December 27, 2004
NERW's big 2004 Year in Review - now
available! Click here!
A River Runs through Utica
*While we're hard at work on our 2004 Year
in Review package, which will be available here on fybush.com
beginning sometime this Thursday (Dec.30), there was just enough
happening right before the holidays to get us to put down the
eggnog for a few minutes and give you one last NERW for 2004...
 When
the Christmas tunes came to an end in Utica, NEW YORK on
WUCL (93.5 Remsen), so did the "Kool 93.5" oldies (er,
"Super Hits of the 60s and 70s") format.
In its place is "The River," a classic hits clone
of Clear Channel's WRVE (99.5 Schenectady) just down the Thruway
(and down the Mohawk River, too, come to think of it...), and
we'd bet that new calls with "RV" somewhere in them
will make an appearance early in the new year, too.
Down the Thruway in the other direction, Syracuse listeners
didn't hear Howard Stern's best-of segments on his reluctant
Salt City affiliate, WAQX (95.7 Manlius). Instead, Citadel has
done a deal with XM Satellite Radio to broadcast Opie and Anthony's
morning show on a one-day delay during Stern's vacation. Could
this be a sign of things to come when Stern leaves terrestrial
radio for good in another year?
We're hearing a new Family Life Network outlet in western
New York (actually, another new FLN outlet - the
fast-growing network also recently put W234AZ Brighton on the
air on 94.7 from Pinnacle Hill, within sight of NERW Central.)
It sounds as though WCOF (89.5 Arcade) is on the air down in
Wyoming County, southeast of Buffalo, though we heard only IDs
for sister stations WCOT (90.9 Jamestown) and WCID (89.1 Friendship)
when we tuned in a few days ago. And we note that the FLN website
now includes "105.1 Fairport" as another "coming
soon" signal, so it looks like FLN will be buying W286AE
from the folks at WGMC (90.1 Greece).
Another new signal's on the air in western New York: those
sure sound a lot like IBOC digital sidebands on either side of
WHAM (1180 Rochester)...
Christy Taylor's moving up in the world, heading up I-88 from
Binghamton and nights at WWYL (104.1 Chenango Bridge) to middays
at WFLY (92.3 Troy), where she replaces Ally Reid, now at WFLZ
down in Tampa.
Lots of news out of New York City in the days leading up to
the holidays: Christine Nagy is leaving her role on the Z100
(WHTZ 100.3 Newark NJ) morning show after eight years, and it
didn't take long for Z to name a replacement, bringing Caroline
Bermudez up from Miami's Y100 (WHYI 100.7). Over at Infinity's
WNEW, programming honcho Frankie Blue's future is uncertain after
what was apparently an inebriated on-air appearance following
the station's holiday party. Sister station WFAN (660) has a
new PD, as Eric Spitz returns to the sports talker (where he
served from its start in 1987 until his departure for Shadow
Traffic/Metro Networks in 1996) to take the top programming post.
George Jellinek did his final "Vocal Scene" broadcast
for WQXR (96.3) on Thursday, closing out a 36-year career at
the classical station. And WBLS (107.5) has named comedian Paul
Mooney as its new morning man; he'll start that job next month.
On the TV side, WPIX-DT has moved from its temporary spot
on channel 12 back to its permanent home on channel 33 - and
it's now operating from the new master DTV combiner and antenna
on the Empire State Building. There are lots of changes afoot
on the ESB TV scene, we hear, including a new antenna going into
service for WNBC (Channel 4) and WNYW (Channel 5)...and as always,
more changes still to come.
And we're sorry to pass along word from Peter Goodman that
he's leaving Newsday, where he's been one of the region's
more astute chroniclers of broadcast news for quite a while now.
The paper's going through some changes, none of which sounds
especially positive, and so Peter's heading out to new challenges,
for which we wish him well.
 *We were remiss last week in failing to note the
passing of a broadcast icon in northern New York and VERMONT.
Bird Berdan began his broadcast career in the late forties at
pioneering TV station WRGB in Schenectady, then moved up to Plattsburgh
in 1952 to work at WIRY (1340). When WIRY launched WIRI (Channel
5) in 1954, Berdan was one of the first staffers, and he stayed
with the TV station (now WPTZ) for three decades, delivering
weather forecasts to the Champlain Valley well into the eighties.
Even after his retirement, Berdan was still a regular TV presence
in the market, doing a series of commercials for a local car
dealership. Berdan died of a heart attack on Dec. 14; he was
84 years old.
*In MASSACHUSETTS, WBCN (104.1 Boston)
fills its afternoon shift; Rob "Hardy" Poole moves
east next month from Las Vegas' KXTE (107.5 Pahrump NV) to handle
3-7 PM at the Rock of Boston (or whatever they're calling it
now...)
 *A
CONNECTICUT college station is handing over some of its
airtime to public radio - but not the one that's been in the
headlines. While the situation at Wesleyan University's WESU
(88.1 Middletown) appears to have calmed down for now, NERW hears
that the University of New Haven's WNHU (88.7 West Haven) will
begin carrying All Things Considered from 4-7 PM and Morning
Edition from 6-9 AM early in 2005, displacing a number
of long-running music shows on the station, at least one of which
is asking WNHU listeners to complain to the university about
the move. New Haven's long been in a sort of fringe zone, getting
several distant NPR outlets (including Meriden's WPKT and Fairfield's
WSHU, which appears to be the parent station of the WNHU simulcast),
but none with a real city-grade signal.
*In northeastern PENNSYLVANIA, WCDL
(1440 Carbondale) is back on the air after a long silence. It's
been testing with holiday music, and it's expected to return
to a regular schedule under its new Route 81 ownership early
in the new year.
Former WLAN-FM (96.9 Lancaster) personality Joe Thomas is
back on the air; he starts today as morning man on Route 81's
WCOJ (1420 Coatesville) in the Philly suburbs.
Across the state, we hear WNCC (950 Barnesboro) lost its tower
last month; no word on when it'll be repaired and the station
returned to the air.
Our deepest condolences go out to veteran Pittsburgh programmer
(and good friend of NERW) Clarke Ingram, whose mother, Alys Truitt
Ingram Wild, died earlier this week at 80. Alys became a friend
to many of Clarke's radio friends, and she'll be dearly missed.
(And we note also that Clarke has departed the Friday night gig
at WWSW 94.5 - and that 3WS' disco show on Fridays is gone as
well. Clarke's currently involved with operations at WKHB 620
Irwin/WKFB 770 Jeannette, where he's enjoying doing AM radio
the way AM radio was meant to be...)
*From CANADA comes word that Robert
Gillet has been fired from the morning shift at CJMF (93.3 Quebec
City), where he returned to the air last year amidst much publicity
over his prostitution-ring arrest. Gillet never regained his
old ratings at CJMF, and the main beneficiary of his return appears
to have been crosstown CHOI, whose morning team ended up getting
the station's license pulled with their comments about Gillet
and the scandal. CHOI remains on the air pending an appeal of
the license revocation.)
Norm Wright and Brian Perkin are applying for a new signal
in Perth, Ontario. Their soft AC/easy listening station would
operate on 88.5 with 1350 watts (directional) from 91.5 meters
above average terrain.
And we have call letters to report for the new French community
station in Toronto: it'll be CHOQ when it signs on next year.
*And that closes out 2004 for NERW - almost. Remember to check
back later this week for our 2004 Year in Review. We'll see you
then!
 *We're
busy shipping out the Tower Site Calendar 2005 to
radio fans from coast to coast and far beyond (would you believe
New Zealand?)
Didn't find one under the tree this year? That's OK - we've
still got plenty, and we're shipping them out daily.
This year's calendar begins with WSTW/WDEL in Wilmington,
Delaware on the cover, ends with Sutro Tower in San Francisco
on the inside back cover - and along the way makes stops at WNBF
in Binghamton, CFNB in Fredericton, Poor Mountain in Roanoke,
KXNT in Las Vegas, WBBR in New York, Gibraltar Peak above Santa
Barbara, WDEV in Waterbury, Vermont, WRIB in Providence, WOOD
in Grand Rapids, KFJZ in Fort Worth, KYPA in Los Angeles and
the top of Chicago's Hancock Tower.
(You can see some previews of this year's calendar images
at Tower Site
of the Week - where the archive listing's newly updated!)
We're holding the price from last year, notwithstanding increases
in printing costs and PayPal fees - just $16 postpaid ($17.32
including sales tax to New York addresses). And as always, it's
free with your $60 or higher subscription to NorthEast Radio
Watch/fybush.com. You can use PayPal, below, or send your check
or money order, payable to Scott Fybush, to 92 Bonnie Brae Avenue,
Rochester NY 14618. (Please note that the prices below are valid
for U.S. and Canadian orders only; please e-mail for information
about overseas shipping.)
And here's an even better deal - We still have
plenty of 2004 calendars left, so how about this? For just $20
postpaid ($21.65 in New York), we'll send you both the 2005 and
2004 editions. It's almost like getting an extra calendar free!
(Or, if you just need the 2004 edition, that's still on clearance
at $8 - and if you buy two 2004 calendars, your third is free!)
Don't want to order by credit card? You know the drill by
now - make those checks payable to "Scott Fybush,"
be sure to include sales tax (8.25%) for New York state calendar
orders only, and send them along to 92 Bonnie Brae Avenue, Rochester
NY 14618. (Sorry - we can't take orders by phone.)
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2004 by Scott Fybush. |