Langer Sells WBIX to Bleidts

By SCOTT FYBUSH

*Alex Langer is selling his original MASSACHUSETTS radio station, but it won't lead to much change for listeners. WBIX (1060 Natick) is being transferred to Perspectives Broadcasting, controlled by Brad and Bonnie Bleidt, the same folks who have been programming a business-news format on the station under an LMA with Langer.

The deal values the station at $10 million; it's a nice payoff for Langer, who bought then-silent WBIV for just $50,000 back in 1995 and put it back on the air from the WKOX (1200) site in Framingham. Today, WBIX runs 40 kilowatts by day and 22 kilowatts during critical hours with a format that includes news updates from the Boston Business Journal.

Langer, who also recently sold his 1470 signal in Marlborough (ex-WSRO, now WAZN), keeps WSRO (650 Ashland); he'll also take a seat on the board of Perspectives.

Meanwhile out in Winchendon, WINQ (97.7) is getting a new owner as well, as Saga makes the station its latest acquisition in a region that stretches from Springfield north through the Pioneer Valley and into southern Vermont and New Hampshire.

Saga pays Joseph Gallagher's Aritaur group $400,000 for the station, which programs hot AC for the area west of Fitchburg; we expect it will end up combined somehow with Saga's Keene operations (WKBK, WZBK, WOQL, WKNE-FM).

And while CNet Radio is already a distant memory at WBPS (890 Dedham), it's worth noting that the 24-hour tech format is signing off for good at the end of the month on the Web and its last remaining over-the-air outlet, KNEW (910 Oakland CA). No word on what will replace CNet in San Francisco...

*You know Clark Smidt from the old WBZ-FM, WEEI-FM's "Soft Rock" and more recently NEW HAMPSHIRE's WNNH (99.1 Henniker) - now he's on the Web with a new consulting site at www.broadcastideas.com. Check it out...

*The rumors are flying hot and heavy in VERMONT about a format flip at WCVR (102.1 Randolph), and we hear they're true: the station will soon drop its country format for a simulcast of the classic rock on "Champ" WCPV (101.3 Essex) from the Burlington market.

*CONNECTICUT's WTMI (1290 West Hartford) is getting night power, but good luck hearing it: the classical station will drop down from 490 watts by day to just 11 watts at night from its Avon transmitter site!

Congratulations to Rick Buckley of Buckley Broadcasting; he'll be honored with a Broadcast Pioneers Award from the Broadcasters Foundation at the NAB convention in Las Vegas this April.

*While the rumors keep swirling around NEW YORK's WNEW (102.7), with the tabloids picking up on message-board chatter about a flip to AAA that didn't happen last week, there is one bit of actual news from the Empire State this week: Binghamton public broadcaster WSKG was granted a construction permit to move off the Ingraham Hill tower it's long shared with WICZ (Channel 40). WSKG-FM (89.3), WSKG-TV (Channel 46) and WSKG-DT (Channel 42) will be the tenants on a new 288-meter tower being built nearby. (WSKG-FM is operating under an STA at a temporary site for the moment, having been kicked off the WICZ tower last November.)

And we have to offer big kudos to New York's WBAI (99.5), which provided a true public service last Thursday when it carried nonstop coverage of the Columbia University Law School's forum on ownership consolidation. The panels themselves were fascinating, but so was the Pacifica network coverage of the issue - especially the midday interview with former FCC commissioner Nicholas Johnson. It's nice to see this very important issue receiving at least a modicum of media attention; would that the bigger media outlets spend some time on this one!

*It was delayed more than two weeks, but the format change at WKMB (1070) in Stirling, NEW JERSEY finally took place over the weekend. Country came to an end on WKMB with sign-off on Saturday (Jan. 18); black gospel, as "Harvest Radio," took over Sunday morning, with the same WKMB airstaff, at least for now.

Sorry to report that Dick Taylor is out as GM of South Jersey Radio's WOND (1400), WUSS (1490), WGYM (1580) and WTKU (98.3) in the Atlantic City market after a long run at the group. What's he up to next? Reach out to him at (609) 965-8135 or DTaylorGM@aol.com...

*Some big changes in the lineup at Citadel's cluster in Harrisburg, PENNSYLVANIA: Bobby Quinn and Earl David Read are out of mornings at WCAT-FM (106.7 Hershey) in a cost-cutting measure. Replacing them are "Michelle and Mitchell," Dennis Mitchell, who had been doing afternoons at WCAT, and Michelle Cruz, who had been in middays across the hall at modern rock WQXA-FM (105.7 York).

*CANADA will have several new native stations; the CRTC last week granted the Wahta Mohawks 1060 watts on 98.3 at a site "near Bala, Ontario," while the Chippewas of Kettle and Stony Point Nation get 420 watts on 107.7 at Kettle Point, Ontario. And the Mennonites of Aylmer, Ontario will get 50 watts on 107.7 to broadcast in German from 7-8 AM and 5-8 PM daily.

A new religious broadcaster was also granted last week: Sound of Faith Broadcasting gets 50 watts on 94.3 in Woodstock, Ontario.

It's not doing regular programming yet, but Newcap's new 89.9 in Ottawa has call letters: mark down "CIHT" for the station that will soon be doing dance as "the Planet."

In Montreal, Milkman Unlimited reports some shifts at CHOM (97.7), with middayer Sarah Field out, evening guy Scott Tucker taking over the midday shift and fill-in Sharon Hyland taking over evenings.

And out in Kentville, N.S., Maritime Broadcasting flipped calls and formats when it signed off CKEN (1490) and signed on its new FM transmitter on 94.9 this month. The "AVR" (Annapolis Valley Radio) country format and CKEN calls that were expected to move to 94.9 instead wound up on 97.7, the former home of "Magic" AC CKWM - and it's that format and call that is now being heard on 94.9.

*If you haven't read our 2002 Year in Review, don't miss it - including the Year-End Rant, coming Monday afternoon! Click right here to continue to the Year in Review ...or to the Year-End Rant.

*Have you ordered your Tower Site Calendar 2003 yet? (Yes, the very calendar that we had the honor of presenting to Paul Harvey himself during his Rochester visit - and the delightful surprise of hearing him praise on the air!)

Hear what Paul Harvey had to say about his visit to Rochester...and the 2003 Tower Site Calendar! (MP3, 3 min.)

It's no Oreck vacuum, or even Bose Wave radio, but if you liked last year's calendar, you'll love this one: higher-quality images (including Providence's WHJJ; Mount Mansfield, Vermont; Buffalo's WBEN; KOMA in Oklahoma City; the legendary WSM, Nashville; Harvey's flagship WGN, Chicago and many more), more dates in radio history, a convenient hole for hanging - and we'll even make sure all the dates fall on the right days!

This year's calendar is currently shipping! Calendars are in stock, and orders placed now will ship within 24 hours!

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Click here to order your 2003 Tower Site Calendar by credit card!

You can also order by mail; just send a check for $16 per calendar (NYS residents add 8% sales tax), shipping included, to Scott Fybush, 92 Bonnie Brae Ave., Rochester NY 14618.

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*And we're also happy to announce that our good friends at M Street have released the 11th edition of the M Street Radio Directory. With the disappearance of the old Vane Jones log and the declining accuracy of the Broadcasting Yearbook, the M Street directory is widely regarded as the most accurate, most comprehensive source of information on the US and Canadian radio scene - and we're thrilled to be able to offer it to you at a substantial discount!

The directory includes power, frequency, ownership, key personnel, formats, ratings and much more information for every radio station in the U.S. and Canada, and now runs almost 900 pages in an 8.5" x 11" softcover book. List price is $79 (plus $7 shipping/handling), but if you order through fybush.com/NorthEast Radio Watch, you can get this invaluable resource on your shelf for $69 (plus $7 s/h) - a $10 savings! And your purchase benefits the continued publication of NERW and Tower Site of the Week, so everybody wins!

You can order in either of two ways: to order by major credit card, call 1-800-248-4242, ask for Irene, and tell her you want the "NorthEast Radio Watch" discount. Or, send check or money order for $76 ($69 + $7 s/h) to Scott Fybush, 92 Bonnie Brae Ave., Rochester NY 14618. Either way, you'll put the most trusted, accurate information about the radio industry in print today on your bookshelf.

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