New England RadioWatch: September 26, 1996

Full Moon Miscellany

by Scott Fybush

As NERW prepares to put down its radio and head outside for tonight's lunar eclipse, here's some of what's been cluttering the desks...

• The ubiquitous Dr. Laura Schlessinger has added yet another New England outlet. Hartford's WTIC (1080) has bumped Hartford Courant columnist Colin McEnroe from his mid-morning slot and dropped in Dr. Laura instead. McEnroe will be heard doing commentaries on TIC's morning and afternoon drive shows, as well as on a Sunday night talk show. Across town at WDRC (1360), Bob Grant has been dropped from the schedule, reportedly because programmers there don't think his abrasive talk fits with WDRC's standards format. Phil Callan moves from middays to PM to fill Grant's timeslot. And at WHCN (105.9), new owner SFX is moving towards classic rock, both to pull WHCN away from its new stablemate, modern-rocker WMRQ (104.1), and to go after ARS's 70s rocker, WZMX (93.7).

• A bit further south in Connecticut, Quinnipiac College seems to be making big plans for its newly-purchased AM. The former WXCT (1220) in Hamden is now dark, but will reportedly resurface sometime in January with the WQUN calls. Quinnipiac has been advertising in the trades for a GM/PD, a morning host/operations manager, and two newspeople to work alongside the student staff. The station's in good hands; NYC radio veteran Lou Adler is apparently the driving force behind the project.

• Two dark stations that probably won't return: WLVC (1340) Fort Kent and WSJR (1230) Madawaska, way up there in northern Maine. It's been two and a half years since these stations were on the air, and their authority to remain silent expired a year ago. The FCC is asking owner Lamoille Broadcasting for a written explanation of why the licenses shouldn't be revoked.

• Back on the air, and with a much-improved signal, is Holliston High School's WHHB(FM) in Holliston, Mass. The station has finally made good on its plans to move from 91.5 to 99.9, and from a short tower atop the high school to a taller cellular-phone stick down the road.

• NERW will be keeping a close watch on modern-rocker WFNX (101.7) Lynn-Boston this weekend. The station has gone mostly jockless as it gets ready for the debut of "Radio Anarchy Boston" on September 30. The 'FNX folks are being tight-lipped about it, but it sounds like it will be a minor format change, as 'FNX tried to reposition itself to better compete with WBCN (104.1). 'FNX has been doing modern rock since 1983, while WBCN is a relative newcomer to the format...but BCN has the advantage of a much better signal, not to mention the massive financial muscle of Infinity. More in next Monday's NERW...

• The new WROR-FM (105.7) Framingham-Boston debuted its first TV ads this week. The ads play heavily on the familiar call letters, which graced 98.5 (now WBMX) until 1991. They also promote star morning hosts Loren Owens and Wally Brine...as well as afternoon jock Joe Martelle, whose name and face are bleeped out of the current version of the ad because he's still under a non-compete agreement with WBMX. By the way, 105.7 is now legally WROR-FM. 1150 AM has recut its top-hour ID into a very rushed, and nearly legal, "WROR AM Boston." Oddly, the third player, 96.9 FM, still hasn't changed its calls from WBCS(FM). There's still a whispered "WBCS Boston" just before the top-hour "WKLB Boston" jingle...which won't be legal either, unless Greater Media has found a way to persuade WKLB(AM) in Manchester KY to give up the calls. Otherwise, 96.9 will become WKLB-FM Boston once the call shuffling is complete.

• And from the "Duh" file: NERW knows full well that WGAM (1520) is in Greenfield, not Westfield. My fingers slipped, OK? By the way, NERW hears that WGAM/WRSI(FM) owner Ed Skutnik will be staying with the stations as GM once they're sold. This could bode well for the survival of WRSI's AAA format.

• Out of time for this edition...but we WILL get to the Washington DC material next time, I promise!