From markwats@comcast.net Sat Nov 5 08:47:55 2011 From: markwats@comcast.net (markwats@comcast.net) Date: Sat, 5 Nov 2011 12:47:55 +0000 (UTC) Subject: Andy Rooney Has Passed Away Message-ID: <2128861825.1668411.1320497275993.JavaMail.root@sz0140a.westchester.pa.mail.comcast.net> CBS announced that Andy Rooney passed away Friday night, just weeks after his final appearance on "60 Minutes". He was 92. As most of you know, his daughter Emily works for B oston's WGBH. Link to article on the Boston Herald's website: http://www.bostonherald.com/business/media/view/20111105former_60_minutes_commentator_andy_rooney_dies/srvc=home&position=6 Mark Watson From irw@well.com Sat Nov 5 08:35:51 2011 From: irw@well.com (Blaine Thompson) Date: Sat, 5 Nov 2011 05:35:51 -0700 (PDT) Subject: RIP CBS' Andy Rooney In-Reply-To: <2046270788.140.1320496511461.JavaMail.root@zimbra.well.com> Message-ID: <1594073156.144.1320496551822.JavaMail.root@zimbra.well.com> CBS, among many other news networks, reported the death this morning of Andy Rooney. - Blaine From Donald_Astelle@yahoo.com Sat Nov 5 13:51:58 2011 From: Donald_Astelle@yahoo.com (Don) Date: Sat, 5 Nov 2011 13:51:58 -0400 Subject: RIP CBS' Andy Rooney References: <1594073156.144.1320496551822.JavaMail.root@zimbra.well.com> Message-ID: <137DA9A6A6C04956AD087CD98066416C@s20035> I am amazed at how well the family has kept his condition private. I have not heard what the "minor surgery" was....assuming it had something to do with his leaving CBS. (Most assumed there was a medical reason(s) that prompted his leaving 60 Minutes.) There has been no info on what the complication was. Which is fine....I think people have a right to keep the medical info private. Now, go back a few years ago....which newspaper broke that David Brudnoy was in MGH with complications from aids (before he publicly announced it)? I am just surprised at the Rooney family's ability to keep everything udner wraps. From HeritageRadio@msn.com Mon Nov 7 02:09:22 2011 From: HeritageRadio@msn.com (Thomas Heathwood) Date: Mon, 7 Nov 2011 02:09:22 -0500 Subject: CART Machine Cleaning Cart Message-ID: Anyone have an old cleaning cart for cart machines they would be willing to part with? Tom Heathwood heritageradio@msn.com Nov. 7 From vzeej5wn@myfairpoint.net Mon Nov 7 12:38:46 2011 From: vzeej5wn@myfairpoint.net (=?utf-8?b?RG91ZyBEcm93bg==?=) Date: Mon, 07 Nov 2011 12:38:46 -0500 Subject: News of interest re: WBZ, WRGB Message-ID: <20111107123846.6eouvbaglcsc8w4g@webmail.myfairpoint.net> Scott Fybush has reported on his new site this morning (check it out!) that the former WBZ (WBZA) towers in East Springfield were taken down this past weekend as the old Westinghouse building approaches demolition.?? I know many of us will mourn that loss.? I'd love to own even a two-inch piece of one of those towers. In addition, Freedom Newspapers is selling off its broadcasting unit.? WRGB in Schenectady is being sold to Sinclair, which of course owns WGME in Portland as well as other upstate New York stations.?? One hopes that Sinclair, aware that it will now own the oldest television station in the world, will finally put to rest the "CBS6 Albany" moniker and return to emphasizing the call letters, as CBS [finally] wisely did with "CBS4" WBZ-TV.?? (My curmudgeonly prejudice is showing here.)????? -Doug From kvahey@gmail.com Wed Nov 9 08:04:47 2011 From: kvahey@gmail.com (Kevin Vahey) Date: Wed, 9 Nov 2011 08:04:47 -0500 Subject: The Globe looks at the future of AM radio Message-ID: The Globe this morning (11-9-11) writes about WEEI's apparent success in moving WEEI to 93.7 and wonders if others will follow. Our own Scott Fybush is quoted. http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2011/11/09/for_am_stations_future_may_be_on_the_fm_band/?page=full What the article fails to mention is that the first month of WEEI-FM's existence came as Boston was transfixed with the RedSox collapse and aftermath. In any event it does appear that most listeners have made the jump to FM. From joe@attorneyross.com Thu Nov 10 00:22:47 2011 From: joe@attorneyross.com (A Joseph Ross) Date: Thu, 10 Nov 2011 00:22:47 -0500 Subject: The Globe looks at the future of AM radio In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <4EBB5FA7.2000009@attorneyross.com> On 11/9/2011 8:04 AM, Kevin Vahey wrote: > The Globe this morning (11-9-11) writes about WEEI's apparent success in > moving WEEI to 93.7 and wonders if others will follow. Our own Scott Fybush > is quoted. > > http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2011/11/09/for_am_stations_future_may_be_on_the_fm_band/?page=full > > > What the article fails to mention is that the first month of > WEEI-FM's existence came as Boston was transfixed with the RedSox collapse > and aftermath. In any event it does appear that most listeners have made > the jump to FM. I'll be interested to see how long we continue to have two sports talk stations on FM. And if it's true that fewer and fewer people are listening to AM, I wonder what that means for WJIB. -- 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 From walkerbroadcasting@gmail.com Thu Nov 10 01:25:33 2011 From: walkerbroadcasting@gmail.com (Paul B. Walker, Jr.) Date: Thu, 10 Nov 2011 00:25:33 -0600 Subject: The Globe looks at the future of AM radio In-Reply-To: <4EBB5FA7.2000009@attorneyross.com> References: <4EBB5FA7.2000009@attorneyross.com> Message-ID: WJIB is fine and actually listener supported. Paul On Wed, Nov 9, 2011 at 11:22 PM, A Joseph Ross wrote: > On 11/9/2011 8:04 AM, Kevin Vahey wrote: > > The Globe this morning (11-9-11) writes about WEEI's apparent success in >> moving WEEI to 93.7 and wonders if others will follow. Our own Scott >> Fybush >> is quoted. >> >> http://www.boston.com/**business/articles/2011/11/09/** >> for_am_stations_future_may_be_**on_the_fm_band/?page=full >> >> >> What the article fails to mention is that the first month of >> WEEI-FM's existence came as Boston was transfixed with the RedSox collapse >> and aftermath. In any event it does appear that most listeners have made >> the jump to FM. >> > > I'll be interested to see how long we continue to have two sports talk > stations on FM. > > And if it's true that fewer and fewer people are listening to AM, I wonder > what that means for WJIB. > > -- > 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 > > From wollman@bimajority.org Thu Nov 10 02:03:51 2011 From: wollman@bimajority.org (Garrett Wollman) Date: Thu, 10 Nov 2011 02:03:51 -0500 Subject: The Globe looks at the future of AM radio In-Reply-To: <4EBB5FA7.2000009@attorneyross.com> References: <4EBB5FA7.2000009@attorneyross.com> Message-ID: <20155.30551.682997.141122@hergotha.csail.mit.edu> < said: > And if it's true that fewer and fewer people are listening to AM, I > wonder what that means for WJIB. It will be some time yet before WJIB needs worry about reaching an audience that young. -GAWollman From Donald_Astelle@yahoo.com Thu Nov 10 01:46:25 2011 From: Donald_Astelle@yahoo.com (Don) Date: Thu, 10 Nov 2011 01:46:25 -0500 Subject: The Globe looks at the future of AM radio References: <4EBB5FA7.2000009@attorneyross.com> Message-ID: <4F638006368949B38E20391876E0984A@s20035> > WJIB is fine and actually listener supported. > > Paul It's not a question of how it is now...it's a question of the future. Older and older people..... Less and less people on AM..... Era music.....that less and less people will remember.... From wollman@bimajority.org Thu Nov 10 02:52:12 2011 From: wollman@bimajority.org (Garrett Wollman) Date: Thu, 10 Nov 2011 02:52:12 -0500 Subject: The Globe looks at the future of AM radio In-Reply-To: <4F638006368949B38E20391876E0984A@s20035> References: <4EBB5FA7.2000009@attorneyross.com> <4F638006368949B38E20391876E0984A@s20035> Message-ID: <20155.33452.49384.16479@hergotha.csail.mit.edu> < said: > It's not a question of how it is now...it's a question of the future. > Older and older people..... > Less and less people on AM..... > Era music.....that less and less people will remember.... I'm having a bit of trouble parsing this series of sentence fragements. Bob has already altered his playlist significantly to appeal to younger demos; WJIB plays more traditional oldies and far fewer instrumentals than it did fifteen years ago. He's actually got a good business model: sweep up after the commercial stations decide that their demos are no longer attractive. Since he doesn't care about the ratings and has no station debt to service, he can serve demos that other broadcasters don't consider worth their while. The people who aren't even aware of AM are mostly under 45, so he still has a good twenty years to go, in audience terms. He may have problems if broadcast radio, generally, goes away, in favor of the streaming-only/Pandora/iPod model of entertainment. Ten years ago, I thought this was imminent, but it hasn't happened yet. I still think it's going to happen, but terrestrial radio broadcast has two things going for it: an enormous installed base, and the fact that the spectrum it uses is pretty much worthless for anyone else. -GAWollman From Jibguy@aol.com Thu Nov 10 04:24:49 2011 From: Jibguy@aol.com (Jibguy@aol.com) Date: Thu, 10 Nov 2011 04:24:49 -0500 (EST) Subject: The Globe looks at the future of AM radio Message-ID: <82f08.22692be1.3becf261@aol.com> In a message dated 11/10/2011 2:06:40 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, wollman@bimajority.org writes: It will be some time yet before WJIB needs worry about reaching an audience that young. ------------------ The audience IS very much younger than before. Young (in their 30's, 40's) people are displeased with contemporary music, so they're going to WJIB, and to a bigger extent WKLB. ---BB From Jibguy@aol.com Thu Nov 10 04:28:32 2011 From: Jibguy@aol.com (Jibguy@aol.com) Date: Thu, 10 Nov 2011 04:28:32 -0500 (EST) Subject: The Globe looks at the future of AM radio Message-ID: <82fad.15591a6e.3becf340@aol.com> In a message dated 11/10/2011 2:44:04 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, Donald_Astelle@yahoo.com writes: Older and older people..... Less and less people on AM..... Era music.....that less and less people will remember.... Many Jibbers don't remember the music at all, except for the fondness of what their parents enjoyed. Reminds them of their parents, who are deceased now. If an AM station programs music differently, but still with mass appeal, then AM radio, in general, would be very healthy. Now and in the future. The only reason AM is dying now is because of who owns most of them. --BB From Jibguy@aol.com Thu Nov 10 04:21:41 2011 From: Jibguy@aol.com (Jibguy@aol.com) Date: Thu, 10 Nov 2011 04:21:41 -0500 (EST) Subject: The Globe looks at the future of AM radio Message-ID: <82e92.bda6021.3becf1a5@aol.com> In a message dated 11/10/2011 1:28:18 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,writes: And if it's true that fewer and fewer people are listening to AM, I wonder > what that means for WJIB. --------------------------------- WJIB's contributions are coming in faster and faster every year. Almost $90,000. was collected in the shortest time yet, in 2011. All indications are that WJIB's audience is increasing and that AM radio is very healthy at the 740 spot. But since WJIB does not do People Meter, there are no numbers to prove that. ---BB From Jibguy@aol.com Thu Nov 10 04:33:39 2011 From: Jibguy@aol.com (Jibguy@aol.com) Date: Thu, 10 Nov 2011 04:33:39 -0500 (EST) Subject: The Globe looks at the future of AM radio Message-ID: <83135.65c138ea.3becf472@aol.com> In a message dated 11/10/2011 2:55:17 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, wollman@bimajority.org writes: He's actually got a good business model: sweep up after the commercial stations decide that their demos are no longer attractive. ------- Well said! "sweep up...." And the reason it works is that the other commercial stations leave a lot of people(demos) in the dust, in their constant competitive search for just the people who want the so-called cream of the crop songs. ---BB From kvahey@gmail.com Fri Nov 11 16:33:59 2011 From: kvahey@gmail.com (Kevin Vahey) Date: Fri, 11 Nov 2011 16:33:59 -0500 Subject: Merry Christmas Message-ID: WODS has flipped to holiday - WMJX hasn't as of yet. From kvahey@gmail.com Fri Nov 11 16:53:13 2011 From: kvahey@gmail.com (Kevin Vahey) Date: Fri, 11 Nov 2011 16:53:13 -0500 Subject: Merry Christmas In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Me bad - I always get Greater Media mixed up... From jjlehmann@comcast.net Fri Nov 11 16:36:12 2011 From: jjlehmann@comcast.net (Jeff Lehmann) Date: Fri, 11 Nov 2011 16:36:12 -0500 Subject: Merry Christmas In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <6466D26E-B485-4D7C-95D5-AE1E3663C036@comcast.net> WMJX doesn't do Christmas, WROR does. They started about a half hour after WODS this morning. Jeff Lehmann On Nov 11, 2011, at 4:33 PM, Kevin Vahey wrote: > WODS has flipped to holiday - WMJX hasn't as of yet. From walkerbroadcasting@gmail.com Fri Nov 11 16:51:59 2011 From: walkerbroadcasting@gmail.com (Paul B. Walker, Jr.) Date: Fri, 11 Nov 2011 16:51:59 -0500 Subject: Merry Christmas In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: A friend of mine is associated with a small AM Daytimer down south that flipped to Christmas music in the first week of October. Something that only 100000watts.com will print, but after 2 and 3 emails, AllAccess & RadioInfo refused to admit or acknowledge. Paul On Fri, Nov 11, 2011 at 4:33 PM, Kevin Vahey wrote: > WODS has flipped to holiday - WMJX hasn't as of yet. > From wollman@bimajority.org Fri Nov 11 17:35:38 2011 From: wollman@bimajority.org (Garrett Wollman) Date: Fri, 11 Nov 2011 17:35:38 -0500 Subject: Merry Christmas In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <20157.41786.737890.707194@hergotha.csail.mit.edu> < said: > A friend of mine is associated with a small AM Daytimer down south > that flipped to Christmas music in the first week of October. And admits it? -GAWollman From walkerbroadcasting@gmail.com Fri Nov 11 17:37:42 2011 From: walkerbroadcasting@gmail.com (Paul B. Walker, Jr.) Date: Fri, 11 Nov 2011 17:37:42 -0500 Subject: Merry Christmas In-Reply-To: <20157.41786.737890.707194@hergotha.csail.mit.edu> References: <20157.41786.737890.707194@hergotha.csail.mit.edu> Message-ID: Yeah, they admit it.. the station is in a state of flux right now and things are probably going to change format wise after the first of the year from their previous news/talk format.. so this was/is their way of flushing out all the old listeners because their new format will have a totally different listener base. Paul On Fri, Nov 11, 2011 at 5:35 PM, Garrett Wollman wrote: > < said: > >> A friend of mine is associated with a small AM Daytimer down south >> that flipped to Christmas music in the first week of October. > > And admits it? > > -GAWollman > > From paul@derrynh.net Fri Nov 11 16:46:08 2011 From: paul@derrynh.net (Paul Hopfgarten) Date: Fri, 11 Nov 2011 16:46:08 -0500 Subject: Merry Christmas In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <1C1479DFA3544C52B638871FA29DA79C@PaulPC> WROR has also gone XMAS......Its WAY TOO EARLY!!!!! -Paul Hopfgarten -----Original Message----- From: Kevin Vahey Sent: Friday, November 11, 2011 4:33 PM To: bri Subject: Merry Christmas WODS has flipped to holiday - WMJX hasn't as of yet. From dlh@donnahalper.com Fri Nov 11 17:01:27 2011 From: dlh@donnahalper.com (Donna Halper) Date: Fri, 11 Nov 2011 17:01:27 -0500 Subject: Merry Christmas In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <4EBD9B37.5020908@donnahalper.com> On 11/11/2011 4:33 PM, Kevin Vahey wrote: > WODS has flipped to holiday - > The war on Hanukkah continues! Is it my imagination, or are stations and retail stores flipping to Christmas music earlier and earlier? From walkerbroadcasting@gmail.com Fri Nov 11 18:04:52 2011 From: walkerbroadcasting@gmail.com (Paul B. Walker, Jr.) Date: Fri, 11 Nov 2011 18:04:52 -0500 Subject: Local Radio Still Going Strong Message-ID: On and off, I see people on this list and many others complaining about how corpratized and non local radio has become. I happen to work for a station, that gets it.. both from a programming and advertising standpoint. Our listeners LOVE us and our advertisers LOVE us. We aren't perfect, but we sure try and we definately do care. We're a 50,000 Watt (ERP) FM standalone Country formatted station in a town of 4000 people. Just recently, we gave away a trip to see the Country Music Association Awards in Nashville and we did it LOCALLY.v All paid for and arranged locally. Next month, we're giving away $2000 in CASH for Christmas... Again, ALL locally. We take requests on and off all day long. We've broadcast 11/12/13 year old softball games, football and wrestling sports broadcasts are HUGE here. I've worked in radio for 7 years and the equipment here is second to none, best I've ever worked with.... We've got 4 24K Gold plated Electrovoice RE20 Microphones, 2 Axia IP Digital Programmable consoles. A Bank style time/temp/date sign on our front lawn, a neon sign on the roof line and a rotating dog head on the roof of our building. Plus, a station vehicle, a Smart car that barks and howls. Sure, I like to brag on my station a little bit.. but we have fun here while serving the community, our advertisers and listeners. And I wanted people to see there are still some GOOD stations left in this world. You can listen online at www.houndcountry.com Paul Walker Afternoons/Evenings, 3pm to 12midnight 97.5 The Hound WDDH Ridgway/Saint Marys, Pennsylvania From rbello@belloassoc.com Fri Nov 11 16:46:30 2011 From: rbello@belloassoc.com (Ron Bello) Date: Fri, 11 Nov 2011 16:46:30 -0500 Subject: Merry Christmas In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Why would WMJX flip to Christmas music ? They would be competing with co-owned WROR which flipped just after WODS @ 5am. On Fri, Nov 11, 2011 at 4:33 PM, Kevin Vahey wrote: > WODS has flipped to holiday - WMJX hasn't as of yet. > From irw@well.com Fri Nov 11 17:39:38 2011 From: irw@well.com (Blaine Thompson) Date: Fri, 11 Nov 2011 14:39:38 -0800 (PST) Subject: Merry Christmas In-Reply-To: <20157.41786.737890.707194@hergotha.csail.mit.edu> Message-ID: <1482024991.2605.1321051178625.JavaMail.root@zimbra.well.com> What did the daytimer have to lose? :-) From walkerbroadcasting@gmail.com Fri Nov 11 18:45:10 2011 From: walkerbroadcasting@gmail.com (Paul B. Walker, Jr.) Date: Fri, 11 Nov 2011 18:45:10 -0500 Subject: Merry Christmas In-Reply-To: <1482024991.2605.1321051178625.JavaMail.root@zimbra.well.com> References: <20157.41786.737890.707194@hergotha.csail.mit.edu> <1482024991.2605.1321051178625.JavaMail.root@zimbra.well.com> Message-ID: Blaine..notta heckuva lot...lol... On Nov 11, 2011 6:40 PM, "Blaine Thompson" wrote: > What did the daytimer have to lose? :-) > > From wilkinsmg@hotmail.com Fri Nov 11 18:33:25 2011 From: wilkinsmg@hotmail.com (Michael Wilkins) Date: Fri, 11 Nov 2011 18:33:25 -0500 Subject: Merry Christmas In-Reply-To: References: , Message-ID: WCRB (99.5) had smatterings of Christmas music - as part of a fund drive (cd gift) - that started this past Wednesday. Mike > Date: Fri, 11 Nov 2011 16:46:30 -0500 > Subject: Re: Merry Christmas > From: rbello@belloassoc.com > To: kvahey@gmail.com > CC: BRI@bostonradio.org > > Why would WMJX flip to Christmas music ? > They would be competing with co-owned WROR which flipped just after WODS @ > 5am. > > > On Fri, Nov 11, 2011 at 4:33 PM, Kevin Vahey wrote: > > > WODS has flipped to holiday - WMJX hasn't as of yet. > > From walkerbroadcasting@gmail.com Sat Nov 12 12:47:49 2011 From: walkerbroadcasting@gmail.com (Paul B. Walker, Jr.) Date: Sat, 12 Nov 2011 11:47:49 -0600 Subject: Local Radio Still Going Strong In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Luckily, since I've been here in the last 4 months, no major breaking news or weather stories locally. We did talk about the Richmond, VA earthquake on and off for an hour when it happened a few months ago. When it comes to important news and weather events, we cover it the best way we can with regards to what our listeners want/need and with the resources we have. I can't say for sure because I don't know any numbers, but I'd say we have a large portion of the listenership in the area even with a News/Talk FM just to our north, an oldies, classic hits and Hot AC station to our east. We have a large coverage area, serving almost 16 counties.. but we try and be a bit local to everyone. On Sat, Nov 12, 2011 at 11:14 AM, Mark Casey wrote: > My hat's off to your station and the stations like yours. What you said > proves that a station can serve the public on a local level and still make > enough of a profit to stay in business. And, there are many areas with > successful local operations that really serve the public well. > > But in our recent snowstorm, with power out for a week, and tornados in > June, ?with power out for 3-4 days here in Western Mass., there was no good > local radio coverage. The TV stations did a good job. Few folks have battery > operated TV's, but many have battery operated radios. Even Radio Stations > broadcasting the TV coverage in a timely manner, (not a day or 2 later) > would be appreciated. Unfortunately, We have no good local station like > yours in the Springfield , Mass. area. > > Mark Casey Hampden, MA > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Paul B. Walker, Jr." > To: "Boston Radio Group" > Sent: Friday, November 11, 2011 6:04 PM > Subject: Local Radio Still Going Strong > > > On and off, I see people on this list and many others complaining > about how corpratized and non local radio has become. > > I happen to work for a station, that gets it.. both from a programming > and advertising standpoint. Our listeners LOVE us and our advertisers > LOVE us. We aren't perfect, but we sure try and we definately do care. > > We're a 50,000 Watt (ERP) FM standalone Country formatted station in a > town of 4000 people. > > Just recently, we gave away a trip to see the Country Music > Association Awards in Nashville and we did it LOCALLY.v All paid for > and arranged locally. Next month, we're giving away $2000 in CASH for > Christmas... Again, ALL locally. > > We take requests on and off all day long. > > We've broadcast 11/12/13 year old softball games, football and > wrestling sports broadcasts are HUGE here. > > I've worked in radio for 7 years and the equipment here is second to > none, best I've ever worked with.... We've got 4 24K Gold plated > Electrovoice RE20 Microphones, 2 Axia IP Digital Programmable > consoles. A Bank style time/temp/date sign on our front lawn, a neon > sign on the roof line and a rotating dog head on the roof of our > building. Plus, a station vehicle, a Smart car that barks and howls. > > Sure, I like to brag on my station a little bit.. but we have fun here > while serving the community, our advertisers and listeners. And I > wanted people to see there are still some GOOD stations left in this > world. > > You can listen online at www.houndcountry.com > > Paul Walker > Afternoons/Evenings, 3pm to 12midnight > 97.5 The Hound WDDH Ridgway/Saint Marys, Pennsylvania > > > From map@mapinternet.com Sat Nov 12 12:14:29 2011 From: map@mapinternet.com (Mark Casey) Date: Sat, 12 Nov 2011 12:14:29 -0500 Subject: Local Radio Still Going Strong In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: My hat's off to your station and the stations like yours. What you said proves that a station can serve the public on a local level and still make enough of a profit to stay in business. And, there are many areas with successful local operations that really serve the public well. But in our recent snowstorm, with power out for a week, and tornados in June, with power out for 3-4 days here in Western Mass., there was no good local radio coverage. The TV stations did a good job. Few folks have battery operated TV's, but many have battery operated radios. Even Radio Stations broadcasting the TV coverage in a timely manner, (not a day or 2 later) would be appreciated. Unfortunately, We have no good local station like yours in the Springfield , Mass. area. Mark Casey Hampden, MA ----- Original Message ----- From: "Paul B. Walker, Jr." To: "Boston Radio Group" Sent: Friday, November 11, 2011 6:04 PM Subject: Local Radio Still Going Strong On and off, I see people on this list and many others complaining about how corpratized and non local radio has become. I happen to work for a station, that gets it.. both from a programming and advertising standpoint. Our listeners LOVE us and our advertisers LOVE us. We aren't perfect, but we sure try and we definately do care. We're a 50,000 Watt (ERP) FM standalone Country formatted station in a town of 4000 people. Just recently, we gave away a trip to see the Country Music Association Awards in Nashville and we did it LOCALLY.v All paid for and arranged locally. Next month, we're giving away $2000 in CASH for Christmas... Again, ALL locally. We take requests on and off all day long. We've broadcast 11/12/13 year old softball games, football and wrestling sports broadcasts are HUGE here. I've worked in radio for 7 years and the equipment here is second to none, best I've ever worked with.... We've got 4 24K Gold plated Electrovoice RE20 Microphones, 2 Axia IP Digital Programmable consoles. A Bank style time/temp/date sign on our front lawn, a neon sign on the roof line and a rotating dog head on the roof of our building. Plus, a station vehicle, a Smart car that barks and howls. Sure, I like to brag on my station a little bit.. but we have fun here while serving the community, our advertisers and listeners. And I wanted people to see there are still some GOOD stations left in this world. You can listen online at www.houndcountry.com Paul Walker Afternoons/Evenings, 3pm to 12midnight 97.5 The Hound WDDH Ridgway/Saint Marys, Pennsylvania From dlh@donnahalper.com Sat Nov 12 13:01:04 2011 From: dlh@donnahalper.com (Donna Halper) Date: Sat, 12 Nov 2011 13:01:04 -0500 Subject: Boston Red Sox on WBZ-TV In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <4EBEB460.9030308@donnahalper.com> Perhaps some of you know something more about this: on the Boston Red Sox site, it says the first televised Red Sox game was broadcast on WBZ-TV on May 12, 1948. I am thinking that cannot be right, since WBZ-TV did not go on the air till June 9th, and WNAC did not go on the air till several weeks later. (As Arch MacDonald, then a WBZ Radio announcer, later recalled, the studios weren't even completed when he did his first TV newscast.) I checked all my files and the earliest I can find a TV game for the Sox is in early July. The Braves got on TV first-- June 15th, I believe. The Red Sox were telecast in other cities-- in Cleveland, WEWS-TV was televising games as early as the last week of May. But I cannot find evidence that a May Red Sox telecast took place from Fenway Park. Do any of you know where that May 12th date could have come from? From kvahey@gmail.com Sat Nov 12 13:58:26 2011 From: kvahey@gmail.com (Kevin Vahey) Date: Sat, 12 Nov 2011 13:58:26 -0500 Subject: Boston Red Sox on WBZ-TV In-Reply-To: <4EBEB460.9030308@donnahalper.com> References: <4EBEB460.9030308@donnahalper.com> Message-ID: Donna My understanding is that WBZ-TV did a couple of test telecasts before the official sign on. The game in question was on a Wednesday afternoon vs Chicago. On Sat, Nov 12, 2011 at 1:01 PM, Donna Halper wrote: > Perhaps some of you know something more about this: on the Boston Red Sox > site, it says the first televised Red Sox game was broadcast on WBZ-TV on > May 12, 1948. I am thinking that cannot be right, since WBZ-TV did not go > on the air till June 9th, and WNAC did not go on the air till several weeks > later. (As Arch MacDonald, then a WBZ Radio announcer, later recalled, the > studios weren't even completed when he did his first TV newscast.) I > checked all my files and the earliest I can find a TV game for the Sox is > in early July. The Braves got on TV first-- June 15th, I believe. The Red > Sox were telecast in other cities-- in Cleveland, WEWS-TV was televising > games as early as the last week of May. But I cannot find evidence that a > May Red Sox telecast took place from Fenway Park. Do any of you know where > that May 12th date could have come from? > From kvahey@gmail.com Sat Nov 12 14:10:39 2011 From: kvahey@gmail.com (Kevin Vahey) Date: Sat, 12 Nov 2011 14:10:39 -0500 Subject: Boston Red Sox on WBZ-TV In-Reply-To: <4EBEC27F.6090101@donnahalper.com> References: <4EBEB460.9030308@donnahalper.com> <4EBEC27F.6090101@donnahalper.com> Message-ID: All I know is the handwritten entry in the official scorebook said it was the first televised game at Fenway. It may have been a rehearsal that wasn't actually broadcast. My friend at the Red Sox wondered if it was being televised back to Chicago but that would have been impossible in 1948 as the coax link ended at Buffalo. On Sat, Nov 12, 2011 at 2:01 PM, Donna Halper wrote: > ** > On 11/12/2011 1:58 PM, Kevin Vahey wrote: > > Donna > > My understanding is that WBZ-TV did a couple of test telecasts before > the official sign on. The game in question was on a Wednesday afternoon vs > Chicago. > > > Yes, but in Broadcasting magazine (16 June 1948), it said the first test > telecast was on the 29th of May, at 5:41 pm exactly. If there had been a > broadcast before that, wouldn't WBZ-TV have wanted that mentioned? > From dlh@donnahalper.com Sat Nov 12 14:01:19 2011 From: dlh@donnahalper.com (Donna Halper) Date: Sat, 12 Nov 2011 14:01:19 -0500 Subject: Boston Red Sox on WBZ-TV In-Reply-To: References: <4EBEB460.9030308@donnahalper.com> Message-ID: <4EBEC27F.6090101@donnahalper.com> On 11/12/2011 1:58 PM, Kevin Vahey wrote: > Donna > > My understanding is that WBZ-TV did a couple of test telecasts before > the official sign on. The game in question was on a Wednesday > afternoon vs Chicago. Yes, but in Broadcasting magazine (16 June 1948), it said the first test telecast was on the 29th of May, at 5:41 pm exactly. If there had been a broadcast before that, wouldn't WBZ-TV have wanted that mentioned? From joe@attorneyross.com Sat Nov 12 14:35:09 2011 From: joe@attorneyross.com (A Joseph Ross) Date: Sat, 12 Nov 2011 14:35:09 -0500 Subject: Merry Christmas In-Reply-To: <4EBD9B37.5020908@donnahalper.com> References: <4EBD9B37.5020908@donnahalper.com> Message-ID: <4EBECA6D.7070707@attorneyross.com> On 11/11/2011 5:01 PM, Donna Halper wrote: > The war on Hanukkah continues! Is it my imagination, or are > stations and retail stores flipping to Christmas music earlier and > earlier? Well, I say this every year. Sometime back in the 1950s, I saw Christmas decorations in a department store around Halloween and remarked on it. I was told that they were rushing it this year. Every year we seem to think it starts earlier and earlier, but if it really did start earlier and earlier, since I first heard the remark in the 1950s, we would now be starting next year's Christmas season. It only seems earlier and earlier. -- 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 From joe@attorneyross.com Sat Nov 12 14:39:54 2011 From: joe@attorneyross.com (A Joseph Ross) Date: Sat, 12 Nov 2011 14:39:54 -0500 Subject: Boston Red Sox on WBZ-TV In-Reply-To: References: <4EBEB460.9030308@donnahalper.com> <4EBEC27F.6090101@donnahalper.com> Message-ID: <4EBECB8A.7070400@attorneyross.com> On 11/12/2011 2:10 PM, Kevin Vahey wrote: > All I know is the handwritten entry in the official scorebook said it was > the first televised game at Fenway. It may have been a rehearsal that > wasn't actually broadcast. > > My friend at the Red Sox wondered if it was being televised back to Chicago > but that would have been impossible in 1948 as the coax link ended at > Buffalo. Might there be any station records at WBZ? -- 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 From wollman@bimajority.org Sun Nov 13 13:50:10 2011 From: wollman@bimajority.org (Garrett Wollman) Date: Sun, 13 Nov 2011 13:50:10 -0500 Subject: Christmas Music, as they saw it in 1941 Message-ID: <20160.4450.172440.725787@hergotha.csail.mit.edu> >From /Broadcasting/, December 15, 1941: Record Rules Restrictions on recordings have been set up at WDAS, Philadelphia, by Program Director Harold Davis. Feeling that indiscriminate use of Christmas carols is not good for either station, listener or the carol, /Silent Night/ and all other standard Yuletide songs have been placed on the restricted list with special permission necessary from the program department for use. Absolutely forbidden are swing or jazz arrangements of /Silent Night/ and the /First Noel/ though such treatment is permissible for /Jingle Bells/. Restriction is also placed on new record releases to avoid plugging. I suppose in these more tightly-formatted days, jocks at most stations (that still have jocks) will just be given the holiday songs to be played on their regular music log as it comes out of Selector (or whatever other software the station uses for music scheduling). At least we know that the complaints about Christmas music on the radio are nothing new.... -GAWollman From walkerbroadcasting@gmail.com Sun Nov 13 13:55:38 2011 From: walkerbroadcasting@gmail.com (Paul B. Walker, Jr.) Date: Sun, 13 Nov 2011 12:55:38 -0600 Subject: Christmas Music, as they saw it in 1941 In-Reply-To: <20160.4450.172440.725787@hergotha.csail.mit.edu> References: <20160.4450.172440.725787@hergotha.csail.mit.edu> Message-ID: At the station I'm at, 97.5 The Hound, we don't go Christmas music till about 6pm Christmas Eve and only play it through 12midnight Christmas night/the following morning. Paul On Sun, Nov 13, 2011 at 12:50 PM, Garrett Wollman wrote: > From /Broadcasting/, December 15, 1941: > > ? ? ? ?Record Rules > > ? ? ? ?Restrictions on recordings have been set up at WDAS, > ? ? ? ?Philadelphia, by Program Director Harold Davis. ?Feeling that > ? ? ? ?indiscriminate use of Christmas carols is not good for either > ? ? ? ?station, listener or the carol, /Silent Night/ and all other > ? ? ? ?standard Yuletide songs have been placed on the restricted > ? ? ? ?list with special permission necessary from the program > ? ? ? ?department for use. ?Absolutely forbidden are swing or jazz > ? ? ? ?arrangements of /Silent Night/ and the /First Noel/ though > ? ? ? ?such treatment is permissible for /Jingle Bells/. ?Restriction > ? ? ? ?is also placed on new record releases to avoid plugging. > > I suppose in these more tightly-formatted days, jocks at most stations > (that still have jocks) will just be given the holiday songs to be > played on their regular music log as it comes out of Selector (or > whatever other software the station uses for music scheduling). > > At least we know that the complaints about Christmas music on the > radio are nothing new.... > > -GAWollman > From kvahey@gmail.com Tue Nov 15 13:50:36 2011 From: kvahey@gmail.com (Kevin Vahey) Date: Tue, 15 Nov 2011 13:50:36 -0500 Subject: The sad, unwarranted decline of rock music on FM radio. Message-ID: Today on slate.com a former high profile DJ at a Chicago rock stgation that flipped to news cries about how local radio is nearly dead. This one passage hits home Curiosity can make a listener tune in to a radio station. Loyalty will make him stay, and loyalty must be earned. Making that kind of connection isn?t easy, and it takes patience. It helped that I worked for a company that trusted me to host a request hour and didn?t require me to pre-record shows for the weekend or for stations in other cities. Recording a show to sound live or local when it?s neither makes a DJ sound like the great and powerful Oz?a disembodied voice behind a curtain, not to be trusted. It is a very well written piece. http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/2011/11/alternative_rock_radio_the_sad_unwarranted_decline_of_fm_rock_stations_.single.html From Jibguy@aol.com Tue Nov 15 15:41:37 2011 From: Jibguy@aol.com (Jibguy@aol.com) Date: Tue, 15 Nov 2011 15:41:37 -0500 (EST) Subject: The sad, unwarranted decline of rock music on FM radio. Message-ID: <39ad5.4d1d6d08.3bf42881@aol.com> In a message dated 11/15/2011 2:56:02 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, kvahey@gmail.com writes: Today on slate.com a former high profile DJ at a Chicago rock stgation that flipped to news cries about how local radio is nearly dead. -------------------- Has it occurred to anyone that perhaps the big guy owners of radio WANT radio to be dead? --since many of them are investing in the newer methods of delivering music?? Therefore, less competition for their new-tech services. ---BB From wollman@bimajority.org Tue Nov 15 16:11:37 2011 From: wollman@bimajority.org (Garrett Wollman) Date: Tue, 15 Nov 2011 16:11:37 -0500 Subject: The sad, unwarranted decline of rock music on FM radio. In-Reply-To: <39ad5.4d1d6d08.3bf42881@aol.com> References: <39ad5.4d1d6d08.3bf42881@aol.com> Message-ID: <20162.54665.99513.360776@hergotha.csail.mit.edu> < Has it occurred to anyone that perhaps the big guy owners of radio > WANT radio to be dead? Implausible. They have billions of dollars invested in their current radio infrastructure, and I don't believe any of the C* companies have a business plan that involves throwing that much of shareholders' money away. -GAWollman From zymrgist@comcast.net Wed Nov 16 13:20:47 2011 From: zymrgist@comcast.net (John) Date: Wed, 16 Nov 2011 13:20:47 -0500 Subject: The sad, unwarranted decline of rock music on FM radio. Message-ID: <4EC3FEFF.2020004@comcast.net> While I agree wholeheartedly that the homogenization of radio has been leading to its decline for quite some time., (Accelerating in the last decade because of the availability of alternative means of getting ones music fix) I would have to disagree with this portion of the quote in Kevin Vahney's post. > Recording a show to sound live or local when it's > neither makes a DJ sound like the great and powerful Oz---a disembodied > voice behind a curtain, not to be trusted. If that is how the DJ sounds, then the DJ is not doing it right. I can record a weekend show that you would never know wasn't live unless you were told. I can give the time, talk about current events, etc. I've even given some information on the air, then a break later mentioned how such and such listener called in and corrected me and gave the corrected info. Both of those breaks prerecorded two days before. It's all in how you present it. John Lee From wollman@bimajority.org Wed Nov 16 14:02:39 2011 From: wollman@bimajority.org (Garrett Wollman) Date: Wed, 16 Nov 2011 14:02:39 -0500 Subject: The sad, unwarranted decline of rock music on FM radio. In-Reply-To: <4EC3FEFF.2020004@comcast.net> References: <4EC3FEFF.2020004@comcast.net> Message-ID: <20164.2255.81593.363044@hergotha.csail.mit.edu> < said: > I've even given some information on the air, then a break later mentioned > how such and such listener called in and corrected me and gave the > corrected info. Both of those breaks prerecorded two days before. > It's all in how you present it. That's incredibly dishonest. -GAWollman From kvahey@gmail.com Wed Nov 16 14:15:48 2011 From: kvahey@gmail.com (Kevin Vahey) Date: Wed, 16 Nov 2011 14:15:48 -0500 Subject: The sad, unwarranted decline of rock music on FM radio. In-Reply-To: <20164.2255.81593.363044@hergotha.csail.mit.edu> References: <4EC3FEFF.2020004@comcast.net> <20164.2255.81593.363044@hergotha.csail.mit.edu> Message-ID: 20 years ago I listened to Dale Dorman doing voice tracked afternoon drive in Orlando. Sure he was scripted to make it sound local but the reality was he was in Medford not Florida. On Wed, Nov 16, 2011 at 2:02 PM, Garrett Wollman wrote: > < said: > > > I've even given some information on the air, then a break later > mentioned > > how such and such listener called in and corrected me and gave the > > corrected info. Both of those breaks prerecorded two days before. > > It's all in how you present it. > > That's incredibly dishonest. > > -GAWollman > > From aerie.ma@comcast.net Wed Nov 16 14:26:28 2011 From: aerie.ma@comcast.net (Jim Hall) Date: Wed, 16 Nov 2011 14:26:28 -0500 Subject: The sad, unwarranted decline of rock music on FM radio. In-Reply-To: <4EC3FEFF.2020004@comcast.net> References: <4EC3FEFF.2020004@comcast.net> Message-ID: <82154C1BDCF747509368791027D048A7@CHEM214> This is not really a-propos of voice tracking, but it used to bug me royally when WKOX/WXKS would play recordings of their weekday shows on the weekend (fine, lots of talk stations do that), but complete with days-old news, traffic, and weather. I remember I once detoured around a "traffic jam" on 128 on a Saturday...not realizing that the traffic jam had been the previous Tuesday. > Recording a show to sound live or local when it's > neither makes a DJ sound like the great and powerful Oz---a disembodied > voice behind a curtain, not to be trusted. If that is how the DJ sounds, then the DJ is not doing it right. I can record a weekend show that you would never know wasn't live unless you were told. I can give the time, talk about current events, etc. I've even given some information on the air, then a break later mentioned how such and such listener called in and corrected me and gave the corrected info. Both of those breaks prerecorded two days before. It's all in how you present it. John Lee From wollman@bimajority.org Wed Nov 16 15:29:28 2011 From: wollman@bimajority.org (Garrett Wollman) Date: Wed, 16 Nov 2011 15:29:28 -0500 Subject: The sad, unwarranted decline of rock music on FM radio. In-Reply-To: References: <4EC3FEFF.2020004@comcast.net> <20164.2255.81593.363044@hergotha.csail.mit.edu> Message-ID: <20164.7464.182348.13439@hergotha.csail.mit.edu> < said: > 20 years ago I listened to Dale Dorman doing voice tracked afternoon drive > in Orlando. Sure he was scripted to make it sound local but the reality was > he was in Medford not Florida. You can make it sound local (and even, dare I say it, fresh) without lying to your listeners. -GAWollman From dan.strassberg@att.net Wed Nov 16 14:59:29 2011 From: dan.strassberg@att.net (Dan.Strassberg) Date: Wed, 16 Nov 2011 14:59:29 -0500 Subject: The sad, unwarranted decline of rock music on FM radio. References: <4EC3FEFF.2020004@comcast.net> <20164.2255.81593.363044@hergotha.csail.mit.edu> Message-ID: Radio serves many purposes, but in the US, the one that occupies more station-hours than any other is entertainment. If the little trompe d'oreil that John described was entertaining and if it hurt nobody, it was certainly in keeping with the entertainment theme. Why should it even matter if it (successfully) deceived the listeners--as John obviously intended it to do? You can argue that "The War of the Worlds" on Orson Wells Mercury Theater was inappropriate because it caused some harm (albeit, AFAIK, no _lasting_ harm), but damned if it isn't still quite entertaining to listen to 75 years after it first aired and a few hours less than 75 years after the "joke" was given away. ----- Dan Strassberg (dan.strassberg@att.net) eFax 1-707-215-6367 ----- Original Message ----- From: "Garrett Wollman" To: "John" Cc: Sent: Wednesday, November 16, 2011 2:02 PM Subject: Re: The sad, unwarranted decline of rock music on FM radio. > < > said: > >> I've even given some information on the air, then a break later >> mentioned >> how such and such listener called in and corrected me and gave the >> corrected info. Both of those breaks prerecorded two days before. >> It's all in how you present it. > > That's incredibly dishonest. > > -GAWollman > From radiotest@plymouthcolony.net Wed Nov 16 15:02:23 2011 From: radiotest@plymouthcolony.net (Dale H. Cook) Date: Wed, 16 Nov 2011 15:02:23 -0500 Subject: The sad, unwarranted decline of rock music on FM radio. In-Reply-To: References: <4EC3FEFF.2020004@comcast.net> <20164.2255.81593.363044@hergotha.csail.mit.edu> Message-ID: <7.0.1.0.2.20111116145205.027f4790@plymouthcolony.net> The primary key to making a voicetracked shift sound live is very simple - treat it as a live shift. Each track should be recorded in one shot - no re-recording and no editing of voicetracks. The best local announcers who I have worked with, in terms of making a voicetracked shift sound live, have always done exactly that, back to the days of pre-recording tracks on tape. The mistakes are left in, because in a live shift you cannot backtrack to correct errors, you can only correct them on the fly. The announcers who I have worked with who re-recorded tracks, sometime many times, have not, in general, sounded as fresh as those who excelled at recording each track but once. Dale H. Cook, Contract Engineer, Roanoke/Lynchburg, VA http://plymouthcolony.net/starcityeng/index.html From Donald_Astelle@yahoo.com Wed Nov 16 16:01:46 2011 From: Donald_Astelle@yahoo.com (Don) Date: Wed, 16 Nov 2011 16:01:46 -0500 Subject: Pattern change sign-on/off times, etc.... Message-ID: <4A9A1CFC50244B1C98EECF903A203B83@s20035> I know I've seen it on the web before......but I cant now....and maybe you can help. Where can I find the sign-on/sign-off schedule (for daytimers) and power/pattern change times for stations in this areas? Thanks! DOn From joe@attorneyross.com Wed Nov 16 16:06:51 2011 From: joe@attorneyross.com (A. Joseph Ross) Date: Wed, 16 Nov 2011 16:06:51 -0500 Subject: The sad, unwarranted decline of rock music on FM radio. In-Reply-To: References: <4EC3FEFF.2020004@comcast.net> <20164.2255.81593.363044@hergotha.csail.mit.edu> Message-ID: <4EC425EB.6020405@attorneyross.com> On 11/16/2011 2:59 PM, Dan.Strassberg wrote: > You can argue that "The War of the Worlds" on Orson Wells Mercury > Theater was inappropriate because it caused some harm (albeit, AFAIK, > no _lasting_ harm), No? Didn't it cause some deaths? -- 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 From wollman@bimajority.org Wed Nov 16 17:11:10 2011 From: wollman@bimajority.org (Garrett Wollman) Date: Wed, 16 Nov 2011 17:11:10 -0500 Subject: Pattern change sign-on/off times, etc.... In-Reply-To: <4A9A1CFC50244B1C98EECF903A203B83@s20035> References: <4A9A1CFC50244B1C98EECF903A203B83@s20035> Message-ID: <20164.13566.194050.451064@hergotha.csail.mit.edu> < said: > Where can I find the sign-on/sign-off schedule (for daytimers) and > power/pattern change times for stations in this areas? There's a calculator on the FCC site (if you can find it). Yep, there it is: -GAWollman From mrschuyler@aol.com Wed Nov 9 08:55:05 2011 From: mrschuyler@aol.com (J.E.Schuyler) Date: Wed, 9 Nov 2011 08:55:05 -0500 (EST) Subject: News of interest re: WBZ, WRGB Message-ID: <8CE6CFE51657699-F2C-13AA5C@webmail-d092.sysops.aol.com> Doug Drown wrote: .....WRGB in Schenectady is being sold to Sinclair..... One hopes that Sinclair, aware that it will now own the oldest television station in the world, will finally put to rest the "CBS6 Albany" moniker and return to emphasizing the call letters, as CBS [finally] wisely did with "CBS4" WBZ-TV. (My curmudgeonly prejudice is showing here.) -Doug I can out-curmudgeon that. I'll bet they keep "CBS6" and change the call letters! What they SHOULD change is their RF channel as they are one of the few (the only?) station still on Channel 6 (not counting "Hot 97"). They'd be doing viewers a favor by decamping the Lo-V band, but if they are truly the "horizontal axis of evil" they'll stay put out of spite, just to prevent FM band expansion. Now get off my lawn! -- Schuyler From linc45r-n@lincster.com Wed Nov 16 15:01:38 2011 From: linc45r-n@lincster.com (Linc Reed-Nickerson) Date: Wed, 16 Nov 2011 12:01:38 -0800 Subject: The Globe looks at the future of AM radio In-Reply-To: <82fad.15591a6e.3becf340@aol.com> References: <82fad.15591a6e.3becf340@aol.com> Message-ID: <4EC416A2.4030102@lincster.com> It's interesting, here in Eastern Oregon I'm getting more buys on my Classic Country AM than on my Classic-Rock FM. AM skews old, as expected. Linc KBNH & KORC From kc1ih@mac.com Wed Nov 16 17:25:36 2011 From: kc1ih@mac.com (Larry Weil) Date: Wed, 16 Nov 2011 17:25:36 -0500 Subject: WMUR to air 10 PM newscast on HD-2 Message-ID: <43A0FDC0-F63A-4647-99AC-EB204E1257B2@mac.com> WMUR (ch 9, Manchester, NH) just announced that beginning in January they will air a 10 PM newscast on WMUR-HD2, which broadcasts ?ME TV? at other times. I suppose this is in reaction to the newly inaugurated 10 PM newscast on WBIN. They did not say if this is a half-hour or hour newscast. Larry Weil Lake Wobegone, NH From atolz@comcast.net Wed Nov 16 18:08:43 2011 From: atolz@comcast.net (Alan Tolz) Date: Wed, 16 Nov 2011 18:08:43 -0500 Subject: The sad, unwarranted decline of rock music on FM radio. In-Reply-To: <4EC3FEFF.2020004@comcast.net> References: <4EC3FEFF.2020004@comcast.net> Message-ID: How do you do weather? Sent from my iPhone On Nov 16, 2011, at 1:20 PM, John wrote: > While I agree wholeheartedly that the homogenization of radio > has been leading to its decline for quite some time., (Accelerating > in the last decade because of the availability of alternative > means of getting ones music fix) > I would have to disagree with this portion of the quote in Kevin Vahney's post. >> Recording a show to sound live or local when it's >> neither makes a DJ sound like the great and powerful Oz---a disembodied >> voice behind a curtain, not to be trusted. > If that is how the DJ sounds, then the DJ is not doing it right. > I can record a weekend show that you would never know wasn't live > unless you were told. I can give the time, talk about current events, etc. > I've even given some information on the air, then a break later mentioned > how such and such listener called in and corrected me and gave the > corrected info. Both of those breaks prerecorded two days before. > It's all in how you present it. > John Lee From dan.strassberg@att.net Wed Nov 16 18:30:18 2011 From: dan.strassberg@att.net (Dan.Strassberg) Date: Wed, 16 Nov 2011 18:30:18 -0500 Subject: Pattern change sign-on/off times, etc.... References: <4A9A1CFC50244B1C98EECF903A203B83@s20035> <20164.13566.194050.451064@hergotha.csail.mit.edu> Message-ID: However, remember that AMs that operate from dual transmitter sites have pattern-change times that can differ from those based on the location of either site. The FCC calculates these manually to avoid situations that would force these stations to go silent for 15-minute periods near sunrise and/or sunset in some months as the result of differences between the rounded sunrise times and/or sunset times at the separate sites. At the moment, I don't think there are any dual-site AMs near Boston. WBIX used to be one but its successor, WQOM, no longer is. ----- Dan Strassberg (dan.strassberg@att.net) eFax 1-707-215-6367 ----- Original Message ----- From: "Garrett Wollman" To: "Don" Cc: "B-R-I" Sent: Wednesday, November 16, 2011 5:11 PM Subject: Pattern change sign-on/off times, etc.... > < said: > >> Where can I find the sign-on/sign-off schedule (for daytimers) and >> power/pattern change times for stations in this areas? > > There's a calculator on the FCC site (if you can find it). Yep, > there > it is: > > -GAWollman > From dan.strassberg@att.net Wed Nov 16 18:33:42 2011 From: dan.strassberg@att.net (Dan.Strassberg) Date: Wed, 16 Nov 2011 18:33:42 -0500 Subject: News of interest re: WBZ, WRGB References: <8CE6CFE51657699-F2C-13AA5C@webmail-d092.sysops.aol.com> Message-ID: <812E240DEEFA485CA445289B7E6D361F@SatU205S5044> I think WPVI Philadelphia remains on Channel 6 but, unlike WRGB, not by its own choice. ----- Dan Strassberg (dan.strassberg@att.net) eFax 1-707-215-6367 ----- Original Message ----- From: "J.E.Schuyler" To: Sent: Wednesday, November 09, 2011 8:55 AM Subject: News of interest re: WBZ, WRGB Doug Drown wrote: .....WRGB in Schenectady is being sold to Sinclair..... One hopes that Sinclair, aware that it will now own the oldest television station in the world, will finally put to rest the "CBS6 Albany" moniker and return to emphasizing the call letters, as CBS [finally] wisely did with "CBS4" WBZ-TV. (My curmudgeonly prejudice is showing here.) -Doug I can out-curmudgeon that. I'll bet they keep "CBS6" and change the call letters! What they SHOULD change is their RF channel as they are one of the few (the only?) station still on Channel 6 (not counting "Hot 97"). They'd be doing viewers a favor by decamping the Lo-V band, but if they are truly the "horizontal axis of evil" they'll stay put out of spite, just to prevent FM band expansion. Now get off my lawn! -- Schuyler From gary@garysicecream.com Wed Nov 16 19:15:44 2011 From: gary@garysicecream.com (Garys Ice Cream) Date: Wed, 16 Nov 2011 19:15:44 -0500 Subject: The sad, unwarranted decline of rock music on FM radio. In-Reply-To: References: <4EC3FEFF.2020004@comcast.net> Message-ID: <02ae01cca4be$0d9e4740$28dad5c0$@com> The same as the meteorologists do......they guess! -----Original Message----- From: boston-radio-interest-bounces@tsornin.BostonRadio.org [mailto:boston-radio-interest-bounces@tsornin.BostonRadio.org] On Behalf Of Alan Tolz Sent: Wednesday, November 16, 2011 6:09 PM To: John Cc: boston-radio-interest@lists.BostonRadio.org Subject: Re: The sad, unwarranted decline of rock music on FM radio. How do you do weather? Sent from my iPhone On Nov 16, 2011, at 1:20 PM, John wrote: > While I agree wholeheartedly that the homogenization of radio > has been leading to its decline for quite some time., (Accelerating > in the last decade because of the availability of alternative > means of getting ones music fix) > I would have to disagree with this portion of the quote in Kevin Vahney's post. >> Recording a show to sound live or local when it's >> neither makes a DJ sound like the great and powerful Oz---a disembodied >> voice behind a curtain, not to be trusted. > If that is how the DJ sounds, then the DJ is not doing it right. > I can record a weekend show that you would never know wasn't live > unless you were told. I can give the time, talk about current events, etc. > I've even given some information on the air, then a break later mentioned > how such and such listener called in and corrected me and gave the > corrected info. Both of those breaks prerecorded two days before. > It's all in how you present it. > John Lee From m_carney@yahoo.com Wed Nov 16 20:03:30 2011 From: m_carney@yahoo.com (Maureen Carney) Date: Wed, 16 Nov 2011 17:03:30 -0800 (PST) Subject: WMFP switching to MeTV Message-ID: <1321491810.90150.YahooMailNeo@web161305.mail.bf1.yahoo.com> They're dumping RTV, at least on 62.1. There is a possibility it might appear on 62.2, but that doesn't have clearance on Comcast. No word on if they're giving up the AM infomercial block. I hope they do - I'm looking forward to "Dobie Gillis" and the original "Hawaii 5-O". http://www.metvnetwork.com/files/WMFPMe-TVLaunch.pdf From zymrgist@comcast.net Wed Nov 16 21:08:35 2011 From: zymrgist@comcast.net (John) Date: Wed, 16 Nov 2011 21:08:35 -0500 Subject: The sad, unwarranted decline of rock music on FM radio. Message-ID: <4EC46CA3.9050707@comcast.net> > That's incredibly dishonest. Announcers used to broadcast baseball games, complete with sound effects by reading the play by play off of a teletype..... We're not trying to save souls here.... We're entertainers! John From wollman@bimajority.org Wed Nov 16 21:57:32 2011 From: wollman@bimajority.org (Garrett Wollman) Date: Wed, 16 Nov 2011 21:57:32 -0500 Subject: The sad, unwarranted decline of rock music on FM radio. In-Reply-To: <4EC46CA3.9050707@comcast.net> References: <4EC46CA3.9050707@comcast.net> Message-ID: <20164.30748.631716.562873@hergotha.csail.mit.edu> < said: >> That's incredibly dishonest. > Announcers used to broadcast baseball games, complete with > sound effects by reading the play by play off of a teletype..... Yes, and? -GAWollman From bob.bosra@demattia.net Wed Nov 16 22:04:09 2011 From: bob.bosra@demattia.net (Bob DeMattia) Date: Wed, 16 Nov 2011 22:04:09 -0500 Subject: The sad, unwarranted decline of rock music on FM radio. In-Reply-To: <20164.30748.631716.562873@hergotha.csail.mit.edu> References: <4EC46CA3.9050707@comcast.net> <20164.30748.631716.562873@hergotha.csail.mit.edu> Message-ID: ...and then there was the Blue Hills Volcano From donald_astelle@yahoo.com Wed Nov 16 21:44:07 2011 From: donald_astelle@yahoo.com (D. A.) Date: Wed, 16 Nov 2011 18:44:07 -0800 (PST) Subject: Pattern change sign-on/off times, etc.... In-Reply-To: <20164.13566.194050.451064@hergotha.csail.mit.edu> Message-ID: <1321497847.537.YahooMailClassic@web110516.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> > > Where can I find the sign-on/sign-off schedule (for > daytimers) and > > power/pattern change times for stations in this > areas? > > There's a calculator on the FCC site (if you can find > it). Yep, there > it is: Thanks Garrett Does the FCC also have a page for each licensee that lists it's assigned sign-on/sign-off times? For instance, WILD here in Boston. (I can never find anything I want at the FCC site!) D From wollman@bimajority.org Wed Nov 16 23:04:21 2011 From: wollman@bimajority.org (Garrett Wollman) Date: Wed, 16 Nov 2011 23:04:21 -0500 Subject: UNS: Re: Pattern change sign-on/off times, etc.... In-Reply-To: <1321497847.537.YahooMailClassic@web110516.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> References: <20164.13566.194050.451064@hergotha.csail.mit.edu> <1321497847.537.YahooMailClassic@web110516.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <20164.34757.798394.276927@hergotha.csail.mit.edu> < said: > Does the FCC also have a page for each licensee that lists it's > assigned sign-on/sign-off times? Yes. You have to go into CDBS, do an application search for the station, find the most recent application for a license (file number prefix "BL"), select the "Info" link, and then view the authorization. This isn't possible for long-standing licenses. (WNTN, WDIS, and WFPB are in this category, but WILD was moved recently enough that the FCC has an electronic record.) > For instance, WILD here in Boston. Their regular schedule for this month is 6:30a-4:30p; next month it's 7:00a-4:15p. Note that if a station is eligible for pre-sunrise or post-sunset authority, it will not necessarily be shown here. -GAWollman From walkerbroadcasting@gmail.com Wed Nov 16 23:06:55 2011 From: walkerbroadcasting@gmail.com (Paul B. Walker, Jr.) Date: Wed, 16 Nov 2011 22:06:55 -0600 Subject: UNS: Re: Pattern change sign-on/off times, etc.... In-Reply-To: <20164.34757.798394.276927@hergotha.csail.mit.edu> References: <20164.13566.194050.451064@hergotha.csail.mit.edu> <1321497847.537.YahooMailClassic@web110516.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> <20164.34757.798394.276927@hergotha.csail.mit.edu> Message-ID: Alot of stations have a PSRA or PSSA and it's only on paper at the station and that's it. If a stations PSRA or PSSA is lower then their night time power, they can actually use their night time power. Paul Walker On Wed, Nov 16, 2011 at 10:04 PM, Garrett Wollman wrote: > < said: > >> Does the FCC also have a page for each licensee that lists it's >> assigned sign-on/sign-off times? > > Yes. ?You have to go into CDBS, do an application search for the > station, find the most recent application for a license (file number > prefix "BL"), select the "Info" link, and then view the > authorization. ?This isn't possible for long-standing licenses. > (WNTN, WDIS, and WFPB are in this category, but WILD was moved > recently enough that the FCC has an electronic record.) > >> For instance, WILD here in Boston. > > Their regular schedule for this month is 6:30a-4:30p; next month it's > 7:00a-4:15p. ?Note that if a station is eligible for pre-sunrise or > post-sunset authority, it will not necessarily be shown here. > > -GAWollman > > From raccoonradio@gmail.com Thu Nov 17 11:43:13 2011 From: raccoonradio@gmail.com (Bob Nelson) Date: Thu, 17 Nov 2011 11:43:13 -0500 Subject: WMFP switching to MeTV In-Reply-To: <1321491810.90150.YahooMailNeo@web161305.mail.bf1.yahoo.com> References: <1321491810.90150.YahooMailNeo@web161305.mail.bf1.yahoo.com> Message-ID: I have noticed MeTV on my cable--I think it's a sub-channel of WMUR-TV 9. Many reruns and also I believe, on Saturday nights, they run cheesy horror movies with the funny "Svengoolie" host out of Chicago (orig. DJ Jerry G. Bishop and now Rich Koz). On Wed, Nov 16, 2011 at 8:03 PM, Maureen Carney wrote: > They're dumping RTV, at least on 62.1. There is a possibility it might appear on 62.2, but that doesn't have clearance on Comcast. No word on if they're giving up the AM infomercial block. I hope they do - I'm looking forward to "Dobie Gillis" and the original "Hawaii 5-O". > > > http://www.metvnetwork.com/files/WMFPMe-TVLaunch.pdf > From raccoonradio@gmail.com Thu Nov 17 11:45:20 2011 From: raccoonradio@gmail.com (Bob Nelson) Date: Thu, 17 Nov 2011 11:45:20 -0500 Subject: The sad, unwarranted decline of rock music on FM radio. In-Reply-To: <4EC46CA3.9050707@comcast.net> References: <4EC46CA3.9050707@comcast.net> Message-ID: One such broadcaster, who kept having the batter foul off pitches when the teletype broke down, would decades later become President... Well, there I go again. On Wed, Nov 16, 2011 at 9:08 PM, John wrote: >> That's incredibly dishonest. > > Announcers used to broadcast baseball games, complete with > sound effects by reading the play by play off of a teletype..... > We're not trying to save souls here.... > We're entertainers! > John > > From sid@wrko.com Thu Nov 17 07:59:05 2011 From: sid@wrko.com (Sid Schweiger) Date: Thu, 17 Nov 2011 12:59:05 +0000 Subject: Pattern change sign-on/off times, etc.... In-Reply-To: <1321497847.537.YahooMailClassic@web110516.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> References: <20164.13566.194050.451064@hergotha.csail.mit.edu>, <1321497847.537.YahooMailClassic@web110516.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <97D53302-4288-4942-A63D-598D7EB09570@entercom.com> (I can never find anything I want at the FCC site!) There's an easy remedy for that: click the link to "Old FCC Site" on the right side of the home page. Sid Schweiger / IT Manager, Entercom New England From linc45r-n@lincster.com Thu Nov 17 09:37:09 2011 From: linc45r-n@lincster.com (Linc Reed-Nickerson) Date: Thu, 17 Nov 2011 06:37:09 -0800 Subject: Pattern change sign-on/off times, etc.... WMLO? In-Reply-To: References: <4A9A1CFC50244B1C98EECF903A203B83@s20035> <20164.13566.194050.451064@hergotha.csail.mit.edu> Message-ID: <4EC51C15.10802@lincster.com> On 11/16/2011 3:30 PM, Dan.Strassberg wrote: > However, remember that AMs that operate from dual transmitter sites > have pattern-change times that can differ from those based on the > location of either site. The FCC calculates these manually to avoid > situations that would force these stations to go silent for 15-minute > periods near sunrise and/or sunset in some months as the result of > differences between the rounded sunrise times and/or sunset times at > the separate sites. At the moment, I don't think there are any > dual-site AMs near Boston. WBIX used to be one but its successor, > WQOM, no longer is. I believe the Beverly (ex-WMLO) station had a two-site operation for a few years. The phasor and ATU's are now in my shop in Oregon to be used for our switch to 1210, DA (after rebuilding of course). Will save us about $70k, they are in new condition. Linc From kvahey@gmail.com Thu Nov 17 12:20:03 2011 From: kvahey@gmail.com (Kevin Vahey) Date: Thu, 17 Nov 2011 12:20:03 -0500 Subject: WMFP switching to MeTV In-Reply-To: References: <1321491810.90150.YahooMailNeo@web161305.mail.bf1.yahoo.com> Message-ID: Nobody in the industry (commercial) has done a better job of using the digital subchannels better than Weigel Broadcasting. MeTV got started on LP channel 23 and was also on 26.2 in Chicago. They got Comcast to carry 26.2 in Chicago - bought a ton of bus ads on the CTA and have done quite well. Today the lineup is 26.1 WCIU 26.2 WCIU (time shifted) 26.3 MeTV 26.4 MeToo 26.5 This TV http://wciu.com/ 26.1 also carries White Sox and Cubs games on a lease deal from WGN. WGN produces the games by they air on 26.1 because of conflicts with the CW. They have exploited the fact that cable penetration in Chicago is lower than average in the poorer neighborhoods. On Thu, Nov 17, 2011 at 11:43 AM, Bob Nelson wrote: > I have noticed MeTV on my cable--I think it's a sub-channel of WMUR-TV > 9. Many reruns and also I believe, on Saturday nights, they run cheesy > horror movies with the funny "Svengoolie" host out of Chicago > (orig. DJ Jerry G. Bishop and now Rich Koz). > > On Wed, Nov 16, 2011 at 8:03 PM, Maureen Carney > wrote: > > They're dumping RTV, at least on 62.1. There is a possibility it might > appear on 62.2, but that doesn't have clearance on Comcast. No word on if > they're giving up the AM infomercial block. I hope they do - I'm looking > forward to "Dobie Gillis" and the original "Hawaii 5-O". > > > > > > http://www.metvnetwork.com/files/WMFPMe-TVLaunch.pdf > > > > From jscavo@maine.rr.com Fri Nov 18 20:49:35 2011 From: jscavo@maine.rr.com (John) Date: Fri, 18 Nov 2011 20:49:35 -0500 Subject: The sad, unwarranted decline of rock music on FM radio. In-Reply-To: References: <4EC3FEFF.2020004@comcast.net><20164.2255.81593.363044@hergotha.csail.mit.edu> Message-ID: That was on "Joe-FM", and Dale sounded awful and it was very noticeable he was "canned". -----Original Message----- From: Kevin Vahey [mailto:kvahey@gmail.com] Sent: Wednesday, November 16, 2011 2:16 PM To: Garrett Wollman Cc: boston-radio-interest@lists.bostonradio.org; John Subject: Re: The sad, unwarranted decline of rock music on FM radio. 20 years ago I listened to Dale Dorman doing voice tracked afternoon drive in Orlando. Sure he was scripted to make it sound local but the reality was he was in Medford not Florida. On Wed, Nov 16, 2011 at 2:02 PM, Garrett Wollman wrote: > < said: > > > I've even given some information on the air, then a break later > mentioned > > how such and such listener called in and corrected me and gave the > > corrected info. Both of those breaks prerecorded two days before. > > It's all in how you present it. > > That's incredibly dishonest. > > -GAWollman > > From kvahey@gmail.com Sun Nov 20 12:13:58 2011 From: kvahey@gmail.com (Kevin Vahey) Date: Sun, 20 Nov 2011 12:13:58 -0500 Subject: WZLX to air Bruins on Monday Message-ID: Due to a rare conflict with the Patriots - WZLX will carry Monday's Bruins game at Montreal instead of WBZ-FM From gary@garysicecream.com Tue Nov 29 20:53:40 2011 From: gary@garysicecream.com (Garys Ice Cream) Date: Tue, 29 Nov 2011 20:53:40 -0500 Subject: Fire alarm goes off during NBC Nightly News Message-ID: <071a01ccaf02$e3d2cc20$ab786460$@com> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RQboHSnwaI From joe@attorneyross.com Wed Nov 30 00:46:58 2011 From: joe@attorneyross.com (A Joseph Ross) Date: Wed, 30 Nov 2011 00:46:58 -0500 Subject: Fire alarm goes off during NBC Nightly News In-Reply-To: <071a01ccaf02$e3d2cc20$ab786460$@com> References: <071a01ccaf02$e3d2cc20$ab786460$@com> Message-ID: <4ED5C352.2090801@attorneyross.com> On 11/29/2011 8:53 PM, Garys Ice Cream wrote: > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RQboHSnwaI LOL! -- 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 From linc45r-n@lincster.com Tue Nov 22 12:22:23 2011 From: linc45r-n@lincster.com (Linc Reed-Nickerson) Date: Tue, 22 Nov 2011 09:22:23 -0800 Subject: Beverly AM Two-Site operation In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <4ECBDA4F.4030801@lincster.com> For a brief period, the former WMLO had a two site operation, does anyone have the coordinates for the sites? Linc linc@kbnh1230.com From linc45r-n@lincster.com Tue Nov 22 12:42:57 2011 From: linc45r-n@lincster.com (Linc Reed-Nickerson) Date: Tue, 22 Nov 2011 09:42:57 -0800 Subject: Merry Christmas In-Reply-To: <4EBD9B37.5020908@donnahalper.com> References: <4EBD9B37.5020908@donnahalper.com> Message-ID: <4ECBDF21.806@lincster.com> On 11/11/2011 2:01 PM, Donna Halper wrote: > On 11/11/2011 4:33 PM, Kevin Vahey wrote: >> WODS has flipped to holiday - > The war on Hanukkah continues! Is it my imagination, or are stations > and retail stores flipping to Christmas music earlier and earlier? > > Delilah regular fed flipped to Christmas on 11/1, with the option of taking a different feed of Delilah Gold. We flipped to Delilah Gold, and won't flip to Delilah All Christmas until December. No Christmas on our AM feed of DG's True County, yet. We'll add Christmas to the home grown FM Classic Rock about a song an hour on the day after Thanksgiving, and will increase the mix 2 weeks before the holiday! In Harney County, Oregon "More Mormon Than Idaho" most folks object to bringing on Christmas music too early, seeing it as the commercialization of Christmas. Another fact about Harney County, we're three men short of a minyan! "I'm Spending Hanukkah in Santa Monica!" Linc KBNH and KORC From vzeej5wn@myfairpoint.net Wed Nov 30 10:05:25 2011 From: vzeej5wn@myfairpoint.net (=?utf-8?b?RG91ZyBEcm93bg==?=) Date: Wed, 30 Nov 2011 10:05:25 -0500 Subject: Merry Christmas Message-ID: <20111130100525.4y85e2o4pgk4sk8k@webmail.myfairpoint.net> Yes, it IS the war on Hanukkah, and it's just as annoying to some Christians, too, who observe . . . ADVENT.? Christmas doesn't actually begin until Christmas Day, and it continues (remember the song?) for the next eleven days. For many people, however, the Christmas decorations all come down on the 26th.? Not to mention the fact that we have to put up with hearing Christmas carols played incessantly for nearly two months ahead of time. Grrr. Curmudgeonly yours, Doug On Tue, 22 Nov 2011 09:42:57 -0800, Linc Reed-Nickerson * wrote: On 11/11/2011 2:01 PM, Donna Halper wrote: > > On 11/11/2011 4:33 PM, Kevin Vahey wrote: > >> WODS has flipped to holiday - > > The war on Hanukkah continues! Is it my imagination, or are > stations > and retail stores flipping to Christmas music earlier and > earlier? > > > > > Delilah regular fed flipped to Christmas on 11/1, with the option of > taking a different feed of Delilah Gold. We flipped to Delilah Gold, > and won't flip to Delilah All Christmas until December. > > No Christmas on our AM feed of DG's True County, yet. We'll add > Christmas to the home grown FM Classic Rock about a song an hour on > the day after Thanksgiving, and will increase the mix 2 weeks before > the holiday! > > In Harney County, Oregon "More Mormon Than Idaho" most folks object > to bringing on Christmas music too early, seeing it as the > commercialization of Christmas. > > Another fact about Harney County, we're three men short of a minyan! > > "I'm Spending Hanukkah in Santa Monica!" > > Linc KBNH and KORC > > From lglavin@mail.com Wed Nov 30 15:05:04 2011 From: lglavin@mail.com (Laurence Glavin) Date: Wed, 30 Nov 2011 15:05:04 -0500 Subject: Dave Faneuf Getting Treatment For Brain Cancer Message-ID: <20111130200504.274860@gmx.com> Longtime BRIGger and Donizetti-fan Dave Faneuf of WBUR, Boston, recently underwent surgery to remove a brain tumor. (BTW, apparently Dave is now the daytime anchor of the station's news/talk programming. For years he has presided over the evening schedule of taped repeats of "On Point", "Fresh Air" and "The Diane Rehm Show". Now his dulcet tones (IMHO, the best-sounding male voice-over announcer on the station; Mary Ann Nichols is the primo female equivalent, or is it prima?) can be heard when "On Point" and other daytime shows are heard live. Dave SOUNDS just great as usual; I hope that for him this is a promotion AND a RAISE peut-etre? There's more on Dave's situation and the contretemps between Blue Cross/Blue Shield and Tufts Mediacal Center at: http://www.wbur.org/2011/11/15/blue-cross-tufts-health-dispute