NERW 4/22 - Astral, Standard, Rogers win Telemedia prize

[fybush@gwind.pair.com]

------------------------------E-MAIL EDITION-----------------------------
--------------------------NorthEast Radio Watch--------------------------
                              April 22, 2002

IN THIS ISSUE:

*CANADA: CRTC Approves Telemedia Radio Sale
*NEW YORK: Fornatale "On Leave" at WFUV
*MASSACHUSETTS: New Religious Outlet in Winchendon

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

*It's been a quiet week stateside, but a busy one for at least one
media company in CANADA. Telemedia won permission from the CRTC late
last week to spin off most of its radio holdings around the country,
which is good news for NewCap, Standard and Astral Media.

While NewCap gets the Telemedia stations out west, Standard gets
nearly 30 stations from Telemedia in Ontario, including Toronto's CJEZ
(EZ Rock 97.3), which will be paired with Standard's existing CFRB
(1010) and CKFM (Mix 99.9). Standard also gets three in Hamilton -
country CHAM (820), oldies CKOC (1150) and AC CKLH (K-Lite 102.9) -
and three in St. Catharines - full-service CKTB (610), rock CHTZ
(97.7, once owned by Standard) and CHRE (EZ Rock 105.7). The company
also keeps Telemedia's London foursome - country CJBX (92.7), talk
CJBK (1290), AC CKSL (1410) and CIQM (EZ Rock 97.5).

Standard is spinning off much of the remainder of the Telemedia group
in Ontario to Rogers, which picks up CJCL (Fan 590), the Prime Time
Sports network and the Standard stations in Orillia (CICX), North Bay
(CKAT/CKFX/CHUR), Sault Ste. Marie (CHAS/CJQM/CIRS), Sudbury
(CIGM/CJRQ/CJMX) and Timmins (CKGB/CJOQ). 

Meanwhile in Quebec and the Maritimes, Astral Media gets the former
Telemedia properties, including some of the biggest stations in
Montreal and Quebec City. The catch? The company will be required to
boost the amount of local news on the stations, as well as selling
CFOM (102.9 Levis) in the Quebec City market.

Astral already had a strong base in Quebec with the Radio Energie
network and its local outlets in eight Quebec markets, not to mention
half of the Radiomedia partnership with Telemedia, which owned CKAC
(730 Montreal) and CHRC (800 Quebec). With the closing of this deal,
Astral will own most of the market in such smaller cities as
Sherbrooke, Trois-Rivieres and Chicoutimi; it will also have strong
positions in Montreal (with CKAC, CKMF Energie 94.3 and Rock-Detente
CITE 107.3), Quebec City (CHRC, CHIK Energie 98.9 and Rock-Detente
CITF 107.5) and Hull (Radiomedia CJRC 1150, Rock-Detente CIMF 94.9 and
CKTF Energie 104.1).

And Astral will also get a foothold in the Maritimes, adding Telemedia
holdings that include Fredericton's CKHJ (Country 1260 KHJ), CFXY
(105.3) and CIBX (Capital Radio 106.9), CIKX (93.5 Grand Falls), CJCJ
(104.1 Woodstock), CKBC (1360 Bathurst NB), and CKTO/CKTY in Truro,
N.S.

Only one other tidbit from Canada: the Toronto Argonauts sign a
five-year deal to put their CFL action on Corus' CFYI (Mojo 640),
replacing CJCL as the Argos' flagship.

*Moving down to NEW YORK, the uneasy relationship between veteran jock
Pete Fornatale and Fordham University's WFUV (90.7 New York) frayed
last week, as the public radio station announced a "temporary leave"
for Fornatale as host of the Saturday-evening "Mixed Bag" show.

Fornatale, best known for his many years at the old WNEW-FM, had
sparred with WFUV management several times in recent months over
political comments made during his show. WFUV will run "best of"
programs for now; the station says it still hopes to get Fornatale
back on the air soon.

Sorry to report the passing of a newsman who woke up millions of New
Yorkers for more than two decades; Jim Donnelly died Saturday (4/20)
of complications from Parkinson's disease. Donnelly joined WCBS (880)
in 1972, after a career that included KYW in Philadelphia and WNEW(AM)
in New York; for most of the time from then until his retirement in
1992, he handled morning co-anchor duties on "Newsradio 88." Donnelly
was 69.

The Brooklyn Cyclones will have a new radio voice when their
short-season single-A play begins later this spring. Sporting News
Radio's WSNR (620 Newark NJ) will carry the entire schedule; the
station will allow last season's inaugural flagship, WKRB (90.9
Brooklyn) to continue to simulcast the coverage. (We'll have complete
New York-Penn League radio information in a month or so, just in time
for opening day...)

A posting on Allan Sniffen's NY Radio Message Board reports WVIP (1310
Mount Kisco) has begun simulcasting the Spanish-language religion of
WWRV (1330 New York); we've also heard that WVIP sister station WGCH
(1490 Greenwich CT) has been off the air, but it's not clear whether
that's related to WGCH's tower dispute (NERW, 4/17).

Heading up towards Albany, the state capital's newest radio station
made its debut late last week in stunt mode. Newly moved up the dial
(from 93.5) and down I-87 (from Corinth/Glens Falls), WHTR (93.7
Scotia) started out with a loop of "Anarchy in the U.K.," followed by
a weekend of simulcasting owner Ed Levine's "K-Rock" (WKLL 94.9
Frankfort-Utica), before launching into a hot talk format Monday
afternoon.

As rumored, former WPYX (106.5) morning guy Bob Mulrooney is doing
mornings on 93.7; other additions to the schedule include Opie and
Anthony in afternoons, Tom Leykis in the evening and Lovelines at
night. Much more on this new signal when we return in mid-May...

Trinity Broadcasting won permission this week to put three more LPTVs
on the air in northern New York: W26CP and W49CD in Potsdam and W42CQ
in Ogdensburg; the religious mega-caster was denied a channel 15
outlet in Potsdam due to Canadian objections.

In Buffalo, Family Life will get to acquire translator W284AP (104.7)
after all; the FCC said it goofed when it rejected the application to
transfer the license from Casciani Communications to Family Life, and
the transfer has now been granted. Look for W284AP to switch primaries
from sports WNSA (107.7 Wethersfield) to religious WCOU (88.3 Warsaw)
if it hasn't happened already.

The Buffalo Broadcast Pioneers announced their Class of 2002 Hall of
Fame inductees, and it's another star-studded bunch. Leading the way
are WKBW's news trio of John Zach, Jim Fagan and the late Henry Brach;
Zach is still active in the Queen City as morning news anchor at WBEN,
while Fagan is retired. Also being inducted from KB is Jefferson Kaye,
whose stint in Buffalo was part of a career in top-40 radio that also
included time at Boston's WBZ. Kaye was responsible for the 1968 "War
of the Worlds" re-creation at WKBW; later, he handled mornings at WBEN
before joining NFL Films as its chief announcer. Two more posthumous
inductees: Ted Darling, the first play-by-play announcer for the
Sabres, and Frankie Crocker, the "Chief Rocker" whose career began at
WUFO in Buffalo before going on to WBLS in New York and other great
urban voices around the country. 

The Pioneers will induct this year's class on Tuesday, May 21, at the
Tralfamadore Cafe in Buffalo; visit their Web site (bbp.buffnet.net)
to learn more (and we'll see you there!)

*PENNSYLVANIA has a new radio station this week; WVIA (89.9 Scranton)
applied for a license to cover for its new relay in Williamsport. WVYA
(89.7) replaces the old WVIA translator there, which had been on 89.3.

Harrisburg's "Cat" finally has calls to match; WRKZ (106.7 Hershey)
changed its calls to WCAT-FM late last week (though simulcast WHYL-FM
102.3 in Carlisle stays the same). The calls, helpfully enough,
already belonged to owner Citadel; they'd been on 99.9 FM in Athol,
Mass. for more than a decade. That station, which runs oldies, became
WAHL(FM).

And the FCC says it won't reconsider its decision to allocate 101.3A
to Strattanville, a tiny (490 people) town in northeastern
Pennsylvania. Two broadcasters in nearby Clarion and Brookville had
opposed the allocation, saying the economically-depressed area already
had more radio than local advertisers could support; the FCC replied
by noting that that's no longer a factor in its decisions to fill the
FM band as full as possible. 

*Just two NEW JERSEY items this week: with the impending sale of
Nassau's WTTM (1680 Trenton) to Multicultural, the ESPN sports
programming heard on 1680 moves down the dial to WJHR (1040
Flemington). WJHR had been relaying the business-news programming of
Nassau's WHWH (1350 Trenton), which picks up the Trenton Thunder games
that had been heard on 1680. Expect 1680 to go ethnic when the sale
closes; Multicultural has a pending, but on-hold, application to move
the station south to Lindenwold in the Philadelphia market.

And WGLS (89.7 Glassboro) at Rowan State College has been granted a CP
for an auxiliary transmitter, to run 90 watts from WGLS' current
antenna site.

*A CONNECTICUT TV station has a new president and general manager this
week; John Hitchcock moves up from station manager at WTNH (Channel 8)
and WCTX (Channel 59) in New Haven. He replaces Hank Yaggi, who
resigned last week.

Up in Hartford, Buckley adds the Bill O'Reilly show to WDRC (1360) and
its simulcasts (WMMW 1470 Meriden, WWCO 1240 Waterbury and WSNG 610
Torrington). O'Reilly will air from 3-5 PM, followed by an hour of
Sean Hannity.

*MASSACHUSETTS is getting a new radio station, but not a very
powerful one. A settlement between Toccoa Falls College and Friends of
Radio Maria will give Toccoa the CP for a new station on 91.1 in
Winchendon. The station will run 155 watts at 63 meters above average
terrain, from a site near the WINQ (97.7) tower just north of
Winchendon. 

We expect all the programming to come from the college's Georgia
headquarters (the "TFC Network," based at WRAF 90.9 in Toccoa Falls) -
and as for listeners up there who try to tune in the local news and
talk from WBUR (90.9) in Boston, well, they'll have to comfort
themselves that the "public interest, convenience and necessity" are
indeed being served... 

We've already mentioned the call change in Athol that has WCAT-FM
(99.9) becoming WAHR; the AM outlet in Orange remains WCAT(AM) at this
writing.

Out on Cape Cod, WOCN (103.9 South Yarmouth) was granted a power boost
this week; the station goes from 3000 watts at 96 meters to 5500 watts
at 104 meters (nulled to the northwest to protect WBCN in Boston),
moving its transmitter from South Dennis to a site just south of US 6
a couple of miles to the west.

*A VERMONT FM station is ending a long battle with the neighbors by
moving its tower. WIZN (106.7 Vergennes) fought with the folks near
its Pease Mountain stick in Charlotte and finally won clear approval
for its antenna there, but now the station has applied to relocate
closer to Burlington. WIZN's new facilities would be 20kW from 229
meters above average terrain, on an existing microwave tower on Mount
Prichard, just north of Hinesburg and about four miles south of
downtown Burlington.

Burlington's ABC affiliate is losing its general manager. Lawrence
Delia is moving to New Orleans, to be vice president and general
manager of Tribune's WGNO (Channel 26) and WNOL (Channel 38), a big
move up from his duties at WVNY (Channel 22) in Burlington.

Down in Brattleboro, WKVT (92.7) PD/afternoon jock Rick West leaves
the station; no word on whether that's connected to the impending sale
of the station to Saga.

*Across the river in NEW HAMPSHIRE, WKVT has applied for a 250-watt
booster in Keene. The proposed WKVT-FM-1 would operate from a
directional antenna aimed southeast from a tower on Route 12 northwest
of Keene. Saga notes in its application, "with an overabundance of
caution," that it has a license for translator W272AX (102.3) in
Keene, which relayed WZID from Manchester before being silenced due to
interference concerns.

Another Pax TV outlet wants to move its analog service to its DTV
allocation; in addition to the stations in Boston, Providence and
Scranton, Pax's WPXB (Channel 60) wants to shift its analog signal to
channel 34. The transmitter location (atop Mount Uncanoonuc in
Goffstown) and the power (1410 kW visual from 293 meters) would remain
unchanged, but the new WPXB-TV 34 would alter its directional pattern,
sending a bit more signal south towards Boston. 

WBPX carries ShopNBC home shopping, by the way; Pax service to New Hampshire
comes from WPXG (Channel 21) up in Concord, relaying WBPX (Channel 68,
applying for channel 32) in Boston.

*Up north, WMTW (Channel 8) from Poland Springs, MAINE has applied for
two new translators to help restore service to viewers who lost its
signal when it left Mount Washington in favor of a new stick in
Baldwin, Maine.

The ABC affiliate was granted CPs this week for W26CQ in Colebrook,
N.H. and W27CP in White River Junction, Vermont.

And the KAWZ (Twin Falls, Idaho) translator in Southwest Harbor has
applied to change frequencies. W218BD wants to leave 91.5 in favor of
91.3; it would remain a 38-watt signal, but with vertical-only
polarization, on the new frequency.

*That's it for NERW for this week - and for the next couple of
weeks. We're on hiatus for the next couple of weeks as we head off to
explore England, Wales and France. Check our "Links" page at
fybush.com for some other fun places to explore in our absence, and
we'll see you back here with the May 13 issue! 

(We'll be away from e-mail for most of the trip, and messages sent to
our usual addresses won't be seen until we return. Anything truly
urgent should be sent to europe@fybush.com, which we'll try to check
every couple of days while on the road.)

And one final request: if anyone has a copy of the March 4
Broadcasting and Cable they no longer need, could you drop me a line?
Thanks...

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

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