Parenteau, midday jock Ken Shelton, and morning guy Charles Laquidara were the cornerstones of the WBCN lineup through much of the seventies and eighties. Laquidara was moved to classic rocker WZLX (100.7) two years ago, while Shelton also spent two years at WZLX before being let go from the then-Infinity group in 1995.
Replacing Parenteau in the 3-7 slot will be evening jock Nik Carter, a move presumably designed to cater to the younger audience WBCN has sought since shifting to modern rock a few years back.
Parenteau kept a promise to present an award at the Achievement in Radio (AIR) awards this week, joking about his dismissal as he went. AIR honorees included WBZ (1030) morning veteran Gary LaPierre, who received the lifetime achievement award; Loren (Owens) and Wally (Brine) of WROR-FM (105.7 Framingham) for best morning show; Nancy Quill of WMJX (106.7) for best midday show; and WBOS (92.9 Brookline)'s Julie Devereaux for best evening show.
On the pirate front: NERW hears from Mike Malone of the late "WDOA" (89.3 Worcester) that the FCC agents who shut the station down last week told him they were operating under orders from the highest levels of the FCC -- new chairman Bill Kennard flexing his muscle, perhaps? Speculation in the pirate community is that the FCC is using pirates' web pages to find them; could that be why the Rebel Music Radio page has disappeared, while the supposedly-silent Boston pirate at 105.3 was still being heard late last week by at least one NERW reader?
And meantime, Cambridge city council candidate Ian McKinnon turned to pirate radio for his campaign, running "Radio Free Cambridge" from a local art gallery during the weekend leading up to Election Day. A confusing (or should that be just plain confused?) article in the Cambridge TAB explained how the station began broadcasting Sunday night...then went on to say "no frequency has been chosen for the station." Perhaps operating a radio station with no frequency was what doomed McKinnon's election bid; he drew only 264 votes, falling far behind the nine incumbents, all of whom won re-election without benefit of pirate radio.
And we hear an unlicensed station was visited by the FCC in the Wolfeboro area; supposedly the college students running the 1680 kHz operation thought they were legal.
Meantime, the long-awaited sale of WCME (96.7 Boothbay Harbor) to Tryon-Seacoast Communications (misspelled as Tryson in the FCC database and most everywhere else) has finally been filed with the Commission.
Two Providence-area stations are being sold: Spanish-language WPMZ (1110 East Providence) from the Urso family's Bear Broadcasting to Video Mundo Broadcasting, and West Warwick's country WHIM (1450) from Providence Broadcasting to Hibernia of Providence. [Special note to our friends at Broadcasting & Cable magazine: 1110 is Spanish. 1450 is country...no matter what your yearbook says.]
If approved, the purchase would combine Chancellor's AC WALK-FM (97.5 Patchogue) and soft AC WALK (1370 Patchogue) with SFX's rock simulcast WBAB-FM (102.3 Babylon)/WHFM (95.3 Southampton), AC WBLI (106.1 Patchogue), and talk WGBB (1240 Freeport). Justice Department officials say the merger would give Chancellor 65 percent of the Long Island radio market -- not even counting the Chancellor New York City stations.
Concern about antitrust is apparently also behind the decision last week by Chancellor parent company Hicks, Muse, Tate, and Furst to sell its Capstar stations in New York's northern suburbs.
In the Albany market, WPTR (96.3 Voorheesville) has dropped its classic country format. After a weekend of Halloween music, WPTR's new hot country format debuted Monday morning, putting the station squarely in competition with much bigger rival WGNA (107.7/1460). NERW suspects WPTR owner Albany Broadcasting made the change in hopes of drawing just enough listeners away from Capstar-owned WGNA to keep its own WYJB (95.5) on top of the 12+ ratings in Albany.
There's been a petition to deny filed against Syracuse Community Radio's applications for 90.5 in Fenner and 90.1 in Cleveland NY. NERW hears WRVO (89.9 Oswego) is behind the move, in order to protect its own CP for WRVD (90.3 Syracuse).
The morning jock at Rochester modern AC WZNE (94.1 Brighton) is out of a job. Bill Moran was dismissed last week; other station staffers are filling in while a replacement is picked.
Buffalo polka listeners are mourning Stan Sluberski. The longtime host of WBFO (88.7)'s "Polka Sunday and Friends" died October 12. He was 49 years old.
And just across the border, CKEY (101.1 Fort Erie) has been LMA'd to crosstown CHSC (1220 St. Catharines). It's part of a series of LMAs being approved by a newly-permissive CRTC; others include CFHK (103.1 "the Hawk" St. Thomas-London) to rock rival CFPL-FM (95.9 "FM96" London).
That's it for this week; we'll be back next Thursday with another look at broadcasting across the great Northeast.