RE: WOTW Nashua NH Sold

["Paul Hopfgarten" <paul@03038.com>]

I think that WOTW is not powerful enough to carry of a full service
operation. I wonder if the "full-service" part of the operation will be
during daylight hours only. (There <100w at night, maybe they'll broker out
the nighttime...they could carry Nashua Mayor-Aldermen meetings or something
else Nashua-specific at night))

Paul Hopfgarten
East Derry NH 03041
paul@03038.com


> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-boston-radio-interest@bostonradio.org
> [mailto:owner-boston-radio-interest@bostonradio.org]On Behalf Of Mark
> Watson
> Sent: Saturday, June 28, 2003 9:50 AM
> To: Boston Radio Interest
> Subject: WOTW Nashua NH Sold
>
>
>    The Nashua Telegraph reports that  Anastos Media Group, headed
> up by New
> York City TV News Anchor Ernie Anastos has sold WOTW (900 Nashua NH) to
> Balanced View LLC, a group of investors that includes Bill
> Shaheen, husband
> of former NH Governor Jeanne Shaheen. The sale price wasn't disclosed.
>
>    The new owners have hired Bill Vaughn, an investor who has been in the
> radio business since 1951 to run the station. He told the
> Telegraph that his
> goal is to "take a station that was great for 1974, everybody had
> a station
> like that where they lived then, and bring it into 2003 by contemporizing
> it."  He plans on hiring 12 to 14 people to work at the station,
> and in fact
> has already hired a person to answer the phones.
>
>    Balanced View's plan is to change the current format of mostly
> bird feed
> talk (WOTW does have a live PM drive talk show) and change to a
> full service
> format with lots of local news, sports, weather and traffic reports along
> with music. They also want to move the studios from the current location
> (4th floor of an office building) to a more visible location,
> such as a mall
> or storefront to become a visible part of the community. And they plan on
> changing the call letters.
>
>    I like the idea of the full service local radio concept, but will it
> work? Can they afford to have up to 14 people on staff? Unless they're
> mostly part time working for minimum wage or above, that's a huge expense
> right there. However, it would be a good training ground for
> those just out
> of broadcasting school looking to gain some experience. There aren't many
> stations around here in smaller markets that do as much as what the new
> owners of WOTW are proposing to do.
>
>    And with Ernie Anastos selling WOTW, does this mean he's ready to sell
> off any or all of the other stations he bought last year along with WOTW?
> (He bought all of Keating Wilcox's stations except for WNSH if I recall
> correctly).
>
> Mark Watson
>
>
>
>