FCC Deletes WPRX, 3 Noncomm Licenses

TOWER SITE CALENDAR 2011 - JUST ABOUT HERE!

The production process was a little more complex than usual for Tower Site Calendar 2011, but at long last we're about to begin shipping the tenth installment in what's become an annual radio tradition.

In just a few days, the new calendar will be back from the printer, complete with more than a dozen exciting new images including that nifty cover shot of Mount Beacon, N.Y.

And if you order now, you'll still be at the top of the list to get your 2011 calendar shipped to you next week!

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Yup, we've been doing this a long time now, and so we're digging back into the vaults for a look at what NERW was covering one, five, ten and - where available - fifteen years ago this week, or thereabouts. Note that the column appeared on an erratic schedule in its earliest years as "New England Radio Watch," and didn't go to a regular weekly schedule until 1997.

October 5, 2009 -

• One of the best-loved radio voices in eastern PENNSYLVANIA has died. "Diamond" Jim Nettleton began his broadcast career in Pottstown, then got his big breaks in Connecticut - in Waterbury, New Haven (WAVZ), and most of all in Hartford, where he did afternoons at WDRC in the mid-sixties. He quickly moved south to Philadelphia's WFIL (560), where he was the "Boss Jock" holding down afternoon drive during one of the decade's most prominent top-40 radio wars, which pitted WFIL against "Wibbage," WIBG (990). Nettleton moved on to overnights at New York's WABC in 1969, but he continued to be heard in Philadelphia via voicetracks for WCAU-FM (98.1). In 1971, WABC dismissed Nettleton due to the perceived conflict with his work for CBS-owned WCAU-FM, at which point Nettleton went across tow to WPIX-FM.
• Later in the seventies, Nettleton programmed WCAU-FM and WUSL (98.9, in its "US-1" era before flipping to R&B), then returned for a short stint at WFIL before moving to Tampa's WDAE in 1983. The nineties found Nettleton back home in Philadelphia, working afternoons on WOGL (98.1) and later on WPEN (950), as well as voice-tracking for Maryland's WARX and most recently for the revived WIBG-FM (94.3 Avalon) at the Jersey shore. Nettleton was diagnosed with cancer in early September, and word of his serious illness was making the rounds of the Philadelphia radio community early last week. He died Sunday, at age 69.
• On the other end of the Keystone State, Pittsburghers will learn more later today about an ambitious effort to restore an urban station to their market in the wake of the sale and silencing of WAMO-FM (106.7), WAMO (860) and WPGR (1510) to a Catholic broadcast group that has yet to return those signals to the air. Eddie Edwards, who built WPTT (Channel 22, now WPMY) into one of the nation's biggest African-American-owned stations before selling it, buying it back, and then LMA'ing it to Sinclair and again selling it, was an outspoken opponent of the WAMO sale - and he's planned a 4 PM news conference today to announce that he's acquired a radio station that will flip to urban programming. Is Edwards buying one of the former Sheridan stations from St. Joseph Missions - perhaps WAMO(AM)? That seems more likely than a big-ticket purchase of an FM signal, especially since those signals are all in the hands of cluster owners (Steel City, Renda, CBS and Clear Channel) that we'd think would be unlikely to part with an individual station.
• Thursday night will bring one of the biggest transitions in years to the NEW YORK CITY radio dial, and we now know more about what's in store for classical WQXR in its new home as a noncommercial signal at 105.9 on the dial. Contrary to earlier reports, it turns out that new owner WNYC will hire several on-air staffers from QXR's current incarnation at 96.3. Morning host Jeff Spurgeon, afternoon host Elliott Forrest and evening host Midge Woolsey will make the move over to the WNYC studios for daytime shifts on the new 105.9 signal (with current WQXR midday host Annie Bergen conspicuously absent), while WNYC's own classical hosts, Terrance McKnight and David Garland, will handle WQXR's evening shifts. WNYC has also hired announcer Naomi Lewin from WGUC in Cincinnati.
• As for the music on the new WQXR, the Times reports that WNYC has adopted a mission statement for the new service that calls for a relatively mainstream classical playlist: "There may indeed be times when the more radical and unfamiliar pieces work, but we will not favor them over the work that speaks directly to the needs of uplift, beauty and contemplation.” For the more esoteric material sometimes heard on the classical portion of the present WNYC-FM (93.9) broadcast day, there will be a new streaming audio service called "Q2." It's not yet clear whether Q2 will show up as an HD Radio subchannel on either WNYC-FM or the new WQXR - or for that matter whether WQXR will appear as a subchannel on the bigger WNYC-FM signal.
• Up north, the end of the line for AM radio in Sudbury, Ontario came without fanfare last Wednesday afternoon around 5, when Newcap turned off the transmitter at CIGM (790) after eight decades. The AM station had been simulcasting its new FM replacement, "Hot 93.5" (CIGM-FM), for the last few weeks. The new station launched its jock lineup in late September, bringing Matt Sampaio from sister station CHNO-FM (Big Daddy 103.9) and Sherri K. from CHTN-FM (Ocean 100.3) in Prince Edward Island together in the "Morning Hot Tub." They're followed by Ryan Seacrest in middays (yes, even in Sudbury, Ontario) - and he's followed by Grant Kellett, late of CIHT (Hot 89.9) in Ottawa in afternoons and Jess Stevens, formerly of PEI's CKQK (105.5), at night.
• One more AM signal quietly faded into oblivion last week: CKRU (980 Peterborough) ran out of its 90-day simulcast period with CKRU-FM (100.5), leaving the air after more than 60 years - and leaving Peterborough, too, without AM radio.

October 3, 2005 -

• At Entercom, two well-known talk hosts are out. First, WRKO (680 Boston) announced on Monday that morning co-host Peter Blute wasn't renewing his contract, which was to expire today. Blute joined the station from the world of politics in 1999, working first with the late Andy Moes, then with John Osterlind before WRKO launched him on his current partnership with Scott Allen Miller in 2003. Miller will continue doing mornings solo for now; we wouldn't be surprised to see Blute re-enter the political arena. (And we're most curious to see what other moves WRKO's new operations manager, Brian Whittemore, has up his sleeve.)
• A few days later, down the hall at sports giant WEEI (850 Boston), came word that longtime night host Ted Sarandis was, er, "leaving to pursue other interests." Sarandis joined WEEI in 1992, not long after the station's shift to sports, and his "Ted Nation" show had been a 7-midnight fixture there even as much of the rest of WEEI's schedule shifted. There's no word yet on a permanent replacement, or on what Sarandis will do next. He'll remain the voice of Boston College basketball, and it's not hard to imagine that he'll be talking to the new "ESPN Boston" (WAMG 890 Dedham/WLLH 1400 Lowell), too.
• Speaking of signal upgrades, Costa-Eagle's WNNW (800 Lawrence) is applying to triple its daytime power. The proposed upgrade from 1 kW to 3 kW at the station's current site in Andover won't give WNNW the Boston signal Pat Costa has said he wants (the poor ground conductivity between Andover and Boston is the issue here; ironically, it's that same poor conductivity that makes it possible for a higher-powered WNNW to coexist with Providence's WSKO on 790), but it should at least improve WNNW's signal up and down the Merrimack Valley. WNNW will remain at 244 watts after dark.
• From CONNECTICUT comes word that a well-known morning voice has been silenced. Ron Rohmer came to the New Haven area from his native Canada to play hockey in the fifties, but moved into radio at WELI (960 New Haven) in 1961. He became the city's most popular radio personality during his long run in morning drive there, but an ownership change in 1995 pushed him out of the slot. Rohmer sued Clear Channel for age discrimination, and the company soon brought him back at sister station WAVZ (1300), from which he retired in 1999. Rohmer died last Sunday (Sept. 25); he was 74.
• Upstate, Holy Family's WHIC (1460 Rochester) has filed an application to leave the three-tower site in Brighton that's been the station's home since 1947. (It was WHEC back then.) The station's losing its lease on the site, but it's found a new location a mile or so to the west at the four-tower site of Entercom's WROC (950). WHIC would use the three in-line towers at that site, running 4500 watts non-directional from the center tower by day and 3000 watts directional at night, more or less replicating its current 5 kW DA-N signal from its existing site.
• Today's launch day for PENNSYLVANIA's newest sports station. WPEN (950 Philadelphia) said goodbye to its oldies format, with Jim Nettleton as the last live jock Friday night, and today it enters the battle against entrenched market leader WIP (610).
• In Scranton, the "Chet" stunt at WWRR (104.9) came to an end on Monday, when the station relaunched as "105 the River." At least in its initial days - it's kicking things off with a 5,000-song "River Cruise" - the station's music mix seems like the "variety hits" formats known elsewhere as "Jack," "Ben," "Mike," and so on. GM Bob VanDerheyden tells the local papers that the River won't have the same attitude as the "Jack" clones, though, and he prefers to think of it as an AC with a particularly broad playlist.

October 2, 2000 -

• TV viewers in CONNECTICUT will have to look a little harder for "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "WWF Smackdown" in a few months. As had been expected, the WB affiliation that's been held by New Haven's WBNE (Channel 59) since the weblet's 1995 debut will move to WTXX (Channel 20 Waterbury) on January 1, 2001. With the coming of duopoly, WTXX ended up in the hands of Tribune, which is also part-owner of The WB and full owner of Hartford's Fox affiliate, WTIC-TV (Channel 61). As for WBNE, it will get the UPN -- now Paramount Network -- affiliation that now belongs to WTXX, at least for however much longer the Paramount Network continues to exist. Expect a call change to get rid of the "WB" at WBNE, as well.
• Meanwhile down in Bridgeport, channel 43 is getting yet another new owner. The Azteca Network will pay Shop At Home $37.5 million for what's now WSAH(TV), making it the "New York" outlet for the new joint venture of Pappas Telecasting and Mexico's TV Azteca. The Spanish-language network will debut next spring, offering serious competition to Telemundo for the title of #2 network among Hispanic viewers (though we have to wonder how well its largely Mexican programming will fare among the Puerto Rican and Dominican communities in New York City, especially without much over-the-air signal or cable carriage in the city proper).
• The morning radio dial in Portland, MAINE saw still more changes while we were away from NERW-land last week. You might need a scorecard to keep track, so here goes: Bob Anderson, who left WTHT (107.5 Lewiston) last month, has landed at oldies WYNZ (100.9 Westbrook), filling the shoes of Dean Rogers, who's now crosstown at AC WHOM (94.9 Mount Washington NH). Meanwhile, Mac Dickson is out at WMWX (99.9 Auburn), headed for Augusta's WMME (92.3) and afternoons. Now doing mornings at 99.9: Rick Taylor and Donna Steele.
• But wait...there's more. It seems 99.9 has a new nickname to go with its morning team. Gone is "Mix," which has become a Clear Channel servicemark. In its place, the station is back to the "Kiss" slogan it used for a decade or so back when it was WKZS -- but with that call sign long since taken, we hear the new calls at the new old "Kiss 99.9" will be WMEK.
• Just up the coast, Atlantic Coast's WCLZ (95.5 Topsham) has finally put the AAA format that's been wandering from station to station to rest. After migrating to 95.5 from what's now WTPN (98.9 Brunswick), the format was replaced last week by a simulcast of sports "WJAB" (aka WJAE 1440 Westbrook and WJJB 900 Brunswick).
• An upstate NEW YORK format change has been monopolizing the radio dial in the NERW-mobile all week. We knew WNUC (107.7 Wethersfield) was planning to switch from country to sports in early October -- but we didn't expect to hear sports talk already in full swing when we got behind the wheel Tuesday morning.
• It seems new owner Adelphia decided to use the 10-11AM hour all week as a preview of what's to come, with the rest of the day still occupied by satellite country. We also noticed that, for a few days at least, the already potent signal was broadcasting in mono only, making it even more listenable around the fringes in Rochester (and presumably in downtown Buffalo as well). The country vanished for good over the weekend (as did any sign of a legal ID -- Sunday morning we heard only "Sports Radio 107.7 Wethersfield Buffalo"), and we're told the full format arrives Monday morning (10/2). Tom Campbell moves over from WYRK (106.5) to do mornings, followed by Fox Sports in late morning, Art Wander from noon till 2, Mike Shopp (moving from Rochester's WHTK) from 2-6, and Dave Miller from 6-11 on nights when the Sabres aren't playing. Buffalo Blizzard soccer moves from 107.7 over to WWKB (1520), in the unlikely event anyone notices.
• We've also been listening to the fringes of Syracuse's new urban station. Just a week after WRDS (102.1 Phoenix) ditched "Power" for soft AC "Sunny," in stepped Clear Channel, jettisoning the smooth jazz of WHCD (106.9 Auburn) for urban as..."Power 106.9." The change took place at 10 AM on Sept. 21, we're told, with local hosts and the Tom Joyner morning show (a WRDS relic) arriving soon. (NERW notes that the urban format is now on one of the least urban Syracuse signals, emanating from some 30 miles out of town in the Finger Lakes...)

New England Radio Watch, October 5, 1995

• (no issue)