Bob Steele came to WTIC in Hartford in 1936, as a junior announcer fresh from the motorcycle-racing circuit, where he had announced the races at a local arena (and, earlier, on KGFJ in Los Angeles.)
The Missouri native was hired on a probationary basis and urged to work on his accent. Within a few months, Steele was announcing sports broadcasts on WTIC -- and in 1943, he took over the "Morning Watch" show.
Before long, "Morning Watch" became the Bob Steele Show, and Steele became a WTIC institution, waking up generations of Nutmeggers with the "Word for the Day," birthday announcements, and general good humor until his retirement from daily broadcasting in 1991.
And even then -- at the age of 80 -- Bob Steele was far from finished at WTIC, moving to a Saturday-morning slot that eventually became a monthly feature on the station. In recent years, Steele was on the air only from May until November, but still proudly claimed his title as the longest-running regular program host in New England, and probably the entire country. When he turned 90 last year, Steele was quoted as saying he might consider retiring "when I turn 100."
Sadly, he won't get that chance; Steele died in his sleep sometime Friday morning, a month or so after what turned out to be his last WTIC broadcast. It was a run that's unlikely to ever be equalled, from a man who'll be widely remembered as one of the class acts in this business, and he'll be missed.
(WTIC did a special four-hour broadcast Sunday morning to remember Steele; we hear the station even cut carrier for 15 seconds at the end of the show in Steele's memory.)
On the radio side, Alan Chartrand adds station manager duties for WKLB-FM (99.5 Lowell) to his existing responsibilities at sister Greater Media talker WTKK (96.9).
Out west, Terry Cordingley is out as PD and afternoon drive jock at WBEC-FM (105.5 Pittsfield).
As we've reported in previous issues of NERW, the unusual primary/translator arrangement had led to complaints from competing New Jersey broadcasters and an FCC investigation; it's not clear exactly what's led to the disappearance of the format this time, or what's running now up in Monticello. We'll be back in that area in a few weeks and will keep you posted...
To the west, in Sussex County, Clear Channel flipped formats on WNNJ (1360 Newton), replacing satellite standards with voicetracked country as "Bear Country 1360."
Down in Monmouth County, WPDQ (89.7 Freehold Township) could soon be flipping from eclectic oldies to religion; owner "Lazarus Elias Foundation" is selling the station to Bridgelight Corporation, which is affiliated with several Calvary Church branches in the area, for a reported $875,000.
With brand-new calls of WNYI(TV), we're told channel 52 made it to air Friday from a tower near Ithaca College, running just 26 kW of... color bars. What next? Stay tuned....
It was one of the worst-kept secrets of central New York radio: Bill Keeler was out as morning jock on Galaxy's WRCK (107.3 Utica) as of last Thursday. The longtime Utica morning host tells the Utica Observer-Dispatch he had known for two months that he would be getting fired; he says Galaxy accused him of promoting his wife's comedy club on the air without permission.
Keeler says he'll be suing WRCK to collect on his contract, which was to run through 2006 and paid him $135,000 this year. Co-host Frank McBride is now doing mornings at WRCK.
Downstate, Buckley is bringing its "The Best of Everything" format, which had a test run on WDRC in Hartford, to WOR in New York -- but never fear, it won't displace the talk programming on AM 710. Instead, visitors to wor710.com will have the opportunity to use RCS' iSelector software to create their own individualized commercial-free Webcast stream of the pop-standards-and-more format, for a fee of $4.95 per month (with the first 48 hours free). The service launches today on WOR's Web site.
It's not quite as long a record as Bob Steele, but Danny Stiles certainly deserves recognition for his longevity in New York City radio; last week marked his 79th birthday and his 55th anniversary on the air in the Big Apple. Stiles is currently heard overnight spinning the standards on WPAT (930 Paterson) and WNSW (1430 Newark), as well as Saturday nights on WNYC (820 New York).
Out on Long Island, the FCC granted a new LPFM to "The Savior's Voice Broadcasting Company." It'll run with 100 watts on 100.9 in Center Moriches.
Back up here in Rochester, Entercom will hold an official ribbon-cutting Wednesday (Dec. 11) for its new "High Falls Studios" radio complex, home to WBEE-FM (92.5), WBBF (93.3 Fairport), WBZA (98.9) and WROC (950). We had a chance to see this nifty new facility a couple of weeks ago, and it's far and away the nicest commercial radio plant in town, complete with historic brick-vaulted ceilings and a wonderful location in the heart of the city's entertainment district.
From Buffalo comes word of the death on Dec. 1 of Les Arries, the longtime general manager of channel 4, where he started as general manager in 1967 (when it was WBEN-TV) and left in 1989 (when it had become WIVB-TV). Arries began his broadcast career at the old DuMont Network in 1946 and was later instrumental in creating the syndicated Merv Griffin Show while working for Westinghouse in the sixties. Arries died of brain cancer at his home in Sarasota, Florida; he was 77.
And in Toronto, the CRTC gave airport information station CFYZ (1280) approval to boost power to 400 watts day, 150 night, from the present 25 watts day/99 watts night facility. CFYZ does live travel programming in morning and afternoon drive, and is one of the most interesting airport stations -- heck, the most interesting airport station -- we've ever heard.