Conference 7.286::broadcasting

Subject: NorthEast Radio Watcher 1/26: Back from the Dead...
From: Scott D Fybush, fybush@world.std.com
Organization: Not specified


*Welcome to the first edition of "NorthEast Radio Watcher."
If this looks and sounds familiar to you, it should.
NorthEast Radio Watcher (aka NERW) is the successor to "New
England Radio Watcher" (coincidentally enough, also aka
NERW), which for the last few years has attempted to
chronicle the ups and downs of broadcasting in the six New
England states and vicinity.  The new NERW will maintain
that mission -- but in keeping with our relocation to a new
home base in Rochester NY, we'll also be including news and
notes from across upstate New York.  No need to panic; with
any luck, the only thing you'll notice will be somewhat
infrequent posts for the next six weeks or so as we
relocate.

You'll still find NERW in all the usual places -- posted on
the Boston Radio Archives web site
(http://radio.lcs.mit.edu/radio/bostonradio.html), on
AIRWAVES Journal, and in the rec.radio.broadcasting
newsgroup, as well as on the Boston Radio Interest and NERW
mailing lists (see the web site for info), and on the wall
at fine radio stations like WJYY, Concord NH :-)

Our thanks, by the way, to the many folks in and out of New
England who have sent us kind words over the last week or
so.  NERW is produced entirely as a labor of love, and your
compliments mean a lot.

And with that, on with the all-new, completely-changed, same-
as-it-ever-was NERW:

*Just in the nick of time: As the FCC clock ticks ever
closer to February 9, one Massachusetts station has been
saved from extinction.  WCEG (1530) in Middleboro MA has
returned to the air from a transmitter site in North
Middleboro, running one kilowatt daytime-only with
programming from the Massachusetts Radio Reading Service.

WCEG started out in the early 90s as a nifty little local
music station, but with a tiny signal in a sparsely-
populated area, it failed to catch on.  Brockton's WMSX
(1410) bought the station a few years back, simulcasting it
with WMSX for a time, and running Portuguese-language
programming for a while as well.  WCEG had been dark for
several years, and was in danger of losing its license when
Steve Callahan took it over with the radio-reading format,
which NERW thinks is a clever way to provide a public
service while simultaneously keeping WCEG alive.

WCEG's return leaves just a handful of dark stations facing
extinction next month.  Here's the roll call:  WTOX (1450)
and WHMX (105.7) way up in Lincoln ME are being purchased by
Bangor Baptist Church -- except that the application to
transfer WTOX has somehow been dismissed.  NERW speculates
that WHMX may return simulcasting the church's WHCF (88.5
Bangor).  WRPT (1050) Peterborough NH has an application
pending to change frequency and city of license, becoming
650 kHz in Ashland MA.  The same owner has been granted
permission to return dark WBIV (1060) Natick MA to the air
as a daytimer from the WKOX site in Framingham MA, but with
two weeks to go, there's still no sign of WBIV.  WHWB (970)
Rutland VT has been dark for years and shows no sign of
returning.  WQQW (1590) Waterbury CT will expire quietly,
allowing its new owners to expand the pattern and power of
their WWRL (1600) in New York City.  And amazingly enough,
NERW knows of not a single licensed station in upstate New
York that is presently dark!  We'll update the list again as
February 9 approaches.

*From the radio-with-pix front (noted in the milliseconds
between Patriots-related programming): Another nifty
independent station is about to bite the dust in the Boston
market.  WNDS (Channel 50) in Derry NH is being sold to the
new Global Shopping Network, and by mid-March, it's slated
to become the fifth Boston-area UHF station running either
home shopping or infomercials.  Meantime, Boston's WCVB
(Channel 5) is kicking off its 25th anniversary celebration
with on-air promos, and celebrating the 15th anniversary of
its evening magazine show "Chronicle."  And over in upstate
New York, Syracuse's WSTM (Channel 3) has hired Don Lark as
its main weekday anchor.  Lark was known for many years as
the main anchor on WFSB (Channel 3) in Hartford CT.  Back on
the air after being dark for many years is Channel 26 in
Jamestown NY, now with a new transmitter site closer to
Buffalo and with the religious programming and WNYB-TV calls
that used to be on Channel 49 in Buffalo, which is now WB
affiliate WNYO-TV.

*A few station sales to report: Bob Bittner Broadcasting is
adding a third New England station, WJTO (730) in Bath ME.
Bob tells us he plans to keep most of WJTO's talk
programming, along with some of the beautiful music heard on
his WJIB (740) Cambridge-Boston and WNEB (1230) Worcester
MA.  Between 730 and 740, Bob's stations will cover most of
the Atlantic coast from Cape Cod to Maine during the day.

The Kimel Broadcasting Group is selling its Vermont
stations.  WLFE (102.3) and WWSR (1420) in St. Albans go to
New England Radio, while WSNO (1450) and WORK (107.1) in
Barre go to Bull Moose Broadcasting.  Downstate in Rutland,
WJJR (98.1) is being sold by Jewel Broadcasting.  Peak
Communications is the new owner of 'JJR and its 103.9
translator in the Upper Valley.  And over in Rupert VT, WMNV
(104.1) is being sold by Family Broadcasting Inc. to Capital
Media, which owns religious broadcasters WHAZ (1330) Troy,
WBAR (94.7) Lake Luzerne, and WMYY (97.3) Schoharie in the
Albany NY area.  NERW wonders if this has something to do
with the WHAZ stations suddenly appearing on the network of
translators in Vermont, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts
that had interlocking ownership with WMNV.

*From the technical front: The ever-helpful FCC tells us
that WROR-FM (105.7 Framingham-Boston) has applied to change
power, height and transmitter location.  NERW suspects this
is part of Greater Media's attempts to consolidate their
transmitters on Boston's Prudential Tower...we'll know more
soon.  The Commission has denied the application by WKOX
(1200 Framingham) to raise power to 50 kilowatts from the
WNTN site on Rumford Ave. in Newton (incorrectly listed as
River Street in the application).  NERW has learned that
WNTN was unwilling to diplex from its existing tower even if
the application had been approved.  And WLNH-FM (98.3
Laconia NH) has applied to increase its power from class A
to class C3...details to follow.

*NERW Vermont correspondent Doug Bassett checks in with some
Brattleboro news:

After nearly 30 years of getting up at 4:30 AM to begin his
newscasts at
WTSA AM&FM, Larry "Scoop" Smith, veteran newscaster and
operations director will be calling it quits January 31.
Smith, 46, began working for WTSA while still a student at
Keene High School. He left for a time to obtain a degree in
broadcast management and engineering at the Elkins
Institute, then returned to WTSA full-time to become
operations director, then general
manager of WTSA, and the "Smith" half of the "Smith and
Clarke" program in
the morning, with president and owner of WTSA John Clarke,
which may well be the longest running partnership at any
radio station in Vermont. Smith leaves the radio world for a
new career as corporate and community relations
representative for Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. in
Vernon. His final newscast will be at 5:00 PM, Friday,
January 31, with an open house
reception following at the Brattleboro Inn and Conference
Center, at which,
according to Smith this morning, there will NOT be any bean
dip served. "My
new employers will be there," he said. "I want to make a
good impression."
We'll miss you, Scoop.

No word yet as to who will be doing newscasts at WTSA come
February.

*Vermont Public Radio has applied for 88.5 MHz in St.
Johnsbury, presumably to help fill in some of the signal
holes from its primary WVPS (107.9 Burlington) signal in the
Northeast Kingdom.

*Formats and calls: Portland's new hit radio "Q 97-dot-9"
finally has calls to match the slogan.  The former WCSO is
now WJBQ -- and if those calls sound familiar, they should.
97.9 used the WJBQ calls in the early eighties, and they
were in the market for years before that on sister 1440 AM
and the old 106.3, before it swapped calls and format with
97.9.  Over in East Longmeadow, Mass. (not West Longmeadow
as we reported last time!), AM 1600 is indeed using the WMRE
calls -- but it's still simulcast with WAQY-FM 102.1
Springfield for now.  In the Utica NY area, WRNY (1350 Rome)
and WADR (1480 Remsen) have reportedly dropped their
temporary simulcast of sister WRFM (93.5 Remsen, aka Warm
FM) to take on a standards format as "Stars 1350 and 1480."

*And proving that we have a pretty broad definition of the
NE in NERW, a bit of New Brunswick radio news: CHSJ (700) in
Saint John has applied to shut down its AM transmitter and
move to 94.1 -- just a few years after they spent a lot of
money to move from 1150 kHz to 700 and boost power.  On 700,
CHSJ is usually the most listenable Maritimes signal in
eastern New England.  It will be missed -- although probably
not by stations like WCAT (700) Orange MA, which could
probably get some night power with CHSJ gone.

*That'll close things out for this edition of NERW.  As
always, we welcome radio news from all parts of the
Northeast -- you can send them to our contributions address:
nerw@mercury.lcs.mit.edu.

-=Scott Fybush - fybush@world.std.com=-

From: fybush@world.std.com (Scott D Fybush)
Subject: North East RadioWatcher 2/1: Tower for Sale, WFCR on WTTT
Organization: Not Specified


*Wanna buy a tower?  The five-tower site in Ashland MA that's home to
WBPS (890 Dedham-Boston) is up for sale, according to an ad in this
week's "Broadcasting and Cable."  The ad claims the 40-acre site can
be used for all kinds of communications, including beepers, cellphone,
LPTV, and FM.  The site is priced at $3.5 million.

This could be interesting for WBPS, as word has it that they've had a
hard time maintaining their directional pattern as it is.  I can't
imagine what it would be like with dozens of other antennas hanging
from the towers!

The site was built in 1980 for John Garabedian's WGTR (1060 Natick),
which was upgrading from a 1000-watt non-directional daytimer.  WGTR
later became WBIV (with a few stops along the way), and then in 1994,
the station's physical plant was sold to Douglas Broadcasting, which
used them to put WBMA (later WBPS) on the air on 890, leaving 1060
dark.

*An unusual partnership between a noncommercial FM and a commercial
AM station is making headlines in Amherst MA.  WFCR (88.5) is leasing
eight hours a day from WTTT (1430 Amherst), to broadcast programming
that's otherwise unavailable in the area.  The "WFCR on WTTT" schedule
runs weekdays from 10am till 6pm, and includes "The Connection" from
Boston's WBUR, "Monitor Radio Midday Edition," "The Derek McGinty
Show" from WAMU in Washington, "Talk of the Nation" from NPR, "The
World" from WGBH in Boston, and "The Diane Rehm Show" from WAMU.  WTTT
broadcasts short underwriting announcements at the start and end of
each hour, and the stations split the revenue.  The public radio
programming replaces Bloomberg business news on WTTT.

*Tim Johnson, longtime news director at WKVT AM-FM in Brattleboro VT,
is moving across route 9 to become news director at WTSA AM-FM in
town.  Trish Haim replaces him on the news beat at WKVT.

*Last issue's list omitted a handful of dark stations in Upstate
New York.  WEAV (960) in Plattsburgh NY has been dark for a few
months, but word has it that owner George Bissell will have it back on
the air before its license is deleted.  Its FM sister, WBTZ 99.9, is
now LMA'd to a Burlington VT station.  WSCP (1070) in Sandy Creek NY
is reportedly dark, and WAUB (1590) in Auburn NY has been dark for
years.  WCSQ (89.3) at Central Square High School in Central Square NY
(north of Syracuse) has also been dark for years.  It's still in the
FCC database, but apparently no longer exists in reality.

*Miscellany from across the region, through the kind courtesy of
Dr. Bruce Elving's "FMedia!" newsletter [PO Box 336, Esko MN
55733-0336]:

The former WPBC (99.5) in Pittsfield ME has reappeared as
noncommercial WJCX, rebroadcasting the religious programming from KAWZ
Twin Falls ID.  99.5 had been dark for a while.  Up in Eastport ME,
WSHD (91.7) is off the air because the antenna fell off a pole and has
not been reinstalled.  NERW believes WSHD is the easternmost radio
station in the continental US [66 59" 24' W, to be exact].

*More from the pirate front: It seems Bloomfield CT's "Praise 105.3"
was even claiming to have call letters for a time.  "FMedia!" says the
station went by "WPRZ," calls which belong to AM 1250 in Warrenton
VA.  The station was reportedly running 60 watts.  Meantime, "Radio
Free Allston" in the Boston area is looking far and wide for support.
Its founder has been running notices in the newsletter of the National
Writers Union local, asking for support for the station and promising
that it will feature copious coverage of local arts.  No sign of any
actual broadcasting on 88.5 so far.

*Radio with pix: Look for WHCT (Channel 18) in Hartford to be back on
the air any second now.  Paxson Communications has bought the
long-dark station, and is returning it to the air just shy of the FCC
deadline for keeping the license.  WHCT is one of America's oldest UHF
stations, with a past that includes some time as a CBS-owned outlet in
the early 50s, a stint as an RKO-owned outlet with some of the first
pay TV in the world, and much later a few years under the ownership of
Dr. Gene Scott.  WHCT has already been seen testing from its Talcott
Mountain transmitter site, across the road from WFSB (Channel 3) and
WTIC (1080).  Paxson already owns WTWS (Channel 26) in New London CT,
which runs his "Infomall" infomercial service.

*O Canada...where have you gone?: That's what CBC listeners in New
England could be wondering in a few years.  The CBC has applied to
move its Montreal outlet, CBM, from 940 to 88.7 FM.  CBM's 50 kilowatt
signal blankets the region at night.  If it disappears, we may see
stations such as WINE Brookfield CT and WGFP Webster MA applying for
night power.  Another Montreal-area AM, CKVL (850 Verdun) is one of
the applicants for the vacant 95.1 FM slot.  With CKVL gone, night
power could be in the offing for WREF (850 Ridgefield CT), and
Boston's 50kW WEEI could improve its pattern to the northwest
considerably.  Competing for 95.1 is the CBC's French-language CBF
(690), which has one of the best AM signals in the northeast.  CBF's
disappearance from the airwaves would allow WADS (690) in Ansonia CT
to stay on all night, and could allow a 690 somewhere in upstate New
York as well.  Another Montreal FM frequency could open up if
CIME 99.5 Ste.-Adele is granted a move to 103.9.  One broadcaster has
already applied for 99.5 in Montreal.  

*Musical transmitters, cont: WROR-FM (105.7 Framingham-Boston) is the
latest to apply to leave the "FM128" tower in Newton MA.  WROR-FM
wants to join sister Greater Media outlets WMJX (106.7) and WKLB-FM
(96.9) atop the Prudential Tower in Boston, where its studios already
grace the 13th floor.  96.9 holds a CP to make the move, but has not
yet done so.  Over in the Syracuse NY area, Craig Fox is applying to
move WSIV (1540 East Syracuse) to 670 kHz as a 1500 watt daytimer.
Fox held a long-expired CP for a WAQX(AM) with similar facilities
in the 1980s.  Another Fox-linked station, WOLF (1490 Syracuse) has
applied to modify its CP for a move to 1510.  The original CP listed
Lafayette as the city of license; the new one keeps WOLF in Syracuse.

*Station sales: WVMT (620) Burlington and WXXX (95.5) South Burlington
VT go from James Broadcasting to Sison Broadcasting.  No word on
what the new owners have in mind for the stations.

*Everyone's got a Web site: WBMT (88.3) at Masconomet Regional High
School in Boxford MA is on the Web...you can find 'em at:

http://www.masconomet.org/extra/wbmt/wbmtweb.htm

if you're looking for a well-run high school station.

*Kudos all 'round the Boston print scene: Dean Johnson in the Boston
Herald has been on a roll these last few weeks, with a series of
excellent articles based on anonymous faxes he's been getting from
local radio folks.  Dean's articles have been raising a lot of good
points about the future of broadcasting in Boston.  Congrats as well
to Susan Bickelhaupt of the Globe.  Dunno whether it was a farewell
present to NERW or what -- but her most recent column contained not a
single error...it even got the frequency for WBOS (hint: it's *not*
92.5!) correct.  And a light zing to WLVI (Channel 56), for failing to
figure out the difference between a Web page and an e-mail address.

*Last 'n' least: East Longmeadow MA's WMRE (1600) may not be due for a
format change after all.  Word has it Saga Communications is
warehousing the WMRE calls on 1600 for use elsewhere in the future.

*And that closes the books on the final column to come to you from
Waltham MA.  NERW hits the road this weekend, and you can expect the
next column to arrive from Rochester NY sometime next week.  We'll see
you then!

Subj:	North East RadioWatch 2/7: Just Under the Wire...
From: fybush@world.std.com
Organization: Not specified


Welcome to the first issue of NERW to come to you from our new home
base in Rochester NY...and wouldn't it just figure that nearly all the
news this time is still from New England?  Onward...

*With just three days to spare, AM 1060 in Natick MA is back on the
air.  The erstwhile WBIV (and before that, WTTP and WGTR), returned to
the air Thursday morning with a mighty 500 watts, daytime-only,
non-directional, as contemporary Christian WJLT, "J-Light 1060."
Owner Alexander Langer is using the WKOX (1200) facilities in
Framingham for the station, which would have lost its license on
Sunday if it had not returned.   NERW's correspondents in the Boston
area tell us WJLT may already be breaking the rules by signing on a
bit early in the morning...and somehow, we're not surprised.

Speaking of WKOX, the Boston Herald is again claiming the station is
about to go 50 kilowatts, and could become a Bloomberg business
outlet.  Inasmuch as WKOX has no valid construction permit for such an
increase, NERW is taking that report with caution.

Whither Langer's other station, WRPT (1050 Peterborough NH, with an
application to become 650 Ashland MA)?  Nobody knows...but NERW would
be unsurprised to find something showing up on 650 by this weekend to
keep the license afloat.

We're told that WEAV (960 Plattsburgh NY) has escaped the deadline by
returning to the air as a simulcast of a Burlington VT station - and
if any of our readers in the Champlain Valley know which one it is,
we'd love to know too.

As for WAUB (1590 Auburn NY) and WSCP (1070 Sandy Creek NY) - they
were still silent when the NERW-mobile drove through Central New York
last weekend.  The clock is ticking - and anything that's still dark
on Sunday loses its license for good.  We'll have the list in the next
NERW.

*Local ownership is rapidly becoming a thing of the past in Waterbury,
Connecticut.  Both of the city's FMs are now owned by conglomerates
and operating from Hartford, and long-dark WQQW (1590) will vanish
from the FCC files next week - and now WWCO (1240) has been sold.
Buckley Broadcasting is buying the station from the Johnson family for
$550,000.  Buckley owns WDRC AM-FM in Hartford and WSNG in Torrington,
and the company says it plans to simulcast Brad Davis' morning show
from WDRC(AM), but has made no other programming plans.  WATR (1320),
which reportedly had an interest in buying WWCO, is now the last local
station in Waterbury.  Thanks to NERW Connecticut correspondent Bill
Dillane for that tidbit.

*The folks at WHYN AM/FM in Springfield MA are mourning their late
general manager.  Mike Marder died early Monday morning, less than two
months after he was diagnosed with leukemia.  Marder had been at WHYN
since early 1995, capping a career that started at Westinghouse's
KYW-TV in Philadelphia, continuing through several other Westinghouse
stations, and then as general manager at several stations in
Allentown, Pennsylvania.  Marder was 53 years old.  PD Gary James is
serving as interim GM for the time being.

*Never mind...: It turns out WKLB-FM (96.9) in Boston is in fact now
transmitting from the Prudential Tower, not from the FM128 tower in
Newton, Mass.  It's Evergreen's WJMN (94.5) that's still holding an
unbuilt CP to make the same move.  Thanks to alert reader Rick Levy,
among others, for setting NERW straight on this one.

*Call it "CBS": The broadcasting half of the Company Formerly Known as
Westinghouse spent 30 grand to hire a consulting firm to tell it what
to call itself - and the surprise answer was: "CBS."  Not only that,
but the highly-paid consultants came to the remarkable conclusion that
the best logo for the new company was, you guessed it, the eye that
CBS has used for almost 40 years.  So...mark down "CBS Inc." as the
corporate ownership on Boston's WBZ (1030), WBOS (92.9; for sale),
WOAZ (99.5), WZLX (100.7), WODS (103.3), WBCN (104.1), and WBZ-TV
(Channel 4).

*Connecticut TV Fun: Hartford's WHCT-TV (Channel 18) is back on the
air to beat the FCC deadline, but the station's ownership is still up
in the air.  Two If By Sea Broadcasting filed a request for emergency
relief last week, asking the FCC to hurry up and grant its purchase of
the station from a bankruptcy trustee - and the answer from the folks
in Washington was a resounding "no."  Meantime, WHCT owner-to-be
Lowell Paxson has sold his other Connecticut TV property.  WTWS
(Channel 26) in New London, which runs the InfoMall service, is being
sold to Roberts Broadcasting.  In another bit of TV fun to come, the
Boston Globe reports Meredith Broadcasting is getting closer to a deal
to buy WABU (Channel 68) in Boston and its satellite stations in New
Hampshire and on Cape Cod...we'll see what comes of that.

*From our new home base in Upstate New York: Radio listeners in
Rochester are hearing a familiar voice with a not-so-familiar name.
To mark his 20th anniversary on the Flower City's airwaves, Tony
Matthews of WRMM-FM (101.3) has returned to his real name, Tony
Infantino.  Matthews says he never wanted to use an air name, but the
programmers who were running WMJQ (92.5, now WBEE-FM) when he started
in radio insisted.  By whatever name he uses, his morning show with
Dee Alexander is one of Rochester's highest-rated radio shows.  Up in
Watertown, radio listeners are getting used to a new FM lineup.  Gone
is hit radio WTNY-FM "T93.5," and new to the air is "Froggy Country
97.5," WFRY.  Rocker WCIZ, which used to occupy the 97.5 frequency, is
now at WTNY-FM's old 93.5 spot, with a much weaker signal.

*Fun with Underwriting: Listeners to one outlet of the ever-growing
WAMC Northeast Public Radio network are hearing a different ID at the
top of the hour.  WAMQ (105.1) Great Barrington, Mass. runs a top-hour
ID announcing its transmitter location atop a ski facility in South
Egremont, Mass.  The ski area used to be mentioned in WAMC's network
ID, which now includes seven primaries and a bunch of translators -
but it was dropped as the ID kept getting longer.  NERW suspects the
ski area was insisting on the hourly mention in exchange for the
transmitter space - hence the new ID.

*What, MORE delays?!?!?  Yes, NERW will be taking another brief hiatus
for the next week and a half, as we decamp for the sunny (well,
sunnier than Rochester, anyway) West Coast.  We'll be back with more
radio fun and excitement on or around February 20.  In the meantime,
please drop any Northeast radio news in the NERW mailbox,
nerw@mercury.lcs.mit.edu.   See you then!

-= Scott Fybush - fybush@world.std.com =-

Subj: NorthEast Radio Watch 2/28: The Big Get Bigger
From: fybush@world.std.com
Organization: Not specified


*Amazing how much can happen in three weeks, isn't it?  Now that NERW
has recovered from our California trip and a nasty bout with the flu,
here's what's been making news across the Northeast radio and TV
dials:

*Two of Boston's largest FM stations have new owners.  CBS is trading
WBOS (92.9 Brookline-Boston) and WOAZ (99.5 Lowell-Boston), along with
WMMR (93.3 Philadelphia) to Greater Media, in even exchange for
Greater's KLSX (97.1 Los Angeles) and KRLA (1110 Pasadena-Los
Angeles).  CBS was under Justice Department orders to sell WBOS and
WMMR, as part of its purchase of Infinity.  WOAZ simply went along
with the deal, just as it did when Infinity acquired it from Granum
just a few years ago.  No immediate format changes are expected at AAA
WBOS or at smooth jazz "Oasis," which now form a group with AC WMJX
(106.7), oldies WROR-FM (105.7 Framingham-Boston), country WKLB-FM
(96.9), and WNFT (1150).

WNFT is in search of a new format, following the demise of KidStar,
the Seattle-based childrens' network that had been leasing 1150 for
some four months.  KidStar folded abruptly last week, sending 1150
back to its default mode of simulcasting 96.9 until someone else signs
up to lease it.  Rumor has it that rival kids' programer Radio AAHS is
contemplating a deal for 1150.

The CBS-Infinity deal has caused some shuffling in the executive ranks
at CBS's Boston operations.  New CBS Radio boss Mel Karmazin is
thinning the ranks of middle managers, which knocked Ed Goldman out of
his post as head of CBS AM radio.  Goldman stays in Boston, returning
to the general manager's office at WBZ (1030), in turn displacing Ted
Jordan, who moves down the hall to become GM at WODS (103.3, "Oldies
103").  Odd man out is WODS GM Bob Pates, who's now looking for work
elswehere in the company.

*Still more big business: The massive merger of Evergreen,
Chancellor, and Viacom's radio operations touches Boston
tangentially, as Evergreen's WXKS-FM (107.9 "Kiss 108"), WJMN (94.5,
"Jam'n"), and WXKS (1430) become part of the renamed "Chancellor
Media."

*Little business, by comparison: We now know what Salem will call AM
1260, the former WEZE Boston.  The new calls are WPZE, for "Praise
1260."  The WEZE calls move to 590, the former WBNW.  Both stations
are still simulcasting for the moment, but separate programming for
1260 is expected soon.

*Squeaking through: WRPT (650 Ashland MA) made it on the air with just
hours to spare before the February 9 deadline for keeping its
license.  Like sister station WJLT (ex-WBIV) 1060 Natick, WRPT is
operating from one tower of the WKOX (1200) site on Mount Wayte Avenue
in Framingham.  WRPT is running the "Talk America #2" network
programming for now.  Also back in time were WEAV (960 Plattsburgh
NY), which is being leased by crosstown WZBZ (1070) to simulcast its
talk programming, and WAUB (1590 Auburn NY), which is simulcasting
WLLW 93.7 Clyde NY for now.  We don't know the fates of WHWB (970
Rutland VT), WEGP (1390 Presque Isle ME), or WSCP (1070 Sandy Creek
NY) -- and we'd like to hear from anyone who does!  Dead and gone are
WQQW (1590 Waterbury CT) and WLNG (1600 Sag Harbor NY).

*Rhode Island's got something to dance to: WDGF (100.3 Middletown) has
dropped its simulcast of WDGE (99.7 Wakefield-Peace Dale, "The Edge")
to become dance music "The Beat."  WDGF is the former smooth jazz
WOTB; it had been simulcasting WDGE for only a year or so.

*Whither Radio Free Allston?  The Boston-area pirate is reportedly
considering a move from 88.5 to 106.1, thus interfering with WCOD
Hyannis rather than WFCR Amherst.  Rumor has it there will be a
lengthy article on RFA in this weekend's Boston Phoenix.

*Connecticut news: WREF (850 Ridgefield) has dropped its simulcast
with co-owned WLAD (800 Danbury), and is now running ABC's satellite
oldies format as "Oldies 850."  Quinnipiac College's WQUN (1220
Hamden) is on the air with Music of Your Life and CBS hourly
newscasts.  Low-power W10CG Hartford is on the air from the former
studios of WHCT (Channel 18) on Garden Street, running the More Music
network from noon to midnight and home shopping the rest of the day.

*Congratulations to Jay Allison and his Cape and Islands Community
Public Radio group, which has been granted a license for 91.1 on
Nantucket, with 2 kilowatts.  

*People on the move: Congratulations to Gary James, the new vice
president and general manager of WHYN AM/FM Springfield.  Gary steps
into the void left by the death of GM Mike Marder earlier this month.
A fund has been established for Marder's 18-month old son; donations
can be sent to the Evan Marder Fund, c/o the Bank of Western
Massachusetts, Springfield MA 01101.  Chris Tracy takes Gary's place
as acting operations manager and FM program director at WHYN.

Retiring from the radio business after 45 years is Rochester's Jack
Palvino.  Palvino's broadcast career began at WGVA Geneva back in
1952, and included a stint as top-rated morning host on WBBF
Rochester.  In 1978, Palvino and Bud Wertheimer founded the Lincoln
Group, which bought WVOR Rochester and later added stations in Buffalo
and Syracuse, before being acquired by American Radio Systems last
year.  NERW wishes him the best of luck in his retirement!

Longtime Schenectady broadcaster William Carpenter has died at age
81.  Carpenter worked for WGY and WRGB-TV from 1947 until 1966.

*Religious Radio Marches On!:  Don Crawford's Crawford Broadcasting is
buying WCMF(AM) Rochester from American Radio Systems.  The 990 kHz
facility is expected to change calls to WDCZ, to simulcast Crawford's
WDCZ-FM 102.7 Webster-Rochester.  ARS had planned to donate 990 to
St. John Fisher College before receiving Crawford's offer.  In the
Albany area, the Christian Broadcasting Corporation is buying WMVI
(1160 Mechanicville) from Joseph Motto, spelling the end to WMVI's
eclectic oldies format.

*Once around the FCC docket: Sound of Life Ministries has been granted
90.9 in Glens Falls NY.  WYFG Gaffney SC has been granted a Jamestown
NY translator, W205BA on 88.9.  WIRQ Rochester, at Irondequoit High
School, has been granted a frequency change from 94.3 to 104.7
(necessitated by new WAQB 94.1 Brighton).  Sullivan Broadcasting has
been granted a Burlington NY translator, W31BP.  Connecticut Public
Broadcasting's WRLI (91.3 Southampton NY) has been granted an
extension of time.

A few unusual applications: Rochester's WXXI Public Broadcasting is
applying for 90.9 in Spencerport, a western suburb of Rochester.  That
frequency would normally be unavailable for assignment because of
WXXI-FM on 91.5, but presumably WXXI is granting itself a waiver.
NERW guesses WXXI will use the new FM to boost the poor signal of WXXI
(AM) 1370 to the west -- am I right, Bob Smith?

Syracuse Community Radio has had another application returned, this
time for 90.5 in Cleveland NY.  Holy Family Broadcasting's application
for 90.7 in Lancaster, near Buffalo, was also returned.  Liberty
Community Family Broadcasting wants 90.1 in Watertown NY, while WSKG
Public Broadcasting is applying for 90.1 in Ithaca (presumably to carry
the second service that's already running on WSQX 91.5 Binghamton).
WSKG is also applying for TV channel 57 in Waverly NY.  

*From the call letter front: WAQY (1600) East Longmeadow MA returns to
those calls from WMRE.  WNBX (100.5) Lebanon NH becomes WVRR; WQIX
(820) Horseheads NY becomes WWLZ; and WLPZ (1440) Westbrook-Portland
ME becomes WJAE, an interesting echo of the legendary WJAB calls that
once graced that station.  Maine Broadcasting's WCSH-TV (6) Portland
and WLBZ-TV (2) Bangor have become WCSH(TV) and WLBZ(TV),
respectively, reflecting the long-ago call changes of the former WCSH
and WLBZ radio (now WZAN and WZON).  Speaking of Portland TV, WWLA
(Channel 35) Lewiston will reportedly hit the airwaves this summer, as
a UPN affiliate operated under LMA by Fox affiliate WPXT (Channel 51).

*Kudos and zings: Kudos, for once, to the Boston Globe's Susan
Bickelhaupt, who actually got the WEZE/WPZE call swap right.  A little
zing to Time magazine, for claiming that Howard Stern broadcasts from
"KROQ" in New York City.  And a big ol' zing to the New York Times,
whose brand-new New England Edition includes TV listings with
long-dead call letters like WNEV (which became WHDH-TV in 1990), WHLL
(which has been WUNI for years), and WQTV (WABU since 1993).  For
shame!

*Finally, a hearty NERW congratulations to Carolyn Kruse of Boston's
WKLB-FM.  After her morning show on Monday, she rushed to the hospital
-- and a few hours later became the proud mother of a baby girl.  NERW
sends our best wishes to the family.

*We'll see you in a week or so...stay tuned!

-=Scott Fybush - fybush@world.std.com=-

Subj: Fwd: NorthEast Radio Watcher 3/6: Praise, Pirates, and More
From: Scott D Fybush, fybush@world.std.com
Organization: Not specified


*Not quite as action-packed as last week's NERW, but here's what's
making headlines in and around the NorthEast radio dial:

*Boston's "Praise 1260" made its formal debut Monday morning (March 3)
at 6 AM.  Salem's WPZE was expected to run a contemporary Christian
music format, but is instead running a different group of preachers
from those who lease time on Salem's WEZE ("Family 590," and the
former occupant of the 1260 slot.)  Speaking of leased-time AM in
Boston, rumor has it the top contender for Greater Media's WNFT
(1150), former home of the defunct KidStar network, is competing kids'
web Radio Disney.

*Also making its official debut on the Boston radio dial this past
weekend was Radio Free Allston, the unlicensed operation on 106.1 in
Boston's Allston neighborhood.  Helped along by some very nice
publicity in the Boston Phoenix (including some pithy quotes from
Boston Radio Archives co-creator Garrett Wollman), RFA celebrated its
start-up with an all-day broadcast from Herrell's Renaissance Cafe in
Allston. NERW was in Boston for the weekend, and had a chance to tune
in to some of RFA's offerings.

Technically, the station needs some work -- a lot of what they were
saying was inaudible, and a locally-produced drama called "The Real
World Allston" suffered from some of the worst audio I've ever heard.
The RFA folks are clearly trying hard, though, and in an age of
increasingly monopolistic bottom-line radio, it is nice to see someone
actually trying to serve the community.

I'll step on the NERW editorial soapbox for a minute here to respond
to some of the questions I've been getting about NERW's stand on
unlicensed radio:  On a technical level, I'm deeply concerned about an
explosion in unlicensed operations drowning out licensed
broadcasters.  RFA deserves some credit for switching from 88.5 to
106.1 after some outcry from listeners to WFCR Amherst MA in the
Boston area; not all pirates are as considerate.  NERW won't hesitate
to continue to note potential interference problems.

But on a programming level, my concerns about commercial radio
continue to deepen.  The NERW radio spent much of last weekend tuned
in to WRPT (650), the Boston area's newest AM station.  After all the
effort Alexander Langer went through to get the frequency, what's it
being used for?  "Talk America #2 Network," which features mostly
per-inquiry spots and infomercials hawking all kinds of Scandinavian
snake oil and the like.  If this is what licensed radio has fallen to,
NERW's willing to take an open mind towards unlicensed radio -- as
long as it's doing something distinctive.  RFA's at least partially on
the right track -- although at least part of the broadcast day
consisted of the "loud rock music and dirty words" programming that
seems to characterize too much pirate radio these days.  Okay, off the
soapbox and on with the news:

*Some big changes are afoot in upstate New York radio, most notably on
the 94.1 spot in Rochester.  WAQB Brighton has been running nothing
but K-Tel's Instrumental Hits CDs since signing on last year.  Now ARS
is about to launch WAQB for real...although the station was off the
air on Wednesday with technical problems.  Expect the new format
within a few days; rumor has it they'll go right up against one of the
other FMs in town with their as-yet-undisclosed format.  AM 990 has
taken the next step towards becoming religious WDCZ(AM), with an
application to transfer the license from ARS to Donald Crawford's
Kimtron.  Jacor is getting bigger in Rochester, spending $7 million to
pick up Auburn Cablevision's AAA WMAX-FM (106.7 Irondequoit) along
with WMAX simulcast WMHX (102.3 Canandaigua) and smooth jazz WRCD
(107.3 Honeoye Falls), which are owned by the Kimble family.  Jacor is
reportedly looking to grab one more FM in town to fill out its
portfolio, which is led by WHAM (1180), WHTK (1280), WVOR (100.5), and
WNVE (95.1, with a Rochester translator on 95.5).  And little WIRQ at
Irondequoit High School has been granted a move from 94.3 to 104.7, a
move made necessary by WAQB's arrival.

*In Central New York, the big headline has been Phil Markert's return
to the airwaves, on simulcast WTLA (1200 North Syracuse), WTLB (1310
Utica), and WSGO (1440 Oswego).  Markert was one of Syracuse's
best-known personalities before being dismissed from WHEN (620) four
years ago.  In a candid talk with the Syracuse Herald-Journal
(www.syracuse.com), Markert talked about his battles with alcoholism
and gambling addiction -- and about his recovery over the last few
years.

Meantime, eight applicants (among them former New York and New England
broadcaster Peter Hunn) have queued up in hopes of getting one of the
area's last FM frequencies, 100.3 Sylvan Beach (about halfway between
Syracuse and Utica).

WSCP (1070 Sandy Creek NY) remains dark, but they have until April 24
to resume operation.  Meanwhile, does anyone know how much longer
Oswego's dark WZOS (96.7) has to get back on the air?  And in Rome, AM
1450 has applied to return to the WODZ(AM) calls.  NERW believes they
never actually used the WFRY(AM) calls for which they had applied,
merely using the application to warehouse the calls for co-owned 97.5
Watertown, which officially changed calls to WFRY this week from
WCIZ.  The WCIZ calls and rock format go to 93.5, the former WTNY-FM.

*The 75th anniversary celebration at Schenectady's WGY (810) has been
marred by a nasty controversy over an ad published in the Albany
Times-Union. The ad showed an African warrior, and read "Staying young
requires an almost primal disregard for dignity and civility."  The
local Urban League accused WGY of racism, and staged a protest rally
against the station and talk host Mark Williams.  The Times-Union
apologized for printing WGY's ad, and the station pulled a planned
second appearance of the advertisement.

*Back to New England: Little WVAY (100.7 Wilmington VT) has thrown in
the towel on independent programming.  The eight year old station
began simulcasting classic rock WKVT-FM (92.7 Brattleboro) on Monday
morning.  WVAY was hampered by a signal that served almost no
populated areas, even with the help of its 104.7 translator in Jamaica
VT.  A belated personnel note up in the Burlington market: Andy Potter
left talker WKDR (1390 Burlington) last fall, and like your NERW is
now toiling in the radio-with-pictures industry; in his case at WPTZ
(Channel 5).  Best of luck to Andy...

The news from the Granite State is slim this week -- applicants have
until April 7 to go for 106.5 in Farmington NH.  That's where WRHF
held a construction permit that expired last year.

In Maine, WKZS (99.9 Auburn) is shifting its image a bit, dropping
"Kiss" to become "Mix 96.9 and 99.9," putting more emphasis on its
Portland translator.  The music hasn't changed much, remaining a blend
of current and 70s/80s AC.  And Westbrook's WJAE (1440) is indeed
playing on the calls' similarity to the heritage WJAB calls it used to
have.  WJAE is calling itself "Portland's Jab."  

Out on Cape Cod, WUOK (1240 West Yarmouth) has been transferred to
Boston University, and is now a full-time simulcast of WBUR (90.9
Boston).  The folks at Worcester's WCRN (830) have unveiled a new
website at www.wcrn.com.  A correction on a bit of Boston news from
last time: WKLB-FM's Carolyn Kruse is in fact the proud new mother of
a baby *boy*, named Jacob Robert.  And WBMX (98.5) has been granted a
transmitter move, presumably to the Prudential Tower.

Connecticut news: WWCO (1240 Waterbury) has begun a partial simulcast
with new owner Buckley's WDRC (1360 Hartford), with morning host Brad
Davis's WDRC show debuting on WWCO this week.  The WWCO offices in
Waterbury will stay open, with some programming and sales remaining
there.  Former Giants star Beasley Reese is leaving WVIT-TV (Channel
30) to become sports anchor at newly co-owned WTOG (Channel 44) in the
Tampa-St. Petersburg market.  He follows news director Steve Schwaid
south.  And we're told the full-fledged nostalgia-and-news format at
Quinnipiac College's WQUN (1220 Hamden) will debut April 28.

*And finally, one more correction: the newsweekly that claimed Howard
Stern's flagship in New York is "KROQ" was in fact Newsweek, not
Time.  Your NERW, of all people, ought to know better!  We'll close
with kudos for the New York Times, which quickly corrected its Boston
edition TV listings to show the current calls for WHDH-TV, WUNI, and
WABU.

*See you next week...

-=Scott Fybush - fybush@world.std.com=-

Subj: NorthEast Radio Watcher 3/28: Thawing Out and Unpacking...
From: Scott D Fybush, fybush@world.std.com
Organization: Not specified


*Sorry about the delays!  The move into the new apartment has been more
time-consuming than I expected, and that's why this NERW is coming out about
two weeks later than planned.  The good news is, nearly all the boxes are
unpacked, and by mid-April things should be very much back to normal.  On with
the news, and there's plenty!

*First, from the radio-with-pictures front: Boston's WCVB-TV (Channel 5) is
getting a new owner.  Hearst Broadcasting is merging with Argyle Broadcasting,
and that means you can now list WCVB as a Hearst-Argyle station.  The merger
means the company will have to sell WNAC-TV (Channel 64) in Providence, a Fox
affiliate operated under LMA by Clear Channel's WPRI-TV (Channel 12), because
of the signal overlap between WCVB and WNAC.  Late word from NERW's Washington
counterpart, Max Cacas, is that Hearst may unload its radio properties in
Milwaukee (WISN/WLTQ) and Pittsburgh (WTAE/WVTY) to help pay for the Argyle
deal.  The Providence market will have another LMA'd TV outlet by next week. 
WLWC-TV (Channel 28) New Bedford-Providence is due to sign on March 31,
operated as a WB affiliate by NBC's WJAR-TV (Channel 10) Providence.  Channel
28 will have a 10pm newscast produced by WJAR-TV.  NERW would be less than
surprised to find Boston WB affiliate WLVI-TV (Channel 56) disappearing from
some Southeastern Mass. cable systems in the next few months.  And in
Connecticut, Al Bova is leaving his post as general manager of WVIT (Channel
30) after almost two decades with the station.  He's joining CBS as general
manager of KYW-TV (Channel 3) in Philadelphia.

*Boston's AM 1150 is being put to a good use, a month after the demise of
KidStar.  Greater Media is using WNFT as a test site for Digital Audio
Broadcasting (DAB) experiments.  Among the DAB experts in town for the testing,
we're told, is Greater Media's VP of Engineering, Milford Smith, who chairs the
National Radio Systems Committee.  When WNFT is not running DAB tests, it's
simulcasting country music from WKLB-FM (96.9).

*Say goodbye to traffic reports from Metro Networks on Boston's WBZ (1030). As
of April 1, the CBS O&O will end its long relationship with Metro and start a
new one with Shadow Traffic, which opened a Boston office last year.  Shadow
shares its CEO, Mel Karmazin, with CBS.  The switch is bad news for Metro
personalities like Joe Stapleton and Aaron Sawyer - they're reportedly bound by
a non-compete agreement with Metro.  Shadow was already providing traffic
reports for WBZ sister station WODS (103.3).

*Call letter news: Boston University's FM station is no longer WBUR(FM).  It's
changed calls to WBUR-FM, allowing the former WUOK(AM) in West Yarmouth to
become WBUR(AM).  WBUR(AM) simulcasts the NPR news and talk programming from
WBUR-FM for Cape Cod listeners on 1240.  Another historic Boston call has
returned to the airwaves.  WVBF, the calls associated with 105.7 in Framingham
from 1970 until 1993, now can be heard each hour on AM 1530 in Middleborough. 
The new WVBF(AM) is the former WCEG(AM), and broadcasts programming for the
blind from the Talking Information Center in Marshfield.  The new public radio
station on 91.1 from Nantucket will be WNAN(FM), and Sound of Life's new
religious outlet in Glens Falls NY will be WARD(FM).  The WARD calls were last
seen on what's now WKQV(AM) 1550 in Pittston PA.  96.1 in Poughkeepsie NY is no
longer WNSX; the new calls there are WTND, reflecting its "Thunder Country"
simulcast with WTHN (99.3) Ellenville NY.

*It lives!  If there was any doubt that WEGP (1390) in Presque Isle, Maine was
still on the air, a quick check of the dial early Saturday morning should fix
that.  WEGP has scheduled a DX test from 3 until 3:30 am, Saturday, March 29. 
WEGP will run 5,000 watts non-directional during the test, which will include
marching music and Morse code.  If you hear WEGP, let us know at NERW, and send
your reception reports to Allan Weiner, WEGP, 3 State Street Place, Presque
Isle ME 04769.  If that name sounds familiar, there's a very good reason. 
Weiner was the owner of WOZI-FM (101.7) and WOZW (710) in the Presque Isle area
in the 1980s, and he's well-known as the operator of many pirate stations over
the years, including KPF-941 in Yonkers NY and Radio Newyork International off
the Long Island coast.

*Speaking of the Pine Tree State, a NERW reader reports WCME (96.7) Boothbay
Harbor has been off the air for several weeks.  The classic rock programming
continues to be heard on WXGL (95.5) Topsham.  The folks at WCME/WXGL claim
WCME's silence is permanent, but NERW suspects the 96.7 frequency won't stay
silent for long.

*Local music and talk are making a bit of a comeback in the Boston suburbs.
WSRO (1470) in Marlborough is now being run by Lindsy Parker, ex-PD at the Talk
America Radio Network and at WSAR (1480) Fall River.  Parker and owner Doug
Rowe say they're committed to live, local talk.  Further down I-495 in Norfolk
MA, WDIS (1170) has dropped its Talk America programming, and is playing adult
contemporary music with live, local DJs. 

*The FCC is out with its latest list of proposed expanded-band allocations, and
once again the Northeast gets the very short end of the stick.  Only two
stations up this way receive spots in the expanded band under the new plan. 
WTRY (980) Troy NY would move to 1640, and WZNN (930) Rochester NH would move
to 1700.  Like earlier FCC lists, the latest proposal raises more questions
than it answers.  Among the stations listed is WJRZ (1550) Toms River NJ -
whose construction permit expired without ever being built!  If the
Commission's goal is to reduce interference, NERW thinks WJRZ(AM) has done its
part for the cause without ever receiving an expanded-band slot.  The FCC might
also want to check the call letters on the list; many are quite outdated by
now!
 
*In business news: Congratulations to Bob Bittner, whose purchase of WJTO (730)
Bath ME was approved earlier this month.  Bob's now sorting his way through all
the old stuff he's finding buried deep in the WJTO studio/transmitter facility. 
WMDI (107.7) Bar Harbor ME has been sold by MDI Communications to Bridge
Broadcast Corp.   Pilot Communications has sold its radio properties in the
Northeast to Broadcasting Partners Holdings LP.  The stations include WTVL/WEBB
(1490/98.5) Waterville ME; WEZW/WMME (1400/92.3) Augusta ME; and WLTI (105.9),
WNSS (1260), WNTQ (93.1) and WAQX (95.7 Manlius) in the Syracuse NY market. 
WLTI has just been granted a power increase to 4 kW.

WXZR (98.7) East Lyme CT has been sold from Group E Communications to Hall
Communications, owner of WICH/WCTY (1310/97.7 Norwich) and WNLC/WTYD
(1510/100.9 New London) in the Southeast Connecticut area.  WXZR has been
running satellite adult AC since the demise of its old Z-Rock format last
winter; no word on what Hall might do to the format.

*More information from our friends at 1919 M Street, NW, in no particular
order: Northeast Gospel Broadcasting has been granted a translator at 88.5 in
Bennington VT, to relay its WNGX (91.7) Argyle NY.   NGB is also applying for
105.5 in Scotia NY, near Schenectady, an interesting move given that the new
WNYQ (105.7 Queensbury) blasts quite a signal into the area.  Expect more
translators of William Walker's WRWD (107.3 Highland NY) and WBWZ (93.3 New
Paltz NY); he's bought construction permits for Newburgh NY translators on 94.1
and 106.5 from Paul Reid.  The Monroe Board of Education has been granted a
translator on 94.5 in Old Saybrook CT, relaying its WGRS (91.5) Guilford.  The
Educational Media Foundation is applying for a translator in Watertown NY on
89.7, relaying KLVC (88.3), in oh-so-nearby Magalia, California.  NERW doesn't
even know where Melrose Park NY is, but it must be somewhere in the Finger
Lakes region, because WNYR (98.5) Waterloo has applied for a 98.1 translator
there.  Meantime, down in Elmira, the WSKG Public Telecommunications Council
won't be building a new translator on 91.1.  The FCC has deleted the
construction permit for W216AB.  WSKG already operates WSQE on 91.1 in nearby
Corning NY.  Here in our new home base of Rochester, another FM channel is
about to bite the dust.  WRCD (107.3 Honeoye Falls-Rochester) has been granted
a translator on 107.9 in Rochester, W300AM.  So much for listening to WWHT
Syracuse on 107.9...

Back in New England, WDEV-FM in Warren VT is doubling its power - from 48 watts
to a whopping 96 watts, albeit from way up there in the mountains.  We now know
for sure where the new Vermont/New Hampshire joint public radio station will
operate from.  They've applied for 1700 watts vertical, 110 watts horizontal
from way up on the WVPR (89.5) transmitter near Windsor VT.  Family Stations
has been granted permission to move its Burlington VT translator, now on 90.9,
to 89.3 under the new calls W207AX.  Whatever you call it, it rebroadcasts KEAR
(106.9) San Francisco.  Concord Bible Fellowship in Concord NH has been granted
a 104.3 translator, W282AF, to relay WBCI (105.9) Bath ME.  And yes, there's
one secular translator to report: WZSH (107.1 Bellows Falls VT) has been
granted W298AH, a 107.5 translator in Claremont NH.

*New England's religious broadcasters are engaging in some territorial
squabbling when it comes to new translators.  Christian Ministries, Inc. is
fighting a petition to deny that was filed against its proposed translator on
96.3 in Quechee VT, which would have relayed WCMD (89.9) Barre VT.  CMI is also
applying for 91.7 in Woodstock VT, just down the road.  Meantime, the folks at 
WPVQ (93.9) Turners Falls MA are fighting a petition to deny filed by Harvest
Broadcasting Association against their proposed translator in South Hadley MA. 
Harvest is owned by Brian Dodge, who's developed a bit of an FCC track record
for operating "outside the lines," including his 1995 activation of WRVT (107.5
West Rutland VT) long after said CP had expired.  You can now hear WPVQ on
RealAudio, by the way...look for www.wpvq.com.

*Aboard the pirate ship: NERW's friends in Syracuse tell us there's a pirate
calling itself "WMIV - Jammin' Z90" operating weekends on 90.7 MHz.  The signal
is reportedly being heard throughout much of the Salt City.

*How hard is it to build a translator in downtown Boston?  Ask the folks at the
Boston Phoenix and WFNX (101.7 Lynn-Boston).  They've filed for an extension of
time to build W267AI, the planned 101.3 WFNX translator atop the John Hancock
Tower. 

*For the history buffs: Connecticut Public TV ran a special earlier this month
called "You're on the Air! The Early Years of Connecticut Television."  NERW is
hoping CPTV repeats the show later in the spring so we can get a tape of it! 
And Boston's WCVB-TV (Channel 5), which celebrated its 25th anniversary with a
special called "5 at 25" on March 19, will rebroadcast the show on Sunday, May
25 at 9 PM.  NERW thanks the many folks who responded with offers to send a
copy of the show to our new Rochester headquarters, a bit outside the Grade B
contour for channel 5!

*We could zing "Broadcasting and Cable" for getting the idea that WSUB (980
Groton CT) and WBSM (1420 New Bedford MA) swapped call letters.  We could zing
them for having no idea of WLTI (105.9 Syracuse NY)'s current format.  But
we're getting tired of it.

*Anyway, NERW makes mistakes too - last issue, we told you WBMX (98.5 Boston)
had been approved to move from the FM128 tower in Newton to the Prudential
Center.  Bzzzzt!  As several sharp-eyed NERW readers reminded me, the CP
actually authorizes a move just slightly to the south, to the Cabot Road,
Needham candelabra that's home to channels 25 (for now), 38, and 56.

*Local radio?  Yes, it still exists...just ask the folks at WQQQ (103.3) in
Sharon CT, where a local family suffered a total loss from a fire in their
rented home.  WQQQ's "Marshall in the Morning" show stepped in just a few hours
later, opening the phone lines to raise money to help the Rubino family, with
the help of one listener who pledged to match the donations.  Within just a few
hours, Q103 brought in more than $9,000 in money, plus offers of housing,
clothes, food, and construction assistance.  You can't do that when your
programming comes from Dallas or Denver.  By the way, WQQQ owner Dennis Jackson
now has WMEX (102.5 Westport NY - Burlington VT) on the air, running automated
classical music.

*On a sad note: NERW marks the passing of Granville "Granny" Klink of
Washington's WTOP (1500).  Klink had been an engineer at the station for close
to 60 years, and worked every day well into his 80s.  He was a legend in his
field.  We also send our condolences to AIRWAVES moderator Bill Pfeiffer on the
death of his mother, Asta Pfeiffer.  Bill has been a good friend to NERW over
the years, and he's in our thoughts this week.

*A reminder to those of you who read NERW on the Boston Radio Interest or
NorthEast Radio Watcher mailing lists: those lists have moved.  The new
addresses to subscribe are:

boston-radio-interest-request@radio.lcs.mit.edu
nerw-request@radio.lcs.mit.edu

Put SUBSCRIBE in the body of your message and you're on.  The BRI list includes
discussion of New England broadcasting; the NERW list is just NERW, hot off the
keyboard as it's published.  The Boston Radio Interest website remains, as
always, at
http://radio.lcs.mit.edu/radio/bostonradio.html.

*Now that we've thawed out, we'll be back within a week (I promise!) with more
tales of broadcasting in the Slightly Warmer Northeast.  See you then!

-=Scott Fybush - fybush@world.std.com - Rochester NY=-

From:  Scott D Fybush, fybush@world.std.com
Subj:  NorthEast Radio Watch 4/3: Snow, Snow, and More Snow


*New England is recovering from a freak April snowstorm, and 
we here at NERW headquarters are suddenly having no regrets 
whatsoever about making the move to Rochester - and to think 
of all the ribbing we took for moving to "snowy" Upstate New 
York!    Anyway, the storm is our top story this week, so on 
with the news:

The storm took several stations completely off the air, 
including WSSH (101.5) Marlboro VT and WDIS (1170) Norfolk 
MA.   Several others, including WZSH (107.1) Bellows Falls 
VT, WHDQ (106.1) Claremont NH, and WVAY (100.7) Wilmington 
VT stayed on the air but without any audio.  WLKW (790) 
Providence was noted with a phone-line audio feed to its 
East Providence transmitter.  Most of the stations are now 
back on the air, with the exception of WDIS, which remained 
silent as of Wednesday morning.

WBZ (1030) in Boston suffered a lightning strike to one of 
its two towers in Hull, Massachusetts, forcing the station 
to run from its backup 10 kilowatt transmitter at the 
Brighton studios for several hours on Tuesday while repairs 
were being made.  'BZ ditched its usual taped overnight 
newscasts Monday night and Tuesday morning, keeping Don Huff 
in the studios with live newscasts all night.

On the radio-with-pictures side of the aisle, Boston's 
network affiliates dumped most of their daytime programming 
Tuesday to stay with the big story.  CBS O&O WBZ-TV was on 
the air from 5 AM until 1 PM, pulling veteran storm reporter 
Shelby Scott out of retirement to stand amidst nearly three 
feet of snow in Worcester.  WCVB (Channel 5) was on from 5 
AM until 2 PM, and WHDH-TV (Channel 7) outdid 'em all with 
coverage from just before 4 AM until 3 PM, pausing for an 
hour before picking back up at 4.  As for Fox O&O WFXT 
(Channel 25), they were plagued by a power outage at the 
Dedham studios, which knocked out their 10 PM newscast.  
Backup power, Mr. Murdoch?

*April Fool!  Several Northeast stations got into the spirit 
of the day Tuesday, including Syracuse's WNTQ (93.1), which 
spent the morning telling listeners their cash was about to 
be replaced by a new series of bills.  The stunt was not 
appreciated by area banks, which had to spend the rest of 
the day persuading 93Q listeners that there was no need to 
come in and exchange their bills.  Here in Rochester, WHAM 
(1180) went small-town for a few days, replacing the last 
hour of its midday talk show with "Tradio," giving listeners 
the chance to call in and sell their household items.  (We 
*think* that was an April Fool joke...)

Listeners in Rutland VT heard WZRT (97.1) giving the time 
one hour fast all morning; we suspect the rest of New 
England was too preoccupied by the storm to give much 
thought to April Fool jokes.

Here at NERW, we were tempted to throw together an April 1 
special...but then again, most of what's happened in the 
past year could have played as April Fools just a few years 
ago.  It's hard to parody an industry that's gone as crazy 
as broadcasting in the last few years!

*News from all over: Providence's WPRO AM/FM (630/92.3), 
WLKW (790), and WWLI (105.1) have new owners.  Citadel 
Broadcasting is moving beyond its current markets in the 
midwest and out west to buy Tele-Media, whose holdings 
include almost 20 stations in its home base of Pennsylvania 
as well as the Providence stations and stations in Quincy 
IL.  Purchase price for the whole package is $117 million, 
according to Inside Radio.  WPRO and WLKW are the market's 
AM leaders, with news/talk and standards formats, 
respectively.  PRO-FM is the market's CHR station, and "Lite 
105" is one of two ACs.  Format changes?  One never knows...

Also in the Ocean State: So much for the AC format on 
Narragansett Pier's WPJB (102.7).  John Fuller has sold the 
station to Peter Ottmar's Back Bay Broadcasting, which is 
flipping it to a simulcast of dance-CHR WWKX (106.3 
Woonsocket-Providence).  The simulcast will bring "Kix" to 
new listeners in southern Rhode Island and southeast 
Connecticut.  Fuller keeps WJJF (1180) Hope Valley RI and 
WBMW (106.5) Ledyard CT.

And Newport Broadcasting and Perry Communications, the 
former owners of WADK (1540 Newport) and WOTB (100.3 
Middletown, now WDGF) have been hit with fines from the FCC 
for failing to comply with EEO rules.  They'll have to pay 
$3500 for failing to recruit properly.

*In Massachusetts, an update on the WSRO situation.  Former 
owner Doug Rowe is no longer associated with the station, 
and Lindsy Parker has moved from station manager to PD.  
Plans for an all-talk format are on hold for now at 
Marlboro's AM 1470...keep an eye on www.wsro.com for 
updates.

Changes in the works at Bob Bittner's WJIB (740 Cambridge-
Boston): The station's staff has doubled, as Tory Gates 
rejoins 'JIB as morning host and public affairs director.  
With Tory on hand, Bob will be able to concentrate more on 
WJTO up in Maine, which has added "Let's Talk About Radio" 
to its schedule Sunday afternoons at 12:06 PM.

A correction: Shadow Traffic is not the traffic service for 
Boston's WODS (103.3).  SmartRoutes is still providing 
traffic reports to Oldies 103.  Metro Traffic's long 
association with WBZ came to an end Monday night at 8:03, 
with an emotional farewell from Jack Harte, whose 
distinctive late-night traffic reports will be missed.  
Shadow began servicing WBZ Tuesday at midnight, operating 
from the former WBNW quarters in Charlestown.

A job listing:

WCRB 102.5 FM, Boston, New England's #1 Classical music 
station, seeks part-time
 announcers.  Classical music experience desirable but not 
mandatory.  Tapes and
 resumes to Mario Mazza, Program Director, WCRB, 750 South 
Street, Waltham, MA
02254.   WCRB also seeks Morning News Anchor. Journalism 
degree and 5 years major market experience.  Aircheck and 
resume to Laura Carlo, News Director, same ad
dress as above.

And what's going on with WJDA (1300 Quincy) and WESX (1230 
Salem)?  It seems someone filed petitions to deny their 
license renewals.  We're not sure what the grounds were, and 
it probably doesn't matter; the FCC has denied the petitions 
to deny, granting renewals to the co-owned stations.  
Meantime down in the New Bedford area, Ed Dinis has been 
granted a changed city of license for his WLAW (1270) 
construction permit.  Now it's for North Dartmouth instead 
of Fairhaven, with a transmitter site close to Fall River, 
considerably closer to Providence than the old site in 
Fairhaven.  One more bit of New Bedford news: WLWC-TV 
(Channel 28) has been seen testing; the new target date is 
later this month for the new WB affiliate.

*Up in New Hampshire, the new owners of Lebanon's 100.5 FM 
have put a new format and calls on the former WVRR (ex-WNBX, 
ex-WUVR, etc.).  As of March 24, 100.5 is now "KIXX 
country," picking up the WXXK format and calls from co-owned 
101.7 Newport NH.  101.7 becomes WVRR, "V-101," with a 
satellite adult-rock format.  WKBK (1220) in Keene is 
promoting what it claims will be the market's first all-
female morning team.  And if you're looking for WGIR in 
Manchester on the web, it's moved...check out 
http://am610.wgir.com and http://rock101.wgir.com for AM and 
FM, respectively.

*In Maine, Bob Cole has reportedly put WCME (96.7 Boothbay 
Harbor) up for sale, along with the land at its Newcastle, 
Maine transmitter site.    Unbeknownst to us at NERW, 
Pittsfield's WJCX (99.5) has moved its transmitter to Etna, 
Maine (midway between Pittsfield and Bangor), and moved its 
studios to the WBGR-LP (Channel 33) building in Bangor.  
WJCX is the former WPBC, which returned to the air in 
January.  And from his new base at WJTO Bath, Bob Bittner 
sends along word that he's looking for someone to serve as 
operations manager and much more...perhaps even general 
manager.  Contact Bob at WJIB, 617-868-7400, for more 
information.

*Not much to report from Connecticut this time around; our 
usual Connecticut correspondents must be snowed in!  M 
Street claims WAPJ (89.9) in Torrington is on the air with a 
variety format, and we have to confess to knowing next to 
nothing about this one.  Martin?  Bill?  We await your 
enlightenment...and while you're at it, how about confirming 
FMedia's report of a pirate on 92.9?  Bruce Elving's 
newsletter claims "WXKQ" is serving western and central 
Connecticut in an unknown foreign language.  By the way, 
Bruce's FM Atlas is now out in a new 17th edition...you can 
get it postpaid for $18.50 from PO Box 336, Esko MN 55733-
0336.  The Atlas remains one of the indispensable tools for 
FM DX and traveling, and it's always nice to see a new 
edition.

*And from Upstate New York:  WUTR (Channel 20) in Utica has 
been sold.  Media General Broadcasting, which bought WUTR as 
part of the Park media group, has sold the station to Utica 
Broadcasting Partners LLC.  There's a new format at WABH 
(1380) in Bath, to go along with the station's power 
increase from 500/21 watts ND to 2500/119 DA-2 from a new 
three-tower array southwest of town.  WABH flipped from a 
simulcast of hot AC WVIN (98.3 Hammondsport) to satellite 
oldies Monday morning.  WABH and WVIN will continue to 
simulcast the local morning drive show, and WVIN will stick 
with hot AC the rest of the day, under the new ID "V-98."  
In Norwich, Cooney Broadcasting's new 95.3 will have the 
WBKT calls last seen on the old 93.3 at Brockport High 
School.   A few more religious applications: 90.1 Watertown 
by Liberty Communications Family Broadcasting, and 90.3 
Utica by Souls Harbor Pentecostal.  And the folks at the 
Educational Media Association want a KLVC translator on 89.7 
in Watertown.  Here in Rochester, WOKR (Channel 13) has 
added an extra half-hour to its morning newscast, starting 
at 5:30 AM instead of 6, and Don Crawford has, as expected, 
applied for the WDCZ calls for his latest purchase, WCMF(AM) 
990.

*From the Travel Log: NERW took a trip to the Elmira-Corning 
area last weekend, and here's what we found:

There's a lot more radio these days than there was the last 
time we passed through a decade or so ago.  Let's start with 
the old-timers:

On AM, the former WIQT (1000) Horsehide is now a full-timer 
on 820, and is now on its third set of calls, having gone 
from WIQT to WQIX to the new WWLZ, "Wheels 820."  It's all 
satellite talk and sports.

The 1000 spot is now religious WLNL, "Lighthouse Radio," 
with a format that included loud Christian rock and roll the 
afternoon we tuned in.  Still a daytimer, and diplexed off 
one of WWLZ's three towers.

WENY on 1230 is an all-satellite talker, and WELM (1410) is 
mostly satellite, running sports talk. 

Corning's WCBA (1350) and WCLI (1450) were having technical 
problems the Sunday afternoon we tuned in.  WCBA was 
supposed to be satellite standards, but was all dead air.  
WCLI was supposed to be satellite talk, but instead the 
computer was playing ID after ID after ID, all with loud 
noise behind 'em.  Nobody was home at the Davis Road studios 
when we pulled in...no big surprise?

And last but far from least, WEHH (1590) in Elmira Heights-
Horseheads was playing standards, but the modulation on the 
500 watt transmitter was so low that it was barely audible!  
WEHH is LMA'd to WELM, and the stations simulcast a fun 
polka program Sunday mornings.

As for FM...there was no sign of noncomms WCEB (91.9 
Corning; Corning Community College) or WECW (107.7 Elmira; 
Elmira College).  WSQE (91.1 Elmira) simulcasts Binghamton's 
WSKG (89.3) from high atop Hawley Hill, and WCIH (90.3) is 
an outlet of the Bath-based Family Life Network.

There were just a handful of live FMs: WNKI (106.1 Corning) 
is CHR "Wink 106," and you'll have to listen very carefully 
to hear the real calls.   WNKI, WWLZ, and WPGI (100.9 
Horseheads) are SabreCom stations, operating from new 
studios on College Ave. in Elmira.  WLVY (94.3) is WELM's 
sister station, running CHR as "94 Rock."  WNGZ (104.9 
Montour Falls, simulcast on WGMF 1490 Watkins Glen) isn't 
exactly live, but it is locally-automated as classic rock 
"Wingz 105," with translators in Elmira and Corning on 93.5.  
SabreCom now runs WNGZ under an LMA.

If you like your radio from Denver or Dallas, there's plenty 
of satellite FM to choose from in the market.  WLVY/WELM's 
sister station WOKN (99.5 Southport, translator in Corning 
on 102.5) runs country as "OK100."  There's more country on 
WPGI, "Piggy 101," with live morning host Chris P. Bacon 
(get it?) and satellite the rest of the day.  WENY-FM (92.7) 
is AC as "Y92.7," and from Corning there's more satellite AC 
on WCBA-FM 98.7.  WCBA's sister station WGMM (97.7 Big 
Flats) is satellite oldies "Gem 97."  The Corning FMs were 
also having problems Sunday afternoon; WCBA-FM was all dead 
air all the time, and WGMM was missing its local inserts for 
a few hours.

One more "Elmira" FM: WPHD (94.7 Tioga PA) has a 95.1 Elmira 
translator, and plays classic rock as "The Met."  And WMKB 
(96.9 Ridgebury PA) is currently dark; it was simulcasting 
WLNL, and before that WEHH.

And if you prefer TV, there are but a handful of choices.  
Little WENY-TV (Channel 36) is the ABC affiliate, 
broadcasting from a former garage (and it shows!) in North 
Horseheads.  WETM-TV (Channel 18) is all grown up from its 
days as a satellite of Syracuse's Channel 3.  Now ensconced 
in new studios downtown, WETM is the NBC affiliate for both 
Elmira and Binghamton, with the change of Binghamton's WICZ-
TV (Channel 40) from NBC to Fox.  And the newcomer is 
Corning's WYDC (Channel 48), a Fox/UPN affiliate that goes 
by the name "Big Fox."  It's seen on translator in Elmira on 
channel 26 and in Bath on channel 20.  CBS and PBS come from 
Binghamton, on WBNG (Channel 12) and WSKG-TV (Channel 46, 
Elmira translator on Channel 30) respectively.

Next up: Jamestown, Olean, and Salamanca!

*And that's our report for this week.  We'll try to keep to 
an every-Thursday format...and please continue to keep us 
posted on broadcast happenings in your neck of the 
Northeast.  Until next week...

-=Scott Fybush - fybush@world.std.com =-

From: Scott D Fybush, fybush@world.std.com
Subj: NorthEast Radio Watch 4/10: It's Baseball Time


*They call it "April," and yet it's all of 24 degrees outside - maybe this 
Rochester thing wasn't such a great idea after all, weather-wise...anyway, on 
with the week's news:

*We'll start this week in Massachusetts, where Glenn Ordway is out as program 
director at all-sports WEEI (850).  Ordway tells the Boston Globe the decision 
was a mutual one, to allow him to focus on his on-air duties.  Brad Murray
takes over PD reins at WEEI, in addition to his duties at sister talker WRKO 
(680).  Up in Gardner, meantime, little WGAW (1340) is about to be doing 
independent programming for the first time in years.  Doug Rowe kept WGAW when
he sold WSRO (1470) in Marlborough, and word has it that WGAW's program
schedule will soon include Red Sox baseball and other simulcasts from nearby
WEIM (1280) in Fitchburg.

More storm news: We're told WBPS (890) and WRPT (650) were also knocked off the
air during last week's big storm.  WBZ (1030) broke format for a while on
Wednesday afternoon to take calls from listeners who were unhappy about the 
slow state of snow removal.  And with morning jocks Ken Shelton of WBOS and 
Jack Brady of WOAZ stranded at home, overnighters Julie Devereaux and Hillary
Stevens got to stay on for the morning gigs at Greater Media's newest 
stations.

And the Lowell National Historical Park's 1610 TIS is now running actual 
information about events at the park...after two years with nothing but test 
messages!

*A busy week in Connecticut, as Nutmeg State correspondent Marty Waters checks
in with this report:

WTIC (1080) in Hartford added Robin King as a featured part of the
morning-drive Ray Dunaway Show as of April 2.  The news-talk format of the
program remains the same, as does its name, although Dunaway and King said in
an interview published in The Hartford Courant on April 9 that the intention is
to "lighten up" the program and broaden its demographic appeal beyond the
strongly male tilt it has now.  The 33-year-old King, a 17-year veteran of
radio with eight years in the Hartford market, left her post last fall as
co-host of the "Ross and Robin" show on WKSS-FM (95.7) whose strongest audience
demographic is young women.  She chose not to renew her contract, preferring to
spend some time at home with her 2-year-old son, Kenny.  The 47-year-old
Dunaway has anchored the morning shift at American Radio Systems' WTIC for the
past five years.

Radio sources said last fall, according to the Courant, that WTIC operations
manager Bill Stairs, who made many staff and programming changes before leaving
the station in the fall, had arranged for King to team up with Dunaway after
her non-compete clause expired this spring.  But King said she left WKSS with
no guarantee of any local radio job when she decided to return to work.  The
Courant noted that King "suddenly appeared" on the program with no advance
promotion.  She is quoted as saying she only visited the station for
discussions for the first time on the day before she was on the air.

King said she had heard a rumor-which had no basis-that she would be reunited
with Gary Craig on the morning show on co-owned WTIC-FM.  She and Craig were
co-hosts when Craig worked the morning shift at KISS 95.7 before he returned to
WTIC-FM for his current, second stint there.

Traffic reporter Dennis Kennedy of WICC (600) in Bridgeport escaped injury
yesterday when his plane lost power and he glided to an emergency landing at
Sikorsky Airport in Stratford, which serves the Bridgeport area, the station
reported.  Another staff member took over the traffic-reporting duties for the
remainder of morning drive time.

And in other Connecticut news:

The stations up in the state's northwest corner were hardly immune from last 
week's big snowstorm.  Dennis Jackson checked in from WQQQ (103.3 Sharon), to
report that the main generator at the station's transmitter site in Millerton
NY failed, knocking both Q103 and WKZE-FM (98.1 Salisbury CT) off the air at 
the height of the storm.  WKZE-FM remained silent for three days, but Q103  was
back within 11 hours, thanks to station staffers who made supply runs up  and
down Silver Mountain with fuel for a portable backup generator.  Q103 
immediately went into emergency mode, relaying information from listeners, 
utilities, and town officials.

As for the 92.9 pirate mentioned last week, so far none of NERW's Connecticut 
readers have actually heard it, although one reader notes that there's what 
sounds like a Haitian pirate on 89.3 in the Norwalk area.

*New Hampshire news: It's the end of an era for independent TV in the Granite 
State.  WNDS (Channel 50) in Derry was officially transferred to Ramcast, Inc.
last Saturday, bringing with it a switch to Global Shopping Network 
programming.  Most of the station's staff, including well-known weatherman Al 
Kaprelian, was laid off.  WNDS had recently been improving its cable coverage 
in the Boston market, and is now available to viewers in most of the metro 
area - for whom it's now at least the fourth all home-shopping signal on the
UHF dial.

There could be a new AM signal in the Upper Valley area.  Koor Broadcasting, 
which owns WNTK AM-FM (1020 Newport/99.7 New London), is applying for 720 in
Hanover.  No word yet on facilities, but we'd suspect a few thousand watts
daytime, possibly directional to protect CKAC (730) in Montreal, and a few
watts at night.  Apparently the plans for 720 in Billerica MA are now 
completely dead and gone...

*One bit of news from Rhode Island this week: the long-awaited debut of 
Providence's WB affiliate is now set for 5:30 PM on Sunday, April 13.  WLWC 
(Channel 28) is licensed to New Bedford MA and will be operated by NBC's 
WJAR-TV (Channel 10).  WLWC is owned by Fant Broadcasting, which has similar
LMA deals in other markets around the country.

*One bit of Maine news this week as well: Bangor's country "Bear" is finally 
shedding the WWFX call letters that marked its old CHR "Fox" format.  The 
Belfast-licensed 104.7 outlet has applied to become WEBR, calls last seen in 
Washington DC on the once-and-present WGAY-FM (99.5), and before that for 
decades in Buffalo NY on what's now WNED AM-FM (970/94.5).  By the way, we've
yet to hear from any NERW listeners who received the DX test a few weeks ago
from Presque Isle's WEGP (1390).  Our tape here in Rochester turned up mostly
WLAN from Lancaster PA on the frequency, once WDCW in Syracuse had signed off
for the night.  One more note: M Street reports Bangor's WWBX (97.1) has dumped
its local modern-rock format for ABC's satellite modern AC format, still as
"97X," apparently.  That's good news for cross-town rocker WKIT (100.3 Brewer),
which is now one of just a handful of live, local radio outlets up there.

*Vermont must still be snowed in, because there's been no word from our usual 
gang of correspondents up that way, and no FCC news of note from the Green 
Mountain State, either.  Hope the snow melts soon, guys...

*And here in Upstate New York:

"Smooth Jazz Doesn't Live Here Anymore"...but "Alice" does: Buffalo's WSJZ 
(92.9) dumped its smooth-jazz format last week, to become modern AC "Alice at 
92.9."  The ARS-owned station joins outlets in Denver, San Francisco, and St. 
Louis with the "Alice" moniker and the modern AC format.  No jocks yet, and  no
new calls have been applied for either.

Brand-new NERW correspondent Gavin Burt checks in from "just north of Albany"
with some information on Capital District radio during the Blizzard of '97:
Stations knocked off by the storm included WABY-FM (94.5 Ravena), WDCD-FM (96.7
Clifton Park), WTRY-FM (98.3 Rotterdam), WCTW (98.5 Catskill), WNYQ (105.7
Queensbury), and at least briefly WPYX (106.5 Albany).  WCKM-FM (98.5 Lake
George) was apparently running lower power than usual from their tower on
Prospect Mountain in the Adirondacks.  One more note from the Glens Falls area:
WENU (101.7 Hudson Falls) has now switched to an adult standards format, after
simulcasting WNYQ for several months.

An update to our Elmira-Corning rundown from last week: WNGZ (104.9 Montour
Falls) and WGMF (1490 Watkins Glen) have now been sold to SabreCom, which was
operating them under an LMA anyway.  Sale price is listed as a quarter-million
dollars.  Expect big changes to the automated "Wingz 105" classic rock format
in the next few months...

Amsterdam's WCSS (1490) has been sold to Weber Communications of Amsterdam,
Inc., by Gem Associates LP.

William Walker, owner of WRWD (107.3 Highland) and WBWZ (93.3 New Paltz) in the
Poughkeepsie market, has filed an application for a 103.7 translator in
Highland, to rebroadcast WQXR (96.3 New York).  The translator should placate
Hudson Valley listeners who've had trouble with WQXR's classical- music signal
since Poughkeepsie's new 96.1 signed on last year.

Translators are the big news out of Syracuse.  Religious WZXV (99.7 Palmyra-
Rochester) signed on a 103.5 translator serving Syracuse last week.  W278AH 
are the calls they're mentioning in the ID.  All of two watts, albeit from 505'
above average terrain.  And the Radio Corporation has applied for a 101.3 
Syracuse translator for its WKRL (100.9 North Syracuse).

A bit of Utica information: WUTQ (1550) has joined the simulcast with WADR 
(1480 Remsen) and WRNY (1350 Rome).  That means you can now sit in downtown
Utica in daylight and hear three signals with satellite big-bands.  And you can
now sit in downtown Utica at night and hear almost nothing on all three
frequencies.

Here in Rochester, WHEC-TV (Channel 10) has followed the early-morning lead  of
WOKR (Channel 13), adding 30 minutes to its "AM Live" newscast, which now
starts at 5:30 AM.  No radio news this week, but we're told there will be at
least one format change to tell you about for next week...
 
*Digital TV is coming...at least if you're in Boston or New Hampshire.  The big
four networks have given the FCC a list of affiliates in the top 10  markets
that will be on the air with digital TV by the end of 1998.  In Boston, those
are WGBH-TV, WCVB-TV, and Manchester's WMUR-TV.  There's no word yet from the
FCC on channel assignments for the new digital broadcasts.  Boston will
actually have more DTV than New York, where WCBS-TV is the lone  station on the
early-adopters list.

*Take me out to the radio: It's baseball season again, even if it is freezing
outside, and that's enough excuse for us to run down the information we've got 
on Northeast radio outlets for America's pastime:

No change in the major-league flagships this year, as the Red Sox continue on 
WEEI (850), the Mets stay on WFAN (660), and the Yankees remain on WABC (770). 
The Blue Jays are still on CJCL (590 "The Fan") as well as just about every
other AM station in Ontario, or so it seemed last Sunday when we parked the
NERW-mobile at the nice spot we've found on Lake Ontario where all the 
Canadian stations blast in.

Now, for the state-by-state rundown of who's where:

MAINE:

The Eastern League's Portland Pirates stay on WPOR (1490) for another season.  
We're not sure whether Bangor's Blue Ox are on the radio up there.  And of 
course you'll hear the Red Sox on just about every small-town station up 
there...

NEW HAMPSHIRE:

No minor league teams up that way..but of course the Red Sox network finds its 
way to every corner of the Granite State, including WGIR (610) in Manchester.

VERMONT:

The Vermont Expos are on Burlington's WVMT (620) for another season of 
single-A action.  Plenty of Red Sox affiliates as well - just spin the dial 
and you'll find them somewhere.  What's missing this season is Montreal Expos 
baseball, which had been heard on WEAV (960 Plattsburgh NY) in recent seasons.  
Expos flagship CIQC (600) doesn't have much signal in Vermont, but French
speakers can tune in the action on CKAC (730).

MASSACHUSETTS - Major Sox affiliates include WEEI, WSAR (1480 Fall River), WTAG
(580 Worcester), and WHYN (560 Springfield), but there's one big hole this
year: no Sox outlet on Cape Cod.  WCIB (101.9 Falmouth) didn't renew for
another year, and that means WEEI is scrambling for a new broadcaster to bring
the Sox to the huge summer crowds on the Cape, where its own signal is weak at
best, especially at night.  Cape viewers can see some Sox action on WZBU
(Channel 58) in Vineyard Haven, part of the WABU-TV network.  By the way,
someone ought to tell the Globe that WCIB isn't on the network anymore...

Yankees fans in the Worcester area will find the team on WWTM (1440), which  is
now simulcasting co-owned WEEI most of the rest of the week.

In the minors, you'll find the Lowell Spinners on WLLH (1400 Lowell- Lawrence)
for another season.  The Pittsfield Mets return to WBRK (1340).  The 
Massachusetts Mad Dogs have moved from Lowell's WCAP (980) to Salem's WESX
(1230), closer to their home base in Lynn.

RHODE ISLAND: Besides Red Sox coverage on WPRO (630) and Yankees games on WPNW
(550), there's AAA action from the Pawtucket Red Sox, with WLKW (790) as the
flagship.

CONNECTICUT:  Radio heaven for baseball fans, with affiliates for all three 
area major-league teams, as well as three Eastern League clubs.  Here's how it 
shakes out, with thanks to Bill Dillane:

The New Haven Ravens have WAVZ (1300) as their flagship, with WNTY 990 
Southington and WMMM 1260 as affiliates.  The New Britain Rock Cats are on 
WMRD (1150 Middletown), as well as WLIS (1420 Old Saybrook).  WMRD and WLIS are
also carrying some games from the Ravens and the Norwich Navigators, who move
to WSUB (980 Groton) and WILI (1400 Willimantic) from their former flagship,
WVVE (102.3 Stonington).

The Red Sox net includes WTIC (1080 Hartford), which is where everyone east  of
the Hudson gets their Sox at night, along with WILI, the WSTC-WNLK- WINE
trimulcast in Fairfield County, WINY (1350) in Putnam, and WAXB (105.5) across
the state line in Patterson NY.

Yankees outlets include newcomer WICC (600 Bridgeport, nights and weekend 
games only), WPOP (1410 Hartford, returning after several years), and WWCO 
(1240 Waterbury).

NEW YORK - We'll start with the AAA teams, two of which are in new stadiums
this year.  The Rochester Red Wings move from WCMF (990) back to WHTK (1280)
after an absence of several years, with an added bonus - Sunday afternoon
games, as well as opening night this Friday and the annual Orioles exhibition
game, will air on sister station WHAM (1180), with a 50 kilowatt  clear-channel
signal.  Syracuse's SkyChiefs, now in their new home at P&C  Stadium, remain on
WHEN (620).  And Buffalo's Bisons stay on WGR (550) in their final American
Association season (they'll join Rochester and Syracuse in the International
League next year).  TV coverage is almost nonexistent except for opening night
games, seen in Syracuse on WIXT-TV (Channel 9) and in Rochester on WHEC-TV
(Channel 10).

Further down in the minors, Binghamton's Eastern League Mets are on WNBF 
(1290).  In the New York-Penn League, the Batavia Clippers are on WBTF (101.7
Attica), the Hudson Valley Renegades are heard on WBNR (1260 Beacon), the
Jamestown Jammers appear on WJTN (1240) and the Watertown Indians show up on
WTNY (790).  There's no radio for the Auburn Doubledays or the Utica Blue Sox.

Thanks to Bill Dillane for Connecticut info and to 
http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com for a lot of the other information...and we 
look forward to hearing updates from all of you out there!  You'll find us
parked in front of a couple of Zweigle's hot dogs at Rochester's new Frontier 
Field...

*And finally this week: Since replacing the (very) old Mac with a brand-new 
Pentium last month, we've been spending a lot of time checking out radio sites 
on the Web, and from time to time we'll be presenting some hits and misses.  
Here's what we found this week:

HITS: WSHU/WSUF, Sacred Heart University's public radio outlets for southern
Connecticut and Long Island, have an awfully nice site at http://www.wshu.org. 
Coverage maps are included, showing the way in which they've used translators
to create two networks in the region... and best of all, they've given their
engineer a monthly column.  One minor nit to pick:  nowhere on the site will
you find WSUF's actual city of license, which is Noyock NY.  Another nifty site
is Lance Venta's Mid-Atlantic Radio Page, a worthy southern counterpart to the
Boston Radio Archives (and the soon-to-debut Upstate NY Radio Archives). 
You'll find all sorts of radio info stretching from New York City to Washington
DC at http://www.tcnj.edu/~venta2/radio.html.

MISSES -If you're going to have a web site for your radio station, it helps to 
keep it up to date..a concept apparently lost on Providence's big AM stations. 
Our search for Providence baseball information ran up against a dead end at 
www.wpro.com and www.whjj.com.  Most of WPRO's links were dead...and at WHJJ,
we found a "Coming Events" list that ended in mid-February.  (And speaking of
inaccuracies, does anyone out there know why Broadcasting and Cable magazine
listed "WIYY(FM) Baltimore [formerly WTYY(FM)]" in last week's issue?  Or why
they insist on listing "Unavailable" for the format or facilities of any
station not listed in last year's Yearbook?  Or why they still think WLKW in
Providence is classical, four years after the fact?  Have these people never
listened to a radio in their lives?  Never mind...

*And with that, we'll pull ourselves away from the keyboard for a few hours.  
Next week, all the corrections to the baseball list, and much more...stay 
tuned!

-=Scott Fybush - fybush@world.std.com=-

From: Scott D Fybush, fybush@world.std.com
Subj: NorthEast Radio Watch 4/17: In The Zone


*We'll begin this week with one brand-new station, right here in NERW's new
home town of Brighton NY.  After six months of nonstop rock instrumentals, WAQB
(94.1) got down to business last Friday afternoon with an Alanis Morrissette
tune.  The station's new modern AC format is going by the "Zone" nickname, and
for now it's running jockless as it plays the first 10,000 songs
commercial-free.

Rick MacKenzie is the PD, and Bill Moran of sister station WCMF-FM (96.5) will
move downstairs to do mornings on the Zone, which is expected to get new calls
any day now.

The Zone is aimed squarely at Rochester's other giant radio operator, Jacor,
which plays most of the same music on modern rock WNVE (95.1 South Bristol,
"The Nerve") and newly-purchased AAA WMAX-FM (106.7 Irondeqoit-Rochester and
WMHX 102.3 Canandaigua).

WAQB is the latest acquisition of American Radio Systems, which also owns
WCMF-FM, CHR WPXY-FM (97.9), ac WRMM-FM (101.3), and is selling WCMF (990).

*Another new sign-on is the long-awaited WLWC-TV (Channel 28) New
Bedford-Providence RI.  After several months of delays, WLWC signed on this
past weekend, with a signal covering most of Rhode Island and southeastern
Massachusetts.  WLWC is operated by NBC's WJAR (Channel 10) Providence, and is
a WB affiliate.  WJAR programs a 10pm newscast weeknights on channel 28.

*Wanna buy a radio network?  The Church of Christ, Scientists is selling
Monitor Radio, closing the books on its long-running efforts to become a major
source of broadcast news.  It's been five years since the church shut down the
Monitor Channel cable network and sold WQTV (Channel 68) in Boston.  Now it's
radio's turn, as the church tries to find a buyer by June for the Boston-based
network and shortwave outlets WSHB Cypress Creek SC and KHBI Saipan.

*It's Arbitron time, and now that your editor no longer works in radio, we can
begin providing a look at the numbers, starting with the just-released winter
book for Boston.  Among listeners 12+, WBZ (1030) was the clear winner, holding
steady with an 8.1 share all day and 12.1 for Gary LaPierre and the morning
crew.  WJMN (94.5) took a big hit, falling nearly a full share from second to
fourth 12+.  WXKS (1430) was the biggest gainer, jumping from 1.8 to 2.4 12+. 
WMJX (106.7) posted a nice gain 12+, and led the 25-54 ratings, followed by
WXKS-FM (107.9), WODS (103.3), WBMX (98.5), and WZLX (100.7).

*Hartford's WTIC AM/FM (1080/96.5) was the target of a bomb threat Wednesday
afternoon.  The station's downtown studios were evacuated after a caller to
nearby WFSB-TV (Channel 3) claimed there was a bomb in the building's garage. 
WTIC staffers put hour-long tapes of Dr. Laura Schlessinger on the AM and
generic music on the FM before evacuating.  The FM tape repeated, but WTIC(AM)
went into dead air for an hour before staffers were able to return to the
studios.  Transmitters for both stations are in Avon CT, and were not affected
by the threat -- so NERW wonders whether there's any provision for WTIC
programming to originate from the transmitter site in such instances.  By the
way, WTIC ended its 23-year career as the Hartford Whalers' flagship station
this week.  WTIC broadcast the very first Whalers game in 1974, and now it's
also broadcast the last, as the team prepares to move for next season.

*Speaking of hockey, Fred Cusick is retiring after nearly four decades as the
play-by-play voice of the Boston Bruins.  Cusick spent the last 25 years at
WSBK-TV (Channel 38).  Cusick did the first US network NHL broadcast back in
1956, as well as the first US network Stanley Cup broadcast a year later.  No
replacement has been announced.  Another possible departure: WRKO morning
co-host Pat Whitley is dropping strong hints that he's getting ready to leave
the "Clapprood and Whitley Show."

*FCC miscellany: There are a slew of applicants for the vacant 106.5 frequency
in Farmington NH, many of them from various "Educational Radio Fellowships,"
which NERW believes to be religious broadcasters.  The 106.5 construction
permit had been held by WRHF(FM), but was never built.  Also in New Hampshire,
WNTK (1020 Newport/99.7 New London) has hired a new morning host. 
Congratulations to Pete Ferrand, formerly of WKBK (1220 Keene), and good luck! 
Up in Ashland NH, Mountain View Christian Communications has applied for a 96.9
translator of WGLV (104.3 Hartford VT).  And candlepin bowling fans in the
Granite State can rest easy; that's the one bit of programming to survive WNDS
(Channel 50)'s move to home shopping.

*From Maine comes word that WCME (96.7 Boothbay Harbor) has returned to the
air, running 70s and 80s AC with very few interruptions.  It's not clear who is
running the station; last we heard, Bob Cole was trying to sell it.  Former
sister station WXGL (95.5 Topsham) has reportedly moved out of Cole's
lighthouse-shaped building and into new studios in Topsham on route 201.

One Maine station showed up on the FCC's long-awaited list of stations deleted
in the February dark-stations purge.  WTOX (1450) Lincoln ME is now gone for
real.  The only others in the northeast were WSRR (1580 Washington NJ) and WTSS
(1320 Scranton PA).

Also, our apologies to the Portland Pirates, who are of course an AHL hockey
franchise and not an Eastern League baseball club.  The Portland Sea Dogs are
the ones who play outside on the grass, and this year they're being heard on
WZAN (970), which is also the Pirates' flagship.  Sea Dogs affiliates include
WIDE (1400 Biddeford), WMDR (1340 Augusta), WTME (1240 Lewiston), and WKTQ
(1450 South Paris), as well as WOXO (92.7 Norway) and WTBM (100.7 Mexico) when
there's no Red Sox game going on.  Sox games are also heard on WJAE (1440
Westbrook-Portland), WJTO (730 Bath), WQSS (102.5 Camden), and WOXO-WTBM.

Seacoast listeners get their Sox on WTSN (1270 Dover NH) again this season.

Another correction: We put Jack Brady at the wrong smooth jazz station last
issue; in fact, he's at WPLM (99.1/1390 Plymouth MA), and he did make it to
work the morning of the big storm a few weeks ago.

*Call letter news: The WYSR calls that were in Albany (now WTRY 98.3 Rotterdam)
and Hartford (now WMRQ 104.1 Waterbury) have reappeared in Fort Wayne, Indiana,
on the 94.1 Roanoke IN facility that was WGL-FM.

*And it's a three-way tie for the honor of worst print-media coverage of radio
this week.  We thought it was pretty embarrassing when Broadcasting and Cable's
April 9 issue showed up in the mailbox with "Sept. 9" on the front cover.  We
giggled a bit when WNVE (95.1, with translator on 95.5) showed up in the
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle as "WNRV (91.1/91.5)".  But as always, we
return to our old stomping grounds in the Boston Globe's "Living/Arts" section,
where today's Susan Bickelhaupt radio column makes the amazing claim that WRPT
(650 Ashland) and WJLT (1060 Natick) signed on THIS WEEK!  Yes, those are the
same sign-ons you read about here in NERW on February 7.  Any comment at all
woutld be superfluous here; the Globe's record stands for itself.

*That's all for another week...see you next Thursday with a tour of the
fun-filled Jamestown and Olean NY radio markets.

-=Scott Fybush - fybush@world.std.com=-

From: Scott D Fybush, fybush@world.std.com
Subj: NorthEast Radio Watch 4/24: Pump Up The Kilowatts


*Crankin' out FIFTY THOUSAND WATTS OF POWER!!!: That could be the
slogan of Koor Broadcasting's new station in Hanover NH, if Bob
Vinikoor gets his way.  We've finally seen the FCC filing for the 720
kHz application, and wouldn't you know, it's for 50 kilowatts by day,
500 watts by night, separate patterns, using 3 towers by day and 4 by
night.  The transmitter site would be in Lebanon, just north of the
town center and east of route 120.  It goes without saying that the
new 720, if approved, would be by far the strongest AM signal in the
Granite State.  This should be interesting...stay tuned.

Not much else to report from New Hampshire this week, except for this
tidbit from NERW research director Garrett Wollman:  There is indeed
no valid license at the moment for Harvest Broadcasting's WWNH (1340)
Madbury NH.  The construction permit for the station was cancelled on
October 6, 1992, and the FCC database shows a reconsideration is
pending.  WWNH was nonetheless on the air the last time NERW was up
that way a few months ago.

*Some big shakeups on the radio dial here in Upstate New York, and
most of them are at Heritage Media's Rochester properties.  Oldies
WKLX (98.9) dumped most of its airstaff last weekend, and is now all
satellite outside of morning drive, where market veteran Mike Vickers
is now working.  Down the hall at classic rock WQRV (93.3 Avon, "The
River,") Chris Wittingham has replaced Coyote Collins as morning
jock.  Collins returns to his duties at country WBEE-FM (92.5).  
Still no word on a possible buyer for the Heritage radio/TV properties,
which also include WPTZ-TV (Channel 5) in Plattsburgh.

New call letters are in place at ARS's modern AC "The Zone" (94.1
Brighton-Rochester).  WZNE replaced WAQB last Friday.  Over in
Buffalo, meanwhile, "Alice at 92.9" is still hiding the old WSJZ calls
at the top of each hour.

There'll be a new AM signal on the air at night in the Rochester area
soon.  We've now seen it with our own eyes; Bob Savage has built three
additional towers at the Avon NY transmitter site of his WYSL, as he
gets ready to move the station from a 500-watt daytimer on 1030 to a
fulltime facility on 1040, with 2500 watts by day and 500 at night.
We'll see whether he beats another new AM to the air; Canandaigua's
WCGR has built a new three-tower facility for its 1310 kHz
construction permit, replacing the daytimer on 1550 kHz.

Rochester's public broadcaster will have to try again to put up an FM
service for western Monroe County.  WXXI's application for 90.9 MHz in
Spencerport NY has been dismissed by the FCC.

Speaking of new stations, there's word from way up North that WYUL
(94.7 Chateauguay) is about to hit the airwaves.  Owner Tim Martz is
no stranger to the Canadian border -- he runs WQHR and WBPW in Presque
Isle ME.  His 50kW directional signal from Lyon Mountain, the WPTZ-TV
(Channel 5) transmitter site near Plattsburgh, will head straight for
Montreal, and as Garrett notes, the "YUL" in the calls is also the
airport code for Montreal.  Word has it that Martz is hiring bilingual
DJs for the new station.

The calls that won't die have returned yet again to Long Island.
WDRE(FM) is the new set of calls on 98.5 Westhampton NY, ex-WLRI,
ex-WLIR-FM, ex-WMRW.  It's still simulcasting 92.7 Garden City, now
WLIR-FM again after a time with the WDRE calls itself.  Meanwhile, the
most recent WDRE, 103.9 Jenkintown-Philadelphia, is now WPHI, "Philly
103.9."  La plus ca change...

*An old Boston callsign has found new life in Downeast Maine.  WSNV
(103.9 Howland-Bangor) has picked up the WVOM calls that lived on
Boston's AM 1600 for a few years in the forties and fifties, before
the Brookline-licensed station became WBOS (and later WUNR).

WCME (96.7 Boothbay Harbor) is reportedly running very limited hours.
Several NERW correspondents in the area have checked in to note that
WCME is signing off around 11 o'clock most mornings, and has been off
the air completely some days.  We'll keep watching this odd situation.

*A bit of weirdness from Rhode Island, as seen in the back pages of
Radio World newspaper:  An outfit calling itself "WCTD AM 1620" in
Westerly is advertising a newsletter that, they claim, will tell you 
how to start your own commercial, legal, unlicensed radio station and
make money at it.  Somehow NERW doubts that it's possible to legally
"cover your entire town" with a Part 15 transmitter...but if anyone
down around Westerly wants to check things out at the high end of the
dial, we'd love to know what you find.

*From Connecticut comes word that Sound of Life, Inc. has asked the
FCC to dismiss its application for an 88.5 translator in New Milford,
after both WMNR (88.1 Monroe CT) and WFCR (88.5 Amherst MA) filed
petitions to deny.  The 88.5 translator would have relayed religious
WFGB (89.7 Kingston NY).  We're also hearing from people who have
heard the 92.9 pirate in the Danbury area, which apparently is calling
itself the "new Q," and playing foreign-language pop music.
Hartford's WRTC (89.3) at Trinity College has boosted its power and is
now operating with 300 watts vertical and horizontal from an antenna
just north of campus...and Hartford's high school broadcaster, WQTQ
(89.9) is seeking a power increase as well.

*Massachusetts news: Rumors of big changes at Boston talker WRKO
continue to swirl...the latest word is that Marjorie Clapprood could
also be on her way out of the morning show, along with co-host Pat
Whitley.  Gardner's WGAW (1340) is now simulcasting Fitchburg's WEIM
(1280) full-time, which should help fill some of the holes in WEIM's
nighttime pattern west of Fitchburg.  Still further out Route 2,
pioneering AAA station WRSI (95.3 Greenfield) is now going by "The
River" on-air.  And all the way out the Mohawk Trail, North Adams'
WNAW (1230) has reportedly dropped AP All News to return to satellite
standards.  Radio with pictures: WBZ-TV (Channel 4) in Boston has
hired Sean Mooney, late of WWOR Secaucus NJ, as its new 5pm anchor.
Mooney started last night, replacing John Dougherty in the 5pm seat.
And a hearty round of congratulations to our friends at WPVQ (93.9)
in Turners Falls, who have been granted their translator at 97.1 in
Amherst, W246AM.

*Digital TV is coming, and the FCC has released the latest proposed
allocations table.  Ready for WBZ-HD 30?  How about WRGB-HD 39?  You
can see the whole list at http://www.transmitter.com if you're
curious.

*And finally this week...our latest trip across the vast NERW coverage
area took us to New York's southern tier last weekend.  Here's what we
found:

There's not much radio left in the DUNKIRK/FREDONIA market, south of
Buffalo on Lake Erie.  WDOE (1410) was doing satellite oldies, WCQA
(96.5) was satellite country (albeit with a live remote on Saturday),
and WCVF (88.9) at Fredonia State College was missing in action.  Good
thing the Buffalo and Erie stations all blast in...

We found some neat viewing in the JAMESTOWN market, where WJTN (1240)
and WWSE (93.3) share a very impressive building at the base of the
WWSE tower.  "SE93" is the 50kW AC giant in town; we found them at a
Saturday remote opening a new supermarket.  Across town, WKSN "Kissin'
Oldies 1340" and WHUG "Huggin' Country 101.7" are co-owned.  Huggin'
was live and local, Kissin' was satellite (as was the talk on WJTN
most of the weekend).  From just across the border, Jamestown can also
hear one of the last beautiful-music FMs in existence, Warren PA's
WRRN (92.3), along with its sister AM, AC WNAE (1310).  Russell PA's
WRLP (103.1, "The Point") is another Jamestown rimshotter.  WKSN, by
the way, still has a rooftop transmitter.  Noncomm relayers WUBJ
(88.1, WBFO 88.7 Buffalo, news/jazz), WNJA (89.7, WNED-FM 94.5
Buffalo, classical), and WCOT (90.9, Family Life Radio) round out the
dial.

Down the road in SALAMANCA and OLEAN, the big gun in town is country
WPIG (95.7 Olean), running live from a nifty art deco building on
Route 417.  AC WMXO (101.5 Olean, "Mix 101.5") was automated all
weekend, with nary a legal ID to be heard except during the leased
Irish and Polish shows Sunday morning.  Salamanca's WQRT (98.3) was
satellite rock.  On the AM side, WPIG's sister station, WHDL (1450),
is satellite oldies; WMXO's sister, WMNS (1360), is business talk and
sports; and WQRT's sister, WGGO (1590), is locally-programmed
variety.  We caught them on a "CD Side Saturday," playing discs from
the Beatles, Barbra Streisand, and Frank Zappa with almost no
interruption.  Noncomms in town are WBFO relay WOLN (91.3) and
St. Bonaventure University's WSBU (88.3).

Just over the state line is Bradford PA, where we spent some time
enjoying WESB (1490), a little local station that believes in serving
the community.  The local newscast we heard at 9 o'clock on a Saturday
night was one of the most comprehensive we've heard on any small
station.  Oddly, the sister AM, WBRR (100.1, "Cool 100") was
all-satellite, as was rimshotter WQRM-FM Smethport PA (106.3, with a
99.3 Bradford translator, running standards).  Looking for live on FM?
St. Mary's WKVE (97.5, "the Peak") fills the bill with hot AC...we
even caught the owner pulling a weekend airshift!

Moving further east, WELLSVILLE has but two stations, satellite
country WLSV (790) and satellite AC WJQZ (103.5).

Heading back north again, only one of ALFRED's two college FMs was on
the air.  WALF (89.7) at Alfred University was playing rock music,
while there was nothing to be heard at SUNY Alfred's WETD (90.9).
There's also no sign yet of Robert Pfuntner's construction permit on
101.9, WZKZ (borrowing the heritage calls from Corning NY).

The final stop of the trip was in Hornell NY, where it was
all-automated at WLEA (1480, standards) and WCKR (92.1, country).
Down the road at Bilbat Radio's WHHO (1320) and WKPQ (105.3), we found
NASCAR racing on the AM and live CHR on the 50kw FM, with a very
talented teenage DJ by the name of Megan McCormick working the Sunday
afternoon shift.  The Bilbat folks seem to do a very good job of
keeping themselves tied in to the community...and you've gotta
love the cartoon logo of a bat with a duck's bill (you can
see it yourself at http://www.wkpq.com).  We also heard the
relatively new 99.3 translator of religious WCIK (103.1 Bath), as well
as the new satellite oldies format on Bath's WABH (1380).

And from there, it's back up I-390 to Rochester...

*Around the web: WNTK up in New Hampshire's Upper Valley has a 
nice site at http://www.wntk.com (though we're still waiting for
Pete Ferrand's photo!).  And at http://www.methuen-on-line.com/wccm
you'll find the start of a website for Lawrence's WCCM (800).

*And that'll do it for us this week...see you next Thursday!

-=Scott Fybush - fybush@world.std.com=-

From: Scott D Fybush, fybush@world.std.com
Subj: NorthEast Radio Watch 5/1: Trouble for Brian Dodge


*Welcome to May -- the sun is shining and the radio waves are blasting
in from Fort Kent to Fredonia, so let's see what's making news this
week in the Northeast...

*We'll begin in NEW HAMPSHIRE this time around, where there's much
more to report about religious broadcaster Brian Dodge and his media
empire of sorts.  Last week we told you that his WWNH (1340 Madbury
NH) is operating without benefit of valid FCC license, and now it
seems New Hampshire's Attorney General's office is looking into the
finances of his "We Trust in Jesus Broadcasting."  State officials
tell the Nashua Telegraph that the charity made a loan to Dodge last
year, in violation of a new state law which bars charities from making
loans to their directors or officers.

Dodge has also reportedly failed to file annual reports for 1995 or
1996, and he's due to appear at a closed-door hearing of the Division
of Charitable Trusts on May 20.  Dodge is claiming his charity is
actually a church, which would exempt it from the reporting
requirements.  State officials disagree.  Stay tuned...

The applications for 106.5 in Farmington NH keep pouring into the FCC;
among the latest batch is one from Carter Broadcasting, which would
add New Hampshire to its group of religion and leased-time stations in
Maine, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island.

Another batch of applications in New Hampshire and Vermont comes from
several "Educational Radio Fellowships," operating under slightly
different names for each application.  They've asked for 88.1 in
Peterborough NH, 91.5 in Wallingford VT, and 88.1 in Bennington VT.

*More from VERMONT: The rumors are flying around WVMX (101.7 Stowe)
this week.  Late word is that the classic rocker may soon be reborn as
a classical music outlet under the calls WCVT.  The 101.7 signal comes
from the top of Mount Mansfield, overlooking the Burlington area as
well as the Stowe area.

*A minor format change to tell you about in MASSACHUSETTS this week,
as American Radio Systems tweaks the format on WEGQ (93.7
Lawrence-Boston), the former 70s rocker.  The "Eagle" is adding music
of the early 1980s, and touting itself as the "Greatest Hits of the
70s and 80s."  Sister station WZMX (93.7) Hartford is still playing
70s rock, but now calling itself "Classic Hits 93.7".

Boston's WBZ (1030) is adding the father-and-son team of Will and Sean
McDonough to its lineup this fall, with a Monday night sports talk
show to precede Monday Night Football.  The McDonoughs will debut
labord day.  Over on the TV side at WBZ, new 5PM anchor Sean Mooney
has drawn some press attention in the days since his debut.  It seems
Mooney was a World Wrestling Federation broadcaster for several years
before going into "serious" journalism...

Congratulations to WZLX (100.7) news director Debby Enblom; she's the
proud mother of a new baby boy!  Ann Cody's filling in for her while
she's on leave.

Out in western Massachusetts, WACM (1490 West Springfield) has been
sold to Antonio F. Gois by the Silva Broadcasting Corp.

Endicott College in Beverly is planning a brunch in honor of Eileen
Kneeland, former Boston radio (WEEI) and TV children's show host.  If
you were one of Kneeland's students at Endicott, you're invited to
contact the college or kkasi@aol.com for more information.  Kneeland
is reportedly sufering from painful arthritis these days...NERW sends
our best wishes her way.

*There's a new signal on the air in upstate NEW YORK.  Just hours
after the last NERW went online, WCGR in Canandaigua turned on its new
1310 kHz fulltime signal.  The directional signal blasts in towards
Rochester, especially by day.  WCGR is still simulcasting on the old
daytime-only 1550 facility, but that's expected to be turned off
shortly.  Just down the road in Geneva, WEOS (89.7) has turned on its
new transmitter, providing much-improved coverage to the areas east of
Geneva.

In Syracuse, WSIV (1540) is applying to change frequency to 670, still
as a daytimer but with 1500 watts non-directional.  A 1980s
construction permit for WAQX(AM) on 670 was never built in Syracuse.

Downstate, the FCC is cracking down on WJUX (99.7 Monticello), which
has spent its entire broadcast career as the nominal primary for
translator W276AQ Fort Lee NJ.  The FCC has ordered a hearing into
whether W276AQ's owner, Gerry Turro, also exercised control over
WJUX and whether the licenses of WJUX, W276AQ, and Turro's translator
W232AL Pomona NY (the relay point between WJUX and W276AQ) should be
pulled.  In listening to WJUX over the last few years, it's quite
obvious that the programming is targeted to W276AQ's Bergen County NJ
listeners and not to WJUX's audience in the Catskills.  This should be
another good one to watch.

Sold and for sale: WIPS (1250) Ticonderoga has been sold to Calvin
Carr by Adirondack Image-WIPS.  And we've seen ads in the trade
offering WBKK (97.7 Amsterdam-Albany) for sale...asking price seems to
be in the $750,000 range, which seems low for a class A FM in the
Albany market.  Perhaps the overbuilding is finally taking its toll...

A minor correction: WPTZ (Channel 5) is *not* on Lyon Mountain in the
Adirondacks; it's on Terry Mountain.  WCFE (Channel 57) is on Lyon.

*More CONNECTICUT news: Local programming has started on WQUN (1220
Hamden).  Ray Andrewsen and Michelle Turner are doing mornings.  The
Northeast League's Waterbury Spirit begin play this season; baseball
fans can catch them on WATR (1320) beginning later this month.

*Up in MAINE: The odd situation surrounding WCME (96.7 Boothbay
Harbor) is getting a bit clearer.  Tryon-Seacoast Communications,
which owns WKCG, WABK, and WFAU in the Augusta market, has bought the
station for an undisclosed amount.  No word yet on what will become of
WCME, which is still being run mornings-only with automated AC out of
former sister station WXGL (95.5 Topsham).

WHOU (100.1 Houlton) has applied to change power and antenna height.
We should know more about this app next week.

And is Fuller-Jeffrey's station group expanding even more along the
Maine-NH coast?  We've started seeing mentions of WSTG (102.1 Hampton)
as a part of the 8 FM/1 AM group...

*One final oddity for the week: Longtime followers of pirate radio in
the Northeast will be familiar with Al Weiner, the man behind
everything from Radio Newyork International to KPF-941 Yonkers,
not to mention licensed stations WOZI and WOZW in Maine.  Now
he's written a book about his adventures in unlicensed broadcasting.
You can find more information at www.loompanics.com if you're curious.

*And that'll do it for another week...see you next Thursday!


-=Scott Fybush - fybush@world.std.com=-

Subj: NorthEast Radio Watch 5/8: May Miscellany
From: Scott D Fybush, fybush@world.std.com


*From Mayville (NY) to Madawaska (ME), here's the miscellany that's filled the
NERW mailbox this week...

*We begin this time in VERMONT, Brattleboro to be exact, where WKVT AM/FM
(1490/92.7) and WVAY (100.7 Wilmington) have been sold to Richard Lightfoot,
the owner of WKNE AM/FM (1290/103.7) across the Connecticut River in New
Hampshire.  Lightfoot says he's not planning any format changes at the
stations, which are currently running talk on the AM and rock on the simulcast
FMs.  The seller of WKVT AM/FM is James Plante, who tells the Brattleboro
Reformer that he'll probably leave the area once the transition to new
ownership is complete.  WVAY is being sold by Martin and Robin Rothschild, who
LMA'd the station to Plante earlier this year.  The deal closes a circle that
began back in 1959, when WKNE's original owners built WKVT.  Lightfoot is
operating WKVT and WVAY under an LMA while he awaits FCC approval of the
purchase.  Once it's complete, WKVT, WKNE, and WVAY will operate under the name
"Northland Radio."  No word on purchase price; but NERW wonders if this isn't
the "NH/VT AM/FM Combo" that was being advertised in the trades this week for
around $750,000...

NERW Vermont correspondent Doug Bassett also sends along word of a death last
weekend:

Longtime Vermont radio and television broadcaster Jack Barry died Sunday at the
age of 70.

He made his radio debut at WDEV in Waterbury at the age of 4, reading a poem.
"This is little Jackie Barry coming through the air," he announced.

In 1948 he went to The Burlington Free Press' WJOY, where he helped air the
station's 11PM newscast live from the paper's newsroom.

In 1954 he and Vin D'Acuti established WDOT, providing competition for WJOY.
They did it all themselves, working 18 hour days.

He also did work at stations out of the area, including KIOA Des Moines, Ia.,
WTTM Trenton, N.J., and others.

He began his television career at WVNY-TV with a program that aired from 10 to
11 AM, between his 6 to 9 AM and noon to 2 PM programs on WVMT in Colchester.
He spent evenings doing play-by-play sports broadcasts.

In 1970 he started volunteering at Vermont ETV (Vermont's PBS outlet), and in
1973 went on the payroll there. He took a couple of years off to serve as press
secretary ffor U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.

In 1976, he returned to broadcasting, doing his morning radio programs and
evening television appearances until his retirement from ETV in 1991. He
continued his radio shows for a while until his desire to be in politics got in
the way. Three years ago he was elected state senator, passionately pleading
agaist cuts in ETV's funding from the state. (Last year, the state senate
considered cutting funding from $762,500 to just $1).

His daugter, Bridget Barry Caswell, is following her father's footsteps,
becoming a television reporter herself.

*From NEW HAMPSHIRE this week, we learn more about the many applicants for
106.5 in Farmington...and it seems most of them are already broadcasters in the
area.  They include:

--Mad River Broadcasting, owned by one of the principals in WLKZ (104.9)
Wolfeboro NH, WIZN (106.7) Vergennes VT, and WXLO (104.5) Fitchburg-Worcester
MA.

--Robert Demers, owner of WTSN (1270) Dover and WBYY (98.7) Somersworth NH.

--Farmington Radio Partners, a partnership between Bob Vinikoor of WNTK (1020
Newport/99.7 New London NH) and Dennis Jackson of WQQQ (103.3 Sharon CT) and
WMEX (102.5 Westport NY).

--Carter Broadcasting, which we mentioned in last week's NERW.

--Three different "Educational Fellowships," "Green Mountain" of Hartford VT,
"Northeastern" of Hampton NH (also an applicant for 88.1 Peterborough NH), and
"Pioneer Valley" of Hadley MA.

--Gary Marshall of Brentwood NH, whoever he might be.

All that interest for just a little class A signal that never even got built
the last time it was a construction permit...

NERW research director Garrett Wollman was watching the auction on New
Hampshire Public TV (WENH-TV 11 Durham, etc.) this week, and noticed that
several of the Knight Quality (soon to be Capstar) radio stations donated
advertising time as an auction item!  Lucky bidders could snag 30 sixty-second
spots on WXHT (95.3 York Center ME) for a suggested price of $1100.  WBHG
(101.5 Meredith) also donated spots to the auction.

The ongoing flood of petitions to deny has hit a New Hampshire translator. 
Roberts Communications, which owns WXOD (98.7 Winchester) and WKBK (1220 Keene)
has filed against the renewal of W288AM, the 105.5 translator in Keene that
rebroadcasts WZSH (107.1 Bellows Falls NH).

*Not much news from MAINE this time around, believe it or not...WCME in
Boothbay Harbor is still programming just a few hours each morning and then
signing off for the day.  Our friends at the M Street Journal report that
Bangor's WWBX (97.1) has dropped the satellite modern AC format it was running
in favor of soft AC, apparently to counter soft AC WEZQ (92.9).  And WMDI
(107.7 Bar Harbor) has flipped to AAA from 70s rock, as part of an LMA-to-buy
with the Bridge Corporation.

*One bit of RHODE ISLAND news: "Mancow" Muller, the Chicago-based syndicated
morning host, has signed WDGE (99.7 Wakefield-Peace Dale) as his first East
Coast affiliate.  M Street says Block Island's WERI-FM (99.3) has flipped from
hot AC to AAA; we'd love to hear tape from anyone down in that area who can
hear the signal.  The FCC has granted WBRU (95.5) an extension of time to move
to 50kw and move its transmitter from the WHJY stick in East Providence to
Neuticonkanut Hill in Johnston, as well as granting WPNW (550) an extension of
time to raise power to 4600 watts day, 3400 watts night. (A side note: When we
went to plot the coordinates of these two on the DeLorme CD-ROM mapping
software we've been using here at NERW Central, we found "Wpjb-fm" and
"Wgng-am" already shown on the maps...guess they date from the 1970s!)

*In MASSACHUSETTS, we now know how much Antonio F. Gois paid for WACM (1490) in
West Springfield: $600,000, according to M Street, including a non-compete
agreement from the Silva Broadcasting Corp.

Are WNNW (1110 Salem NH) and WHAV (1490 Haverhill) now simulcasting? M Street
says they're both running the Spanish contemporary format from Hispanic
Satellite Network, the new venture from the stations' owner, Methuen-based
Costa Communications.

*From CONNECTICUT this week, the FCC has designated a hearing on the license of
WHCT (Channel 18) in Hartford, to settle a very long-running dispute over this
long-dark station's license.

Back in 1983, Shurberg Broadcasting filed a competing application against
WHCT's renewal, and rather than face a competitive hearing, WHCT's then-owner,
Dr. Gene Scott's Faith Center, took advantage of the FCC's distress-sale
minority-preference policy and sold WHCT to Astroline Broadcasting for $5
million.

So far so good...except that Shurberg alleged that Astroline was not in fact
minority-controlled.  The dispute percolated its way upward through the court
systems, and in the meantime Astroline went bankrupt and WHCT went off the air.

Last year, Two if by Sea Broadcasting took control of WHCT from the bankruptcy
trustee, and this past February WHCT returned to the air running programming
from Lowell Paxson.  Meanwhile, Shurberg filed a petition to deny WHCT's
license renewal, and Astroline then filed a petition to deny against Shurberg's
Channel 18 application.

Now, the FCC has denied Astroline's petition to deny against Shurberg, and it
will soon hold a hearing to determine the extent of minority control at
Astroline.  If the FCC finds that Astroline misrepresented the facts, we could
see yet another change of control at poor old Channel 18...stay tuned.

*The big news from NEW YORK this week comes from the frozen north, where WVNV
(96.5) and WICY (1490) up in Malone are being sold to Tim Martz, who's putting
WYUL (94.7) on the air in Chateaugay.  WVNV is live country as "V96," while
WICY is live AC and satellite talk as "North Country 1490."  The FM has a
decent reach into Canada, where it hits parts of Montreal.  Thanks to Gavin
Burt for keeping us posted from way up there!

Also up in the mountains, Lyon Mountain outside Plattsburgh could be getting
another occupant.  St. Lawrence University has applied for 89.7 with 190 watts
from up there.  SLU owns public radio WSLU (89.5) Canton and a host of relays
in the North Country, including WXLU (88.3 Peru) and WSLL (90.5 Saranac Lake),
which already serve much of the same area the Lyon Mountain station would
cover.  The 89.7 frequency in the Plattsburgh area was to have been home to
WCFE-FM, moving from 91.9, but that CP was never built and WCFE-FM became WCEL,
the northernmost link in Albany's WAMC Northeast Public Radio chain.

Rochester's "Zone," WZNE (94.1 Brighton), finally got live jocks yesterday. 
Among the voices heard on the station was Harry Jacobs, PD at sister station
WCMF-FM (96.5).  So far, WZNE is live only from 7 to 9 in the morning and 4 to
6 in the afternoon; expect that to change soon.  The "Zone" is also about to
end its 10,000 song commercial-free introduction...the first spots will air
next week.

Bargain of the Week: An ad in the trades is promoting the upcoming auction of
dark WZOS (96.7 Oswego NY).  The starting bid for this class A FM?  Maybe it's
a typo...but the ad says $16,000!  Hmm...if only we had an extra $15,952.75, we
could afford to buy it right here at NERW...

Back from the Dark: WSCP (1070 Sandy Creek) has returned to the air after
nearly a year of silence, once again simulcasting country sister WSCP-FM (101.7
Pulaski).  It's supposedly a daytimer, but last Sunday we heard WSCP(AM) loud
and clear here at the Rochester listening post...at 10 PM local time!

Western New York is again being invaded by the creeping tendrils of the
religious translator networks.  The latest outbreak comes from the Pensacola
Christian Church's WPCS (89.5 Pensacola FL), which has applied for 89.3 in
Buffalo and 88.9 in Ithaca.  The Buffalo application is first-adjacent to
Toronto's CIUT (89.5), which has a listenable signal in some areas stateside.

Editorializing here: If the FCC continues to allow what amounts to nationwide
networks of low-power radio under the guise of religion, while refusing to
consider licensing LOCAL low-power radio, the case being made by the
"unlicensed broadcasters" begins to sound better and better.  Once more with
feeling: It is ridiculous to say I can run a 1-watt radio station if it's
relaying religious programming from out of state -- but not if it's
broadcasting locally-generated programming.  It is time to rethink the way the
translator rules are written, before a handful of stations (you know who I
mean, WPCS and KAWZ and KEAR and WAFR and WJSO) completely overrun the
airwaves. I'll step off my soapbox now...

Speaking of religious translators, W213AM, the 90.5 Newburgh NY relayer of
Family Stations' WFRE (91.7 Kingston), has applied to move to 90.3 and change
power.

And in Auburn, WAUB (1590) is now running satellite standards, ending its
simulcast with modern-rock WLLW (93.7 Clyde).

*And to close out this week's issue, here's a recap of the many radio-related
resources that are associated in one way or another with NERW.  If you're new
to NERW, we hope you'll take advantage of some of these, and if you're a
longtime reader, we hope you'll find something new to explore:

The NorthEast Radio Watch column itself is published every Thursday. It's
written by Scott Fybush, with contributions from correspondents across the
seven-state region (ME, NH, VT, MA, RI, CT, NY) it covers. NERW publishes news,
rumor, and opinion about radio, television, and related media in the Northeast. 
The opinions expressed in NERW are solely those of Scott Fybush or credited
contributors.

NERW is available in several forms:  on the Web at the Boston Radio Archives
(http://radio.lcs.mit.edu/radio/bostonradio.html), which is also where you'll
find archives; by mailing list (see below); and on the AIRWAVES Radio Journal
(rec.radio.broadcasting on Usenet).

There are two mailing lists where NERW is made available.  The NERW-only
mailing list is at nerw-request@radio.lcs.mit.edu (put "SUBSCRIBE" in the body
of the message to get on the list).  You're also invited to participate in the
boston-radio-interest mailing list, which covers any and all topics related to
radio in the Boston area. NERW is also posted to that list.  It's at
bri-request@radio.lcs.mit.edu.

The Boston Radio Archives web site mentioned above is where to find all sorts
of current and historical information about radio and television in New
England.  It will soon be joined by a companion New York Radio Archives site
covering upstate New York; stay tuned for the announcement of that URL.

"Let's Talk About Radio" is a weekly radio program about radio and
communications.  Many of the Boston Radio Archives editors and NERW
contributors are also regular participants in "LTAR."  It can be heard Sunday
at noon on WJIB (740 Cambridge-Boston) and WNEB (1230 Worcester), Sunday at
12:07 pm on WJTO (730 Bath ME), and Saturday at 9:30 am on WKBR (1250
Manchester NH).

*"Spectrum" is another weekly radio program about all forms of electronic
communications.  NERW editor Scott Fybush anchors a weekly radio-news segment
at the start of each show.  Also featured are regular segments on the Internet
and satellite communications, as well as call-in segments.  "Spectrum" is heard
on Saturday nights at 10PM on WWCR (5070 kHz shortwave), as well as on the GE
satellite (103 degrees west), transponder 6, 5.8 wideband audio, and several
local stations in New Jersey and Virginia.  See http://www.spectrum.orn.com for
more information.

*We always love to hear from fellow radio nuts; if there's radio news in your
part of the Northeast, please drop us a line at fybush@world.std.com.

*And with that, we'll close out this week's NERW.  See you next Thursday!

-=Scott Fybush - fybush@world.std.com=-

From: fybush@world.std.com (Scott D Fybush)
Subject: NorthEast Radio Watch 5/15: Changes in the Morning


*We'll start this mid-May NERW with the latest from Boston's morning
drive circus: Talker WRKO has hired "Morning Guy Tai" from modern rock
WFNX (101.7) as the station's new morning co-host.  He'll join
Marjorie Clapprood in morning drive, replacing the departed Pat
Whitley.  The new "Clapprood and Company" morning show will debut next
Monday at 5:30; it will be shortened by an hour to make room for an
extra hour of Dr. Laura Schlessinger at 9 AM.  WRKO program director
Kevin Straley is defending his unorthodox choice, saying Tai (whose
real name is Tom Irwin) is eager to move to the talk arena from his
days as a rock jock.

Elsewhere in Massachusetts, Ware's WARE (1250) has reportedly ended
its simulcast with country WQVR (100.1 Southbridge) to pick up
Westwood One's adult standards format.  And M Street claims Lowell's
WLLH (1400) has added jazz overnights -- anyone in the Merrimack
Valley want to confirm that?

*One of CONNECTICUT's best known morning teams has been given the boot
from Hartford's WHCN (105.9).  Mike Picozzi and Gary Lee Horn, known
on air as "Picozzi and the Horn," were fired after their show last
Thursday.  Starting on Monday, WHCN replaced them with the Bob and Tom
Show out of Indianapolis, which is syndicated by WHCN's owner, SFX
Broadcasting.  Picozzi and Horn had been together on WHCN for more
than a decade.  We're also told WLIS (1420) in Old Saybrook CT is
simulcasting WMRD (1150 Middletown) most of the day.

*From RHODE ISLAND comes word of new call letters for the erstwhile
WPJB-FM (102.7 Narragansett Pier).  Now that the station is owned by
Back Bay Broadcasting and simulcasting WWKX ("Kix 106") Woonsocket,
it's going by WAKX(FM).

*In NEW HAMPSHIRE news, we learn that Fuller-Jeffrey Broadcasting
wants to build auxiliary sites for its Mount Washington stations, WHOM
(94.9 Mt. Washington) and WPKQ (103.7 Berlin), presumably to keep the
stations on the air should the mountaintop transmitters fail in the
winter months, when it's awfully hard to get up to New England's
tallest peak to fix them.

We also mourn the passing of Talbot Hood, former owner of Keene's
WKBK, who died May 2 at age 71.  Hood joined WKBK as program director
in 1959, and eventually became part-owner before retiring in 1991.

>From the FCC comes word that religious WLMW (90.7 Manchester) has been
granted permission to put its transmitter atop Uncanoonuc Mountain in
Goffstown, where Manchester's other FMs are located.  The new CP for
WLMW calls for 15 watts directional from 869 feet above average
terrain.  WLMW is not yet on the air from any facility.

*From MAINE comes some call letter confusion in the Bangor market,
where WWFX (104.7 Belfast) isn't going to become WEBR after all.
Instead, the station now known as "the Bear" will be WBFB, a set of
calls that was last seen in Rochester NY some 22 years ago, on the
classical FM at 92.5 that's today's country WBEE-FM.  We're also
trying to comprehend why someone (and no, we don't know who just yet)
would want 10 kilowatts day, 1 kilowatt night on 830 kHz in "Lorring, Maine,"
way up there in Aroostook County where several other AMs have gone
dark in the last decade.  In any event, someone has filed an
application for just that facility, with transmitter site just north
of Caribou, Maine.

*Here in NEW YORK, there are new calls for Buffalo's "Alice @ 92.9."
The former WSJZ is now WLCE.  And an historic set of Rochester AM
calls, WPXN, will soon resurface in the Big Apple.  With Lowell
Paxson's purchase of WBIS (Channel 31) in New York, the station will
dump its locally-produced business, news, and sports programming for
Paxson's infomercials within a few months, and become WPXN(TV).
Channel 31 was noncommercial WNYC-TV until just last year, when the
City of New York sold it for $207 million.  (The WPXN calls, by the
way, were on the 1280 signal once known as WVET and WROC, later as
WPXY and WKQG, and today as WHTK).  Paxson owns or controls several 
New England stations, including WHAI-TV (Chanel 43) Bridgeport CT,
WHCT (Channel 18) Hartford, WHRC (Channel 46) Norwell MA, WGOT
(Channel 60) Merrimack NH, and W54CN Boston.  His stated intent is to
ally himself with programmers to create a seventh TV network in the
US.

More sale news: Kingston NY's WKNY (1490) and WDSP (96.9 Arlington NY)
have been sold by CHET-5 Broadcasting to Crystal Communications, which
already owns WEOK (1390 Poughkeepsie), WALL (1340 Middletown), WCZX
(97.7 Hyde Park), WRRV (92.7 Middletown), and WPDH (101.5
Poughkeepsie).  WDSP dropped its simulcast of AAA WDST (100.1
Woodstock) this week in favor of simulcasting WRRV's modern rock.
WDST is now CHET-5's only broadcast property in the Hudson Valley.

WODZ-FM (96.1 Rome-Utica) has applied for a power increase and a
change of transmitter location; we'll know more on that in a week or
so.  Up at WYLR (95.9 Glens Falls), PM drive jock Brian Cortez has
been promoted to Production Director.  And the religious Family Life
Radio network has applied for a translator on 102.7 in Geneva,
relaying WCIY (88.9) Canandaigua.  Another religious broadcaster, WHVP
(91.1 Hudson), has applied to increase power to 360 watts from a tower
site near the Massachusetts state line, between Spencertown and Green
River NY.  WHVP isn't on the air yet; they've asked for an extension
of time to build.

In Auburn NY, Salt City Communications is paying $1,685,000 for oldies
WMBO (1340) and AAA-ish WPCX (106.9) (Hey, "Broadcasting and Cable"
magazine, it hasn't been country for nearly a year!) from Great Scott
Broadcasting.  Salt City recently sold WXCD (now WLTI, 105.9) Syracuse
to Pilot Communications.

Way up north in Plattsburgh, veteran broadcaster Gordie Little has
departed WIRY (1340) after 36 years with the station.  Little began at
WIRY as a disc jockey, and later served as news director, morning show
host, and program director.  

*Zing corner: Can anyone figure out what planet the editors of Rolling
Stone magazine get their radio signals from?  The latest issue makes
the interesting claim that Rhode Island's WDGE (99.7) has abandoned
modern rock for dance music.  Uh, no...but their simulcast, WDGF
(100.3 Middletown), did.

We'll also launch a mild zing towards West 43rd Street in New York,
where the editors of the New York Times somehow seem to have misheard
the call letters of Lowell Paxson's Florida TV stations.  "WPBS" and
"WTBX"?!?!?!  How about WPBF (Channel 25 Tequesta) and WTVX (Channel
34 Fort Pierce)?

*A well-known name in New England Radio is now on line.  Check out
http://www.manfrommars.com for the web site of Ed Brouder, New
Hampshire's best-known aircheck collector and the author of "Granite
and Ether," the recent book about NH radio (not to mention morning guy
at WZID/WFEA in Manchester!)
 
*We'll close by congratulating one of our best friends here at NERW,
Tom Taylor, longtime editor of INSIDE RADIO.  Starting next week, Tom
will become the editor of the M Street Journal, the weekly digest of
all things radio.  We're looking forward to seeing what the
combination of Tom's talents and the weekly Journal will look like;
best of luck, Tom!

-=Scott Fybush - fybush@world.std.com=-

From: Scott D Fybush, fybush@world.std.com
Subj: NorthEast Radio Watch 5/22: Back to Boston


*NERW went back to Boston this past weekend, only to find yet another
station added to the American Radio Systems megaopoly.  WNFT (1150
Boston) is ARS' newest acquisition, to the tune of a reported $4.5
million from Greater Media.  1150 has been a troubled spot on the
Boston radio dial for more than a decade, including stints as oldies
WMEX (quashed by WODS's arrival on FM), business WMEX (killed off by
the recession of the early 90s), Spanish "Radio Continental",
leased-time ethnic brokered by WRCA (1330), the
recent brief run as KidStar's Boston affiliate (which ended when
KidStar went out of business), and plenty of interim periods
simulcasting WMJX 106.7 or WBCS/WKLB-FM 96.9.  

ARS isn't saying much about its plans for 1150, but rumor has it that
the station will pick up some of the sports conflicts (Red
Sox/Celtics, for instance) from WEEI (850).  There's also a pretty
credible rumor that ARS will move 1150 to the WRKO transmitter site in
Burlington, demolish the three AM towers and the FM backup tower on
the WNFT site in Lexington, and build a taller FM tower there that can
be leased out by subsidiary American Tower Systems.  That could be
profitable enough by itself to make WNFT's profitability irrelevanbt,
in fact...time will tell.

Elsewhere on the dial, we tuned in to Tom "Tai" Irwin's debut on
WRKO's newly-renamed Clapprood and Company morning show Monday -- and
didn't hear too much of Tai.  Clapprood dominated the conversation for
at least the first few hours, with Tai relegated to the sidekick
role.  Boston comic Mike McDonald is filling Tai's old morning gig at
modern rock WFNX (101.7 Lynn) while a permanent replacement is being
picked.

Over at WBZ (1030), Bob Lobel and Upton Bell are again teamed up for a
weekend sports show.  It's a partnership that dates back to the late
70s, when the pair first co-hosted sports talk on BZ.  Nowadays Lobel
is the main sports anchor on WBZ-TV (Channel 4), while Bell is fresh
from a stint as midday talk host on WTAG (580) in Worcester.  Their
show debuted last Sunday from 5-8 pm on 'BZ, pushing "Calling All
Sports" over to Saturday afternoons, where it replaces the last few
hours of "Sports Saturday" on the increasingly-misnamed "NewsRadio
1030."

In the land of radio with pictures, veteran Boston anchor Gail Harris
is leaving Boston University's WABU-TV (Channel 68), where she's been
special projects director and talk show host for the last few years.  And
congratulations to WCVB (Channel 5) anchor Heather Kahn, who had a
baby girl Friday morning, just a few hours after anchoring the 5:30 pm
news (no, Boston Globe, it wasn't the "7 pm news"!) on Thursday.

A few other observations from around the state:  We heard WVBF (1530
Middleborough Center) with live local school baseball on Saturday
afternoon, then back into their programming from the Talking
Information Center.  WJLT (1060 Natick) must have a pretty broad
conception of "pre-sunrise authority"; the alleged daytimer was on the
air before 5:30 every morning we listened.  No sign of a legal ID on
ARS's WWTM (1440 Worcester); the sports outlet did a strange "WWTM
Sports Radio 1440 and AM 850 Boston" ID before going back into its
WEEI simulcast Monday afternoon.  WLLH (1400 Lowell/Lawrence) is
indeed running jazz overnight; John Halbert hosts.  Ware's WARE (1250)
is running the same Westwood One standards format as sister station
WESO (970 Southbridge), albeit with its own station IDs.  And we
caught a few little noncomms that are usually off the air when we're
within range: WSKB (89.5) at Westfield State College was on the air
late Thursday night with a phone interview that, alas, was nearly
inaudible.  And we heard loud rock in mono that was probably WBPV
(90.1 Charlton), from Bay Path Vocational High School.  

And one more personnel note: Steve Murphy is heading west after a
five-year stint as PD and operations manager at classical WBOQ (104.9
Gloucester).  Steve started at classical WFCC (107.5 Chatham) in 1988,
detoured into easy listening at WQRC (99.9 Hyannis) in 1990, then
arrived at WBOQ in 1992.  Now he's off to classical WFMI in Milwaukee,
where he'll be director of broadcast operations.  Steve may be taking
his life in his own hands -- he's vowing to keep wearing his Patriots
attire in the heart of Packer country.  Steve is also a past member of
the board at the Massachusetts Broadcasters Association, which has
created a new award to honor the state's best broadcasters.  It's
called the Alan Okun Award, and it's named for the late owner of
Webster's WGFP (940) and WXXW (98.9).  Okun was named posthumously as
the award's first recipient.

*Just a few notes from NEW HAMPSHIRE: We now know more about
Fuller-Jeffrey's applications for backups for WHOM (94.9) and WPKQ
(103.7) atop Mount Washington; it seems they are indeed on the
mountaintop, just with lower power and a bit lower down -- but they're
nondirectional, unlike the WPKQ primary signal.  Down the valley a bit
in Conway, say goodbye to W58AY.  Paxson Communications has asked the
FCC to delete this LPTV, which had been a translator of WGOT (Channel
60) from Merrimack.

*It will be licensed to New Hampshire, but the story of WLPL (96.3
Walpole) is really our VERMONT news this week:  The Vermont
Environmental Board is hearing another appeal to the 110-foot tower
that WLPL owner Gary Savoie wants to build on Bemis Hill near Athens
VT.  Two adjoining landowners, Sarah Ann Martin and Veronica
Brelsford, have kept Savoie tied up in appeals for several years, and
in the meantime WLPL remains on hold.  Meantime, WMXR (93.9 Woodstock)
is crossing the border in the other direction, moving its studios from
Woodstock across the Connecticut River to 52 Main Street in West
Lebanon NH.  And the next piece of the WVMX (101.7 Stowe) mystery has
revealed itself: Sage Broadcasting has applied to sell the station to
"Radio Vermont Classics," which could be related to the Radio Vermont
that owns WDEV AM/FM (550 Waterbury/96.1 Warren) and WLVB (93.9
Morrisville).  Rumor has 101.7 going classical eventually.

*Up in MAINE, a new station is about to make its debut.  WHRR (102.9
Dennysville) has been testing its transmitter, starting back on May
12.  Perhaps in response to the upcoming competition, WQDY-FM (92.7)
in nearby Calais has gone to 24-hour broadcasting.  Sister AM WQDY
(1230) remains on a 7AM - 10PM schedule.  And over in Eastport, we're
told high school outlet WSHD (91.7) is back on the air after some
recent weather-related antenna damage.  Advising the station is WQDY
news director Tom McLaughlin, a onetime Boston broadcaster on WBCN
(104.1) and the old WTBS (88.1, now WMBR).  Moving down the coast,
LPTV W20BN in Bangor has been deleted by the FCC, in large part
because it was never built.  As for the 830 in "Lorring ME" mentioned
last week?  There's speculation that it's in the FCC database as a
formality, just to remind Canada that the US has a claim on that
frequency (much the same way the CRTC database contains all sorts of
Canadian allocations that may never be built, but must still be
protected on this side of the border).

*And so onwards to RHODE ISLAND, which seems to end up with exactly
one item each week.  This time it's WEGM (or perhaps WKFD, if you
believe the FCC database) in Wickford.  This station on 1370 returned
to the air last year after several years in the dark, and now there's
word that it's down to weekend-only operation.  When we visited WEGM
last summer, we found a bunch of folks committed to doing live local
radio; we hope things work out down there.

*Over to CONNECTICUT: Yet another unlicensed broadcaster seems to have
popped up in Bridgeport, where a station calling itself WSPN is
broadcasting on 1630.  "WSPN" has a listed phone number (203 368
2253), and is apparently broadcasting in Spanish.  The WSPN calls
really belong to 91.1 FM at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs NY;
the phony "WSPN" ought to be a decent DX catch all over the region
this winter if it's still around.  TV news: congratulations to Mika
Brzezinski of Hartford's WFSB (Channel 3); she's been named anchor of
CBS's "Up to the Minute" overnight newscast.  And yes, she's
Zbigniew's daughter.

*Onwards to NEW YORK, where we find a few call letter changes,
starting with Odyssey Broadcasting's New York City-area country
trimulcast on 107.1.  You can replace WWHB Hampton Bays (LI) with WWVY
and WRGX Briarcliff Manor with WWXY; no new calls yet for the third
107.1, WZVU Long Branch NJ, although WWYY seems to be available and
would be the logical choice for "Y107."  Also in New Jersey, the 105.7
construction permit in Manahawkin has grabbed the WAQB calls shed by
WZNE (94.1 Brighton-Rochester) last month.  Up in the St. Lawrence
Valley, WKGG (102.7 Cape Vincent-Watertown) is now WBDR.  Also in the
area, WGIX (95.3 Gouverneur) has applied to change power, height, and
transmitter location...more on that next issue.

We do know more about WODZ (96.1 Rome/Utica)'s attempts to upgrade: It
seems Oldies 96 wants to move from its current site on Prospect Hill
near Clinton, southwest of Utica, to the Smith Hill site northeast of
town where all the big Utica FMs (along with WUTR-TV 20) have their
transmitters.

The translator apps continue apace: WPCS down in Florida wants to be
heard in Middletown on 88.1, while Palmyra's WZXV (99.7) wants to add
102.7 Penn Yan and 97.1 Dansville to its translator list (these are at
least in WZXV's general Rochester-Syracuse listening area).  And WVOA
(105.1 DeRuyter-Syracuse) is apparently trying to plug every last hole
in the already-overcrowded Syracuse FM dial: in addition to the
simulcasts on WNDR (103.9 Mexico) and WSIV (1540 E. Syracuse) and the
96.5 Westvale-Syracuse translator on James Street near downtown, WVOA
has been granted a translator on 95.3, W237AY DeWitt (which will
transmit from the WAQX 95.7 stick alongside I-481), and it's applied
for 98.1 in Nedrow, south of Syracuse (which we'll bet is actually one
of the Sentinel Heights TV towers overlooking the city).

Sales: WMSA (1340) in Massena is being sold to Community Broadcasting
by Forever of New York, and Seneca Falls' WSFW (1110/99.3) is being
sold to Souhan Radio by BJR Broadcasting.

A few from our "What the ?!?!?!?" department: The "Salvation Radio
Corporation" has actually applied for 91.9 in Brooklyn -- yes, an
attempt to squeeze another FM facility into the nation's most crowded
FM dial!  91.9 has long been a popular pirate channel in
Brooklyn...we'll see if a licensed operation makes it there.  And down
in Elmira Heights, WEHH (1590) has allegedly gone to 460 watts at
night -- directional!  When NERW visited the site on Latta Brook Road
just six weeks ago, there was but one tower on it, and 1590 sure
sounded like it was running with the licensed 17 watts non-directional
at night.  (Actually, it sounded like about 17 watts by day as well,
but that's another story!)  Also in the Elmira area, it appears WCLI
(1450 Corning) has applied to move to the Davis Road transmitter of
sister station WCBA (1350).

More delays in the big 1190 switch: Both WLIB New York and WOWO Fort
Wayne have been granted extensions of their construction permits to
add night service and to drop night power, respectively.

A picturesque Central New York tower will soon be coming down.
Syracuse's WOLF (1490) will reportedly be tearing down its
flagpole-style tower on Kirkpatrick Street next month.  In its place
will be a normal-looking guyed tower, with a new higher-powered
antenna for WLTI (105.9) up top.  WLTI will join several translators
atop the Imperial Gardens apartment building (across the street from
the WTVH studios on James Street) under special temporary authority in
the meantime.

TV doings: Lowell Paxson picked up another one this week, adding the
not-yet-built WAQF (Channel 51) Batavia to his holdings.  Once WAQF is
built, it will run the InfoMall network, no doubt much to the
enjoyment of the Buffalo market cable viewers who will find Channel 51
as their latest must-carry addition (the third this year, after
WNYB-TV 26 Jamestown and WNGS 67 Springville).  Down in Binghamton,
Stainless Broadcasting (the tower-building folks) are selling Fox
affiliate WICZ-TV (Channel 40) to Northwest Broadcasting.  The $16
million deal also includes KTVZ (Channel 21) in Bend, Oregon.

*In print: We spend a lot of time here at NERW castigating our
colleagues at places like the Boston Globe and Broadcasting and Cable
(don't even ask us how B&C mangled the announcement of the sale of
WJZZ 1210 Frankenmuth MI -- or is that WKNX 1250 Bay City? -- this
week!), but we also single out those who deserve praise, and Dean
Johnson of the Boston Herald is one of them.  He was the first to get
the story of the WNFT sale last week, and his analysis of WNFT's
history and signal woes was accurate and concise.  The Globe, for
whatever it's worth, pulled up five days later with a much-abbreviated
version of the same story.  From the bookshelf, we've had our noses
buried in "The Murrow Boys," Stanley Cloud and Lynne Olson's gripping 
tale of Edward R. Murrow's wartime crew of CBS reporters.  Yes,
Virginia, there was once such a thing as real reporting on commercial
radio in America...

*On the Web, a few new sites to mention: Bill Pfeiffer's AIRWAVES site
is recovering from the fire he suffered last winter, and now he's
brought back his FCC database search engine.  This one lacks the full
data you'll find on the Boston Radio Archives and radiostation.com
engines, but it's searchable in some very interesting ways, including
by geographic area.  Check it out at:

http://www.airwaves.com/fccdb.html

Meantime down in Florida, Shel Swartz has been busy building a website
that honors WRKO's glory days as a top-40 rocker.  You'll find it
under construction at:

http://www.lotsofun.com/wrko

And up in Canada, there's a movement afoot to keep Peter Gzowski from
retiring from his duties as host of CBC Radio's "Morningside" program
at the end of the month.  You'll find an on-line petition, as well as
lots of information about Gzowski (who is indeed one of North
America's radio treasures) at:

http://augustonline.com/morningside

Gzowski's last day is scheduled for May 30.

*And that's our report for this week...see you next Thursday back here
at NERW Central, and in the meantime we'll be off to Toronto for the
long holiday weekend (and no doubt hanging breathlessly out the window
as we drive by some of those fantastic multi-tower Canadian AM
directionals!)

-=Scott Fybush - fybush@world.std.com=-

From: fybush@world.std.com (Scott D Fybush)
Subject: NorthEast Radio Watch 5/29: The Curtain Closes


*We'll begin this week's survey of Northeast radio and TV news up in
NEW HAMPSHIRE, where the curtain has closed on "The Stage at 102.1."
As Fuller-Jeffrey prepares to buy WSTG Hampton NH, it's turned off the
AC format, replacing it with an automated countdown (coincidentally,
the same way the Stage made its debut 18 months ago).  "D-Day" is next
Tuesday at 4PM, when Fuller-Jeffrey will debut WSTG's new format,
which (rumor has it) will be a simulcast of F-J's AC WHOM (94.9 Mount
Washington - Portland).  That would put WSTG in direct competition
with AC WBYY (98.7 Somersworth).  We'll see in a few days...

*Down the coast in MASSACHUSETTS, one tidbit we neglected to mention
last week: CBS's WODS (103.3 Boston) has quietly moved its studios
from 30 Winter Street downtown to the WBZ facility at 1170 Soldiers
Field Road.  "Oldies 103" made the move for good on Friday, May 16.
WODS's programming and sales departments had been at Soldiers Field
Road since last fall, and some overnight programming was coming from
the new studios earlier in the month.

Over in Worcester, say goodbye to morning host John Taylor of WXLO
(104.5 Fitchburg-Worcester).  He's departed the AC station for the
sunny skies of Florida after many years in Worcester.  Harry Jacobs,
the former WXLO midday host who now runs the ARS stations in Rochester
NY, filled in one day, while WXLO ops manager Jim McKenna will handle
most of the fill-in duties until a replacement for Taylor is hired.
By the way, an apology to Upton Bell -- he's still the midday talk
host on Worcester's WTAG (580); no "former" about it!

Up in Andover, Greater Media is pressing ahead with its application
for a 93.3 translator for WBOS (92.9 Brookline-Boston).

Down on Cape Cod, Ernie Boch's talker WXTK (94.9) has been granted a
construction permit to move to 95.1, reducing the co-channel
interference from WHOM up on Mt. Washington.  

And out in the Springfield area, one translator is gone and another
has taken the airwaves.  W221AP, the Westfield-licensed translator
that was supposed to relay WIHS (104.9 Middletown CT), was ordered off
the air after the FCC discovered it was operating with 40 watts from
high atop Mount Tom in Holyoke, rather than with 1 watt from down in
Westfield as licensed.  W221AP was relaying Brian Dodge's "Love Radio"
network from WGLV (104.3 Hartford VT), and is just the latest in a
long string of cases in which Dodge has been caught breaking the FCC's
rules.  Meantime, W246AM is on the air on 97.1 in Amherst MA, relaying
the country sounds of WPVQ (93.9 Turners Falls).  And congratulations
to Sid Whitaker of WHYN (560 Springfield), who's been named news
director at the Clear Channel-owned news-talker.

And there's now some local programming on WRPT (650 Ashland).  Alert
NERW listeners have been hearing Indian-language programming on the
station, replacing some of the TalkAmerica talk shows.

*Checking the news from MAINE, we start with another 560, WGAN in
Portland, where morning talk host Pat Lamarche has resigned after not
quite a year with the station.  Lamarche was arrested on May 16 for
driving under the influence of alcohol, and refuesed to take a
breathalyzer test.  She submitted her resignation a day before the
story went public in the Portland newspapers, then devoted her last
two shows to the subject before leaving the station last Friday.  No
word on where she's headed next.

Elsewhere in Maine, Seacoast Broadcasting is expanding again.  After
adding Boothbay Harbor's WCME (96.7) last month, they're now buying
WIGY (97.5) in Madison.  WIGY now runs satellite oldies, but will soon
be simulcasting the (also largely-satellite) oldies of Seacoast's WABK
(104.3 Gardner-Augusta).  No word yet on the fate of WIGY sister
station WGUY (102.1 Dexter-Bangor).

*Just one little bit of CONNECTICUT news: News anchor Jon Crane has
left ABC affiliate WTNH (Channel 8) in New Haven to start his own
production company.  Crane's contract was up June 30, but he'll leave
immediately.  No successor has been named.

*In VERMONT news, we now know more about the sale of Stowe's WVMX
(101.7).  It is indeed going to Radio Vermont's Ken Squire, Bill
Riley, and Eric Michaels.  Squire and Riley built the station back in
its WRFB days.  Their old business partner Brian Harwood will return
to 101.7 to do mornings on the soon-to-be classical music station.

*And finally, some quick news from around NEW YORK: WZOS (96.7 Oswego)
has been sold to Craig Fox, owner of several other Central New York
stations, including WVOA (105.1 DeRuyter-Syracuse).  WZOS has until
August to return to the air.  Fox outbid two other bidders, paying
$65,000 for the license.  Up in Watertown, there's hit radio on the
dial once again.  WBDR (102.7 Cape Vincent) is going by "The Border,"
replaing longtime CHR outlet WTNY-FM ("T93"), which left the air
earlier this year in a multi-station call and format swap.  In Albany,
the Northeast League Diamond Dogs have found a radio home on WQBK
(1300).  The Rensselaer-licensed talker will carry weeknight games
live and weekend games on tape delay.  Corning's WCLI (1450) has moved
its transmitter and is now on the air from its studio site on Davis
Road, along with sister station WCBA (1350).  
 
And that's about it for this week...we'll be back next Thursday with
much more, including a look at our recent trip to Toronto.

-=Scott Fybush - fybush@world.std.com=-