April 23, 2007
Tower Down at WCFE-TV
TOWER SITE CALENDAR 2007 - SELLING OUT FAST!!!
*It was a rough weather week all over the
region, but no broadcast facility was hit worse than the 445-foot
tower of WCFE-TV (Channel 57)/WCFE-DT (Channel 38) in NEW
YORK's Adirondacks, on Lyon Mountain about 10 miles west
of WCFE's city of license, Plattsburgh.
 The
tower, built in 1976, collapsed shortly after 7 on Wednesday
morning (April 18), taking WCFE (known on-air as "Mountain
Lake PBS") off the air just as the station was about to
launch into its Art Auction, its biggest fundraiser of the year.
Early reports suggest that a combination of heavy icing and
high winds brought the tower crashing down, damaging the transmitter
building at the base of the tower as well.
WCFE had recently spent about $1.5 million to reinforce the
tower and to build out its DTV signal, and the station says insurance
won't cover the full amount of the rebuilding effort, particularly
because of the remote Lyon Mountain location, more than 3600'
above sea level and unreachable by car or truck.
(We'd never been up there ourselves, so we're grateful to
fellow tower hunter Rick Lucas, who hiked up there a few years
ago, for sharing his "before" pictures.)
To make matters worse, unlike many TV stations that are now
connected by fiber or microwave to most of the cable and satellite
companies in their viewing area, WCFE depended on its on-air
signal to reach the bulk of its viewership across Lake Champlain
in northern Vermont and across the border in Quebec.
 At press
time Sunday night, WCFE was being seen only on the Charter Cable
system in Plattsburgh, which gets a direct feed from the station's
studio; it's working on ways to restore the feed to the other
systems while it works on rebuilding. And NERW wonders - with
just 22 months remaining for analog television, will WCFE even
bother to rebuild the Channel 57 signal that will go dark for
good in February 2009, or will this be the cue for Mountain Lake
to go DTV-only on 38?
The storm did some damage elsewhere in the
region, too - WGHT (1500 Pompton Lakes) in northern NEW JERSEY
was silenced for a while when its low-lying transmitter/studio
site was flooded, and WLIB (1190 New York) was at low power because
of flooding that topped the base insulator at one of the towers
of its Meadowlands transmitter site. We hear there was flood
damage as well at the shared site of WWDJ (970 Hackensack) and
WWRV (1330 New York), and power outages all up and down the Eastern
Seaboard left many stations running on generator power at the
height of the storm.
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*In other NEW YORK news, Don Imus vanished quickly
from the headlines last week as the tragic news from Virginia
Tech took over the nation's attention, but behind the scenes,
things kept percolating at his former home base of WFAN (660
New York). Imus' producer Bernard McGuirk, who instigated the
series of remarks that doomed the show, has now also lost his
job with WFAN, but newsman Charles McCord, who was with 660 (then
WNBC) before Imus ever arrived, has also outlasted his former
boss; he's still being heard as part of the morning version of
"Mike and the Mad Dog."
 The
duo are being heard on at least some of the former Imus stations,
but not all of them - WXUR (92.7 Herkimer), for instance, is
taking ESPN's "Mike and Mike in the Morning" for now,
but says if Imus ever returns to the air, it'll gladly put him
back on the air in the Mohawk Valley. And we neglected to mention
WHEN (620 Syracuse) as part of the network - it's now taking
Fox Sports Radio in morning drive.
In Albany, Buzz Brindle has exited the Regent Broadcasting
cluster after more than a decade as PD of WGNA (107.7). Tom "Jake"
Jacobsen, who comes from Regent's WFRG in Utica (and before that,
WFRY in Watertown) takes the PD chair and the afternoon shift
at WGNA, and Brindle's looking for a new gig as well. Also out
at WGNA is music director/middayer Bill Early.
Radio People on the Move in the Finger Lakes: at WLVY (94.3
Elmira), morning host/PD Gary Knight has departed - and "94
Rock" is also losing afternoon jock Brian Stoll, who's heading
to Ithaca to replace Dan Henning at WYXL (97.3) in afternoons.
On the TV front, there's a new news director at Rochester's
WROC-TV (Channel 8), as Jerry Walsh arrives from WKTV (Channel
2) in Utica, where he was news director a few years back and
had most recently been executive producer. Walsh had also worked
at WTEN (Channel 10) in Albany between his WKTV stints, as executive
producer and interim ND.
There's a new owner coming for Clear Channel's TV group, which
includes WHAM-TV (13, ABC) and its CW subchannel in Rochester;
WSYR-TV (9, ABC) in Syracuse; WIVT (34, ABC)/WBGH-LP (20, NBC)
in Binghamton; WETM (18, NBC) in Elmira; WXXA (23, Fox) in Albany;
WWTI (50, ABC) in Watertown and WHP-TV (21, CBS)/WLYH (15, CW)
in Harrisburg. Providence Equity Partners will pay $1.2 billion
for those and the rest of the 56-station group.
 A key
player in early New York City TV (and FM radio, too) has died.
Leavitt Joseph "Lev" Pope was one of the founders of
WPIX-TV (Channel 11) in 1948, and rose through the executive
ranks to serve as the station's president from 1975-1993, the
heyday of WPIX's independent years.
Pope was also involved in WPIX's purchase of WBFM (101.9)
in the early sixties, turning the station into WPIX-FM through
many incarnations. Pope died April 18 at his home in Scarsdale;
he was 83.
(And we'd note that the former WBFM/WPIX-FM, now WQCD, was
itself in the news last week, with rumors afloat that Emmis may
seek to sell the station to help balance its books. Stay tuned...)
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WPEN (950 Philadelphia) has a new morning host: Michael Bradley
replaces Gregg Henson at the helm of the city's second-rated
sports station. Bradley also writes for SportingNewsRadio.com
and CBS Sportsline.com.
Congratulations to KYW (1060)'s Bill Roswell; at the RTNDA
convention in Las Vegas, he became the association's chairman,
taking over from Angie Kucharski of Boston's WBZ-TV/WSBK.
So much for overnight rock on WYSP (94.1 Philadelphia) - "Free
FM" is replacing the music with Loveline from 11 PM until
2 AM, followed by three hours of the syndicated "John and
Jeff" show.
Over at WPHT (1210 Philadelphia), morning man Michael Smerconish
will get a three-day simulcast on MSNBC. From today until Wednesday,
he'll be originating his show from MSNBC's Secaucus studios,
using the facilities last occupied by Don Imus, but he's being
careful not to describe the stint as a "tryout" for
anything.
 More
Imus-related fallout: the local papers say that former WSBG (93.5
Stroudsburg) morning man Gary Smith, who lost his job after using
the phrase that got Imus fired as his "phrase that pays"
a week ago, was reportedly offered the chance to come back to
the Nassau station, albeit in an off-air capacity as community
service director. Nothing doing, Smith said - and he's also not
biting on an offer from Howard Stern to join the staff at Sirius
Satellite Radio.
EMF Broadcasting - the "K-Love" folks - are buying
nine more FM signals across the country from George Flinn's Broadcasting
for the Challenged group. The unbuilt CPs, including WMBZ (88.5
Halifax) near Harrisburg, go to EMF for a total of $400,000,
and we'd expect EMF to get them all on the air pretty quickly.
In Pittsburgh, Cindy Howe replaces Kyle Smith in mornings
on WYEP (91.3). She's better known in Boston than in the Steel
City, having worked at WERS and WBOS.
An obituary from Pittsburgh, too: George Eisenhauer joined
DuMont's WDTV (Channel 3) when it signed on in 1949 and stayed
with the station as its booth announcer through most of its history
as KDKA-TV (Channel 2). He retired in 1987, and died April 7,
aged 80, at his home in Camden, Maine.
*In MASSACHUSETTS, WBCN (104.1) is
making headlines with its decision not to carry the "best-of"
shows that Opie and Anthony are feeding their affiliates during
their two-week vacation. Instead, WBCN will move afternoon team
Toucher and Rich to mornings, and coupled with O&A's recent
cancellation in Dallas, that's got the rumor mill working overtime
about the duo's future in national syndication.
There's a format change of sorts at WBOS (92.9 Brookline);
Clea Simon of the Globe writes that the AAA station is
targeting younger listeners by mixing some more upbeat rock tunes
into its rotation.
You can't hear it on any commercially-available receiver just
yet, but WZLX (100.7 Boston) became the nation's first station
to broadcast in 5.1-channel surround sound on its HD channel
last week, with help from Telos Systems and Fraunhofer. We had
the chance to hear the surround audio while we were at NAB, thanks
to a streaming feed to the convention floor in Las Vegas, and
it's pretty impressive. (Look for decoders soon for the stream,
followed by HD radios capable of delivering the surround signal
from the off-air feed.)
 Out
on Cape Cod, the format/call swap between WKPE-FM (104.7 Orleans)
and WOCN-FM (103.9 South Yarmouth) happened on schedule last
Tuesday, with "Ocean 104" becoming "Ocean 104.7"
on its more powerful new signal and "Rocket 104.7"
becoming simply "Cape Cod's Classic Rock, WKPE 103-point-9"
on its new frequency. WKPE morning man/PD Nick Strassel didn't
make the move; he exited the station after 10 years, replaced
by Steve Binder.
 *Two obituaries wrap up our New
England news this week: in CONNECTICUT, Barbara Allan,
who was the state's first female meteorologist when she joined
the staff of WTIC (1080)/WTIC-TV (Channel 3), died April 11 at
a nursing home in Vernon. Allan, who spent 21 years with the
stations, was 89.
The founding general manager of VERMONT Public Radio,
Ray Dilley, died last weekend at his home in Lincoln, Nebraska,
where he had been working as network manager for NET Radio, the
state's public radio network.
Dilley was one of the founders of VPR back in 1975, putting
the network's first signals on the air and building the fledgling
service into a major player in the public radio world. He departed
Vermont in 1993 to help NPR expand its service to international
markets, then served as general manager of WJHU (now WYPR) in
Baltimore before joining NET in 2001.
Police were called to Dilley's home last Monday after he failed
to appear for work; they say he appeared to have died of natural
causes, and there were no signs of foul play. Funeral plans in
Vermont are pending for Dilley, who was 67.
*In CANADA, AM radio in Kingston,
Ontario will be a thing of the past if Corus' CFFX (960)
and CHUM Ltd.'s CKLC (1380) get their way. CFFX is applying to
move its oldies format to 104.3, with 8 kW DA/248 m, while CKLC
is again applying to move to 98.9, with 15 kW DA/132 m.
They're not the only applicants for new FM signals in Kingston:
CIKR (105.7) wants a second FM to add to its existing "K-Rock"
outlet, and it's applying for a 6.5 kW DA/113 m signal on 93.5
to broadcast a "new country" format.
 The
CRTC will consider the applications at a June 18 public hearing
at its Gatineau, Quebec headquarters.
In Toronto, "Proud FM" (CIRR 103.9) had its official
launch last Monday (April 16), billing itself as the world's
first commercial over-the-air station devoted to gay, lesbian
and bisexual listeners. (There was at least one earlier attempt
we know of, on two small AM signals in the Seattle market a few
years back.)
And up in Wasaga Beach, Ontario, we're told CHGB (97.7 the
Beach) is now testing its signal, promoting "Light Hits
for Southern Georgian Bay."
|
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!)
April 24, 2006 -
- LAS VEGAS - It's a shorter column than usual this week, as
your editor - and a fair number of Northeast radio folks as well
- have decamped to the desert for this year's NAB convention.
Back home, though, the end arrived Friday for one of the most
publicized morning shows in recent history. After less than five
months on the air, CBS Radio pulled the plug on the floundering
David Lee Roth show (heard in NERW-land on "Free FM"
flagship WFNY-FM 92.3 New York, WBCN 104.1 Boston and WYSP 94.1
Philadelphia). It'll be replaced with a sanitized three-hour
simulcast of XM Radio's Opie and Anthony, the duo who brought
down the company's last attempt at FM talk when they were in
afternoons at WNEW (102.7 New York) a few years back. The show's
final two hours will be heard only on XM.
- Out on Long Island's east end, the AAA sounds of WEHM have
returned - sort of - to their original home. Cherry Creek Radio's
been doing some shuffling of its signals in the Hamptons, and
it recently moved WHBE (96.7 East Hampton) to 96.9, from a new
site about 12 miles west of its original location. With more
signal over portions of Suffolk County that can't hear WEHM on
the 92.9 Southampton facility (where the calls and format moved
a few years ago, flipping 96.7 to WHBE with Bloomberg business
news), Cherry Creek decided last Tuesday to pull the plug on
the business news at 96.9, in favor of a simulcast with 92.9.
- A call change in CONNECTICUT: "The Fox" in Norwalk
is now legally WFOX. Cox radio parked those very desirable calls
at 95.9 in Norwalk last week, replacing WEFX. The WFOX calls
had been on Cox's "River" 97.1 in the Atlanta market,
which just became WSRV.
- In the Burlington, VERMONT market, Hall Communications is
adding another station to its cluster. Hall already operates
WBTZ (99.9 Plattsburgh NY) under an LMA with owner Plattsburgh
Broadcasting that the company assumed when it bought Burlington
Broadcasters' WIZN (106.7 Vergennes) last year. Now it's converting
that LMA into outright ownership, to the tune of $2.5 million.
No changes are expected at modern rock "Buzz" when
the deal goes through.
April 22, 2002 -
- It's been a quiet week stateside, but a busy one for at least
one media company in CANADA. Telemedia won permission from the
CRTC late last week to spin off most of its radio holdings around
the country, which is good news for NewCap, Standard Broadcasting,
and Astral Media. While NewCap gets the Telemedia stations out
west, Standard gets nearly 30 stations from Telemedia in Ontario,
including Toronto's CJEZ (EZ Rock 97.3), which will be paired
with Standard's existing CFRB (1010) and CKFM (Mix 99.9). Standard
also gets three in Hamilton - country CHAM (820), oldies CKOC
(1150) and AC CKLH (K-Lite 102.9) - and three in St. Catharines
- full-service CKTB (610), rock CHTZ (97.7, once owned by Standard)
and CHRE (EZ Rock 105.7). The company also keeps Telemedia's
London foursome - country CJBX (92.7), talk CJBK (1290), AC CKSL
(1410) and CIQM (EZ Rock 97.5).
- Standard is spinning off much of the remainder of the Telemedia
group in Ontario to Rogers, which picks up CJCL (Fan 590), the
Prime Time Sports network and the Standard stations in Orillia
(CICX), North Bay (CKAT/CKFX/CHUR), Sault Ste. Marie (CHAS/CJQM/CIRS),
Sudbury (CIGM/CJRQ/CJMX) and Timmins (CKGB/CJOQ). Meanwhile in
Quebec and the Maritimes, Astral Media gets the former Telemedia
properties, including some of the biggest stations in Montreal
and Quebec City. The catch? The company will be required to boost
the amount of local news on the stations, as well as selling
CFOM (102.9 Levis) in the Quebec City market.
- Moving down to NEW YORK, the uneasy relationship between
veteran jock Pete Fornatale and Fordham University's WFUV (90.7
New York) frayed last week, as the public radio station announced
a "temporary leave" for Fornatale as host of the Saturday-evening
"Mixed Bag" show. Fornatale, best known for his many
years at the old WNEW-FM, had sparred with WFUV management several
times in recent months over political comments made during his
show. WFUV will run "best of" programs for now; the
station says it still hopes to get Fornatale back on the air
soon.
- Sorry to report the passing of a newsman who woke up millions
of New Yorkers for more than two decades; Jim Donnelly died Saturday
(4/20) of complications from Parkinson's disease. Donnelly joined
WCBS (880) in 1972, after a career that included KYW in Philadelphia
and WNEW(AM) in New York; for most of the time from then until
his retirement in 1992, he handled morning co-anchor duties on
"Newsradio 88." Donnelly was 69.
April 24, 1997-
- Crankin' out FIFTY THOUSAND WATTS OF POWER!!!: That could
be the slogan of Koor Broadcasting's new station in Hanover NH,
if Bob Vinikoor gets his way. We've finally seen the FCC filing
for the 720 kHz application, and wouldn't you know, it's for
50 kilowatts by day, 500 watts by night, separate patterns, using
3 towers by day and 4 by night. The transmitter site would be
in Lebanon, just north of the town center and east of route 120.
It goes without saying that the new 720, if approved, would be
by far the strongest AM signal in the Granite State. This should
be interesting...stay tuned.
- Some big shakeups on the radio dial here in Upstate New York,
and most of them are at Heritage Media's Rochester properties.
Oldies WKLX (98.9) dumped most of its airstaff last weekend,
and is now all satellite outside of morning drive, where market
veteran Mike Vickers is now working. Down the hall at classic
rock WQRV (93.3 Avon, "The River,") Chris Wittingham
has replaced Coyote Collins as morning jock. Collins returns
to his duties at country WBEE-FM (92.5). Still no word on a possible
buyer for the Heritage radio/TV properties, which also include
WPTZ-TV (Channel 5) in Plattsburgh.
- New call letters are in place at ARS's modern AC "The
Zone" (94.1 Brighton-Rochester). WZNE replaced WAQB last
Friday. Over in Buffalo, meanwhile, "Alice at 92.9"
is still hiding the old WSJZ calls at the top of each hour.
- There'll be a new AM signal on the air at night in the Rochester
area soon. We've now seen it with our own eyes; Bob Savage has
built three additional towers at the Avon NY transmitter site
of his WYSL, as he gets ready to move the station from a 500-watt
daytimer on 1030 to a fulltime facility on 1040, with 2500 watts
by day and 500 at night. We'll see whether he beats another new
AM to the air; Canandaigua's WCGR has built a new three-tower
facility for its 1310 kHz construction permit, replacing the
daytimer on 1550 kHz.
- Speaking of new stations, there's word from way up North
that WYUL (94.7 Chateauguay) is about to hit the airwaves. Owner
Tim Martz is no stranger to the Canadian border -- he runs WQHR
and WBPW in Presque Isle ME. His 50kW directional signal from
Lyon Mountain, the WPTZ-TV (Channel 5) transmitter site near
Plattsburgh, will head straight for Montreal, and as Garrett
notes, the "YUL" in the calls is also the airport code
for Montreal. Word has it that Martz is hiring bilingual DJs
for the new station.
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*It's here! As seen in the St.
Paul Pioneer Press, the Chicago
Sun-Times, and soon on WCVB's "Chronicle,"
Tower Site Calendar 2007 is not only now shipping - it's
close to a sellout! If you're waiting for the 2007 edition to
go on clearance sale, don't keep waiting - the word from the
shipping department is that fewer than 200 copies remain, and
we expect to sell them all in the next month or two.
 This year's edition
features what we think are the finest tower images yet - from
the cover image of WCCO Minneapolis all the way to the back-cover
centerfold of WBZ in Boston, and from KGO San Francisco to KOIL
Omaha to Philadelphia's famed Roxborough tower farm, captured
in a dramatic dusk shot with the lights all aglow.
This sixth annual edition once again contains plenty of historic
dates from radio and television history in the Northeast and
beyond, and as always, it comes to you shrink-wrapped and shipped
first class mail for safe arrival.
You can even get your 2007 calendar free with
your new or renewal subscription
to NERW at the $60 level.
Visit the Fybush.com
Store and place your order today - and be among the first
to get the Tower Site Calendar 2007!
NorthEast Radio Watch is made possible by the generous
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2007 by Scott Fybush. |
