May 15, 2006
Power 105's Star Implodes
*It's been an exceptionally bad few weeks
for hip-hop radio in NEW YORK. First came the latest shooting
at Emmis' WQHT (97.1), which touched off an eviction battle with
the station's landlord that's still underway.
 And
then came the rivalry between Hot 97's Raashaun Casey, aka "DJ
Envy," and the station's former morning host, Troi Torain,
aka "Star," who moved to rival station WWPR (Power
105.1) and was also heard, via syndication, on about a dozen
other stations, including WPHH in Hartford and WUSL in Philadelphia.
The feud between the DJs had been brewing for a while, apparently,
but it exploded last week, when Star was first fired and then
arrested for a series of on-air comments beginning May 3 that
apparently threatened DJ Envy's four-year-old daughter with sexual
abuse and kidnapping.
Several New York City Council members brought the comments
to light in a news conference Wednesday, and by that afternoon
Clear Channel had fired Torain. On Friday, Torain was arrested
after appearing at a New York police station to surrender his
handgun and weapons permit. Charged with endangering the welfare
of a child and with a fourth-degree weapons possession charge,
Torain was released on $2,000 bail after pleading not guilty
early Saturday morning.
At least for next week, WWPR plans to use syndicated host
Tigger and weekend DJ Egypt as a replacement for the now-cancelled
"Star and Buc Wild Morning Show." It's still not clear
what the ultimate consequences for Clear Channel might be. Several
New York politicians are calling on the FCC to conduct an investigation
of the incident, and it's likely that even if New York has heard
the last of "Star" on its airwaves, it hasn't heard
the last about this war of words.
(Nor has it heard the last about the eviction proceedings
against WQHT and its Emmis sister stations. Late last week, a
judge issued a temporary restraining order that will put the
eviction proceedings against the stations on hold.)
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*There were no personal insults involved, but a Long Island
morning duo had its own set of apologies to offer after a comedy
bit last week drew criticism. WBAB (102.3 Babylon) morning hosts
Roger and JP have pulled the "Wetback Steakhouse" parody
commercial from the station's website, and they've apologized
to local Hispanic community groups that protested the sketch.
 Down
the hall at WBLI (106.1 Patchogue), night jock Wendy Wild is
out the door after seven years. She's headed to New York and
WKTU (103.5 Lake Success), where she'll do weekends, and the
station's now looking for a replacement at night.
Upstate, the Finger Lakes Radio Group is looking to move one
of its FM signals closer to the Elmira-Corning market.
WFLR-FM (95.9 Dundee) holds a CP to move to 95.5 at its present
home in southern Yates County. But now it wants to not only move
to 95.5, but also to move its city of license to Odessa, in Schuyler
County near Watkins Glen, about 20 miles north of Elmira. WFLR-FM
would remain a class A signal at the new site.
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*Is there anything more we can say
at this point about that big MASSACHUSETTS story, the
at-long-last finalized deal for Red Sox radio rights beginning
with the 2007 season? We still don't officially know just how
much Entercom is paying for the 10-year deal, but it does appear
that the initial figure we'd heard of $20 million a year is somewhat
on the high side.
 We
do know that the future Sox flagship, WRKO (680 Boston), is already
making some changes. No more "Taste of Boston" at night
- instead, that 7-10 PM slot on weeknights is now called the
"Todd Feinburg Show," broadening its focus to add more
political and issues-oriented talk to its previous diet of food
and entertainment talk.
Next spring, Feinburg will share those evening hours (except
on Fridays, when the night games will be on WEEI, which will
also host weekday afternoon Sox games) with baseball. Sox pregame
broadcasts on WRKO will start at 6:30 most weeknights, cutting
off the last half-hour of Howie Carr, and pre- and post-game
shows will apparently be simulcast on WEEI as well.
It's still not clear what Entercom's plan might be for filling
in WRKO's significant signal weaknesses west of Route 128; we
still expect that there will have to be an announcement of some
sort of FM relay in that area (perhaps on Entercom's "Mike
FM" WMKK, which doesn't overlap with incumbent Worcester
affiliate WTAG the way Entercom's other FM signal, WAAF, does.)
- or else there will be some most unhappy Sox fans in MetroWest
and vicinity.
It's possible that those Sox fans might get some solace, at
least, by turning on their TV sets. Quashing any remaining thought
that CBS' WSBK (Channel 38) might end up as Boston's "My
Network TV" affiliate, the station says it will definitely
go independent this fall when its UPN affiliation comes to an
end. The new primetime lineup on WSBK will feature "Dr.
Phil" at 8, "Jeopardy!" at 9 and a newscast produced
by sister station WBZ-TV (Channel 4) at 9:30. The current 7-8
AM "Morning Show" that WBZ produces for WSBK will go
off the air in a few weeks. And what does all this have to do
with the Sox? WSBK says it's very interested in picking up at
least a few games next year. (This year, there's no local broadcast
coverage of the team; aside from the handful of Fox and ESPN
network games, everything else is on NESN.)
So where does the new My network go in Boston? Those in the
know say a deal with independent WZMY (Channel 50) in New Hampshire
remains possible (if nothing else, it would solve the trademark
conflict between that station's "My TV" brand and Fox's
"My Network TV"), or, failing that, a DTV subchannel
or out-of-pattern carriage on Fox's own WFXT (Channel 25).
Alumni of one of the state's dwindling number of local AM
stations will be getting together soon to celebrate the 55th
anniversary of WCAP (980 Lowell). The station signed on June
10, 1951, and there's a reunion planned for this June 10 in Lowell.
Your editor, who cut his radio news teeth at WCAP a decade and
a half ago, is going to try to make it - and is hoping that many
other WCAP alums come out of the woodwork for the event, too.
Contact Gary Francis (gary at garysicecream dot com) or Bill
O'Neill (me at billoneill.us) for more information.
A call change out on the Cape: WWTE (90.1 Wellfleet) becomes
WRYP.
*In RHODE ISLAND, Hall Communications names WCTK
(98.1 New Bedford) morning host Tad Lemire as PD, replacing Rick
Everett, who's now over at Clear Channel as operations manager
at WWBB/WSNE. WCTK middayer/music director Sam Stevens becomes
assistant PD.
*In the Upper Valley of
VERMONT and NEW HAMPSHIRE, an FM station is finally
cleared to make its move all the way west into the Burlington
market. WWOD (104.3 Hartford VT) has been trying for years to
move to Keeseville, New York, a suburb of Plattsburgh across
Lake Champlain from Burlington. An initial attempt to make the
move was thwarted when a rival broadcaster came up with a counterproposal
that instead put a new class A facility on 94.1 in Keeseville.
 But WWOD owner Nassau
came back with a new proposal - they asked the FCC to shift that
94.1A Keeseville allotment (which has not yet gone up for auction)
to Morrisonville, deeper into the Adirondacks, and then to move
WWOD's 104.3C3 signal from Hartford to Keeseville. The FCC approved
that move last week. (It also approved two related moves - Nassau's
WXLF 95.3 will change city of license from White River Junction
to Hartford to retain "first local service" there,
never mind that they're really the same place - and there'll
be a new allotment at 104.3A at Enfield, New Hampshire.)
WWOD still needs to file a full application to be relicensed
at its new city of license; we'll keep you posted as it picks
a transmitter site and moves forward with its big relocation.
*An update from NEW JERSEY on that
devastating transmitter-site fire in Atlantic City: WOND (1400
Pleasantville) is now back on the air from that site, using a
temporary transmitter into the (undamaged) antenna tower. WMGM-FM
(103.7 Atlantic City) remains on the air from the WPUR (107.3)
backup site atop the Trump Taj Mahal hotel/casino, and WTKU (1490
Pleasantville) and WMGM-CA (Channel 7) remain off the air for
now.
*In PENNSYLVANIA, Jim Meltzer is the
new VP/GM for CBS Radio's Pittsburgh FM outlets (WRKZ 93.7, WZPT
100.7 and WDSY 107.9), moving across the state line from Cleveland
and the Clear Channel stations there, where he'd been regional
VP and market manager. Meltzer's resume includes stints managing
the old WFLN-FM in Philadelphia and the Rich stations in Buffalo.
On the other end of the state, there's a new PD at WURD (900
Philadelphia), as former WDAS (1480) PD Rick Greene returns to
the business.
*In CANADA, Newcap has found another
frequency for its new FM station in Charlottetown, PEI. The CRTC
granted Newcap a license, but denied it the 89.9 frequency it
wanted. Now Newcap is instead asking to use 105.5, with 88 kW/212.6
m and a directional antenna.
In Riviere-du-Loup, Quebec, CFVD (95.5 Degelis) wants to put
a relay transmitter on the air. The CFVD relay would use 102.5,
with 5.75 kW/89 m.
|
From
the NERW Archives
(Yup, we've been doing this a long time now, and
so we're digging back into the vaults for a look at what NERW
was covering one, five and ten years ago this week, or thereabouts
- the column appeared on an erratic schedule in its earliest
years as "New England Radio Watch," and didn't go to
a regular weekly schedule until 1997. Thanks to LARadio.com
for the idea - and thanks to you, our readers, for the support
that's made all these years of NERW possible!)
May 16, 2005 -
- A PENNSYLVANIA morning team returns to the air today after
a contentious absence. The "Preston and Steve" show
has been off the airwaves since February 24, when Radio One pulled
the plug on modern rock "Y100" (WPLY 100.3 Media),
sending Preston Elliot and Steve Morrison packing along with
the rest of the staff. Elliot and Morrison had already reached
a deal to move to Greater Media's WMMR (93.3 Philadelphia) before
the end of Y100, and the station's demise sent the duo to court
to try to get out of their six-month noncompete deal with Radio
One, a wish that was granted last week.
- There's a call change in Scranton that marks the end of a
very long tradition in the market: Entercom flipped WGBI (910
Scranton) to WBZU last week, the first call change for that station
in some 80 years. The WBZU calls are being parked as the result
of a format change in Madison, Wisconsin (where the former WBZU
105.1 is now "Charlie" WCHY), much as sister station
WKZN (1300 West Hazleton) is parking calls last used in New Orleans.
For listeners, WBZU and WKZN will still be known as "WILK,"
simulcasting the "WILK News-Talk Network" from WILK
(980 Wilkes-Barre); it's been quite a few years since the WGBI
calls made much impact in the market.
- In NEW YORK, WXRK (92.3 New York) overnight jock Lee "Crazy
Cabbie" Mroszak is going to prison for 12 months for tax
evasion. "Cabbie" is a frequent guest on the Howard
Stern show, and he made a big chunk of money in 2001 in an amateur
boxing match with former Stern cast member "Stuttering John"
Melendez. That wouldn't have been a problem - except that Mroszak
never paid taxes on his winnings, and bragged about it on the
Stern show. Mroszak pleaded guilty in December; by the time he's
out of prison, Stern will be history on K-Rock, and it'll be
interesting to see if there's a K-Rock for Cabbie to return to
at all.
- In CANADA, there's a new morning show at CKGE (94.9 the Rock)
in Oshawa, Ontario, as former CITY-TV/TSN sports guy John Gallagher
joins Amy Beer on "John Gallagher and Beer for Breakfast."
(Is that Canadian, or what?)
- A Niagara Region broadcast pioneer has died. Robert E. Redmond
founded CHSC (1220 St. Catharines) in 1967 and CHSC-FM (105.7,
now CHRE) a year later. He later put CJEZ (EZ Rock 97.3) in Toronto
on the air. Redmond sold his stations to Standard Broadcasting
a few years back; he died May 7 at 76.
May 14, 2001 -
- It's been a long time since Greater Media added to its station
count, but this week we're able to start our update in NEW JERSEY
with word of a four-station sale to the New Brunswick-based group.
New Jersey Broadcasting Partners will sell adult standards simulcast
WMTR (1250 Morristown)/WWTR (1170 Bridgewater), modern rock WDHA
(105.5 Dover) and active rock WRAT (95.9 Point Pleasant) to Greater
Media for an undisclosed amount, adding the four stations to
Greater's existing Central Jersey combo, full-service WCTC (1450
New Brunswick) and AC WMGQ (98.3 New Brunswick).
- Next stop, NEW YORK, and we'll begin with some changes in
the Big Apple. On the air, fans of Laura Schlessinger will have
to stay up late to hear her advice show starting May 29, when
WABC (770) moves her from 10 AM to 11 PM. No word yet on how
WABC's schedule will shift to fill Laura's old slot, which was
already cut down to two hours earlier this year. Meanwhile, WKTU
(103.5 Lake Success) PD Frankie Blue addeed another station to
his duties this week, with the departure of Joel Salkowitz as
PD of Clear Channel sister WTJM (105.1 New York). What will happen
now to the fading "Jammin' Oldies" format? We'll be
watching closely. Also in the Clear Channel family, WHTZ (100.3
Newark) middayer Lisa Taylor will be leaving her shift to move
to Nashville and start her own business. Taylor's been in that
spot on Z100 since 1996; now PD Tom Poleman has two slots to
fill, as he continues to search for a night jock as well.
- MASSACHUSETTS radio is playing musical chairs again: John
Osterlind, longtime midday guy ("O-Zone") on active
rock WAAF (107.3 Worcester), is moving across the hall at Entercom
to join Peter Blute on the morning show at talker WRKO (680 Boston).
Osterlind fills the seat left vacant since the death earlier
this year of Andy Moes. Meantime, rumor has former WAAF afternoon
guy Tom Birdsey following former boss Bruce Mittman to WFNX (101.7
Lynn) and the afternoon shift, competing against former WAAF
partner Rocko in the timeslot. And while Osterlind arrives at
WRKO, PD Al Mayers is gone; he's reportedly headed to New York
to be station manager at Bloomberg newser WBBR, says M Street.
New England Radio Watch, May 15, 1996
-
- The weirdness continues in the unusual
case of WBIV 1060 Natick MA and WRPT 1050 Peterborough NH. It
seems that before Alexander Langer bought WRPT from the Peterborough
Broadcasting Company, he had reached an agreement to pay WRPT
to turn in its license (the station has been dark for years).
Langer's application to change WBIV into a 50kw directional daytimer
was contingent upon WRPT handing in its license. So when Langer
decided instead to buy WRPT (and, as discussed in the last NERW,
move it 100 miles southeast and 400 khz down the dial to AM 650
at Foxboro MA), he had to ask the FCC to suspend processing of
the WBIV application until the WRPT matter could be resolved.
The practical upshot is that Langer has asked the FCC for permission
to keep WBIV dark for 6 more months (it has been silent now for
over a year). In truth, WBIV could be off for far longer, since
their planned transmitter site is still an empty field.
- New England's tallest mountain could
soon be losing a transmitter. WMTW-TV 8, which has operated from
Mount Washington NH since 1958, has reportedly applied to move
its transmitter off the mountain to a site near that of WCSH-TV
6 Portland ME, near Sebago Lake in Maine. I visited the WMTW
site last summer, and had the pleasure of chatting with several
of the engineers who live at the top of the mountain in week-long
shifts year-round. It's undoubtedly a huge expense for WMTW,
and the advantage it once provided -- incredible coverage across
eastern Maine, northern New Hampshire, northern Vermont, and
a huge swath of Quebec -- no longer seems to matter as much now
that many of those remote viewers are plugged into cable or DSS.
What's unclear is what would become of WMTW's erstwhile sister
station, what's now WHOM 94.9 FM. The WHOM transmitter is housed
in the WMTW transmitter building. It's powered by WMTW's generator,
and the WMTW engineers handle maintenance. I doubt WHOM would
want to leave the transmitter unattended through the winter months,
when it's often impossible to reach the summit of the mountain,
and winds rage to 200+ miles per hour. WZPK 103.7 Berlin NH also
has transmitter facilities at the top of Mount Washington.
- The school year is wrapping up at Boston's
many colleges and universities, and that means some unusual programming
on area noncomms. At Harvard- affiliated WHRB 95.3, it's time
for the semi-annual Orgy(TM) season, in which the station devotes
anywhere from a few hours to a week to a single composer, performer,
genre, or theme. Among the big events this month is the Stravinsky
Orgy, which gets underway Sunday, May 19 at 6am and doesn't end
until 10pm Monday, May 20...and a massive Duke Ellington Orgy
that started Sunday, May 12 and runs through Saturday night,
May 18. Over at Emerson College, I've spoken highly in the past
of the Saturday-midday "Standing Room Only" program
on WERS 88.9. Host Cheryl Dechayne is graduating, and the show
on Saturday, May 11 culminated in a half-hour long tearful farewell.
Dechayne did a great job on the show, and I wish her and her
fellow students well as they enter the "real world"
of radio.
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*Didn't find a Tower Site Calendar
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but we have a few still available at special clearance
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 We've got to say,
we're especially proud of the way this year's calendar turned
out. Once again, we bring you more than a dozen images from the
fybush.com collection that have never seen print before, including
that nifty nighttime view of New York's WMCA that graces the
cover. You also get to see WSB, KTAR, Mount Wilson, CBV and many,
many more, plus all those fun dates in radio and TV history,
civil and religious holidays, a handy full-page 2007 calendar,
and the always-popular hole for hanging.
And we do it all with no increase in price, for the fourth
year running!
You can get one free with your 2006 subscription
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