NERW 10/5/2015: After the Radio Show

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, fifteen and – where available – twenty 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 6, 2014

*Barring some very big surprises in the next three months, the CBS Radio-Beasley station swap announced on Thursday is going to go down as one of the biggest radio deals of 2014 anywhere in the country – and almost certainly in Philadelphia, where it will add country WXTU (92.5) and rhythmic top-40 WRDW-FM (96.5) to the CBS cluster that now includes sports WIP-FM (94.1), classic hits WOGL (98.1), all-news KYW (1060) and talk WPHT (1210).

In exchange for the two Philadelphia FMs and its Miami cluster of one AM and two FMs, Beasley will get CBS Radio’s Tampa and Charlotte clusters, plus WIP (610) to add to its existing Philadelphia AM cluster, religious WTMR (800 Camden NJ) and leased-time daytimer WWDB (860).

Combining the Beasley stations to create a four-FM/two-AM cluster means that CBS becomes the first broadcaster to max out its ownership across FM and TV in all three of the region’s top-10 markets: in Philadelphia, the expanded CBS Radio cluster combines with KYW-TV (CBS) and WPSG-TV (CW) to fill out the company’s portfolio, joining existing maxed-out clusters in New York City (three AMs, four FMs, two TVs) and Boston (one AM, four FM, two TV). Does this look like the behavior of a company that’s trying to exit radio, as certain rumor-mongers would have it? From here, it certainly doesn’t: assuming CBS makes good on its stated intent of divesting more of its medium-market signals to focus more heavily on top-25 radio/TV combos, there aren’t many other existing broadcast companies that would have either the financing or space within the market caps to buy the resulting CBS Radio clusters.

*The newest TV station in the New York City market is on the air, even as a battle continues to play out behind the scenes that will determine where it will eventually appear for cable and over-the-air viewers.

NERW readers have been following along for more than four years now as Bob McAllen’s PMCM, LLC has fought to move KVNV (Channel 3) from Ely, Nevada to Middletown Township, NEW JERSEY – and as of Thursday night (October 2) at 6 PM, that move is complete. After building out a new transmitter site atop 4 Times Square in Manhattan, the relocated KVNV signed on with MeTV programming and a new set of calls: WJLP, named for PMCM principal Jules L. Plangere, Jr.

For now, the new WJLP is still fighting to call itself “Channel 3.” While it signed on with “3.10” as its virtual channel, the FCC is still taking comments on a rulemaking proceeding that will determine what virtual channel it will be permanently authorized to use, and thus what channel it can assert on area cable systems through must-carry. PMCM is hoping to make the use of 3.10 (and eventually 3.11 and 3.12 as additional subchannels) a permanent compromise to satisfy Hartford’s WFSB, also on virtual channel 3. KVNV/WJLP has already agreed to let WFSB keep its channel 3 position on Cablevision’s Fairfield County systems in Connecticut, but it faces additional challenges in its bid to get on channel 3 elsewhere in the New York cable market: ion’s WPXN (Channel 31) has occupied channel 3 on many area systems for years, and it’s fighting to keep from being bumped from that prime slot between WNBC and WCBS.

*Kevin Metheny was one of radio’s more colorful personalities over a long career that took him from coast to coast – and yes, that included four years (1980-1984) as PD at New York’s WNBC (660), where he had the challenge of supervising Howard Stern, who went on to make Metheny famous as “Pig Virus,” which morphed into Paul Giamatti’s memorable portrayal of “Pig Vomit” in the movie “Private Parts.”

But Metheny was much more than just that caricature. A second-generation programmer, he was the son of Terrell Metheny, whose own career included time at the helm of New York’s WMCA in the late 1960s. Kevin Metheny started his own career in radio at the age of 16, and by the late 1970s he was consulting WIBG (990) in Philadelphia and then programming WXKX (KX 96) in Pittsburgh on the way to stops in Chicago and St. Louis before WNBC. After his time sparring with Stern and trying valiantly to keep WNBC relevant in the face of FM competitors), Metheny went on to work for WNBC colleague Bob Pittman at MTV and then to a long career that included executive roles with Jacor, a stint as PD of Chicago’s WGN while former Jacor head Randy Michaels was at the helm there, and most recently time with Cumulus at WJR in Detroit and KGO/KSFO in San Francisco.

Metheny was at work as operations director at KGO when he apparently suffered a heart attack on Friday. He was 60 years old.

*When the MAINE Association of Broadcasters held its convention just over a week ago, one of the most emotional moments was the Hall of Fame induction of veteran Portland sports anchor Bruce Glasier. With his health failing from lung cancer, Glasier wasn’t able to make it to the ceremony (his son Paul accepted on his behalf), but he was at least aware of his big honor in the days before his death late Wednesday at age 69.

Glasier joined NBC affiliate WCSH (Channel 6) back in 1977 and spent 35 years working there and for “News Center” sister station WLBZ (Channel 2) in Bangor before retiring in 2012. Along the way, he became the face of local sports in southern Maine, anchoring WCSH/WLBZ coverage of professional, college and especially high school sports for decades. Glasier also served as a mentor to a generation of broadcasters, and he’ll be deeply missed.

Five Years Ago: October 4, 2010

While one CONNECTICUT station – Disney’s WDZK (1550 Bloomfield) – was going silent last week, another appears to have lost its license, at least temporarily. If the FCC’s files are to be believed, Nievesquez Productions, Inc. never applied for a license renewal at WPRX (1120 Bristol) back in 2005, and that means that ever since its previous license expired on April 1, 2006, it’s apparently been operating without FCC authorization. In good FCC fashion, it took four and a half years for the Media Bureau to catch up to WPRX, which it finally did last Thursday, issuing a letter notifying WPRX that its license had been cancelled and its callsign deleted. But in good FCC fashion, this probably isn’t the end of WPRX: it’s likely to be allowed to filed a renewal application after the fact, which we’d expect to be granted after WPRX is fined for late application and unauthorized operation in the interim. (2011 update: it was.)

And it’s not just WPRX that’s caught in the FCC’s latest administrative housecleaning: last week, the FCC also cancelled the licenses of WQTQ (89.9 Hartford), the Hartford Public Schools station as well as WSBU (88.3) at St. Bonaventure University in western New York and WNMH (91.5) at Northfield Mount Hermon School in western Massachusetts. WQTQ has reportedly gone temporarily silent while it resolves its issue, while WSBU remains on the air. (As for WNMH, it’s likely dead for good; Northfield Mount Hermon no longer even owns the campus where it was licensed to transmit, and the station has been silent for well over a year.)

In a quiet week in PENNSYLVANIA, our biggest story comes from just outside Pittsburgh, WAVL (910 Apollo) has dropped its contemporary Christian format (“Praise 910”) in favor of a conservative talk lineup as “Liberty 910.” The new schedule there includes Bill Bennett’s “Morning in America,” Neal Boortz, Dave Ramsey, Clark Howard and John Batchelor.

Friday was launch day for the newest FM station in CANADA’s Maritimes. Evanov’s CKHY (105.1) launched, appropriately enough, at 1:05 PM on October 1, counting down the “top 105” modern rock songs selected by its listeners-to-be. “Live 105” also unveiled its jock lineup that starts today: Cub Carson (formerly of Virgin 106.9 in Ottawa) and Floyd (late of Saskatoon) kick it off at 5:30 with “The Morning Mob”; they’re followed by Christina (from Corner Brook, Newfoundland) in middays, Scotty Mars (who moves over from Q104 in Halifax) in afternoons and AJ (who’d been at Edge 102 in Toronto and more recently at Live’s sister station Z103 in Halifax) at night.

Ten Years Ago: October 3, 2005

At Entercom, two well-known talk hosts are out. First, WRKO (680 Boston) announced on Monday that morning co-host Peter Blute wasn’t renewing his contract, which was to expire today. Blute joined the station from the world of politics in 1999, working first with the late Andy Moes, then with John Osterlind before WRKO launched him on his current partnership with Scott Allen Miller in 2003. Miller will continue doing mornings solo for now; we wouldn’t be surprised to see Blute re-enter the political arena. (And we’re most curious to see what other moves WRKO’s new operations manager, Brian Whittemore, has up his sleeve.)

A few days later, down the hall at sports giant WEEI (850 Boston), came word that longtime night host Ted Sarandis was, er, “leaving to pursue other interests.” Sarandis joined WEEI in 1992, not long after the station’s shift to sports, and his “Ted Nation” show had been a 7-midnight fixture there even as much of the rest of WEEI’s schedule shifted. There’s no word yet on a permanent replacement, or on what Sarandis will do next. He’ll remain the voice of Boston College basketball, and it’s not hard to imagine that he’ll be talking to the new “ESPN Boston” (WAMG 890 Dedham/WLLH 1400 Lowell), too.

From CONNECTICUT comes word that a well-known morning voice has been silenced. Ron Rohmer came to the New Haven area from his native Canada to play hockey in the fifties, but moved into radio at WELI (960 New Haven) in 1961. He became the city’s most popular radio personality during his long run in morning drive there, but an ownership change in 1995 pushed him out of the slot. Rohmer sued Clear Channel for age discrimination, and the company soon brought him back at sister station WAVZ (1300), from which he retired in 1999. Rohmer died last Sunday (Sept. 25); he was 74.

Today’s launch day for PENNSYLVANIA’s newest sports station. WPEN (950 Philadelphia) said goodbye to its oldies format, with Jim Nettleton as the last live jock Friday night, and today it enters the battle against entrenched market leader WIP (610).

Fifteen Years Ago: October 2, 2000

TV viewers in CONNECTICUT will have to look a little harder for “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “WWF Smackdown” in a few months. As had been expected, the WB affiliation that’s been held by New Haven’s WBNE (Channel 59) since the weblet’s 1995 debut will move to WTXX (Channel 20 Waterbury) on January 1, 2001. With the coming of duopoly, WTXX ended up in the hands of Tribune, which is also part-owner of The WB and full owner of Hartford’s Fox affiliate, WTIC-TV (Channel 61). As for WBNE, it will get the UPN — now Paramount Network — affiliation that now belongs to WTXX, at least for however much longer the Paramount Network continues to exist. Expect a call change to get rid of the “WB” at WBNE, as well.

The morning radio dial in Portland, MAINE saw still more changes while we were away from NERW-land last week. You might need a scorecard to keep track, so here goes: Bob Anderson, who left WTHT (107.5 Lewiston) last month, has landed at oldies WYNZ (100.9 Westbrook), filling the shoes of Dean Rogers, who’s now crosstown at AC WHOM (94.9 Mount Washington NH). Meanwhile, Mac Dickson is out at WMWX (99.9 Auburn), headed for Augusta’s WMME (92.3) and afternoons. Now doing mornings at 99.9: Rick Taylor and Donna Steele. But wait…there’s more. It seems 99.9 has a new nickname to go with its morning team. Gone is “Mix,” which has become a Clear Channel servicemark. In its place, the station is back to the “Kiss” slogan it used for a decade or so back when it was WKZS — but with that call sign long since taken, we hear the new calls at the new old “Kiss 99.9” will be WMEK.

Just up the coast, Atlantic Coast’s WCLZ (95.5 Topsham) has finally put the AAA format that’s been wandering from station to station to rest. After migrating to 95.5 from what’s now WTPN (98.9 Brunswick), the format was replaced last week by a simulcast of sports “WJAB” (aka WJAE 1440 Westbrook and WJJB 900 Brunswick).

An upstate NEW YORK format change has been monopolizing the radio dial in the NERW-mobile all week. We knew WNUC (107.7 Wethersfield) was planning to switch from country to sports in early October — but we didn’t expect to hear sports talk already in full swing when we got behind the wheel Tuesday morning.

It seems new owner Adelphia decided to use the 10-11AM hour all week as a preview of what’s to come, with the rest of the day still occupied by satellite country. We also noticed that, for a few days at least, the already potent signal was broadcasting in mono only, making it even more listenable around the fringes in Rochester (and presumably in downtown Buffalo as well). The country vanished for good over the weekend (as did any sign of a legal ID — Sunday morning we heard only “Sports Radio 107.7 Wethersfield Buffalo”), and we’re told the full format arrives Monday morning (10/2). Tom Campbell moves over from WYRK (106.5) to do mornings, followed by Fox Sports in late morning, Art Wander from noon till 2, Mike Shopp (moving from Rochester’s WHTK) from 2-6, and Dave Miller from 6-11 on nights when the Sabres aren’t playing. Buffalo Blizzard soccer moves from 107.7 over to WWKB (1520), in the unlikely event anyone notices.

Twenty Years Ago: October 5, 1995

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