NERW notes that ARS' Rochester stations had the new "CBS" IDs on the air as early as 6:00 last Thursday night.
WBPS (890 Dedham) won't be Salem Media's newest property after all. Salem subsidiary New England Continental Media asked the FCC this week to dismiss its proposed purchase of the station.
News from the noncomms: WBIM (91.5 Bridgewater) and WSHL (91.3 Easton) will both stay on the air 24 hours a day again this summer, relaying the Talking Information Center's reading service for the blind. And WRPS (88.3) at Rockland High School is also going 24 hours, running an automated hot AC format when no students are around. WRPS is also now in stereo for the first time.
Mike Adams is leaving One-on-One Sports' WNRB (1510), ending his partnership with Jack Farrell. The former New England Cable News sports host is heading to WEEI (850).
Former WAAF (107.3 Worcester) afternoon jocks Opie & Anthony have found a new home, two months after they were fired for their April Fools' Day claim that the mayor of Boston was dead. Their new home, according to published reports? CBS's WNEW (102.7) in New York, where they'll do afternoon drive.
From the rumor mill: When Greater Media's WKLB-FM (96.9) and WMJX (106.7) vacate their current home in Boston's Salada Tea Building (330 Stuart St.), will new CBS property WBMX (98.5) be moving in?
The digital TV bandwagon rolls on, with Worcester's WUNI (Channel 27) the latest to apply for a DTV CP. WUNI-DT will be on Channel 29.
And we're thrilled to report that one of Boston's finest broadcast journalists is now available on the Web, thanks to the Boston Herald. You can find Dean Johnson's columns at www.bostonherald.com.
Less than a year after fire destroyed his radio station, WVIP (Mount Kisco) founder Martin Stone has died. Stone was hospitalized after watching AM 1310 burn to the ground last fall. He was 83 years old. The WVIP license remains active, but there's no sign that the station will return to the air.
Buffalo sports legend Van Miller did his last regular sportscast for WIVB (Channel 4) Friday night. Miller was with Channel 4 for an amazing 43 years; he stays on as the voice of the Buffalo Bills.
PD Clarke Ingram will stay with Rochester's hit radio station for a few more years. After months of rumors involving a move to the City of Brotherly Love, Ingram re-upped with WPXY (97.9) just days after CBS closed on the station. His new contract runs through 2001.
Digital television is prompting a slew of channel changes among upstate New York's low-power TVs. This week's moves include: WNGN-LP Troy, from channel 26 to 47; W04DA Schenectady to channel 42; and WBGH-LP Binghamton from channel 8 to channel 20.
Speaking of Binghamton, NERW tried to check out the damage at WIVT (Channel 34), the ABC affiliate knocked off the air by a tornado, but we made it only about halfway up the driveway before being stopped by a man in a pickup truck with a German shepherd, who informed us that it would be best if we left the property...immediately. This much we know for sure: the WIVT tower no longer stands, and much of the side of the building is gone as well, covered by a blue tarp. WIVT's spot on the Binghamton cable system is being filled by a raw ABC network feed with a WIVT still ID inserted every once in a while.
NERW also listened to the new WBBI (107.5 Endwell), Majac's country challenger to Binghamton market dominator WHWK (98.1). We saw the new downtown studio facility of WHWK and sister stations WNBF (1290), WKOP (1360), and WAAL (99.1). And we were mesmerized by the modern rock sounds of WEBO (1330 Owego), as "The Web" cranked out the tunes on AM. Most unusual, indeed.
More tornado news: We're told the May 31 tornado took out Ogdensburg stations WSLB (1400), WPAC (92.7), and WNCQ (102.9 Morristown) for a while. All are back on the air now.
And from the legal-ID front: NERW's been hearing top-hour IDs again now that the automation is fixed at WBBF (950) in Rochester, and we owe it to the Entercom folks to note that the future WEZO(AM) was still running legal IDs last week -- in the weather forecast after the network news.
The Bargain Bin is back on Nashua's WSMN (1590) -- but it's moved from the 6PM timeslot to 2 o'clock each afternoon.
We hear that Brian Dodge's translators are back on the air with WJIV programming in the Connecticut River Valley. We're also told that one of the Dodge transmitters, W232AJ on Pack Monadnock, stayed on the air rebroadcasting the sounds of intermodulation between WKNE-FM and WEQX (102.7 Manchester VT) in crystal-clear stereo.
Another displaced LPTV is seeking a new home; W14CK in Newport wants to move to channel 14.
Jerry Kristafer of New Haven's WELI (960) will get some TV exposure Friday morning (June 12), as Fox News Channel simulcasts a few minutes of his show starting at 8:40 AM.
Look for a regular NERW in one week, followed by daily trip updates beginning Friday, June 19.