October 29, 2007

"Power" Off in Hartford

• MAINE
• NEW HAMPSHIRE
• MASSACHUSETTS
• VERMONT
• RHODE ISLAND
• CONNECTICUT
• NEW YORK
• NEW JERSEY
• PENNSYLVANIA
• CANADA
• CLASSIFIEDS
• FROM THE ARCHIVES

*The urban radio war in CONNECTICUT's biggest market is over, and CBS Radio's WZMX (93.7 Hartford) is the survivor. Thursday morning at 10, Clear Channel pulled the plug on the "Power 104" hip-hop format at WPHH (104.1 Waterbury), a little more than four years after it went up against "Hot 93.7."

While WZMX had an all-local lineup, WPHH used syndicated talent in morning and afternoon drive (Steve Harvey and Wendy Williams, respectively), and its ratings never quite measured up to its CBS competitor, even before the eventual arrival of the Portable People Meter in the market, with all the ratings headaches it's brought to urban formats in the markets where it's already launched.

So just as it did in Philadelphia, where Clear Channel killed off Spanish tropical "Rumba 104.5" in favor of modern rock "Radio 104" at WRFF (104.5), Clear Channel went to a modern rock format on the newly-renamed "FM 104one" in Hartford. And therein lies an irony: the "Radio 104" image that landed in Philly came right out of the old WMRQ in Hartford - an image valuable enough, apparently, that Clear Channel was keeping the old Radio 104 website alive in Hartford years after the format change to "Power," complete with an automated webstream. (That site quietly went away after the "FM 104one" launch last week, replaced by a page that forwards to the new WPHH site.)

Right now, there's no airstaff for the new FM 104one, and Clear Channel has yet to even name a PD. Clear Channel says the station will remain jock-free for a while, with minimal commercial load and a strong emphasis on the web content at its new 1041music.com site.

*In other Nutmeg State news, Antonio Gois' Gois Communications is paying $2.65 million to buy Spanish tropical WLAT (910 New Britain) and Spanish news-talk WNEZ (1230 Manchester) from the bankrupt Freedom Communications. Gois is no stranger to the Connecticut River valley; he sold WSPR and WACM in Springfield to Davidson a couple of years ago, and he still owns WORC (1310) over in Worcester. He'll take over the Hartford-market stations via an LMA November 1.

IT'S THE 2008 TOWER SITE CALENDAR! Think the arrival of the new phone book is an exciting time of year? (We do, actually, with apologies to Steve Martin, but that's not the point.) Here's a really exciting spot on the calendar - in fact, it is the calendar. Yes, the 2008 Tower Site Calendar is back from the printer and ready for shipping all over the US and beyond. This year's edition is a particularly fine one, if we do say so ourselves. From the cover photo of KAST in Astoria, Oregon to the back cover shot of the Blaw-Knox diamond tower at WBNS in Columbus, this year's calendar features 14 all-new full-color shots of famous broadcast sites far and wide. There's KROQ in Los Angeles, KFBK in Sacramento, WESX in Salem, WGAN in Portland, Black Mountain in Vegas, Mount Spokane in Spokane, and many (ok, several) more. If you've been following our adventures, you know that the 2006 and 2007 editions of the calendar sold out. If you've been following postal rates and the cost of printing, you know they've both gone up. Even so, we still think this year's edition is a bargain - just $18 with shipping and handling included. Or better yet, beat our move to mandatory subscriptions (also coming later this fall) and get a free calendar with your $60 subscription to NERW for 2008. (Remember, the proceeds from both the calendar and the subscriptions help keep NERW right here on the web, as we head into our fourteenth year of news and analysis.) So click right here and you can be one of the first to have your very own Tower Site Calendar 2008! (And thank you!)

*Crossing the border to NEW YORK, our week's news begins with a new morning show at WWRL (1600 New York), which axed its Armstrong Williams/Sam Greenfield morning entry on Thursday, replacing them with former WABC/WWOR host Richard Bey and erstwhile Air America talker Mark Riley. (WWRL is an Air America affiliate for most of the day, but it does its own thing in morning drive.)

Over at ESPN Radio's WEPN (1050 New York), another ESPN network shift is now being covered up locally, as Gordon Damer takes the 2-6 AM weeknight slot. (Which means, oddly, that there's now live, local talk all night on New York's two sports stations, while its mainstream talkers are both running nationally-syndicated fare, even if the Joey Reynolds show at least originates at WOR.)

The big ownership shuffle that clears Clear Channel out of the Utica/Rome market closed Thursday, and the new owners wasted no time rearranging much of that area's radio dial. Here's how it's all playing out so far:

Galaxy Communications bought the Clear Channel stations, and the big prize that it's keeping is classic rocker WOUR (96.9 Utica), which moved from Clear Channel's downtown Utica studios on Genesee Street to Galaxy's New Hartford studios. For the moment, we're hearing that the syndicated Bob & Tom show remains in morning drive, with Galaxy talent from Syracuse voicetracking the rest of the day.

Galaxy also gets hot AC WUMX (102.5 Rome), which is running automated outside of its syndicated drivetime shows, as well as sports talkers WRNY (1350 Rome) and WIXT (1230 Little Falls), which will end up as a sports simulcast with Galaxy's WTLB (1310 Utica), flipping from standards.

Galaxy immediately spun several other Clear Channel signals to Ken Roser, who's made no changes yet to top 40 "Kiss" WSKS (97.9 Whitesboro)/WSKU (105.5 Little Falls). Roser also gets the other two signals that had been part of the "Sports Stars" simulcast, and we're told WUTQ (1550 Utica) and WADR (1480 Remsen) will end up simulcasting Roser's "Bug Country" WBGK (99.7 Newport Village), at least for the moment. (Will Roser end up with Clear Channel's Mayro Building studios, or will Kiss and the AM signals move up Genesee Street to the Bug studios? We don't yet know.)

The third piece of the spinoff involves EMF Broadcasting, which is picking up one of Clear Channel's stations, classic hits WOKR (93.5 Remsen), and one station that had been in Galaxy's hands, big-signal classic rocker WRCK (107.3 Utica). We'd thought EMF would put its flagship "K-Love" contemporary Christian format on the 107.3 signal, but that doesn't appear to be the case. Instead, 107.3 flipped to EMF's Christian rock "Air 1," leaving K-Love on EMF's existing WKVU (100.7 Utica) and now on WOKR as well. (An EMF press release talked about closing a signal gap between EMF's existing signals in Syracuse and Albany, but the addition of WOKR to the K-Love network doesn't add much to WKVU's current reach in that department, whereas WRCK would fill a big gap between Syracuse rimshotter WSCP-FM and the Utica area.)

In Albany, we know more about the impending sale of Regent's WTMM (1300 Rensselaer) to a group headed by former WROW (590 Albany) morning host Paul Vandenburgh. The group is doing business as "Capital Broadcasting, Inc.," and until it closes on its $850,000 purchase of the AM signal, it plans to launch its talk format under an LMA with Regent from Regent's Schenectady studios. Other principals in Capital, which plans to rebrand the station as WCBI (did anyone tell Channel 4 in Columbus, Mississippi, which has been WCBI-TV for years?) include Robert McCormick, the CEO of Trustco Bank, as well as several local attorneys and stockbrokers who hosted weekend shows on WROW.

One more Albany note: Phil Hendrie's new syndicated show has found a home at the same station that carried his old Premiere show. Hendrie will be heard on WGY (810 Schenectady) from 10 PM-1 AM weeknights, displacing Rollye James from that slot.

The Binghamton Broadcasters' Reunion October 20 was a huge success by every standard, including the special guest appearance by Chubby Checker, who was in town for a performance that weekend. Shown above at left are this year's award winners: Gino Riccardelli, veteran local broadcast engineer ("Living Legend Award"); Candace Chapman of WBNG-TV ("Special Achievement Award"); Rita French of WENE ("Special Person Award"); and Roger Neel of WNBF ("Broadcaster of the Year").

Organizer Ray Ross reports that about 175 people turned out - and that there are still some T-shirts and CDs available for those who missed the event. (There's much more at binghamtonradio.com.)

In Syracuse, the International League Syracuse Chiefs will change radio flagships next season, moving from Citadel's WNSS (1260) to Clear Channel's WHEN (620), while in the Elmira market, home games for the new minor-league basketball team, the Corning Bulldogs, will be heard on Route 81's WENY (1230 Elmira)/WENI (1450 Corning).

In western New York, Holy Family Communications is in a building mode: the Catholic broadcaster just won a construction permit for a new 430-watt FM signal in the Buffalo suburb of Lancaster, beating out a challenge from the Mary V. Harris Foundation for the 90.7 frequency, which Harris would have put in Williamsville.

In Rochester, Holy Family's WHIC (1460) will hold a ceremony Tuesday morning to dedicate its new three-tower transmitter site in Henrietta; even though the site's not yet ready for directional use with 5000 watts at night, it'll be ready to sign on with 3700 watts non-directional by day and a few hundred watts non-directional at night, moving the station off the diplex at the WROC (950) site that it's been using since September 2006.

Down the road at WYSL (1040 Avon), owner Bob Savage is taking his fight against nighttime HD Radio interference to the next level: he's just filed a formal complaint against CBS Radio's WBZ (1030 Boston) over the interference that he says is destroying his signal within what's supposed to be his nighttime interference-free contour after dark. We'll have full details on the complaint in next week's issue. (Bob's also got a new morning show: he's just picked up the "Quinn and Rose" show from Pittsburgh. There's a connection there - Bob hired Jim Quinn back at the 'Burgh's 13Q way back when...)

Now that Michael Doyle's been promoted from Rochester market manager to a regional vice president at Entercom, sales manager Susan Munn is moving up to take Doyle's old job in the Rochester cluster. (Doyle will continue to be based here as well.)

And an obituary just in to us here at NERW: we're very sorry to report the passing on Sunday of Craig Kingcaid, the veteran Rochester engineer who spent many years at WEZO/WNYR, and later as chief engineer at Clear Channel's local cluster.

Kingcaid had been battling cancer for several months, we're told. (That's Craig in happier days, posing next to the then-brand-new Harris 3DX50 Destiny transmitter at WHAM...)

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*In western PENNSYLVANIA, the simulcast of WBXQ (94.3 Patton) and WBRX (94.7 Cresson) has come to an end after 16 years. While 94.3 keeps its classiic rock format and longtime "Q94" identity, 94.7 has flipped to AC as "Mix 94.7," using a Jones satellite service for now.

In Altoona, WTAJ (Channel 10) is losing the state's first female TV sports director. Kellie Goodman has been with the CBS affiliate since 1993, and has been its sports director since 1998. She'll leave at the end of the year to take a new job with the Allegheny Mountains Convention and Visitors Bureau.

And with all the rumors swirling, it was no surprise when CBS indeed pulled Opie & Anthony off the morning shift at WYSP (94.1 Philadelphia) last week after the duo openly criticized the station's current management, calling it "a complete disaster" - but it was a bit of a surprise that afternoon jock Kidd Chris didn't immediately fill the morning slot. In fact, he was off the air completely late last week, as the local papers reported his agent to be in contract talks with CBS over a big pay hike to take over the morning hole there. Meanwhile, Opie & Anthony were milking the situation for publicity, offering their show "for free" to any other Philadelphia station that wanted to air it. (There were no takers.)

*A central MASSACHUSETTS AM station is hoping the FCC will let it add a low-power FM simulcast. Barry Armstrong's Money Matters Radio applied last month for special temporary authority (STA) to add a 19-watt FM translator at 106.1 on the tower of WESO (970 Southbridge), allowing the station to continue to serve most of its daytime coverage area after it drops to 22 watts at sunset.

The FCC has approved AM-on-FM translators under STA grants in several southern communities in recent months, but those were all existing translators that were simply changing their primary stations. Will the Commission open the floodgates by allowing an AM station to put a brand-new FM facility on the air? We'll be watching this one closely. (And we thank Mike over at NECRAT.com for catching this amidst the FCC minutiae...)

In Taunton, WPEP (1570) is officially history, as the station's license was returned to the FCC and its callsign cancelled last week, opening up the frequency to allow Keating Willcox's WNSH (1570 Beverly) to complete its daytime power increase to 30 kW.

If Richie Balsbaugh and Ed McMann were hoping their latest venture would be as successful as their long run with "Kiss 108" (WXKS-FM 107.9 Medford), they're not having much luck with that. Amidst a sea of complaints from MBTA riders, the T pulled the plug last week on Pyramid Radio's "T Radio," which was being heard on a test basis on platforms at South Station, North Station and Logan Airport. It's not dead for good; the T is studying ways to bring it back that might be less intrusive to riders and less disruptive to the street musicians who protested vocally against the new service.

And they're celebrating at Entercom, we're sure - after making a very expensive gamble on a long-term contract to keep the Red Sox radio rights in-house, WRKO (680) and WEEI (850) are ending the season with a World Series win. Will the confusing "Sox on WRKO, except on Wednesdays, when they're on WEEI, and except on the rest of the WEEI network, which always has the Sox, which are also on WCRN in Worcester" arrangement continue next spring? Did the Sox actually bring any attention to WRKO's talk lineup - and given what a disaster that lineup has been, would it have mattered? We'll know more, presumably, by the time Manny and Big Papi and Paps and Ellsbury (and, we sincerely hope, Mike Lowell!) are getting their rings and their championship banner next April...

MONDAY UPDATE: Entercom's capitalizing on the championship in another way, too - its "Mike FM" (WMKK 93.7) will spend all day Tuesday as "Mike Lowell FM." (And here we thought the 93.7 signal was licensed to Lawrence...)

*RHODE ISLAND's irrepressible Buddy Cianci has a new broadcast outlet: in addition to his talk show on Citadel's WPRO (630), he's been named as political editor by the new owners at WLNE (Channel 6), where he'll appear as a commentator on the ABC affiliate's newscasts.

*Radio People on the Move in NEW HAMPSHIRE and MAINE: Jeff Pierce moves down I-95 from Clear Channel's Bangor cluster to sister station WERZ (107.1 Exeter) on the New Hampshire seacoast, taking the PD chair formerly held by Mike O'Donnell, who's now programming Entercom's WKRZ in Wilkes-Barre.

Nassau has chosen the Concord and Lakes Region outlets for its new joint venture with Entercom to carry WEEI's sports programming across more of New England: come January, WWHK (102.3 Concord) and WWHQ (101.5 Meredith) will drop their current "Hawk" classic rock formats to become WEEI network outlets, while WLKZ (104.9 Wolfeboro) and WNNH (99.1 Henniker) will go from oldies to classic rock as "Frank FM" signals. Pat Kelly will host the morning show on the new "Frank" stations, replacing Warren Bailey, and Sarah Sullivan will be PD. The new WEEI outlets won't carry Red Sox games, at least initially, but we'd expect that to change as the team's current contracts (on WEMJ in the Lakes Region and WTPL in Concord) come up for renewal.

One more Maine note: WCYI (93.9 Lewiston), still for sale by the Citadel-spinoff Last Bastion Station Trust, has dropped its simulcast of WCLZ (98.9 Brunswick), as that station heads for Saga ownership. WCYI's now running an automated all-blues format while Last Bastion seeks a buyer. And the "Greetings from Area Code 207" local-music show that was heard on WCLZ under Citadel ownership is staying with the company; it's moved to WBLM (102.9 Portland).

*A CONNECTICUT correction: former WSTC/WNLK news anchor Lisa Lacerra isn't "out of work" after the cutbacks at Cox Radio; she's working at Fox News Radio and doing some fill-in at WICC/WEBE in Bridgeport. Her former co-anchor Paul Pacelli left the stations of his own accord and is also with WEBE/WICC now. Tom Michaels is still being heard on WSTC/WNLK doing traffic from Metro Networks. And one more name to add to the cutback list at Cox: production director Bob Marrone lost his job at the Cox cluster in Norwalk last month.

*In CANADA, we offer congratulations to Wayne Herrett's Seaside Broadcasting, which has won CRTC permission to increase the power at CFEP (Seaside 94.7) in Eastern Passage, Nova Scotia from its current 50 watts to 1.4 kW. Herrett's been dreaming for a long time of having a full-signaled station, and this is definitely a case of one of the "good guys" winning.

In Toronto, Rogers has found a new home for CITY-TV (Channel 57) and its OMNI stations (CFMT/CJMT). They'll move to the "Olympic Torch Building" at 35 Dundas Street East, ending City's run on Queen Street West (where the "ChumCity Building" will continue to house MuchMusic and other cable channels that are now in CTV's hands) and moving the OMNI channels from their longtime home on Lake Shore Boulevard.

Up in northern Ontario, Radio-Canada has been granted a 765-watt relay transmitter on 102.3 in Marathon to rebroadcast CBON (98.1 Sudbury) - but back down in Meaford, near Owen Sound, Burlingham Communications' application for a relay transmitter for CIWV (94.7 Hamilton) has been denied, on the grounds that the signal would offer no local content for the area, 175 kilometers from Hamilton.

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