NERW 3/18: Millennium Spins it at the Shore

[fybush@gwind.pair.com]

------------------------------E-MAIL EDITION-----------------------------
--------------------------NorthEast Radio Watch--------------------------
                              March 18, 2002

IN THIS ISSUE:

*NEW JERSEY: Millennium Spins Formats at Jersey Shore
*PENNSYLVANIA: New AM for Philly?
*NEW YORK: Clear Channel "Powers" into Hip-Hop Race

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

*NEW JERSEY's Millennium Radio Group spun the dials of its Atlantic
City cluster late last week, setting the stage for the rebirth of a
powerful FM signal that's been sitting dormant for years.

WBSS (97.3 Millville) had been simulcasting the talk programming of
WKXW-FM (101.5 Trenton) - until 3 PM last Friday (March 15), when the
talk moved to Atlantic City's AM 1450, long known as WFPG(AM). The
"World's Favorite Play-Ground" station changed calls to WKXW(AM) that
morning, and began simulcasting "New Jersey 101.5" at 3, silencing an
interim format that had consisted of a WFPG-FM (96.9) simulcast and a
local morning talk show with Harry Hurley, who's now out of work.

On the FM side, WBSS picked up the modern AC format that had been
running on co-owned WKOE (106.3 Ocean City), but without the "Shore"
nickname. Instead, it's "Mix 97-3" on both 97.3 and 106.3, at least
for now - which has to be a little confusing for area listeners of
"Mix 92," WVLT (92.1 Vineland) and even "Mix 95-7," WMWX in
Philadelphia. Out of work on the FM side: former WKOE morning guy Mark
Hunter and midday jock Tina Owen.

But wait - there was even more excitement on the Jersey Shore last
week. Thursday (3/14) at 1:15 PM saw the official sign-on of WCHR-FM
(105.7 Manahawkin), but not with the rumored simulcast of Trenton's
WNJO (94.5). Instead, 105.7 debuted with a simulcast of CHR WBBO (98.5
Ocean Acres), which covers roughly the same parts of Ocean County
anyway. We expect that's an interim format until something new arrives
on one of the two frequencies...

And there's still more excitement brewing in South Jersey, with an
application from Arthur Liu's Multicultural Broadcasting to move WTTM
(1680 Princeton) some 40 miles south to Lindenwold, N.J. Where's that?
To read the WTTM application, it's a community that has nothing
whatsoever to do with Philadelphia (it has, after all, its own monthly
community newsletter, a Wawa convenience store and a two-person police
department!), but one look at the proposed contours and it's clear
that the move would make WTTM a Philadelphia station in all but name.

The move would put WTTM on a new 74-meter tower on a bit of land
between I-295 and the New Jersey Turnpike just east of US 30, barely
two miles from the Walt Whitman Bridge; we'd expect the station (which
is being LMA'd by Multicultural from Nassau for the moment) to drop
ESPN sports for leased-time ethnic if this move is approved. With the
FCC's recent freeze on major changes to expanded-band stations (could
this application have brought that about?), Liu may have to wait a
while to find out. Stay tuned...

And we're still not done with the Garden State: the FCC released a
list this week of LPFM applications in New Jersey and four other
states that meet spacing guidelines and are uncontested. Only five
made the cut in New Jersey: Maranatha-by-the-Sea Christian Fellowship,
for 92.7 Ocean City; Iglesia Nueva Jerusalen (sic) for 93.7 Cedar
Grove; Azariah Communications for 98.5 Bridgeton; Radio Alerta for
102.3 Arrowhead Village and Gogosurfer Inc., whatever THAT is, for
102.5 Bridgeton. Petitions to deny against any of these are due by
April 10; if the FCC doesn't hear any objections, expect construction
permits to follow shortly afterward.

*With that, we can cross the Hudson to NEW YORK and the week's other
big story: after a few false leads ("V105," anyone?), Clear Channel
pulled the plug on jammin'-oldies-turned-urban-AC WTJM (105.1 New
York) Thursday morning at 6:05, unleashing a new hip-hop station on
the Big Apple under the nickname "Power 105." 

The format change puts Emmis' WQHT (Hot 97.1) in the crossfires,
especially with the addition of former WQHT morning team Dr. Dre and
Ed Lover as Power's new morning crew. It's probably also bad news for
Inner City Broadcasting's WBLS (107.5), which has been the biggest
competition for Hot until now. 

Once Power gets a PD and more airstaff (not to mention new call
letters), we won't be surprised to see Clear Channel struggle to draw
a format line between 105.1 and the dance-leaning CHR on its WKTU
(103.5); could New York's first all-dance outlet be a side effect of
this format change?

FLASH: Credit Allan Sniffen's NY Radio Message Board for this one -
there's word late Monday evening that WOR has a new program director
to replace the departed David Bernstein, and it's none other than John
Mainelli. Newcomers to the scene might know him only as the New York
Post radio columnist, but Mainelli made a name for himself as WABC's
program director through much of the 90s. His arrival at WABC's chief
competitor after a few years in the wilderness is bound to shake
things up more than a bit on the New York AM dial, and it's none too
soon...

Down on the AM side of the New York dial, Westwood One made the
long-expected announcement last week that Fox News Channel's Bill
O'Reilly will launch his "Radio Factor" show this spring on an initial
lineup of affiliates that will include WOR (710). What did come as a
bit of a surprise was WOR's scheduling: no live feed (noon to 2 PM
Eastern) of O'Reilly against Rush Limbaugh on WABC. Instead, WOR will
leave Arthur Schwartz's food show at noon and the Dolans at 1, with
O'Reilly running on tape delay at 3, pushing Bob Grant to a 5 PM
start. Will that change if O'Reilly does well against Limbaugh
elsewhere? We wouldn't be surprised.

Moving upstate a bit, WRCR (1300 Spring Valley) will move its studios
to Rockland County's Nanuet Mall in April. The station, which offers
the only local English-language programming in Rockland, says the move
will give it better visibility in the local community and allow for
more promotional tie-ins with the mall.

Moving one county over, DXers who have yet to log Orange County will
get another chance if they wake up early on April 1: WTBQ (1110
Florida) will conduct a DX test from 5:15 until 6 o'clock that Monday
morning.

No surprise in this week's call changes from Binghamton: WKOP (1360)
abandons those heritage calls for the second time in its history to
take the WYOS calls that accompany the oldies format formerly heard on
104.1 FM; the Chenango Bridge-licensed FM signal becomes, as expected,
WWYL to match its "Wild 104" CHR format. (Can anyone come up with
another market with four or more AM stations that were all using the
same calls they had in the fifties, as Binghamton's WINR, WNBF, WKOP
and WENE were doing until last week?)

Up north, the latest round in the fight over Watertown religious
station WWJS (90.1) finds Charles Savidge, the father-in-law of
Liberty Christian Center pastor Stephen Bryant, suing Bryant to get
access to the station's equipment, which has been locked up inside
Bryant's building for several months now. WWJS has been off the air
since the dispute between Savidge, his daughter and Bryant began, and
it doesn't look like it will be back on the air any time soon.

On the LPTV front, the FCC handed out Class A upgrades this week to a
whole bunch of upstate LP'ers, some deserving, some questionable: here
in Rochester, WBGT-LP (Channel 40) can now sign itself WBGT-CA (with
cable carriage, locally-produced shows and a UPN affiliation, "Big TV"
is giving the full-power locals some real competition, too), but so
can WBXO-LP (Channel 15), which has never had anything but Box/MTV2
programming in all the years we've watched. Down in Olean, WONS-LP
(Channel 25) gets CA status, as does Buffalo's W15BH, which relays
local-market WNYB (Channel 26) from Jamestown. In Syracuse, MTV2
outlet WNDR-CA (Channel 18) gets CA, as does MTV2'er W13BR in nearby
Oneida. W16AX in Ithaca, a translator of Syracuse Fox outlet WSYT
(Channel 68) gets CA, as does Albany-area indie WVBX-CA (Channel 15)
in Easton, once it makes a displacement move.

We neglected to mention last week the death of Art Roberts, known to
millions as the night jock on Chicago's WLS (890), and we should have:
before moving to Chicago in the sixties, Roberts was part of the
original top-40 crew at Buffalo's WKBW (1520). Roberts died March 6 at
his home in Gardnerville, Nevada.

Another Buffalo veteran, Art Wander, is taking another stab at
retirement. Wander, who started at WKBW back in 1956, went on to
stints in New York and Chicago before coming home to Buffalo in 1987
for gigs at WBUF, WGKT and WGR and his first attempted retirement in
1996. Wander returned to work the next year at the Empire Sports
Network, where he's now seen in the afternoon as host of the "Just
Getting Started" talk show. He's also been doing mid-mornings on
Empire's sister radio outlet, WNSA (107.7 Wethersfield). Retirement
day, this time, is set for March 28; no word on who'll fill Wander's
radio or TV shoes yet.

And we'll close on an odd Buffalo note: the Family Life folks have
made the application to change primaries on their newly-acquired
translator, W284AP (104.7 Buffalo), switching it from WNSA to their
own WCOU (88.3 Warsaw). So far, so good - but when we went to plot the
translator's location, we found an FCC typo that moved it from the
roof of Buffalo General Hospital across the lake to somewhere near
Oshawa, Ontario! (Wonder if the CRTC knows?)

*While we're in the neighborhood, we'll enter PENNSYLVANIA near Erie,
where WJET (1400) and WFNN (1330) are moving some programming
around. WJET is shifting afternoon talkers Jeff Johns (he's also the
PD) and Randy Brewer to mornings, replacing Jim Lechorchick, who stays
on WFNN in the afternoons and gets to sleep in a bit. Sean Hannity
adds WJET as a new affiliate in the afternoon slot.

Down in Pittsburgh, the McKeesport Daily News' Patrick Cloonan reports
WKHB (620 Irwin) is moving its studios, crossing the Allegany County
line to a new spot behind the Wendy's at PA 48 and US 30 in
N. Versailles Township. Owner Robert Stevens says his next project,
sometime this summer, will be moving sister station WKTW (1530
Jeannette) down the dial to 770. Stevens also says he'll change
formats at new acquisition WANB (1580 Waynesboro) when that deal
closes, but he plans to leave WANB-FM (103.1) alone. (For what it's
worth, Stevens denies the recent trade listings for two "low-dial"
Pittsburgh AMs were WKHB and WKTW...)

Over in State College, WZWW (95.3 Bellefonte) gets a license to cover
for its upgrade, which puts the station at 790 watts at 194 meters AAT
from a site on Purdue Mountain Road, on the ridge halfway between
Bellefonte and State College.

Up in Port Allegany (just south of Olean), WHKS (94.9) is applying to
boost power from 530 watts to 1150 watts from its current site.

*We'll return to New England by way of CONNECTICUT, where Hartford's
WKSS (95.7) has a new PD to replace Tracy Austin, who headed south a
few weeks ago. Rick Vaughn comes to the Clear Channel "Kiss" CHR from
sister station KHTS (93.3 El Cajon) out in San Diego, where he was
assistant PD.

NECRAT's Mike Fitzpatrick reminded us that we'd neglected to note an
interesting DTV channel swap in New Haven, where UPN affiliate WCTX
and Connecticut Public TV's WEDY are exchanging their digital
positions. When they're finally built, WEDY will show up on channel 6,
while WCTX will be with the rest of the big Connecticut signals on the
UHF dial at channel 39.

And we hear Steven Kalb, late of New Haven talker WELI (960), will be
back on the air working for Connecticut Radio Network, covering the
trial of Kennedy cousin-in-law Michael Skakel.

*Some unpleasantness in RHODE ISLAND last week, as sports-talker WSKO
(790 Providence) pulled afternoon host Scott Cordischi off the air
following his arrest on a misdemeanor charge of soliciting a
prostitute from a motor vehicle. Cordischi pleaded not guilty and was
released on his own recognizance, and remained off the air as of
presstime Monday afternoon.

*The big news out of MASSACHUSETTS was the return of "Patriots Monday"
to the station that started it, WEEI (850 Boston). The show moved to
WWZN (1510) a few years ago after WEEI turned down an increase in the
Pats' proposed rights package; now that the team is the reigning Super
Bowl champion, the deal looked a bit sweeter to WEEI and Entercom, we
suspect. WWZN had an addition of its own, though, as Jerry Remy joined
his Red Sox TV partner Sean McDonough on McDonough's afternoon WWZN
talk show.

Across the hall from WEEI, WQSX (93.7 Lawrence) is losing its founding
PD. Ron Valeri is heading into the management sector, as he departs to
become a partner in Paul Geary Management. No replacement has been
announced yet.

Sorry to announce the passing of Bill Pike, former host of WHAV (1490
Haverhill)'s "Open Line" show and Haverhill High School football
coverage. Pike left the station in 1986 to run for Haverhill City
Council, where he served until his death on March 10. Pike was 70.

On the carrier-current front, we hear WBTY at Bentley College is about
to move into new LPB-equipped studios at the Waltham school. We
remember hearing WBTY's AM 530 signal leaking into the ether a decade
or so ago when we were involved with Waltham's other college
station...

*WBTN (1370 Bennington)'s transfer to Southern VERMONT College was
granted this week, ending Robert Howe's attempt to run the station as
a commercial community voice. We hear the school plans to continue
community-oriented programming on the little AM signal.

On the TV side, WBVT-LP (Channel 39) and W30BL in Burlington were both
granted class A status this week.

*A little surprise from NEW HAMPSHIRE this week: WBNC (1050 Conway),
WMWV (93.5 Conway) and WVMJ (104.5 Conway) are moving out of the old
farmhouse that's been home to radio in the Mount Washington Valley
since WBNC signed on 54 years ago. The building is up for sale, and
the stations will relocate to the Settler's Village plaza up the road
in North Conway. We're told the move will give the stations more
studio space than the old 11-room house allowed.

Not too far away, WMEX (106.5 Farmington) has filed for a site change
of about a mile, moving from the site it now shares with WWPC (91.7
New Durham) to a much higher spot on Prospect Mountain. WMEX's new
facilities would be 780 watts from 236 meters AAT.

*A fire destroyed part of the Monticello, MAINE studios of WREM (710)
Wednesday afternoon, taking the talk station silent for a day or
so. The Bangor Daily News reported the fire was caused by a
wood-burning stove being used to burn trash inside a mobile home next
to the studio building. 

WREM relays the talk programming of WEGP (1390 Presque Isle), and the
fire destroyed the STL from WEGP, forcing station owner Allan Weiner
to rig up a replacement to put WREM back on the air. There was no
damage to sister shortwave outlet WBCQ.

Closer to Portland, WYFP (91.9 Harpswell) is applying for a power
increase. The Bible Broadcasting religious outlet would increase to 6
kW at 53 meters AAT, with a directional antenna offering a slight null
at 290 degrees to protect WCSH's channel 6 signal.

On the TV front, class A grants came down this week for WBGR-LP
(Channel 33) in Bangor and for WFYW-LP (Channel 41) in Waterville,
which relays the 3 Angels religious network.

*The big news from CANADA is the potential revival of a silent Quebec
City AM frequency. 980 has been dark there since Radio-Canada's CBV
moved to 106.3 FM a few years back; if Yves Sauve has his way, it will
be the new home of his country-music station, CJRP. That new station
is currently authorized for 1060 kHz (another old Quebec frequency),
licensed to St.-Nicolas on the South Shore. Sauve has asked to move
the station 6 km from its currently-authorized site to Bernieres,
which we believe would put it at the old CBV site.

Over in the Montreal area, CHAA (103.3 Longueuil) has applied to make
a move of its own. The station wants to drop power from 104 watts to
53 watts and move 8 km west.

And in Ottawa-Hull, the "Fondation Radio Enfant" has been granted a
117-watt temporary license for a station on 96.5 to broadcast
programming for children in French. The station will operate until
July 1, providing programming for the upcoming "Rendez-Vous de la
Francophonie" as well as several Canadian and Quebecois holidays.

*That's it for another week, except for a few reminders: Don't miss
our Tower Site of the Week look at Los Angeles, now underway on
fybush.com. And if you still haven't sent in a subscription
contribution for 2002, now would be a great time. Visit our Support
page (www.fybush.com/support.html) to make an easy credit-card payment
or learn where to send a check - every dollar helps keep NERW coming!
See you next Monday...

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

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