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December 1, 2003
Corus Takes On Giant CKAC
*MONDAY UPDATE - It looks as though WSNJ-FM
(107.7 Bridgeton NJ) has a buyer. AllAccess reports
this morning that Radio One will pay $35 million for the station,
building out its CP to move to 107.9 as a class A facility licensed
to Pennsauken NJ and operating from the WKDN/WTMR tower in Camden,
just across the Delaware River from Center City Philadelphia.
NERW expects this move to really heat up the battle for Philadelphia's
urban listeners - Radio One already has its WPHI (103.9 Jenkintown)
in the hunt against Clear Channel's top-rated WUSL (98.9 Philadelphia)
and urban AC WDAS-FM (105.3), and it looks as though Beasley
is in the race to stay with the urban CHR at "Wild"
96.5, which just changed calls Monday from WPTP to WLDW. Much
more next week...
*For more than 80 years, CKAC (730 Montreal)
has been the undisputed radio behemoth of French CANADA,
dominating the news-talk audience not only in Montreal itself
but in much of the rest of Quebec, thanks to the network that
carries much of its programming to the rest of the province.
 Now CKAC is about
to get a serious competitor, with an airstaff that includes CKAC's
own veteran morning man, Paul Arcand. CKOO (98.5 Longueuil) dropped
its French rock format over the weekend and began playing nonstop
Christmas tunes - and when it returns to regular programming
in January, it'll be with French news and talk.
The move represents a big gamble for Corus, the broadcaster
that's put together a large station group in Montreal (CKOO,
French CHR CKOI, French all-news CINF, English AC CFQR, English
all-news CINW and rimshotters CIME and CFZZ) but hasn't made
much of a French ratings dent beyond the huge numbers CKOI consistently
runs up year after year.
CKOO is making some big moves to launch its new format, and
the hiring of top-rated morning personality Arcand is the biggest
of all. He announced in October that he'd leave CKAC next summer,
after nearly a decade doing mornings, and his radio roots in
Montreal go back to the mid-80s and stints at now-defunct CKVL
(850, which operated from the very same Verdun studios that CKOO
now uses) and CJMS (1280).
CKOO is also grabbing political commentator Gilles Proulx
and, for sports commentary, former Canadiens head coach Jacques
Demers. And the new station has signed a deal to carry Expos
baseball in French next season, another longtime CKAC staple.
(Jacques Doucet and Marc Griffin will remain as the team's radio
voices, with Corus' CJOI 102.9 Rimouski, CFEL 102.1 Montmagny
and CFVD 95.5 Degelis picking up the games as well.)
As the folks on CKUT (90.3)'s excellent "International
Radio Report" were speculating Sunday morning, this could
be a big shift in the AM vs. FM dynamic in French Canada, with
CKOO joining Radio-Canada's CBF on the FM dial with news and
talk, leaving CKAC alone with talk on AM.
The move should benefit Corus' AM operations in Montreal as
well, since the CINF (Info 690) newsroom will provide news to
the new FM station and, no doubt, benefit from some cross-promotion.
What's more, Corus says it hopes to consolidate all of its Montreal
stations at a common location eventually, moving the two AM stations
from Vieux Montreal and the FMs from Gordon Avenue in Verdun.
Is it too soon to dream of Expos in English on CINW, too? Stay
tuned...
 *The big story from
English Canada is a power boost for London community station
CHRW, the voice of the University of Western Ontario. It moved
from the university campus to the One London Place tower in downtown
London on Friday, bumping its power from 3000 watts to 5300 watts
(with a directional antenna) and moving one notch up the dial,
from 94.7 to 94.9. CHRW's move helps out CIWV (94.7 Hamilton)
as well, eliminating a major source of co-channel interference
there.
 And, yes, there are
all-Christmas stations north of the border to tell you about:
in Toronto, Standard's CJEZ (EZ Rock 97.3) and Rogers' CHFI (98.1)
both made the flip; in Kingston, Corus' CFFX (Oldies 960) flipped
over the weekend - and in Ottawa, Rogers' CKBY (105.3) went all-Christmas
amidst rumo(u)rs that it won't go back to country after Boxing
Day. Will country move to what's now XFM (CIOX 101.1 Smiths Falls)?
We'll keep you posted...
*At the other end of NERW-land, western PENNSYLVANIA will
soon be spinning the radio dial to keep up with one of Pittsburgh's
top-rated personalities. Jim Quinn and sidekick Rose Somma-Tennent
will reportedly leave Steel City Media's WRRK (96.9 Braddock)
early in 2004 to take over mornings at Clear Channel's WJJJ (104.7
Pittsburgh).
 Quinn's right-leaning
talk show has never quite fit in with the classic rock that fills
the rest of the day on "Channel 97," but there's no
need to wonder how he'll fit in with the R&B oldies on "104.7
the Beat" - his move to WJJJ will bring a new format and
new calls to WJJJ, which has been limping along towards the bottom
of the ratings ever since the "jammin' oldies" format
began heading south a couple of years ago.
Clear Channel isn't saying much about the rest of its programming
plans yet for 104.7, but it's reasonable to guess that Rush Limbaugh
could eventually move there from Infinity's KDKA, and that the
company will tap the talk talent at sister sports station WBGG
(970) as well.
Over at the bottom of the ratings barrel on the other side
of the Keystone State, Gerry DeFrancesco departs as operations
manager of Greater Media's WMWX (95.7 Philadelphia), with the
rest of the management team there taking on his responsibilities.
On the all-Christmas list in Pennsylvania: WARM-FM (103.3
York), WBYL (95.5 Salladasburg)/WBLJ (95.3 Shamokin), WSHH (99.7
Pittsburgh), WVLY-FM (100.9 Milton), WLEV (100.7 Allentown).
 *A
handful of notes from NEW JERSEY: Drew University's WMNJ
(88.9 Madison) is struggling to get back on the air. The 10-watt
station has been on and off the air in recent school years, and
an article in the Drew Acorn reports that a group of students
were getting ready to put it back on the air 24/7 this school
year, only to find some big problems with the transmitter. The
Acorn reports that the station's transmission line was
broken - apparently from students sliding up and down the cable
(!) - and that WMNJ's "frequency is clogged," whatever
that means. WMNJ is working on getting a new transmitter
in place and hopes to be back on the air soon.
Down the shore, Edward Schober's application for a 97.9 translator
in Rio Grande will soon be granted, barring any major opposition.
On the Christmas list in New Jersey: WOBM-FM (92.7 Toms River
- but just for the weekend and then back to AC today), WWYY (107.1
Belvidere) and WAWZ (99.1 Zarephath).
 *From
NEW YORK comes an explanation of just what experimental
station WV2XOA (700) was doing when we heard it on the air south
of Syracuse a few months back. The radial measurements taken
on its signal - and on WDOS (730 Oneonta) - were the basis for
an application filed last week by unbuilt WVOA (720 DeWitt),
which now hopes to boost its daytime power from 2500 watts to
a full 10 kilowatts. What's more, the new 720 signal would use
that WV2XOA site alongside I-81 near US 20 for both daytime and
nighttime use. (WVOA's current construction permit calls for
the WOLF 1490 site in Syracuse to be the daytime home of 720,
with the WV2XOA site used only at night.)
The new plan calls for a total of six towers, with three being
used by day and during critical hours with 10 kilowatts aimed
mostly north, and five towers in a line being used for the 390-watt
night signal.
(And we can now guess why WV2XOA showed up on 700 instead
of 720 - that way, it didn't interfere with the radial measurements
being taken on WDOS to make sure WVOA won't interfere when it
finally makes it to air...)
FCC action from downstate: Jarad Broadcasting has applied
to legally move the antennas of its WDRE (98.5 Westhampton) and
WXXP (105.3 Calverton-Roanoke), after being forced to move both
antennas down the tower after an FCC inspection found them to
be much higher than they should have been. WDRE would go from
3000 watts at 100 meters to 950 watts at 160 meters; WXXP would
go from 1000 watts at 150 meters to 660 watts at 185 meters.
The contours of the station would remain unchanged.
While we're out on Long Island, we'll note that Dan Binder
has parted ways from WMJC (94.3 Smithtown), where he was serving
as PD. No replacement has been named yet.
Some DTV news from New York: WNBC-DT (Channel 28) quietly
made it back on the air last week, operating at low power from
the roof of NBC headquarters at 30 Rockefeller Center. Meanwhile,
the FCC granted extensions to WPXN-DT (Channel 30), WWOR-DT (Channel
38) and WXTV-DT (Channel 40), which continue to struggle to rebuild
more than two years after the destruction of the World Trade
Center.
 Kingsborough Community College's
WKRB (90.9 Brooklyn) won't be moving to 91.9 after all; the FCC
has rejected its proposal to relocate up the dial, where it would
have run 10 watts at 40 meters above average terrain.
In Syracuse, afternoon guy "Scorch" is off the air
at rocker WWDG (105.1 DeRuyter), though the circumstances (he
supposedly played an obscenity-laced song on the air) smell strongly
of a stunt.
Watertown's WWTI (Channel 50) has pared its news staff again.
North Country correspondent Mike Roach tells us the local newsbreaks
in the "Daybreak" news show (which originates from
Clear Channel sister stations WIXT in Syracuse and WIVT in Binghamton)
have been replaced with a loop of local weather radar and a text
crawl of headlines. Reporters Tammy Palmer and Julie Vanderslice
have decamped to Time Warner's new News 10 Now regional network.
On the translator beat: Edgewater, one of the multiple Idaho-based
applicants for thousands of new signals in the last window, landed
105.7 in Olean on the FCC's latest "accepted for application"
list. Barring an objection from someone (and it's a pretty open
frequency, to be honest), this one should be granted in a couple
of weeks.
New York's new Christmas signals last week: WLVG (96.1 Center
Moriches), WALK-FM (97.5 Patchogue), WLTW (106.7 New York), WHUD
(100.7 Peekskill, just for the weekend), WRNQ (92.1 Poughkeepsie),
WUCL (93.5 Remsen/Utica), WYYY (94.5 Syracuse), and WRMM (101.3
Rochester).
 *CONNECTICUT's
second public TV network could be back on the air in a few months.
CPTV2 had statewide cable distribution until last
month, when its statewide signal was usurped by "CT-N,"
the Nutmeg State's version of C-SPAN. Now Connecticut Public
TV says it's negotiating with cable companies to find channel
space for a revived CPTV2, which could be on the air this spring.
Playing the Christmas tunes in Connecticut: WEZN (99.9 Bridgeport),
and about half the time on WRCH (100.5 New Britain/Hartford).
*All-Christmas in RHODE ISLAND: WWLI
(105.1 Providence).
 *MASSACHUSETTS will
soon have another nighttime AM signal. WBIX (1060 Natick) was
once a 24-hour signal, back when it was WBIV and operating from
the five towers at the end of Sewell Road (off Route 126) in
Ashland. But when WBPS (now WAMG) signed on at 890 from those
towers in 1994, 1060 retreated to daytime-only operation from
the WKOX site in Framingham, initially with just 500 watts (eventually
boosted to 40 kW days, 22 kW critical hours from the WKOX towers.)
And now WBIX is testing its 2500-watt night signal from the Ashland
site,which will eventually result in the station running 40 kW
days, 22 kW critical hours from Framingham and 2.5 kW nights
from Ashland. (Veterans of Boston radio will recall that WBIV's
1060 predecessor, WGTR/WTTP, never received a license to cover
for its nighttime operation, spending decades under special temporary
authority while it tried to work out protection issues with 1060's
dominant occupant, KYW in Philadelphia.)
Out in Warren, town officials have turned down a proposal
to build a cellular telephone tower on Coy Hill; they're telling
the wireless companies to try co-locating with WARE (1250 Ware)
at its nearby four-tower site.
Ho-ho-ho in the Bay State: WODS (103.3 Boston), WQSX (93.7
Lawrence), WORC-FM (98.9 Webster/Worcester), WSRS (96.1 Worcester
- just for the weekend), WXLO (104.5 Fitchburg/Worcester).
*A new LPFM in NEW HAMPSHIRE: WXGR-LP
(101.5 Dover) has been granted a license to cover. This is the
one that's operated by something or someone called "Gritty,"
and we'd love to know what it's programming. (Update: several
readers have checked in to report that it's playing a variety
of jazz and world music without any IDs; its Web site is up and
running at www.wxgr.org, complete
with the all-important antenna picture...)
Playing the holiday tunes up there: WOQL (98.7 Winchester/Keene).
*And we'll end with two all-Christmas outlets
in MAINE: former sister stations WKCG (101.3 Augusta)
and WCTB (93.5 Fairfield) are both spinning the seasonal sounds.
No doubt we'll have a few more with the format by next week...
 *The 2004
Tower Site Calendar will be back from the printer this
week - 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 in just a few days, 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?)
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.
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2003 by Scott Fybush. |