- GET NOTICED! Let us put your logo and/or lettering
on hats, shirts, and/or jackets. Visit www.americaslogowear.com!
12/26
You
can have your ad here! Click here for complete information
on the most economical way to reach tens of thousands of Northeast
radio and TV people each week. |
November 21,
2005
No New TV for Canada's Niagara Region
 *It
was a busy week for CANADA's regulators, as they denied
a closely-watched TV application and announced hearings on several
radio applications, including three in the nation's biggest market.
The denied application was TV Niagara's, for a new independent
station that would have broadcast on channel 22 from a site near
St. Catharines, Ontario, from which it would have served not
only Niagara Region itself but also the rest of the "Golden
Horseshoe" around the western end of Lake Ontario, including
Toronto.
In turning down TVN's application, the CRTC said it was concerned
that the company hadn't budgeted enough to pay the costs of operating
a TV station with the ambitious schedule it proposed, including
some 36 hours a week of local news and prime-time movies. In
particular, the CRTC cited the experience of the former Toronto
One (now SUN-TV), which debuted with similar ambitions a few
years back and ran into devastating financial problems that eventually
led owner Craig Media to be sold.
NERW suspects we haven't heard the last of the TV Niagara
folks, though; they've already told the CRTC that they believe
they can run a more economical operation than Toronto One did,
and they have a compelling case to make for the relatively underserved
nature of Niagara, in the shadows of the much larger Toronto/Hamilton
and Buffalo markets.
(And if nothing else, the TVN proceeding put Global's CHCH
Hamilton under some tighter CRTC scrutiny; the commission acknowledged
concerns that "CH," which now reaches most of the province,
was failing to live up to its own promises to cover news in Hamilton
and in Niagara, and it reminded CHCH that it expects regular
updates from the station's independent advisory board.)
That was just one piece of a busy week at the CRTC, though.
It approved the move of CKDO (1350 Oshawa) to 1580, which will
allow the oldies outlet to go from 10 kW day/5 kW night (with
a fairly tight directional pattern) to 10 kW fulltime on a Canadian
clear channel. (1580 was long occupied by CBJ in Chicoutimi,
Quebec, and was later applied for by CHUC Cobourg, which instead
is moving to FM.)
The CRTC also approved an application from religious broadcaster
CITA (105.9) in Moncton, N.B. to add relays in Sussex, N.B. (107.3,
48 watts) and Amherst, N.S. (99.1, 50 watts).
And it announced a public hearing to be held January 16 at
which it will review a number of interesting applications.
In Toronto, Rainbow Media applies for 50 watts/131.5 meters
on 103.9 for "Rainbow Radio," which would feature programming
aimed at the city's gay and lesbian community. Rainbow is owned
by the Evanov group, which also operates second-adjacent CIDC
(Z 103.5) in Orangeville.
Another Toronto application comes from Canadian Hellenic Toronto
Radio, which wants 1000 watts on 1690 for an ethnic outlet that
would be largely aimed at the city's Mediterranean population.
A third comes from "World Radio," which wants 1 kW/276.8
meters, directional, for a station programming "world beat"
music.
 To the
west, United Christian Broadcasters (which already operates CKJJ
on 102.3 in Belleville) wants to put a new station on the air
in Chatham, running 16.7 kW/181.9 meters on 89.3.
And in the Maritimes, CHNS (960 Halifax) is applying to move
from its powerful AM signal to 89.9 FM, where it would run 100
kW/224 meters. That application conflicts with one from the Cooperative
Radio Halifax-Metro Ltee., which wants to run 1925 watts/217
m on 89.7.
 Away
from the halls of the CRTC, there's other news to report as well.
In Toronto, French community station CHOQ (105.1) is testing
its signal from its new transmitter site at 6 Forest Laneway.
"Radio-Toronto" began testing Novemner 7 and will wrap
up the tests November 28, in preparation for beginning regular
programming soon. (It's been on the air under the CKIE calls
for several short-term special event broadcasts already.)
In Montreal, Andre Maisonneuve departs his afternoon drive
slot on CJFM (95.9) November 25. Middayer Mark Bergman moves
to afternoons, with night guy Rob Kemp taking middays.
*Moving stateside, NEW YORK got
Christmas music in earnest this week - both in the west, where
Buffalo's WJYE (96.1) and WTSS (102.5) made the flip, and in
the city, where WLTW (106.7 New York) made its earliest flip
yet.
 WLTW
also lost one of its longest-running voices, as the station parted
ways with Steven E. Roy, who was there at the beginning, in 1984,
and who'd become an afternoon fixture at "Lite." There's
no word yet on a permanent replacement, or on Roy's next destination.
There was plenty of traffic action in New York City this week
as well - WINS (1010) morning traffic veteran Pete Tauriello
added TV to his repertoire, joining WNBC (Channel 4)'s Trish
Yodice for expanded morning traffic reports. (He'll continue
to be heard on WINS as well.) Over at WOR (710), George Meade
announced that he'll retire from the morning traffic beat at
the end of December, ending a 38-year run at the station.
Moving back upstate, it sounds as though the "Free Beer
and Hot Wings" morning show, already heard on the "Hawk"
stations in New Jersey and in Michigan, will be the replacement
for Howard Stern on Albany's WQBK (103.9 Rensselaer)/WQBJ (103.5
Cobleskill) when Stern leaves for his new gig (which, we hear,
may involve one of the satellite services, though Howard's been
awfully shy about the whole thing, hasn't he?)
Way upstate, Salamanca's two stations - oldies WGGO (1590)
and rocker WQRT (98.3) - are changing hands, as Michael Washington's
Catt Communications sells the pair to Bob Pfuntner's Pembrook
Pines group. (No sale price was available at press time.)
Where are they now? Former WKSE (98.5 Niagara Falls) PD Jimmy
Steele has resurfaced in San Diego, where he's the new PD at
Clear Channel top 40 KHTS (93.3).
*In NEW JERSEY, mornings are a little
less local at WBUD (1260 Trenton), as the Millennium Radio Group
station sheds the services of news guys John Weber and Ed Salvas.
WBUD says it plans to continue its "Mercer News Morning"
block, but we're hearing that Weber and Salvas won't be replaced,
and that the future for WBUD is more satellite and less local
(even the local voicetracking that the station's been running.)
We're sorry to report that Donna Rose, who was heard doing
news on Garden State stations that included WHTG, WJLK, WJRZ
and most recently the "Breeze" trimulcast (WWZY/WBHX/WKOE),
died Tuesday (Nove. 15). She was just 49.
*Just one bit of PENNSYLVANIA news
- in Harrisburg, "Kiss" WHKF (99.3) hires "Silly
Jilly" to replace Mike Miller at night. Miller's off to
an APD gig at KKRZ in Portland, Oregon; Jilly's inbound from
WKSC in Chicago, where she was doing weekends and fill-ins.
 *In MASSACHUSETTS, Michael Graham's settling
in as the new afternoon talker on WTKK (96.9 Boston), filling
the slot last occupied by Jay Severin, whose future whereabouts
on the Boston dial remain up in the air. Graham's last two gigs
didn't end well - he was driven out of WMAL, Washington earlier
this year after controversial remarks about Muslims, and he was
fired from WBT, Charlotte a few years earlier after some tasteless
remarks about the Columbine shootings. Will he fare any better
in Boston - or is that sort of high-profile controversy exactly
what WTKK is banking on?
On the FM side, WZLX (100.7 Boston) is looking for a PD to
replace Beau Raines. After three years at WZLX and three years
before that at WROR, Raines is leaving at the end of December.
At WMKK (93.7 Lawrence), Amy Caplan is handing off her GM
duties to Julie Kahn, who's already GM of the rest of the Entercom
Boston cluster. Caplan will head up national sales for the Boston
Entercom stations.
On the TV side, Ken Barlow - not the Vox Radio executive
from Vermont, but rather the Rhode Island native who's been doing
weather at KARE-TV in Minneapolis - is headed to WBZ-TV (Channel
4) to fill what had been Ed Carroll's job as chief meteorologist.
And, oh yes, it's Christmas time on the air - WODS (103.3
Boston) went a day earlier than scheduled, flipping on Thursday,
with WSRS (96.1 Worcester) right behind.
*The holidays are starting early in RHODE
ISLAND as well - WWLI (105.1 Providence) made the flip
at week's end.
*In NEW HAMPSHIRE, Gardner Goldsmith
is the replacement for Arnie Arnesen on Bob Vinikoor's WNTK-FM
(99.7 New London)/WUVR (1490 Lebanon).
*Speaking of Bob, he's bringing back some
old calls in VERMONT, where WNBX (1480 Springfield) is
returning to its previous calls, WCFR. (Those calls had stayed
with the FM side on 93.5, now WTSM, then moved to 96.3 in Walpole,
N.H., which is now being used to park the old Philly calls of
WPLY.)
And there's holiday cheer in Burlington, where WEZF (92.9)
is also doing the all-Christmas thing.
 *Speaking
of the holidays, Tower Site Calendar 2006 is the perfect
gift for the radio guy (or gal) who has everything else - and
there's still plenty of time to get your copy under the tree/menorah/Blaw-Knox
diamond tower model of your choice. (And, let's face it, wouldn't
an 8-foot Blaw-Knox diamond be an amazingly cool thing to hang
your ornaments on?)
We've got to say, we're especially proud of the way this year's
calendar turned out. Once again, we bring you more than a dozen
images from the fybush.com collection that have never seen print
before, including that nifty nighttime view of New York's WMCA
that graces the cover. You also get to see WSB, KTAR, Mount Wilson,
CBV and many, many more, plus all those fun dates in radio and
TV history, civil and religious holidays, a handy full-page 2007
calendar, and the always-popular hole for hanging.
And we do it all with no increase in price, for the fourth
year running!
You can get one free with your 2006 subscription
to NERW at the $60 level, or order the calendar (plus other goodies)
at our brand new fybush.com
Store! We think you'll like this one - and as always,
we thank you for your support.
NorthEast Radio Watch is made possible by the generous
contributions of our regular readers. If you enjoy NERW, please
click here to
learn how you can help make continued publication possible. NERW
is copyright
2005 by Scott Fybush. |
