NERW 1/30/2012: ESPN 97.9 Comes to Hartford

In this week”s issue: Clear Channel launches FM sports in Hartford – WNED sets date for WBFO takeover – Is WKAJ gone before launching? – Tower down in upstate New York – iHeartRadio adds college signals – Humble & Fred get big podcast partner

by SCOTT FYBUSH

*It was just over a year ago when we learned that Clear Channel planned to move WPKX (97.9) from its Springfield cluster across the border to become part of its Hartford, CONNECTICUT group of stations – and as of last Friday morning at 6, the station”s move is complete.

WPKX made its technical move a little earlier in the week, turning off its Enfield-licensed transmitter at Provin Mountain in Massachusetts and beginning tests of its new Windsor Locks-licensed class A facility atop the One City Place skyscraper in downtown Hartford, using Clear Channel”s satellite country service to provide temporary programming.

But nobody seriously believed 97.9 would remain country after its move, since the Clear Channel Hartford cluster already includes dominant country station WWYZ (92.5 Waterbury); instead, the long-running speculation that WPKX would do sports proved to be reality. Just up the road from ESPN”s worldwide headquarters in Bristol, WPKX is now “97.9 ESPN,” duplicating the format Clear Channel already offered in the market on WPOP (1410 Hartford), albeit with an FM signal that reaches more of the market at night than the directional AM signal covers. (That includes ESPN”s own Bristol headquarters complex, where the “Worldwide Leader” had been operating an experimentally-licensed FM signal, WX4ESPN on 98.1, carrying ESPN Radio programming; that signal is now silent.)

[private]

For now, 97.9 is a fulltime ESPN Radio satellite feed, but Clear Channel plans to add a local afternoon show soon; it”s not clear whether the AM simulcast will remain, or whether there will be a new format on the way for 1410. (As of Friday afternoon, no callsign changes had been requested for 97.9 or 1410 – or for WRNX 100.9 Amherst, the Springfield-market Clear Channel signal that inherited the “Kix” country format formerly heard on 97.9.)

*Clear Channel has been aggressively growing its iHeartRadio streaming service, moving beyond its initial launch with the company”s own stations to add hundreds of signals owned by other broadcasters. In recent months, iHeart has signed up stations owned by Univision and Cumulus, and now it”s expanding its reach to college radio. The initial slate of college broadcasters added to the service last week includes NEW JERSEY“s WSOU (Seton Hall University), as well as WICB (Ithaca College) from upstate New York, WERS (Emerson College) from Boston and WFRD (Dartmouth University) from New Hampshire. Temple University”s webcast-only “WHIP” from Philadelphia is also one of the first dozen or so college stations to link up with the iHeartRadio platform.

There”s a new signal on the air in Ocean County, where WLNJ (91.7 Lakehurst) signed on last week. The new station is owned by the same folks who run WYRS (90.7 Manahawkin) and simulcasts that station”s religious format.

And WBGO (88.3 Newark) has turned on an HD2 subchannel from its new transmitter site at Four Times Square in Manhattan. Like WBGO”s main channel, the HD2 is jazz – but in this case, showcasing “emerging artists,” including student performers.

*The future of the newest AM station in upstate NEW YORK is up in the air after the FCC cancelled its construction permit. Cranesville Block Company”s WKAJ (1120 St. Johnsville) had until December 15, 2011 to complete construction and file for a license to cover, but that date came and went with no sign of anything on 1120 save for some publicity surrounding a morning show to be hosted by longtime Utica personality Hank Brown.

Last week, the FCC deleted the WKAJ calls, sending the 10,000-watt daytime/400-watt night facility into limbo, but don”t count the station out yet: it appears Cranesville actually built the WKAJ facility and had begun the lengthy process of proofing it when the construction permit ran out, and we hear the station”s Washington lawyers are working with the FCC to get WKAJ reinstated so the station can sign on legally.

Meanwhile in Glens Falls, there”s a big change coming to an AM tower. Later today, workers will begin dismantling the tower on Everts Avenue in Queensbury that”s been home to WMML (1230, ex-WBZA) for forty years and to sister station WENU (1410 South Glens Falls) for the last decade or so, when that signal moved north from its old site alongside I-87 south of town.

The Adirondack Broadcasting stations will be off the air temporarily while a replacement tower is erected, which could take up to two weeks, depending on the weather. In addition to carrying the two AM stations” signals, the new tower will also host Verizon Wireless antennas.

*With all the paperwork completed, there”s just one step remaining in SUNY Buffalo”s sale of public station WBFO (88.7 Buffalo, and satellites WOLN 91.3 Olean/WUBJ 88.1 Jamestown) to fellow public broadcaster WNED. That”s the actual closing of the $4 million transaction, followed by WNED”s takeover of WBFO”s operations, and it”s now slated to occur February 29th, with WNED operating WBFO as of March 1. WNED still hasn”t laid out exactly what programming changes are in store when it takes over, nor has it said which WBFO employees will make the move downtown. (For WBFO employees with many years of service under their belts, it will likely make more financial sense to stay with the university system in other capacities until retirement.)

In the short term, it appears WBFO will largely simulcast the news and talk programming now heard on WNED (970), but WNED officials have indicated their intention to explore a sale of the 5,000-watt directional AM signal down the road; in the meantime, fans of WBFO”s distinctive weekend blues programming are already wondering if the next few shows will be the last, at least in the current daytime slots.

WNED says the WBFO calls will remain in place on 88.7.

It took almost a dozen years, but the other station in Buffalo owned by another branch of the SUNY system is finally getting a power increase. WBNY (91.3), the student-run station at Buffalo State University is the only source for alternative rock in the Queen City, and it has struggled ever since its 1982 debut to be heard with just 100 watts/112″ from the top of one of the buildings on Buff State”s Elmwood Avenue campus. In 1998, WBNY applied to boost power to 1150 watts/115″ DA, but it appears the application languished in Canadian-approval limbo for years before finally being approved. WBNY”s new directional antenna will retain the current 100-watt signal to the west, over Canadian soil, but it will considerably improve the station”s penetration in Buffalo”s eastern suburbs, including Amherst and Cheektowaga.

One more note from Buffalo: Bill O”Laughlin has departed his noontime “2 Sides” hosting job at WGRZ (Channel 2), which runs the local talk show in lieu of a noon newscast. O”Laughlin, whose most recent radio gig was at WECK (1230), says it was his decision to move on from WGRZ; he”ll be replaced starting today by former WKBW-TV/WGRZ reporter Stefan Michajliw.

*In Ithaca, morning co-host Dave Vieser has departed WHCU (870). He”d been with the Saga news-talker since 2006, and CNYRadio.com reports this was Vieser”s decision, not the station”s. Meanwhile in Syracuse, it didn”t take Dave Frisina long to find a new home after being ousted from classic rocker WTKW. He”s now across town at Cumulus” new rocker, WXTL (105.9 the Rebel), where CNYRadio.com reports he”ll start sometime in February.

Here in Rochester, Joe Fleming is out as chief engineer of Rochester”s Entercom cluster after a 12-year run with the stations that included the big studio move from Midtown Plaza to High Falls almost a decade ago, followed by the incorporation of several former CBS Radio stations into the group a few years later.

In Oneonta, SUNY Oneonta is buying translator W217BY (91.3) from Digital Radio Broadcasting for $12,500. The translator is relaying WUOW-LP (104.7), the low-power public radio station operated by the college, but that LPFM signal will be going away, leaving the 91.3 facility as WUOW”s primary home for Oneonta-area listeners. But wait – what will W217BY be translating? That would be a new full-power license up the road in Milford on 88.5, which will serve the Cooperstown area and will presumably take the WUOW callsign when the LPFM is surrendered. (Licensees can”t operate both an LPFM and a full-power license, with the exception of universities that have both a professionally-run station and a student outlet. At SUNY Oneonta, that student station is WONY on 90.9.)

Way, way up north, a little college station in the Adirondacks appears to be defunct. WPSA (98.3 Paul Smiths) is – or at least was – the 10-watt voice of little Paul Smith”s College, tucked away in the mountains north of Saranac Lake. But in a December letter to the FCC, the college notified the commission that it wanted to “cancel our license and give up our call numbers (sic) effective immediately,” and now WPSA has been deleted from the FCC”s books.

*Radio People on the Move in the Hudson Valley: Mike Adams, late of WFLY (as “Adam Kelly”), is the new 2-7 PM host at Townsquare”s “Crush” (WQSH 105.7 Malta/Albany). And with Andrew Boris” departure from mornings at WRRV (92.7 Middletown)/WRRB (96.9 Arlington), there”s a new lineup for “Music All Morning” at the modern rock station: Boris” co-host Brandi remains, now joined by “Deuce,” who”d been the morning show producer at Cumulus sister station WPDH.

A veteran Albany talker is branching out into TV. WGDJ (1300)”s Paul Vandenburgh is launching a daily talk show on MyNetwork TV affiliate WNYA (Channel 51, “My 4” on cable). The show will run from 4-5 PM on weekdays. Down the road in Utica, CNYTVNews.com reports Tom Coyne is out after 17 years as program director at NBC affiliate WKTV (Channel 2), where he also voiced many of the station”s spots and occasionally filled in on sports; he”d been sports director at WUTR (Channel 20) before joining WKTV.

We”re sorry to report the death of Steve Fitz, a fixture on Albany-area radio and TV for many decades. Fitz started in radio at Schenectady”s WSNY (1240, now WVKZ) in 1948 and is credited with launching the market”s first talk show, “Party Line,” on WSNY in 1952. In the 1960s, Fitz moved on to WGY (810) and WQBK (1300, now WGDJ) and WMHT-TV (Channel 17), along with some public relations work. In recent years, he”d been a regular guest on Bob Cudmore”s talk show at WVTL (1570) in Amsterdam. Fitz died January 22 at age 84.

And we”re sorry to report the death of James Delmonico, whose career at General Electric started in manufacturing but ended as general manager of its Schenectady broadcast stations, WGY, WGFM and WRGB. Delmonico led those stations from 1974 until his retirement in 1987, and by then he”d served as a director and chairman of the New York State Broadcasters Association. But he”s perhaps best remembered for his years as national president of the Broadcasters Pioneers (now the Broadcasters Foundation of America), where he”s credited with helping the organization climb out of a deficit into financial stability. Delmonico, who was inducted into the New York State Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 2005, died January 21 at age 91 in Syracuse, where his son Joel is Clear Channel”s market manager.

*In PENNSYLVANIA“s Lehigh Valley, it didn”t take long to fill the PD vacancy at Clear Channel top-40 WAEB-FM (104.1 Allentown): Jeff Hurley starts today in that post, moving over from sister station WLAN-FM (96.9 Lancaster) after six years there, most recently as PD/OM. Replacing Hurley at WLAN-FM is Holly Love, who” s been promotions director at Clear Channel Harrisburg and middays at WRBT (94.9) there; earlier, she”d been APD, music director and morning co-host at WLAN. And there are more changes happening at WLAN-FM: morning co-host Liz Bell was gone from the station at week”s end, leaving the station without a morning show for now.

Radio People on the Move in Philadelphia: Rob Tingle is now part of the Chio & Shila morning show at Beasley”s WRDW-FM (Wild 96.5), returning to the air after losing his job when his former station, WKQX (101.1 Chicago), was bought by Merlin and flipped to all-news last year. Over at Clear Channel, Kade is now voicetracking nights on WRFF (104.5), but he remains based across the country at sister station KYSR (98.7 Los Angeles). Down the hall at WISX (Mix 106.1), it”s more out-of-market voicetracking: Wendy Wild will be tracking middays in Philadelphia from her home base at New York”s WKTU (103.5). And a “Where are they now?” installment: veteran Philly talent Paul Barsky has landed in south Florida, where he”s now doing afternoons at talker WFTL (850 West Palm Beach). Barsky”s last radio gig had been at CBS Radio sports talker KRLD-FM (105.3 the Fan) in Dallas, back in 2010.

Backyard Broadcasting is getting ready to add an FM translator to its WWPA (1340 Williamsport): it”s filed to buy W203BF from Florida”s Pensacola Christian College for $25,000, and it already has a CP to move the translator from 88.5 into the commercial part of the band, where it will operate on 101.3, having been displaced by full-power WXPI on 88.5.

And in the Pittsburgh suburbs, there”s a new middayer at Keymarket”s “Froggy” country stations (WOGI 104.3/WOGG 94.9/WOGH 103.5): Heather Storm moves east from Wisconsin”s WKSZ to become “Heather Green” at Froggy, where she”ll take over the airshift now occupied by PD Dave Anthony. Meanwhile at WKFB (770 Jeannette), mainstay Frankie Day is giving up most of his oldies airtime at the end of January, though he”ll remain in place on the station”s “Morning Memory” show.

*A MASSACHUSETTS translator is nearing its final destination: what started as W291CC (106.1) in Sanford, Maine has been migrating down the coast, moving up the dial to 106.3 as W292DY. Now it”s filed for a license to cover back on 106.1, operating with a whopping three directional watts from a site in Amesbury. The translator is owned by Port Broadcasting, which apparently plans to pair it with WNBP (1450) in Newburyport.

Just up the dial, a deal between Multicultural Broadcasting and the latest incarnation of the venerable Music of Your Life format is landing standards music in the evening, overnight and weekend hours on WAZN (1470 Watertown) beginning Wednesday. The format will also be heard on MRBI stations in other large markets, though apparently not in New York City just yet.

DirecTV customers in and around Boston can breathe a little easier: with the Super Bowl now less than a week away and the Patriots poised for their fourth ring (impartial about Boston sports? us? never!), it was almost inevitable that a combination of customer and political pressure would force an agreement to return NBC affiliate WHDH-TV (Channel 7) and its CW sister station WLVI (Channel 56) to DirecTV…and so it did. (Some DirecTV customers in areas beyond the reach of WHDH”s broadcast signal, primarily up in New Hampshire, were getting New York”s WNBC fed to them by DirecTV in the interim.)

The actual NBC game broadcast next Sunday is just part of an on-air barrage of coverage in and beyond both the Pats” and Giants” home markets, of course. On radio, both contenders in Boston”s big sports rivalry will be carrying the play-by-play of the game – flagship WBZ-FM (98.5 the Sports Hub) will have the local call with veterans Gil Santos and Gino Cappelletti, while WEEI (850/93.7) will have the national call from Dial Global, formerly Westwood One. Local reporters are headed to Indianapolis from all over the region, too, and we were particularly tickled by the promos our local WROC-TV (Channel 8) in Rochester is running for its coverage. WROC is sharing sports director John Kucko with sister Nexstar stations all over the country, including WFXV/WUTR in Utica and WBRE/WYOU in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, and it”s promoting Kucko”s big gig (“only one Rochester sports reporter has what it takes…”) with a clever spot showing all its sister stations” logos and Kucko holding a mic festooned with multiple flags.

Where Are They Now? Boston TV viewers from the 1990s fondly remember Meg Lavigne”s days as WSBK (Channel 38) program director, in part because of her on-air duties as host of “Ask the Manager.” Lavigne moved on to Viacom/Paramount/CBS sister stations WGNT in Norfolk, Virginia and WUPA in Atlanta before joining syndicator Litton Entertainment, best known for programming ABC”s Saturday morning block. Last week, Litton named Lavigne its president for television.

And we note the passing of “Rocko,” who was the night guy on WAAF (107.3 Worcester) from 1995 until 1998, when he took over afternoon drive following Opie & Anthony”s “Mayor Menino is dead” stunt-gone-wrong. Rocko, whose real name was Frank Pallaria Jr., stayed at WAAF until 2002. He died January 19 in Sarasota, Florida, at just 46 years old.

*A VERMONT morning host is leaving: John Nolan has been just “Nolan” on the “Live with Nolan and Tara” morning show at WEZF (Star 92.9) in Burlington – and now he”s headed to the west coast for what the station describes as “an incredible opportunity to BLESS a brand new community.” Nolan”s last day on the air at WEZF was Saturday.

*In CANADA, the CRTC has given Bell”s “CTV Two” outlet in the Toronto market permission to build two over-the-air digital signals in the Hamilton/Niagara region. CKVR (Channel 3) is licensed to Barrie, north of Toronto, and rival broadcasters fought its proposal to add digital transmitters on channel 35 in Hamilton and channel 42 in Fonthill. Why bother? Because the Canadian “sim-sub” policy currently doesn”t allow CKVR to force cable systems in Hamilton and points east to replace US signals carrying the same programming with CKVR”s feed – and its regional advertising, but the presence of an over-the-air CKVR signal would allow CTV Two to force “sim-sub” in Hamilton and Niagara, and to reap the benefit of being able to sell advertising across the entire Toronto extended market.

The application drew stiff opposition from rival broadcasters, especially Hamilton”s own CHCH (Channel 11), which complained that it would suffer economic harm from the addition of new CKVR transmitters on its home turf. In a divided decision, the CRTC ruled that because CKVR won”t be able to solicit local advertising in the area, CHCH shouldn”t be affected. But commissioners Rita Cugini and Peter Menzies offered up a sharply-worded dissent, saying Bell is doing an end run around the CRTC”s rule that”s supposed to prohibit TV duopolies, especially since the new transmitters will bring no benefit to what”s supposed to be CKVR”s local audience up in Barrie, where Menzies and Cugini say Bell has cut back on local news staffing and production.

Radio People on the Move: Milkman UnLimited reports Cub Carson is coming home to Ottawa after doing mornings at CKHY (105.1 Halifax); he”s leaving “Live 105” to become morning host at CKKL (93.9 BOB FM), where he starts February 13. In Peterborough, Pete Dalliday moves from evenings to afternoons at CKWF (The Wolf 101.5), replacing Brian Ellis.

And here”s an item that should raise some fresh questions about just how close streaming is coming to supplanting broadcast radio as the most important platform for talent: the longtime Toronto morning team of Humble and Fred has signed a deal with Rogers Radio – but not to air on any of Rogers” terrestrial stations. Instead, Rogers is promoting HumbleandFredRadio.com on 19 of its radio station websites all over Canada. “It”s like having another Rogers radio station that lives solely in the digital space,” said Rogers Radio programming VP Julie Adam in the release announcing the deal.

[/private]