The deal values the station at $10 million; it's a nice
payoff for Langer, who bought then-silent WBIV for just $50,000
back in 1995 and put it back on the air from the WKOX (1200) site
in Framingham. Today, WBIX runs 40 kilowatts by day and 22 kW
during critical hours with a format that includes news updates
from the
Langer, who also recently sold his 1470 signal in Marlborough (ex-WSRO, now WAZN), keeps WSRO (650 Ashland); he'll also take a seat on the board of Perspectives.
Meanwhile out in Winchendon, WINQ (97.7) is getting a new owner as well, as Saga makes the station its latest acquisition in a region that stretches from Springfield north through the Pioneer Valley and into southern Vermont and New Hampshire.
Saga pays Joseph Gallagher's Aritaur group $400,000 for the station, which programs hot AC for the area west of Fitchburg; we expect it will end up combined somehow with Saga's Keene operations (WKBK, WZBK, WOQL, WKNE-FM).
And while CNet Radio is already a distant memory at WBPS (890 Dedham), it's worth noting that the 24-hour tech format is signing off for good at the end of the month on the Web and its last remaining over-the-air outlet, KNEW (910 Oakland CA). No word on what will replace CNet in San Francisco...
You know Clark Smidt from the old WBZ-FM, WEEI-FM's "Soft Rock" and more recently NEW HAMPSHIRE's WNNH (99.1 Henniker) -- now he's on the Web with a new consulting site, http://www.broadcastideas.com/. Check it out...
Meanwhile, over in the Upper Valley, Burlington's WCAX (Channel 3) is moving in on the turf long occupied by WNNE (Channel 31). Last year, WNNE replaced its local newscasts from White River Junction with brief inserts during newscasts from sister station WPTZ (Channel 5) from Plattsburgh, N.Y. But with WCAX having expanded its reach in the area by winning local-into-local satellite carriage on Dish Network, the CBS affiliate has opened a news bureau and satellite uplink at the Glen Road Plaza in West Lebanon, N.H., hiring former WNNE reporter Katy Duffy to cover the Upper Valley area.
Congratulations to Rick Buckley of Buckley Broadcasting; he'll be honored with a Broadcast Pioneers Award from the Broadcasters Foundation at the NAB convention in Las Vegas this April.
And we have to offer big kudos to New York's WBAI (99.5), which provided a true public service last Thursday when it carried nonstop coverage of the Columbia University Law School's forum on ownership consolidation. The panels themselves were fascinating, but so was the Pacifica network coverage of the issue -- especially the midday interview with former FCC commissioner Nicholas Johnson. It's nice to see this very important issue receiving at least a modicum of media attention; would that the bigger media outlets spend some time on this one!
Sorry to report that Dick Taylor is out as GM of South Jersey Radio's WOND (1400), WUSS (1490), WGYM (1580) and WTKU (98.3) in the Atlantic City market after a long run at the group. What's he up to next? Reach out to him at (609) 965-8135 or DTaylorGM@aol.com...
A new religious broadcaster was also granted last week: Sound of Faith Broadcasting gets 50 watts on 94.3 in Woodstock, Ontario.
It's not doing regular programming yet, but Newcap's new 89.9 in Ottawa has call letters: mark down "CIHT" for the station that will soon be doing dance as "the Planet".
In Montreal, Milkman Unlimited reports some shifts at CHOM (97.7), with middayer Sarah Field out, evening guy Scott Tucker taking over the midday shift and fill-in Sharon Hyland taking over evenings.
And out in Kentville, N.S., Maritime Broadcasting flipped calls and formats when it signed off CKEN (1490) and signed on its new FM transmitter on 94.9 this month. The "AVR" (Annapolis Valley Radio) country format and CKEN calls that were expected to move to 94.9 instead wound up on 97.7, the former home of "Magic" AC CKWM -- and it's that format and call that is now being heard on 94.9.