New England Radio Watcher: WEEI, Doings in NH, etc.

[Scott D Fybush]

This week, this will also serve as the Boston Radio Watch, since
Mark Shneyder is off in Southern California (lucky...)

*WEEI (850, sports, 50kw) has named a new program director -- and
after weeks of rumors of veterans of WFAN or ESPN Radio coming
up here, they ended up hiring in-house! Glenn Ordway has been
a p-b-p announcer and talk host with 'EEI since the 590 days, and
now he's running the show. 'EEI's Eddie Andelman did a live
show last week from the Strand Theater in Dorchester, with
the topic "Racism in Boston Sports." Former 'EEI talker Jimmy
Myers, who loudly complained about racism when he was fired a few
years back, was invited but declined to attend. The audience was
VERY small -- reportedly just 20 or so.

*WCLB (105.7, country) has had an interesting Sunday night show
running for a few weeks - "Edge of Country." It's what would
happen if a country playlist collided with a AAA playlist - lots
of Mary-Chapin Carpenter and the like. Interesting format.

*A veteran WBZ newsman has retired. Darrell Gould left WBZ this
month after almost 30 years with the station, and close to
four decades in New England radio. Darrell was statehouse
correspondent for BZ for many years, and had recently been
doing the evening news shift, which is now being filled on a
rotating basis by part-timers.

*If you enjoyed hearing BZ's Gary LaPierre filling in for Paul
Harvey earlier this month -- you'll get another chance to
hear him this Thursday (June 1). And this time (modesty off)
I'm writing for him. So if you don't like what you hear on
the Harvey show this Thursday -- you know who to blame :-)

*New England's tallest mountain is about to get a fourth
broadcaster up top. Mount Washington is already home to
Poland Spring, Maine-licensed WMTW-TV 8, Mount Washington-licensed
WHOM-FM 94.9, and Berlin, NH-licensed WZPK-FM 103.7 "The Peak."
Now the CP for WZJN-99.5 Jackson NH is being changed from
550 watts @ 771' AAT to 46 watts -- at 3746' AAT! Should be
interesting to see how far 46 watts gets out from up there.

*Imus has moved in the NH seacoast market - from WZNN 930 Rochester
to sister station "Mix 96.7," which changed its calls from
WWEM to WSRI, "Soft Rock and Imus." WZNN now shares a
standards show in the morning with sister WMYF 1540 Exeter,
then breaks away to satellite AM Only after AM drive. WMYF
runs Stardust, but WZNN was not able to simulcast because
its signal overlaps with Stardust affil WASR 1420 Wolfeboro NH.
After Imus, WSRI has a AAA-modern rock format.

*Radio Equity Partners has closed its purchase of WWRX-FM 103.7
(classic rock) Westerly-Providence RI from Bear Broadcasting.
R.E.P. already owns WWBB-FM 101.5 (B101, oldies) in Providence.
Bear keeps WHIM(AM) (1110, country) in E. Providence, along
with WERI(AM) (1230, ac) in Westerly, and a CP for WUAE-FM
99.7 in Wakefield RI. Every high-power FM in Providence is
now duopolized, except for WBRU-FM 95.5, which is affiliated
with Brown University:

Tele-Media: WPRO-FM 92.3, WWLI-FM 105.1, plus WPRO-630 and WLKW-790
R.E.P.: WWBB-FM 101.5, WWRX-FM 103.7
Liberty: WSNE-FM 93.3, WHJY-FM 94.1, plus WHJJ-920

The only other major players in the market are New Bedford-licensed
WCTK-FM 98.1 and Woonsocket-licensed CHR WWKX "Kix 106.3," which
is a class A.

*Also in the Providence market - the other shoe has dropped in
the affiliation swap that's coming in a few months. WPRI-TV 12,
now an ABC affiliate, is being sold by Narragansett Broadcasting
to CBS. And now CBS affiliate WLNE-TV 6 (New Bedford-Providence)
is changing to ABC. WLNE will reportedly go stereo at long last
when it becomes an ABC affiliate. No word on whether WLNE's
Providence translator on channel 48 will also pick up stereo.

*Now that WNLC-1510 in New London, CT has become part of a
four-station combo (with WTYD-100.9 New London and WICH-1310/
WCTY-97.7 Norwich), WNLC's format has flipped from CNN headline
news to standards. The signal is still awful - it's directional
to the south to protect WNRB in Boston, and there's not much
to the south of New London except fish (and the tip of Long
Island).

-=Scott Fybush - fyb...@world.std.com=-