A year ago: prog. talk went adios en la cuidad de Boston

[raccoonradio]

Thu Dec 21 2006 at high noon, the gals filling in for Stephanie Miller said goodbye and there was a liner
for "Boston's Progressive Talk" followed by some brief silence and then la nueva rumba debuted in Boston.
As I described it on boston-radio-interest: "After one final ID as "Boston's Progressive Talk' there was about 2 minutes of silence; at one point, an ad for "Slim 23" showed up (for about 10 seconds);
back to silence, and then "la nueva Rumba" made it's debut---"Mas musica"...a countdown
in Spanish, another ID, another 10 sec of silence, and then a tune in Spanish."

btw did WKOX up its power/change location or not? I think some people heard them testing a few
months back.

No home for prog talk in town yet but the save Boston prog talk yahoo group is up to 4661 posts.
We'll see if it ever comes back, though some hosts on various talk stations could be described as
coming from the left (and that edition of Let's Talk About Radio expressed opinions that could
easily fit in on a libtalk station). If Bittner didn't like programming his music so much, a Cambridge-based
AM would have made a good home for it

Wonder if someday, with the new regs, we could have Boston Globe Radio? That might be of a lib tilt...
Though I guess the Globe writers are happy with appearing on Finneran's show and a few other places...
And those who want a lefty viewpoint still have various hosts on local radio, maybe some stuff on
local TV, and definitely the Globe and Phoenix....blogs...etc

 

[Laurence Glavin]

I guess that during the time period after libtalk, someone did some work on the WKOX-AM 10K transmitter to make it sound clearer and brighter, maybe boost its output...after all it had been in place since Fairbanks moved WKOX from 1190 to 1200. When WXKS-AM and WKOX were simulcasting Air America and Jones shows, I tended to listen on AM 1430, because from 30 miles north of Boston, WXKS-AM seemed to come in better...now AM 1200 appears to be superior and gets a better reading on one of my radio's signal-strength meter. Just a short time ago, Dan.Strassberg wrote elsewhere that WCAP-AM 980 in Lowell seemed clearer and maybe more powerful than in the past, but I don't believe anything has changed on Totman RD, Lowell...just upstairs above the Copper Kettle. Now during this cold spell, I notice a very slightly better signal from WSRO-AM 650, but I'm sure they haven't done the upgrade they're planning yet.

 

[Eli Polonsky]

btw did WKOX up its power/change location or not? I think some people heard them testing a few
months back.

It's still transmitting from Framingham. I was in the area a month or so ago, and from where I was I saw some of the new towers barely poking over the treetops by the two taller longtime WUNR towers.

 

[DanStrassberg]

I guess that during the time period after libtalk, someone did some work on the WKOX-AM 10K transmitter to make it sound clearer and brighter, maybe boost its output...after all it had been in place since Fairbanks moved WKOX from 1190 to 1200.

Sometime in the last couple of years--AFTER adverse court rulings forced the City of Newton to come to terms with WKOX, WRCA, and WNTN,--WKOX installed a new solid-state 10-kW AM Tx at the old Mt Wayte Ave site in Framingham. The upgrade may have been planned at a point when CCU et al were pretty much resigned to never being allowed to build in Newton but had not yet officially given up the fight, which they ultimately won. I suspect that the new Tx will eventually find its way to Newton, where it will become WKOX's aux unit--provided that there is room in the building for it. I've heard that the building will be quite crowded for the three stations because Newton imposed a draconian rule about not enlarging the building. I wonder whether this might have forced digging downward and putting in a basement and sub-basement to house some of the equipment. Until the work is completed and it becomes Scott Fybush's Tower Site of the Week, we are unlikely to find out.

As for an upgrade to WSRO, I think that proposal is dead. I can't imagine that Alex Langer could possibly have been able to acquire at any price that would have made economic sense the huge tract of land off Route 1 in in Wrentham that the application specified as the location of the six-tower array. Langer's app had been designated by the FCC as mutually exclusive with a proposal for a station on 650 in Raymond ME. Meanwhile, earlier this year, the applicant for the Raymond station, Stephen Wendell, who holds CPs for two stations in rural sections of NH, one on 540, the other on 870 (yes 870--despite the existing 870 in southeastern ME), modified his application for Raymond, going from two towers and 250W-U DA-1 to three towers and 1.5 kW-D/250W-N DA-2 (though technically DA-2, it is in fact DA-1). As far as I can tell, this app has not been granted, but I think a CP should be forthcoming. Whether Wendell will ever actually construct, however, is another matter.

 

[DanStrassberg]

Just a short time ago, Dan.Strassberg wrote elsewhere that WCAP-AM 980 in Lowell seemed clearer and maybe more powerful than in the past.

To which WCAP's new principal owner, Clark Smidt, replied that they had cleared the brush that had been growing for years at the WCAP site. That might have improved the signal a bit.

 

[raccoonradio]

btw due to the time of year/weakness of the sun, I noticed today here in Beverly that by day, such
signals as WFAN 660 NYC, WGIR 610 Manchester NH, WGAN 560 Portland ME, and WZAN 970 Portland
came in almost like they were locals...AND I noticed, after sunset, what sounded like a commercial
station on 820. Couldn't be WNYC...then I heard them ID--"3WT"...namely, one of the stations
simulcasting the 1500 was Washington DC. A bit of splashover from WCRN, but it was there!
also CBI 1140 (CBC from Sydney NS)

 

[SeanMGilbow]

For the record...one year ago today was when Clear Channel announced it was taking progressive talk off the Columbus airwaves. The replacement format of Savage, Ingraham and company didn't show up in the latest Arbitrends.

Christmas Eve will mark three weeks since WVKO-AM flipped from Spanish to progressive talk, and the station has had a total of 16 advertisers with no actual sales staff and broadcasts off the web until it resolves its satellite issues. Even with no dish problems, Clear Channel couldn't get this many advertisers in the first six months for AM 1230.

This should give Boston progressive talk fans some hope.

 

[DanStrassberg]

AND I noticed, after sunset, what sounded like a commercial station on 820. Couldn't be WNYC...then I heard them ID--"3WT"...namely, one of the stations simulcasting the 1500 was Washington DC.

That would be 3WB Frederick MD, a far northwestern suburb of DC--a little less than 500W at night--directional more or less toward Boston.

 

[jlehmann]

btw did WKOX up its power/change location or not? I think some people heard them testing a few
months back.

It's still transmitting from Framingham. I was in the area a month or so ago, and from where I was I saw some of the new towers barely poking over the treetops by the two taller longtime WUNR towers.

The last time I drove by the area on 128, it looked like only one of the original WUNR tall towers was still standing. Can anyone confirm that?

 

[raccoonradio]

>>That would be 3WB Frederick MD, a far northwestern suburb of DC--a little less than 500W at night--directional more or less toward Boston.

Yup--was surprised I hadn't heard it before. WNYC would have been the 820 I would usually get,
especially late afternoons in winter--so when I heard them running an ad, I did a bit of a double take!
Then the "THIS is 3WT" identifier.

 

[Laurence Glavin]

btw did WKOX up its power/change location or not? I think some people heard them testing a few
months back.

It's still transmitting from Framingham. I was in the area a month or so ago, and from where I was I saw some of the new towers barely poking over the treetops by the two taller longtime WUNR towers.

The last time I drove by the area on 128, it looked like only one of the original WUNR tall towers was still standing. Can anyone confirm that?

Was this at night? Some multi-tower sites light up only ONE of the towers...e.g. WRCA-AM 1330 on South Street, Waltham.

 

[robbbc]

Wonder if someday, with the new regs, we could have Boston Globe Radio? That might be of a lib tilt...
Though I guess the Globe writers are happy with appearing on Finneran's show and a few other places...
And those who want a lefty viewpoint still have various hosts on local radio, maybe some stuff on
local TV, and definitely the Globe and Phoenix....blogs...etc

The Phoenix already owns 2 stations playing an eclectic mix of music to a small audience (no hard hitting investigative journalism there). The New York times (the parent company of the globe) owns a radio station in NY that plays radio disney. Just because newspapers can own radio stations doesn;t mean they do anything interesting with them. That is the fallacy of thes new regs. The FCC is trying to sell us that Newspapers will buy up radio stations and deliver high quality news and information- but there is is no reason to beleive that would happen and no regulation forcing it. It just allows the NYT (via the Globe) to give us another radio disney outlet. Maybe if the CSmonitor as a non-profit took the plunge we would see something interesting. As an aside, I read in the Monitor some time ago that they (editorial page) support this rule change. Maybe they have a conflict of interest if they want a Boston station?

 

[HHH]

Dan:

Is WNTN part of that WUNR-WRCA-WKOX muti-site? You threw their calls in there with the others.

By the way, I understand that WNTN has a night license for three (!) watts, but never apparently built it. Three watts on 1550? Coverage measured in feet as opposed to miles, probably.

Also: What's this about a new station in Billerica on 1570?

 

[Eli Polonsky]

Dan:

Is WNTN part of that WUNR-WRCA-WKOX muti-site? You threw their calls in there with the others.

No, but some years before the Oak Hill multi-site was approved, CC tried to propose to build WKOX out on the WNTN site. That ended up not happening, and as far as I know, WNTN is not moving.

By the way, I understand that WNTN has a night license for three (!) watts, but never apparently built it. Three watts on 1550? Coverage measured in feet as opposed to miles, probably.

I don't see how it could be worth any operating expenses to program a three watt brokered AM at night that could only be heard clearly in West Newton, Auburndale, and the south side of Waltham.

Besides the co-channel Canadian station, it would be surrounded by very strong first-adjacent nighttime skywaves from Albany, NY (1540) and New York City (1560), which would cause lots of interference and noise.

 

[jlehmann]

The last time I drove by the area on 128, it looked like only one of the original WUNR tall towers was still standing. Can anyone confirm that?

Was this at night? Some multi-tower sites light up only ONE of the towers...e.g. WRCA-AM 1330 on South Street, Waltham.
[/quote]

No, this was during the day. I always used to notice the 2 towers as I drove north on 128, and the last few times I've gone by in the last couple weeks, I've only seen 1 tall one, and several small ones, just barely making it over the trees.

 

[DanStrassberg]

Dan:

Is WNTN part of that WUNR-WRCA-WKOX muti-site? You threw their calls in there with the others.

By the way, I understand that WNTN has a night license for three (!) watts, but never apparently built it. Three watts on 1550? Coverage measured in feet as opposed to miles, probably.

Also: What's this about a new station in Billerica on 1570?

No, WNTN was a typo. (I guess Richard Nixon would have said, "I miswrote myself.") I reread my post before you put up your post and I was both amazed and horrified that I had typed WNTN when I meant WUNR--but obviously. that's what I did;>( Sorry! I figured I would have to write THIS post when somebody caught the error and asked about it.

As for WNTN at night, I had heard the same thing. However, with a directional antenna in the right place, it should be possible to get significantly more power. The CT 1550 north of Hartford runs 2.4 kW-N into four towers. The one near Scranton PA runs 500W-N into three towers. The only site around here that I can imagine WNTN using at night is already used by two stations and there would be many technical problems trying to add WNTN. At the very least, the complications would make the project financially prohibitive and even though there would be no tower construction, I can imagine zoning issues that would tie up the project indefinitely. Still, the job might not be completely impossible.

As for a 1570 in Billerica, I've never heard of that. Now, with WNSH running 30 kW-D, it would be completely out of the question. The only CP for Billerica I ever heard of was for 720 and if a site had ever been found for the five towers, it would have been one of those stations (like 1170 in Norfolk) that would make every radio geek ask why in heaven"s name it was built. And the only answer would be "because it COULD be." The day and night patterns (three towers each) would have left hardly any population that would have been served both day and night. IOW, the day signal would have gone mostly west and the night signal would have gone east.

 

[Blackroc]

3WT/1500-DC a 50k power station which can be heard up here as early as 3pm in December has the Stephanie Miller show on 7-9pm.

 

[raccoonradio]

3WT had been WTWP, owned by Bonneville (in turn owned by the Church of LDS)*--and still is owned by them,
but for awhile they experimented with "Washington Post Radio". It didn't fly, thus the "talk for everyone"
(left, right, etc.) they now are trying. Newspaper-run radio stations might succeed, might not. But for
those who would like a leftist perspective in Boston, a Globe- or Phoenix- programmed station might do OK
(but who knows).
Note btw that the ownership regulations that have just been relaxed doesn't mean a local paper can buy one
of the highest rated local TV stations so don't expect a 4, 5, 7, or 25 to be owned by a Globe or Herald...

*--ironically enough, it's quite possible that a certain Presidential candidate of that faith could wind up
being roundly criticized on a Bonneville-owned station!

3WT (http://3wtradio.com/) also has Randi Rhodes, 4-7 pm...Miller begins 1/2/08 on 3WT though don't be
too surprised if she's often pre-empted by hockey and, later, baseball
http://www.3wtradio.com/?sid=1238382&nid=20

 

[Blackroc]

Miller has started, I've listened. I think the January date is for an extra hour but they would have to dump Larry King.

 

[robbbc]

3WT had been WTWP, owned by Bonneville (in turn owned by the Church of LDS)*--and still is owned by them,
but for awhile they experimented with "Washington Post Radio". It didn't fly, thus the "talk for everyone"
(left, right, etc.) they now are trying. Newspaper-run radio stations might succeed, might not. But for
those who would like a leftist perspective in Boston, a Globe- or Phoenix- programmed station might do OK
(but who knows).

There is already a Phoenix owned station- WFNX. It does OK but it plays MUSIC. The owner of the Globe (the NYT) owned an AM station in NY (WQEW). I just checked out locator and it claims to be owned by Disney now. It was operated under an LMA from the NYT, IIRC. Anyhoo- there is absolutely no reason to beleive that ownership of a radio station by a newspaper will in any way shape or form improve American media. My guess is that, for the most part, the newspapers will attempt to purchase FM frequencies and play.....MUSIC! The most that can be hoped for is that the Monitor, which, being owned by a church, wouldn't be able to get away with buying up the local gangsta rap station, could try to bring in some thought provoking radio programming. The editorial page at the monitor leans left but not as much as the Globe. In the Globe's defense they provide a lot of conservative opinions on their opinion pages (While the Herald is fond of balancing their right wing opinions with radical right wing opinons). I doubt a Globe station would be eager to be seen as biased (even if they are viewed that way). The Herald, having no such reputation to defend could easily pick up a WRKO and no one would even yawn.

The Pheonix out of Portland is full of angry tirades against Balducci and Maine and as that is the one I read I can't speak to the leftistness that Bostonians perceive in the paper. I'd call it populist and libertarian but not Liberal.