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July 7, 2003
Vermont Gets "Kiss"ed
By SCOTT FYBUSH
*Clear Channel flipped two of its VERMONT properties
last week, just in time for Independence Day. In Rutland, WZRT
(97.1) kept its top 40 format under a new name, taking on Clear
Channel's national "Kiss" branding (and the blue ball
logo that's already been phased out in some other Kiss markets);
up US 7 in Burlington, the arrival of "Kiss" was a
bit more of a surprise, with the 4 PM change last Thursday (7/3)
installing "Kiss 92.1" on WJVT (92.1 Port Henry NY),
the rimshotter that had been doing smooth jazz for the last year
and change.
Under its (pending) new calls of WVTK, Kiss will pose at least
something of a threat to established top 40 WXXX (95.5 South
Burlington), though the two stations' signals have little overlap
except over Burlington itself. Through the miracle of voicetracking,
the stations share an airstaff that consists of Dave Ryerson,
Judy Anderson, AJ and Mike Cruz, though we hear the programming
is separate at each frequency. (And wouldn't it figure that the
switch would come not 48 hours after we drove out of the market...)
*Two new LPFMs were granted last week in
NEW HAMPSHIRE: Highland Community Broadcasting gets 94.7
in Concord, while "Ndimension" gets 107.3 in Etna.
*The big news from MASSACHUSETTS was
the closing of Qantum's $32 million purchase of the former Makkay
stations on Cape Cod. Frank Osborn's group is now running classic
hits WCIB (101.9 Falmouth), rock WPXC (102.9 Hyannis) and top
40 WRZE (96.3 Nantucket).
Where are they now? Former WBZ/WRKO programming/promotions
guy Frank Murtagh is now the president of syndication for Sabo
Media, which puts him in charge of distributing the Parade
magazine radio service...congratulations!
 *Two
new group heads in RHODE ISLAND: Jim Corwin adds WWBB
to his responsibilities as he becomes market manager for the
entire Clear Channel/Providence cluster; over at Citadel, general
sales manager Barbara Haynes rises to VP/market manager, overseeing
WPRO, WSKO, WPRO-FM and WWLI.
*In CONNECTICUT, Ross Brittain parted
ways with Clear Channel "Kiss" WKSS (95.7 Hartford)
last week, ending eight years in the morning there. The top-40
veteran continues to put out his Ross Brittain Report
show-prep newsletter; for now, Kiss is getting by with sidekick
Courtney Nadeau and news guy Steve Coates in mornings.
*In NEW YORK, we can now report that
WKCR (89.9) is getting a happy ending to its long-running signal
problems. The Columbia University station lost its antenna on
1 World Trade Center on September 11, and since then it's been
making do with a weak signal from a Columbia dorm. Soon, though
(as soon as its transmitter and combiner can be delivered, in
fact), WKCR will move to 4 Times Square, becoming the only FM
station operating full-time from that location.
Speaking of 4 Times Square (as we so often do), here's the
latest on the tower rebuild up there: John Lyons sent along that
photo above showing the ironworkers (Local 40 ironworkers working
for Delro, we should note!) getting ready to put the steel in
place that will support the new tower. The rest of the steel
for the tower is due in New York this week, with transmission
line arriving next week and tower erection getting underway the
week of July 21. We'll keep you posted!
Down on the AM dial, WLXE (1380) changed hands from Mega to
Arthur Liu last week, with the regional Mexican "La X"
programming giving way to leased-time Russian programming as
a result. Look for the old WKDM calls (now parked at one of Liu's
properties down in the Washington market) to come back, too...
(And WABC announced that Michael Savage is gone from its airwaves
for good, after he bolted ABC sister station KSFO in San Francisco
in favor of crosstown KNEW.)
Out on Long Island, WGBB (1240 Freeport) has made a studio
move: it's now operating from the offices of WNYG (1440) in Babylon...
 Up the Hudson, WBWZ (93.3 New
Paltz) made a minor format shift last week, edging towards hotter
AC under the new moniker "Star 93.3" (from "Z93"
and a milder blend of hot AC.)
The Hudson Enlarged City School District doesn't want to be
in the LPFM business after all: it returned its unbuilt CP for
a 97.1 in Hudson to the FCC last week.
On the TV dials, WNYA (Channel 51) from Pittsfield has been
seen testing by Albany viewers; we didn't see it on the air as
we drove through the market last Tuesday, but we're assured it
will be on the air for real very soon.
And here in Rochester, Holy Family Communications made it
on the air on schedule with its WHIC (1460) last Tuesday (July
1), replacing the old religious/ethnic WWWG with Catholic programming.
The calls, it turns out, stand for "Holy and Immaculate
Conception" - but we'd still like to believe there's at
least a sneaking reference there to the old WHEC at 1460,
especially since the station's general manager is none other
than local radio vet Jack Palvino (of WVOR fame).
*One NEW JERSEY note: WIBF-FM (88.7
Port Republic) changed calls to WXXY; it's still simulcasting
contemporary Christian WXHL (89.1 Christiana DE).
*In PENNSYLVANIA, another veteran
KDKA (1020 Pittsburgh) newsman is leaving: Dave James will retire
from the station August 26, ending a 32-year career there.
Over in Philadelphia, WZZD (990) is shifting from contemporary
Christian to Christian top 40.
And in the "catching up" department, we neglected
to mention last week that Scranton's WWDL (104.9) shifted its
imaging on June 23, moving from "Greatest Hits 105"
to "The New 104-9 The Music Station," with a slightly
hotter AC approach...
*CANADA Day notwithstanding,
it was a busy week for regulators north of the border, as they
ruled on a whole slew of applications for new signals in Quebec.
In Montreal, the CRTC granted five new stations, including
one on 1570, the old CKLM frequency. It will light up again in
Laval, where Gilles Lajoie and Collette Chabot were granted a
10,000 watt French adult standards station. Radio Nord and Spectra-Scene
get 900 watts on 91.9 for a French jazz station (Spectra is involved
in producing Montreal's big jazz festival); while Canadian Hellenic
Cable Radio gets 141 watts on 105.1 for a broadcast signal for
its Greek programming, long available on cable and subcarrier.
Aboriginal Voices Radio was granted a license but no frequency
(it wanted 100.1, but that was taken up in Trois-Rivieres), and
the CBC was granted 98 watts on 104.7 to put a CBME (88.5) relay
at the corner of Sherbrooke West and Cavendish Streets, filling
in some big signal deficiencies in the 88.5 signal in the Anglo
parts of the city. (Our friend Sheldon Harvey filed an intervention
against that one, accusing the CBC of wasting frequencies in
its transition from AM 940 to the FM dial.)
In Sherbrooke, Cogeco gets two signals for its "Rhythme
FM" network (based at CFGL 105.7 in Laval), on 93.7 with
1650 watts and on 98.1 over in Magog with 3600 watts. "Groupe
Generation Rock" also won a new Sherbrooke signal, on 104.5
with 1300 watts. "Radio Communautaire Missisquoi" was
granted 800 watts on 99.1 in Lac-Brome for a new English-language
community station, and the CBC was granted 1010 watts in Magog
on 106.9 to add a relay of CBF-10 (101.1 Sherbrooke), thus providing
better Radio Canada premiere chaine service to some areas
shadowed by Mont Orford.
The new Magog signal, in turn, means CBMZ (106.9 Trois-Rivieres)
will have to move - and so the handful of Anglophones in the
Mauricie will now hear CBC Radio One on 93.9. CBMZ also gets
a power increase (to 9.3 kW from 4.4 kW) and a new permanent
tower site, replacing the old "Westower" that was destroyed
when a plane hit it two years ago. Trois-Rivieres listeners will
also get "Rhythme FM," as Cogeco is granted a new 100.1
signal there with 43 kW.
None of the applicants for a new signal up in the Lac St.
Jean-Saguenay region were granted licenses; the CRTC says that
area's economy can't support another radio station.
Also denied was Astral's application to transfer its AM stations
across Quebec (as well as CFOM 102.9 Levis) to a TVA/Radio Nord
partnership; the CRTC says that deal was not the best opportunity
to promote diversity in ownership and the revival of Quebec's
AM dial.
 In Ottawa, John Lacharity
said goodbye to his CBO (91.5) listeners on Friday after 24 years
at the CBC Radio One outlet, the last 14 of them as "Ottawa
Morning" host.
Wayne Van Exan, the longtime overnight host at CFRB (1010
Toronto), died Tuesday (7/1) at age 64. Van Exan was at CFRB
for 29 years, retiring in 1991.
And in London, a transmitter fire took CFPL-TV (Channel 10)
off the air on Thursday; no word about any damage to the transmitters
of CFPL-FM (95.9) or CHST (102.3), which are also located at
the CFPL-TV studio/transmitter facility.
*That's it for another week - and we're off to host the Worldwide TV-FM DX Association
convention right here in western New York! See you in a week...
 *Have
you ordered your Tower Site Calendar 2003 yet? That spiffy
image of the WBEN transmitter site on Grand Island is just one
of a dozen exciting images...and it's accompanied by many others
(including Providence's WHJJ; Mount Mansfield, Vermont; KOMA
in Oklahoma City; the legendary WSM, Nashville; 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!
And this year, you can order with your Visa, MasterCard, Discover
or American Express by using the handy link below!
Better yet, here's an incentive to make your 2003 NERW subscription
pledge: support NERW/fybush.com at the $60 level or higher, and
you'll get this lovely calendar for free! How can you
go wrong? (Click here to visit
our Support page, where you can make your NERW contribution with
a major 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.
International orders: Calendars are US$18 to Canada,
US$20 to the rest of the world, postage included. Send checks/international
money orders (in US dollars) to the address above, or e-mail
for credit-card ordering information.
*The twelfth edition of the M
Street Radio Directory will soon go to the printer,
and we'll have a special offer for NERW readers coming within
a few weeks. Stay tuned!
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2003 by Scott Fybush. |