Buckley was a second-generation broadcaster, son of former WNEW (1130 New York) executive Richard D. Buckley, Sr., who partnered with WNEW colleague John B. Jaeger in 1957 to form Buckley-Jaeger Broadcasting.
*One of the worst-kept secrets in Buffalo radio in recent years has been the plan to sell public broadcaster WBFO (88.7) to its longtime crosstown competitor, WNED. Even before both stations acknowledged way back in February 2010 that they were talking about joining forces, there was little question that the State University of New York was looking to unload its Buffalo radio operation.
NorthEast Radio Watch 11/18/2024: Sims Gets Yankees Callup
In this week’s issue… Yankees hire Dave Sims - Wallace, Maxwell move in NYC - Gray cuts news in Maine - Remembering CT's Pinto By SCOTT FYBUSH Jump to: ME - NH - VT - MA - RI - CT...
NERW 8/1/2016: Translator Apps Flood In
In this week’s issue… New translator window opens – WHDH/WLVI battles DirecTV, Dish (and NBC) – Dark days for AM in Canada – Maine’s “Z” gets big
By SCOTT FYBUSH
Jump to: ME – NH – VT – MA – RI – CT – NY – NJ – PA – Canada
*It’s a busy start to August all over the dial and all over the region, from a satellite carriage dispute in New England to the demise of several AM signals in Canada to all the new translators that will soon be popping up across the country.
Your editorial staff of one worked through the night – literally! – to dig through 244 translator applications filed on day one of the new window for class A and B AMs that opened Friday.
As a reminder that we depend on your subscriptions to have the resources to do all that reporting, all that data is in our subscriber-only section this week…so read on, or subscribe if you haven’t already. There’s much more to the column than just the free taste we offer of our lead story each week!
(And by the way – we’re also getting Tower Site Calendar 2017 ready for you, but there’s still room for advertising support. Interested in finding a spot on the best walls in the radio landscape? Contact Lisa right away!)
*If you’re in eastern MASSACHUSETTS or NEW HAMPSHIRE and you use a satellite dish to get your Boston TV signals, you’re not watching Sunbeam’s WHDH-TV (Channel 7) or WLVI (Channel 56) this week.
The NBC and CW stations disappeared from Dish Network several weeks ago, and now they’ve been pulled from DirecTV as well in what’s shaping up to be a somewhat unusual variation on the typical retransmission-consent dispute. Normally, of course, station owners play up the value of the network content they carry, especially on a week like this when NBC is getting ready to kick off its Summer Olympics coverage from Rio.
This time, though, the satellite companies know that whatever deal they make based on NBC’s value to their customers will vanish in just a few months when Comcast pulls the NBC affiliation away from Sunbeam and WHDH. Sunbeam owner Ed Ansin knows that if he tries to drive satellite customers over to cable to see his stations, they’ll just be enriching the pockets of his arch-enemy Comcast. And while he won’t come out and say it, Ansin probably sees a long-term value to the dispute, if it gives him financial damages that he can show against Comcast for pulling the NBC affiliation. (Not to mention giving NBC lower national ratings for a do-or-die Olympics broadcast if big chunks of market #10 can’t see the broadcast!)
And in the meantime, there’s more drama playing out across town over at WFXT (Channel 25), Cox Media’s Fox affiliate in Dedham. The huge studio/newsroom complex there has been off viewers’ screens for the last few days while newscasts originate from the old studio down the hall. Behind the scenes, the newsroom is being renovated, we hear, into a more traditional studio setup that won’t take full advantage of the enormous two-story space. Over in the corner, news director Lee Rosenthal has exited, less than two years after Cox moved him across the country in its Fox swap with KTVU (Channel 2) in Oakland.
Cox management has gone so far as to send a memo to WFXT employees saying there’s no truth to rumors than NBC is looking to acquire channel 25 – but there’s clearly something happening at a station that’s been dealing with declining ratings and in-house instability lately, and we note, as always, that Comcast/NBC has still yet to say definitively where “NBC Boston” will be landing on TV dials January 1.
THE 2025 TOWER SITE CALENDAR IS COMING VERY SOON!
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It’s been a complicated few years here, and as we finish up production of the new edition (including a cover reveal, coming later this week!), we’re considering the future of this staple of radio walls everywhere as we evaluate our workload going forward.
The proceeds from the calendar help sustain the reporting that we do on the broadcast industry here at Fybush Media, so your purchases matter a lot to us here – and if that matters to you, now’s the time to show that support with an order of the new Tower Site Calendar. (And we have the new Broadcast Historian’s Calendar for 2025 ready to ship, too. Why not order both?)
Visit the Fybush Media Store and place your order now for the next calendar, get a great discount on previous calendars, and check out our selection of books and videos, too!
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*The most aggressive translator application of the class B window? That goes to Salem’s WNYM (970 Hackensack NJ), which hopes to put a new FM signal over at least part of NEW YORK City with the $75,000 purchase of W283BR (104.5 Dansville NY) from Family Life Ministries.
WNYM applied to move that translator to 102.3, with 250 watts aimed eastward from an antenna to be mounted on the tower of its talk competitor, WABC (770), in Lodi.
*The waning days of the class C/D translator window and the beginning of the class A/B window produced plenty of filing action upstate, too:
In Syracuse, iHeart applies to move W229CK (93.7 Williamsport PA) to 101.7 as a relay of WHEN (620), giving the “Power” urban format a home on FM again, albeit one closely spaced to K-Love’s WGKV (101.7 Pulaski).
Craig Fox’s CRAM Communications is paying St. Lawrence University $75,000 for W206BH (99.9) in Lyons Falls, which will move to Fulton to rebroadcast WOSW (1300). Fox applies to move the translator to 98.5, where it will run 250 watts.
In Cananadaigua, Finger Lakes Radio Group is applying to relocate W260BE (99.9 Watertown) to 100.1, where it will be a 45-watt relay of WCGR (1550). The new translator (which FLRG gets as a trade from Oswego’s WRVO in exchange for tower space for a WRVO translator) will be the second WCGR relay at the same site; it will aim west-northwest while the existing WCGR translator at 104.5 aims east.
And that’s not all FLRG was doing this week: it’s also buying WCGR’s simulcast sister WFLK (101.7 Geneva) for $400,000. The purchase ends an LMA that’s been going on for six years now, ever since then-FLRG owner George Kimble took over the country station from his brother Russ Kimble’s RSK Communications.
In Rochester, WXXI Public Broadcasting is paying WRVO $50,000 for W266CL (101.1 Marathon), which it’s filing to move to 107.5 on the east side of Rochester to fill in nighttime signal holes at WXXI (1370 Rochester). (Fybush Media brokered the sale for WRVO; your editor is also a part-time news employee of WXXI.) Meanwhile, iHeart is applying to move W246CU (97.1 Newberry PA) to Rochester, where it would run 225 watts from Pinnacle Hill on 100.1 as a rebroadcaster of WHTK (1280).
In Elmira, Community Broadcasters’ WWLZ (820) applies to move W282AH from Alexandria Bay to Horseheads, where it would shift to 101.3, while Tower Broadcasting wants to put WELM (1410) on 106.5, moving W229AS (93.7) in from Corning, where it now relays sister station WLVY (94.3). Tower is also applying to move WLVY translator W229AR (93.7) from Waverly to Bath, where it would shift to 100.3 and relay WABH (1380).
*Up in Plattsburgh, Aaron and Jessica Ishmael’s A&J Radio LLC is paying Steve Silberberg $140,000 for WTWK (1070) and translator W242BS (96.3). The translator applies to boost power to 220 watts and move to 103.7.
On Long Island, Ted Schober applies to move his W238CL (95.5) from Manahawkin, NJ to Medford, where it will go to 250 watts on 106.9 as a relay of WNYG (1440 Medford).
*In PENNSYLVANIA, there could be several new AM-on-FM translators coming to Philadelphia. iHeart Media is applying to move W257DR (99.3 Harrisonburg VA) to 102.5 as a relay of its WDAS (1480), transmitting from a site on the western edge of Center City.
WURD (900) is paying $75,000 to buy W222AT (92.3 Hamilton NY) from SUNY Oswego’s WRVO. The translator has already applied for a move to Philadelphia, where it will have a 99-watt directional signal on 96.1 (Both the translator sale and the facility move were, we’re proud to say, handled by Fybush Media.)
North of Philly, WNPV (1440 Lansdale) is paying WYRS, Inc. just a dollar for W300CW (107.9 Toms River NJ), which it’s applying to move to Lansdale on 98.5.
Temple University is selling two of its WRTI (90.1 Philadelphia) translators: W221DG (92.1 Exton) goes to chief engineer Jeff DePolo’s Broadcast Sciences LLC for $10,000, while W255CS (98.9 Scotland) goes to Wilkins (Steel City Radio)’s WYYC (1250 York) for $15,000. WYYC has already applied to move the translator to 98.1, where it will run 250 watts from the AM station’s tower. Wilkins also applies for 94.7 in Pittston, where its W288CL (105.5 Moosic) will relocate as a translator for WITK (1550).
In Harrisburg, Ted Schober files to move W281BN from Hammonton NJ to 104.5, where it will relay his as-yet-unbuilt AM 850 in nearby Enola.
Forever wants to move W208BU (100.1 Berwick) to Hanover, where it will go to 95.3 as a relay of newly-purchased WHVR (1280).
Out west, the class B window brings an application from Frank Iorio’s Media Partners to move his own W244CU (96.7 Warren) to Pittsburgh on 103.9, to relay WJAS (1320). That application competes with another 103.9 application from Salem’s WPGP (1250), which would move W279BK (103.7) across the state from Carbondale. Meanwhile, Edgewater Broadcasting applies to move W283BU (104.5 DuBois) to 102.1 in Pittsburgh, as a relay of WKHB (620 Irwin).
In Homer City, Renda applies to move W236BN to 101.1 as a relay of WCCS (1160). And in Uniontown, WMBS (590) is buying unbuilt W277CN (103.3 Canandaigua NY) and applying to move it to 101.1.
Colonial is selling W283BZ (104.5 Altoona) to Magnum, which will move it to Bellefonte to relay WBLF (970). Magnum is paying $55,000 for the translator, and it’s already applied to move it to 106.3.
*In NEW JERSEY, Ted Schober and Spread the Gospel, Inc. have closed on their translator swap. Spread the Gospel gets W262CF (100.3 Pleasantville), while Schober gets W260BW (99.9 Egg Harbor), which immediately goes to Quinn Communications for forgiveness of debt. Quinn has already moved the translator to Bridgeton, still on 99.9, as a relay of its WSNJ (1240).
*On the translator front back in MASSACHUSETTS, Radio One is doing a quick turnaround on the signal it’s moving into Boston. W231BI (94.1 Utica NY) will go to 106.1 in Boston, where Radio One had paid EMF $40,000 to use it as a relay for WILD (1090). But now Beasley is paying Radio One ten times as much – $400,000 – to instead use the translator to relay its own WRCA (1330 Watertown). Will WRCA stay with its leased-time ethnic format, or will Beasley use the powerful translator to add a new FM format to the cluster it’s acquiring from Greater Media?
Gois Communications is applying to move W244BG (96.7 Lanesborough) to 94.9 at a site south of Framingham, where it will relay WAMG (890 Dedham). In Worcester, Gois is applying for 97.3 for W230AO, relaying WORC (1310) on a channel just opened by a UMass translator move.
Nearby in Concord, Barry Armstrong’s Money Matters group is acquiring W249CV (97.7 Saranac Lake NY) from Northeast Gospel Network, with an application to move it to 97.3 as a translator of WBNW (1120 Concord). The 40-watt translator will use the tall tower at 350 Cedar St. in Needham.
Another Northeast Gospel Network translator, W247CB (97.3 Pittsfield), is headed to Ed Perry’s WATD (1460 Brockton), where it’s applying to go to 101.1 with 220 watts.
In Methuen, Costa-Eagle is applying to move W237BF (which it’s buying from Vermont Public Radio) to 105.3 as a relay of WMVX (1570).
And in Fitchburg, Horizon Christian Fellowship applies to move its W258BH (99.5 Sandwich) to 106.1, relaying WFGL (960).
*In western MAINE, Dick Gleason is making some big changes today at his station group. Here’s how it all goes down: the successful new “Z105.5” format that’s been running on WEZR (1240 Lewiston) and its 105.5 translator is getting a new simulcast on WOXO (92.7 Norway), which becomes “Maine’s Big Z 92.7 & 105.5” as it changes calls to WEZR-FM. WOXO’s country format stays on simulcast WTBM (100.7 Mexico, which takes the WOXO calls), and it also relocates to WKTQ (1450 South Paris), which adds new translator W245CQ (96.9 South Paris). The new branding there will be “96.9/100.7 the Ox.”
In Portland, Saga applies for 101.5 as a WZAN (970) translator, moving W293BL from Saranac Lake NY.
*In NEW HAMPSHIRE, Absolute Broadcasting is trying again to put translators on its WGHM (900 Nashua) and WGAM (1250 Manchester) after the FCC stalled its earlier deals to buy signals from Brian Dodge’s Harvest group. Absolute is now paying Northeast Gospel Broadcasting $150,000 for W253AF (98.5 Bennington VT) and W242AL (96.3 Buskirk NY); W253AF has applied to go to 25 watts on 93.3 in Nashua, while W242AL would go to Manchester on 103.5 with 250 watts.
On the Seacoast, Binnie Media applies to move W269BA to 98.1 as a Dover translator for WTSN (1270).
Meanwhile, Costa-Eagle is hard at work fixing the damage at the transmitter site of WCCM (1110 Salem) after a fire there over the weekend melted some of the transmission line at the four-tower array, leaving the AM signal off the air.
*In VERMONT, Pamal applies to move W250BV (97.9 Pittsfield MA) to Rutland, relaying WSYB (1380) on 100.1 with 250 watts.
*In RHODE ISLAND, Blount applies (again, with Fybush Media assistance) to move newly-purchased W267AT (101.3 Shelburne NY) to Providence, on 92.7 as a relay of WARV (1590 Warwick).
*In western CONNECTICUT, Berkshire Broadcasting wants to add yet another translator to its Danbury cluster. Irv Goldstein filed to move W290CK (105.9 Milford PA) to Danbury, where it will go to 99 watts on 106.5 as an FM relay for news-talk WLAD (800 Danbury). The move would give Berkshire five spots on the Danbury FM dial: flagship WDAQ (98.3), two translators fed from WDAQ HD subchannels, one from WAXB (850 Ridgefield) and now WLAD’s FM relay. (But will it need to be refiled after going in a day before the window opened for class B signals such as WLAD?)
*Vermont Public Radio sells another translator (with the assistance of Fybush Media): W267BT (101.3 Woodstock) goes to Bill Blount for $85,000, with an application filed to move the CP to the Hartford market on 100.9 as a relay of WSDK (1550 Bloomfield). iHeart Media also applied for 100.9 in Hartford, using what’s now W225DR (92.9 Wilmington DE) to relay WPOP (1410).
In New Britain, Gois wants to move W271BQ (102.1 Coxsackie NY) to become a WLAT (910) relay, using 27 watts on 101.7.
*In a busy news week in CANADA, the struggles of AM radio were front and center in two markets.
In Montreal, Steve Faguy reports TTP Media has abandoned plans to build a new French-language sports station on 850 (the old CKVL frequency), and it’s looking increasingly unlikely that TTP’s earlier plans to do news-talk in English on 600 and in French on 940 will ever come to fruition.
Faguy says TTP didn’t bother applying for a second extension in June on its 850 permit. When questioned about the decision, TTP partner Paul Tietolman directed inquiries to president/managing partner Rajiv Pancholy – and Faguy notes that Pancholy and the third partner, Nicolas Tétrault, haven’t been answering any questions about the project. (We’ve heard that Pancholy may not even be in Montreal these days.)
Tietolman did tell Faguy he’s confident that the 600/940 project will still make it to air, but time is running out. The authorizations for those stations expire in November after two extensions, without any studio location having been secured, any staff having been hired, or even a sale having closed for the proposed transmitter location in Kahnawake. That site is still owned by Cogeco, which acquired it from Corus, which used the site for the now-defunct CINF (690) and CINW (940).
TTP could apply for a third extension, and the CRTC would probably grant the move, but will a partnership that appears to have disintegrated still have the resources to pursue an expensive project like this in an era when AM continues to decline north of the border?
*For added emphasis on that point, consider Bell Media in London, Ontario, which has been granted CRTC permission to shut down CKSL (1410), the market’s lowest-ranked station. All-comedy “Funny 1410” has been operating essentially on autopilot for the last four years, a mode that appears to have extended to transmitter site maintenance.
In its application to revoke the CKSL license, Bell says the station’s five-tower array needs significant structural and lighting work, along with new foundations for the transmitter building and several of the doghouses at the tower bases. Is that really a “$3 million” project, as Bell states? Maybe not – but it is, in any event, more than Bell thinks is worth expending on a dying station.
At last check, CKSL was still on the air; it’s not clear exactly when the license might be turned in for good. (The station, which started at 1290 on the dial, marked its 60th anniversary on June 24.)
And one more “death of AM” story: after signing on the new CJVA-FM at 94.1 in June, CJVA (810) in Caraquet, NB will turn off its AM signal today. The 10 kW AM signal had been on the air since 1977; its demise leaves just four remaining full-power AMs in the province.
*On the FM side of things, Bell launched two new “Virgin Radio” brands on Friday at noon. In Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario, hot AC CFCA (105.3) dropped its “Kool” branding on Tuesday to go to Christmas music as a stunt before going top-40 as Virgin. Former morning host Angie Hill moves to sister station CKKW (“99.5 KFUN”), leaving 105.3 jockless for now.
In Halifax, it was already CHR on CJCH (“101.3 the Bounce”), where the airstaff and music stay in place with the new branding.
And one more format flip ahead of the civic holiday weekend north of the border: Corus pulled the plug on top-40 “B101” at CIQB (101.1), also at noon on Friday, replacing it with classic rock as “Big 101.” A new on-air lineup for the station will be announced Tuesday.
*In Toronto, Durham Radio wants more power for its on-channel booster, CJKX-FM-2 (95.9). The signal from downtown Toronto extends the reach of Durham’s CJKX (95.9 Ajax), out east of the city; now Durham wants to boost the Toronto signal to 1000 watts to better serve more than 700,000 people on the west side of Toronto and Mississauga with the country sounds of “KX96.”
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From the NERW ArchivesYup, 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: August 3, 2015 *There’s a format change coming in NEW HAMPSHIRE: at RadioInsight, their new exclusive “Domain Insight” feature picked up on a registration last week that points the way for Tri-Valley Broadcasting’s WYRY (104.9 Hinsdale) to shift from “New Country 104.9” to “NASH Icon,” picking up Cumulus’ syndicated country format. *We now know where Amber (Huyghe) Stone is headed for her next act after departing VERMONT and WZRT (97.1 Rutland): she’ll be the new midday host at Adams Radio Group’s WJFX (Hot 107.9) in Fort Wayne, Indiana…which means we’ll probably be hearing her in just a few weeks when we’re next out that way to visit the family. *Is there much more to be said about CBS Radio’s budget cuts? In PENNSYLVANIA there sure is: despite sitting at the top of the ratings, WOGL (98.1) cut station manager Jim Loftus, night jock Bob Charger and, perhaps most dramatically, morning man Ross Brittain last week. The Philadelphia Business Journal reports Loftus was offered transfers to either Pittsburgh or Seattle but chose to take early retirement instead. Brittain, who’d been on the morning shift at WOGL since 2004, at least got a farewell show on Friday before his departure; up the road at WCBS-FM in New York, Brittain’s old Z100 morning partner Scott Shannon got a “multi-year” contract extension from the company. *It’s the radio equivalent of the “Popemobile”: CBS Radio in Philadelphia has launched the “Popecast,” a 24/7 HD subchannel devoted to all things Pope Francis in advance of the pontiff’s visit to Philadelphia next month. Produced by KYW (1060)’s news staff, the channel will air on WZMP (96.5)’s HD3 through the papal visit on September 27th. *”Jolly Joe” Timmer was a polka legend in the Lehigh Valley, producing live shows and hosting a local cable access show long before he became a radio owner there in 1992. The former owner of WGPA (1100 Bethlehem) died Monday in a nursing home in Nazareth, just a few months after his trustees filed to sell his radio station after Timmer was stricken with dementia. The $95,000 sale of WGPA to CC Broadcasting LLC hasn’t closed yet. Timmer was 85. Five Years Ago: August 1, 2011 *The ranks of major-market independent broadcast owners are a little smaller this week. Rick Buckley, longtime CEO of Buckley Broadcasting, died of a brain embolism Sunday morning, a few hours after taking ill at his Hamptons beach home Saturday afternoon.
The elder Buckley started his company with the purchase of WHIM in Providence, but soon added a second signal, WDRC (1360 Hartford) – and it was that station that became the core of the Buckley broadcast holdings, which grew to include stations in San Francisco, Seattle, the Los Angeles suburbs and Minneapolis. Buckley-Jaeger Broadcasting became simply Buckley Broadcasting in 1968, when Jaeger sold his interest in the company, and with the death of Richard Buckley Sr. in 1972, the company ended up in the hands of Rick Buckley, then overseeing sales at the company’s California stations, who guided it to success over four decades. *Another longtime NEW YORK broadcaster died last week as well. Robert Lessner was one of the founders of Beacon Broadcasting Corporation in 1967, making WBNR (1260 Beacon) the start of a broadcast group that grew to include WSPK (104.7 Poughkeepsie), WENE/WMRV in Binghamton and WTHT in Portland, Maine. Lessner began his career as a sound engineer (including work on “Candid Camera”), and he appeared on-air at WSPK for many years as “Word Builder Bob” during WSPK’s morning show with Mark Bolger. Lessner sold his radio stations in the mid-1990s, but continued to own the Mount Beacon tower site until 2006. He died July 25 at age 77.
It took longer than just about anyone expected, but last week finally brought the official word that WNED’s parent, the Western New York Public Broadcasting Association, will pay $4 million for WBFO and its Southern Tier simulcasters, WUBJ (88.1 Jamestown) and WOLN (91.3 Olean), merging those signals into an operation that already includes WNED-TV (Channel 17), classical WNED-FM (94.5)/WNJA (89.7 Jamestown) and news-talk WNED (970), whose programming has increasingly overlapped with WBFO in recent years. *More upstate TV news: In Buffalo, there’s a new identity coming to independent station WNGS (Channel 67), which becomes WBBZ-TV today. New owner Philip Arno says the new calls stand for “Buffalo’s Buzz,” and that’s what he’s hoping to create with an ambitious plan to launch a slate of local programming from new studios in the Eastern Hills Mall. The station is moving its current This-TV programming to a subchannel as it affiliates with the growing MeTV network – and that’s just part of a sudden burst of new MeTV affiliations up and down the Thruway, as the Chicago-based program service also lands on subchannels of Hubbard’s WHEC-TV (Channel 10) in Rochester and WNYT (Channel 13) in Albany. Albany recently added an Antenna TV affiliate as well, on the 51.2 subchannel of WNYA. *In Erie, they’re mourning one of the market’s best-loved radio voices. Frank Martin started out in Erie radio back in 1954 and spent most of his career at WJET, first as a top-40 “Good Guy” at its original home at 1400 on the AM dial and later at WJET-FM (102.3), where he was half of the popular Martin and Warvel morning team. Martin (whose real name was Francis Wambaugh) later went on to WFGO (94.7, now WXBB) before retiring in 2003. Dubbed “The Morning Mayor” by a former (real) Erie mayor, Louis Tullio, Martin was inducted into the hall of fame at the Museum of Radio and Television in 1994. Martin died last Monday after a struggle with lung cancer; he was 85. Ten Years Ago: July 31, 2006 It is, at long last, official – Nassau and Greater Media made the announcement Monday afternoon that they’ve completed negotiations to send Greater’s 99.5 Lowell signal (now country WKLB) to Nassau, in exchange for Nassau’s Philadelphia move-in, WTHK (97.5 Burlington NJ). At the same time, Greater Media has completed its deal to acquire WCRB (102.5 Waltham) from Charles River Broadcasting, setting the stage for the long-anticipated format and call swap that will move WCRB’s classical format down the dial to 99.5 and WKLB’s country into the heart of the Boston market at 102.5. Nassau says it intends to keep the classical format and WCRB calls on 99.5, making it the “new flagship” of the company’s chain of classical signals in northern New England. In Philadelphia, 97.5 will get a new format (as yet undetermined) as it joins the Greater Media cluster of WPEN, WMMR, WBEN-FM and WMGK. Two familiar names in Northeast broadcasting have returned to ownership, via a $5.5 million deal to buy seven northern NEW YORK stations. Jim Leven was one of the principals of the old Pilot group, whose stations in Syracuse and elsewhere ended up as part of the Citadel group a few years ago. Bruce Mittman was station manager at WAAF (107.3 Worcester) and several other stations around Massachusetts. As “Community Broadcasters LLC,” they’re the new owners of most of what was the Clancy-Mance group in Watertown and Ogdensburg. Here’s what they get in the deal: news-talk WATN (1240 Watertown), rock WOTT (100.7 Henderson/Watertown) top 40 “Border” WBDI (106.7 Copenhagen/Watertown) and WBDB (92.7 Ogdensburg), AC WTOJ (103.1 Carthage/Watertown), oldies WGIX (95.3 Gouverneur) and talk WSLB (1400 Ogdensburg). Noticeably missing in the deal is WBDR (102.7 Cape Vincent), which stays with Clancy-Mance. As country “Kix 102.7,” WBDR functions as a Kingston, Ontario station, programmed and operated out of CIKR (K-Rock 105.7)’s Kingston studio. There’s a TV station sale in central PENNSYLVANIA, as the Television Station Group (formerly known as SJL Broadcasting) sells WTAJ-TV (Channel 10) in Altoona and WLYH (Channel 15) in Lebanon to Nexstar, for $58 million. WTAJ is a dominant CBS affiliate, while WLYH is a UPN (soon to be CW) affiliate that’s operated under an LMA by Clear Channel’s WHP-TV. Will Nexstar, whose operating philosophy calls for the creation of duopolies wherever possible, be looking to make additional acquisitions in those markets? (It already has a duopoly in Erie, at WJET/WFXP, and in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, at WBRE/WYOU, as well as nearby outlets in Rochester, Utica and Hagerstown.) There’s yet another new station on the air in eastern CANADA, as Newcap’s second FM in Charlottetown, PEI signed on Wednesday (July 26) at 5 PM. As we’d reported earlier in NERW, the new “K-Rock 105.5” is legally CKQK, and it kicked off with the island’s top 105 rock tunes before launching into its regular programming. Fifteen Years Ago: July 30, 2001 One of the biggest vacancies in MASSACHUSETTS radio has been filled. More than half a year after Christopher Lydon and his “Connection” staff parted ways with WBUR-FM (90.9 Boston), the station has named a permanent replacement. Dick Gordon is a familiar name to our readers north of the border, where he’s a frequent guest host and regular reporter for “This Morning” on CBC Radio One. Gordon was one of three finalists for the “Connection” job, which he’ll start in September. As for Lydon, he’s telling the Boston newspapers that he’s still looking at his options for a return to the airwaves, but there’s still no definite word about where or when. On the commercial side of things, you can stop sending resumes to “Kiss 108” (WXKS-FM 107.9 Medford-Boston). The CHR powerhouse has named the replacement for departed station manager/PD John Ivey, and it’s a familiar name within the Clear Channel Boston family: “Cadillac Jack” McCartney. He comes to Medford from the PD seat at WJMN (94.5 Boston), opening a vacancy at “Jam’n” that was quickly filled by assistant PD Dennis O’Heron. Twenty Years Ago: July 31, 1996 We now know where Cape Cod talker WXTK (94.9) wants to go…95.1. The West Yarmouth-licensed 50kw FM has filed an application to move up the dial one channel, with a directional antenna. The move would get WXTK out from some sticky co-channel problems with WHOM, Mount Washington NH. WHOM is almost 200 miles away…but with 50kw from the top of New England’s tallest mountain, 3742 feet above average terrain, it can cause serious interference to WXTK, especially in outlying areas of the Cape when the trops are up. Here in Boston’s western suburbs, about twice as close to West Yarmouth as to Mt. Washington, WHOM is the usual occupant on 94.9. Also happening in Eastern New York: Starview Media of York PA is paying $450,000 to pick up a third FM in the Glens Falls area, north of Albany. Country WZZM 93.5 Corinth will join Starview’s country WSTL 1410 South Glens Falls, talk WBZA 1230 Glens Falls, ac WENU 101.7 Hudson Falls, and hot ac WHTR 107.1 Hudson Falls (ex-WMJR). About the only stations in the market Starview doesn’t control are Normandy Broadcasting’s talk/standards WWSC 1450/country WYLR 95.9 Glens Falls, William Walker’s oldies WCKM 900 Saratoga Springs/WCKM-FM 98.5 Lake George, and Fair Way Communications’ WJKE 101.3 Stillwater. |
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