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November 24, 2003
Willcox Applies for 50kW at WNSH
*The top end of the AM dial in eastern MASSACHUSETTS could
sound different soon if veteran broadcaster Keating Willcox has
his way. His Willow Farm, Inc. is applying to boost WNSH (1570
Beverly) from 500 watts directional by day to a full 50 kilowatts,
using the same three towers WNSH currently uses on the Endicott
College campus in Beverly.
 To make the move
happen will require the Bay State's other 1570 signal, WPEP in
Taunton, to surrender its license - something we speculated about
in NERW way back when Willcox bought WNSH in 1998.
In the meantime, though, Willcox sold WPEP (as well as his
stations in Nashua and Woonsocket) to Ernie Anastos' Anastos
Media Group, and so any thought of a "mega-1570" slowly
vanished from the rumor mill.
What we didn't know, though - at least not until Willcox filed
his application for the WNSH upgrade last week - is that Willcox
has negotiated an agreement with WPEP that will now allow the
Taunton station to go silent and WNSH to boost its power by a
factor of 100. (As for "local service" to Taunton and
Bristol County, the application notes that WSNE will continue
to "serve" Taunton, at least as far as the FCC is concerned.)
That's the good news - the bad news is that even with all
that juice, WNSH still won't be a potent signal in much of the
Boston market. The combination of poor ground conductivity (WNSH's
ground system is, as its application explains, laid over bare
rock because there's no soil on much of the site) and the need
to protect co- and adjacent-channel stations in New York (WQEW
1560, WFTU 1570 and WLIM 1580) mean WNSH's signal, with a directional
pattern aimed north, will serve the North Shore, outer Cape Cod,
coastal New Hampshire and Maine, and - well, we'll quote a local
radio wag on this one - "I guess WNSH stands for Nova Scotia/Halifax?"
(Actually, it'll be more of a Yarmouth signal from the looks
of it...) And at night on a Canadian clear channel, WNSH will
still be limited to 85 watts non-directional.
In any case, we're happy to see Willcox's dream of a big power
increase move closer to reality, and the 50kw WNSH will be
a very potent signal all along the North Shore and Cape Ann if
this application is approved.
*More Bay State news: Worcester's WNEB (1230) has a new owner,
as Blount Communications applies to buy the station from Windsor
Financial, which took control of WNEB a few months back. Blount
is already running WNEB as a simulcast of its religious WVNE
(760 Leicester), using 1230 to continue WVNE's programming after
the 760 daytimer signs off for the night; now the $400,000 purchase
will make it official.
The Boston Herald's Dean Johnson checked in with WKOX
(1200 Framingham) about the status of its planned upgrade to
50kw and move to the WUNR (1600 Brookline) site in the Oak Hill
neighborhood of Newton - and he says the station expects to get
approval from Newton officials "within a year" to build
out the site and put on a signal that it claims will be second
only to WBZ in Boston coverage. Knowing the neighbors in Newton,
we suspect it will take a lot longer than that...and we'd expect
WKOX's 50kw signal will still be less potent than WRKO and WEEI
once it signs on.
Radio People on the Move: Buzz Knight gets a promotion at
Greater Media, adding the title of operations manager at WROR
(105.7 Framingham)/WBOS (92.9 Brookline) and Philadelphia's WMGK
(102.9)/WMMR (93.3) to his WROR PD duties. Over at Entercom,
Tom Baker and Julie Kahn trade GM duties, with Baker now heading
up WQSX and WRKO while Kahn drops WQSX and adds WEEI to her GM
duties at WAAF. A reaction to all the fuss over WEEI's morning
team of Dennis and Callahan? The station says no, but the controversy
still isn't over - WEEI has hired former Suffolk County DA Ralph
Martin to try to defuse the lingering anger at the METCO urban-suburban
transfer program. Over in Worcester, Art Volpe will be the new
VP/market manager at Clear Channel's WTAG/WSRS beginning Dec.
1; he arrives from Entercom in Kansas City, where he was director
of sales. And our best wishes go out to WBZ's David Brudnoy,
who's off the air for a while as he receives radiation therapy
that's weakened his voice and made it impossible for him to do
his 7-10 PM talk show.
On the translator front, WERS (88.9 Boston) has its application
for 96.5 in New Bedford posted to the FCC's applications list,
which means it could be granted in a few weeks unless there's
opposition.
On the TV dial, Tribune's WLVI (Channel 56) originated the
broadcast of last weekend's Harvard-Yale football game in HDTV
(a local broadcast first) - and returned The Game to national
TV prominence with a syndication package that put the action
on sister station WGN (both its Chicago and national feeds) and
other outlets around the country. And out in
Springfield, WHTX-LP (Channel 43) signed on from WWLP's Provin
Mountain tower with Univision over the weekend. WHTX-LP used
to be on channel 10 across the CONNECTICUT state line
in Hartford before being displaced by DTV. (It had applied for
channel 28 in Hartford before moving to Springfield again.)
*Our list of Christmas format flips this
week begins in RHODE ISLAND, where WSNE (93.3) flipped
last week. (Oh wait - that's a Taunton, Massachusetts station,
isn't it?) Also on the list in New England: Cape Cod's WTWV (101.1
Mashpee)/WDVT (93.5 Harwich Port), and - on weekends - WBMW (106.5
Ledyard CT).
*The chairs are spinning at WERZ (107.1)
in Exeter, NEW HAMPSHIRE - Jay Michaels has departed his
APD/MD/afternoon duties there (and his PD job at sister WQSO),
though he stays on the job doing weekends at Boston's Kiss 108.
Tim Rose moves from middays to afternoons at WERZ, with Mike
O'Donnell moving from middays at sister WUBB to middays at WERZ.
Morning guy Kevin Matthews adds APD/MD duties.
*One translator application makes the list
in MAINE: Radio Assist Ministries (one of the Twin Falls,
Idaho-based clone companies that applied for several thousand
of the things) will be awarded 103.3 in Biddeford, though we'd
note that all it takes is one Biddeford listener to co-channel
WODS, Boston or WMCM, Rockland to complain about interference
and get the translator in question shut down when the time comes.
(Not that we'd put any ideas in anyone's head...)
 *Christmas
bells are ringing all over NEW YORK this week, and it's
still not even Thanksgiving yet. Buffalo's WTSS (102.5)
and WJYE (96.1) both made the flip last Friday, and so did WISY
(102.3 Canandaigua) near Rochester (hint to "Sunny":
you can now remove your "countdown to Christmas music"
from the Web site...)
Across town, WBBF (93.3 Fairport) is actually running TV spots
promoting its Christmas music, complete with the smiley-face
logo it's been using as an oldies station, which suggests the
format may return after the holidays after all. And we know oldies
will be back at Albany's WTRY (98.3 Rotterdam), which also flipped
Friday.
In Syracuse, we heard WDCW (1390) back on the air with automated
contemporary Christian music over the weekend; it had been silent
for a week, and we'd thought it was about to change hands from
Crawford to Buckley (which it will do, sooner or later.)
 Rick Martini is
leaving WALK-FM (97.5 Patchogue) and heading west down the Long
Island Expressway, where he'll go from doing middays to being
the latest APD/MD at New York's WNEW (102.7) under new PD Smokey
Rivers. That, in turn, means that it appears the "Blink
v.2" AC format will return to 102.7 after the holiday music
ends, after all. (And Rick, we still remember you as "Rocky
Martini" on Rochester's WPXY...)
Jarad is telling the FCC that it's fixed the height problem
at WDRE (98.5 Westhampton) and WXXP (105.3 Calverton-Roanoke)
out on Long Island's East End, returning both stations' antennas
to their licensed heights. We'll see if that gets the stations
out of a potential FCC fine.
And Felipe Luciano has departed the co-host chair in afternoon
drive on New York's WWRL (1600), leaving Sam Greenfield to do
the show solo for now.
 *The
big news out of PENNSYLVANIA is the end of the hot AC
"Point" format on Beasley's WPTP (96.5 Philadelphia),
which came just after NERW went to press last Monday morning
(Nov. 17).
The ratings-challenged station spent Monday doing all-Christmas
music before relaunching at 5 PM with nonstop rhythmic top 40,
supposedly being programmed by station janitor "Rocco"
from down in the 96.5 basement. ("Rocco" is even getting
endorsements from Philly-area labor unions, which we've got to
admit is a clever bit of stunting.)
"Wild 96.5" is the station's new nickname, and we
hear the entire airstaff, save for the Barsky morning show, is
out the door as a result of the format flip. (We'd expect "Rocco"
to be supplanted by a real airstaff in the next few weeks, too.)
One all-Christmas music flip from the other end of the state:
WWSW (94.5 Pittsburgh) dropped the oldies on Friday to go all
ho-ho-ho, though "3WS" will be back after the holiday
season.
*There'll be a new low-power TV station
in southwest ONTARIO soon: Southshore Broadcasting has
been granted 400 watts on channel 34 in Leamington, where it'll
run 42.5 hours a week of local programming in a variety of languages.
The CRTC gave Rogers' "OMNI.2" (CJMT Toronto) permission
to move from channel 44 to channel 69, which will also allow
the multilingual station to move to the new tower going up on
the First Canadian Place building and boost power to 500 kW visual.
The CRTC also gave Rogers permission to put Detroit network affiliates
on its cable systems in London and Ottawa, replacing Erie and
Rochester respectively. (The cable company actually made the
move back in mid-September.)
And way up north, Kapuskasking is losing its last
AM signal, as CHYK-2 (1230) is granted permission to move to
FM with 3400 watts at 93.7.
 *The 2004
Tower Site Calendar is now at the printer - so don't wait
to place your order! 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 shipping calendars just after Thanksgiving if all
goes well, so 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?)
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now - make those checks payable to "Scott Fybush,"
be sure to include sales tax for New York state calendar orders,
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2003 by Scott Fybush. |