Cumulus Starts Cutting

It's been a month since we posted our "open letter" to NERW/fybush.com readers announcing some upcoming changes to the site.

The response has been unbelievably gratifying: already, hundreds of you have signed up for subscriptions to the new version of fybush.com, and many of you have sent along very kind notes of thanks and support.

And now it's almost time to flip the proverbial switch (or, perhaps, to hit the proverbial "plates on" button). Over the next couple of weeks, we'll be transitioning fybush.com and our sister sites, including tophour.com, to a new server and a new site design.

While some content (including all of tophour.com) will remain accessible to everyone after the switch, most of the good stuff will be available only to paid subscribers - and if you're not one yet, we hope you'll join us soon. (All one-year subscriptions entered before the changeover will run through the end of November, 2012, so there's no advantage to waiting until the last minute.)

If you've already subscribed, first, thank you! - and second, watch your e-mail sometime next week for the login and password that will give you access to all the good stuff you've come to expect from NERW and Tower Site of the Week, as well as some new, subscriber-exclusive content.

Whether or not you've subscribed, please bookmark www.fybush.org. As we're going through the transition to the new server and new site, some content may be temporarily inaccessible at fybush.com, but we'll try to keep the .org version of the site up and running as long as possible until the new site is complete.

Thanks for your patience. It's a big transition for us (our first redesign since...gulp...2001), and we appreciate your support as we work our way through it.

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TOWER SITE CALENDAR 2012...ORDER NOW!

A decade ago, it was just a goofy idea: "Hey, you should put some of those tower pictures into a calendar!"

But when Tower Site Calendar 2002 appeared, it was a hit - and ten years later, the fun still hasn't stopped.

And now it's that moment at least some of you have been waiting for: the release of our latest edition, Tower Site Calendar 2012, seen for the very first time right here!

As befits a tenth-anniversary edition, this one's special: in addition to all the great tower photos and historic dates you've come to expect from our calendars, the new 2012 edition is our first-ever themed calendar, paying special homage to the many stations that began broadcasting during radio's first big boom year of 1922.

The 2012 edition brings something else that's new to the Tower Site Calendar: the option of a spiral-bound edition that will hang flatter on your wall.

The calendars are back from the printer, and the first shipments went out to early purchasers on Saturday. But don't worry: we still have plenty of both versions of the calendar (plus the signed, limited-edition version) on hand. So don't miss your chance to be part of the very first shipments...or to make your 2012 calendar order part of the subscription you'll soon need to continue enjoying all of the features of fybush.com.

Order now - or subscribe - at the fybush.com Store!

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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.

One Year Ago: October 25, 2010 -

• It was supposed to be a pretty simple job: replacing the channel 59 translator antenna for W59AU in Utica with a new antenna, allowing Syracuse public broadcaster WCNY to switch from analog to digital (on channel 22, as W22DO-D.) But something went terribly wrong as a three-person crew from Alpha Antenna Services worked 300 or so feet in the air atop the tower WCNY leases from Utica's WKTV. The old channel 59 antenna buckled, sending all three tower workers falling. William Fox, 49, suffered the most serious injuries to his face, while Kelly Dougherty, 30, suffered foot injuries and a third worker was checked out and released. Because the tower with the dangling antenna sits right next to WKTV's Smith Hill studios, Channel 2 was forced to evacuate its building, cancelling its noon newscast and replacing its usual NBC feed with programming from its DTV subchannel. (The actual WKTV transmissions, from a site in Middleville 20 miles to the east, were unaffected, but WKTV's master control couldn't function until workers there were cleared to return to the building.)
• As of Monday night, it's not yet clear how long it will take for WCNY to resume the translator-upgrade project, or whether WCNY's other signal at the site, WUNY (89.5 Utica), was affected. (2011 update: Tower crews were on the WKTV tower just this past week, finally completing the needed work to rebuild the DTV antenna and return W22DO-D to the air.)
• Every radio market with a big top-40 station in the sixties had its breakout star - and in Albany, NEW YORK, there was none bigger than "Boom Boom Brannigan," who spun the tunes on WPTR (1540) beginning in 1961 and stayed there well into the seventies, propelling WPTR into the heat of a top-40 battle with archrival WTRY. Before his Albany stardom, Brannigan had been up and down the Thruway, working under his real name, Joseph Motto, at stations in Utica (WTLB) and Syracuse (WNDR) and as "Ronnie Victor" at Buffalo's WBNY. After leaving WPTR in 1974, Brannigan also worked at WABY (1400) for a time, and he came back to WPTR in the early years of the 21st century when the station flipped to an oldies format in an attempt to recapture the old magic. In the meantime, he'd become a station owner, putting WMVI (1170 Mechanicville) on the air in 1979, and later selling it, buying it back and selling it again. Brannigan, whose real name was Joseph Motto, had been in poor health for the last few years; he died Tuesday in Albany, at age 82.
• While Brannigan was spinning the tunes at WPTR, Martin Beck was moving from the presidency of the Katz Radio rep firm into his own prominence as a station owner. Beck left Katz in 1968 to join forces with his brother-in-law George Ross under the "Beck-Ross Communications" banner, a name that would soon become prominent in the region. Beck-Ross bought its first station in 1970, flipping the former WPAC-FM (106.1 Patchogue) into WBLI. It became the cornerstone of an ownership group that eventually grew to 28 stations, including WHCN in Hartford and WSNE in Providence, before selling out to Capstar (one of the antecedents of today's Clear Channel) in 1995. Three years later, Beck and his son-in-law Jim Champlin returned to ownership, investing in WSYB/WZRT in Rutland, Vermont. Beck held many of the industry's top leadership posts, including serving as president of the New York State Broadcasters Association and chairman of the NAB Radio Board; he was named to the NYSBA's hall of fame in 2005 and won the NAB's National Radio Award in 1992. Beck died Thursday (Oct. 21) at 93.
• Beck's successor at the helm of the NYSBA is retiring. Joe Reilly has been with the group for three decades, and he's giving the state association plenty of time to replace him; he won't leave NYSBA until mid-2011, and he'll still be around as a consultant even after that.
• It's been an interesting week for radio in southern NEW JERSEY, where police in the Atlantic City suburb of Linwood arrested the former general manager of the Atlantic Broadcasting cluster. Brett DeNafo was charged with second-degree theft and theft by deception after Atlantic accused him of stealing nearly $175,000 from the stations. $76,149 of that came from personal purchases DeNafo allegedly made with a station credit card, while the remainder of the money ($98,805) was related to advertising that ran on the stations but for which Atlantic never received payment. Atlantic fired DeNafo back in March, two years after he joined forces with JVC Broadcasting's John Caracciolo, engineer Mike Ferriola and several local air personalities to buy the radio cluster from Access.1 Communications. DeNafo turned himself in to police in Linwood and was freed on $350,000 bail. His attorney Stephen Scheffler tells the Press of Atlantic City that the charges are "110% bogus."

Five Years Ago: October 23, 2006 -

• The AM dial in CANADA just keeps getting emptier - at least everywhere outside its biggest cities. Last week, three more AM signals in eastern Canada applied to move to FM, even as three other applicants filed for new AM signals in Toronto and Montreal.
• The AM-to-FM moves first: CHUM Ltd. wants to get off the AM dial in Peterborough and Kingston, Ontario. In Peterborough, it's hoping to move CKPT (1420) to 99.3, with 17 kW DA (5.7 kW average ERP)/91.5 meters, while in Kingston it wants to move CKLC (1380) to 98.9, with 15 kW DA (8.7 kW average ERP)/132.3 meters. If approved by the CRTC after a hearing December 18, the moves would leave each city with one AM (Corus' CKRU 980 and CFFX 960, respectively), and would give CHUM three FM signals in Peterborough (counting CKLY in Lindsay) and two in Kingston. (It also raises the potential for still more interference across Lake Ontario, this time with WLLW 99.3 in Seneca Falls and WBZA 98.9 in Rochester.)
• The exodus from the AM dial in Nova Scotia continues, too: Newcap is applying to relocate CFDR (780 Dartmouth/Halifax) to 88.9, with 50 kW DA (21 kW average ERP)/188.8 meters. If the move is granted, Newcap says it would divest its half-interest in CKUL (96.5 Halifax), since it also owns CFRQ (104.3 Halifax).
• The December 18 hearing will also include three applications for new AM signals: Radio Humsafar wants 1400 in Montreal, with 1 kW; S.S. TV Inc. wants 1650 in Brampton, Ontario, with 1 kW day/680 watts night; and Neeti P. Ray wants 1650 in Mississauga, Ontario, with 1 kW. All three of these stations would be multi-ethnic.
• In western MASSACHUSETTS, they've been wondering for a while about the status of WVEI-FM (105.5 Easthampton), the Springfield move-in that will become the newest relay of Boston's all-sports WEEI whenever it finally gets on the air from Mount Tom. Now there's a date - WEEI has been promoting October 26 as sign-on day for 105.5.
• Christopher Lydon's "Open Source" is looking for a new source of funding, now that UMass Lowell has pulled the plug on its sponsorship of the public radio show. When "Open Source" signed on last year, the original plan was for Lowell to become its home base, with Lydon operating from new WUML (91.5 Lowell) studios and working closely with students there. That never came to pass, though, and "Open Source" ended up in studio space leased from WGBH (89.7 Boston) instead, with WUML not even carrying the show live. (It airs there at 6:00 Tuesday-Friday mornings, a day after its evening airing on WGBH and about 30 other public stations around the country, via Public Radio International.)
• There's a new station on the air in NEW YORK's Southern Tier - Equinox Broadcasting's WRRQ (106.7 Windsor) began broadcasting last week, doing AC as "Q107." It'll take over the 104.5 Ingraham Hill translator (W283AC Johnson City) that was being used by sister station WCDW (100.5 Susquehanna PA), and it'll also be heard in downtown Binghamton on new translator W236AP (95.1).
• It's been a rough week for the folks at CBS Radio in New York. At the network level, they said goodbye to Christopher Glenn, the veteran anchor who retired in February. He died Tuesday (Oct. 17) of liver cancer, at 68. Upstairs at WCBS (880), they're mourning Mary Gay Taylor, the station's veteran City Hall reporter, who died Friday (Oct. 20) of breast cancer, at 71.
• Two more from the obituary page: Mike Phillips, who made a name for himself at the old WXLO (98.7, now WRKS) and WWDJ (970 Hackensack) in the early seventies, died last Monday (Oct. 16) near Seattle, at 64. Phillips worked in Portland, Seattle and San Francisco, in addition to a long run as PD of oldies KRTH (101.1) in Los Angeles. And while Bob Lassiter made his name in Florida and Chicago talk radio, he also worked at WOUR (96.9 Utica) and WJOI (93.7 Pittsburgh, now WRKZ) in the early seventies. Lassiter died Oct. 13, at 61.

10 Years Ago: October 22, 2001 -

• Radio People on the Move: Kevin Baker returns to Albany after his stint in Rutland, Vermont launching Vox classic rocker WEXP (101.5 Brandon) as "the Fox." Baker will join Ed Levine's Galaxy Broadcasting as it takes over WKLI (94.5 Ravena) and WABY (1400 Albany) and moves WHTR down to 93.7 in Scotia to serve the Albany market. Meanwhile, no replacement has been named at WEXP, where Baker was the founding PD and afternoon drive jock. Ted Edwards is leaving his PD job at WBAB (102.3 Babylon) on Long Island to become VP of operations and development at Jesscom, as well as PD of its new KFME (105.1 Garden City MO) in the Kansas City market. And Steve Andolino moves up from PD to OM at AAA's WBEA (101.7 Southold) and WEHM (96.7 East Hampton) way out on Long Island's East End; Brian Cosgrove takes his PD stripes.
• We'll hop across Long Island sound to CONNECTICUT next, just the same way WMOS (104.7 Montauk NY) is doing with its studios. The station's call change (it used to be WBEA and was briefly WCSO) turns out to be no coincidence: owner AAA Entertainment has worked out a deal with the Mohegan Sun casino in Uncasville to base WMOS in a studio near the casino's entrance, promoting it as "Mohegan Sun Radio." Very clever! (And we can attest from personal experience that the WMOS signal blasts across Long Island Sound to that part of southeastern Connecticut...)
• Up in Boston, WUMB (91.9) GM Pat Monteith checked in to let us know we were pretty accurate in our speculation about the reasons Christopher Lydon won't make that station his next radio home. In a letter to her listeners (you can check it out at www.wumb.org), Monteith explains that a Lydon show would cost upwards of $500,000 annually to produce - which is most of WUMB's budget, not to mention a significant shift in focus for a station known for its music programming.
• Look for C|Net Radio to land on WBPS (890 Dedham) beginning November 5; the tech-talk network (currently heard only on KNEW 910 in the San Francisco market) will take over programming 24/7 on the Mega Broadcasting station, putting an end to the "romantica" music now running there as "Amor 890."

15 Years Ago: New England Radio Watch, October 23, 1996

• WBOQ (104.9), the classical outlet licensed to Gloucester MA, is now in very good new hands. Southfield Broadcasting LP transferred the license to Marlin Broadcasting on October 1st, in a deal that was all in the family (Southfield was owned by Douglas Tanger, and Marlin belongs to his brother Woody). Marlin owns classical WTMI (93.1) Miami, and recently sold classical stations in Detroit (WQRS 105.1) and Philadelphia (WFLN 95.7).
• Across the state line in Ballston Spa NY, WZRQ (102.3) has dropped its Z-Rock format in favor of classic rock, as WXCR. Z-Rock was being discontinued at the end of the year anyway, and the modern-rock bent to Z-Rock's programming was conflicting with WZRQ's new duopoly partner, "The Edge" (WQBK-FM 103.9 Rensselaer/WQBJ 103.5 Cobleskill).
• The 1150 spot on Boston's radio dial is now home to yet another set of call letters, its third this fall. Sometime late Sunday night or Monday morning, Kidstar's Boston affiliate quietly changed its call from WROR(AM) to WNFT(AM), which, according to the folks at station owner Greater Media, stands for "Nifty 1150." The WNFT calls were last used in Jacksonville, Florida, on TV channel 47. (That station in turn picked up an old New England callsign -- the WTEV(TV) calls that were used on Channel 6 in New Bedford MA from 1963 until the late seventies.
• From the "What the....?!?!?!?" File: M Street this week reports that 1370 in Wickford RI has added Westwood One's adult standards service to its local programming. So far so good; but M Street then goes on to identify the station as "WKFD," and says it "uses the calls WEGM as a slogan." That prompted a lot of head-scratching here at NERW headquarters, since when we visited the station in July (see the July 23 NERW for all the details), they were using WEGM as their sole ID. But sure enough, a check of the FCC database finds that the folks down at 1919 M Street still think 1370 is WKFD! So...either "WEGM" never actually applied for its new calls...or the FCC database is way off on this one. Go figure.
• Just over the state line, there's still more call-change action going on. Cobleskill NY's WDCS 1190 has changed calls to WLAL. The daytimer was recently sold to a listener who was able to afford to keep it running, something the previous owners were apparently unable to do. And M Street says Poughkeepsie NY's WNSX 96.1 is now on the air, running ABC's satellite modern AC format. A visit to that part of the Hudson Valley is long overdue for the NERW traveling radio caravan...
• A bit further afield in upstate NY, Remsen NY's WUUU (serving the U-U-Utica market, of course) has applied for the WRFM calls on 93.5. Those calls were, of course, long resident on 105.1 in New York City. Syracuse newcomer WXCD (105.9) has changed calls to WLTI, formerly found in Detroit. WGLI (1290) in Babylon, Long Island -- a station that's been dark for years -- has applied for WZZU. And NERW has applied for a grant for aspirin from the headache we get keeping track of all this movement!
• A brief NERW this time around...as the region continues to recover from one of the heaviest rainstorms in recent memory. Some parts of Maine received over 19 inches of rain in just over a day, and many roads remain closed. One effect was clearly audible on the Boston dial: the absence of WNRB (1510) from the airwaves. WNRB's transmitter is in a very low-lying area of Waltham, along a stream called Beaver Brook. When the waters began rising Sunday night, they flooded the parking lot in which the station's four towers sit, then entered the concrete transmitter house, eventually rising more than a foot above the floor. Both the main 50kw Nautel transmitter and the backup suffered damage, and when NERW stopped by last night, an engineer was still removing water from the Nautel's cabinet. It's a credit both to WNRB's engineers and to Nautel that the station is back up and running this morning. NERW wishes them good luck...and the good long rest they'll undoubtedly need after all that bailing out.
• It will take a lot longer for Portland, Maine's WLOB (1310) and WLOB-LP (Channel 45) to make it back on the air. The station's building on Warren Avenue in Portland was flooded to the roof, and word has it that damage inside was extremely severe. WGAN (560) has its transmitter just across the highway from WLOB, but remained on the air throughout the storm.