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January 27, 2003
The Friendly Giant Wakes Up
 By
SCOTT FYBUSH
*FLASH!
Just in to NERW Central Thursday
afternoon is word that one of New England's longest running morning
teams is no more. Smith and Barber, of Cox's WPLR (99.1 New Haven),
are calling it quits after more than 18 years at the rock station.
Bruce Barber had been looking at getting out of radio for several
months, we're told, and WPLR management decided not to keep going
with just Brian Smith.
Inbound to 'PLR are "Chaz and AJ"
from WRCN (103.9 Riverhead) on Long Island; they'll work with
the rest of the Smith and Barber morning team when they start
on WPLR in mid-February.
Much more in next Monday's NERW...
*To the strains of Don McLean's
American Pie, a legend returned to the airwaves of western
NEW YORK this morning at 6.
As first confirmed right here at NERW last week, Entercom
pulled the plug on the ratings-challenged business talk format
that had been occupying the 50,000 watts of Buffalo's WWKB (1520),
returning the erstwhile WKBW to the music that made it great
- the hits (don't call them "oldies" these days) of
1958 through 1973.
 And what a way to
do it - complete with ads in the Buffalo News, a spiffy
new Web site at www.kb1520.com,
plenty of cross-promotion on Entercom sister stations WGR (550)
and WBEN (930), including 90 minutes' worth of Friday's Sandy
Beach (himself a 'KB alumnus) talk show on 'BEN, and a lineup
of talent that Buffalo radio history buffs have long fantasized
of reuniting at the top of the dial.
Anchoring the revitalized 'KB, as long rumored, is Danny Neaverth,
a morning fixture on the original 'KB from 1963 until its 1988
demise - and joining him on the 6-10 AM shift is Tom Donahue
with "Pulse...Beat....NEWS." On afternoons is Hank
Nevins, who followed Neaverth out the door at Citadel's oldies
WHTT (104.1) last year, and holding down the 6-10 PM shift by
voicetrack from his home base at WMQX (93.1 Winston-Salem NC)
is none other than "Your LeeeeeeeeeeeeDER," the legendary
Jackson Armstrong. Completing the initial lineup is Joey Reynolds'
overnight talk show - and Reynolds, who worked at 'KB in 1964-1965,
will do his show live from Buffalo tonight.
NERW WEB EXTRA: Click here to hear the debut of the new
'KB, just as it sounded here at NERW Central (MP3, 8 minutes,
977KB)
 It's an ambitious
effort to breathe life into a signal that's been dormant for
more than a decade, long enough for a new generation of Buffalo
radio listeners to forget about all the magic that happened at
1520.
But Entercom has a few things going for it: the relatively
stable population base in Buffalo means there are still hundreds
of thousands of people in town who grew up with 'KB as a part
of their lives and will at least sample the new version; the
decline of Citadel's WHTT, which inexplicably let Neaverth go
last year, opening the door to the possibility of a 'KB return;
and of course the massive 1520 signal, still one of the very
best in Buffalo (and Rochester) and of course still widely heard
across the Northeast after dark, especially in New York City,
where the old 'KB was the only source for rock and roll on Sunday
nights well into the early seventies.
And how excited is Neaverth about the return? The oft-delayed
morning man was not only on time for his debut show...we hear
he showed up 20 minutes early! (The stories about Neaverth's
morning tardiness rival those about Boston's WBZ and the late
Carl deSuze, but we digress...)
We'll be watching (and listening to) 'KB closely over the
next few months to see whether Entercom can sustain the initial
buzz that surrounds the relaunch. Stay tuned!
 *Just when we thought
'KB's return would be the week's big story out of New York, though,
the message boards began crackling early Monday morning with
news that Infinity's WNEW (102.7 New York) was finally waking
from its slumber and heading for a new format.
WNEW's hot talk format has been on the endangered list, of
course, since last summer's suspension of the station's flagship
talk hosts, Gregg "Opie" Hughes and Anthony Cumia.
With the duo off the roster, WNEW has been limping along with
syndicated talk, a deliberately weakened morning show (so as
not to challenge Infinity sister WXRK and Howard Stern), Ron
and Fez in the evening and plenty of infomercials.
Monday morning at 1:00, though, that mess of a non-format
was abruptly replaced by Jennifer Lopez' "Jenny from the
Block" and an announcement (on the air and on the station's
Web site) that a new station was on the way to 102.7.
That, in turn, is sparking a new round of rumors in the nation's
biggest market - will WNEW go to a female-leaning AAA-ish AC
format, as message-board guru Allan Sniffen declared he'd been
tipped last week? Will it fill the gaping hole in the country
format? Or will Infinity shift 102.7 in some completely different
direction? We'll have all the latest developments right here
at NERW and fybush.com just as soon as anything happens - which,
given the history of the station, could be later tonight or six
months from now...
Meanwhile, the general manager of WNEW and sister WINS (1010
New York) has some additional duties: Scott Herman has been promoted
to market manager for all of Infinity's New York properties,
which puts him in charge of sports WFAN (660), all-news WCBS
(880), WXRK (92.3) and is-it-still-oldies WCBS-FM (101.1) as
well. Nothing like a good challenge...
Congratulations to Ithaca's WHCU (870), which celebrated its
80th anniversary last week. The station started down the road
in Elmira as WESG, owned jointly by Cornell University and the
Elmira Star-Gazette; it moved to Ithaca under sole Cornell
ownership in the thirties and didn't enter private hands until
just a decade or so ago.
One more tiny Buffalo item: W15BH (Channel 15) changed calls
last week to WBNF-CA; when last we checked, the station was still
relaying the TCT religious programs of WNYB (Channel 26) from
Jamestown.
New York was one of the few states where nobody could see
the Super Bowl in digital form; amazingly, not one of the Empire
State's ABC affiliates has its DTV signal on the air yet! Only
a few viewers in the Albany area had a chance to see ABC's DTV
presentation from San Diego, thanks to the signal of WCDC-DT
(Channel 36) from Adams, Massachusetts, which beat its parent
station (WTEN Albany) to the digital airwaves - and which was
picked up on Albany's cable system for game day.
And we're sorry to report the passing of Gene Collins, who
spent twenty years at WTEN (Channel 10), moving all the way up
from cameraman to station manager. Collins died January 18 at
age 66; his son, Scott Collins, is an executive with Anastos
Media's Albany-market stations (WABY, WUAM, WVKZ).
*Some news from mid-MAINE that came
as a bit of a surprise last week: after more years of FM simulcasts
than we can remember, WEZW (1400 Augusta) and WTVL (1490 Waterville)
are doing their own thing on the AM dial. WEZW was simulcasting
CHR "Moose" WMME (92.3), while WTVL relayed country
"B98" WEBB (98.5), but now Citadel has the two AM stations
doing standards as "Kool."
 *Speaking
of simulcasts, the rumor came true last Thursday in VERMONT:
the country format on WCVR-FM (102.1) in Randolph came to an
end, replaced by a simulcast of classic rock WCPV (101.3 Essex
NY) from the Burlington market. The move puts "Champ"
on the air everywhere from Plattsburgh, N.Y. to the Upper Valley
of Vermont and New Hampshire, where WCVR has a translator at
102.3.
*The only news from NEW HAMPSHIRE this
week is solely for the hardest of hard-core radio geeks: WKNE-FM
(103.7) Keene is now WKNE(FM), thanks to the call change of its
AM sister at 1290 to WKBK.
 *Down
in MASSACHUSETTS, fans of the big-band swing sound of
WCRN (830 Worcester) could soon get a stronger signal to enjoy
after dark.
Already blasting out 50 kilowatts over central and eastern
Massachusetts by day, WCRN last week applied to boost its night
power from 5000 to 50,000 watts, which will make the station
a 24-hour presence in most of the Boston metro.
The move will require the construction of a fourth tower at
WCRN's current site; we'll keep you posted as it makes its way
through the FCC bureaucracy.
Over in Boston, WJMN (94.5) wants to make a minor change,
switching antennas on the "FM 128" tower in Newton.
The move 29 meters up the tower (to 353 meters above average
terrain) will require a power drop from 11.5 kW to 9.3 kW.
And we're sorry to report the death on January 22 of Gary
Marder, who had been general manager of Entravision's WUNI (Channel
27 Worcester), Boston's Univision affiliate.
*A few Radio People on the Move in CONNECTICUT:
Gina J is out of her afternoon shift at Clear Channel CHR WKSS
(95.7 Hartford) because of budget cuts; also exiting there is
night guy Diego.
 Down
the hallway at WHCN (105.9 Hartford), morning co-host Teresa
Berry is leaving voluntarily - she's rejoining former co-host
Eddie Davis in mornings at WIXM (97.3 Millville) in southern
NEW JERSEY beginning February 3.
*The talent keeps on spinning in PENNSYLVANIA's
biggest market: Mike Rossi has departed the morning shift at
WPTP (96.5), with Dave Cruise moving from afternoons to join
Charlie Max on wakeup duty at the station, which has been the
target of intense format-change rumors.
Over in the Harrisburg market, oldies WHBO (92.7 Starview)
wants to drop power but raise its antenna at its current site.
From its current 1400 watts at 208 meters, WHBO would move to
281 meters with 750 watts, with hopes of putting more signal
over the hills and into Harrisburg itself.
Way out in western Pennsylvania, the Cambridge Community Radio
Association has been granted a 100-watt LPFM in Cambridge Springs,
at 92.9 on the dial.
And Uniontown's WMBS (590) flipped this morning, ditching
oldies for standards.
 *Yet
another AM station will soon disappear from the airwaves in eastern
CANADA. The CRTC last week granted CFJR (830 Brockville)
a move to the FM dial, where it will run 5600 watts at 104.9.
The CHUM-owned station won the FM frequency over the protests
of the CBC, which has long had that channel on its long-term
plan to bring Radio Two service to Brockville. The CRTC notes
that several other frequencies are available for that purpose,
and that Brockville already gets Radio Two service from Ottawa
(CBOQ 103.3) and Kingston (CBBK 92.9 - incorrectly identified
in the CRTC release as "107.5," which is the CBC's
Radio One frequency there.)
Speaking of Ottawa, NewCap is staffing up its new CIHT (89.9),
which is already on the air testing and will soon inaugurate
its dance/CHR format as "The Planet." In addition to
PD Rob Mise, new staffers include morning team Carter Brown (an
Ottawa veteran from the old CJSB 540), Sandra Plagakis (from
Toronto's CFNY) and newsguy Andrew Boyle (from Halifax's Q104).
Amy Ballard, who had been doing overnights at CJMJ (100.3), also
joins the new station.
Down in the Toronto market, Kenny Caughlin's short-term contract
to do afternoons at "Country 95.3" (CING 95.3 Hamilton)
isn't being renewed, reports Milkman Unlimited.
*And repeating the K-Big Story of the Moment: Buffalo's
KB Radio is back on the air! (Sorry, we just couldn't resist...)
 *As
long as we're on a Buffalo kick: have you ordered your Tower
Site Calendar 2003 yet? That spiffy image of the WBEN transmitter
site on Grand Island is the March image...and it's accompanied
by more than a dozen others (including Providence's WHJJ; Mount
Mansfield, Vermont; KOMA in Oklahoma City; the legendary WSM,
Nashville; 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! 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.
NorthEast Radio Watch is made possible by the generous
contributions of our regular readers. If you enjoy NERW, please
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is copyright
2003 by Scott Fybush. |