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------------------------------E-MAIL EDITION-----------------------------
--------------------------NorthEast Radio Watch--------------------------
                             January 13, 2003

IN THIS ISSUE:

*RHODE ISLAND: Citadel Buys WWKX/WAKX
*MASSACHUSETTS: Will McDonough Dies
*CANADA: CITY Launches DTV in Canada

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

(NOTE TO READERS: Garrett Wollman, keeper of the
Archives@BostonRadio.org, reminded me that the January 13 issue was
apparently never sent out to the mailing list. Sorry about that; now
you're up to date!)

*It's a hot New Year in RHODE ISLAND, thanks to Citadel's purchase of
urban "Hot" WWKX (106.3 Woonsocket) and WAKX (102.7 Narragansett Pier)
from AAA Entertainment.

The deal adds "Hot" to an already significant Citadel presence in the
Ocean State: talk WPRO (630 Providence), sports WSKO (790 Providence)
and WSKO-FM (99.7 Wakefield-Peace Dale), CHR WPRO-FM (92.3
Providence), AC WWLI (105.1), as well as the adjacent New Bedford
cluster of news-talk WBSM (1420), CHR WFHN (107.1 Fairhaven) and
rocker WKKB (100.3 Middletown RI).

For the $16 million purchase price, Citadel also gets to add one more
station to its regional cluster: WMOS (104.7 Montauk NY), the Long
Island station that markets to southeastern Connecticut from its
studios at the Mohegan Sun casino in Ledyard, Connecticut. More on
this deal next week...

So much for "Star 93.3" - Clear Channel is now calling WSNE-FM (93.3
Taunton MA) "The New 93.3," having decided not to fight Entercom's
complaint that the Providence-market AC station was courting confusion
with "Star 93.7" (WQSX Lawrence) in the Boston market.

*CONNECTICUT's Sebastian is about to add a station in his home state
to his lineup, as WAVZ (1300 New Haven) picks up his 3-6 PM sports
show from WNNZ (640 Westfield) in the Springfield, MASSACHUSETTS
market. Both Clear Channel stations are imaging as the "Zone" already,
so it won't disrupt the flow too much - and Sebastian's already
familiar to New Haven listeners from his long run on FM in Hartford,
anyway.

(One bit of Nutmeg State TV news: David Nelson is departing WFSB in
Hartford, where he was the morning anchor, to become the lead anchor
at WAVY in Portsmouth, Virginia.)

Over in Worcester, WWFX (100.1 Southbridge) shook things up a little
last week, adding current active rock tracks to its classic rock
lineup and ditching syndicated morning hosts Bob and Tom. PD Chris
Engle is doing mornings there now, and he's eagerly seeking a co-host.

One bit of Boston news: WBPS (890 Dedham) is airing something called
the "Sports Terminal Radio Network" overnight now, though we hear it's
turned out to be just dead air for at least a few nights...

Out on Cape Cod, WCDJ (102.3 Truro) is nearing the end of the one year
of silence it's allowed before the license disappears Feb. 1 - could
this be the reason some DXers on the Cape are hearing music in mono
with no IDs on that frequency?

And we're very sorry to report the death of Will McDonough on
Thursday. The veteran Globe sports columnist was also a frequent guest
on radio and TV sports shows, most recently as a semi-regular on WTKK
(96.9 Boston) - and was, of course, the father of WWZN (1510) host and
Sox announcer Sean McDonough. Will McDonough was 67.

*VERMONT Public TV will sign on its first DTV outlet later this
week. WVTA-DT (Channel 24) will serve Windsor from Mount Ascutney.

*New calls for MAINE's new Fox affiliate: Pax takes its "PX" callsigns
with it when it sells its stations, and so WMPX (Channel 23) in
Waterville will become WPFO ("Portland's FOx"?) when it picks up the
Fox affiliation later this spring.

Down the coast, Gannett's WCSH (Channel 6) from Portland and WLBZ
(Channel 2) from Bangor are opening a joint mid-coast news bureau this
summer. To be staffed by Don Carrigan, who spent more than two decades
with both stations before joining Maine Public Broadcasting in 1994,
the new bureau will make it easier for the stations to cover the
region from Ellsworth to Bath during the busy summer months, when
traffic can make it hard to get stories back to home base otherwise.

When Clear Channel flips WNSX (97.7 Winter Harbor) to sports next
month, the station will still be carrying Bob and Tom in the morning,
the last relic of its current simulcast with WFZX (101.7
Searsport). The rest of the day on WNSX will include Jim Rome and a
heavy dose of Fox Sports Radio; Fox will also go 24/7 at WRKD (1450
Rockland), which now mixes ESPN and Fox. And while we're in the
neighborhood, we note that WBYA (105.5 Islesboro) has changed hands to
Mariner; it's now running Jones' "Music of Your Life," still as "the
Bay."

*Kevin Fennessy has sold one of his two PENNSYLVANIA AM stations. Holy
Family Communications, which owns WLOF (101.7 Attica) in western New
York and WPAO (1470 Farrell PA) in the Youngstown market, is buying
WAAT (750 Olyphant); Fennessy keeps WFBS (1280) in Berwick.

*From NEW YORK comes word that the Metropolitan TV Alliance, the group
of broadcasters trying to restore full service in the wake of the
World Trade Center destruction, is throwing its support to a new tower
site in Bayonne, N.J. A competing plan had called for putting a new
2000-foot tower in Jersey City, near the Liberty Science Center, but
the broadcasters say they prefer the security of the Bayonne site. The
plan still faces numerous regulatory hurdles before the huge tower can
begin rising.

Upstate, Ted Baker is the new program director for the Finger Lakes
News Network (WGVA 1240 Geneva, WCGR 1550 Canandaigua, WSFW 1110
Seneca Falls and WAUB 1590 Auburn); he's the former PD at WHMP in
Northampton, Mass.

In Syracuse, Steve Medicis tells us W249BC (97.7) has switched
simulcasts, returning to "K-Rock" WKRL (100.9 North Syracuse) from
WZUN (102.1 Phoenix) in apparent reaction to Clear Channel's new "Dog"
WWDG (105.1 DeRuyter) and its weak downtown signal.

A few shakeups along the Rochester TV dial: veteran WROC-TV (Channel
8) anchor Jerry Fiore left the CBS affiliate after the New
Year. Fiore, who had a long track record in Syracuse and Utica before
coming to Rochester, says he wants to stay in the area, but he says
the contract offer WROC made him wasn't acceptable. Fiore had been
anchoring the morning show with Melissa Long; he'll be replaced by
Cathy Orosz there, and Long will anchor the noon newscast solo. WROC
also lost meteorologist James Monroe last week.

Across town at WHEC-TV (Channel 10), meteorologist Richard McCollough
didn't have his contract renewed; chief meteorologist Kevin Williams
will add the 11 PM show to his 5 and 6 PM duties. And the rumors are
growing that Sinclair's Fox affiliate, WUHF (Channel 31), will move
production of its 10 PM newscast to Sinclair's central news hub in
Maryland later this year. WUHF already let its local weather staff
(including chief meteorologist Michael Gouldrick) go late last year,
replacing them with weather from Maryland. 

On the radio side, Gina Jones, formerly of WYJB (95.5 Albany), comes
to Crawford's contemporary Christian WDCZ (102.7 Rochester) for
morning drive; Ben Martin moves to middays at "the Light."

Up in Watertown, WLOT-LP (Channel 66) has been spotted on eBay, of all
places! The little LPTV, which lost its UPN affiliation last year and
vanished from cable when its owner declined to keep paying for the
privilege, can be yours for $950,000; the wags over at Newsblues.com
calculated that as $85 per viewer!

And over in Buffalo, we noticed crews at work last week taking down a
Western New York TV landmark: the old channel 4 tower in Colden. Built
in 1952 for what was then WBEN-TV, it was by far the tallest structure
in the region; it's since been supplanted by a new tower next door
that holds WIVB-TV/DT and WTSS (102.5).

*Just a little bit of news from CANADA: Listeners in Montreal heard
tests last week on 105.1; the frequency study was being conducted to
see if the application for a new jazz station on that frequency will
work. 

The CRTC gave CITY-TV (Channel 57) in Toronto the go-ahead to become
Canada's first DTV broadcaster. CITY has been testing on channel 66,
but will use channel 53 for its DTV transmissions from the CN Tower,
with 6 kW of power. Expect to see CITY-DT on cable before it shows up
on the air, we're told... 

In Ottawa, Newcap is testing its new dance station on 89.9; expect
"the Planet" on the air for real in a few weeks.

CFAN-FM (99.3 Miramichi-Newcastle NB) signed on Friday; "99.3 the
River" is being simulcast on CFAN (790) for 90 days, until the AM goes
dark for good.

Way out in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, CJFX will soon be leaving the AM
dial. The station has already been simulcasting its 580 AM signal on
2750-watt CJFX-FM (98.9); now the CRTC has granted permission to make
the FM the only signal there, with a power boost to 75.39 kW. The move
comes over opposition from the CBC, which had hoped to use 98.9 over
in Prince Edward Island to relay its Radio-Canada premiere chaine
service. (The CRTC says the CBC has plenty of alternate channels to
pick there.)

-----------------------NorthEast Radio Watch------------------------
                       (c)2003 Scott Fybush
                          www.fybush.com

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