NorthEast Radio Watch 12/23 & 12/30/2024: WKIT Lives!
In this week’s issue… WKIT finds a buyer - Eskin out at WIP - Staff shifts in Utica - CRTC approves Bell divestitures
NERW Update: Big TV Shift in Hartford/Springfield
By SCOTT FYBUSH
*Two big – and surprising – developments greeted the New England media community on this morning after Labor Day: a major TV group merger, and a big name coming to public radio.
The TV group merger first: Media General, fresh off last year’s merger with LIN, is paying roughly $2.4 billion to acquire Meredith Corp., landing not only Meredith’s 13 TV markets but also its extensive print and digital portfolio of home and lifestyle magazines, including Better Homes and Gardens.
In NERW-land, the deal means some big spinoffs in the adjacent Hartford and Springfield markets, where the combination of Media General’s former LIN stations and Meredith’s stations represents nearly all the players.
In Hartford, the new “Meredith Media General” will have to spin either dominant CBS affiliate WFSB (Channel 3) or the New Haven-based duopoly of ABC affiliate WTNH (Channel 8)/My affiliate WCTX (Channel 59).
In Springfield, the deal affects every commercial station in the market: Media General inherited LIN’s long ownership of dominant NBC affiliate WWLP (Channel 22), which also just lit up CW on 22.2; Meredith, of course, recently combined its CBS low-power WSHM-LD (Channel 21) with ABC/Fox affiliate WGGB (Channel 40), and will now have to spin either WWLP or the WGGB/WSHM cluster. (Because WWLP’s Chicopee facility is also a master-control hub for other Media General/ex-LIN stations, it seems likely that WWLP would stay and WGGB/WSHM would be sold, assuming the Justice Department signs off on that.)
We’ll keep you posted as this one develops.
*One state over, RHODE ISLAND Public Radio landed a very big name as its new leader. Torey Malatia comes to the statewide network after two decades at the helm of Chicago’s WBEZ (91.5), which he grew into a major national public media player with hit shows such as “Wait, Wait Don’t Tell Me” and “This American Life.”
We’ll have more in Monday’s NERW on Malatia’s new role in the Ocean State, too.
Read on for the rest of this week’s NERW coverage…
THE 2025 TOWER SITE CALENDAR IS SHIPPING NOW!
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We chose the 100,000-watt transmitter of the Voice Of America in Marathon, right in the heart of the Florida Keys. This picture has everything we like in our covers — blue skies, greenery, water, and of course, towers! The history behind this site is a draw, too.
Other months feature some of our favorite images from years past, including some Canadian stations and several stations celebrating their centennials (can you guess? you don’t have to if you buy the calendar!).
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This will be the 24th edition of the world-famous Tower Site Calendar, and your support will determine whether it will be the final edition.
It’s been a complicated few years here, and as we finish up production of the new edition, 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?)
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NorthEast Radio Watch 12/9/2024: Two Big Losses in Western NY
In this week’s issue… Remembering WNY's Palvino, Harris - Will King sell Bangor stations? - Kay moves earlier - New signal on LI - Cumulus cuts hit PA, New England - Frizzell sells in NH
NorthEast Radio Watch 12/2/2024: Wingham’s Main Radio Man Retires
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