM 1060
signal, replacing the long-gone CJRP. John Wright, in partnership
with Rogers, won the fight for 105.7 in Kingston, Ontario. Montreal's
CIEL 98.5 became CKOO, "Kool."
One more call change: WSLK Saranac Lake, to WYZY.
November:
After a good ratings book at a few stations that pioneered the format,
the 80s pop sound landed in the Northeast, preceded by an
election-night format change in Rochester that put the oldies sound of
WBBF (98.9) on what had been classic rock WQRV (93.3 Avon) and
standards WEZO (950). Later that week, WBBF left the 98.9 signal,
replaced by 80s "Buzz" and the WBZA calls. (WQRV and WEZO then became
WBBF-FM and WBBF, restoring the heritage call to its proper place on
the AM dial.)
The 80s sound also made it to Long Island, as part of a broader
rock-AC format that replaced country on WMJC, now "Island 94.3."
In the Hudson Valley, standards landed at WHUC in Hudson and WKIP in
Poughkeepsie, while Hudson's WTHK dumped country for oldies as
"Cruisin' 93.5" and Catskill's WCTW split its "Cat" AC format from
no-longer-sister-station WCTJ in Poughkeepsie.
Classical on AM? Marlin brought its favorite format to Hartford,
replacing the FM simulcast on WCCC (1290) -- though Howard Stern
remained on the station in the morning, creating what has to be one of
the strangest transitions in a broadcast day anywhere.
Bennington's WBTN (1370) returned to local operation after a year of
Vermont Public Radio simulcasting. Over in New Hampshire, WNTK (1020)
ended its simulcast of its FM talk sister, replacing it with a nifty
Americana format. Elmira's WENY-FM dumped its own satellite AC format
to simulcast satellite AC from Corning's WCBA-FM.
New to the air: WKZA Lakewood-Jamestown, with hot AC as "Kiss," and
Conestoga College's CJIQ (88.3 Kitchener-Waterloo).
December:
The 80s trend continued, with Albany's WABT (104.5) dropping rhythmic
oldies to go "Buzz," followed by Scranton/Wilkes-Barre's WSHG/WWFH.
Clear Channel made its first big move in the Hudson Valley, replacing
"Thunder Country" on WTHN and "Cat" AC on WCTJ with CHR as (what
else?) "Kiss."
Back on the air: Elmira Heights' WEHH, albeit on 1600 instead of its
old 1590, and Toronto's 740, testing as CHWO after being denied the
CFPT calls it wanted.
In Utica, WRUN changed simulcasts from WFRG-FM's country to the
news-talk of sister AM WIBX.
Gone to XM: WBCN's Bradley Jay.
Call changes: Hartford's WHCT to WUVN and Univision, Binghamton's
religious WJIK to WIFF.
And at year's end, two UPN affiliates switched to WB. In Syracuse,
the change at WNYS leaves no UPN outlet in the market, while in
Connecticut, WTXX takes WB but sends UPN to New Haven's channel 59,
changing from WBNE to WCTX.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Of course, each year also brings with it some loss, as the industry
says farewell to more of its pioneers. From this year's obituaries:
BOB LEMIRE, 59, WKVT oldies host (1/21)
JIM PANSULLO, 74, former WEEI, WHDH newsman (1/31)
TOM SHERMAN, 43, WBBS Syracuse jock (3/4)
JUDY JARVIS, 54, syndicated talk host (3/7)
MARION "Mickey" BRINE, 79, wife of Salty and mother of Wally (3/7)
BOB SHAW, 69, WLAM midday jock (3/9)
GEORGE LEIGHTON, 74, former WTEN-TV host (3/14)
MONROE "Bud" TOEVS, 77, former WPRO newsman (5/21)
WILLIAM SHIGLEY, WRVO Oswego founder (6/3)
ROBERT J. LURTSEMA, 68, "Morning pro musica" host (6/12)
LEO EGAN, 86, longtime Boston sportscaster (7/10)
WILLIAM "Rosko" MERCER, 73, NYC rock jock and CBS Sports announcer
(8/1)
RICHARD M. FAIRBANKS, 88, WKOX/WVBF owner (8/11)
RALPH KANNA, Hartford TV program director (8/19)
RALPH HUBBELL, 90, veteran Buffalo sportscaster (9/14)
TOM KENNEDY II, 68, former WNAB Bridgeport GM (9/20)
FRANKIE CROCKER, 63, WBLS New York programmer (10/21)
JOHN MOUNTEER, 73, former WTRY programmer (11/4)
ROBERT TROUT, 91, veteran CBS newsman (11/13)
ROSS WELLER, 84, former WHAM-TV/WROC host (12/1)
DAVID BORST, 82, Intercollegiate Broadcasting System founder (12/1)
ROGER STAFFORD, 60, Connecticut traffic reporter (12/4)
RICK LARENCE (ANTHONY RICHARD LACOVARA), 63, N.H. jock (12/9)
TIM O'DONNELL, 57, ABC Radio News anchor (12/13)
JOE QUINN, former WRLH Taunton owner (12/19)
NORM SEBASTIAN, 44, WNYT Albany meteorologist (12/22)
MARTY SENDER, 53, former Boston TV reporter (12/23)
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Rant
It's been six years now since I first began these year-end wrap-ups,
and three years since I started closing them out with an editorial
soapbox.
While those six years are but a tiny fraction of broadcasting's
history, it's no exaggeration to say the industry has changed almost
completely since NERW's 1995 Year in Review.
Back then, a duopoly was a big deal, and the largest radio groups
still numbered only in the low dozens of stations. Howard Stern was
still on tape delay at night on WBCN. Modern rock was brand new, and
smooth jazz was just catching on in New England. Spanish-language
radio was still confined to leased-time slots and rimshotter AM
signals. Satellite automation was still a rarity, and hard-drive
automation all but unknown. And nowhere in the entire column was
there any mention of a broadcast company's stock price.
Fast forward six years, and it becomes clear that we've all lived
through one of the most significant transitional periods in
broadcasting since the rise of FM -- or perhaps even since the advent
of television. The last two years have seen the first radio groups to
approach the 1000-station mark, built on the strength of a roaring
stock market and the technological ability to centralize entire
clusters' operations in a single desktop PC. Television viewers who
might have had 60 or 70 choices in 1995 now can pick from hundreds of
channels on satellite or digital cable, not to mention nearly a dozen
broadcast networks appealing to ever-smaller niches.
These are important changes, to be sure, but they've been changes in
scale. What's coming next, faster than the entrenched broadcasting
interests want to admit, are some changes in structure. The early
signs are already visible if we take a tour of the industry's
frontiers at the turn of the millennium:
-CONSOLIDATION: Barring major regulatory changes, there's just not
much bigger most of today's broadcasting groups can get. In bigger
markets like New York and Boston, there's room for four or five major
players; get down to the level of Binghamton or Bangor and that number
drops to two. A few groups, Clear Channel and Vox foremost among
them, are now sweeping up the droppings, as it were -- builing or
buying clusters in the tiny, unrated markets between their existing
clusters. Vermont and New Hampshire saw a lot of this activity in
2000, as did New York's Southern Tier and the Hudson Valley. What's
left now, in places like Presque Isle and Massena, is probably too
small for even the medium-size groups to play with.
So what happens now?
Let's begin by asserting that consolidation, per se, is not
automatically evil. So many of the stations that are now in clusters
in the small and medium markets are signals that didn't exist a decade
or two ago. Our Canadian neighbors consider the financial viability
of a market before allocating a new signal; the FCC explicitly refuses
to do so as a matter of policy. The result: more than fifteen
commercial AM and FM stations with viable signals in Bangor, up from
just four stations twenty years ago. Back then, the advertising pie
was split among WLBZ (now WZON), WABI AM-FM, and WGUY (now defunct);
today, that split is mirrored by Clear Channel, Stephen King, and
Gopher Hill Broadcasting. If each company now has several signals to
offer, well, that's just a welcome to the splintered world of 21st
century media. If some of them end up just simulcasting others, well,
that's just a response to an FCC allocations structure that's unable
to adapt to the realities of rimshotters, preferring to put a weak
signal in an otherwise "underserved" community on the edge of an area
where it could serve more listeners.
But there's more to consolidation than just buying a bunch of stations
and moving them in together. Faced with what they saw as the
challenge of "grow or die," too many groups bought stations at
incredible cash-flow multiples, on debt sustained by the promise of
stock-market growth and a rich vein of dot-com advertising that could
be mined indefinitely.
What a difference a year makes, then -- and if you don't believe me,
just call the CFOs at Cumulus (which began its collapse before the
market did) or Nassau (which pulled out of a big Hudson Valley purchase
when it was unable to sustain its IPO).
So what happens now? For many operators, the answer is likely to be
increased centralization and a growing reliance on automation. Again,
that's not automatically evil. It's not 1975; there's no reason a DJ
has to manually spin each song, especially overnight or on the
weekend. Even newer innovations like group contesting and national
morning shows have their place if they're not abused (you listening,
Lowry?)
Veteran readers of NERW probably sense a giant "however..."
approaching, and they're not mistaken.
However, there are other forces at play out there in the broadcasting
universe, and station operators who ignore them do so at their own
peril.
For instance...
-SATELLITE RADIO: This is the year it all begins for real. XM and
Sirius maintained a low profile at the NAB Radio Show in San
Francisco, but the buzz was unmistakable: by the time the next NERW
Year in Review is written, there will be almost 200 channels of
digital audio streaming down from the sky. The "chicken and egg"
problem with receiver availability is already being addressed, thanks
to deals with several big automakers to make satellite radio available
in their vehicles. Think nobody will pay $10 a month for satellite
radio? Ask that question again after the next seventeen-spot-in-a-row
break on your local group-owned broadcaster.
But it's not the technology that has me excited about XM and Sirius --
if it were, I'd be equally bullish on IBOC digital, which promises to
sound as good (at least on FM; the jury's still out on AM).
No, it's all about the content, and from what we've seen in 2000,
broadcasters should be worried. XM, in particular, has been hiring
talented programmers like crazy, starting at the top with Lee Abrams,
the man who gave the world "classic rock" and "smooth jazz" in the
seventies and eighties.
To assist him, Abrams has been busy hiring some of the best in the
business. Boston alone lost WRKO programmer Kevin Straley, WBCN
veteran Mark Parenteau, and Parenteau's former colleague Bradley Jay
to XM this past year, and the pattern has repeated in market after
market. The mission at XM, in Abrams' own words, is to "throw out
everything we've ever done in radio" and start fresh with dozens of,
as he puts it, "living and breathing radio stations, each with its own
jingles and t-shirts."
If you're not already doing so, put yourself for a moment in the
driver's seat of a car speeding through Syracuse, or Springfield, or
Woonsocket sometime in 2001. Your choices: a dozen broadcast
stations, most of them running the same half-dozen formats with the
same liners (read live on perhaps half of the stations, voice-tracked
on the others), interrupted like clockwork three times an hour for
stop sets that never end. Or eighty stations, targeted for every
niche available, with few commercials and some of the best talent the
industry can offer.
It doesn't look pretty for the home team...and there's still another
round coming in this fight:
-LPFM: No doubt Eddie Fritts is strutting proudly in his pink shirt
and polka-dot tie right about now, with the results of his big
Congressional vote tucked neatly in his pocket behind his hankerchief.
And there's no question that the low-power radio forces, lacking much
support on a Capitol Hill well-oiled by the contributions of big
broadcasters and in an FCC about to lose Bill Kennard, were dealt a
body blow by the vote.
Nor is there any reason to think that the first couple hundred legal
LPFMs will have much effect on the world of broadcasting. Many will
be no different, in programming or in technical reality, from the
hundreds of college stations already out there at the low end of the
dial. Still more will be indistinguishable from the religious
translators being fed from the very same satellites by the very same
national operators (hi there, Calvary!). In a small handful of
communities, a few broadcasters lucky enough to have found a frequency
that can survive the watering down of LPFM will actually provide
something of a service to their village or town, assuming they can
come to terms with the reality that the expensive part of a radio
station isn't the initial construction, but the continued operation.
The bigger threat will come from the would-be broadcasters who still
can't be part of legal LPFM. Bill Kennard set out a table of lofty
promises in front of them, and many of them believed in him. Now
Messrs. Fritts, Oxley, and Co. have grabbed the plates and cups and
put them back in the cabinet for the big broadcasters. Can they
really expect the would-be LPFM'ers to quietly walk away while they're
still hungry? Already, some disappointed applicants are rumbling
about going pirate instead, putting further strain on an FCC
enforcement mechanism that's already painfully underfunded and
incapable of policing the spectrum as it now exists.
Two things puzzle me about this fight. First, what are the big guys
really so afraid of? Every time I write about LPFM, I can be certain
that my e-mail a few days later will contain a few well-reasoned
missives from experienced engineers, pointing out that there are
legitimate concerns about the problems third-adjacent LPFM allocations
could cause to IBOC digital FM and to radio reading services on
subcarriers.
Those are indeed reasonable worries, and it was a relief to see the
provision in the "Preservation of Broadcasting Act" for a multi-market
test to determine just how serious a threat closer spacing might be.
But if the broadcasting industry wants these concerns to be taken
seriously, it must be willing to acknowledge the role full-power
broadcasters have taken in cluttering the FM dial over the last few
years.
I'm getting really tired of pointing this out, but the real-world
engineering examples are out there, in droves, and the very
broadcasters protesting most loudly against LPFM are the same ones who
have no problem edging closer than 0.8 MHz to their own signals when
it suits their needs. Commercial groups are doing it; look at Clear
Channel's high-powered translator on 95.5 in Rochester, just two
channels away from primary WNVE on 95.1, or for that matter at Clear
Channel primaries WKGS and WLCL, serving Rochester on 106.7 and 107.3,
just three channels apart (and, yes, some 20 miles from tower to
tower). If the translator on 101.3 in downtown Boston is cutting into
WFNX's 101.7 signal from a few miles north, nobody at WFNX is
complaining (but then, it's THEIR translator!) -- but then, nobody at
WZLX, 0.6 MHz away at 100.7 and a few thousand feet away atop the
Prudential Center, is complaining either. NPR may be opposed to LPFM
on a national level, but its local members' actions are something else
entirely; look at Binghamton's WSKG on 89.3 and its Vestal translator
on 89.7 a few miles away, filling the areas shadowed from the main
transmitter without any worries about second-adjacent interference.
And don't get me started on the nationwide chains of religious
broadcasters and the havoc they're wreaking with their translators
jammed into any available corner of the dial. If the broadcasting
industry were really that worried about interference, it would have to
make an honest effort to clean up its own mess as well -- and that
would mean a freeze on new full-power allocations, a weeding out of
interfering translators, and better enforcement of night power and
pattern among some AM stations that should know better.
Can it be possible that somehow, deep down in their hearts, the big
broadcasters know that the LPFMs, some of them, might actually do
enough community service and local origination to remind listeners
what they're not getting from the group-owned stations?
That brings me to the second puzzle in the LPFM wars: Why aren't the
would-be LPFMers making a better case for themselves? They don't have
much in the way of political connections, it's true, nor do they have
a lot of money to spend on the cause. A few of them, frankly, are so
far beyond the mainstream that they may be more of a hindrance than a
help to the rest. But the LPFM advocates who've managed to get any
public attention at all (not an easy task, considering this is one
topic almost no commercial broadcaster wants to touch on the air, and
most newspapers believe the best way to cover radio is to ignore it as
much as possible) have failed to bring to light some of the best
arguments their cause can offer. Nowhere (outside of NERW, anyway)
have we heard much about the satellite translator land-grab that's
eaten up thousands of potential LPFM channels in the last few year,
with signals identical in many cases to LPFM. Where's the outcry
about all the AM signals left nearly abandoned, running satellite
services with little or no local content (even, in some cases, no
IDs). If the public has forgotten who's supposed to own the airwaves,
why aren't the LPFM advocates doing a better job of reminding them?
It may be too late to save the Kennard plan, but perhaps their loss in
Congress will be just the prod the LPFM'ers need to begin speaking out
with the voice they deserve. Is it too much to hope that Kennard
himself, having lost and lost badly, will join them?
-THE BIG PICTURE: It's probably not much fun to be a big group
broadcaster right now. There's debt service to meet, satellite radio
looming on the horizon, and a crowd of angry LPFM wannabes outside the
door asserting the moral high ground. The equipment is getting older,
and there aren't many talented engineers still left who haven't
escaped to the greener pastures of information technology jobs. As
for finding the next Stern or Imus -- or Laquidara, or Gambling, or
Tim O'Donnell -- the talent pool is getting smaller year after year,
too. The advertising pie isn't getting much bigger, but the
newspapers, cable, and the Web are cutting it into thinner slices
every year.
So what's a nice 80-year-old industry to do? It can -- and some
groups no doubt will -- try to be ever leaner and meaner. No
engineers available? Get by without them, as best you can. Satellite
programming doesn't sound as good as the local guys did? It's less
expensive, and the needle on the transmitter keeps moving just the
same. Still need to feed that bottom line? Crank up the music a
little faster and slip an extra :60 or two in -- the listener won't
notice, right?
Ironically, that might have worked if this were still 1950 or 1960.
But the real answer is something that will require the industry to
work a little harder and spend a little more, and it's so simple I can
summarize it in one word:
Local.
Local doesn't have to mean live 24/7. It doesn't even have to mean
the jock is always in the same city as the transmitter. But it does
mean that radio takes its community seriously. It means at least a
semblance of public service, not just Sunday at 4 AM but throughout
the day and the week. It means covering local news by doing more than
just reading the local paper. It means treating the listener as a
sophisticated consumer who's not fooled by "more rock, less talk" or
the "no-repeat workday" anymore -- because that listener has many more
choices now.
If your station is just a jukebox with commercials, you can't compete
in the long run with the jukebox that listener can now create inside
her computer, which really does provide "all of the best music, not
just some of it," and with no interruptions. If all your station does
is plug into a national feed, you're now fighting 80 channels of truly
national radio created by some of the finest talent in the business.
Think going IBOC digital will save you? Good; now find the receivers
out there in the market, and bear in mind the words of a top group
engineer just a few months ago in San Francisco: "There is no consumer
demand for it."
The broadcasters who will survive in the long run already know these
lessons. They're the ones finding ways to connect with their
listeners as only local radio can. They're the small-town AMs still
doggedly committed to local news and the Swap Shop, every morning at
9:06. They're the Spanish and Asian and urban stations that have
become the party lines of their communities, always there in times of
crisis and times of celebration. Some of them are owned by big groups
-- but they retain the flavor of the place they serve. It doesn't
matter if they're a 250-watt daytimer or a full class B FM; the
listeners find them, and keep coming back, because they know they're
getting something that the satellite or the Net or the MP3 jukebox
can't duplicate. And when the LPFM cry is heard again, it's those
broadcasters who will be able to confidently answer, "We're already
providing that service."
May we all learn to follow the example those broadcasters continue to
set...and may we all have a good 2001.
*What do YOU think? Visit <http://www.fybush.com/nerw-yir2000.html>
for the Web version of the Year in Review. Coming soon: the Mailbag,
featuring your responses to the Rant. E-mail them to
<therant@fybush.com>, and be sure to let us know if you'd prefer
anonymity.
-----------------------NorthEast Radio Watch------------------------
(c)2001 Scott Fybush
www.fybush.com
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