WOR Tower Demolition? Stay Tuned...

INDEPENDENCE ISN'T EASY (OR FREE): Here at NERW, we pride ourselves on twelve years (and counting) of editorial independence. There's no filter on the news you read here. Our editorial staff of one answers only to you, our readers, and therein lies the catch:

It all depends on your continued support.

If you're not a current subscriber - or if your subscription has lapsed - now's the time to fix that. Click right here to subscribe...and we'll gladly put you first on the list for the 2007 Tower Site Calendar (now shipping).

If you have a job opening to fill, or a product to sell, and you want to reach everyone who's anyone in radio (and TV) in the northeastern US, we offer economical classified and display advertising. Just drop us a line or give us a phone call and we'll get you right up on the site.

And if you're already a financial supporter of NERW, thank you for helping to keep an independent voice alive in the trade-publication wilderness!

SERVICES

IS YOUR AM STATION NRSC COMPLIANT? Not done in years? No available spectrum analyzer? Splatter monitor unreliable? Have it done with a spectrum analyzer as the FCC intended. Contact: BobRadil@comcast.net for details .

You can have your ad here! Click here for information on the most economical way to reach tens of thousands of Northeast radio and TV people each week.

September 26, 2005 -

• It was a sad start to the week last Monday in western MASSACHUSETTS, as WBEC-FM (105.5 Pittsfield) morning host Big Mike Patrick had to tell his listeners that his co-host, Sharon Steele, had died during childbirth. Steele, whose real name was Sharon Brophy-Forst, died September 15 while giving birth to daughter Olivia. Sadly, Olivia didn't survive, either, and our sympathies go out to Sharon's husband Kyle. Steele's career began in her native Vermont, at WZRT (97.1 Rutland), and took her to upstate New York, Delaware and WHMP-FM (99.3 Northampton) before she settled in at "Live 105" a few years back. She was just 38.
• Across the state in Boston, some happier news to report: WBUR-FM (90.9 Boston) is now broadcasting with higher power (12 kW, up from 7.2 kW) from a new Shively antenna mounted in the same spot as its old one, right at the top of the "FM-128" tower on Chestnut Street in Newton Upper Falls. The station pulled off the antenna replacement in just one day, using its backup site atop the BU Law School building in the meantime; we're hearing that the reports of improved reception are already coming in.
• In NEW HAMPSHIRE, we've been remiss in failing to mention Bob Vinikoor's application for more power at night at his WNTK (1010 Newport). He wants to add a second tower for 2000 watts at night (up from the current 37 watts) - and of course it would all be aimed northwest, away from WINS in New York.
• We saw Bob at the NAB Radio Show in Philadelphia last week (more on that in a moment), and with him was Dennis Jackson, who confirmed reports we'd heard of an impending format shift at his WMEX (106.5 Farmington). Over the next few weeks, the oldies there will segue to 80s and 90s pop as "X-106."
• It was a heck of a night Saturday in upstate NEW YORK, as about 150 veterans of the Binghamton radio and TV scene gathered at an Endicott restaurant for the largest edition yet of the "Binghamton Broadcasters Reunion." NERW was delighted to be able to attend the event, which included a display of some neat old Binghamton broadcast memorabilia, lots of great stories, and even some awards. WMRV's Louie G was named "Broadcaster of the Year" for his outstanding charity work. WLTB's John and Chris took home a special achievement award. The late Ray Diorio was honored with the Binghamton Broadcaster Memorial Award. And veteran WNBF/WNBF-TV/WBNG newsman Bernie Fionte won a standing ovation when he was named this year's "Living Legend."

September 24, 2001 -

• The AM radio landscape in the Merrimack Valley of MASSACHUSETTS is about to change again, thanks to Costa-Eagle's $1.5 million sale of WCCM (800 Lawrence) to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston. The sale leaves Eagle-Costa with two of the valley's five AM stations: the facilities that are now running Spanish-language programming as WNNW (1110 Salem, N.H.) and WHAV (1490 Haverhill). The plan, as we understand it, is to combine their programming under the WNNW calls on the 1490 facility, with the English-language WCCM programming and calls moving to 1110.
• The move will effectively take the Eagle-Costa stations out of contention in Lowell, where WCCM had been trying to compete with Lowell-licensed WCAP (980) with programming that included Lowell Spinners baseball. As a daytimer, the new WCCM 1110 won't be able to carry Spinners' night games, and its day signal is hard to hear in Lowell even under the best of circumstances. As for the AM 800 signal, with 1000 watts by day and 244 watts at night, it's not heard well outside the central Merrimack Valley, which leads us to wonder why the Archdiocese is spending all this money on a facility its leaders won't even hear at their suburban Boston headquarters. Could a move south be in the offing? (This isn't the Archdiocese's first broadcast effort, by the way; back in the 1960s, it owned WIHS-TV 38, ancestor of today's WSBK!) The switches are expected to take place sometime around January 2002. (2006 note: The purchase never happened, and WNNW eventually moved to 800, with WCCM taking the 1490 spot.)
• MAINE will have a broadcast Fox affiliate after October 7 - at least for viewers in the Bangor area. WCKD-LP (Channel 30), which has been running as a UPN affiliate under LMA with ABC affiliate WVII (Channel 7), will switch to the Fox affiliation when Portland's WPXT (Channel 51) dumps Fox for WB.
• We'll start our NEW YORK news, of course, down in Manhattan, with the latest on the recovery efforts at the World Trade Center. On the TV side, WCBS-TV (Channel 2) filed with the FCC on Wednesday to make its auxiliary site at the Empire State Building its primary site. From Empire, WCBS runs 45 kilowatts visual ERP at 389 meters above average terrain. There's not much new to report on the other stations that used the World Trade Center. We're still hearing from viewers in outlying areas such as Long Island and Connecticut that the signals on the other VHF stations from their hastily-constructed backup sites at Empire and the Armstrong tower in Alpine, N.J. are proving hard to receive. Of the FM stations, we're told WNYC-FM (93.9) is running in mono with less than a kilowatt from Empire, with most of its programming still being simulcast on the Board of Education's Brooklyn-based WNYE-FM (91.5), an arrangement that some are speculating will become permanent.

New England Radio Watch, September 26, 1996

• The ubiquitous Dr. Laura Schlessinger has added yet another New England outlet. Hartford's WTIC (1080) has bumped Hartford Courant columnist Colin McEnroe from his mid-morning slot and dropped in Dr. Laura instead. McEnroe will be heard doing commentaries on TIC's morning and afternoon drive shows, as well as on a Sunday night talk show. Across town at WDRC (1360), Bob Grant has been dropped from the schedule, reportedly because programmers there don't think his abrasive talk fits with WDRC's standards format. Phil Callan moves from middays to PM to fill Grant's timeslot. And at WHCN (105.9), new owner SFX is moving towards classic rock, both to pull WHCN away from its new stablemate, modern-rocker WMRQ (104.1), and to go after ARS's 70s rocker, WZMX (93.7).
• A bit further south in Connecticut, Quinnipiac College seems to be making big plans for its newly-purchased AM. The former WXCT (1220) in Hamden is now dark, but will reportedly resurface sometime in January with the WQUN calls. Quinnipiac has been advertising in the trades for a GM/PD, a morning host/operations manager, and two newspeople to work alongside the student staff. The station's in good hands; NYC radio veteran Lou Adler is apparently the driving force behind the project.
• Two dark stations that probably won't return: WLVC (1340) Fort Kent and WSJR (1230) Madawaska, way up there in northern Maine. It's been two and a half years since these stations were on the air, and their authority to remain silent expired a year ago. The FCC is asking owner Lamoille Broadcasting for a written explanation of why the licenses shouldn't be revoked.
• Back on the air, and with a much-improved signal, is Holliston High School's WHHB(FM) in Holliston, Mass. The station has finally made good on its plans to move from 91.5 to 99.9, and from a short tower atop the high school to a taller cellular-phone stick down the road.