NERW 2/18, 2/25

[fybush@gwind.pair.com]

------------------------------E-MAIL EDITION-----------------------------
--------------------------NorthEast Radio Watch--------------------------
                          Feb. 18 and 25, 2002

IN THIS ISSUE:

*CATCHING UP: Here are the issues you missed while NERW was on the road!

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

(We'll be back in town next week and back on schedule for you mailing-
list folks; remember, the latest NERW is always available first
at www.fybush.com!)

*One of NEW YORK's biggest AM stations will soon be on the move again,
for the second time in just over three decades, thanks to a planned
golf course that would claim its transmitter site in the New Jersey
Meadowlands.

WOR (710) has been at its Valley Brook Avenue site in Lyndhurst,
N.J. only since 1968, when it moved out of its prior location in
Carteret, where it had been since the early thirties. Within a few
months, though, WOR will have to tear down these three towers and its
transmitter building, thanks to a "notice to vacate" issued by the New
Jersey Meadowlands Commission.

EnCAP Golf Holdings will end up with the current WOR transmitter site,
but it will have to pay for WOR's relocation. It won't be a long
move this time; the new WOR site will be just 700 meters northeast
from the current site, on a swampy spit of land along Fish Creek
within sight of Exit 16W of the New Jersey Turnpike. 

To make it work, WOR has applied to the FCC to maintain its current 50
kW day and night, with a slightly different pattern that throws deeper
nulls to the northwest and southwest, but otherwise leaves WOR's
coverage essentially unchanged. The new pattern will come from three
204-meter towers. 

We'll keep you updated on the first move of a New York 50-kilowatter
in decades as it progresses; stay tuned!

More New York news: WABC (770) is shuffling its morning talk lineup a
bit, stretching Curtis and Kuby from 5:30 to a new 10 AM signoff,
followed by John R. Gambling in an expanded slot from 10 until Paul
Harvey at 11:45. The move displaces the "Troubleshooter" Tom Martino
show, which will apparently still be heard on weekends. 

Out on Long Island, Ralph Tortora exits WBAB (102.3), where he was
doing afternoon drive and APD duties.

Heading upstate, WGNY-FM (103.1 Newburgh) made a not-quite-format
change this week, repositioning its satellite hot AC format as "Hits
103.1." Another 103.1, Clear Channel's modern AC WHRL (103.1 Albany),
lost its OM/PD this week, as Susan Grove exited to go south to
Birmingham, Alabama and WRAX, where she'll be PD.

We noticed something seemed different in Johnstown as we drove through
town last Monday: WIZR (930) is now operating from a new tower on
Route 30A and new studios across the street. The new stick is just a
few hundred yards south of the old one, which was next to the old
studios at 178 E. State Street.

Some new "class A" low-power TV licenses: mark down Syracuse's W11BP,
DeWitt's W40BJ and Greece's W06BT with the new category of
license. The Syracuse and DeWitt stations both relay the CornerStone
programming from WPCB (Channel 40) in Greensburg, PA; Greece runs
America One, and we don't know what either station is claiming as the
local programming required for Class A status.

Where are they now? Josh Lewin, like your editor a proud product of
Brighton, N.Y., is moving on to a new gig as the TV voice of the Texas
Rangers and the Dallas Stars. Lewin has been leading a split
existence, working from Detroit, calling Tigers games as well as some
of Fox's Games of the Week, while hosting (until last year) a nightly
talk show on Baltimore's WBAL (1090). He'll continue his network gigs,
we hear... 

*Heading over to MASSACHUSETTS, WEEI (850) has named Eddie Andelman's
replacement as Dale Arnold's afternoon co-host. Bob Neumeier, the
longtime WBZ-TV (Channel 4) sportscaster, will fill Andelman's shoes,
or at least his timeslot, at 'EEI.

Little WVBF (1530 Middleborough Center) has applied to add night
power. The 1000-watt daytimer would run a whopping 2 watts at night if
its application is granted.

"Neil P., the Frat Boy" is moving from one Clear Channel outlet to
another, dropping his WJMN (94.5) swing duties to take Skip Kelly's 11
PM to 2 AM slot at WXKS-FM (107.9) as Kelly heads west to Los Angeles
and KYSR (98.7).

Out on Nantucket, WNCK(FM) replaces WAZK on the construction permit
for 89.5...no word on when the station might actually sign on, though.

TV news: It looks as though Venture Technologies will get that channel
51 construction permit in Pittsfield, serving Albany with 5 megawatts
from a 52-meter tower on Brodie Mountain in New Ashford, at a price of
some $1.3 million. And replace W32AY in your Boston LPTV listing with
WTMU-LP; the Telemundo station is still simulcasting with WWDP
(Channel 46) down in Norwell.

And we had to chuckle at the trades that reported the news from WXKS
(1430 Everett), which is bringing back a local morning show with
operations director Bill Wightman at the helm. Satellite jock Jeff
Rollins will still be heard in the 10-noon slot following
Wightman. But how the heck did it appear as "WXKS-A/San Antonio" in at
least one prominent trade publication? (Just ask Lowry Mays, we
suppose...)

*Up in VERMONT, Vox is engineering another big allocations move that
would put a new signal into Burlington. WWOD (104.3 Hartford) would
see its 104.3C3 allocation moved way across the state - and indeed,
across Lake Champlain - to Keeseville, N.Y., where it would put a
decent signal into Burlington. The all-important local service to
Hartford would be provided by WSSH (95.3 White River Junction), which
would see its 95.3A allocation changed to Hartford, with a power boost
to 6 kW.

*In MAINE, LPFM is a reality in Rockland, where the Penobscot School's
WRFR-LP (93.3) took to the air on Thursday (Feb. 14). The 100-watter
operates from 20 Gay Street; we're listing its programming as
"talk/country/variety," with a local talk show in the morning, country
in the afternoon, and all sorts of music all night long. You can read
more about it at the LPFM's Web site, www.wrfr.org.

*A RHODE ISLAND country jock has died. Eddie Zack, longtime host of
WHIM's "Hayloft Jamboree," died January 9 at 79.

*CANADA's broadcast regulators are trying again to put some new radio
stations on the air in Toronto. The CRTC reissued its call for
applications this week, noting that 101.3 (the channel currently used
by multicultural CHIN to relay its 1540 AM signal to the eastern parts
of the city) is one potential frequency for a new station or stations
in Canada's biggest city.

The CRTC also cleared up its Montreal call for applications,
specifying that the call is for new AM operations, presumably on the
600, 850, 1410 and 1570 frequencies now sitting vacant.

Back to Toronto: urban CFXJ (Flow 93.5) has a new director of
operations and programming, but with a familiar name. David Marsden,
who moved from the old CKEY to become a Toronto FM pioneer at CHUM-FM
and then CFNY, takes the reins at Flow later this month. Another
familiar name, newsman Iain Grant, is back on the air, this time at
CFRB. Across the hall, Buzz Reynolds departs CKFM (Mix 99.9) to join
Montreal's CHOM; also making the move to CHOM is Scott Tucker of
Kingston's CIKR (K-Rock 105.7), who'll be doing nights at CHOM.

In Ottawa, Steve Winogron moves down the hall from the news director's
office at CFRA (580) to CHUM/City's CHRO (The New RO).

*One little bit of NEW JERSEY news: WWFM (89.1 Trenton) has been
granted a power drop (from 3000 watts to 1150 watts) and a height
increase (from 55 meters to 89 meters).

*From PENNSYLVANIA comes word of some changes at WPEN (950
Philadelphia), with evening jock Bill Wright Sr. and night jock Frank
Kastner out the door in favor of automation, ending a long run of
24-hour live operation at the standards station as it prepares to add
Phillies play-by-play in a month or so.

Up in the Poconos, we're told WILT (960 Mount Pocono) has dropped ESPN
sports to simulcast WVPO (840 Stroudsburg), as anticipated here in
NERW a few weeks back.

And an old callsign is returning to Pittsburgh; a slew of LPTV call
changes around the Steel City includes the change from W29AV to
WIIC-LP; those calls were last seen in 1980 on what's now WPXI
(Channel 11). Other call changes: W69CC Pittsburgh to WPTG-LP, W28AW
Greensburg to WQVC-LP, WONT-LP Johnstown to WBYD-CA, W64BL Kittanning
to WBOA-LP, W45AU Uniontown to WWAT-CA and W25BK Freedom to
WWBP-LP. We believe all but the Johnstown station are running a local
home-shopping format.

*That'll do it for another week, as we head off to see some towers and
tape some stations in West Virginia, Kentucky and Ohio. We'll be back
with you next Monday...see you then!

(and now...the Feb. 25 issue!)

*A pair of station sales in NEW HAMPSHIRE and VERMONT top this week's
brief report, as Saga adds four more outlets to its New England
cluster and Tele-Media further shrinks in the region.

The properties in question are the venerable AM/FM combos of WKVT in
Brattleboro, Vermont and WKNE in Keene, New Hampshire; the former
consisting of a 1 kW news-talk graveyarder on 1490 and a class A
rocker on 92.7, the latter of news-talk on 1290 and the big-signal CHR
on 103.7. 

The price tag? Saga will pay $9.08 million to add the
Brattleboro-Keene stations to a group that includes nearby holdings in
the Pioneer Valley of Massachusetts and Manchester, N.H. Will the AMs
join the three-station simulcast that includes WHMP in Northampton?
We'll keep you posted...

*Elsewhere in northern New England, the New Hampshire Educational
Radio Foundation has had its application for 91.9 in Conway,
N.H. dismissed, while WXKK (93.5 Springfield VT) has applied for a
license to cover for its move from the old WCFR (1480, now WNBX) tower
to a new site on Highland Road north of Springfield. WXKK will jump
from 3 kW at 79 meters at the old site to 1.45 kW at 144 meters at the
new one.

*Not much to report from MASSACHUSETTS, except for the effort on
Beacon Hill to persuade the NFL to allow WBCN (104.1) and WEEI (850)
to present the rebroadcasts of the Super Bowl play-by-play they'd
hoped to offer the week after the Patriots' big win. The NFL stepped
in and barred WBCN from rerunning the Gil Santos/Gino Cappelletti
call, as well as preventing WEEI from presenting the Westwood One
national call that was never heard in Boston; now state lawmakers want
to urge the NFL to change its mind and allow the broadcasts.

Down the road in Allston, AFTRA is asking for federal negotiators'
help to conclude its contract talks at WBZ. The union is trying to
negotiate a replacement for the expired contract for on-air personnel
at WBZ radio and television, as well as a new contract for the off-air
staff at WBZ radio, who recently voted to unionize.

Fans of early (and we mean early) TV history will want to get over to
www.tvhistory.tv/W1XAY.htm, where they can read an outstanding
chronicle of the Boston area's first TV broadcaster, circa 1928,
provided by Emerson College professor (and Boston Radio Archives
contributing editor) Donna Halper.

*We'll start our NEW YORK news with the conclusion of the auction for
channel 51 in Pittsfield, Mass., which will serve the Albany market
when it signs on. Venture Technologies won the station with a
$1,323,000 bid; its down payment is due March 4, with a completed
application for a construction permit due to the FCC March 20.

Albany's WB affiliate, WEWB (Channel 45) Schenectady, has applied to
the FCC to move to the new DTV tower being built on Helderberg
Mountain, not far from its current site. WEWB's new facilities on the
tower will be 2950 kW visual, with a directional antenna, at 413
meters above average terrain.

Down in New York City, Pete Fornatale was off the air at WFUV (90.7)
for the past two weekends, as he negotiates his future with the
Fordham University-owned public radio station. Fornatale is apparently
upset about criticism he received from station management for
political comments he made on his February 9 "Mixed Bag" show; he's
also negotiating for extra money for the Web archives of the show, we
hear.

In the wake of September 11, more New York stations are seeking out
auxiliary transmitter sites; the latest is WSKQ-FM (97.9), which was
granted an auxiliary transmitter at the corner of 42nd Street and
Seventh Avenue, with 8 kW at 259 meters. This site is just a bit south
of the aux sites at the Viacom building (WCBS-FM and WXRK) and Conde
Nast (Clear Channel, WNYC-FM and perhaps others, soon).

Out on Long Island, moving vans are bringing several stations to a new
home on Route 110 in Farmingdale, just down the street from Republic
Airport. WKJY (98.3 Hempstead) was first into Barnstable's new space
last week; WHLI (1100 Hempstead) and WBZO (103.1 Bay Shore) will be in
there in the next few weeks as well.

Up in the Hudson Valley, local morning programming is returning to
WGHQ (920 Kingston), in a very strange way: we hear the Clear Channel
station is leasing morning drive to former station owner Walter
Maxwell, who plans to host a listener-supported, commercial free local
talk show in that time slot.

In Binghamton, the "Lite" has gone out at WLTB (101.7 Johnson City);
the AC station is now going by "Magic 101.7" instead.

And a correction from last week: fellow Rochester native Josh Lewin,
now doing sports down in Texas, has been off the air at Baltimore's
WBAL for more than a year, although the Web site promoting his show
there was still up as recently as last week! (Thanks to Dave Hughes
and the DCRTV gang for catching that one...)

*One of CANADA's best-known TV anchors has died. Harvey Kirck, who
anchored CTV's national nightly news from 1963 until 1984, died Monday
(2/18) after a battle with heart disease. Kirck, whose gruff delivery
gave way to current CTV anchor Lloyd Robertson (his co-anchor from
1977 until 1984) was 73.

In Hamilton, CHML (900) PD Paul Tipple resigned last week, just days
after corporate parent Corus announced it was letting Hamilton
Tiger-Cats football announcers Bob Hooper and Russ Jackson go. The CFL
team's games will be announced by CHML morning man Bob Bratina and a
rotating cast of color commentators, in part to save on travel costs
for road games.

Out in Quebec, classic rock is in at Montreal's CHOM (97.7), after a
Friday-morning stunt with easy-listening music as "the new Heaven
97-7." 

And up the road in Quebec City, the CBC wants to abandon its tower on
Ile d'Orleans, east of the old city, consolidating all its TV and FM
services for the market on Mont Belair, west of town. The CBC asked
the CRTC this week for permission to move French-language CBVT
(Channel 11) from its current 252 kW facility on Ile d'Orleans to a
132 kW facility on Belair. To maintain service east of the city, CBVT
would add a relay at Ste.-Famille with 4400 watts on channel 55.

*We'll wrap up in PENNSYLVANIA, where the faces are changing yet again
at Clear Channel's Pittsburgh cluster. Bob Roof is headed out, to a
new job as market manager up the road at Cumulus' Youngstown, Ohio
cluster; incoming, as program director of "Kiss" WKST-FM (96.1), is
Jason Kidd, who'd spent three years at Clear Channel's WWHT (107.9) up
here in Syracuse.  No replacement yet for Kidd at Hot 107.9, as we
write this...

WREQ (96.9 Ridgebury) has been granted a change of status to
noncommercial. New owner Calvary Satellite Network is operating the
Elmira-market station as a satellite of its new WBJA (102.1 Albion), a
few hours to the north.

And we'll close by mentioning two new signals heard as we drove back
home from a week down south in Pittsburgh, Charleston, W.V.,
Louisville and Cincinnati: on the licensed side, Moody has added WVME
(91.9 Meadville) to the network based at Cleveland's WCRF (103.3) that
also includes WVMN (90.1 New Castle); on the unlicensed side, we heard
a signal on 88.3 in Meadville that was relaying one of the
tinfoil-hat, black-helicopter and UFO sort of talk networks. (We found
it, along with several other unlicensed frequencies, on said network's
outdated affiliate list at
http://www.infowars.com/Genesis/affiliates.htm.)

*And that'll do it for another week, as we head back out on the road
to check out the sites of Nashville, Chattanooga, Atlanta, Birmingham
and Huntsville. Next week's NERW will be a bit late to fybush.com;
look for it here sometime late Tuesday or early Wednesday, and look
for the return of all-new Tower Site of the Week installments next
week as well!

-----------------------NorthEast Radio Watch------------------------
                       (c)2002 Scott Fybush
                          www.fybush.com

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