So who's applying? For 740, the options are CHKT, Fairchild's multilingual station now on 1430; new stations from the current operators of CHIN-AM/FM (also multilingual) and CHWO Oakville (aimed at senior citizens); YTV Canada (kids' programming); the urban format proposed by Share newspaper; another multilingual format proposed by "914258 Ontario Ltd."; Aboriginal Voices Ltd.; and Andy McNabb's proposal for a Christian format. (No CHUM? So it seems...)
On 93.5, applicants include CHKT, McNabb, Share, as well as a proposed relay of the country format from CJKX-FM Ajax; gay-and-lesbian "Rainbow Radio" from the owners of CIAO 530; Good News Christian radio; and would-be urban operator Denham Jolly.
CJKX has also applied for 106.3, as has St. Sava's Radio for a multi-ethnic format and religious CHIM Timmins for a Toronto relay. Aboriginal Voices has also suggested using 106.5 if its 740 application is rejected.
Toronto isn't the only thing on the CRTC's plate next month. The commission will also consider CJET Smiths Falls' proposal to move to 92.3 FM from 630 AM; proposals from Roger de Brabant (who owns CHIM in Timmins) for low-power tourist-info stations on 103.1 in North York and 101.5 in Timmins; Eternacom's proposal to add tourism information on 102.9 to its religious CJTK in Sudbury; and a proposal to boost the power of CIRV (88.9 Toronto) from 1000 watts to 1800 watts.
And then there's Quebec, where Radio-Canada wants to add local programming to its transmitters in Sherbrooke (CBF-FM-10 on 101.1) and Trois-Rivières (CBF-FM-8 on 88.1). Sherbrooke (along with relays in Asbestos, Lac Mégantic, and Victoriaville) would get 6 hours and 15 minutes of local programming a week, while Trois-Rivieres would get 5 hours. This seems to follow the pattern the English side of the CBC has set in Ontario, with partial breakaways from regional programming for local inserts on CBC Radio 1 in London.
Promotional loops continue to run on 690 and 940 in Montreal, with December 14 now the target date for "Info 690" and "940 News." We're hearing conflicting reports about whether the transmissions are coming from the Brossard site used by CBF and CBM, or whether they're coming from the sites of soon-to-be-defunct CKVL 850 and CIQC 600.
WDIS (1170 Norfolk) has its call letters back, as the FCC reinstates the station's license and pending applications after accidentally cancelling them over the summer.
Out west, WEIB (106.3 Northampton) is now in full commercial operation with its soft R&B/smooth jazz format. We're also hearing that WHAI (1240/98.3) in Greenfield may be changing hands after 61 years with the Haigis family; more on that next week.
Two obituaries to report: Eileen Kneeland, who served as the midday host on WBZ and WEEI in the 1940s, was a pioneering cooking-show host on Boston TV in the 1950s, and later taught at Endicott College in Beverly, died in late November. On Monday, Gene Rayburn died at age 82 -- and while you may remember him best as host of the "Match Game" on TV, he began in radio, hosting mornings at WNEW New York in the 40s.
An update on the transfer of stations from Back Bay Broadcasting to "AAA Entertainment": We're told Back Bay principal Peter Ottmar controls AAA as well, so there's no real ownership change taking place at WLKW, WWKX/WAKX, and WKCD.
After eight years doing mornings at WKCI (101.3 Hamden), Glenn Beck is heading south to Tampa. Sidekicks "Stu and Vinnie" are holding down mornings on KC101 for now.
Janet Peckinpaugh has settled her sex-discrimination lawsuit against the former owner of Hartford's WFSB (Channel 3). The deal between Peckinpaugh and Post-Newsweek is sealed, so there's no way to say how much of the $8.3 million she was originally awarded will still be paid out. She'll soon have another reason to celebrate, as current employer WVIT (Channel 30) adds newscasts at 5 and 5:30 PM with Peckinpaugh at the anchor desk.
WGNY in Newburgh is still fighting to get a better dial position than its daytime slot at 1220. After being forced to end its STA operation at 1200 last year (after nearly a decade on the frequency!), WGNY is again asking the FCC for an expanded-band slot. The station says a return to 1200 would cause too much interference to WPHT (1210) in Philadelphia.
Just south of the brand-new Interstate 86 (dedicated this week!) in Hornell, the newest outlet of the WSKG public broadcasting empire is on the air. WSQA (88.7) joins WSKG's relays in Elmira/Corning, Ithaca, and Oneonta, as well as the main station in Binghamton.
And in nearby Houghton, the application by Houghton College for a new station on 91.1 has been returned. Houghton transferred its existing station on 90.3, WJSL, to Rochester public broadcaster WXXI-FM earlier in the year.
That's it for this week. Next week's issue will be the last regular NERW for 1999, as we head into our year-end specials. Join us December 17 and 24 for a look back at the year, as well as each week's news and our Year-End Rant. There will be no NERW on December 31, since we'll be busy covering whatever it is that actually happens that night...but we'll be back January 7 if we're all still around (and sooner if news warrants...)