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NERW Update on WTC Tragedy at fybush.com
------------------------------E-MAIL EDITION-----------------------------
--------------------------NorthEast Radio Watch--------------------------
September 10, 2001
IN THIS ISSUE:
*NEW YORK: Tragedy Within A Tragedy Claims WTC Broadcast Facilities
*MAINE: WPXT Drops Fox
*MASSACHUSETTS: WBUR's O'Brien Survives Mountain Adventure
-----------------------------by Scott Fybush-----------------------------
-------------------------<http://www.fybush.com>-------------------------
[NOTE TO NERW MAILING LIST READERS: The situation in New York is
changing quickly as our e-mail edition goes to you; keep checking the
NERW web site at http://www.fybush.com for frequent updates on the
response to this tragedy from broadcasters throughout
NERW-land. There's exclusive material there that won't necessarily
make it to the e-mail list, and it's being updated several times
daily. I'll try to get this material out in e-mail as well, but you'll
find it only on the Web right away. And now, on with Monday's regular
issue...]
*The TV dial in southern MAINE will be doing some serious spinning on
October 7, with some help from Pegasus Broadcasting.
After more than a decade as a Fox affiliate, WPXT (Channel 51) in
Portland will drop that affiliation in favor of the smaller WB
Network, seen until now on LMA partner WPME (Channel 35) in Lewiston
as a secondary affiliation.
The move appears to be a Pegasus corporate decision, with fellow Fox
affiliate WDBD (Channel 40) down in Jackson, Mississippi making the
same switch on the same day. Why? NERW suspects an attempt to reap
more affiliate compensation from Fox, which will now be left with no
broadcast outlet anywhere in the Pine Tree State.
To fill the gap, Time Warner has already announced that it will pick
up the national FoxNet feed, which will appear on cable channel 14 for
customers in Portland and vicinity. Elsewhere in the state, Fox will
now have to negotiate with smaller local cable companies for carriage
(most had been picking up WPXT via microwave relay for years). And for
viewers without cable, it looks as though they'll have to get used to
life without Homer, Scully, Ally and half the Sunday NFL schedule
(unless, of course, other Maine network affiliates strike deals with
Fox to pick up some of the network's sports).
Of course, some things remain sacred: the Red Sox games from Boston's
WFXT will continue to be seen on WPME, which keeps its UPN
affiliation.
*Elsewhere in MAINE TV, Jeannine Lauber left her anchor chair at WMTW
(Channel 8) after Friday's 5 and 6 PM shows, leaving John Dougherty to
anchor them solo for now. Lauber is trying her luck in TV production,
working on a pilot for a syndicated show called "An American Mom."
On the radio dial, Rick Jordan arrives September 24 as the new program
director on Portland country station WPOR (101.9). Jordan comes to
the Saga outlet from Clear Channel's WBBS (104.7 Fulton) in Syracuse,
where his last day is this Friday (9/14).
Way up north, we hear WREM (710 Monticello) is ditching its rock
format to go back to a simulcast with talker WEGP (1390 Presque Isle),
and this time the audio will arrive over an Internet feed, instead of
via a car radio parked in the transmitter shack and tuned to 1390!
*A couple of quick NEW HAMPSHIRE notes: We hear Bob Vinikoor's WNTK-FM
(99.7 New London) talk lineup is now being simulcast down the
Connecticut River on WNBX (1480 Springfield VT). The truly obsessed
will now pause to note that "WNBX," a heritage call in the valley, was
also the call used on 100.5 in Lebanon NH, the station where the
WNTK talk format first landed on FM, way back when...
We have a sale price to report for Ron Frizzell's purchase of
WMWV/WBNC in Conway: $850,000, per Radio & Records this week.
But the big news in the Granite State over Labor Day came courtesy of
a Massachusetts broadcaster: Ted O'Brien, the veteran news voice of
WNAC-TV, WRKO, WABU and now WBUR-FM (90.9 Boston), who went hiking in
the White Mountains on Sunday (Sept. 2) and didn't come back right
away.
A search that lasted through two nights ended Tuesday morning when
O'Brien was found, tired but safe and apologetic about his
unintentional adventure, which began when he wandered off the trail
over Attitash Mountain. O'Brien admitted he wasn't properly prepared
for the hike and had failed to anticipate how long it would take.
And radio people being radio people, we hear his return to WBUR later
in the week found a mock press release attached to his computer,
announcing O'Brien's appointment as head of the Boston University
branch of the Appalachian Mountain Club!
All kidding aside, we're as relieved as anyone else to be able to
report a happy ending to this story, which sparked a brief
holiday-weekend media circus in Boston.
*As long as we've segued to MASSACHUSETTS news, we're still waiting at
press time for news of a new format at WORC (1310 Worcester); we've
heard rumors of a new talk format with more local news, as well as
rumors of a Spanish-language format. Way out in western Massachusetts,
Hartford jock Sebastian has landed a new gig: he's doing the 3-6 PM
talk shift on Clear Channel sports outlet WNNZ (640 Westfield) in the
Springfield market. Back in Boston, WBUR begins national distribution
of its noontime "Hear and Now" program September 17; will the program
once meant solely for a local audience find eager listeners outside
New England? (We note that WBUR's "Connection," despite landing
a permanent host in Dick Gordon, has lost another affiliate, with
Rochester's WXXI 1370 deciding to use its evening hours for a repeat
of Bob Smith's local "1370 Connection" show instead). And this one's
for the DXers: we hear Cape Cod's WFPB (1170 Orleans), the little AM
relay of Boston's WUMB (91.9), has been staying on at night for the
last few days. Tsk-tsk...
*Up in VERMONT, it's the end of a very long-running simulcast in
Randolph, with WWWT (1320) switching from country to Jones' Good Times
Oldies after years and years of relaying WCVR-FM (102.1).
Near the edges of the Albany market, WEQX (102.7 Manchester) brings
Josh Klemme on board as assistant PD; he's been music director of WBRU
(95.5 Providence) and filled in at WBCN in Boston, too.
*Speaking of NEW YORK's capital, there's a new PD moving in at Albany
Broadcasting's WFLY (92.3 Troy). Donny Michaels comes back to the
market from a nine-month stint putting Clear Channel's "Kiss" CHR on
the air at WFKP (96.1 Poughkeepsie) and WPKF (99.3 Ellenville). He
won't have most of his morning team right away: Ellen Rockwell and
Brian Cody are both on vacation in Aruba - but then, they should be
away together: it's their honeymoon! The pair were married Saturday
(Sept. 8).
Heading downstate, Clear Channel is turning its LMA of WDLC (1490) and
WTSX (96.7) in Port Jervis into an outright purchase from Port Jervis
Broadcasting. No price has been announced.
The big Labor Day story in the Big Apple was, of course, the end of
WEVD (1050)'s talk format, which came by way of a special hour of Alan
Colmes' talk show (yes, the same Alan Colmes who presided over the
last moments of WNBC and of WMCA's secular days!) that ended at
midnight, August 31. A loop of ESPN promos lasted through Labor Day,
ending on Tuesday morning with the debut of "ESPN Radio 1050." The new
WEVD has already grabbed New York Islanders hockey from Sporting News
Radio flagship WSNR (620 Newark NJ) for this season.
On the FM side of the dial, WTJM (105.1) lost morning man Jay Thomas
last week, but a replacement didn't take long to find: Jeff Fox
crosses the street from afternoons at urban WBLS (107.5) to take the
wakeup shift at the former "Jammin' Oldies" outlet, now a
straightforward urban AC.
Wednesday (Sept. 12) will be an historic day in radio: it's the day XM
is scheduled to launch America's first satellite radio broadcast
service, with listeners in San Diego and Houston first in line to
experience the new 100-channel universe. But it turns out that among
those channels will be at least four Clear Channel terrestrial
outlets' signals. In addition to CHR KIIS-FM (102.7 Los Angeles),
country WSIX-FM (97.9 Nashville) and hot AC KHMX (96.5 Houston), AC
WLTW (106.7 New York) will be one of the "superstations" on the
bird. We've got our money and our dashboard all ready for the rollout
up here...
On the noncommercial side of the dial, Fordham University's WFUV (90.7
New York) has asked the FCC to review its decision denying the
Bronx-based station an on-channel booster in Manhattan.
And a few notes from up Rochester way: WLCL (107.3 South Bristol)
ended the all-Abba stunt Tuesday night (Sept. 4), returning to the
"Jammin' Oldies" it had been programming until going all-80s last
year. Yes, you read that right - a new Jammin' Oldies outlet. No, we
can't quite explain it..but it is looking more like a permanent move
than a stunt. Go figure...
WLCL's Clear Channel sister station, WNVE (95.1 Honeoye Falls) was
granted a license to cover for its new Baker Hill transmitter site,
which means translator W238AB (95.5 Rochester) will have to disappear
very soon, followed by a move of the WLCL transmitter from Bloomfield
to WNVE's old Bristol Mountain site to legitimize its city-of-license
swap with 95.1. We'll let you know as it all takes place.
*Down in PENNSYLVANIA, "the Pickle" has officially launched in the
Pittsburgh suburbs. Keymarket debuted the oldies format on a network
of AM outlets (WASP 1130 Brownsville, WCVI 1340 Connellsville and WCLG
1300 in Morgantown, W.V.) over Labor Day weekend before returning the
flagship, WPKL-FM (99.3 Uniontown) to the air on Tuesday. The rumor
mill suggests that this format could end up on the 98.3 that's being
moved from Charleroi up to Duquesne, but for now that frequency
remains with Keymarket's "Froggy" country cluster.
The Allentown market lost an oldies station over Labor Day weekend,
when Nassau flipped WODE (99.9 Easton) to classic rock. But it seems
Nassau didn't have the rights to call the station "The River," so
after a few days with that moniker WODE retreated to "The Valley's New
99.9." Never one to miss an opportunity, Clear Channel promptly
flipped the satellite receiver at WKAP (1470 Allentown) from adult
standards over to oldies before the weekend was out.
Down in Philadelphia, Mega Broadcasting moved the "Mega" Spanish hits
format and WEMG(AM) calls from 900 Philadelphia to 1310 Camden NJ
(ex-WSSJ), returning 900 to its old WURD calls and kicking off a week
of stunting. Over on the FM side, Neal Mirsky departed his position as
PD of WYSP (94.1), heading west for the same job at KQRC (98.9
Leavenworth KS) in Kansas City, and we hear the seat won't be filled.
A few station sales: in DuBois, WCED (1420) and WMOU-FM (102.1) change
hands from Vox to First Media for $4.2 million, while down in the
State College market, Albert Dame adds WBUS (93.7 Boalsburg) to his
four-station cluster (WBLF-WRSC/WQWK/WNCL), with no purchase price
announced. The seller is Rob Schmidt's Boalsburg Broadcasting.
Down near the Maryland border, WSRT (92.1 Mercersburg) stunted for a
few days with all-Beatles before relaunching "Star 92.1" with hot AC
as "Radio's Rockin' Hits."
In the Altoona market, WBXQ in Cresson and WBRX in Patton have swapped
frequencies, with Cresson moving to 94.7 and Patton to 94.3. The move
should improve the coverage of the "Q94" simulcast, we're told.
One TV note: WHTM (Channel 27) in Harrisburg wants to change its DTV
allocation, replacing channel 57 with channel 10.
*Across the border in CANADA, CHSC (1220 St. Catharines) applied to
abandon its nine-tower AM facility for a new home on FM, running 3 kW
at 107.5. But the application, due to be heard at today's CRTC hearing
in Hull, had to be withdrawn after Industry Canada (the agency that
handles the technical end of Canadian radio) said it hadn't approved
the 107.5 spot for a signal in St. Kitts.
Also withdrawn from that CRTC hearing was the plan to swap dial
positions between full-service CJRN (710 Niagara Falls) and tourist
information CFLZ (105.1 Niagara Falls); no word on when its
application might be heard.
Out in Brantford, Anthony Schleifer wants to put a new Christian
station on the air with 50 watts at 99.5, while up in Sudbury, David
Jackson wants to build the city's second religious outlet, another
50-watter at 101.1.
In London, Rick Moss has been dismissed as GM of Corus' four-station
cluster. No replacement has yet been named at talker CFPL (The New
980), rock CFPL-FM (95.9 "FM96"), classic rock CKDK ("Hawk" 103.9) and
dance-CHR CFHK ("Energy Radio" 103.1).
Finally, one note from Montreal: Global has taken control of
multilingual TV outlet CJNT (Channel 62), rebranding it with a similar
identity to newly-acquired CHCH in Hamilton. "CH Horizon" was running
a promotional loop last week touting its new lineup of US reruns,
multi-ethnic programming and about 20 hours a week in French, with the
official launch taking place Saturday (Sept. 8). (Thanks to DXer Rick
Lucas for grabbing this one down here in Rochester!)
*That's it for another week...see you next Monday!
-----------------------NorthEast Radio Watch------------------------
(c)2001 Scott Fybush
www.fybush.com
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