New England RadioWatch: July 5, 1996

WRKO Fun, and San Juan too!

by Scott Fybush

• Boston-area radio listeners found quite a surprise on Independence Day when they tuned into talk-formatted WRKO (680). The American Radio Systems flagship gave the talk hosts a couple of days off...and in their stead is a revived version of "the Big 68," the top-40 legend that was WRKO from 1967 until 1980. The station did not try to bring back the legendary 'RKO jocks, instead using the current talk hosts (Pat Whitley & Marjorie Clapprood, Jerry Williams, Howie Carr, and the "Two Chicks," Leslie Gold and Laurie Kramer) to introduce what's being billed as the "Top 96 of 1968." A few of the old Drake jingles have been resurrected, notably that top-hour sounder that aired on *every* RKO/Drake station of the era, and the "20/20 News" sounder (ditto!) The same countdown is airing in a 4 or 5-hour repeat cycle until Saturday morning, when the talk returns.

  A correspondent to the Boston-Radio-Interest mailing list notes that the countdown WRKO is running (number 1 is "Hey Jude") does NOT match the actual end-of-1968 countdown WRKO issued...but instead corresponds to the national Billboard rankings. Ah well...

  Other notable Independence Day radio bits: Modern rocker WFNX 101.7 Lynn-Boston dug into its archives on the Fourth to spend the day revisiting the "Birth of Alternative," with all sorts of 70s and 80s punk and modern-rock tracks...and just as it does every year, classical WCRB 102.5 Waltham-Boston simulcast the Boston Pops' big July 4th concert on the Esplanade. Despite a brief rain delay, all went well... and the fireworks were as magnificent as ever. (TV viewers saw the show on WCVB-TV 5 and the national simulcast on A&E).

• Elsewhere in New England...the 96.5 frequency is getting even more crowded. Last week, the newcomer was class-A WAEF Bedford-Manchester NH. Now it's been joined by W243AI Newport RI, the Ocean State's first FM translator. W243AI uses 55 watts on 96.5 from the Newport Hospital. NERW traveling correspondent Garrett Wollman reports the signal to be adequate into Fall River, some 15 miles north of Newport. W243AI rebroadcasts WCRB 102.5 Waltham MA, Boston's commercial classical outlet. It helps rectify a lack of classical music in Rhode Island... the only other full-time classical outlet is 95.9 WVBI Block Island, which runs the SW Classic FM service with a very weak signal.

• Up in Vermont, the former WBFL 107.1 Bellows Falls-Brattleboro has been reborn under new ownership as WZSH, soft ac "Wish 107." The WZSH calls were last seen about six years ago, on what's now WNVE 95.1 South Bristol-Rochester NY, also as a soft ac station called "Wish." NERW wonders whether the CP for WSSH 101.5 Marlboro VT will turn out to be a simulcast. (The WSSH calls also spelled "Wish" for years in their former home on 99.5 Lowell-Boston, now WOAZ.) WBFL's former simulcast partner, WNBX 100.5 Lebanon NH, continues as AAA "River." And Garrett Wollman offers several additional Vermont tidbits: WWGT 96.7 Vergennes had resumed testing as of late last week, with a modern rock format that was not city-grade in downtown Burlington, and WNCS 104.7 Montpelier now calls itself "The Point," though it's made no change to its rock format.

• A bit north of Vermont (but what the heck...), Montreal-area radio listeners may want to check out 95.1. That's where CJZZ, "Radio Jazz Bell," is operating during the Montreal Jazz Festival, broadcasting info about the festival (and I think a few performances as well) with relatively low power.

• One of New Hampshire's newer radio stations has changed format and calls again. 98.7 in Somersworth NH (near the Seacoast) began its life as a CP with the calls WTSN-FM (its sister AM is WTSN 1270). It took air two years ago as AC WRGW "The Rock Garden," then went through a series of changes a few months back, becoming WRDX and briefly running an adult-standards format as "Radio Deluxe" before returning to AC. Now M Street reports 98.7 has become WBYY, "The Bay." The WBYY calls were last spotted on a little all-sports AM station near Grand Rapids MI.

• Three applicants have asked the FCC for class B FM's on 101.1 in Machias ME. I've never heard of any of them...F. James Whalen, "Suelou, Inc.," and "Two Star Broadcasting." Remember last week's list of dark AMs in New England? There's one right in Machias...1400 WALZ. Perhaps one of the losing applicants might want to check it out. Better yet, the FCC might want to ask why it should license a new station to a community that can't even support the ones it has...

• In business news, this time the radio with pictures department: The Tribune Broadcasting purchase of Renaissance includes WTIC-TV, Fox 61 in Hartford CT. Faithful NERW Connecticut correspondent Bill Dillane notes that Tribune also gets another Renaissance property in Connecticut, the WTXX-TV (Channel 20) broadcast tower that Renaissance kept when it sold the Waterbury CT station itself a few years ago.

• Huh?: M Street lists a call-change request for WUNZ 101.1 "Falmouth" (actually now using the Mashpee COL) MA...to WWKJ. Listening to the station as recently as this afternoon finds it still using the "Underground Network" moniker and modern rock format, parallel to WUNX 93.5 Harwich Port MA.

• And now for a trip way down south, as part of my long-promised and long-delayed look at Caribbean radio: "San Juan Radio Watcher!"

  The Puerto Rican radio dial is a very full one, with no fewer than 14 major AM and 20 major FM signals in Metro San Juan alone. In addition to many small local stations elsewhere on the island, many of the big San Juan stations are rebroadcast in the provincial cities of Ponce and Mayaguez.

  Here's what your Radio Watcher found during his 26-hour stay...please note that all stations are in Spanish unless explicitly noted otherwise, and all are licensed San Juan unless noted otherwise:

  580 WKAQ - news-talk
  630 WSKN - news-talk "Super Cadena" (r. WORA 760 Mayaguez, WPRP 910 Ponce)
  680 WAPA - news-talk
  740 WIAC - full-service
  810 WKVM - easy-listening (and owned by the Catholic Church!)
  870 WQBS - full-service "La Gran Cadena" (was English in the 70s as WHOA!)
  940 WIPR - variety (public broadcasting)
  1030 WOSO - English-language news/talk - affiliated with ABC, CBS, NBC,
   and Mutual, this unusual station sounds like something right out of the 60s
  1140 WQII - talk "Q11"
  1190 WBMJ - English-language religious - "We Broadcast the Message of Jesus"
  1320 WUNO - news "NotiUno"
  1400 WIDA Carolina - religion //FM
  1430 WNEL Caguas - news/talk
  1520 WVOZ - tropical (Latin dance music)
  1560 WRSJ Bayamon - English-language CNN Headline News
  1600 WLUZ Bayamon - talk
  88.1 WCRP Guyama - religion
  88.5 WKVN Levittown - religion
  88.9 WEUC Ponce - easy-listening (another church-owned outlet)
  89.7 WRTU - variety (Universidad de Puerto Rico)
  90.5 WIDA Carolina - religion
  91.3 WIPR - classical (public broadcasting)
  92.1 WZOL Luquillo - religion
  92.5 WORO Corozal - "Radio Oro," easy-listening (also church-owned)
  92.9 WTPM Aguadilla - ac
  93.7 WZNT - "La Z," tropical (r. WRPC 95.1 Mayaguez)
  94.7 WCOM Bayamon - "Cosmos 94," rock (r. WOYE 94.1 Mayaguez, WOQI 93.3 Ponce)
  95.7 WFID Rio Piedras - "Fidelity," ac
  96.1 WAEL Maricao - "FM 96," ac
  96.5 WDOY Fajardo - "Y96," tropical (a VERY danceable station!)
  96.9 WNRT Manati - "Info 97," talk
  97.7 WBRQ Cidra - "Sonocolor," hot ac
  98.5 WPRM - hot ac (r. WRIO 101.1 Ponce)
  99.9 WIOA - "Cadena Estereotempo," soft ac (and a nifty sung legal ID which
    also includes WIOB 97.5 Mayaguez-San German and WIOC 105.1 Ponce)
  100.7 WXYX Bayamon - chr/Latin "X100"
  101.9 WZAR Ponce - tropical
  102.5 WIAC - "Sistema 102," ac (r. WKSA 101.5 Isabela-Mayaguez)
  103.3 WVJP Caguas - ac
  104.7 WKAQ - "KQ105," ac
  105.7 WCAD - "Alfa Rock," a really bizarre blend of current rock and some
    really obscure 70s and 80s tracks, including Martika's "Toy Soldiers" and
    WAY too much Air Supply for this Radio Watcher.  M Street has this
    listed as "Modern Rock," which doesn't begin to do it (in)justice.
  106.5 WNIK Arecibo - hits
  106.9 WMEG Guyama - "Mega," hot ac (r. WEGM 92.1 Hormigueros and another
    one that was mentioned SO fast in the legal that I couldn't catch it)
  107.3 WCMN Arecibo - "Delta 107," hot ac
  107.7 WAHQ Carolina - "Cadena HQ," rock
  

  So that's what I heard, and airchecked (yes, I have unscoped 45-minute sides of most of these). Note also that "ac" and "hot ac" aren't exactly what you'd hear on a WMXV or a WLIT or a KXEZ...these formats rely very heavily on Puerto Rican music, albeit with a few mainland tracks mixed in...hence it's all a LOT more rhythmic, and IMHO a bit more fun to listen to. Please keep in mind also that I don't really speak Spanish, so it took some serious listening to figure out exactly what was what.

  From Puerto Rico, it was on to Aruba...and we'll go there in the next exciting edition of the New England and Elsewhere Radio Watch...