New England RadioWatch: October 9, 1996

Meet the New 'FNX...

by Scott Fybush

• ...same as the old FNX! All of the hype and noise surrounding the "format change" at modern rocker WFNX (101.7 Lynn-Boston) came to naught on September 30, as the "new" Radio Anarchy Boston made its debut. What's changed at 'FNX? Pretty much nothing. The music is mostly the same blend of hard-edged modern rock; the jocks are exactly the same; and there are now some rather obnoxious liners all over the place. NERW's editorial comment: This kind of "format change" stunting might be good for an extra point or two in the ratings in, say, Fort Wayne, Indiana...but it takes something a bit more sophisticated to cut it when your modern-rock competition is veteran WBCN (104.1 Boston), with a full class B signal and all the money of Infinity (and soon Westinghouse/CBS) behind it.

• The Fox that Growled: NERW was quite surprised during its trip up to Bangor, Maine a week and a half ago, when a quick check of classic rock WWFX (104.7 Belfast-Bangor ME) turned up country music instead. It seems the "Fox" has undergone a species-change operation, emerging on September 20th as "the Bear," playing "hot new country." This sets up not a cross-town rivalry, but an across-the-street rivalry with longtime Bangor country leader WQCB (106.5 Brewer-Bangor ME). Q106's studios are just half a block down Acme Road from WWFX in Brewer, Maine. The nice folks at WWFX weren't saying, but NERW suspects a call change is in the offing there. NERW editorial comment: The move to country is probably a sound one. WQCB has been without competition since 97.1 Bangor changed from country WYOU to modern-rock WWBX ("97X") a year or so ago. And between 97X and rocker WKIT, the rock wars were getting a bit heated in Eastern Maine.

  NERW found a few stations worthy of praise during the Maine jaunt. WERU (89.9 Blue Hill) stands out, as a true community non-comm playing a very nice selection of folk and blues. On the commercial side of things in the Bangor area, WKIT (100.3 Brewer-Bangor), Stephen King's rocker, stayed live and local all night that Saturday night. Down the coast, the classical programming of WAVX (106.9 Thomaston) is now being simulcast on WBYA (101.7 Searsport), bringing the classics to the Bangor-Ellsworth-Belfast area. There was a LOT of satellite radio that weekend, including several of Bangor's big signals -- both AMs (sports WZON 620 and standards WABI 910) and a few major FMs (soft hits WEZQ 92.9 and oldies WWMJ 95.7) and a few of the biggies in the Augusta area (country WKCG 101.3, oldies WABK 104.3, country WMCM 103.3, and hot AC WQSS 102.5). WKCG was having some major signal problems, and was completely off the air for part of Saturday and into Sunday morning. 'KCG was also having automation problems -- the female jock on the satellite service was accompanied by locally-inserted station IDs from a male jock -- rather weird to listen to. One odd simulcast was oldies WGUY (102.1 Dexter) and WIGY (97.5 Madison), which run a satellite format, but with calls that were once very well known, WGUY in Bangor on 1250 AM years ago, and WIGY in Bath on 105.9 FM until the early 90s.

  Back up in Bangor, the newest station in town, WBZN (107.3 Old Town) was doing a decent job of cranking out 70s rock, "from an abandoned convenience store," at least according to the top-hour ID. Religious WHCF (88.5, "Where He Comes First") gives its time checks in both Eastern and Atlantic times, to serve listeners in western New Brunswick who can hear its 100,000 watt signal. Noncomm WHSN (89.3) at Husson College sounded like a pretty good college station, and I'm told the same is true of the University of Maine's WMEB (91.9 Orono), although the latter was not on the air when I drove past Sunday morning. Another relative newcomer, WSNV (103.9 Howland) has recovered from serious technical problems last winter and is cranking out talk programming in mono. And WKSQ (94.5 Ellsworth-Bangor) is doing hot AC as "Kiss."

• Driving into the mountains east of town in search of towers, the long-distance FM reception wasn't bad. Millinocket's WSYY (94.9) replaced the ubiquitous WHOM Mt. Washington NH on that frequency for a while. Also heard were several Presque Isle FMs (96.1, 96.9, and 106.1), Calais on 89.7, Machias on 95.3, and even Quebec City fighting through on 95.3.

• Worthy of note in the Augusta area were CHR WMME 92.3 (simulcast on WEZW 1400), the legendary "92 Moose FM," and the equally-legendary rocker WTOS 105.1 Skowhegan, with its giant signal from way up there on Sugarloaf Mountain (the calls stand for Top Of Sugarloaf!) WTOS's duopoly partner, newcomer WCTB 93.5 Fairfield, was doing a decent job with 80s pop as "The River." Their sister AM, WSKW 1160, was one of zillions of Central Maine stations running the final Red Sox game of the season. Duopolized with WMME/WEZW was country WEBB (98.5) Waterville, also known as "B98.5," and simulcast with WTVL (1490) in Waterville. NERW can't quite figure out why Maine Public Broadcasting needs WMEW (91.3) in Waterville, when sister stations WMEH (90.9 Bangor) and WMEA (90.1 Portland) both put very listenable signals over the area. WMHB (90.5 Waterville) at Colby College was begging for money. So was WMDR (1340 Augusta), albeit under the guise of religious programming. And the calls that used to be on 1340, WFAU, are now on 1280 from nearby Gardiner, ex-WABK(AM).

• TV was interesting up there as well; the best local news operation seemed to be that of WABI-TV 5, the CBS affiliate in Bangor. WVII-TV 7 is the ABC affiliate, and its programming was ably described by Garrett Wollman thus: "This is what a TV station would look like if it were run entirely by interns." WLBZ-TV 2 is the NBC affiliate and the oldest station in town; its weekend news is produced at sister station WCSH-TV 6 in Portland. There's no Fox affiliate; cable viewers get WPXT-TV 51 from Portland and those of us who stay at Motel 6 don't get it at all. WB is seen on low-power WBGR-LP 33, which also carries a slate of religious shows. PBS appears twice on the Bangor dial; once from Maine Public Broadcasting flagship WMEB-TV 12 in Orono, and once from the channel 30 translator in town that used to belong to MPB's now-defunct "PLUS" network; now it just simulcasts the main network.

• Heard on the way up and back: 95.3 in York Center, Maine is pumping out the hits as WXHT, "Heat." WCDQ (92.1 Sanford) continues to do a nice eclectic job as a locally-programmed rocker. Its sister station, WSME (1220), was not very praiseworthy...just running the satellite talk from White Springs, Florida, and entirely missing the legal ID that was supposed to hit before USA news at the top of the hour. A bit up the AM dial, though, WIDE (1400 Biddeford) was a pleasant surprise: a little local AM that was doing standards with a local jock on a late Saturday afternoon. Newcomer WVYH (106.7 N. Windham) has changed calls to WLAM-FM, matching simulcast partner WLAM (870 Gorham). WLAM AM-FM, which also simulcast on WZOU 1470 Lewiston, run satellite standards and now go by "The Jewel" during most breaks. And while WCLZ-FM (98.9 Brunswick) did its usual excellent job as an AAA outlet for greater Portland, its sister AM, WCLZ (900) continues its attempt at home shopping, and without any sort of ID at the top of the hour. Next time in NERW, we'll look at some Maine radio history, especially the near-disappearance of AM outside the big cities.

• One of Northern New England's biggest FM signals is temporarily off the air while it changes ownership. WZPK (103.7 Berlin NH), "the Peak," vanished from the airwaves not long after Fuller-Jeffrey Broadcasting closed on its purchase of the hot AC station last Friday. The Peak is reportedly undergoing technical improvements at its transmitter atop Mount Washington, and will reportedly be back on the air within a week or so. Stay tuned...oh, and ignore Portland's daily newspaper, which called the 22,000 watt directional outlet a "100,000 watt station." They must be taking accuracy cues from our friends at Boston's big daily, which this past week moved WUMB from 91.9 to 91.1 (which must have been a shock to WBUR 90.9!) and identified Northeastern University's WRBB (104.9) as "104.1," which must have been an even bigger shock to the folks at Boston's WBCN, who have occupied 104.1 since, oh, 1958 or so.

• A few other tidbits till next time: The WMEX calls that are a part of Boston's radio heritage have resurfaced, this time in Westport NY on the 102.5 construction permit last known as WADQ. Westport is across Lake Champlain from the already overbuilt Burlington, Vermont market. WMEX's last home, 1150 AM in Boston, is now WROR(AM) and will reportedly switch to the KidStar format sometime next week. WROR's sister station, WBCS 96.9 Boston, has now officially switched to the WKLB-FM calls adopted from what's now WROR-FM (105.7 Framingham-Boston), although 96.9 continues to mis-ID as simply "WKLB Boston."

  Up in Vermont, WCMD (89.9) in Barre is now on the air, simulcasting religious WCMK (91.7) in Bolton. The 90.5 construction permit in St. Johnsbury, granted as WAQA, has filed to change to WCKJ. This will reportedly be another religious outlet. Not too far away, in Keene NH, WKNE AM/FM (1290/103.7) have reportedly been sold for a total of $6 million...more on this next issue.

• In Southern New England, Torrington CT's WSNG (610) is now in Chapter 7 bankruptcy, under owner Consumer Service Radio. Across the state line in Peekskill NY, WHUD (100.7) and WLNA (1420) have been sold, from Radio Terrace of Albany, to John Kelly's Albany Broadcasting, which owns WROW(AM), WFLY(FM), WYJB(FM), and WPTR(FM) in the Albany market. And a company called "New Paltz Broadcasting" has bought WWLE (1170 Cornwall-on-Hudson NY) and WKAJ (900 Saratoga Springs NY) from William H. Walker III. These stations had previously been simulcasts for Walker's WRWD 107.3 Highland NY and WCKM 98.5 Lake George NY.

• So much for WRHF(FM), 106.5 in Farmington NH. M Street reports the construction permit remains deleted, after the FCC denied a petition for reconsideration. M Street says owner Stephen Powell claims he never got a letter from the FCC requesting more information; Powell says he found out his CP was being pulled when he read it in M Street.

• And that'll close it out for this time...coming in the next NERW, this time without a two-week delay, we'll take a look at the remarkable way the radio scene has changed in Maine in just 15 years.