NorthEast Radio Watch 12/8/2025: Cichon’s Back in Buffalo
In this week’s issue… Veteran newsman returns - Remembering NY's Leitner, RI's Jones - CT AM saved - Maine AM moves - "Indie" adds suburban signals
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 CLOCK IS TICKING…
As we announced a few weeks ago, the 2026 edition of the Tower Site Calendar will be the last.
We began publishing it 25 years ago, and the broadcast landscape is radically different now.
Radio World just ran an excellent article about us if you want to know more.
Once it’s gone, that’s it. We won’t be printing any more.
Thank you to everyone who saw our announcement and rushed to buy it. We appreciate you.
(There are some calendars from previous years if you want more of a tower photo fix — all under $5.)
But don’t wait to get this year’s Tower Site Calendar — buy it now!
We are selling the Broadcast Historian’s Calendar again this year, but we have that in an even smaller quantity — definitely don’t hesitate for that.
And visit the Fybush Media Store to check out our selection of books and videos, too!
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In this week’s issue… CT TV legend succumbs to cancer - Remembering PA's Adams - FCC still stalled by shutdown - Pittsburgh morning host exits
NorthEast Radio Watch 11/10/2025: What Next For A Post-Shutdown FCC?
In this week’s issue… FCC faces reopening challenges - Veteran Boston anchor retires - Morning shift in Toronto - NYC FMs expand reach
