WOR (710) has been at its Valley Brook Avenue site in Lyndhurst, N.J. only since 1968, when it moved out of its prior location in Carteret, where it had been since the early thirties. Within a few months, though, WOR will have to tear down these three towers and its transmitter building, thanks to a "notice to vacate" issued by the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission.
EnCAP Golf Holdings will end up with the current WOR transmitter site, but it will have to pay for WOR's relocation. It won't be a long move this time; the new WOR site will be just 700 meters northeast from the current site, on a swampy spit of land along Fish Creek within sight of Exit 16W of the New Jersey Turnpike.
To make it work, WOR has applied to the FCC to maintain its current 50 kW day and night, with a slightly different pattern that throws deeper nulls to the northwest and southwest, but otherwise leaves WOR's coverage essentially unchanged. The new pattern will come from three 204-meter towers.
We'll keep you updated on the first move of a New York 50-kilowatter in decades as it progresses; stay tuned!
More New York news: WABC (770) is shuffling its morning talk lineup a bit, stretching Curtis and Kuby from 5:30 to a new 10 AM signoff, followed by John R. Gambling in an expanded slot from 10 until Paul Harvey at 11:45. The move displaces the "Troubleshooter" Tom Martino show, which will apparently still be heard on weekends.
Out on Long Island, Ralph Tortora exits WBAB (102.3), where he was doing afternoon drive and APD duties.
Heading upstate, WGNY-FM (103.1 Newburgh) made a not-quite-format change this week, repositioning its satellite hot AC format as "Hits 103.1." Another 103.1, Clear Channel's modern AC WHRL (103.1 Albany), lost its OM/PD this week, as Susan Grove exited to go south to Birmingham, Alabama and WRAX, where she'll be PD.
We noticed something seemed different in Johnstown as we drove through town last Monday: WIZR (930) is now operating from a new tower on Route 30A and new studios across the street. The new stick is just a few hundred yards south of the old one, which was next to the old studios at 178 E. State Street.
Some new "class A" low-power TV licenses: mark down Syracuse's W11BP, DeWitt's W40BJ and Greece's W06BT with the new category of license. The Syracuse and DeWitt stations both relay the CornerStone programming from WPCB (Channel 40) in Greensburg, PA; Greece runs America One, and we don't know what either station is claiming as the local programming required for Class A status.
Where are they now? Josh Lewin, like your editor a proud product of Brighton, N.Y., is moving on to a new gig as the TV voice of the Texas Rangers and the Dallas Stars. Lewin has been leading a split existence, working from Detroit, calling Tigers games as well as some of Fox's Games of the Week, while hosting (until last year) a nightly talk show on Baltimore's WBAL (1090). He'll continue his network gigs, we hear...
Little WVBF (1530 Middleborough Center) has applied to add night power. The 1000-watt daytimer would run a whopping 2 watts at night if its application is granted.
"Neil P., the Frat Boy" is moving from one Clear Channel outlet to another, dropping his WJMN (94.5) swing duties to take Skip Kelly's 11 PM to 2 AM slot at WXKS-FM (107.9) as Kelly heads west to Los Angeles and KYSR (98.7).
Out on Nantucket, WNCK(FM) replaces WAZK on the construction permit for 89.5...no word on when the station might actually sign on, though.
TV news: It looks as though Venture Technologies will get that channel 51 construction permit in Pittsfield, serving Albany with 5 megawatts from a 52-meter tower on Brodie Mountain in New Ashford, at a price of some $1.3 million. And replace W32AY in your Boston LPTV listing with WTMU-LP; the Telemundo station is still simulcasting with WWDP (Channel 46) down in Norwell.
And we had to chuckle at the trades that reported the news from WXKS (1430 Everett), which is bringing back a local morning show with operations director Bill Wightman at the helm. Satellite jock Jeff Rollins will still be heard in the 10-noon slot following Wightman. But how the heck did it appear as "WXKS-A/San Antonio" in at least one prominent trade publication? (Just ask Lowry Mays, we suppose...)
The CRTC also cleared up its Montreal call for applications, specifying that the call is for new AM operations, presumably on the 600, 850, 1410 and 1570 frequencies now sitting vacant.
Back to Toronto: urban CFXJ (Flow 93.5) has a new director of operations and programming, but with a familiar name. David Marsden, who moved from the old CKEY to become a Toronto FM pioneer at CHUM-FM and then CFNY, takes the reins at Flow later this month. Another familiar name, newsman Iain Grant, is back on the air, this time at CFRB. Across the hall, Buzz Reynolds departs CKFM (Mix 99.9) to join Montreal's CHOM; also making the move to CHOM is Scott Tucker of Kingston's CIKR (K-Rock 105.7), who'll be doing nights at CHOM.
In Ottawa, Steve Winogron moves down the hall from the news director's office at CFRA (580) to CHUM/City's CHRO (The New RO).
Up in the Poconos, we're told WILT (960 Mount Pocono) has dropped ESPN sports to simulcast WVPO (840 Stroudsburg), as anticipated here in NERW a few weeks back.
And an old callsign is returning to Pittsburgh; a slew of LPTV call changes around the Steel City includes the change from W29AV to WIIC-LP; those calls were last seen in 1980 on what's now WPXI (Channel 11). Other call changes: W69CC Pittsburgh to WPTG-LP, W28AW Greensburg to WQVC-LP, WONT-LP Johnstown to WBYD-CA, W64BL Kittanning to WBOA-LP, W45AU Uniontown to WWAT-CA and W25BK Freedom to WWBP-LP. We believe all but the Johnstown station are running a local home-shopping format.
That'll do it for another week, as we head off to see some towers and tape some stations in West Virginia, Kentucky and Ohio. We'll be back with you next Monday...see you then!