|
September 8, 2003
WODS Lands Dorman for Mornings
*TUESDAY UPDATE: WVNY (Channel
22) in Burlington, VERMONT announced this afternoon
that it will close its news operation after Friday's 11 PM show,
leaving 25 people out of work and cutting Burlington back to
two local newscasts. It's the third time in channel 22's 30-year
history that it's cancelled news to save money. (NERW notes:
the latest generation of WVNY news was by far the most professional,
with a staff that included ABC News veteran Barrie Dunsmore;
we're sorry to see that it couldn't make inroads against the
established operations at CBS affiliate WCAX and NBC affiliate
WPTZ.)
And more late-breaking news: AllAccess reports that
Steve Kingston has resigned as PD of WNEW (102.7 New York) -
could the end of "Blink" be imminent? Much more next
week...
*It's been a busy week at the biggest oldies
station in MASSACHUSETTS. First, WODS (103.3 Boston) parted
ways with morning man Paul Perry after not quite five years -
and then the Infinity-owned station began running spots that
sound for all the world like political ads.
 Rather than promoting
"Howard Dean for America," though, these ads tout "Dale
Dorman for Oldies 103," complete with the rushed announcement
at the end, "Paid for by Dale Dorman for Oldies 103, Dale
Dorman, treasurer."
Of course, any "campaigning" here is moot, and the
message is clear - the dean of Boston DJs (23 years at "Kiss
108" WXKS-FM, and a long run at WRKO before that) is joining
the crew at Oldies 103 to do mornings. (The official announcement
came Tuesday afternoon after an "on-air audition";
Dorman will start on WODS September 18.)
The move reunites Dorman with former Kiss colleague J.J. Wright,
who's doing afternoons at WODS; as for Perry, we wonder if he'll
head back to Providence, where he was doing mornings at WWBB
(B101) before getting the call up to Boston in the fall of 1998...
Meanwhile, just in to NERW at press time is word that WRKO
(680 Boston) has picked a new morning host: Scott Allen Miller
moves up from afternoons at WGY (810 Schenectady) to join Peter
Blute at 'RKO in about two weeks.
*Elsewhere in the Bay State, Ernie Anastos is selling WGAW
(1340 Gardner) to Steve Silberberg, operating under the same
"County Broadcasting" name under which he recently
acquired WCAT/WAHL in Athol-Orange. Purchase price on this one
is a reported $235,000; until now, WGAW had been relaying the
talk of WOTW Nashua (and more recently the oldies of WOTW's successor,
WSNH.)
Frank Foley's back on the air in Worcester; the former WXLO
host has surfaced on WORC (1310 Worcester) and WEIM (1280 Fitchburg)
with a 9-noon weekday "Frank Foley Show."
And fans of "Let's Talk About Radio" on WJIB (740
Cambridge) have something to celebrate: after cutting the show
back to a monthly airing, Bob Bittner's returning it to a weekly
schedule.
*Sebastian is back on the air in CONNECTICUT,
at a very familiar spot on the dial: he's returned to WCCC (106.9
Hartford) for a fifth time, hosting a pre-game Patriots show
on Sunday. (No, we do not wish to discuss Sunday's game,
nor do we wish to talk about the Red Sox...)
*Up in VERMONT, the folks at Radio
Free Brattleboro are digging in deep as they continue their quixotic
fight against the FCC. To what we can only hope was nobody's
surprise, FCC agents showed up at RFB's studios last Thursday
(September 4) shortly after noon for a brief conversation that
was broadcast over the unlicensed operation. Without a search
warrant, the jock on duty declined to let the agents (or the
Brattleboro police officer who accompanied them) into the station;
the agent left behind a letter giving RFB 10 days to produce
its authorization to broadcast (and no, neither petitions signed
by local residents nor resolutions by local officials count!)
or face a shutdown. Needless to say, RFB's been milking the incident
for all the publicity they can muster; thus challenged, we have
little doubt that the FCC will do whatever it takes to shut the
station down once and for all. (On the soapbox here: It's still
a shame; everything the RFB folks are trying to do could have
been done with part 15 expanded-band AM or even potentially LPFM,
but they seem more interested in picking a fight at this point...)
 *In
MAINE, John Dougherty is parting ways with WMTW-TV (Channel
8) to "pursue other opportunities." Dougherty has been
with WMTW since November 1999, when he came back to Portland
(where he'd been an anchor at WCSH-TV) after several years at
Boston's WBZ-TV.
For the moment, Tori Ryden and Jeff Peterson add the 6 PM
show to their 6 AM duties (ouch!), while Katie Brace, late of
WNDS in Derry, takes over the noon show from Ryden and Peterson.
Doug Cook will handle the 11 PM show.
 *A
veteran NEW YORK anchor is stepping down as well:
Ed Dague announced last week that he won't be returning to the
anchor chair at WNYT (Channel 13) in Albany. He's suffering from
painful arthritis of the spine that's forced him to take a medical
leave from the station, and he says his doctors won't let him
go back to work as an anchor at the NBC affiliate.
Dague has been part of Albany TV for 38 years, beginning as
a photographer at WTEN (Channel 10), then spending 15 years as
a reporter and anchor at WRGB (Channel 6) before moving to WNYT
19 years ago, where he's been not only anchor but managing editor.
Dague says he won't leave WNYT completely; he's hoping doctors
will let him work for a few hours a week as a reporter at the
station.
 
It wouldn't be a Monday at NERW without a few more pictures
of Four Times Square, and check these out: you're looking at
the antenna mast, now 255 feet above the roof and on its way
to 385 feet, and at the high-band VHF TV antenna being raised
to the roof in preparation for installation there. (Latest word
from John Lyons is that it's now in place.) With the second anniversary
of the destruction of the World Trade Center just a few days
away, there's something reassuring about seeing the work being
done to make sure New York broadcasters never again have so many
of their proverbial eggs in the same basket again. (If you missed
it last year, our look at 9/11
Plus One: The World Trade Center Broadcasters Recover is
still available here at fybush.com.)
More Manhattan rooftop news: WLIR (92.7 Garden City) applies
for a two-watt booster; WLIR-1 would operate with 2 watts from
a building near 59th and Columbus, filling in the station's sketchy
signal on the west side of Manhattan and just across the river
in New Jersey.
Up north, we're told WGIX (95.3 Gouverneur) has changed nicknames,
moving from "Oldies 95.3" to "Cool 95.3."
In Syracuse, WVOA (720 DeWitt) began testing this week, running
a dead carrier from a temporary tower on the site south of town
that will eventually hold the station's six-tower night array.
Regular programming won't start there until the spring at the
earliest.
TV news: the shutdown of the news operation at Utica's WUTR
(Channel 20) won't last forever; GM David Males has been telling
area media that the simulcast of WIXT's Syracuse newscasts on
WUTR was "never a long-term solution," and that local
news will likely return to channel 20 eventually. Here in Rochester,
WOKR-DT (Channel 59) brought the first HDTV broadcasts to town
a week ago, airing ABC's Monday Night Football in 720p hi-def;
just a day later, WXXI-DT (Channel 16) signed on, running a regular
high-definition schedule.
In Buffalo, Van Miller is hanging it up at season's end; the
veteran Bills radio broadcaster announced before yesterday's
game (which we still do not wish to discuss) that this will be
his last season doing play-by-play for the team, though he'll
stay on the air in some capacity.
Pricetag time: We hear $4.5 million is what "Route 81
Radio" is paying for the Eolin cluster (WENY AM-FM, WCBA
AM-FM, WCLI, WGMM) in the Elmira/Corning market. (And why was
Backyard Broadcasting's WNGZ off the air all weekend down there?)
*Just one quick PENNSYLVANIA note:
WPHT (1210 Philadelphia) makes it official, giving Sean Hannity
the 3-5 PM slot vacated by Michael Smerconish's move to mornings.
*In CANADA, Astral Media has found
a buyer for the eight-station Radiomedia Quebec cluster it's
being forced to spin off. After the CRTC rejected a plan to sell
the stations to a Radio Nord/TVA joint venture, Astral worked
out a C$12 million sale to Sylvain Chamberlain (who's been running
the stations for Astral) and Gaetan Morin (of the family behind
major Quebec publisher Groupe Morin.)
The Chamberlain/Morin group ends up with many of the province's
most important AM stations, including CKAC (730 Montreal), CHRC
(800 Quebec), CHLT (630 Sherbrooke), CHLN (550 Trois Rivieres)/CKSM
(1220 Shawinigan) and CKRS (590 Saguenay); it also includes CKTS
(900 Sherbrooke), which relays English-language CJAD Montreal,
and CFOM (102.9) in Quebec.
Meanwhile on the FM dial, John Moore is leaving CJFM (Mix
96) in Montreal to take over afternoons at CFRB (1010) in Toronto.
And we have an answer to a recent mystery: if you really want
to know who to blame for the removal of Rochester TV from Ottawa
cable...would you believe MCI/Worldcom? According to Rogers'
application to switch its cable systems to Detroit-based U.S.
network affiliates received via satellite, MCI is discontinuing
the microwave network that has long carried the Rochester signals
from a receive site on the north shore of Lake Ontario to the
Ottawa-area cable systems.
 *The 2004
Tower Site Calendar is now available for ordering! Just as
in past years, the calendar features a dozen spiffy 8.5-by-11
inch full-color images of tower sites from across the nation
- everything from Washington's WTEM to New York's WCBS/WFAN to
Los Angeles' KHJ to WCTM in Eaton, Ohio. Unlike last year, this
year's calendar will feaure heavier paper (no more curling!)
and will be shipped shrink-wrapped on a cardboard backing to
make sure it arrives in pristine condition.
We'll be going to press soon, and hope to be shipping calendars
in time for Thanksgiving - but why wait? Order now and help support
NERW and Tower Site of the Week. Better yet, place your subscription
for 2004 at the $60 level by using the handy buttons below, and
you'll get your 2004 Tower Site Calendar absolutely FREE. What
more could you want? (Live overnight jocks, maybe?)
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 for New York state calendar orders,
and send them along to 92 Bonnie Brae Avenue, Rochester NY 14618.
Thanks for your support!
NorthEast Radio Watch is made possible by the generous
contributions of our regular readers. If you enjoy NERW, please
click here to
learn how you can help make continued publication possible. NERW
is copyright
2003 by Scott Fybush. |