that horrible BEEP

[Dan.Strassberg]

The reasons for the big Capital District radio-network affiliation 
shift of the mid fifties were complicated. It was played to the public 
that the group (from Providence) that acquired WTRY was committed to 
local independent radio and so dropped the (very lucrative) CBS 
affiliation, thus precipitating the round-robin switch, which left 
WTRY indpendent and made WOKO a network affiliate (which it had not 
been in many years). As an independent, WTRY continued to prosper. 
However, I think the the reason for the shift was more 
complex--related to the lifting of the freeze on construction of TV 
stations and the formation of Capital Cities Broadcasting (which over 
many decades and many mergers, morphed into ABC and Disney).

Capital Cities started in the Capital District (and indeed was named 
for it) and WROW was its very first station! WROW got a TV CP, which 
initially resulted in the construction of Channel 41 (now Channel 10 
et al). In those days, it was cutomary for radio and TV networks to 
affiliate with commonly owned radio and TV stations in most markets 
where they existed. IIRC, WROW-TV (which was later renamed WTEN after 
it built the Channel 10 facility in Vail Mills) initially became the 
CBS-TV affiliate. It was thus fitting for WROW (AM) to be the CBS 
Radio affiliate. Although WTRY was 5 kW-U with excellent coverage of 
Albany, Troy, and Schenectady, it couldn't match WROW's daytime 
coverage of the Hudson Valley. WROW's lower night power (1 kW) 
apparently didn't bother CBS, perhaps because WROW's low dial position 
at least partially compensated for the lower power.

-----
Dan Strassberg (dan.strassberg@att.net)
eFax 1-707-215-6367

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "A. Joseph Ross" <joe@attorneyross.com>
To: "Dan.Strassberg" <dan.strassberg@att.net>
Cc: <boston-radio-interest@bostonradio.org>
Sent: Saturday, January 19, 2008 11:57 PM
Subject: Re: that horrible BEEP


> On 19 Jan 2008 at 9:28, Dan.Strassberg wrote:
>
>> I believe that those "blips" were (barely) audible cues from a 
>> system
>> that CBS installed at the radio network in (I think) the '50s and
>> continued to use for decades thereafter. It was called NetAlert. If
>> I'm not mistaken, I first heard NetAlert cues on WROW Albany after 
>> it
>> replaced WTRY Troy as the CBS affiliate in New York's Capital
>> District. That would have been while I was in college around 1953 
>> or
>> so.
>
> Since I remember it, and we moved to Albany just after Thanksgiving
> 1953, I think this would have been sometime in 1954 or maybe 1955. 
> I
> never understood why the change took place, but it affected three of
> the four networks and four stations.  CBS moved from WTRY to WROW,
> ABC moved from WROW to WPTR, and Mutual moved from WPTR to WOKO. 
> NBC
> remained on WGY.
>
> -- 
> A. Joseph Ross, J.D.                           617.367.0468
> 92 State Street, Suite 700                   Fax 617.507.7856
> Boston, MA 02109-2004                    http://www.attorneyross.com
>
>