NERW 11/21/11: NYC Ties to New DC All-Newser

From the NERW Archives

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: November 22, 2010 –

The new year will bring a talk radio shakeup in southeastern PENNSYLVANIA, where CBS Radio”s WPHT (1210 Philadelphia) will rearrange its schedule to move morning man Michael Smerconish to afternoons, dropping Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity as “The Big Talker” segues to a nearly all-local lineup during the day.Over the last couple of years, Smerconish has become one of the hardest-working hosts in talk radio, holding down both a local airshift on WPHT in morning drive and a syndicated midday airshift, all while writing newspaper columns and becoming increasingly visible on cable TV news. (Last week, for instance, he guest-hosted MSNBC”s “Hardball” all week.)

“I have zero regrets from the last two years, but as I expected, it is just too much and I am looking forward to applying a renewed sense of focus to one show daily. I am also anxious to watch Phillies games beyond the 5th inning and no longer get up at 3:30 a.m.!,” said Smerconish in a statement announcing his plans to cut down from his current seven hours of live talk daily (the Philadelphia morning show and a noon-3 PM national show syndicated by Dial Global.)

The January schedule shift will reduce Smerconish”s workload to four daily hours of radio talk: one local-only hour from 3-4 PM followed by his syndicated show, delayed from its live midday slot to 4-7 PM. Moving Smerconish to afternoons on WPHT will displace Hannity, and current nighttime talker Dom Giordano will move to 9 AM-noon, replacing Beck. There”s a new morning voice coming to WPHT as well: Chris Stigall, who”s now the morning host at Entercom”s KCMO (710) in Kansas City, will be the new leadoff man in the “Big Talker” lineup. Out of WPHT”s present daytime syndicated lineup, only Rush Limbaugh will stay in place.

130 unionized employees at NEW JERSEY“s statewide NJN radio and TV network received layoff notices last week, the next step in Gov. Chris Christie”s plan to end the state”s operation of the public broadcaster by year”s end.It”s still not at all clear what will become of NJN”s operations after December 31.

Late last week, state officials met with nonprofit funders and public broadcasting experts to try to map out a future for NJN that would meet Christie”s dual (and potentially contradictory) goals of eliminating state spending on public broadcasting while preserving NJN”s local programming and possibly even retaining some measure of state control over the networks.

While it”s widely believed that New York-based WNET and Philadelphia-based WHYY are likely candidates to take over operation of NJN”s TV service, there are other options on the table as well: some lawmakers are suggesting spinning off NJN”s less-than-statewide radio service while retaining TV, while others support the transfer of both radio and TV to a consortium that would be run by Stockton College and Montclair State University. (That option, however, would simply shift the state”s responsibility for NJN from direct funding to indirect support through the state college system.)

Will NJN in fact go dark? At week”s end, state officials were trying to downplay that possibility, saying the Dec. 31 deadline to end the state”s operation of the networks could be pushed back if there”s a plan in place for NJN”s future.

Radio People on the Move in NEW YORK: Clear Channel is making big changes at WWPR (Power 105.1) in New York City, dismissing morning man Ed Lover and producer Sarah O”Connor and middayer De Ja and moving Lover”s co-host Malikah Mallette from mornings to middays.

What”s next for mornings at Power 105? The rumor mill has Charlamagne (late of Philadelphia”s WPHI) tagged for that slot, co-hosting with DJ Envy (now on afternoons at WWPR). And could either of two former WQHT morning personalities – “Miss Jones,” now at Clear Channel”s WUSL in Philadelphia, or “Miss Info,” now at SiriusXM – be part of the new morning show as well?

Behind the scenes, we”re hearing that Mark Olkowski is out at CBS Radio, where he worked his way up over the years to Director of Broadcast Operations and Engineering; no replacement has been named yet. (2011 update: Olkowski is now engineering Merlin Media”s all-news WEMP.)

There are few people working in radio or TV in MASSACHUSETTS with as much media experience as Paul LaCamera. Son of famed Boston Record-American TV critic Anthony LaCamera, Paul began his career at that newspaper before moving into television, where he joined WCVB-TV (Channel 5) at its launch in 1972. LaCamera spent 33 years working his way up the management ranks at Channel 5, eventually serving for a dozen years as the station”s president and general manager and drawing acclaim for running one of the finest local TV stations in the country.

LaCamera retired from WCVB in 2005, only to start a new chapter in his career by taking over as general manager of WBUR-FM (90.9) later that year, charged with restoring stability to a station buffeted by the turbulent ouster of longtime leader Jane Christo.

And after five years at that job, during which he”s been widely credited with bringing WBUR back on an even keel, LaCamera announced Friday afternoon that he”s ready to retire for real. At age 67, he tells the Boston Globe it”s time for fresh leadership at WBUR: “I am a guy who loves newspapers and kitchen radios, and that’s not necessarily the kind of leadership that WBUR is going to need in the future.”

LaCamera will remain on the BU payroll as university administrator for public radio, a role he describes as “ambassadorial” to ease the transition to a yet-to-be-named successor.

The rumors had been flying for a few weeks, and last week Blount Communications made it official, doubling its CONNECTICUT presence with the $500,000 purchase of WDZK (1550 Bloomfield) from Radio Disney, which took the signal silent earlier this fall. The Hartford-market signal will become a religious station, meshing nicely with Blount”s other holdings in the region including WFIF (1500 Milford) in the New Haven market and WARV (1590 Warwick) in the Providence market.
WTIC (1080 Hartford) talk host Sebastian has some legal problems this week: he”s one of 13 people charged with running a sports betting ring. Sebastian, whose real name is Joseph Schlosser, is charged with professional gambling and transmitting gambling information. He”s heard on WTIC Monday and Thursday evenings in an NFL pre-game show that”s always been heavy on talk of point spreads and betting lines; the show didn”t air on Thursday, and WTIC”s not saying whether he”ll be back or not.
It”s not just Sebastian in trouble with the law – a corruption investigation in RHODE ISLAND has snagged Tanya Cruise, the midday jock at Citadel”s WWLI (105.1 Providence). Cruise, whose real name is Lori Sergiacomi, was one of four people indicted on Thursday in connection with an alleged insurance-fraud scheme that followed the heavy rains and flooding that hit Rhode Island in March. After Sergiacomi”s North Providence home was flooded, the indictment accuses her of conspiring with three men, including a North Providence city councilman, to damage her swimming pool to create a fraudulent insurance claim. She”s off the air while the case makes its way through the courts.

Five Years Ago: November 22, 2006 –

First, the bad news about WRKO news: on Thursday afternoon, the seven staffers who made up the Entercom talk station”s newsroom were called into the offices of station management and informed, one by one, that WRKO was moving in a different direction, replacing its local news staff with reports from Metro Networks and increasing the amount of Fox News Radio content being used on the air.

The moment must have felt like deja vu for several of the WRKO staffers: back in 1995, previous owner American Radio Systems dismissed most of the entire news staff, including news director Rod Fritz, and contracted with Metro to provide newscasts. At the time, Metro hired some of the WRKO news talent (including Fritz and Pat Carroll, now at WCBS in New York), and WRKO kept a handful of its own newspeople, including veteran anchor Listo Fisher.

This time, it”s total – Fritz and Fisher are both out of work, as are Paul Tuthill (who joined WRKO from Worcester”s WTAG when WRKO reversed course in 1999 and rebuilt its newsroom), Mary Blake, Sharon Smith, Marga Bessette and Deb Daigle.
WRKO says it”s a cost-cutting measure, “primarily based on our mission to build upon the core identity of WRKO-AM.” The station”s statement continues: “It is a talk station, and we need to put all of our resources into improving our talk format.” (We”d note the big bill coming due for WRKO”s expensive new Red Sox deal, too.)

Whether or not you believe the official story that Bill Buchner”s exit from WLTW (106.7 New York) was unrelated to the large-scale Clear Channel cutbacks, there”s no disputing that the axe swung in earnest at the company”s New York cluster last week. At WKTU (103.5 Lake Success), imaging guru Harry Legg is out. So are 11-year “KTU veteran Charlie Burger, who was doing overnights, and Lil” Cee, who was doing late nights. Unrelated (apparently) to the cutbacks, night jock Vic Latino exits as well, replaced by Jagger (from WKCI 101.3 in the New Haven market.)

WAXQ (104.3) cut part-timer Pat St. John and full-time night jock Mark Coppola, moving overnight jock Carol Miller to the 8 PM-1 AM shift. Yes, that means that the overnight shifts on two more stations in market number one are now voicetracked.

In Springfield, the cuts all but eviscerated the news department at WHYN (560) last week, sending news director/afternoon anchor Bill Erickson packing after 31 years with the station. Also out is morning news anchor Denise Vozella, who was on her second stint with WHYN. With Erickson and Vozella gone, WHYN is down to a single newsperson, John Baibak – and the people of Springfield and Hampden County are all the poorer for the lack of a full-fledged radio news department in town.

There were newsroom cuts in Albany, too, including veteran WGY newsman Jim Gagliardi, who”d been with the station for 12 years and in the market for nearly 40, as well as WGY weekend talk host/public service director Laurie Reilly, and WGY news anchor Dave Lucas. Also out, apparently, is WPYX (106.5) PD Steve Haner – and as we go to press Sunday night, we note that the web page for WPYX”s “Wakin” Up with the Wolf” show has mysteriously gone missing from the station”s site, too.

At Clear Channel in Syracuse, the cuts include WYYY (94.5) morning man Rick Gary, WBBS (104.7 Fulton) APD/afternoon jock Skip Clark, WHEN (620) afternoon sportscaster Brent Axe and DJ Maestro, who did nights on WWHT (Hot 107.9). Kathy Rowe is now solo in mornings on Y94, while Rich Lauber is now doing afternoons on B104.7.

In MASSACHUSETTS, Charles River Broadcasting officially closed on its sale of WCRB (102.5 Waltham) on Wednesday, handing the keys off to Greater Media, which promptly closed on its deal to swap WCRB”s intellectual property and the signal of WKLB (99.5 Lowell) to Nassau. The move of WCRB”s classical format to 99.5 (and WKLB”s country to 102.5) won”t take place until December 1.

Boston Radio Watch reports that four WCRB staffers won”t make the move: mid-day announcer Don Spencer, creative services director/announcer Rob Schuller, continuity manager/announcer Larry King and listener services director Roberta Siegel.

And following up on an item in last week”s NERW, just hours after the issue went to press, Clear Channel”s WHAM-TV (Channel 13) announced that it was indeed acquiring Rochester”s cable-only CW affiliate (the former “WRWB”) from Time Warner. By Monday night, the rebranded “CW-WHAM” was on the air as a subchannel of WHAM-DT (Channel 59), though it ended up being blacked out briefly on cable as the master control was transferred to WHAM. The new “CW-WHAM” is carrying the first hour of WHAM-TV”s morning news, from 5-6 AM, before the syndicated “Daily Buzz” morning show; WHAM-TV officials promise more local programming to come.

The big news from eastern PENNSYLVANIA was the debut of the reborn WJJZ (97.5 Burlington NJ) Friday evening at 6, following two days during which the former WTHK was simulcasting its new Greater Media sister station, classic rock WMGK (102.9 Philadelphia). The new WJJZ signed on with PD Michael Tozzi playing Grover Washington, Jr.”s “Keep the Dream Alive,” followed by several hours with Tozzi live at the board. He”ll take the 3-7 PM slot beginning this week, followed by Dave Koz”s syndicated show. No morning or evening show has been named yet. Music director Margo Marano will voicetrack overnights.

Ten Years Ago: November 19, 2001 –

After two years of building an 18-station group in the suburban areas north of New York City, Aurora Communications is cashing out. Cumulus Broadcasting announced today (Nov. 19) that it will pay $230 million in cash, stock and debt assumption to add the Aurora stations to its more than 200 outlets nationwide.

Here”s what Cumulus gets for its money:

• Westchester County cluster WFAS (1230 White Plains), WFAS-FM (103.9 White Plains) and WFAF (106.3 Mount Kisco), doing standards on the AM and AC on the simulcast FMs. (Aurora paid $20 million for these three in April 1999).
• A Hudson Valley cluster that includes sports-talk WEOK (1390 Poughkeepsie) and WALL (1340 Middletown), modern rock WRRV (92.7 Middletown) and WRRB (96.9 Arlington), oldies WCZX (97.7 Hyde Park) and WZAD (97.3 Wurtsboro), rock WPDH (101.5 Poughkeepsie) and WPDA (106.1 Jeffersonville) and full-service WKNY (1490 Kingston), acquired from the Dyson family”s Crystal group in May for $53 million.
• A cluster in the Danbury, Connecticut market that includes rocker WRKI (95.1 Brookfield), standards simulcast WINE (940 Brookfield) and WPUT (1510 Brewster NY) and oldies WAXB (105.5 Putnam NY), acquired in July 1999 for $11.5 million.
• AC WEBE (107.9 Westport) and full-service WICC (600 Bridgeport) in southern Connecticut, acquired in April 1999 for $66 million.

If we”ve done our math right, that makes for a tidy $79.5 million profit over two years or so, which is pretty good work for Aurora head Frank Osborn. No word yet, of course, on what changes Cumulus might have in store for these stations; until now, the only holdings Cumulus has had in NERW-land were its stations in Bangor, Maine (and the fringe of its Youngstown, Ohio cluster).

The other big news out of NEW YORK this week was the continuing management shakeout at Clear Channel. A reported two dozen staffers in Clear Channel”s New York City cluster lost their jobs this week, including WHTZ (100.3) operations manager Kid Kelly, one of Z100″s most prominent voices. Other shufflings at the cluster include the departures of WTJM (105.1) assistant PD Andy West and sales manager Robin Sloan. Market Manager Andy Rosen adds the GM title at WTJM to his duties, while Scott Elberg shifts to the GM role at WHTZ and WKTU (103.5).

Across town, former WOR Radio Network head Rich Wood has found a new position as senior VP at Talk America, which has just been sold to erstwhile long-distance carrier IDT. Wood will work out of Talk America”s new headquarters at IDT”s base in Newark, N.J.

Over in VERMONT, WBTN (1370 Bennington) is about to get its second owner in as many years. Robert Howe, who bought the station from Vermont Public Radio last year, will donate WBTN to Southern Vermont College in Bennington. WBTN has struggled since longtime owner Belva Keyworth sold it and sister WBTN-FM (94.3) to VPR in 1999. The public broadcaster was under political pressure to sell the AM side to maintain local commercial service to Bennington, but Howe was never able to make a success of the little station, which runs 1000 watts by day and just 87 watts at night. The college says WBTN will stay commercial, with students heavily involved in its operation. WBTN”s two remaining employees will stay with the station under college ownership, we hear.

Fifteen Years Ago: November 19, 1996 –

More than a year after his “MusicAmerica” show was pulled from the airwaves at Boston”s WGBH (89.7), Ron Della Chiesa is reviving the program, which presented the best of America”s popular standards for nearly two decades. In a cooperative arrangement with Kelley Communications, “Music America” will return to the air in January on smooth jazz outlet WPLM (1390/99.1) in Plymouth, MA. Kelley will lease time on Saturday nights for the broadcast, and WGBH has agreed to allow Della Chiesa to appear on another station (he still does weekday air work on “GBH). The disappearance of “MusicAmerica” prompted a storm of protest against WGBH, with several hundred members asking the station to refund their money, and many of them putting in the money into the “Save MusicAmerica Trust.” Reaction from the MusicAmerica partisans has been mixed thus far; they”re not pleased that the show will be heard only once a week, and there”s concern about WPLM”s weak signal north and west of Boston.

Buckley Broadcasting is adding a third Connecticut station to its portfolio, paying $425,000 for WSNG (610) in Torrington. Buckley already owns standards WDRC (1360) and oldies WDRC-FM (102.9) in Hartford, and nobody”s likely to be surprised if the currently dark 610 signal is used to simulcast one of those into northwestern Connecticut.

A silent station in southeastern Massachusetts has been sold. WCEG (1530) in Middleborough has been off the air for several years, and now Metro South Broadcasting (which also owns WMSX [1410] in Brockton) is selling WCEG to Steven J. Callahan.

Speaking of WVAY, thanks to NERW southern Vermont correspondent Doug Bassett for passing along a newspaper article discussing a feud between WVAY and Manchester VT rocker WEQX. The article was a bit fuzzy on the details, but it seems WVAY may have had an unlicensed translator at the Mount Equinox transmitter site of WEQX. This may explain the IDs NERW has heard from time to time on WVAY, referring to “100.7 and 100.1 FM,” although there”s never been a licensed WVAY translator on 100.1.