NorthEast Radio Watch 10/11/2021: Weigel Buys in NYC

In this week’s issue… PMCM cashes out on cross-country TV move – A Chille new gig as part of a rebrand – Remembering Kalter’s radio days – Station swap in Quebec – Format flip in Burlington

By SCOTT FYBUSH

Jump to: ME – NH – VT – MA – RI – CT – NY – NJ – PA – Canada

*It took more than 11 years, but a creative FCC legal maneuver is finally paying off in a very big way.

Back in the fall of 2008, PMCM LLC’s purchase of two tiny VHF TV stations in remote communities out west didn’t initially make headlines – why, after all, would the principals behind NEW JERSEY‘s Press Communications bother spending $200,000 on little KVNV (Channel 3) in Ely, Nevada?

We found out why in 2009, when PMCM applied to move KVNV all the way from Ely to “Middletown Township, New Jersey” – with a transmitter atop Four Times Square in the heart of Manhattan, creating a new full-power TV station in the nation’s largest market. The move, crafted by the DC law firm Fletcher, Heald and Hildreth, depended on a creative interpretation of an obscure FCC rule that they believed would require the FCC to approve the application. (Why? Because when New Jersey-based WWOR-TV moved to a UHF physical channel in the DTV transition in 2009, it left the state with no commercial VHF channel.)

The FCC saw matters differently – it went so far as to allocate a new channel 4 to Atlantic City to try to fend off PMCM’s move – but PMCM and Fletcher, Heald persisted, taking the matter to Federal court and winning. In 2014, channel 3 signed on from Manhattan as a MeTV affiliate, winning almost immediate cable carriage throughout the New York metro area and soon changing calls to WJLP. (Over the air, viewers soon had to watch on 33.1, because of complaints from virtual channel 3, WFSB in Connecticut.)

And now PMCM is cashing out in a big way: late last week, it filed a $62.5 million deal to sell WJLP to “TV-49, Inc.,” a subsidiary of Chicago-based Weigel Broadcasting, which also runs the MeTV network. For Weigel, the addition of WJLP (and its channel-sharing LPTV partner, WNWT-LD channel 37) is the latest step in an ongoing acquisition project that’s recently included purchases in Houston, Seattle and several other large markets.

In the New York market, WJLP becomes part of a new duopoly, since Weigel also just bought WZME (Channel 43), the Bridgeport, Connecticut-licensed signal that rimshots New York over the air but enjoys robust cable and satellite coverage of most of the market. That $35 million deal with seller NRJ just resulted in WZME flipping to Weigel’s new MeTV Plus network, which now makes even more sense in the context of a duopoly with MeTV’s main network on WJLP.

So how well did PMCM do in the end for its small investment in TV stations out west and a somewhat larger investment in legal battles and big-city transmitter sites? In addition to netting over $62 million from KVNV/WJLP, PMCM also moved another signal: the former KJWY (Channel 2) in Jackson, Wyoming got moved to the Philadelphia market, where it’s now MeTV affiliate WDPN-TV. PMCM sold that station to Maranatha Broadcasting in 2015 for what turned out to be a share of Maranatha’s eventual $140 million windfall for putting its other signal, WFMZ-TV (Channel 69) in Allentown, into the spectrum auction. We don’t know just how big that share was, but it seems reasonably certain that in the end, PMCM walks away with over $100 million in sale proceeds from those two little stations, a nice move indeed.

(And speaking of moves: while PMCM had hoped to move WJLP from 4 Times Square to the higher tower at 1 World Trade Center, it now tells the FCC that the initial results from making that move did not live up to expectations; as a result, it’s returning to its licensed facility at 4 Times Square while it tries to find a solution to its unexpected signal problems at the World Trade Center.)

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*On the radio side of things in NEW YORK City, there’s a big leadership change at MediaCo’s stations, WBLS (107.5) and WQHT (97.1), where Ron DeCastro has exited as market president. De Castro joined the company in April 2020 from Townsquare’s WKXW (New Jersey 101.5); before that, he’d worked in New York and Philadelphia as a sales executive for CBS Radio and Clear Channel.

No replacement has been named yet.

*Radio’s centennial celebration continued last week as another pioneering signal turned 100. This time, it’s WABC (770 New York), the descendant of Westinghouse’s third radio station. The company put WJZ on the air from its plant at Orange and Plane Streets in Newark on October 1, 1921, but unlike sister stations KDKA and WBZ (and KYW, which followed later that fall), it didn’t stay in Westinghouse hands – it was quickly sold to RCA, which moved it to New York and made it the flagship of the NBC Blue Network. The Blue, of course, became ABC, and in 1953 WJZ became WABC, staying in ABC’s hands until the early 21st century.

After passing through Citadel and Cumulus ownership, WABC is now locally owned by John Catsimatidis’ Red Apple group, which is putting on a good show for the centennial. There’s a website for the station’s history and a weekly series of specials on Sunday afternoons, all archived on the site for later listening.

*The centennial also got some nice recognition here in Rochester last week, where the Antique Wireless Association’s annual conference had the big anniversary as one of its themes. Several noted broadcast historians gave presentations about the centennial, including John Schneider, Donna Halper, and your editor, too. (They’ll be on YouTube at some point, we’re promised!)

*In Buffalo, it took no time at all for veteran air talent/programmer Joe Chille to return to the air after leaving Townsquare’s WMSX (Mix 96.1). After leaving Mix on a Friday, Chille was back on Monday at his previous station, Buddy Shula’s WECK (1230), where he’s now doing afternoons.

Chille’s return coincided with a big rebranding: with a new musical focus that’s more tightly restricted to 60s and 70s hits, WECK is now known as “Big WECK, Buffalo’s Oldies Station,” drawing a clearer contrast with the newer classic hits on Cumulus’ WHTT (104.1). The new identity (which, oddly, lacks any mention of WECK’s one AM or three FM dial positions) is part of a new partnership between Shula and Tom Langmyer’s Great Lakes Media Corp., which is adding consultancy services to its originally-announced plans to acquire stations.

*Over at Chille’s former employer, Nik Rivers has signed on as brand manager for classic rock WBUF (92.9), joining Townsquare after a format change a few months ago bounced him from his previous gig as PD at Audacy’s WLKK (Alternative Buffalo 104.7/107.7).

There’s a station sale in the Mohawk Valley, where Michael Schaus’ THNK Tank Media is adding a second signal to its existing WENT (1340 Gloversville). Thnk Tank will pay Roser Communications Network $150,000 for WVTL (1570 Amsterdam) and its translator on 104.7, which have been carrying a classic country format as the easternmost outpost of Roser’s Utica-based company.

Up north, native son “Java Joel” Murphy will stay on the radio even after the end of his afternoon shift at the now-former WYUL (Hits 94.7); he’s now tracking afternoons for Martz sister station WSNN (B99.3) in Potsdam in addition to his new full-time gig as content director and afternoon jock on WHBC-FM in Canton, Ohio.

*As comedy fans (and especially of David Letterman’s Late Show), we were of course saddened to learn of the death of Alan Kalter, the red-headed announcer who was a deep-voiced foil to Letterman’s silliness for 20 years. What we hadn’t realized was that Kalter also had radio roots right up here near us – as a student at Hobart College, he began his broadcast career in the early 1960s at WGVA (1240 Geneva), where he returned a few years ago for a visit during an alumni weekend. (photo: Finger Lakes Radio Group)

Kalter later worked as an announcer at WHLI (1100) and WTFM (103.5) on Long Island and as a news anchor on WHN (1050) before moving into network work in the big city, voicing many game shows and spots and eventually becoming the voice of SportsChannel and the USA Network before joining Letterman in 1995.

Kalter died October 4, at age 78.

And we note, belatedly, the death on Sept. 23 of Sue Bahner, longtime general manager of WWWG (1460, now WHIC) here in Rochester. Bahner also managed the former WYRD (now WSIV) in Syracuse before joining WWWG in 1980, overseeing what was then the only Christian station in the market. Bahner was 93.

*Audacy made some big moves last week in eastern PENNSYLVANIA, including naming a new brand manager at WPHT (1210 Philadelphia). Greg Stocker, who’s been assistant brand manager, will take the lead programming role being vacated by Spike Eskin’s move to New York; he’ll also remain executive producer of Rich Zeoli’s morning show.

Down the hall at sports talker WIP (94.1), Angelo Cataldi is getting ready to begin a long farewell. WIP’s morning host has been with the station since its beginning on AM in 1989, creating a very long second act to a career that started in sportswriting, including a long stint with the Inquirer. 

Now 70, Cataldi says he’ll retire completely at the end of 2022, but he’ll start gradually stepping back in January when he moves to a four-day workweek and takes Wednesdays off.

*In Pittsburgh, Mike Kasper is the new PD and afternoon host at WPGB (Big 104.7), filling the position opened by JD Greene’s exit in July. Kasper’s no stranger to the region, having worked at the old WBZZ (B94) in Pittsburgh and WIOQ (Q102) in Philadelphia and served as assistant PD at WRTS in Erie. More recently, he’d been the afternoon jock at WUSN (US99) in Chicago until then-Entercom cut that job in early 2020; he’d also been tracking for several stations, including WHBC-FM (Mix 94.1) across the state line in Canton, Ohio.

*East of Pittsburgh, Bob Stevens has big plans for a power increase at WKHB-FM (103.9), which applied last week to go from class A (1.1 kW/236 m) to class B1 (4.4 kW/243 m), changing city of license from Scottdale to Uniontown and moving several miles south to a new site in the hills just east of Uniontown. From the new site, the 103.9 signal would become a little better over Pittsburgh’s southern suburbs and considerably better over the I-79 corridor from Washington down to Morgantown, WV.

The move would come with several city-of-license and frequency shuffles: Stevens’ WKHB (620) would change from Irwin to Scottdale and KQV (1410) from Pittsburgh to Irwin, with no facility changes; in West Virginia, WVIW (104.1 Bridgeport) would be shifted to 96.3, trading frequencies with WOTR (96.3 Weston), which would move to 104.1.

*In MASSACHUSETTS, the big news came from Audacy, where WEEI-FM (93.7) made headlines on a few fronts last week, including the announcement that the Red Sox have signed an extension that will keep them on the sports talker through the 2028 season. Even though the Sox were the only sports game in town at the end of the summer, they weren’t enough to goose WEEI’s flagging ratings, which fell to new lows while Beasley-owned rival WBZ-FM (98.5 the Sports Hub) recorded some of its best numbers ever.

There’s a change in the executive suite at Leo Birmingham Parkway, as Tim Clarke moves up the Audacy corporate ranks from SVP/market manager in Boston to SVP/digital audio content for the entire company. One of the executives who helped the Sports Hub’s rise to prominence is returning to Boston to take his place: Mike Thomas, the PD who launched the Sports Hub format back in 2009 and eventually rose to become VP/programming for the entire CBS Radio cluster in Boston, takes over as SVP/market manager for Audacy’s Boston stations. After CBS left radio in 2017, Thomas stayed with WBZ-FM under new owner Beasley through 2019, then went to Chicago, where he’s been market manager for WMVP (ESPN 1000) under Good Karma Brands.

*Over at the Beasley cluster, they’re fleshing out the on-air lineup at WBOS (Rock 92.9) by adding a local afternoon jock to what had been a remotely-tracked shift. Ron Poole, aka “Hardy,” will be heard on WBOS (largely voicetracked, we suspect) following his existing midday co-host job across the hall on “Sports Hub” WBZ-FM (98.5), where he’ll remain part of the “Zolak and Bertrand” show. The move makes WBOS a little less Detroit-y – while the “Dave and Chuck the Freak” morning show continues to be simulcast from sister station WRIF in the Motor City, Hardy’s local afternoon shift will replace another voice from WRIF, Al Beck.

Where are they now? Veteran New England air talent Loren Petisce recently moved south to Myrtle Beach, where she’s just started a new job as traffic manager for Byrne Acquisition Group’s WEZV/WTKN.

*In CONNECTICUT, Suzi Klonk gets a nice promotion at WDRC-FM (102.9 the Whale), where she’s adding the titles of brand manager and music director to her longtime midday shift. Klonk started as an intern at the old WCCC-FM (106.9) almost 20 years ago; in her new gig, she fills the post last occupied by VP/programming Ed Sabatino, who exited in April.

Rob Ray, who’s been a WDRC fixture on and off for 36 years, has departed the stations for a new job with former owner Connoisseur Media. Ray had been production director, as well as doing nights on WDRC-FM and a weekend oldies show on WDRC (1360). (You may also know the Ray name for the other family member in radio, well-known engineer Tom, who’s Rob’s brother and also a WDRC alumnus.)

*There’s a format change in the Burlington, VERMONT market this morning: after moving its “Game” sports format down the dial to WEAV (960 Plattsburgh NY) and its translators at 97.1 on the Vermont side and 105.9 in Plattsburgh, Vox started stunting over the weekend on WCPV (101.3 Essex NY).

The new format that launched at 6 AM is country as “101.3 the Wolf,” with the syndicated Bobby Bones show as the morning offering, challenging Hall’s dominant WOKO (98.9), John Fuller’s WTNN (97.5) and Great Eastern’s “Froggy” WJKS (104.3). It returns a fourth country signal to the market after the recent flip of WXMS (97.9) away from its “Moose” country format.

*On the NEW HAMPSHIRE Seacoast, Sarah Sullivan is stepping away from her role as content director for Townsquare Media at the end of next week. She’ll continue to track middays on “The Shark” (WSAK 102.1/WSHK 105.3) while taking a new job outside of radio. In addition to serving as brand manager for the Shark and WOKQ (97.5), Sullivan was also brand manager for WPKQ (103.7) in the Portland, MAINE market.

*There’s more HD Radio coming to the FM dial in CANADA‘s biggest market, where the CBC has turned on digital service on its Radio One outlet in Toronto, CBLA (99.1). For now, there’s just an HD1 on the station.

There’s also HD being tested on the Niagara Peninsula on Byrnes Communications’ CFLZ (101.1 Fort Erie), and we’d expect an HD2 to eventually be added there. Byrnes has been a pioneer of HD subchannels north of the border; we’re pretty sure the country format it added as an HD2 on its CIHR (Heart 104.7) in Woodstock was the very first such subchannel format in the nation.

*There’s a schedule adjustment at Toronto’s CJRT (JAZZ.FM91), where Heather Bambrick is now hosting a morning show from 7 until 11 on weekday mornings, followed by an extension of Raina Hersh’s “The Interval,” which now runs from 11 until 2 PM.

*We now know the details of the Cogeco-Arsenal Media station swap in northern Quebec: Arsenal will pay C$1.5 million for Cogeco’s “Capitale Rock” stations (CJGO-1 95.7 Rouyn-Noranda, CHGO 104.3 Amos, CJGO 102.1 La Sarre) and “Wow” CHOA (96.5 Rouyn-Noranda) in the Abitibi region, while Cogeco will buy CILM (O98.3) from Arsenal in Saguenay.

Each company plans to rebrand its new stations, reports Steve Faguy, with the Capitale Rock signals taking the “O” brand and CHOA becoming a “Plaisir” station, while CILM will bring Cogeco’s “Rythme FM” brand to the largest Quebec market where it had been absent.

*And we note the death of Peter Silverman, who was best known for his many years as the consumer advocacy reporter at CityPulse News in Toronto, a post he held from 1989 until 2008. Silverman’s TV career in the region had started at Global News before he joined City, but TV was actually just a later chapter in a remarkable life that included service as a paratrooper, construction work on the London Underground and the M-1 motorway, and… well, you really ought to read the entire death notice. Silverman died Friday in Tweed, Ontario; he was 90.

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