New England RadioWatch: August 25, 1996

The Country Wars End

by Scott Fybush

• After more than three years of bitter head-to-head competition for Boston's country-music audience, the war between WBCS (96.9) and WKLB-FM (105.7) came to an end late Friday night. WKLB-FM jock Greg Williams closed out the evening with several appropriate songs, winding down with the lyric "It was over, just like that," and the brief comment, "Ain't that the truth...WKLB-FM Framingham Boston." And after a few seconds of dead air, 105.7 slid into a simulcast with WBCS that's expected to continue for about two weeks. The former WBCS air talent remained on the air Saturday, giving dual IDs as "Boston's Country Stations, WBCS 96.9 and WKLB 105.7." We'll know Monday morning whether WKLB's top air talent, morning hosts Loren and Wally, will be part of this interim simulcast format.

  It's pretty much a given that the simulcast will end September 5, with one of the signals staying country (possibly under the WKLB calls, meaning Greater Media may actually have to pay up on its million-dollar promise to keep WBCS country through the end of 1996), and the other one likely taking the heritage WROR calls that recently returned to the market on Greater Media's AM 1150. (Boston's largest daily newspaper somehow managed to report on the WMEX-to-WROR call change without ever once hinting that WROR has a legacy in the Boston market. The newspaper report claimed that the WMEX calls were purchased by "a Tejano station in Texas," which would be quite a feat considering that Texas is almost entirely K-call country, except for a handful of pre-1923 W stations -- WTAW, WRR, WBAP, WFAA, WOAI, and WACO! No sign yet in the FCC database of anyone claiming the WMEX calls.)

• As for AM 1150, it appears that WROR(AM) will soon be targeting a much younger audience. At least one NERW reader has received a direct-mail piece advertising the imminent arrival of the KidStar children's radio format on 1150. There's no mention in the ad of new calls, or of a target date for the change. WROR is currently LMA'd to ADD Media, which owns WRCA (1330) and leases time on both stations to ethnic broadcasters. KidStar has been talking about entering the Boston market for more than two years.

• Police on Cape Cod have made an arrest in the sabotage on WWKJ (101.1 Mashpee) and WJCO (93.5 Harwich Port). A 15 year old boy from Centreville MA was in juvenile court on Friday, charged with cutting the cables from the stations' satellite dish. Station officials say the cable-cutting also damaged one of the receivers, leaving WJCO (soft AC "Coast 93.5") off the air for almost two days. It appears the boy may have been upset about the stations' format change from modern rock, and that he may have had adult help.

• Out in Western Massachusetts, a distinctive FM station may be in for some big changes. Radio Skutnik, Inc. is selling its Greenfield MA properties, WRSI 95.3 and WGAM 1520, to Watertown Radio Associates of Claremont NH. Watertown's ownership is cross-linked to Northstar Broadcasting, which owns WTSV-WHDQ Claremont NH, WNHV-WKXE White River Junction VT, WSSH Marlboro VT, and WXPS and WCPV in the Burlington VT market. I believe they also now have an interest in WZSH Bellows Falls VT, which along with WSSH serves the Brattleboro VT area, just to the north of Greenfield. Will Watertown be willing to spend $650,000 and keep WRSI's distinctive AAA format? Time will tell, but it doesn't look good. Skutnik has an option to repurchase WGAM, a 10kw DA daytimer, for $70,000. WGAM currently programs a satellite standards format.

• More sales and call changes: WVMX (101.7) in Stowe VT is now in the hands of General Electric Credit (Broadcasting and Cable lists this as an outright sale to GE, but NERW believes that to be incorrect). The classic rocker transmits from Vermont's highest point, Mount Mansfield, with all of 43 watts. It had been owned by Ameridata Technologies of Stamford CT. Also in the Burlington market, the former WGFB 99.9 in Plattsburgh NY is now WBTZ, modern rock "The Buzz," and LMA'd to rocker WIZN 106.7 Vergennes VT). WGFB's sister station, WEAV 960 Plattsburgh, is reportedly silent. The WGFB calls stood for owner George F. Bissell. In the world of radio with pictures, WTWS(TV) in New London CT has been sold. Paxson Communications had owned the station and was running its "Infomall" service on channel 26. The new owner, $3,050,949 later, is Roberts Broadcasting, which operates home-shopping outlets in the St. Louis, Denver, Rocky Mount NC, and Salt Lake markets. And the FCC has released a new proposal to assign a second channel to every TV broadcaster for HDTV. Details of the New England assignments will soon be made available at the Boston Radio Archives, http://radio.lcs.mit.edu/radio/bostonradio.html (And please note that if you're still using the old ftp address, it will no longer work after August 31.)

• More FCC action: Christian Ministries, Inc. has applied for 91.7 in Woodstock VT. WCQL-FM in York Center ME (that's the Portsmouth NH market) has applied for the new calls WXHT. WCQL-FM had been oldies as "Cool 95.3," but there's apparently been a format change up on the Seacoast. I think CHR is the new format for this Knight Quality-owned station. And just across the New England border in Saratoga Springs NY, William Walker's WCKM 900 has been granted a return to its original calls of WKAJ. A trip west later this week will provide NERW with a chance to check out what's happening on this little station, which was most recently heard simulcasting oldies WCKM-FM 98.5 Lake George.