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April 18, 2005
Boston's Star Flips to "Mike"
*It was probably inevitable that eastern
MASSACHUSETTS would see a station flip to the classic
hits/hot AC hybrid that's making a name for itself around the
country as "Jack," "Bob," "Simon,"
"Fickle," or what have you. But after Infinity's WBMX
(98.5 Boston) and Greater Media's WBOS (92.9 Brookline) showed
signs they might be leaning towards flipping, it was Entercom's
WQSX (93.7 Lawrence) that beat them to the punch.
On Thursday afternoon at 2, Entercom pulled the plug on the
dance-top 40 "Star 93.7" format that had occupied the
frequency since 1999, replacing it with "93-7 Mike FM,"
which follows closely in the "We Play Whatever" vein
of all the other recent adoptees of the latest big radio fad.
PD Jerry McKenna stays in place to program the station, but
the morning team of Ralphie Marino and Karen Blake is out, as
is middayer Mike McGowan, and "Mike" is running jockless
for now.
The station has requested new calls WMKK, but there's some
speculation that those calls may not stay - they're awfully similar
to other Boston calls such as WTKK and WMKI.
Meanwhile at WBOS, the morning team of Bill Abbate and Kristin
Lessard is history, as the station goes for a "more music"
approach and runs jockless during morning drive. We'd suggested
last week that middayer Amy Brooks would be out too, but it turns
out she's still there - sorry for any confusion.
Over in Winchendon, the new signal on 91.1 got call letters
last week - WKMY - and now it's getting a new owner, too. "Friends
of Radio Maria" is selling the station to Sacramento's EMF
Broadcasting for $15,000, and that means it will become the first
Bay State outlet for EMF's fast-growing "K-Love" contemporary
Christian format, fed by satellite from California. If EMF's
behavior elsewhere in the country is any indication, expect to
see WKMY become the hub of a big network of translators around
New England...
 *In
CONNECTICUT, the FCC granted a waiver last week to Tribune
Broadcasting to continue owning WTXX (Channel 20) for another
six months while it awaits a change in cross-ownership rules
that might allow it permanent ownership of WTXX, WTIC-TV (Channel
61) and the Hartford Courant. (You'll recall that a federal
judge had ruled a few weeks ago that Tribune must sell WTXX immediately,
absent an extension of the waiver.)
*In NEW JERSEY, it's the end of the
line - again - for modern rock WDOX. The calls and format went
away a few years ago on 93.1 in Wildwood Crest, where they began,
and after being resurrected on the former WJNN (106.7 North Wildwood)
in 2001, the new WDOX is flipping formats and calls. It's adding
straight-ahead top 40 to its modern rock format and changing
calls to WSJQ, we're told.
*On the NEW YORK-VERMONT border,
Vox is selling another of its rapidly shrinking stable of stations.
WZEC (97.5 Hoosick Falls) is licensed to New York but serves
Bennington, Vermont, and after beginning life as a religious
station (WNGN) in 1991, it's heading back to religion as Vox
sells it to Capitol Media for $1.1 million.
Capitol runs the "Alive Radio Network" on WHAZ (1330
Troy), WBAR (94.7 Lake Luzerne) and WMYY-FM (97.3 Schoharie),
and it's expected to put "Alive" on 97.5 as well, though
NERW wonders if the real motivation behind buying 97.5 (which
does soft AC right now as "Light Rock 97.5") is to
realign the tightly-spaced 97.3/97.5 pair to better serve Albany.
As always, stay tuned.
In New York City, we now know the parameters of the new facility
WFUV (90.7 New York) wants to build to replace that ill-fated
uncompleted tower next to the Fordham University stadium that
created so much controversy with the neighboring Botanical Garden.
WFUV has been granted a CP to move to the roof of an apartment
building at 3450 Wayne Avenue in the Bronx, where it will run
45.8 kW at 155 meters from a directional antenna, a considerable
increase in height over its old licensed facility, which was
50 kW/66 meters atop a Fordham campus building.
(And speaking of New York, a happy 40th anniversary tomorrow
to the all-news format on New York's 1010 WINS. While it wasn't
the very first in America, it certainly set the standard for
the format, and it continues to be the most-listened-to all-newser.)
Up in the Seaway Valley, WPAC (98.7 Ogdensburg) was granted
a power increase last week; it'll go from 3 kW/28 meters atop
a prison smokestack in Ogdensburg to 6 kW/100 meters on the tower
of sister station WYSX (96.7 Morristown).
In Rochester, the Raging Rhinos soccer team will have a new
radio home this year; they've signed a deal with Entercom to
broadcast their games on "Fickle" WFKL (93.3 Fairport).
Meanwhile down in Avon, Bob Savage is looking for replacement
news/talk programming for WYSL (1040), which is losing AP's All
News Radio service when it shuts down in July.
*In western PENNSYLVANIA, Marty Minto
is out of a job as the only local talk host on Salem's WORD-FM
(101.5 Pittsburgh) after devoting several shows last week to
discussing whether the late Pope John Paul II would be able to
enter heaven. Minto says he was fired after Friday's show, with
station management telling him that he was alienating listeners.
No replacement for the 3-6 PM shift has been named.
The new 90.7 in Nanty Glo now has calls: it'll be WLGY.
*In CANADA, former CHOI (98.1 Quebec
City) talk host Jeff Fillion has more trouble on his plate: a
court has ordered him to pay TV weathercaster Sophie Chiasson
C$340,000 for defaming her with comments on his show about her
sex life and other issues.
In Toronto, CFMX-FM-1 (96.3) applies to boost power from its
present 30 kW to 60 kW, still from atop First Canadian Place
and still using a directional antenna.
And in Quinte West, CJTN (1270) has signed off for good and
surrendered its license; it's been supplanted by CJTN-FM (107.1).
*That's it from Las Vegas for this week, as we attend the
NAB convention. More on the convention when we're back east next
Monday!
*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
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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
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