North East RadioWatch: July 31, 2000

Of WBTN(AM) and Big Blue Bags...

by Scott Fybush

• After just a few months as a public radio outlet, the lone AM station in Bennington, VERMONT is about to return to commercial operation.

  WBTN (1370) came along with Vermont Public Radio's purchase of WBTN-FM (94.3) from Belva Keyworth last winter, and for the moment, VPR had been using the AM mostly to simulcast the FM, breaking away for a few minutes of local news, commentary, and death notices on weekday mornings.

  VPR announced this week that it will sell 1370, and the new owner should be familiar to anyone who's ever put a piece of professional broadcasting gear in a carrying case. Those blue canvas camera covers and bags come from Porta-Brace of North Bennington -- whose owner, Robert Howe, will soon buy WBTN(AM) from VPR to continue operating it as a local voice for Bennington County.

  "WBTN-AM is in good hands with Bob Howe and I'm sure he will be successful in operating this legacy station that the Bennington community supports so strongly," said VPR president Mark Vogelzang,

  Rumors that the station's building on historic old Route 7 will soon be wrapped in a custom blue carrying case haven't been confirmed as of press time...

• Moving across the river to NEW HAMPSHIRE, we are now assured that WBNC (1050 Conway) is not, repeat, not dead. Chief engineer Charlie Osgood checked in this week to report that the silent period on 1050 that worried several loyal NERWites was simply a three-day stretch of transmitter problems that was soon repaired. Everybody clear? Good!

  Down to the south in Concord, a new GM is in place at Vox's WKXL (1450/107.7) and WOTX (102.3). Jim Whedon, a Laconia native, comes over from a sales position at Vox sister stations WSSH/WZSH in the Brattleboro market to replace Paul Fuller, who departed in mid-July.

• Staying north for another moment, we see that the FCC has flagged the Clear Channel purchases in the Bangor market for ownership-cap review. By the way, we miscounted in our estimate of what Communications Capital Managers paid for the six stations involved -- it was actually just over $13 million, for a tidy profit of just under $7 million from the sale.

  Up north, we hear WEGP (1390 Presque Isle) is already back on the air under new onwer McDonnel "Mac" Smith, broadcasting from an Internet cafe on Main Street. WEGP's lineup includes Doug Stephan, Dr. Joy Browne, Mike Gallagher, the Dolans, Howie Carr, and CBS news on the hour.

  Down south, country WEBB (98.5 Waterville) and CHR WMME (92.3 Augusta) are looking for a new operations manager and PD; interested parties can get in touch with GM Al Perry to find out more.

• The big news this week in MASSACHUSETTS is the impending departure of Charles Laquidara. The Big Mattress' finale on WZLX (100.7 Boston) comes on Friday (8/4), and Charles will have a busy week leading up to the last show -- from being honored with a star on the Tower Records sidewalk on Monday to an open house Wednesday night at the Hard Rock Cafe. (Which reminds us...NERW would very much like to hear from anyone in WZLX signal range able to tape the last Laquidara shows; read on to see why we won't have the NERW-mobile parked in the shadow of the Pru ourselves.)

  It must be "end of an era" week, as over on the TV side, WCVB (Channel 5) announced its post-Chet'n'Nat lineups. Just as the last issue was going to press, GM Paul La Camera spake thusly: Natalie Jacobson will do the 5 and 6 PM shows, the former with Anthony Everett and the latter solo. In between, Everett and Heather Kahn continue on the 5:30, and both return at 11. What of Jacobson's former (on- and off-air) partner, Chet Curtis? He'll anchor Sunday nights with Pam Cross, as well as doing in-depth reports for channel 5 and its Web presence. Just to add to the fun, a new news director is also on the way to 5 TV Place: Coleen Marren comes to WCVB from Hearst-Argyle sister station WISN-TV (Channel 12) in Milwaukee. She starts August 22.

  Meanwhile over at WBZ-TV (Channel 4), the new post-Liz Walker lineup shakes out like this: With Walker now doing the noon show and going home to her son, Joe Shortsleeve and Lisa Hughes take the 5 and 11, Ted Wayman and Sara Underwood handle the 5:30, and Hughes does the 6 with Jack Williams. Virginia Cha has also departed WBZ-TV to head for New York City and her fiancee...best of luck to her! (Full disclosure: back when your editor worked at WBZ radio, Virginia's desk was just a few rows back from mine -- the closest, if memory serves, to the "radio zone" of the joint newsroom.)

  Was that Tom Leykis, ex-WRKO, back in the Hub this week? Indeed it was, we're told; he was broadcasting from the Samuel Adams Brewhouse as part of a promotion sponsored by his Los Angeles flagship, KLSX (97.1).

  Will USA Broadcasting's WHUB-TV (Channel 66 Marlborough) in fact make its debut July 31? We're hoping some of you in signal range of what's now WHSH will have VCRs rolling just in case...

• Nothing happened, as usual, in RHODE ISLAND. (Although we keep hearing that the flip of WWRX 103.7 Westerly to a WFNX simulcast will happen any moment now...)

• Almost nothing happened in CONNECTICUT this week, except for a transformer explosion that knocked WTIC-TV (Channel 61) off the air for a few minutes Thursday night. East Farmington firefighters cut power to the building to stop the fire that resulted. Cable viewers were not affected by the problem, thanks to a direct feed from the WTIC-TV studios in Hartford.

• Which brings us to NEW YORK, where the FCC has, as expected, flagged Clear Channel's plan to add Roberts Radio's four stations to the Hudson Valley cluster it's creating from what had been Straus Media. Given that CC has already spun a few of the Straus stations (to avoid overlap with its Albany cluster), and that the Roberts purchase seemed to have more to do with the company's interests in other markets (see the June 16th NERW), we wouldn't be surprised to see one or two of the Roberts stations in the Hudson Valley get spun as well if there are market-concentration issues.

  Over in the Finger Lakes, there's a change of ownership and management at the Radio Group. Bob Martin leaves the company, which owns four AMs (WCGR Canandaigua, WGVA Geneva, WSFW Seneca Falls, WAUB Auburn) and two FMs (WNYR Waterloo and WLLW Seneca Falls), with his portion of the group's ownership going to Alan Bishop. Bishop, the former general manager of Clear Channel's WNVE (95.1 Honeoye Falls) in Rochester, will serve as VP/GM of the group while co-owner George Kimble heads to Tucson to soak up the sun in the winter months.

  Up north, Joe Ikoff is the new morning guy (though we're not sure of the spelling) at WPAC (92.7 Ogdensburg), replacing Rick DeFranco and relieving afternoon guy Nate Townsend of sister station WGIX (95.3 Gouverneur) of a very long double shift. Just down the road in Morristown, St. Lawrence University has been granted W212BQ as the new call for its 90.3 translator of WSLU (89.5 Canton). And over in Plattsburgh, word on the Web (well, on a radio DXers mailing list, anyway) is that AM 1070 is now WLFE(AM) relaying the country sounds of WLFE-FM (102.3 St. Albans) across the lake. That's yet to show in the FCC database...can anyone up that way (like, for instance, the nice folks at WLFE-FM who read NERW) set us straight?

• A handful of quick bits from CANADA: CIDC (103.5 Orangeville ON) has been granted permission to edge some 17 km closer to Toronto. "Rimshotter" is a dirty word north of the border, but by promising the CRTC it will continue to serve its community of licence, "Hits 103-dot-5" (whose studios are within the Toronto megacity limits) was permitted to lower power from 50 kw to 38 kw and move its tower to a new site 11 km east of Orangeville, putting an additional 500,000 listeners in the 3-mV/m contour.

  Up in little Campbellford (north and east of Peterborough), CKOL (93.5) has applied to boost power from 50 watts to 1038 watts, meaning we might actually be able to hear it when next we're up that way.

• And Speaking Of Which: Yep, it's time for the little green Saturn we call the NERW-mobile to hit the roads again for an extended summer vacation. The first phase will take us up to Ottawa next weekend, thence back home by way of New York's North Country, stopping everywhere from WNBZ Saranac Lake to what used to be WIGS Gouverneur. The following week, we head to Philadelphia (more for the nation's biggest coin show than for radio), then to Atlantic City and the sticks of the Jersey Shore. As always, we'd love to get together with our fellow radio lovers and NERW fans out there, so drop us a line before Thursday (8/3) if you think your studio, tower, radio room, or favorite restaurant might be along our route.

Finally this week, in a matter partly related to the summer traveling, we're pleased to announce a few changes in the NERW schedule and content.

Beginning with this issue, NERW will move to weekend distribution, sometimes as early as Friday or Saturday, sometimes as late as Sunday night, but with a consistent date of the following Monday. The August 6 NERW will be a very early issue sometime Wednesday night or Thursday, as we prepare to head out on the road. There will be no, repeat no, August 13 NERW. Publication will resume in earnest with the August 20 issue. (Why the new schedule? Blame Mrs. NERW's new schedule at work...)

Also beginning with this issue, we're pleased to offer a new feature to close out each week's edition: The Boston Radio Archives/NERW Northeast TV Stock Index. NERW research director Garrett Wollman has been working hard on this feature, in which he'll index the stocks of the publicly-traded companies that own TV stations in our coverage area. A radio index could follow if there's interest, and if we can find a way to weight the index appropriately. Ideas will be welcomed by Garrett at <wollman@lcs.mit.edu>; direct comments on the TV index to him there as well.

So with that in mind, we leave you for now with this week's TV index. (Think of it as our version of the closing theme ramping up as the host says goodbye for now, if it helps!) We'll see you (briefly) later this week...