WAVM's Joe Magno has died

[raccoonradio]

Reported on Ch 7 at 11 pm and also in Metrowest Daily News:

http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/homepage/8998984994965684222

Maynard High School teacher and WAVM 91.7 advisor Joe Magno has died (Ch 7 said it was a heart
attack/advanced diabetes complications). Yesterday he appeared in court (jury selection in his
trial--he was accused of sexual assault on at least one teen--was to have begun this Friday) but later he was found dead in his home...
Magno had been a longtime advisor at WAVM, which almost got thrown off the air when U-Mass Boston's
WUMB tried to usurp its frequency. More recently an agreement was made between WAVM, WUMB,
and Living Proof that allowed the station to remain on air...

 

[Eli Polonsky]

WAVM's Joe Magno has died/WUMB changes

Magno had been a longtime advisor at WAVM, which almost got thrown off the air when U-Mass Boston's WUMB tried to usurp its frequency. More recently an agreement was made between WAVM, WUMB, and Living Proof that allowed the station to remain on air...

Yes, interesting how WUMB decided to turn around and make friends with WAVM when Living Proof and also Calvary Satellite Network came threatening with religious applications for the frequency after WUMB previously had an application pending for years which would've completely knocked WAVM off the air.

WUMB's offer, which seems it will most likely be accepted by the FCC, to build WAVM a new 500 watt station (which will rebroadcast WUMB whenever Maynard High students aren't on, which is at all times except weekday school hours when it's in session) will cause Living Proof's Lunenburg application to beam directional away from Boston's Metro-West, and completely blocked CSN's Lexington application, which would've interfered with WUMB's adjacent main signal in the northwest and west suburbs within 128.

Speaking of WUMB, major air personell changes there this week. Longtime afternoon drive host and Production/Operations Manager Dave Palmater, formerly of WGBH-FM, WADN "Walden 1120" Concord (defunct), and over twenty years at WTBS/WMBR at MIT, loses his airshift. Dave retains his PM/OM job, and will be producing features for their "Morning Express" drive-time show (still hosted by Dick Pleasants) and hosting their "Live At Noon" half-hour daily live in-studio folk concerts.

Marketing/Public Relations Director and mid-day host Marilyn Rae Beyer moves from that shift to Palmater's former afternoon drive shift, but just three days a week. Laney Goodman, local producer/host of the Friday night (and nationally syndicated) "Women In Music" show, moves into the other two weekday afternoon drives.

Longtime PD Brian Quinn moves from occasional fill-in airshifts to full-time mid-days.

Though I worked there very briefly in 2005, I'm completely out of their loop and don't know what's behind these changes. My guess is cost-cutting by consolidating more duties among less personell. I wouldn't be surprised if perhaps the two DJ's may have been relieved of (some of) their airtime so they could be assigned more behind the scenes tasks in their respective departments. It also may eliminate an airshift salary, as I doubt the PD will get more than his previous salary to also pull mid-days.

I know that a lot of people will miss Palmater's "great pipes" and warm style, and just the right amount of tidbits of information from his encyclopedic knowledge of the music.

 

[webcastboy]

Jeez, Eli...that's a big fat NO DUH that WUMB made friends with WAVM; it strengthened their application before the FCC. And WAVM was smart to accept the offer, they were flat-out screwed without the help from WUMB.

And let's not forget, WUMB saw the handwriting on the wall, years ago, that there was a hole in the Lexington/Concord area on 91.7 that couldn't be filled by the 91.9 allocation. They knew that sooner or later someone was going to put a transmitter in that area and it would mean reduced fringe coverage for 91.9. I have been told by multiple sources that they repeatedly tried to work with WAVM to expand WAVM's 91.7 signal to fill the hole, but WAVM consistently ignored them. So WUMB finally took action on their own and yes, it would've bumped WAVM - just like any other application there would.

Well, that's just too goddamn bad on WAVM's part; everyone had warned them for years that staying a Class D (and therefore vulnerable to being bumped) is playing with fire. What do you expect? Should WUMB gotten shafted themselves just so they could say they weren't the ones who shafted WAVM - it was those big bad religious outfits? What the hell good would've that done?!?!

You know, Pat Monteith may have done things that piss me off sometimes...but I'm mighty damn tired of all the WUMB bashing that goes on regarding WAVM. Especially since WAVM is getting a nice new 500 watt transmitter out of the deal and the only thing they're giving up is airtime they weren't using anyways. What's the downside here?!?!?!

 

[raccoonradio]

Just saw a report on Ch 7 about this. His attorney, Don Demayo, said that the past year was too much on Magno's
health (diabetes/heart disease)--implying that all the pressure about these accusations helped to speed his
demise. Demayo claims that Magno is innocent but his death
has denied him the chance to clear his name in court.

The Maynard police chief, a former student of Magno himself,
says that the court case was focusing on one person's
charge (of being raped by Magno over a period of three
years) but again, others have claimed to have been molested
by him as well. Now Magno's legal team hopes to appear
in court later this week in an effort to have the
charges dropped, since their client has died...

In terms of radio, Magno did a lot for WAVM and the school over the
years but he will also be remembered for these accusations.

 

[Eli Polonsky]

You know, Pat Monteith may have done things that piss me off sometimes...but I'm mighty damn tired of all the WUMB bashing that goes on regarding WAVM. Especially since WAVM is getting a nice new 500 watt transmitter out of the deal and the only thing they're giving up is airtime they weren't using anyways. What's the downside here?!?!?!

There is no downside. I agree that this proposed (and most likely to be accepted) solution is the best possible outcome of the situation, and it's certainly what I would rather see happen than any of the possible alternatives that could have happened.

The only aspect I have a problem with is the hypocracy of any UMB claims to be a champion of the cause of suburban high school radio after years of trying to knock them off the air in self-preservation, the high school's alleged lack of response to the situation on their own notwithstanding. I doubt the offer to join with them and benevolently build them a new station was made until the religious applications became a threat, and then it appeared that the previous UMB simulcast application alone, shutting down the HS station, would not as likely have had the support to be granted and stave off the religious signals from encroaching their signals in that area and in the Boston west suburbs. I'm sure UMB would have originally much rather had another 24/7 simulcast in that area completely knocking off the HS station, rather than to build one on which airtime will be shared with high school students, and didn't offer as such until it became apparent that it was their only viable choice.

 

[Infidel]

Rasie your hand if you feel sorry for the pedophile pervert? :