NERW 5/7: Farewell, old CHUM

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

------------------------------E-MAIL EDITION-----------------------------
--------------------------NorthEast Radio Watch--------------------------
                               May 8, 2000

IN THIS ISSUE:

*CANADA: 44 Years of Music End with a Bang at CHUM
*MAINE: WMTW Launches News-Talk Radio
*NEW YORK: Levine's Galaxy Buys WSCP

-----------------------------by Scott Fybush-----------------------------
-------------------------<http://www.fybush.com>-------------------------

TORONTO -- It's been nineteen years since WABC dropped music for talk,
more than a dozen since WNBC gave way to WFAN, and about as long since
WLS spun its last tune.  But old habits die hard north of the border,
and that's why the 21st century was already well underway by the time
1050 CHUM finally turned its back on the music that built its
reputation as one of North America's most important top-40 radio
stations.

Yes, as the Toronto Star crankily pointed out on Saturday, the CHUM
that was being eulogized all over the airwaves and newspapers hasn't
existed for years, since the last "CHUM Chart" hit the streets in 1986
and the station switched to AC, then to oldies as it faded from the
consciousness of the younger audience.

But NERW loves a good party, and the celebrations surrounding the end
of the music days on CHUM and the launch of the new Team sports
network were more than enough to propel us up the QEW Sunday afternoon
to be at 1331 Yonge Street when it all ended (and began).

Here's what we saw and heard:

Sunday, 3:45 PM: Out at the CHUM transmitter site on the
Mississauga/Oakville line, you wouldn't know anything was changing.  A
cold wind blows in off Lake Ontario, a hundred yards or so to the
south, as we snap a picture of the six towers and get chased off the
grounds of the neighboring industrial plant.  (Sorry!)

On the air, the station is playing the number-one hits from its 29
years as an all-hit station, interspersed with wonderfully-produced
recollections from listeners, musicians and former staffers.  At 4,
the Jays game comes on and we flip away.

Monday, 1:15 AM: A trip to Toronto is always a good chance to meet up
with other radio people, and so it is that we find ourselves out on
the Scarborough bluffs with FM DXer Saul Chernos.  Just as we're
getting ready to give up on a fairly poor night for DX, we notice that
most of the FM signals from the CN Tower have gone off for
maintenenance.  This was already a special day; now it's turned into a
lucky one as well -- not to mention a late one.  By the time we turn
in almost four hours later, Saul has added six new stations to his log
and we've subtracted about as many hours from our sleep.  (It was
worth it, though!)

Monday, 8:30 AM: It's the last day, and CHUM has opened its doors to
former jocks for a going-away party.  More than a hundred people head
out to the roof of the studios for a group picture.  They're forced to
wait for a few minutes as Roger Ashby finishes his morning shift on
CHUM-FM and as station founder Allan Waters makes his way outside to
take his rightful place at the center of the group.

The pictures are snapped, and then it's time for a farewell toast from
Waters' son Jim, who reads a brief statement from his father.  Allan
Waters himself is finally coaxed to the front so Jim can present him
with a new "Team 1050" jacket, a reminder that this day is about the
new as well as the old.

Inside, though, as staffers warm up over breakfast, the decorations in
the conference room are all about the memories: pictures of the CHUM
trailer at the Canadian National Exposition, the Beatles in Toronto,
and of course old CHUM Charts.

10:35 AM: Downstairs, there's just the width of a hallway separating
CHUM past from Team future.  On one side, CHUM veterans Duff Roman and
Bob Laine have come downstairs from their executive suites for one
final day behind the mike, serving as ringmasters for a five-hour
"Final Show," 

This is the culmination of weeks of on-air promotion, including daily
hour-long replays of classic CHUM airchecks and weekly roundtable
discussions featuring CHUM air talent from days gone by.  All the
publicity has brought fans to the door of 1331 Yonge to grab their
"CHUM Forever" buttons and offer their farewells; one day last week,
we're told, singer Jose Feliciano showed up unannounced to let the
CHUM staff know he listens whenever he's in town.

Feliciano got a spot on the "Final Show" lineup, but he was one of the
lucky ones.  The show is planned down to the second to make sure as
many voices get heard as possible.  At one point we overhear a
producer in the hallway comment, "I couldn't squeeze the Prime
Minister in if he showed up right now!"

Roman and Laine are squeezed into a tiny booth facing the 1050 CHUM
control room, pinned in by camera crews (CHUM sister station CITY-TV
keeps cutting to a live shot of the show in progress; later, all the
Canadian networks will be there) as they work their way down a list of
interviews and the last few songs.  Across the glass, CHUM general
manager Brad Phillips directs the action, running back and forth to
the studio to consult with the hosts.

If the "Final Show" crew thinks there's not enough time to do
everything they have to get done, they're not alone.  The next door
over leads to another sort of controlled chaos: the impending debut of
"The Team."  A new studio complex has been carved out of the space
next to the CHUM air studio, and with just a few hours left until the
Team makes its nationwide debut, it's not yet finished.  Engineers are
busy bringing the computer system on line, while the production staff
races to get all their material ready for 3 o'clock.

When the new studio takes air, it'll be an impressive facility:
there's a large room that will function as a sports newsroom and
show-prep facility, a two-person booth for ticker updates and a big
talk studio with a kidney-shaped table for at least half a dozen
participants facing a control board.  

11:30 AM: Heading out to Yonge Street for some fresh air, we pass
workers scraping the "1050 CHUM" logos from the doors and sticking the
new "Team" logos in their place.  

1:15 PM: Back at CHUM, the final countdown is underway.  While Laine
and Roman continue their show inside, the back parking lot has been
transformed into an outdoor barbecue.  The mood, for the moment, is
jovial; there's lots of beer, chicken and sausages, burgers and hot
dogs.  In a corner, speakers bring the last show to the audience,
which includes a few CHUM fans looking on from the end of the
driveway.

This is the staff's chance to celebrate all the hard work that has
gone into the transition, and that includes the effort of developing
Canada's first national sports radio network.  Stacks of "Team" polo
shirts are snapped up from the table under the speakers as fast as
they can be brought outside.  

1:38 PM: Life goes on away from CHUM; a few blocks away, a dedicated,
hard-working Toronto parking officer bestows a $20 ticket on the
NERW-mobile.  Oops!

2:35 PM: The chatter at the party dies down quickly as staffers
realize the "Final Show" has entered its final moments.  Jim Waters
joins Roman and Laine in the studio to say goodbye on behalf of CHUM's
founding family, and his employees gather in a large circle around the
speakers to listen as Waters reads a letter from his sister, talking
about their father's dedication to making CHUM a success in its early
years.

Allan Waters and his wife Marge are outside with the staff now, and
both begin to cry as the letter is read.  By the time he's almost done
reading, Jim Waters is breaking down as well.  From our perch in one
of the building's back doors, we can see the crowd at the end of the
driveway growing.  On the balconies of the high-rise apartments around
CHUM, a few curious faces begin to peer down on the activity as well.

2:44 PM: The last song on CHUM has been the topic of debate on e-mail
lists and among CHUM fans for weeks.  "American Pie"?  Edward Bear's
"Last Song"?  Duff Roman has hinted to the papers that "the last song
will be the first song," and that narrows the choices pretty well.
Now it's time...and sure enough, it's the song that launched CHUM's
top-40 format back in the spring of 1957.  As Elvis belts out "All
Shook Up" (the number one song on the very first CHUM Chart, May 27,
1957), a few CHUM employees begin dancing in the middle of the circle.  

2:47 PM: The song ends, and the group goes silent as CHUM launches
into a montage of audio from its history, beginning with Allan Waters'
own recollections of purchasing the station.  Nobody says a word as
the sounds of their own careers and their predecessors' wash over
them.  Allan Waters dabs his eyes with his handkerchief, and he's not
alone.

The montage closes out with a "thank you" to Waters, who's surrounded
by hugs from his family as 1050 CHUM ends its on-air life with the
piano chord from the Beatles' "A Day in the Life."  The applause from
the CHUM family drowns out the sound of John Lennon joking, "On behalf
of the band and myself, we'd like to say thank you and I hope we
passed the audition."  Then, silence again as a series of beeps
announce the birth of the Team, not only on 1050 but on a chain of
CHUM stations and affiliates from Halifax to Vancouver.  

The Team begins with its own montage of sound, a collection of great
moments in Canadian sports over the years.  The crowd pays polite
attention, bursting into applause when the montage ends, but the
moment has passed.  By the time the Team's first program is underway,
the gathering is breaking up.  The TV crews that had been inside for
CHUM's last moments pour out the back door to interview Waters.  Staff
members go back to work.  We start heading out to get some sleep.

3:10 PM: Above 1331 Yonge Street, the buzz of a small plane draws the
remaining staffers' heads to the sky -- just in time to see the banner
being towed: "OLDIES FOREVER! OLDIES 1150 CKOC."  Some in the crowd
compare it to dancing on a grave, but others admit it's just the sort
of shrewd promotion CHUM itself might have done in its heyday.  Across
from the CHUM building, the Hamilton station has parked a van and a
classic Chevy with "CKOC" plates.  Employees hand out "Oldies 1150"
magnets and flyers to passersby.

8:30 PM: The end of CHUM is felt especially strongly by the aircheck
collecting community, which is why the monthly "Monday Nighter"
gathering of Southern Ontario radio types has been moved up a few
weeks to coincide with the CHUM finale.  Of course, no one could have
known that it would also coincide with game six of the Stanley Cup
semi-finals, so talk of CHUM shares space with the Devils and the
Leafs on big-screen TV.  Old acquaintances are renewed, new ones are
made, and the CD burner gets no rest as the day's programming is
shared in digital form.  

Tuesday, 1:15 AM: We've (reluctantly) torn ourselves away from the
Monday night gathering to make the drive back to Rochester, in the
process passing up the chance for another night of FM DX, even though
we know the CN Tower will be signing off again overnight for repairs.

On schedule, CFNY (102.1) drops off the air as we steer the
NERW-mobile around the east end of Lake Ontario, and we spend the next
two hours tracking the low-power auxiliary signals of stations like
CBL-FM (94.1), CJEZ (97.3), CHFI (98.1), CKFM (99.9), CILQ (107.1) and
CHUM-FM (104.5).  Most fade completely long before we pull into the
driveway for the night.  They'll be back in the morning.   1050 CHUM
won't.

Well, actually...it will.  Sort of.  All the attention being paid to
CHUM's history, not to mention the heavy traffic to the station's Web
feed, led to an eleventh-hour decision to keep the oldies spinning as
a Web-only product.  1050chum.com launches with most of the same
automated programming that had occupied much of the day on 1050 AM;
the only differences are the lack of local news (since the CHUM news
staff stayed on with the Team) and of Brian Henderson's morning show
(the only live jock on CHUM at the end, he moves over to do mornings
on the Team as well).  

Of course, there's more than just music at the new CHUM site; it's a
living history of the station's heyday, complete with a complete
collection of CHUM Charts and historic airchecks.  It's a fitting
tribute to the station that defined Canadian radio for a generation,
and a sign that the "1050 CHUM Forever" slogan might just mean
something.

[The raw text of NERW's e-mail version really doesn't do this story
justice; if you haven't already done so, be sure to check out the
pictures and (soon) sounds at <http://www.fybush.com/nerw-010508.html>
for more on this historic day in Canadian radio!]

*There was, of course, other news this week, and we'll offer this
quick summary, with more in the next regular NERW May 14:

As CHUM was fading out, so, sadly, was another longtime Canadian
broadcaster.  Keith Dancy, owner of Niagara Falls stations CJRN (710)
and CKEY-FM (101.1 Fort Erie, "the River") died Sunday night (May 6)
at Niagara-on-the-Lake Hospital following a long illness.

Dancy, whose broadcast career began in 1945 as a high school
correspondent for Toronto's CFRB, is survived by five children and
seven grandchildren.  Funeral services will be held at 2 PM Friday
(May 11) at St. Mark's Anglican Church, Byron Street,
Niagara-on-the-Lake.

We'll keep you posted on what becomes of Dancy's stations; there's a
well-founded rumor in the Southern Ontario broadcast community that
CJRN may finally move to FM by switching dials with travelers'
information station CFLZ (105.1 Niagara Falls), which has been
operated in recent years by CJRN anyway.

The start of the Team network meant changes at other stations besides
CHUM itself, of course: in Nova Scotia, the format displaced talk on
CJCH (920); in Montreal, automated oldies on CKGM (990); in Ontario,
AC/full-service on CKLC (1380) in Kingston and CKPT (1420) in
Peterborough and automated oldies on CKKW (1090) in Kitchener.
Ottawa's CFGO (1200) was already doing sports under the "Team" name,
so the changes there will be less obvious.  Out west, the Team
launched on two non-CHUM stations, CFAC (960) Calgary and CKST (1040)
in Vancouver, as well as CHUM's CFST (1290) in Winnipeg.

There's word that CHYR (96.7) in Leamington, near Windsor, has dropped
its longtime country format for light rock.  CHYR has been country
since the days when it operated on split frequencies on AM, running on
730 kHz in daylight and switching to 710 at night.  

A few tidbits from the CRTC: Up in North Bay, CHNO (103.9) has been
granted an extension (until Nov. 4) to power up from its interim power
of 2900 watts to the full licensed 100 kW.  CHNO has been at low power
since moving from AM 550 more than a year ago.  Over in Belleville,
the new station on 100.1 has been granted an extension as well; it's
now due on the air by August 11.

*Moving into the US, we begin with a format change in southern MAINE,
as the Harron folks try out the synergy thing on their radio/TV combo
in the Portland market.  Monday (May 7) saw the debut of a news/talk
format on the new WMTW radio, the former WLAM (870 Gorham) and WLAM-FM
(106.7 North Windham).  Under PD/ND Ken Main, the new station kicks
off with Neila Smith, George Campbell, and "The Talk of the Town" in
morning drive, followed by local midday and afternoon talk shows.
News, of course, comes from sister station WMTW-TV (Channel 8), along
with AP and ABC radio.

The WLAM calls return to their old home, the 1470 in Lewiston more
recently known as WZOU (and where will that former Boston call land
next?)  1470 continues the standards format that had been simulcast on
870 and 106.7, and morning host Bud Sawyer stays with the station.

The format change means Portland-area listeners now have no fewer than
four talk/news outlets: Saga's WGAN (560) and WZAN (970),
J.J. Jeffrey's WLOB (1310) and WMTW -- and that's not counting the
sports format on Jeffrey's "WJAB" (WJAE 1440/WJJB 900).  That's a lot
of talk for one small city.  

Alert radio historians will note that the WMTW calls have been in the
Portland radio market before; they were once on the 1490 signal that,
ironically, gets standards to itself now (as WBAE).

*Two notes from MASSACHUSETTS: Longtime WAAF (107.3) general manager
Bruce Mittman will now be competing with his old station from a new
perch.  Mittman was named president of the FNX Radio Network, based at
WFNX (101.7 Lynn).  On the talent front, Barry Scott and his "Lost
45s" return to the Hub's airwaves May 27 after a long absence; the
obscure-oldies show will air Sundays from 7-10 PM on WROR (105.7
Framingham), the latest stop in a journey that's included WZLX, WODS
and WEGQ.

*A call change in VERMONT, it appears: if we're reading the FCC
releases correctly, the WSSH calls that spent so long down in Lowell
continue their migration with a stop at 95.3 in White River Junction,
ex-WWSH (though the FCC believes the prior call was WRSY, for some
reason).  WRSY is the new call for WSSH's most recent incarnation, the
101.5 in Marlboro VT.

*In CONNECTICUT, Victor Starr is the new program director at
Infinity's rhythmic WZMX (93.7 Hartford); he comes up from El Paso,
Texas and KPRR.

*Not much doing in NEW YORK: the big news was the $400,000 sale of
WSCP (1070 Sandy Creek) and WSCP-FM (101.7 Pulaski) from Tri-City
Broadcasting to Ed Levine's Galaxy group.  The stations become the
northernmost outpost of a two-market cluster that includes WTLA/WSGO,
WKRL/WKRH, WTKW/WTKV and WZUN in Syracuse and WTLB, WKLL and WRCK in
Utica.  No word yet on Levine's plans for the new signals, which
rimshot Syracuse from the north (the AM is also a regular visitor in
much more distant areas when it's left on at night, a fairly common
occurrence.)

Downstate, there's a rare opening for a night jock at New York's Z100
(WHTZ Newark NJ), sicne the station decided not to renew the contract
of 7-midnight talent Billy Hammond.

Out on Long Island, Jack Ellsworth has found a new radio home after
selling WLIM (1580 Patchogue).  He's going back to his first station,
WALK (1370 Patchogue), where he'll do his "Memories and Melodies" show
middays beginning June 4.  Ellsworth began working at WALK 50 years
ago; he'll hand over the keys at WLIM to Polish broadcaster Polnet on
or about May 16.

And in Buffalo, the FCC will re-examine its dismissal of an indecency
complaint against Entercom sports-talker WGR (550).  Michael Palko,
the listener who originally complained about the excretory references
being made on Tom Bauerle's morning show, asked the Commission to take
a harder look at the station after it initially let WGR off the hook.
We'll keep you posted on this one...

*We'll close things out this week in PENNSYLVANIA: WOGI (98.3
Charleroi) will soon be moving closer to Pittsburgh; the "Froggy"
Keymarket country outlet will be able to change its city of license to
Duquesne, effectively becoming a Pittsburgh station.  At the other end
of the state, WEEX (1230 Easton) flips from adult standards to sports.

*And that's it for this week; we'll try to get to that Western trip
summary next Monday, assuming no more legendary AM music stations
decide to change format in the meantime!  See you then...

-----------------------NorthEast Radio Watch------------------------
                       (c)2001 Scott Fybush
                          www.fybush.com

No redistribution permitted for commercial use, or for
noncommercial use without prior written permission.

NorthEast Radio Watch is a "shareware" publication.  Regular readers
are kindly requested to contribute towards the continued publication
of this weekly resource.  Visit <http://www.fybush.com/support.html>
for more information.

For the freshest NERW news, visit our Web edition, published Monday
mornings at <http://www.fybush.com/nerw.html>, complete with photos,
audio clips, and links.  Each week's "E-Mail edition" is distributed
to the boston-radio-interest and NERW mailing lists within 48 hours of
publication.     

To be added to the NERW mailing list, send e-mail to
<nerw-request@bostonradio.org> with the word "subscribe"
as the body of the message.  You will receive a confirmation
code to return by e-mail to begin your free subscription.
Please direct any questions about the list process to
<nerw-owner@bostonradio.org>; subscription requests and
questions sent directly to NERW cannot be acted on.

NERW is archived at the Boston Radio Archives,
<http://www.bostonradio.org/radio/bostonradio.html> and
is generally made available there about a week after
publication.  

Support for the continued publication of NERW is made possible by our
readers, and by:

TheBestinYourTown.com <http://www.thebestinyourtown.com>
Offering a Web-Based Sales Opportunity to Radio

Opinions expressed in NERW are solely those of the author
and not necessarily those of MIT or LCS.

NERW welcomes your news and contributions at
<nerw@fybush.com>.

--------------------------------------------------------------------