Clear Channel says WABI morning fixture George Hale will remain at the station. Hale started at WABI back in 1956, and also spent some time doing sports at former sister station WABI-TV (Channel 5).
Gopher Hill is apparently hanging on to its other properties, WQSS (102.5 Camden) and WAYD (105.5 Islesboro) for now.
Meanwhile in Portland, there's a minor change of moniker at Saga news/talker WGAN. It's not "56 WGAN" anymore...instead, label it "560 WGAN" on the air.
Over at Maine Public Radio, the April pledge drive netted $166,000, up slightly from last October's figures. MPBC officials say the increased donations show listeners are pleased with the network's recent decision to restore some of the music programming it dropped a few months back.
Speaking of WTKK, word is that the station will soon add a 7-10 PM show hosted by conservative commentator Laura Ingraham. The syndicated offering is also apparently going to show up in Washington DC on one of Clear Channel's reshuffled talk stations there, either WWRC (1260) or WTNT (570 Bethesda).
We're hearing some wildly conflicting things about the CP we reported last week for temporary two-site operation at WNSH (1570 Beverly). A source close to owner Keating Willcox tells NERW there are no plans to return to the old 1570 site near the North Shore Mall, which flatly contradicts the filing made in the most recent FCC actions involving the talk station. It appears Willcox is still trying to build three very short towers for the station on the Endicott College campus; until then, we're left to guess that the station is operating from that rooftop in Hamilton where it's been for a few years.
On the FM side, WWLI (105.1 Providence) is getting a bit harder in its AC mix; it's now "Lite Rock 105" instead of "Lite 105."
Over in the "Quiet Corner" of the Nutmeg State, the Litchfield County Committee on Higher Education transfers WAPJ (89.9 Torrington) to the Nutmeg Conservatory of the Arts; no word on any programming changes that might result.
That's good news for the students at Five Towns, but we've got to wonder: with the price that low, did the folks at Polnet make any attempt to add 1570 to their just-purchased WLIM 1580 down the road in Patchogue? The stations did simulcast years ago (as WPAC and WAPC), and the 1570 reaches a considerably larger Polish community than the 1580 signal (which cost Polnet $850,000!)
Passing through New York City, we note that Gerry Turro has filed to transfer his two translators to Press Broadcasting, which may mean the end of "Jukebox Radio" as we know it. Turro, you'll recall, has been battling the FCC for the last decade over his plan to use W232AL (94.3 Pomona NY) and W276AQ (103.1 Fort Lee NJ, across the Hudson from Manhattan) to rebroadcast programming he feeds to WJUX (99.7 Monticello), a hundred miles or so upstate. Turro had a deal last year to sell the translators to Press to end his fight with the Commission; the reported price then was over a million dollars. We'll keep you posted on the fate of these two translators.
Going way upstate, we hear a Tuesday format change is planned at Utica's "Wow FM" (WOWB 105.5 Little Falls/WOWZ 97.9 Whitesboro), now that the stations are owned by Clear Channel. PD J.P. Marks stays with former owner Ken Roser, helping to run "Bug Country" (WBGK 99.7 Newport Village/WBUG-FM 101.1 Fort Plain/WBUG 1570 Amsterdam). As of late Monday night, WOWB and WOWZ were simulcasting Clear Channel's CHR "Kiss" (WSKS 102.5 Rome); we'll let you know if that turns out to be a permanent move.
Also in Utica, Nelson Suggs' Bethany Broadcasting is selling religious WVVC (100.7) to the Educational Media Foundation, which owns dozens of religious stations and translators around the country. The $1.25 million purchase of WVVC gives EMF its first foothold in New York.
Up north, Mike Roach tells us WYSI (96.1 Norwood) is becoming "96.1 the Valley," leaving WVLF (96.7 Canton) to get a new format eventually, once the current simulcast ends. Mike also reports the debut of WNYF-LP (Channel 28) in Watertown, though the new Fox affiliate is not yet available on cable. It's operated by Smith Broadcasting and Watertown CBS affiliate WWNY (Channel 7), which contributes a 10 PM newscast that started Wednesday (April 11).
Here's a surprise from the Syracuse market: The booster for Auburn rimshotter WPHR (106.9) we mentioned last week? It won't be in Auburn, though that's the community of license applied for. Nope -- the 1720-watt, vertical-only signal will emanate from the heart of downtown Syracuse, near the merge of I-81 and I-690, if it's approved by the FCC.
Here in Rochester, Entercom is the latest stopping-off point for peripatetic sports/news guy Steve Hausmann. After stints at what's now the Clear Channel group and more recently at Infinity's WCMF (96.5) and WPXY (97.9), Hausmann is now the news and sports director for country WBEE-FM (92.5), oldies WBBF (93.3 Avon/950 Rochester) and 80s WBZA (98.9). Hausmann's also an alumnus of the Flower City's NBC affiliate, WHEC-TV (Channel 10).
Finally for New York...the FCC released the full list of Empire State LPFM applications this week, at the same time as it announced it will merge the final two filing windows for the new service. That means would-be LPFMers in Massachusetts, New Jersey and Vermont will have to file their applications between June 11 and 15 to be considered.
In the meantime, here's who's applying in New York, in more or less the order the FCC released it:
| Freq. | Community | Who |
|---|---|---|
| 104.9 | Lima | Elim Bible Institute (which once held an unbuilt translator CP) |
| 94.1 | Spring Valley | Konbit Leg Nakay |
| 95.7 | Sanitaria Springs | Living Water Ministry |
| 94.3 | Jefferson | Jesus Christ's Community |
| 91.9 | Bronx | Iglesia Impacto Evangelista Cristo Misionero |
| 96.5 | Iglesia De Dios La Hermosa | |
| 92.9 | Iglesia De Cristo Misionera | |
| (none of the above three are grantable, since they're way too close to WXRK 92.3, WQXR-FM 96.3 and WPAT-FM 93.1 in Manhattan!) | ||
| 105.7 | Goshen | Goshen Community Radio |
| 104.3 | Canandaigua | Western NY Chapter American Red Cross |
| 92.3 | Norwich | Advent Believers Broadcasting |
| 105.9 | Jamestown | Lighthouse Baptist Church |
| 100.1 | Fort Plain | Revelation Ministries |
| 104.9 | Hudson Falls | Paul Dashnaw |
| Glens Falls | Better Living Radio | |
| (the above two would be mutually exclusive, it seems) | ||
| 94.7 | Sound Beach | Christian Charities Deliverance Church (not likely to be granted so close to WFME 94.7 Newark NJ) |
| 91.9 | Spring Valley | Rockland County Crime Prevention Bureau |
| 88.3 | Freeport | Centro Biblico |
| 105.9 | West Canada | Christian Resources |
| 107.1 | Albany | Peewee Communications (this can't be granted, thanks to third-adjacent WPYX 106.5) |
| 96.1 | Delhi | "New York State College" (SUNY Delhi) |
| 93.5 | Central Islip | Calvary Chapel of Suffolk County |
| 95.7 | "42-01-30 N 76-01-05 W" | New Life Free Methodist Church (someone needs to learn how to fill out forms!) |
| 95.7 | Binghamton | Latter Rain Network |
| 104.7 | Limestone | Limestone Community Radio |
| 97.1 | Rochester | Metro Justice of Rochester |
| Henrietta | Rush-Henrietta Central School District (which would have reincarnated the old 10-watt WRHR 90.5, later sold to the Board of Cooperative Educational Services and now running legal-ID-free as WBER 90.5) |
|
| This was the frequency we'd have chosen for Radio Free NERW, until the third-adjacent rules were put into place for LPFM, thus dooming this application because of WCMF on 96.5. Oh well... | ||
| 105.9 | Utica | Planet Utica |
| 94.7 | Ridge | Pine Barrens Broadcasting |
| 93.5 | Canton | First Baptist Church |
| 105.7 | Geneva | Finger Lakes Regional Arts Council |
| 88.5 | Brooklyn | St. Catherine of Genoa Church (not gonna happen with WBGO 88.3 on the first adjacent channel) |
| 94.1 | Clifton Park | Friends of Good Music in Clifton Park |
| Niskayuna | These Times Community Radio | |
| (the above two would compete) | ||
| 95.7 | Windsor | Johnson Broadcasting Company |
| 94.7 | Shirley | Shirley Educational Radio |
| 107.9 | Ellenville | Ellenville Central School District |
| 93.7 | Ellenville | Outreach Services |
| 98.5 | Buffalo | Victory Christian Radio |
| M&M Community Development | ||
| (Yes, an application for 98.5 in Buffalo, ten miles from full class B WKSE 98.5 Niagara Falls. Our enthusiasm for the LPFM concept fades every time we see an applicant who obviously can't even be bothered to turn on the radio to see what's already there. And it gets worse...keep reading! Somebody either got the worst contract engineer in America, or relied on a database that was missing something here...) | ||
| 107.9 | Jamestown | Arts Council for Chautauqua County |
| 100.9 | Horseheads | Access to Independent Living (where we bet someone actually listens to WPGI, the full class A facility on 100.9 licensed to, yup, Horseheads.) |
| 103.9 | Kingston | Outreach Services |
| 107.5 | Corning | Christian Radio Corp. |
| 94.1 | Jamestown | Advent Radio Ministries Corp. |
| 100.3 | Arcade | Christian Broadcasting Corp. |
| 103.3 | Brooklyn | Arthur Kents (Yo, Arthur! Did you notice there's a full B on 103.5, WKTU Lake Success, just across the East River?) |
| 89.1 | Moriah | Champlain Music Appreciation Society |
| "9000" | Brooklyn | Church of God of Remsen |
| 100.3 | Westhampton | Aquila Broadcasting Corp. |
| 93.3 | Shoreham | Shoreham Broadcasting Corp. |
| 99.5 | Wainscott | LTV Corp. |
| 106.3 | Brooklyn | Nayo Cultural Association (won't happen, thanks to 106.7 WLTW New York) |
| 100.7 | Cortland | Chris Perrine |
| Cortland Christian Radio | ||
| 98.7 | Amherst | Mickey Turntable Foundation (see the Buffalo 98.5 applications above for why this is a real "Mickey" of an app!) |
| 100.9 | Center Moriches | The Savior's Voice Broadcasting Co. |
| "9000" | Brooklyn | Anakwona Association (what happened to one license per owner, anyway?) |
| 89.5 | ||
| 98.7 | Colonie | Educational Radio Services (won't be approved, what with 98.3 WTRY-FM nearby) |
| 105.9 | Mayville | Chautauqua Lake Central School District |
| 95.9 | Oneonta | Spirit and Truth Christian Assembly |
| "New State College at Oneonta" (SUNY, licensee of WONY 90.9 there) | ||
| 93.3 | Shirley | Radio Nuevo Amanecer of Shirley |
And the New York Department of Transportation is primed to become the biggest band hog of them all, as it seeks:
95.1 Witherbee, 104.1 Hunter, 98.7 Grafton, 97.1 Porter Corners, 97.5 Warrensburg (way too close to WZEC 97.5), 92.7 Hartford, 99.5 Blue Mountain Lake, 100.5 Sloansville, 105.9 New Hartford (competing with that "Planet Utica" above), 100.7 Blodgett Mills, 98.3 Mexico (which would be interesting, since CFLY in Kingston, Ontario puts a healthy signal into that Lake Ontario community), 96.1 Waterloo, 104.5 Geneseo, 106.5 Boswell Corners, 100.1 Albion, 105.9 Little Valley, 97.9 Belmont, 93.3 Coopers Plains, 94.9 Owego, 103.7 West Beekmantown, 101.1 Hornell, 94.7 Manorville, 107.9 Ellenville (competing with the local schools, above), 94.3 Godeffroy, 96.9 Austerlitz, 102.5 Dickinson Center, 94.1 Watertown, 105.5 Martinsburg, 107.3 Russell, 103.9 Kingston, 95.7 Tunnel, 102.7 Stamford, 92.9 Walton, 106.1 Oneonta, 93.9 Monticello.
We'll try to keep tabs on these, and we'll keep you posted as the FCC accepts or rejects them.
A few more call changes: dark WRPA (103.9 Laporte) becomes WQZI, while little WEBG (1400 Loretto) becomes WBZV to match its "Buzz" slogan.
Two management changes in the Steel City: Dave LaBrozzi, PD of Nashville's WMAK, moves to Clear Channel's WJJJ/WWSW to take the operations manager post recently vacated by Chris Ostrander in his move to Disney World. Just down the road, former WDVE PD Garrett Hart becomes operations manager at WLTJ (92.9) and WRRK (96.9 Braddock).
That'll do it for this week, and in fact for next week as well. (We ran out of space for that baseball list -- we'll get to it, we promise!) There will be no regular NERW next Monday, April 23, since we'll be in Las Vegas at the NAB convention. But stay tuned to fybush.com beginning next Sunday, as we offer convention floor updates just as often as we can get to a computer. We'll be back on our regular schedule April 30...see you then!