North East RadioWatch: July 3, 1998

WBPS is Sold (Really!)

by Scott Fybush

• A brief NERW this week, starting with this item from MASSACHUSETTS: Dedham-licensed WBPS (890) is one of several stations being transferred to Z Spanish Radio from current owner TSG Associates (which holds the stock of John Douglas' Achievement Radio Holdings). NERW expects WBPS to begin running Z's nationwide Spanish programming, which would mark the first time a national Spanish-language broadcaster has operated an O&O in the Boston market. This also explains why WBPS cancelled the proposed sale to Salem last month. The full deal, which includes stations in Chicago, Houston, and San Jose, is valued at $27 million.

  Also in Massachusetts, it seems WHYN (560 Springfield) is making some kind of programming change, but the e-mail we received about it came across as some sort of digital hash, so we don't know what. If the folks there will e-mail us again without the funky file attachments, we'll tell you what's going on next week.

• In CONNECTICUT, the big buzz concerns a proposed 1700-foot tower for WTIC-TV, which would be built where its current tower now stands in Farmington. The tower may also replace the adjacent stick being used by WVIT (Channel 30). Neighbors will have a chance to comment on the proposal at a public hearing July 13; NERW hears there's "considerable" local objection. WTIC-TV says it needs the new tower to support digital TV antennas.

  WTIC-TV also made some programming changes this week at new LMA partner WTXX (Channel 20) in Waterbury. Tuesday night was the last night WTXX viewers saw a WVIT-produced newscast at 10 PM; starting July 1, the UPN affiliate is running a simulcast of the first 20 minutes of WTIC's "Fox 61 News at 10," followed by sports and weather custom-produced by WTIC-TV for WTXX.

• An upstate NEW YORK station has changed cities of license; Johnstown's WSRD (104.9) is now Altamont's WSRD (104.9), which NERW suspects opens the way to a transmitter-site move that would make it more of a player in Schenectady and Albany. NERW notes also that the initial FCC information about this move misspelled the town name as "Altamount," although it seems to be correct in the database.

  Further east, Syracuse Community Radio is pressing forward with plans to get WXXE (90.5 Fenner) on the air to serve communities east of Syracuse. We're told that once WXXE is up and running, construction could begin down in the southern part of the market on WXXC (88.7 Truxton). As for that 89.9 translator application we told you about last issue? We hear from several sources that it was filed as a grudge against Oswego's WRVO, which has reportedly been standing in the way of several SCR applications - and we also hear WRVO wasted no time filing a petition to deny the new translator.

  Up north, it's a new format for Lake Placid's radio stations. North Country correspondent Gavin Burt was up that way last week and found WLPW (105.5)/WIRD (920) in Lake Placid and WRGR (102.3) in Tupper Lake with AAA programming.

  And back home in Rochester, we find one member of the WBBF (950) staff didn't make the transition to the new WEZO calls; former PD and morning host Todd Blide has left the building. Down the road at the CBS group, morning guys Scott Spezzano and Steve Hausmann, PM driver Pete Kennedy, and MD/night guy Mike Danger have all joined PD Clarke Ingram in signing long-term contracts; they'll all be there through 2000.

  From the rumor mill: Why did the on-line mention of a new group PD for Jacor's east coast Mix stations give the calls of Rochester's 100.5 as WHMX (which belong to 105.7 in Lincoln, Maine) instead of WVOR-FM?

• There's a new low-power FM on the way to Brattleboro, VERMONT. "Radio Free Brattleboro" will reportedly run a whopping 100 milliwatts from the Teen Center at 17 Flat Street. The new station on 88.1 is supposed to fill a gap in youth-oriented programming in the Brattleboro market, which we suppose it'll do for anyone within a few dozen feet of the building. The volunteer-run station is supposed to sign on July 13.

• One of NEW HAMPSHIRE's college stations is looking for some engineering help to recover from a lightning storm that knocked it off the air. WNEC (91.7) at New England College in Henniker suffered a power surge last week that silenced it; faculty advisor Ambrose Metzegen tells the Concord Monitor he's hoping an engineer will come forward to help get WNEC back on the air. Anyone wanting to volunteer help is invited to contact us here at NERW and we'll put you in touch with WNEC...

• And in RHODE ISLAND, WERI-FM (99.3 Block Island) has applied to move its transmitter a few hundred feet to the southwest and boost power from 4600 watts to 6000 watts.

That's it for this week's abbreviated edition. More trip thoughts in a special issue sometime over the weekend or earlier next week, and we'll be back to regular strength next Thursday. See you then!