Breaking - 1060 AM Sold - Flipping to Catholic Programming

[MarcB]

A Monday Update to NERW that Alex Langer has sold WBIX 1060 to Holy Family Communications.

http://www.fybush.com/NERW/2010/100712/nerw.html

 

[raccoonradio]

Just saw that; I'd read the new NERW late last night after it was posted but saw the WBIX bit on
his twitter.

I think there has been Catholic radio in terms of selected shows on various stations-- and at one point the local Archdiocese had plans to buy AM 800 in Lawrence, then suddenly backed out--it was at that time that the news of sexual abuse in the church started to break out, and perhaps they needed money for legal defense instead.

 

[MarcB]

Just saw that; I'd read the new NERW late last night after it was posted but saw the WBIX bit on
his twitter.

Yeah I read the NERW around 11:45 last night. And saw about WBIX on his Facebook posting.

 

[raccoonradio]

At one time 1060 tried to go talk with some ex-WRKO voices: Jerry Williams, Gene Burns,
Marge Clapprood

more info on WBIX http://bostonradio.org/stations/21109

>>On January 24, 2000, 1060 began operating with 40 kW by day and 22 kW critical hours—and with a well-known set of Boston calls: WMEX. The new WMEX was a talk station, offering as its stars market veterans Gene Burns and Jerry Williams, along with former WRKO star Marjorie Clapprood and Upton Bell, a holdover from talk predecessor WRPT 650.

 

[MarcB]

At one time 1060 tried to go talk with some ex-WRKO voices: Jerry Williams, Gene Burns,
Marge Clapprood

more info on WBIX http://bostonradio.org/stations/21109

>>On January 24, 2000, 1060 began operating with 40 kW by day and 22 kW critical hours—and with a well-known set of Boston calls: WMEX. The new WMEX was a talk station, offering as its stars market veterans Gene Burns and Jerry Williams, along with former WRKO star Marjorie Clapprood and Upton Bell, a holdover from talk predecessor WRPT 650.

I remember. I may be from Connecticut but I've been a read of NERW since probably '97. And I remember Marjorie Clapprood from when WRKO's Clapprood and Whitley was simulcast on New England Cable News.

 

[raccoonradio]

I remember when Marge had a Sunday night show on Lifetime and I said Mrs. Simpson wasn't the only raspy-voiced, big-haired Marge on Sunday night TV

 

[raccoonradio]

bostonradio.org lists their studios as being at 100 Mt Wayte Ave in Framingham. If it's the bldg I'm thinking of, prob is, I went there once when WKOX 1200 was there to pick up a prize I'd won from
Morgan White Jr/Talking Trivia

radio-locator.com says WBIX has a CP for 50kW day
http://radio-locator.com

>>Daytime Power 50,000 Watts
Nighttime Power 2500 Watts
Construction Permit Granted January 14 2010
Construction Permit Expires January 14 2013

 

[JIBGUY]

and at one point the local Archdiocese had plans to buy AM 800 in Lawrence, then suddenly backed out--it was at that time that the news of sexual abuse in the church started to break out, and perhaps they needed money for legal defense instead.

Actually, it was 950, if I remember correctly, that the ArchDiocese was going to buy. They put down a million, then pulled out, and lost the million or some of the million, I think. But this 1060 is not an ArchDiocese buy, but rather a closely-associated entity from Buffalo-Rochester. (Remember when WHIC-1460-Rochester's new towers were blessed, in a ceremony, right before signing on at the new tower site?)

 

[raccoonradio]

I just typed Boston Archdiocese Radio Buy into yahoo and got this (it was indeed 800; you are right about 950 in one way, though--scroll down for that):

9/15/2001 http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/stories/2001/10/15/daily8.html

>> The Archdiocese of Boston pulled out of a deal to purchase WCCM-AM, the Methuen-based radio station...Costa-Eagle Radio Ventures, which owns the station, announced Monday that the deal, for an expected $1.5 million, had fallen through on Friday... If completed, the archdiocese would have converted the station to Spanish-language Christian broadcasting.

I know WBIX wasn't an Archdiocese buy, but was pointing out there was a previous effort to put
Catholic radio on (though in Spanish)

However...

I do note the following, from a comment at
http://www.bettnet.com/blog/index.php/weblog/comments/christian_music_fm_radio_for_boston/

>>Catholic Family Radio planned to buy a bunch of AM stations in New England in 1999, including WROL-AM 950 (Boston). The Catholic talk network, backed by Fr. Fessio and Tom Monaghan, featuring Ray Flynn, failed to come up with the cash to finalize the purchase of WROL, and switched to EWTN programming within the year.

So there's the AM 950 bit you were thinking of. And EWTN (a cable station which in the past
shared a channel on cable with Boston Catholic TV) is definitely Catholic. As a sports fan,
I smile when I think of a promo they used to run, perhaps playing on the fact that the
name is slightly similar to ESPN: "You won't find sports on EWTN. But you will find the
Cardinals and the Padres..."

 

[DToTheJ]

The WBIX call letters were on New York's 105.1 FM for less than a year - 1998 - when it was known as "Big 105," with Danny Bonaduce in morning drive.

 

[Laurence Glavin]

The WBIX call letters were on New York's 105.1 FM for less than a year - 1998 - when it was known as "Big 105," with Danny Bonaduce in morning drive.

According to the Boston Radio Interest Group, AM 1060 once had the call letters WSTD. (If I once knew that, it had completely skipped my mind.) It would be hard to find call letters more open to "untoward interpretations" than that, except for Providence radio station WPRV.

 

[Don Juan]

The WBIX call letters were on New York's 105.1 FM for less than a year - 1998 - when it was known as "Big 105," with Danny Bonaduce in morning drive.

According to the Boston Radio Interest Group, AM 1060 once had the call letters WSTD. (If I once knew that, it had completely skipped my mind.)

STD stood for "Stardust"...when they ran the Stardust satellite format....which was similar to The Music of Your Life.

 

[pqgeorge]

The WBIX call letters were on New York's 105.1 FM for less than a year - 1998 - when it was known as "Big 105," with Danny Bonaduce in morning drive.

According to the Boston Radio Interest Group, AM 1060 once had the call letters WSTD. (If I once knew that, it had completely skipped my mind.) It would be hard to find call letters more open to "untoward interpretations" than that, except for Providence radio station WPRV.

That is true. The WSTD call-letters stood for "Stardust", the big-band/standards format that WSTD took off the satellite for a time. John Garabedian used to own WGTF/96.3 (formerly licensed to Nantucket). He called the station "Nantucket Stardust". Yes, the WSTD call-letters would turn a few heads today. But, it's not the first time a station took a set of call-letters that could be misconstrued for "something else". Remember when WCAT/700 in Orange, MA switched to WPNS? (Get rid of the "W" and you see why it got some "comments" from the locals.) It got a lot a laughs from a lot of folks in the area. After a while, (allegedly) the owner figured it out and quickly switched back to WCAT. Why the WPNS call-sign compared to WCAT (probably one of the best set of call-letters in the business) you might ask? Beats me!

 

[DanStrassberg]

Remember when WCAT/700 in Orange, MA switched to <SNIP--ahem...> the owner figured it out and quickly switched back to WCAT.

Which calls (WCAT, that is) had previously resided in Rapid City SD, where they had probably been since the 1920s and were one of (I believe) only two sets of W calls in that west-of-the-Mississippi state (the other being WNAX, which, I believe, are still in use). Just as good questions are why the station in Rapid City gave up WCAT (don't cougars and mountain lions live in the Black Hills near Rapid City?) and what calls it took as a replacement.

 

[DG02816]

Here's the other side of the story. If WBIX is being sold, what happens to Langer's other stations-WFYL 1180, for example?

 

[Dighton Rockhead]

Here's the other side of the story. If WBIX is being sold, what happens to Langer's other stations-WFYL 1180, for example?

One possibility could be that Langer is reaching a time in his life where the prospect of cashing out might appear attractive...

Not the best time for it with depressed station values, but.....Is he getting any younger?

 

[DanStrassberg]

Here's the other side of the story. If WBIX is being sold, what happens to Langer's other stations-WFYL 1180, for example?

One possibility could be that Langer is reaching a time in his life where the prospect of cashing out might appear attractive...
Not the best time for it with depressed station values, but.....Is he getting any younger?

I don't know how old Langer is, but I'd be surprised if he is as much as 60. Remember, though, that this is NOT his first attempt to sell WBIX. The previous time was his ill-fated attempt to sell the station to Brad Bleidt. Because Langer had hired good lawyers to draft the purchase-and-sale agreement, the Court, with the FCC's blessing, handed the station back to him after Bleidt was indicted (at least that's how I remember it). Also note that, so far at least, Langer retains WSRO, WFYL, WPYT, and maybe some other stations that I have not identified. Unless his CP for 1140 in Greenville RI (Providence) was tolled, the FCC should have pulled that CP for failure to construct. I believe, however, that six months or so ago, Langer thought he had a deal to sell WPYT, but it fell through at the last minute.

 

[davect]

bostonradio.org lists their studios as being at 100 Mt Wayte Ave in Framingham. If it's the bldg I'm thinking of, prob is, I went there once when WKOX 1200 was there to pick up a prize I'd won from
Morgan White Jr/Talking Trivia

Yes, that's the old WKOX/WVBF studio building.

 

[N1WVQ]

Here's the other side of the story. If WBIX is being sold, what happens to Langer's other stations-WFYL 1180, for example?

One possibility could be that Langer is reaching a time in his life where the prospect of cashing out might appear attractive...
Not the best time for it with depressed station values, but.....Is he getting any younger?

I don't know how old Langer is, but I'd be surprised if he is as much as 60. Remember, though, that this is NOT his first attempt to sell WBIX. The previous time was his ill-fated attempt to sell the station to Brad Bleidt. Because Langer had hired good lawyers to draft the purchase-and-sale agreement, the Court, with the FCC's blessing, handed the station back to him after Bleidt was indicted (at least that's how I remember it). Also note that, so far at least, Langer retains WSRO, WFYL, WPYT, and maybe some other stations that I have not identified. Unless his CP for 1140 in Greenville RI (Providence) was tolled, the FCC should have pulled that CP for failure to construct. I believe, however, that six months or so ago, Langer thought he had a deal to sell WPYT, but it fell through at the last minute.

That C.P. expired in April.

 

[raccoonradio]

Don't expect the switch to be until Sept or Oct.; Herald hinted that, also this via
http://www.insideradio.com

>>Langer says the business news format will remain on the air until closing, which is likely to be in September or October.