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December 30, 2002
WAWZ Wakes Up
By SCOTT FYBUSH
LATE UPDATE: The last big radio
story of 2002 turns out to be the sale of Big City's four 107.1
signals covering most of the New York suburbs. The buyer, announced
early on the morning of New Year's Eve, is Nassau - already a
big player in those suburban areas. Nassau will pay $43 million
for WYNY (107.1 Briarcliff Manor) in Westchester County (where
Nassau tried to buy many of the stations that are now in the
Cumulus cluster about two years ago), WWXY (107.1 Hampton Bays)
at the tip of Long Island (where Nassau owns nothing), WWYY (107.1
Belvidere NJ) serving the Poconos (where Nassau already has a
base with WSBG/WVPO/WILT) and WWZY (107.1 Long Branch NJ) on
the Jersey Shore. NERW expects a couple of the stations to be
spun...stay tuned in 2003!
*Connoisseurs of the FM dial have long looked upon WAWZ (99.1)
in Zarephath, NEW JERSEY as one of the biggest sleeping
giants on the band. Its 50,000 watts blanket an area that stretches
from just outside New York City to just north of Philadelphia,
serving millions of listeners in one of the richest suburban
markets in America.
Yet for decades, WAWZ has changed its sound almost not at
all, running a blend of preachers and religious music that would
have sounded right at home in the mid-1960s.
But now change is coming to this sleepy corner of the metropolitan
FM dial, and quickly: WAWZ's owner, Pillar of Fire, has pulled
the plug on most of the preaching (and most of WAWZ's local news
programming, too), flipping the station to full-time contemporary
Christian music. By the end of February, WAWZ will begin accepting
advertising and cease soliciting listener donations.
A play to keep Salem from launching its very successful "Fish"
format in the market? Just a recognition that it's not 1965
anymore? We'll keep you posted as the changes at WAWZ play out
in the new year.
Down on the AM dial, the jocks on WKMB (1070 Stirling) are
saying their goodbyes this week; the station's wonderfully diverse
country format disappears New Year's Day, to be replaced by gospel
under its new ownership. We understand WKMB's airstaff will stay
in place for the new format, at least for now.
 *The
post-Christmas format changes came hot and heavy last week, and
nowhere more dramatically than in PENNSYLVANIA, where
Entercom pulled the plug on its "Buzz" 80s simulcast
on WBZJ (102.3 Pittston) and WBZH (103.1 Freeland) after a month
of holiday-music stunting. In their place is "The Mountain,"
WAMT (102.3) and WDMT (103.1), playing classic hits with liners
tweaking other stations in the market for too much talk and too
many commercials. (Entercom has the trademark for "The Mountain,"
which explains why WKAB 103.5 over in Berwick stopped using that
moniker rather suddenly last month, becoming "Classic Hits
103.5" instead...)
Down in Reading, WRAW (1340) flipped from satellite standards
to satellite oldies, while over in the Pittsburgh market, the
talk format launched on WURP (1550 Braddock) with a lineup that
includes Don Imus, G. Gordon Liddy and Don & Mike. (And while
the Radiowerks folks from WBZV 1400 in Loretto are running WURP,
we understand their planned purchase of WNCC 950/WHPA 93.5 in
Barnesboro and WRDD 1580 in Ebensburg, north of Johnstown, has
hit some snags; WHPA has dropped the modern rock "Point"
format it was running under an LMA, returning to AC as "The
Heart.")
And one TV note: Pittsburgh's WQED will announce sometime
next month who's won the bidding for WQEX (Channel 16), the old
secondary PBS station that's being sold off as a commercial outlet.
Will this sale finally go through? Stay tuned...
*Into NEW YORK we go, with plenty
of post-Christmas format changes to report, starting here in
Rochester, where Clear Channel stopped spinning holiday tunes
on "Rudolph Radio" WLCL (107.3 South Bristol) at 5:00
Christmas evening, after several hours of promos in which "Santa"
answered a letter from "Mikey D. of Rochester" asking
for a country music station.
Suppose Mike Doyle, general manager of Entercom's ratings
behemoth WBEE-FM (92.5) was listening? He needn't have worried
too much; after just two days of "Country 107.3," with
a 10-song playlist and one choppily-cut jingle, the real new
format on Clear Channel's rimshotter debuted last Friday at 5:
classic rock "107.3 the Fox."
(NERW notes that this is the second time Clear Channel has
toyed with country as a stunt on 107.3; before the station took
on the rhythmic oldies "Cool 107" identity that just
disappeared around Thanksgiving, it spent two hours as "Big
Cow 107.3," playing country and baiting WBEE.)
 Down the Thruway
in Syracuse, Clear Channel rimshotter WXBB (105.1 DeRuyter) had
flipped to holiday tunes a few weeks back; on Christmas it went
to an all-Barking Dogs format as "Canine 105" before
relaunching as "New Rock 105, the Dog."
This one's a head-on challenge to Galaxy's "K-Rock"
WKRL (100.9 North Syracuse), albeit on a signal that doesn't
do well in the city itself, or even in the close-in suburbs.
Look for new calls on this one sometime next week: WWDG.
 Steve Medicis (of
CNYMedia.com fame) tipped us off to another post-Christmas change:
Utica-market WRFM (93.5 Remsen) flipped out of holiday music
and away from soft AC "Warm," heading to the other
end of the thermometer as "Cool 93.5." WRFM - make
that WUCL now, Steve says - is now playing songs from the 60s
and 70s, but don't call it "oldies" - at least, that's
not what they're calling it on the air, especially against competitor
"Oldiez 96," WODZ (96.1 Rome).
Down in New York City, "Dandy" Dan Daniel does his
last weekday shift on WCBS-FM (101.1) Tuesday, capping a run
of more than three decades on the Big Apple's airwaves, beginning
back in the "Good Guy" days at WMCA (570). Dan Taylor
will take over the 9-noon shift, while ol' Triple D takes a few
months off, returning to CBS-FM's weekend schedule in the spring.
(And speaking of classic jocks and classic stations, the rumors
of a WKBW revival continue in Buffalo; Hank Nevins has departed
Citadel's WHTT and is reportedly headed over to Entercom after
the New Year...)
*In MASSACHUSETTS, there's a new programming
staff at oldies WORC-FM (98.9 Webster), as Jay Beau Jones comes
on board as PD, accompanied by Rick Cabral in the APD chair.
Jones brings big-market experience to Citadel's Worcester stations;
he put "Jammin' Oldies" on the air in Chicago a few
years back at the old WUBT (103.5). Jones will also be doing
the 2-7 PM shift on sister hot AC WXLO (104.5 Fitchburg) for
Citadel.
And we're sorry to report the death of the original "Hillbilly
at Harvard," Brian Sinclair, who's hosted that Saturday-morning
mountain music fixture on WHRB (95.3 Cambridge) for 36 years.
Sinclair was suffering from leukemia; he died Saturday (Dec.
28) at the age of 62. His cohost, "Cousin" Lynn Joiner,
will continue the show.
*From VERMONT comes word of some management
changes for the New Year at the Vox stations. In Rutland, Dale
Brooks replaces Jay Gadon as GM of WEXP (101.5 Brandon)/WVAY
(100.7 Wilmington), while Kris Bjorkman is named general sales
manager of WEXP-WVAY as well as WORK/WSNO/WWFY in Barre and WZEC
down in Bennington. Across the line in Massachusetts, Laura Freed
returns to new Vox purchase WBEC AM-FM as general manager, while
in NEW HAMPSHIRE, Bob Frisch (former
owner of WMXR in Woodstock, Vermont) becomes GM of Vox's WOTX/WTPL
in Concord, with Brit Johnson staying on board as GM of sister
stations WJYY/WNHI.
 Speaking of the
Granite State, there's something new coming to Clear Channel's
WQSO (96.7 Rochester), which dumped oldies for holiday music
a few weeks ago.
You can't keep stunting with all-Christmas after December
25, of course - so WQSO is now playing "All New Year's,
All The Time," which means lots of Auld Lang Syne for the
Seacoast; expect a new format any day now, though.
*The end of Christmas music brought a new
slogan to RHODE ISLAND, as WSNE (93.3 Taunton MA) returned
to its AC format with a new nickname, "Star 93.3."
Expect a slightly hotter AC mix in the new year on this one,
we're told...
 *And
we have one obituary to report from CANADA: Carl Redhead,
the vice president and general manager of urban CFXJ (Flow 93.5),
died December 22.
Redhead came to CFXJ, where he was a partner in owner Milestone
Communications, from a career that included a long stint as vice
president and assistant general manager at "Radio 1540 Ltd.,"
the parent company of ethnic broadcaster CHIN (100.7/1540). Redhead,
a native of Trinidad, is survived by his wife, Lenore, as well
as two sons and four grandchildren.
*And that wraps up another year here at NERW - almost. This
week's issue continues with our annual Year in Review, plus the
ever-popular Year-End Rant, coming in just a few days. Click
right here to continue...
 *Have
you ordered your Tower Site Calendar 2003 yet? (Yes, the
very calendar that we had the honor of presenting to Paul Harvey
himself during his Rochester visit - and the delightful surprise
of hearing him praise on the air!)
Hear
what Paul Harvey had to say about his visit to Rochester...and
the 2003 Tower Site Calendar! (MP3,
3 min.)
It's no Oreck vacuum, or even Bose Wave radio, but if you
liked last year's calendar, you'll love this one: higher-quality
images (including Providence's WHJJ; Mount Mansfield, Vermont;
Buffalo's WBEN; KOMA in Oklahoma City; the legendary WSM, Nashville;
Harvey's flagship WGN, Chicago and many more), more dates in
radio history, a convenient hole for hanging - and we'll even
make sure all the dates fall on the right days!
This year's calendar is currently shipping! Look
for it in your mailbox; orders are being shipped in the order
received, and all orders received by December 22 have now been
shipped. Calendars are in stock, and orders placed now will ship
within 24 hours!
And this year, you can order with your Visa, MasterCard, Discover
or American Express by using the handy link below!
Better yet, here's an incentive to make your 2003 NERW subscription
pledge a little early: support NERW/fybush.com at the $60 level
or higher, and you'll get this lovely calendar for free!
How can you go wrong? (Click here
to visit our Support page, where you can make your NERW contribution
with a major credit card...)
You can also order by mail; just send a check for $16
per calendar (NYS residents add 8% sales tax), shipping included,
to Scott Fybush, 92 Bonnie Brae Ave., Rochester
NY 14618.
International orders: Calendars are US$18 to Canada,
US$20 to the rest of the world, postage included. Send checks/international
money orders (in US dollars) to the address above, or e-mail
for credit-card ordering information.
*And we're also happy to announce that
our good friends at M Street have released the 11th edition of
the M Street Radio Directory. With the disappearance
of the old Vane Jones log and the declining accuracy of the Broadcasting
Yearbook, the M Street directory is widely regarded as the most
accurate, most comprehensive source of information on the US
and Canadian radio scene - and we're thrilled to be able to offer
it to you at a substantial discount!
The directory includes power, frequency, ownership, key personnel,
formats, ratings and much more information for every radio station
in the U.S. and Canada, and now runs almost 900 pages in an 8.5"
x 11" softcover book. List price is $79 (plus $7 shipping/handling),
but if you order through fybush.com/NorthEast Radio Watch, you
can get this invaluable resource on your shelf for $69 (plus
$7 s/h) - a $10 savings! And your purchase benefits the continued
publication of NERW and Tower Site of the Week, so everybody
wins!
You can order in either of two ways: to order by major credit
card, call 1-800-248-4242, ask for Irene, and tell her
you want the "NorthEast Radio Watch" discount. Or,
send check or money order for $76 ($69 + $7 s/h) to Scott Fybush,
92 Bonnie Brae Ave., Rochester NY 14618. Either way, you'll put
the most trusted, accurate information about the radio industry
in print today on your bookshelf.
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2002 by Scott Fybush. |