New England RadioWatch: January 10, 1997

WRKO Shakeup

by Scott Fybush

• Things are finally starting to shake out over at Boston's talk signal, WRKO (680). After two days of dancing around the subject (presumably accompanied by frantic backstage negotiations), veteran talker Jerry Williams has agreed to stay with WRKO doing a weekend shift, 1 to 4 pm Saturdays and Sundays, starting this Saturday, January 11. Williams endeared himself to NERW forever by spending much of Wednesday's and Thursday's shows lambasting Boston Globe radio critic Susan Bickelhaupt for the Globe's sketchy coverage of the situation. Bickelhaupt and Williams have locked swords before, and with very little to lose, Williams let loose on the air, criticizing Bickelhaupt for failing to call him for information, and knocking her for the bland way in which the Globe's one-paragraph story was written. Also heard on Thursday's show were many of Williams' former producers, going back to his start at WRKO back in 1981.

  Still very much up in the air is the future of WRKO's morning slot. The feud between co-host Marjorie Clapprood and the station appears to be very real, and it's now been more than a week since Clapprood walked off. Saturday morning host Mo Lauzier filled in on Thursday, relieving Jeff Katz, who's getting ready to start in the 10 pm - 2 am slot next week. Katz was uneven at best during his morning debut, spending the first segment of Wednesday's show in a pointless discussion with other station staffers about who lost the keys to the station van, and later fielding some pretty nasty calls from the listeners. Meantime, Clapprood is reportedly deep in discussions with her lawyers about what to do next, and her co-host Pat Whitley is simply off the air in the meantime.

  Here's how the rest of the schedule shakes out (correcting some mistakes in some editions of the last NERW!): After the morning show, Dr. Laura Schlessinger will be on 10-noon in Williams' old slot, followed by Rush Limbaugh from noon - 3 pm, Howie Carr 3 - 7 pm, the "Two Chicks Dishing" from 7 to 10 pm, Katz from 10 to 2, and then reruns of Dr. Laura, Rush, and Howie overnight until "America in the Morning" kicks in at 5. Weekend highlights include Lauzier Saturday mornings, the underutilized Andy Moes (now without Carolyn Fox) Saturdays 10 am to 1 pm, Williams Saturdays and Sundays 1 to 4 (replacing Bernie Ward), and the Money Experts on Saturday and Sunday evenings. NERW will be listening this Sunday morning to see whether Pat Whitley is back on the air doing his restaurant show, as well.

• It's Orgy Time at Harvard: No, not in the dorms -- well, maybe in the dorms, too -- but we're talking about the Orgies(SM) that Harvard's WHRB (95.3) puts on during exam time each semester, when as much as a full week of WHRB's programming is devoted to a single composer or theme. This year's Orgies actually kicked in a week ago, but the big guns begin firing on Sunday, when a six-day Sergei Prokofiev Orgy hits the airwaves, running from 1 pm to 10 pm each day. Leos Janacek gets an Orgy on Thursday, January 23, and Friday, January 24, and then starting Wednesday, January 29, WHRB kicks off five days of Johannes Brahms, running 6 am to 10 pm daily. A few of the smaller Orgies also sound interesting, including the WHRB Tech Department Orgy Sunday January 12 from 10:30 pm to midnight, the Wire Orgy running 26 hours on Tuesday and Wednesday, January 21-22, 36 hours of the Kick Back n Groove Orgy (jazz ballads) on Saturday and Sunday, January 25-26, and the Kraftwerk Orgy, running almost 30 hours on Sunday and Monday, January 26-27. Regular programming resumes Monday, February 3. And yes, "Orgy" really is a registered servicemark of the Harvard Radio Broadcasting, Inc. You can find more info about the Orgy and everything else WHRB does at their Web page if you're interested.

• Has this Patriots thing gone too far? NERW hears that Providence talker WHJJ (920) is now claiming its calls stand for "We Hate Jacksonville Jaguars." 'Nuff said...

• Notes from all over: The lone AM station in Saratoga Springs NY has returned to local programming, after several years of simulcasting oldies WCKM-FM (98.5 Lake George NY). WKAJ (900) is back to its original calls (from WBGG and then WCKM), and has been heard with big band programming. In New Milford CT, Sound of Life Inc. has applied for a translator on 88.5 for its WFGB (89.7 Kingston NY). The FCC has granted the sale of talker WSNV (103.9 Howland-Bangor ME) from Bay Communications to Moon Song Communications. It's also approved a change to noncommercial status for WUOK (1240 West Yarmouth MA), as that station is transferred from Boch Broadcasting to the Trustees of Boston University. Waterbury, Vermont's WGLY (103.3) has been granted an on-channel booster, WGLY-FM-1, in Montpelier VT. And there's one new web site to tell you about: little WJDF (97.3 Orange MA), one of those locally-owned stations we like so much here at NERW, now has a small on-line presence.

• (Still More) Corrections: Our 1996 in Review column identified WNCS (104.7 Montpelier VT) and its associated stations as "The Pulse." Uh-uh...that's WXPS (96.7 Vergennes VT); WNCS et al are "The Point." And we're told Mass. Association of Broadcasters president Alan Okun died in Worcester, not in Rochester NY. Oddly, there's been no obituary of Okun in either Boston paper.

• Yo-Ho, Yo-Ho, We're on the Pirate Bandwagon: Yet another unlicensed broadcaster is getting ready to set up shop in the Boston area. An article in the Allston-Brighton Tab newspaper this week quotes former WGBH producer Stephen Provizer as saying he'll start "Radio Free Allston" next month, running 20 watts on 88.5 from his home on Reedsdale Road in Boston's Allston neighborhood. Provizer says he'll operate five hours a day, seven days a week, serving a five-mile radius and airing commercials from neighborhood businesses. Provizer has apparently swallowed the Dunifer party line whole: he's also quoted as saying that since the FCC won't license stations under 100 watts, he's hoping they'll look the other way when it comes to his operation.

• And if we've all stopped laughing, that'll wrap up this edition of New England Radio Watcher. See you next week with still more on the fun and games at the Big 68...