August 19, 2002
WLAN Makes All-Sports Flip
By SCOTT FYBUSH
The steady decline of standards formats
- and the growth of all-sports radio - is about to claim another
convert in central PENNSYLVANIA. NERW has learned that
Clear Channel is readying a format flip that will shift WLAN
(1390 Lancaster) from standards to sports as "The Ticket."
If the format and
the nickname already sound familiar to listeners in the region,
it's no surprise: Clear Channel flipped WWKL (1460 Harrisburg)
from oldies to standards two years ago as "The Ticket,"
WTKT, with a programming lineup (heavy on Fox Sports offerings)
very similar to what will be heard on WLAN after the flip takes
place in the next few weeks.
The new "Ticket" won't have a couple of key sports
franchises: the Phillies air in Lancaster on Hall's all-sports
WLPA (1490), while NASCAR is over on the FM dial at WIOV-FM (105.1
Ephrata).
Will the heritage WLAN calls disappear from AM and be relegated
solely to FM use at 96.9? And how much local programming will
remain on 1390? Stay tuned... (and in the meantime, we're wondering
what the "new" 1390 site was doing over the weekend
at the www.wkbo.com Web address
of Harrisburg sister station WKBO 1230 instead of the correct
www.1390theticket.com
site that will be WLAN's new Web address.)
*While we're in central Pennsylvania, we're keeping an eye
on the fate of the Brill Media stations. The group heads to a
bankruptcy auction Tuesday, but we're told WSOX (96.1 Red Lion)
won't be part of that sale, leaving only WIOV (1240 Reading)
and WIOV-FM (105.1 Ephrata) as NERW-land stations in the auction.
Results next week...
Over in Shamokin, Clear Channel is selling dark WISL (1480)
to David Gorman's "Basic Licensing" for all of $65,000
- and with just a few months left to remain dark before facing
license revocation.
And up in Erie, Beth Ann McBride has left the PD chair at
"Star" WRTS (103.7 Erie), leaving the NextMedia CHR
seeking a replacement.
*In NEW JERSEY, the new "Mix
97.3" (WIXM Millville) has a morning show after several
months on the air. Eddie Davis is the new morning voice there,
coming down from WHCN in Hartford (and a stint at Jersey's WPST
before that.)
Asbury Park noncomm WYGG (88.1) got caught by the FCC, and
now the Haitian gospel station wants to straighten things out.
WYGG was issued a Notice of Violation back in May that accused
the station of having moved its transmitter from 517 Cookman
Avenue to 601 Bangs Avenue without permission. Now the station
is applying to make the move legal, with 50 watts of power at
35 meters above average terrain. (As for the DX reports that
have accused WYGG of operating an unlicensed on-channel booster
all the way over in Brooklyn, we'll leave that to the Enforcement
Bureau to sort out...)
*Next stop, NEW
YORK, where noncomm WFUV (90.7), still embattled in a fight
over its unfinished tower in the Bronx, has won one fight to
improve its signal in the Big Apple. The FCC rejected protests
from second-adjacent WFMU (91.1 East Orange NJ) and granted WFUV
permission to put on-channel booster WFUV-FM2 on the air from
the old WRVR (106.7, now WLTW) tower atop the Riverside Church
in upper Manhattan. The 600 watt booster will be very directional,
aimed south into Manhattan while avoiding the Bronx and upstate
areas that already receive a decent WFUV signal.
Still more good news for 'FUV fans: after several months of
repeats, Pete Fornatale has settled his dispute with the station
and returned to his Saturday "Mixed Bag" show. Fornatale's
beef with WFUV stemmed from some comments he made over the winter
that station management felt were too political; in the meantime,
he had been doing some work with WBJB (90.5 Lincroft NJ) down
in Monmouth County.
Lynn Samuels is off the radio again: the left-leaning talker
has been replaced on her WABC (770) weekend shift by the syndicated
Suze Orman financial-advice show.
And those afternoon guys at that FM talk station would want
all the publicity they'd get from their latest moronic stunt
this week - so we're glad to deny them that satisfaction.
On the TV side, there's word that Dianne Doctor will move
from the news director's chair at WNBC (Channel 4) over to WCBS-TV
(Channel 2), part of a shuffling of news talent prompted by the
move of O&O stations boss Dennis Swanson from NBC to CBS.
Doctor's move to WCBS apparently means the end of Joel Cheatwood's
stint as news director at the perenially ratings-challenged channel
2.
Out on Long Island, David Weiss has exited the morning show
at WALK-FM (97.5 Patchogue).
Up in Albany, morning
guy Ric Mitchell is out again at WTRY-FM (98.3 Rotterdam). Mitchell,
whose career in the Capital District stretches back to the seventies,
had been with the Clear Channel oldies station for six years
this time - and this wasn't even his first stint with WTRY. No
word yet on a permanent replacement for WTRY wakeups...
Over at Regent's Albany cluster, they're looking for a new
PD for rocker WPYX (106.5), which is losing PD Dave Hill to a
bigger gig programming Hearst rocker "98 Rock," WIYY
(97.9 Baltimore).
Up north, some good news for Watertown public radio fans:
their relay of WRVO (89.9 Oswego) is about to get a lot stronger.
WRVO was granted its CP this week to move WRVJ (91.7 Watertown)
from the top of an office building in downtown Watertown to the
WPBS-TV (Channel 16) tower out near Copenhagen. With 1600 watts
from 41 meters above average terrain, WRVJ should have a much-improved
reach from the new facilities, especially in outlying areas such
as Carthage and Lowville.
And back here in Rochester, it's still "Swifty 950"
stunting on WBBF (950 Rochester) - but a few clues about the
station's future have begun to surface - at least if you're looking
for Allan Harris' radio history pages, which have moved to a
new home at www.aharris950.com.
(And is there any truth to the rumor that one of 950's new talents
personally painted over all the graffiti on the 950 transmitter
building?)
*From MASSACHUSETTS comes word that
the Red Sox have a new TV deal for next season (if there is
a next season, that is), moving their broadcast games from
Fox's WFXT (Channel 25) to the Viacom duopoly of WBZ-TV (Channel
4) and WSBK (Channel 38). The two stations will carry between
25 and 35 games next season, with Sox-owned NESN increasing its
load from this year's 86 games to between 115 and 125.
The FCC granted the transfer of WLYN (1360 Lynn) from ADD
Media to Arthur Liu's Multicultural Broadcasting; Liu is paying
$1.78 million for the 700-watt ethnic station.
And we're sorry to have to report the arrest of former WBCN
afternoon guy Mark Parenteau, who's now running the comedy channel
for XM down in Washington. Parenteau was arrested last Wednesday
(August 14) on charges of first-degree sexual assault involving
a 14 year old boy.
*NEW HAMPSHIRE's public radio network
has a new voice, as of 5 PM last Wednesday. That's when WEVJ
(99.5 Jackson) signed on as the latest addition to the statewide
web, bringing a stronger NHPR signal to the Mount Washington
Valley, where NHPR has been heard only weakly via WEVC (107.1
Gorham) on the other side of the mountain. WEVJ's running 4700
watts from 141 feet above average terrain, at a site just north
of North Conway. (WEVJ's debut ends a long struggle to get this
frequency on the air; an earlier CP expired a few years back,
and it ended up in NHPR's hands as the settlement to a contested
application process.)
Some sad news from
NHPR as well: reporter Chris Bracken, whose work was heard often
on the public radio network, as well as on Vermont Public Radio
and NPR, died August 3 after a battle with liver cancer. Bracken
was just 48 years old.
One more bit of Concord news: we can now tell you how much
the new owners of WKXL (1450) are paying to buy the station from
Vox - the sale price on the deal, which was approved this week,
is $370,000.
*Just one bit of MAINE news this
week: WQEZ (104.7 Kennebunkport) is picking up the syndicated
Bob and Sheri morning show, effective next Monday (August 26);
PD Ken McGrail checked in to let us know he'll be sleeping a
little later when he moves off the morning shift and into middays.
*Just one bit of CONNECTICUT news
as well: WNTY (990 Southington) is reshuffling its schedule,
adding Neil Boortz from 3-5 PM, Rusty Humphries from 5-7, Michael
Reagan from 7 till midnight and Jones Radio Network's "America
Live" overnight, and getting rid of the last remaining USA
Radio Network programming on the schedule.
*The big news
from CANADA continued to involve Corus' new "Country
95.3" (CING 95.3 Hamilton ON), which made its sign-on official
this morning at 7 with the debut of its first live jocks. Stu
Jeffries comes over from sister station Y108 (CJXY 107.9 Burlington)
to head up the morning crew, with Toronto radio vet Kenny Caughlin
(the last country jock on the old CISS 92.5) holding down afternoons.
A correction from last week: that's Brian DePoe who's moving
from the PD chair at 95.3 back to Toronto's "EZ Rock"
(CJEZ 97.3), effective today.
And up in Ottawa, Milkman Unlimited reports the arrival of
a new local show at sports "Team 1200" (CFGO). The
"Sports Call" show that used to be heard on sister
CFRA is being revived at 1200, filling the 9 AM to noon slot
that had been occupied by Team national programming from CHUM
in Toronto.
*Finally this week, we're happy to announce
that our good friends at M Street have released the 11th edition
of the M Street Radio Directory. With the disappearance
of the old Vane Jones log and the declining accuracy of the Broadcasting
Yearbook, the M Street directory is widely regarded as the most
accurate, most comprehensive source of information on the US
and Canadian radio scene - and we're thrilled to be able to offer
it to you at a substantial discount!
The directory includes power, frequency, ownership, key personnel,
formats, ratings and much more information for every radio station
in the U.S. and Canada, and now runs almost 900 pages in an 8.5"
x 11" softcover book. List price is $79 (plus $7 shipping/handling),
but if you order through fybush.com/NorthEast Radio Watch, you
can get this invaluable resource on your shelf for $69 (plus
$7 s/h) - a $10 savings! And your purchase benefits the continued
publication of NERW and Tower Site of the Week, so everybody
wins!
You can order in either of two ways: to order by major credit
card, call 1-800-248-4242, ask for Irene, and tell her
you want the "NorthEast Radio Watch" discount. Or,
send check or money order for $76 ($69 + $7 s/h) to Scott Fybush,
92 Bonnie Brae Ave., Rochester NY 14618. Either way, you'll put
the most trusted, accurate information about the radio industry
in print today on your bookshelf.
*And that's it for another week - back with more next Monday
right here at fybush.com!
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