North East RadioWatch: August 7, 2000

So Long, Charles...

by Scott Fybush

• The Charles Laquidara farewell occupied much of the week's attention in MASSACHUSETTS, as the WBCN veteran (and more recently morning man at WZLX 100.7 Boston) said goodbye to the Big Mattress and headed off to Hawaii. We go to press too early this week to report Charles' final words...more in the August 21 issue.

  As Charles says goodbye, a new TV station says "hello." WHUB-TV (Channel 66) Marlborough made its debut with a "Cheers"-heavy lineup of syndicated shows on Tuesday (August 1); expect the USA Broadcasting outlet to get heavily into the bidding wars for local sports in the months to come.

  Out west, we note that WRNX (100.9 Amherst) has had its application dismissed for non-directional operation. The station wanted to go from 1350 watts directional to 850 watts non-DA, still at 211 meters AAT on its current site high above Route 116 north of South Hadley. (Going non-directional would have filled a wide null in the station's pattern towards the southeast, protecting WKNL 100.9 New London CT.)

• In NEW YORK's Southern Tier, Vox is growing yet again (with the rumor mill hinting that it's preparing for an eventual sale). The latest additions to Vox's growing cluster down that way are Magnum's WMNS (1360) and WMXO (101.5) in Olean, and just across the state line, the former WRLP (103.1 Russell PA), newly renamed WQFX.

  We hear Clear Channel will step in and buy Binghamton's WINR (680) from dentist Paul Titus, now that Titus' deal to sell the standards station to Citadel is no more. CC already has four FMs in the market, plus sports AM WENE (1430 Endicott); we wonder what the strategy behind the (reportedly $2 million) purchase will be? (Late word is that an LMA kicked in August 1, with the deal to close this fall.)

  Just down future I-86 and a few feet across the state line in Pennsylvania, Maureen E. Furiosi has been granted a construction permit for 96.1A. The 1750 watt station will transmit from 135 meters above average terrain, licensed to South Waverly PA and transmitting from Hanlon Hill, outside Ridgebury PA and a bit closer to Elmira than the area's other FM (WAVR 102.1 Waverly NY).

  What will become of Albany's WTRY (980 Troy) once it moves from AMFM to the new huge Clear Channel group? The Times Union's Pete Dougherty reports the station will go sports with the new Fox Sports Radio network. Jim Rome's show (from Clear Channel's Premiere Radio Networks) will move from CC's WTMM (1300 Rensselaer), which is being spun away in the deal, over to 980. What becomes of 1300 under new owner Regent? Nobody's saying just yet...

  Radio people on the move: Ellis B. Feaster has packed the moving van and he's on the way out of Rochester for the second time in a few years. Feaster leaves the morning show at oldies WBBF (98.9) for a job at Cox country giant WWKA (92.3) in Orlando, Florida. Down in New York City, former WNEW (102.7) jock Dennis Elsas has resurfaced at the low end of the dial, where he's signed on for afternoon drive at Fordham University's cool AAA WFUV (90.7).

• The word from VERMONT is that, yes indeed, country WLFE-FM (102.3 St. Albans) has LMA'd AM 1070 across the lake in Plattsburgh NY and is operating it as WLFE(AM). The irony here? Former WLFE owner John Kimel checked in to remind us that back in the early 80s, he flipped the FM to country in an attempt to steal the market share of...AM 1070 in Plattsburgh, then known as WKDR. (Burlington's 100kw 98.9 spoiled the fun a few years later when it switched from CHR as WQCR to country as WOKO.)

• NEW HAMPSHIRE's most powerful AM station is changing hands. WDER (1320 Derry) is being sold by Spacetown Communications to Blount Communications -- the same folks who own WBCI (105.9 Bath) in Maine, WVNE (760 Leicester) in Central Mass., and WARV (1590 Warwick) in Rhode Island. No word yet on a sale price, and we don't expect any change in WDER's religious format. (And before we hear from Bob Vinikoor: yes, his 50kw CP for WQTH 720 in Hanover will be the most powerful Granite State AM when it takes the air; for now, WDER's 10kw daytime wins the prize.)

  New Hampshire is one of two NERW states in the next LPFM filing window. Applications for LP-100 stations in New Hampshire, CONNECTICUT, and nine other states will be accepted by the FCC from August 28 until September 1; we hope to have them ready to report in the Sept. 11 or 18 issue of NERW if all goes well.

• Up in MAINE, Gannett takes a page from the Ackerley playbook, merging many of the back-office and engineering functions of WLBZ (Channel 2) in Bangor into those of WCSH (Channel 6) in Portland. The two NBC affiliates will now share a common newscast at 5:30 and 11 PM on weeknights, in addition to the morning and weekend shows they already simulcast.

• Not quite in our area, but we can't ignore it, either: Tuesday (8/1) marked the farewell of a legendary set of call letters on the AM dial, as Infinity's WMAQ (670 Chicago) said goodbye and handed the frequency over to sister station WSCR, moving format and calls from 1160. It's sad to see any heritage station go, especially one with as long and colorful a history as WMAQ. (You can read much more about that history at Rich Samuels' outstanding Chicago broadcast history site.)

• And as we head the NERW-mobile up towards CANADA, we have word that the CRTC has denied a power increase for CFBG (100.9 Bracebridge), way up there north of Barrie in Ontario's Muskoka region. CFBG wanted to boost power from 2.9kw to 100kw and move to 99.5 -- but the CRTC says such a move would have changed CFBG from a local station to a powerful regional station.

That's it for this early edition; we're on the road for the next week or so, and we'll be back with another NERW August 21. See you then!