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April 4, 2005
A Vermont TV Pioneer Dies
*A VERMONT television pioneer has
died. Stuart T. "Red" Martin, Jr. was president of
Mount Mansfield Television, the family-owned company that has
owned WCAX-TV (Channel 3) in Burlington since it signed on as
WMVT in 1954. (The station took on its present calls, WCAX-TV,
the following year.)
During World War II, Martin served in the Army Signal Corps,
and after the war he taught at MIT and worked for Sylvania as
chief engineer of its electronics division before moving to Vermont
to work with his stepfather, Charles Holbrook (who also owned
the Burlington Daily News), to put television on the air.
Martin was instrumental in designing and building WCAX's transmitter
site high atop Mount Mansfield. In addition to his management
duties, Martin delivered on-air editorials at Channel 3 into
the seventies, and continued to go to work at the station as
recently as a few weeks ago. Martin also served for 40 years
on the CBS Television Affiliates Advisory Board.
Martin died Saturday (Apr. 2) at his home in Jericho. He was
91.
 *In Downeast MAINE, Nassau pulled the plug
on adult standards at WBYA (105.5 Islesboro) Friday, but it was
no April Fool's joke. The station relaunched as classic hits
"Frank FM," sharing air talent with the Frank mothership
in Portland, WFNK (107.5 Lewiston) and promoting the addition
of Patriots play-by-play this fall, too.
*It was most certainly an April Fool's joke
when NEW HAMPSHIRE Public Radio put out a press release
announcing that it was joining forces with Vermont Public Radio,
Maine's public broadcasting network and Boston's WGBH to create
"New England Public Radio." The release (which fooled
at least one Granite State broadcaster and showed up on a number
of message boards as fact) claimed that retiring NHPR president
Mark Handley is postponing his impending retirement to take on
the challenge of leading the new regional broadcaster, and much
as we'd like to see Handley stick around for a while longer,
the search committee's already hard at work trying to fill his
(very big) shoes.
*The buzz is strong in MASSACHUSETTS about
a launch this week of ESPN on WAMG (890 Dedham) and WLLH (1400
Lowell and Lawrence); owner-to-be J Sports has been advertising
in the trades for a staff, among other clues. (We hear that the
WLLH Lowell transmitter has been off the air for at least the
last week, by the way.)
 We're
sorry to report the death of Quentin Migliori, whose career included
stops at WHIL, the old WROR (98.5), WEEI, WMEX (in its 1150 incarnation),
WCGY and most recently at Metro Networks, where he was heard
on a number of stations around the region, including morning
traffic reports on WOKQ in Dover, N.H., WXRV in Haverhill and
news on WBOQ in Gloucester. Migliori was also a mobile DJ (as
"Big Q Entertainment.") Migliori died March 26; he
was 56.
There's a management shuffle at Boston's WGBH: Marita Rivero
moves up from general manager of radio to general manager of
radio and television, taking on the TV duties that had been held
by Jonathan Abbott, who's now executive VP/chief operating officer.
And out west, WBCR-LP (97.7 Great Barrington) is at long last
up and running full time with community programming.
*Paul Walker's come a long way from CONNECTICUT
- he's now doing consulting and working as station manager
of WTIR (1300 Cocoa Beach) in Florida.
 *An upstate NEW YORK institution said
his farewells - for now - Thursday afternoon. After a half-century
in the business, including stints at Buffalo's WXRA and WKBW,
the legendary CKLW in Windsor and stints in radio and TV in Detroit
and Denver, Shannon pulled what he says was his last full-time
shift on WHTT (104.1 Buffalo), where he's worked since 1997,
packing those final four hours with congratulatory greetings
from colleagues, including a lengthy chat by phone with Detroit
icon (and Buffalo native) Dick Purtan and a long conversation
with Buffalo News radio critic Anthony Violanti.
Shannon says he'll continue to make occasional appearances
on WHTT.
Meanwhile, down the road at WKSE (98.5 Niagara Falls), midday
jock Froggy has left the building. Afternoon veteran Donny Walker
moves to middays, and weekender Jimmy T. takes over afternoons.
And on the talk scene, Tom Torbjornsen has switched stations
after 13 years of originating his syndicated "America's
Car Show" from WBEN (930); he's now based at WBUF (92.9),
where he's heard for three hours, Saturdays from 11 AM - 2 PM.
In Binghamton, Bobby D. is getting a big promotion from his
PD gig at Clear Channel's WMRV (105.7 Endicott) and WMXW (103.3
Vestal) - he's off to Cincinnati to program "Mix" WVMX
(94.1) for the company. (He'll also do middays there, and he'll
be helping out in Binghamton until a replacement is named.)
Here in Rochester, Dave Radigan moves from WBEE (92.5) to
WROC-TV (Channel 8) as assignment editor; he'll still be doing
some fill-in work at WBEE.
A quick run 'round the dial to see who was stunting how on
April Fool's Day: in the Albany market, WFLY (92.3) ditched "Fly
92" for a few hours to become "Ring 92," the world's
first all-ringtone station. Up the road, WEQX (102.7 Manchester
VT) took off from the "Jack" craze to tell its audience,
"We know Dick," stunting rather cleverly for the day
as "Dick FM." In Syracuse, it was the ol' wheel of
formats for WWHT (107.9), including some time as "Kiss"
and as "Mix 108." Here in Rochester, WZNE (94.1 Brighton)
made a most unconvincing stab at pretending to flip to Spanish,
running three liners and a dozen songs or so as "La Zona"
for a couple of hours after Howard Stern. (And down in Westchester
County, WVWA emerged from the mists of legend for another run
on Tower
Site of the Week...)
In Ithaca, WTKO (1470) applies for new calls WNYY. (Please,
please, please tell us that has nothing to do with that team
that hasn't won a World Series all century...but do read on for
our annual baseball update at the end of the column!)
On the TV side of things, New York City's Educational Broadcasting
Corporation (the folks who own WNET and WLIW) bought itself some
Florida vacation property last week - at least in a manner of
speaking. EBC is buying West Palm Beach public broadcasters WXEL-TV
(Channel 42) and WXEL-FM (90.7) from Barry University, which
has operated the stations since 1997; it'll work with two local
South Florida nonprofits to operate the stations, which were
also being eyed by several religious broadcasters.
So much for "Wally and the Keeg" at WEPN (1050 New
York), which replaces the duo's midday show with the ESPN Radio
network offering, Colin Cowherd, from 10-noon. Cowherd will be
followed by a new local show with Stephen A. Smith from noon-2.
And the New York State Broadcasters Association inducted the
first class into its new hall of fame Wednesday. It includes
a lot of obvious names - Don Imus, Walter Cronkite, Bill Paley,
Frankie Crocker, the Gamblings of WOR (John B., John A. and John
R.), but there are some other interesting names on the list of
32 inductees, too.
From the management side, there are former CBS executives
Tony Malara and Nancy Widmann, WVOX/WRTN's Bill O'Shaughnessy,
Viacom's Dennis Swanson, Capital Cities founder Tom Murphy, James
Delmonico of WGY/WRGB in the General Electric days, Bill Baker
of WNET, former WMCA owner Peter Strauss, Andrew Langston, founder
of Rochester's WDKX, and Martin Beck of the old Beck-Ross Broadcasting.
There's WSYR newsman-turned-station manager E.R. Vadeboncoeur,
George "Hound Dog" Lorenz and Al Anscombe from WKBW,
Shell Storer from Utica, J. Leavitt Pope from WPIX, Chuck Scarborough
and Sue Simmons from New York's WNBC-TV, Philip Beuth from ABC-TV,
and W.R.G. Baker, the General Electric engineering pioneer whose
initials live on as the calls of WRGB in Schenectady.
And most heartening, the class of inductees includes the six
engineers who lost their lives at the World Trade Center on Sept.
11, 2001: Rod Coppola of WNET, Steve Jacobson of WPIX, Donald
DiFranco of WABC-TV, William Steckman of WNBC and Isaias Riveras
and Bob Pattison of WCBS-TV.
We're very much looking forward to seeing who enters the hall
in future years - and we can certainly think of some worthwhile
candidates, if anyone's asking...
*In NEW JERSEY, Dan Henrickson moves
over from Nassau to become station manager at Greater Media's
WMGQ (98.3) and WCTC (1450) in New Brunswick.
Speaking of Nassau, WPST (94.5 Trenton) morning man Mark Vanness
has left the building.
And WFMU (91.1 East Orange) should be getting out a little
better lately, now that it has a brand-new antenna (from our
good friends at Shively Labs, no less) on its tower on First
Mountain. (See many more pictures of the antenna-raising on WFMU's
antenna
blog!)
 *The future of several northeast PENNSYLVANIA
radio stations is in some doubt after the conviction of station
owner Doug Lane on charges of molesting a 15-year-old boy and
possession of child pornography. After his first trial ended
in a mistrial, the second began and ended last week with just
two days of testimony and 90 minutes of jury deliberations, finding
Lane guilty on eight of the 11 counts and subjecting him to up
to 80 years behind bars.
In the past, the FCC hasn't looked kindly on station owners
convicted of such serious crimes, and local prosecutors in Scranton
have already said they'll attempt to seize the property connected
to Lane's stations, WWDL (104.9 Scranton), WICK (1400 Scranton)
and WYCK (1340 Plains). (Lane also provides programming to WITK
1550 Pittston PA, which simulcasts WICK/WYCK.)
This story's far from over; as always - stay tuned!
Dr. Don Rose was most closely associated with San Francisco,
where he enshrined himself in broadcasting legend with long runs
on KFRC and several other stations. But before all that, Rose
was the morning man at WFIL (560 Philadelphia), where he first
came to prominence in the business. Rose died Wednesday (Mar.
30) at age 70, in San Francisco, and the world of top 40 radio
is all the poorer for it.
In Red Lion, silent WTHM (1440) gets new call letters, as
Susquehanna parks the WGLD calls there that recently vanished
from Indianapolis.
The FCC's been very busy the last few weeks, digging through
piles of backlogged noncommercial FM allocations and new commercial
FM allocations proposals, and that means a new construction permit
in Nanty Glo (north of Altoona), on 90.7 with 750 watts, vertical
only, at 720 meters. (The permittee is one "Educational
Opportunities, Inc.," which just so happens to share a PO
Box address in Tupelo, Mississippi with American Family Association.)
Down the road a little, WHPA (93.5 Barnesboro) is asking the
FCC to move its class A allocation to Gallitzin, just west of
Altoona. The move was made possible by the shift of WDHC in Berkeley
Springs WV from 93.5 to 92.9 - and it doesn't hurt, either, that
Barnesboro no longer exists as an independent community, having
been conglomerated with Spangler into the new community of Northern
Cambria. Meanwhile, Cumulus' WWIZ (103.9 Mercer) wants to move
to Hermitage, a little closer to Youngstown.
Speaking of WDHC, its sister station, WCST (1010 Berkeley
Springs) is back on the air after a suspiciously (i.e., longer
than a year) absence, and WOLB (1010 Baltimore) has filed to
build new permanent facilities to replace the temporary site
it's been using since losing its permanent site - and that means
that the application by WIOO (1000 Carlisle) to move to 1010
may well be in jeopardy.
 And in Erie, Gannon
University's WERG (89.9) finally has a construction permit -
four years after applying - to move to 90.5. "Energy 90"
will move from its present facilities (3 kW/-38 meters) on the
Gannon campus to new facilities (2.75 kW/114 meters) on the WQLN
tower just off Peach Street at I-90.
*In CANADA, CHRI (99.1 Ottawa) won
CRTC permission to extend its broadcast reach to Pembroke, with
a new 22-watt repeater at 100.7. CHRI's also getting ready to
begin testing its new 88.1 signal in Cornwall.
Another Christian broadcaster, CJLF (100.3 Barrie) is also
applying for a new repeater - it wants 750 watts on 98.9 in Huntsville.
*And with that, hey, let's play some
BASEBALL - it's the first week of the Major League
season, yesterday was Opening Day for the World Champion Red
Sox (and the not-so-much-champion Yankees!), and we've got the
annual NERW roundup of who's where on the dial, starting this
week with the majors and the AAA and AA leagues:
- Those World Champion Red Sox (it just sounds so good,
you know)
 continue
on flagship WEEI (850 Boston), with Jerry Trupiano and Joe Castiglione
calling the games. The WEEI site still seems to have last year's
affiliate list, but we know of a few changes this year - in Concord,
N.H., the games continue on WTPL (107.7 Hillsborough) after the
split between that station and WKXL (1450), and in southeastern
Connecticut, WSUB (980) will soon hand off the Sox - and the
rest of its talk format - to what's now WXLM (102.3). And Spanish-speaking
listeners again turn to WROL (950 Boston) and its six-station
network.
- The Yankees enter their fourth season on WCBS (880
New York) and an extensive network that stretches south to Florida,
north and east to Burlington (WVMT 620) and west to Buffalo (this
year, WGR 550, now that WNSA 107.7 no longer exists.) There's
no Worcester affiliate this year, with WORC (1310) having gone
Spanish, and in Providence, the Yanks split the WSKO simulcast
with the PawSox, taking the 99.7 FM half when there's a conflict.
There's a change in the booth, with Suzyn Waldman replacing the
departed Charlie Steiner as color commentator. And there's a
TV change this year, with the Yanks appearing on WWOR (Channel
9), the longtime home of the Mets, instead of last year's package
on WCBS-TV.
- The Mets continue on WFAN (660 New York), with Gary
Cohen, Ted Robinson and Howie Rose in the booth. Spanish broadcasts
are on WADO (1280), and the local TV games are again on WPIX
(Channel 11).
- In Philadelphia, the Phillies return to the 50,000
watt signal of WPHT (1210), with 23 affiliates around eastern
and central Pennsylvania, south Jersey and Delaware. (Friday
night games get bumped from WPHT to WIP 610.) Local TV games
are on WPSG (Channel 57), with many also carried on WLYH (Channel
15) in Lebanon and WSWB (Channel 38) in Scranton.
- The Pittsburgh Pirates and KDKA (1020) continue
their decades-long partnership, with a network that stretches
throughout western Pennsylvania, adjacent parts of Maryland,
West Virginia and Ohio - and even one station in Bradenton, Florida.
It's Lanny Frattare's 30th year doing play-by-play. And there's
no local broadcast TV this year for the Bucs.
- The Toronto Blue Jays, like CJCL (The Fan 590), are
owned by Rogers, so it's no surprise at all that the team returns
there for another season. The Jays have 18 radio affiliates as
far afield as Vancouver and Springville, N.Y., where WSPQ (1330)
is the lone U.S. station on the network. TV games are split between
TSN and Rogers Sportsnet, with no local broadcast TV.
- And the Montreal Expos don't have to worry about
getting a local radio contract this year, inasmuch as they're
now the Washington Nationals and have moved from
NERW-land to the domain of DCRTV...
- How about the minor leagues? In the AAA International
League, it's mostly status quo this year, except for the Buffalo
Bisons, who move from WWKB (1520) to the much smaller signal
of WECK (1230 Cheektowaga). The Rochester Red Wings split
their action between WHTK (1280) and WYSL (1040 Avon), which
picks up day games and a few conflicts with the rest of the WHTK
schedule. The Syracuse SkyChiefs continue on WFBL
(1390), adding ex-pitcher Mark Lukasiewicz for color commentary
and Jason Benetti for back-up play-by-play duties. The Pawtucket
Red Sox continue on WSKO (790 Providence), with some TV games
on Cox 3 and NESN, too. The Ottawa Lynx continue to struggle
for broadcast coverage; this year it's 10 games on CFGO (Team
1200), and 10 more Team simulcasts of Rogers 22 television audio.
And the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons are on WWDL (104.9
Scranton) - at least as long as Doug Lane can hold on to the
station.
- In the AA Eastern League, Thursday marks the opening
of a brand-new ballpark for the New Hampshire Fisher Cats,
who'll be heard on WKBR (1250 Manchester) and (for 99 games)
on WKXL (1450 Concord), with Opening Day telecast on WMUR-TV
(Channel 9) as well. The Portland Sea Dogs have a seven-station
network, including flagship WBAE (1490 Portland)/WVAE (1400 Biddeford),
WTME (780 Rumford), WCNM (1240 Lewiston), WKTQ (1450 South Paris),
WPHX (1220 Sanford) and WMEX (106.5 Farmington NH), plus four
TV games on WMTW (Channel 8) and four on NESN. The Norwich
Navigators continue on WICH (1310). The New Britain Rock
Cats add WELI (960 New Haven) to a network that also includes
flagship WDRC (1360 Hartford), its sister stations WMMW (1470
Meriden), WSNG (610 Torrington) and WWCO (1240 Waterbury), as
well as WAVZ (1300 New Haven), which takes weekday games while
WELI handles the weekends. The Binghamton Mets return
to WNBF (1290 Binghamton), while the Trenton Thunder are
heard on WBUD (1260 Trenton) and WHTG (1410 Eatontown). Over
in the Southern Division, the Erie SeaWolves are back
on WFNN (1330), we think. The Altoona Curve keep WFBG
(1290) as a flagship. The Harrisburg Senators are on WKBO
(1230), and the Reading Phillies enter their sixth season
on WIOV (1240)
- We'll tackle the New York-Penn League and the independent
leagues as those seasons begin...and in the meantime, play ball!
*Our special clearance pricing continues
for fans of the Tower Site Calendar 2005. We're well aware
that many of the calendar's fans buy it for the pictures, not
the actual calendar pages...but that doesn't change the fact
that by this time of the year, we're not exactly shipping 'em
out the door at a breakneck pace, and Mrs. NERW would very much
like a corner of her living room back.
So while she rediscovers the floor beneath those boxes of
calendars and we begin to line up the images for Tower Site Calendar
2006, you get the very first crack at our Calendar
Clearance Deal for 2005.
 Here's how it works:
instead of our list price of $16 for this fabulous, full-color,
glossy calendar, you can now pick one up for just $8,
postpaid. ($8.66 to New York State addresses.) Better yet, if
you order two calendars at this special clearance price, we'll
throw in a third for free - $16 for THREE calendars, with nine
exciting months of 2005 yet to go. (That's $17.32 in NYS.)
Maybe you've already hung your original 2005 calendar on the
wall, and you're thinking it would be nice to have another copy
to stick away in pristine condition. Maybe you really want to
frame that spectacular September page right now - but you still
need a calendar later this year. Maybe you just want to help
Mrs. NERW clean out the living room and give happy NERW baby
Ariel more space to practice walking.
Whatever your motive, now's your big chance, because while
there are still 2005 calendars left, there may not be any in
a few weeks. (Remember, the 2002 and 2003 editions were total
sellouts, and I've had to turn away several of you who were hoping
to add these now-rare calendars to your collections.)
And we've got two more great deals for you, too. We still
have a few 2004 calendars left, and while they're getting rare,
Mrs. NERW wants them gone - so they're yours, in pristine condition,
for just $5 postpaid. (Buy two and the third is free!) Or order
the 2004 and 2005 calendars together for just $10, postpaid.
(What a deal!)
(New York orders pay $5.41 for the 2004 calendar, $10.83 for
the 2004 and 2005 together.)
And as always, the calendar's free with your $60 or higher
subscription to NorthEast Radio Watch/fybush.com. In fact, we've
got a great deal for new or renewing $60 subscribers: we'll send
you two 2005 calendars if you subscribe now. Or,
if you'd prefer, we'll hold a brand-new Tower Site Calendar
2006 for you with your subscription, and you can be among
the very first to see the 2006 edition when it's released this
summer. Remember, we count on your subscription dollars to keep
NERW coming each and every Monday morning!
You can use PayPal, below, or send your check or money order,
payable to Scott Fybush, to 92 Bonnie Brae Avenue, Rochester
NY 14618. (Please note that the prices below are valid for U.S.
and Canadian orders only; please e-mail for information about
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Don't want to order by credit card? You know the drill by
now - make those checks payable to "Scott Fybush,"
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2005 by Scott Fybush. |