NERW 12/9: Bob Steele, 1911-2002

[fybush@gwind.pair.com]

------------------------------E-MAIL EDITION-----------------------------
--------------------------NorthEast Radio Watch--------------------------
                             December 9, 2002

IN THIS ISSUE:

*CONNECTICUT: Bob Steele Dies at 91
*MASSACHUSETTS: WLVI News Director Moving Up
*NEW JERSEY: Jukebox Radio Gone from W276AQ

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

*The man who defined morning radio in CONNECTICUT for fifty years died
last Friday (Dec. 6), ending a radio career that spanned seven decades
at just one station.

Bob Steele came to WTIC in Hartford in 1936, as a junior announcer
fresh from the motorcycle-racing circuit, where he had announced the
races at a local arena (and, earlier, on KGFJ in Los Angeles.)

The Missouri native was hired on a probationary basis and urged to
work on his accent. Within a few months, Steele was announcing sports
broadcasts on WTIC - and in 1943, he took over the "Morning Watch"
show. 

Before long, "Morning Watch" became the Bob Steele Show, and Steele
became a WTIC institution, waking up generations of Nutmeggers with
the "Word for the Day," birthday announcements, and general good humor
until his retirement from daily broadcasting in 1991.

And even then - at the age of 80 - Bob Steele was far from finished at
WTIC, moving to a Saturday-morning slot that eventually became a
monthly feature on the station. In recent years, Steele was on the air
only from May until November, but still proudly claimed his title as
the longest-running regular program host in New England, and probably
the entire country. When he turned 90 last year, Steele was quoted as
saying he might consider retiring "when I turn 100."

Sadly, he won't get that chance; Steele died in his sleep sometime
Friday morning, a month or so after what turned out to be his last
WTIC broadcast. It was a run that's unlikely to ever be equalled, from
a man who'll be widely remembered as one of the class acts in this
business, and he'll be missed.

(WTIC did a special four-hour broadcast Sunday morning to remember
Steele; we hear the station even cut carrier for 15 seconds at the end
of the show in Steele's memory.)

*One other bit of Nutmeg State news: WACC-LP (107.7 Enfield) has
signed on, broadcasting a variety of music while it settles on a
permanent format. We hear the station is being heard quite well north
of Hartford, though the audio processing reportedly needs a bit of
tweaking...

*From MASSACHUSETTS comes word that WLVI (Channel 56) is losing its
news director, hot on the heels of the imminent departure of anchor Jeff
Barnd. For Greg Caputo, who's been at the station for seven years,
it's both a promotion and a homecoming; he's headed to Chicago to helm
the news operation at Tribune mothership WGN-TV (Channel 9), where
he'll compete head-to-head with Fox's WFLD (Channel 32), whose news
operation Caputo led from 1985 until 1993. No replacement has been
announced yet.

On the radio side, Alan Chartrand adds station manager duties for
WKLB-FM (99.5 Lowell) to his existing responsibilities at sister
Greater Media talker WTKK (96.9). 

Out west, Terry Cordingley is out as PD and afternoon drive jock at
WBEC-FM (105.5 Pittsfield).

*It looks like the end of the line for "Jukebox Radio" in Bergen
County, NEW JERSEY. We hear that W276AQ (103.1 Fort Lee), along with
sister translator W232AL (94.3 Pomona NY), is no longer translating
the oldies/standards format that originated in nearby Dumont, N.J. and
was fed to WJUX (99.7 Monticello NY), which then broadcast it back
down to New Jersey via the two translators. 

As we've reported in previous issues of NERW, the unusual
primary/translator arrangement had led to complaints from competing
New Jersey broadcasters and an FCC investigation; it's not clear
exactly what's led to the disappearance of the format this time, or
what's running now up in Monticello. We'll be back in that area in a
few weeks and will keep you posted...

To the west, in Sussex County, Clear Channel flipped formats on WNNJ
(1360 Newton), replacing satellite standards with voicetracked country
as "Bear Country 1360."

Down in Monmouth County, WPDQ (89.7 Freehold Township) could soon be
flipping from eclectic oldies to religion; owner "Lazarus Elias
Foundation" is selling the station to Bridgelight Corporation, which
is affiliated with several Calvary Church branches in the area, for a
reported $875,000.

*Just one bit of PENNSYLVANIA news: southwest of Erie, little WVCC
(101.7 Linesville) is being sold by longtime owner Art Cervi. The new
owner is Joseph Vilkie's Vilkie Communications, and we're told the
price tag was $330,000.

*The big story out of NEW YORK is the long-delayed debut of a TV
station that almost didn't make it. Channel 52 in Ithaca was first
applied for back in 1985, and a series of construction permits
extended until a final "drop dead" date last Friday. While the
station's owners hoped to put it on the air at high power from a tower
next to Syracuse's WNYS (Channel 43) and WSYT (Channel 68), serving
the Salt City as well as Ithaca, a conflict with the class A status of
Syracuse's channel 51 LPTV forced channel 52 to fall back on plan B to
get on the air in time.

With brand-new calls of WNYI(TV), we're told channel 52 made it to air
Friday from a tower near Ithaca College, running just 26 kW of...color
bars. What next? Stay tuned...

It was one of the worst-kept secrets of central New York radio: Bill
Keeler was out as morning jock on Galaxy's WRCK (107.3 Utica) as of
last Thursday. The longtime Utica morning host tells the Utica
Observer-Dispatch he had known for two months that he would be getting
fired; he says Galaxy accused him of promoting his wife's comedy club
on the air without permission.

Keeler says he'll be suing WRCK to collect on his contract, which was
to run through 2006 and paid him $135,000 this year. Co-host Frank
McBride is now doing mornings at WRCK.

Downstate, Buckley is bringing its "The Best of Everything" format,
which had a test run on WDRC in Hartford, to WOR in New York - but
never fear, it won't displace the talk programming on AM 710. Instead,
visitors to wor710.com will have the opportunity to use RCS' iSelector
software to create their own individualized commercial-free Webcast
stream of the pop-standards-and-more format, for a fee of $4.95 per
month (with the first 48 hours free). The service launches today on
WOR's Web site.

It's not quite as long a record as Bob Steele, but Danny Stiles
certainly deserves recognition for his longevity in New York City
radio; last week marked his 79th birthday and his 55th anniversary on
the air in the Big Apple. Stiles is currently heard overnight spinning
the standards on WPAT (930 Paterson) and WNSW (1430 Newark), as well
as Saturday nights on WNYC (820 New York).

Out on Long Island, the FCC granted a new LPFM to "The Savior's Voice
Broadcasting Company." It'll run with 100 watts on 100.9 in Center
Moriches.

Back up here in Rochester, Entercom will hold an official
ribbon-cutting Wednesday (Dec. 11) for its new "High Falls Studios"
radio complex, home to WBEE-FM (92.5), WBBF (93.3 Fairport), WBZA
(98.9) and WROC (950). We had a chance to see this nifty new facility
a couple of weeks ago, and it's far and away the nicest commercial
radio plant in town, complete with historic brick-vaulted ceilings and
a wonderful location in the heart of the city's entertainment
district.