In this week’s issue… Remembering NYC’s Reed, NJ’s McNally, Ottawa’s Knight – WABC-TV loses news director – Scott sues WBLS – Bigger signal coming to Finger Lakes – CBS adds “Now” newscasts
By SCOTT FYBUSH
Jump to: ME – NH – VT – MA – RI – CT – NY – NJ – PA – Canada
(Programming note: It’s summer, we’re taking some vacation time here and there, and so it’s possible that there may be no NERW or a late NERW on some Mondays in July and August. Stay tuned to our Twitter feed @NERadioWatch or our Facebook page for updates.)
*One of the most iconic voices in NEW YORK oldies radio has died.
Don K. Reed started at WCBS-FM (101.1) when it was still a progressive rock station in 1971, moving over from mornings at WLIR a year before CBS flipped the FM signal into one of the country’s first (and by far biggest) all-oldies stations.
Back then, the doo-wop music of the 1950s was still less than two decades old, and Reed made the music his own, hosting overnights and his signature “Doo-Wop Shop” show on Sundays, playing music that often wasn’t heard anywhere else.
Less flashy than some of the other big WCBS-FM voices, Reed was a survivor, lasting the station’s entire run with oldies from its 1972 flip until the controversial 2005 move to “Jack FM.”
After the end of the original WCBS-FM, Reed remained active in the music and radio community, appearing on the new WCBS-FM’s “Radio Greats” for a few years after its 2007 return, hosting streaming shows and emceeing doo-wop concerts. He had reportedly been battling kidney disease before his death last week at 77.
WE’RE WELL INTO 2025…
Do you have your Tower Site Calendar yet?
Now is the time to get it — and we have reduced the price. It’s now 20 percent off!
This year’s cover is a beauty — the 100,000-watt transmitter of the Voice Of America in Marathon, right in the heart of the Florida Keys. Both the towers and the landscape are gorgeous.
Other months feature some of our favorite images from years past, including some Canadian stations and several stations celebrating their centennials (buy the calendar to find out which ones!).
We have quite a few calendar left and are still shipping throughout the week.
The proceeds from the calendar help sustain the reporting that we do on the broadcast industry here at Fybush Media, so your purchases matter a lot to us here – and if that matters to you, now’s the time to show that support with an order of the Tower Site Calendar. (And we have the Broadcast Historian’s Calendar for 2025 ready to ship, too. Why not order both?)
Visit the Fybush Media Store and place your order now for the next calendar, get a great discount on previous calendars, and check out our selection of books and videos, too!