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New name/date for 99.5 transfer

J

JustinT

Seems like we should be hearing more from WGBH shortly about the swap. At http://www.wgbh.org/listen/bostonsallclassical.cfm, they have December 1st listed as the date for the swap. It also seems a lot like they're going to have an entirely new identity with a new name, which if you put the pieces together sure seems like it will be "99.5 All-Classical WGBH."

Will the WCRB calls even come along for the ride? And for that matter, will anyone currently at WCRB be held over when the big switch is made? And what becomes of WBQW/WBQX/WBQI in Maine that are fed from WCRB in 27 days?
 
Ironically enough it was on Dec 1 a couple yrs back that WCRB and WKLB swapped freqs at high noon.
WKLB did a rendition of the national anthem by the country group Ricochet which started on 99.5 and
ended on 102.5, followed by "Life is a Highway" (from Disney's CARS) by Rascal Flatts while WCRB
finished their run on 102.5 with a classical piece which I think was called Rodeo (features on the Beef:
It's What's For Dinner ads). Anyway that was on a Dec 1 as well.
 
encarta95 said:
Will the WCRB calls even come along for the ride? And for that matter, will anyone currently at WCRB be held over when the big switch is made? And what becomes of WBQW/WBQX/WBQI in Maine that are fed from WCRB in 27 days?
Click to expand...

I think WGBH is trying to mollify those listeners who currently get a good signal on 89.7 for but won't be getting as good a signal for the classical music that will be disappearing from that frequency and reappearing on the lesser--and not geographically as central 99.5. Remember that Channel 44 (except in its legal IDs, which are not audible) has been IDing for several years as WGBH-44. The WGBX call sign is used only in legal IDs. I think the likely corollary is that 99.5 will use "Non-commercial, All Classical 99.5--WGBH Boston" as its positioner, which it will use many times each hour, but at (or near) TOH, those who listen closely will continue to hear WCRB-FM Lowell-Boston once an hour. Just a guess, of course.
 
I would agree with Dan... a very good possibility. Slammed in the middle of underwriting messages or something or perhaps a quick 'WCRB Lowell.... this is Boston's all Classical 99.5 WGBH!"
 
I don't see the December 1 date anywhere on the page you linked to, but my understanding is you may be right. Until the FCC gives its approval, no date can be official.

If you look at the purchase and sale agreement posted on the FCC Web site, you'll see that the call letters WCRB go to the buyer along with the domain name wcrb.com and even the station's Facebook and Twitter accounts.

I have a relationship with WCRB going back to 1985. It'll be sad not to see the place any more.

This has been an interesting autumn for me: one client goes dark, another is sold to WGBH, and a third declares bankruptcy.

Do any of y'all know anyone who needs technical help?


Rob
 
4CX1000A said:
I don't see the December 1 date anywhere on the page you linked to, but my understanding is you may be right. Until the FCC gives its approval, no date can be official.
Click to expand...

That's strange, it was up last night. The WGBH web team must be Radio-Info fans. But it's now on the main WGBH radio page:

"Coming in December: 99.5 All Classical - WGBH is bringing WCRB 99.5 into our family of noncommercial, listener-supported public broadcasting stations, preserving full-time classical radio in Boston. Tune in to 99.5 All Classical, beginning Dec. 1, to hear the music you love, 24/7."

raccoonradio said:
Ironically enough it was on Dec 1 a couple yrs back that WCRB and WKLB swapped freqs at high noon.
WKLB did a rendition of the national anthem by the country group Ricochet which started on 99.5 and
ended on 102.5, followed by "Life is a Highway" (from Disney's CARS) by Rascal Flatts while WCRB
finished their run on 102.5 with a classical piece which I think was called Rodeo (features on the Beef:
It's What's For Dinner ads).
Click to expand...

Indeed, it was December 1, 2006 that the WCRB/WKLB flip happened. While the national anthem seems to get all of the credit for WKLB's last song, the aircheck seems to suggest that the staff had intended The Wreckers' "Leave the Pieces," the last standard playlist tune, to be the one that went down in history. And yes, Aaron Copeland's four-part "Rodeo" was last on WCRB 102.5. I wonder what the last piece on commercial classical radio in Boston will be... are there any classical works about money?
 
Will GBH just keep the HD1 on CRB 99.5 or add an HD2 and HD3 to the 99.5 signal?Also, would WGBH consider buying WFCC 107.5 FM on the Cape which is 24/7 Classical and it owners are hurting ?
 
4CX1000A said:
I don't see the December 1 date anywhere on the page you linked to, but my understanding is you may be right. Until the FCC gives its approval, no date can be official.

If you look at the purchase and sale agreement posted on the FCC Web site, you'll see that the call letters WCRB go to the buyer along with the domain name wcrb.com and even the station's Facebook and Twitter accounts.

I have a relationship with WCRB going back to 1985. It'll be sad not to see the place any more.

This has been an interesting autumn for me: one client goes dark, another is sold to WGBH, and a third declares bankruptcy.

Do any of y'all know anyone who needs technical help?


Rob
Click to expand...

Wait a minute: is this Rob LANDRY? Using " 'y'all "? Are you a southerner? Maybe you should apply at Mario Mazza's WHIL-FM in Mobile, Alabamer, where EVERYONE says " y'all ". Let's figure out which stations are the ones to which you referred: the only station around here to go dahk is WAGM-AM 890. I thought Chris Hall was the CE there. We know the station that was sold to 'GBH. The ones declaring bankruptcy would seem to be the Sandab outlets on the Cape of Cod, including WFCC. Do I have that right?
 
I'm not a southerner, but my father is, even though he's lived in the North for many years now. The name Landry is as common as Smith in Louisiana.
 
mgpt6 said:
Will GBH just keep the HD1 on CRB 99.5 or add an HD2 and HD3 to the 99.5 signal? Also, would WGBH consider buying WFCC 107.5 FM on the Cape which is 24/7 Classical and it owners are hurting ?
Click to expand...

Only an insider MIGHT be able to answer those questions with any authority, which I'm not.
 
Well, one other bit is out of the bag. Naomi Arenberg, Brad Paul, and Brendan Hogan are all gone in December as WGBH dumps folk and blues. Celtic and jazz get to stay, it seems: there's more at http://www.wgbh.org/listen/goodbyefolkandblues.cfm. Seems like while WGBH is lauding themselves on saving classical music, they're really just limiting the available options.
 
Yikes--the folk and blues programming had been there for awhile. The late Mai Cramer did Blues After Hours
for at least 25 years (Brendan Hogan was doing it these days). As she used to say, "We've Got Blues Here"

Not any more.
 
mgpt6 said:
Will GBH just keep the HD1 on CRB 99.5 or add an HD2 and HD3 to the 99.5 signal?Also, would WGBH consider buying WFCC 107.5 FM on the Cape which is 24/7 Classical and it owners are hurting ?
Click to expand...

The HD1 is required to be the same program as the analog signal. If it weren't, people with most HD tuners wouldn't be able to hear the main program at all, since only a few let you turn off the HD reception.

Now, what (if anything) they will do with their HD2 is an interesting question.
 
kc1ih said:
Now, what (if anything) they will do with their HD2 is an interesting question.
Click to expand...

Under current allowed power levels, the reception of a 99.5 HD2 (or HD3) in metro Boston and to the south will be spotty at best. I get 99.5 in HD1 here in Somerville, but only if I find a good spot with my rabbit ear antenna.

Likewise on my Insignia HD personal portable, 99.5 only goes into HD when in certain spots in this area.
 
bostonradio tweeted that WGBH is running promos saying their classical starts on WCRB on Dec 1 (as we had said, and I noted the WKLB/WCRB switch had also been on a Dec 1)

And as the link at the start of this thread said, the GBH's site's classical page does def. say 12/1
 
In my earlier comment/question, I meant to ask what, if anything, will happen with WGBH-HD2 after this change?
 
kc1ih said:
In my earlier comment/question, I meant to ask what, if anything, will happen with WGBH-HD2 after this change?
Click to expand...

WGBH-HD2 will become a simulcast of 99.5. No official word on 96.3 but the assumption is that it will keep relaying WGBH.
 
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