RMU is on the air
Pittsburgh: Moon Township-based Robert Morris University will mark the launch of its first campus radio station, RMUradio.com, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 12 noon Monday.
The web-based, student-run radio station will be located in a new radio studio at the Academic Media Center on the Moon campus.
Don't visit rmuradio.com yet; there's nothing there except one of those "placeholder" pages.
Limited broadcasts are expected to begin in connection with the formal ribboncutting, and a spokesman said programming will eventually air for about 10 hours daily, including a call-in sports show; a Hispanic music show; a poetry show; and simulcasts of news shows from RMU-TV, the campus cable station.
According to an RMU press release, two seniors --- Dan Murtha, an accounting major from Conneaut, Ohio, and Ron Hendrickson, a marketing major from Economy --- launched their own Internet radio station in 2006 that included a call-in music show on weekends, complete with contests and prizes for listeners.
The pair then proposed creation of an officially sanctioned station. RMU administrators agreed to build a studio near the university's existing student-run TV production center.
The lack of a radio station was a little bit curious, since the university has a burgeoning TV and film production program, and already offers several degrees in media and communications related fields, including television and video production, applied journalism, communication studies, corporate communications and public relations, as well as a minor in documentary studies.
"Launching a campus radio station is a vital step in the expansion of opportunities for all students to extend their learning through direct participation in a media outlet," said David Jamison, RMU provost, in a prepared statement. "RMUradio takes an important place in our student engagement initiative."
Hendrickson says the station's potential worldwide reach makes it "better than AM/FM radio."
Hey, we resemble that remark, you consarned whipper-snapper. Try listening to your Internet radio station at the beach, or in the car.
What? You can do that now?
Oh. We'll be sulking in the corner.
WYNE seeks advertisers
Erie-Meadville: Ever since WYNE 1530 made the flip to Oldies back in August, the station has been commercial free. While that is nice for music lovers, it doesn't help to pay for expenses or future upgrades at the new station. With it's commercial license, WYNE at Mercyhurst North East is able to air advertising and is now looking to do just that. If you are a business or know of an area business looking to advertise to the "Baby Boomer Generation", feel free to contact "Captain Dan" Geary at (814) 725-WYNE (9963).Fox 66 HD on area cable systems in time for the Super Bowl
Erie-Meadville: Time Warner cable customers in Erie county with digital service will get the Super Bowl and all of Fox's programming in High Definition. Fox 66 (WFXP) in Erie is currently running it's HD channel on low power, but the station will feed it's HD channel to Time Warner Cable for it's customers in Erie county. The station will air on channel 507 in both the City of Erie and City of Corry while the rest of Erie County (excluding Coaxial Cable customers in both Edinboro and Cambridge Springs) will get the channel on 706. This may also include other parts of the Corry area. Time Warner is also feeding Fox 66 to Armstrong Cable for Crawford County residents. If you are not a cable customer like myself, you may want to try pulling in Fox 66-1 (Which is actually channel 22) by scanning for the station on your HDTV or SDTV or HD receiver box. You may only need rabbit ears if you are close to the station, which is on upper Peach Street. Or an outdoor antenna could work if you are on a hill with a somewhat clear view towards Erie. Let me know how you pull in the station or is you are watching on digital cable.Market research, 60 years ago
Monday Morning Nostalgia Fix:
As of this month, it's been eight years since Charleroi's WESA (940) and sister station WZKT-FM (98.3) disappeared into Keymarket Communications. The FM station, which changed its call letters to WOGI-FM, was moved to Pittsburgh and re-licensed to "Duquesne." It's now part of Keymarket's "Froggyland" country format also heard on 94.9 in Fayette, 103.5 in Burgettstown (formerly in Steubenville), and 104.3 in Moon Township (formerly East Liverpool).
WESA was one of hundreds of new AM stations that filled the U.S. airwaves after World War II. The FM station signed on about 20 years later.
These days, the little 250-watt daytime AM signal (five watts at night) on 940 in Charleroi is almost completely irrelevant; under the call letters WFGI, it now simulcasts WOGI-FM from its single tower located along Interstate 70, just west of the Speers Bridge.
But when it signed on back on Sunday, Nov. 9, 1947, the mid-Mon Valley was thrilled to finally have its own radio station, and the new owners surveyed listeners through the Charleroi Daily Mail and Monessen Daily Independent.
Reported the Mail on Monday:
Congratulatory telegrams, letters and telephone calls were received by the management of radio station WESA, Charleroi's first commercial broadcasting outlet ...
(Manager) Pierre Paulin introduced the staff on the air yesterday from 3:45 to 4 p.m. as the dawn to dusk station broadcast a diversified and timely Sabbath program. Liberal responses were received from local and distant points noting clarity of reception and offering congratulations.
Today WESA was on routine broadcasts from its central office, located at the Charleroi Recreational park, Fifth street. ... Ministers, district burgesses and KDKA artists have been invited to participate in the formal opening next Sunday afternoon.
WESA's weekday schedule for January 1948 included sign-on at 7:30 with news and music; a daily 15-minute religious program at 8:15; news at 11 a.m., 12 noon, 1, 3, and 4:30 p.m.; a sports report at 4; and a phone-in trivia show at 12:15. Sign off was at 5 p.m.
There was plenty of rural territory inside WESA's signal area in Washington and Westmoreland counties, which is why the station also ran a farm report at 12:45 p.m. daily. (In other words, you didn't hear any frogs on the air, but you might have heard a few chickens and cows.)
By the way: The Charleroi Mail is defunct, too; it was merged in 1960 with a one-time competitor, the Monessen Daily Independent. The surviving paper, The Valley Independent, is today owned by the Tribune-Review's parent company.
Welcome to the 80% of you who are passing by!
Musings From Eric:I am in the middle of running the church newsletter which has become a mundane task when the machine does most of the work. That has given me a good bit of time to surf the Internet this afternoon.
I decided to do a little web snoop and see what the search engines came up with for PBRTV. Well one of those sites that it showed was Quantcast - "the World's only Open Internet Ratings Source". I was particularly amused at the data I found!
(more)Romigh on WKBN
Youngstown: Former KDKA-AM evening talk host Mike Romigh appeared on WKBN-AM from 10 AM - Noon today filling in for Dan Rivers. Station management told PBRTV that Romigh would return come Monday morning same time, same station to continue filling in.UPDATE: Pelky in Hawaii
Pittsburgh: Afternoon traffic reporter Lisa Pelky recently left Pittsburgh to move to Hawaii. So says a couple of reliable emails into the PBRTV World Headquarters. Pelky spent the last few years doling out the traffic reports on Renda Broadcasting's stations WSHH, WJAS & WPTT. She was apparently a part of a Pittsburgh-based band and made the decision to move with one of her bandmates to start a new band. One of the emails tells us she's doing well. (Who wouldn't do well in Hawaii?)Clear Channel sale approved
National News:The FCC announced Thursday that they had approved the buyout of Clear Channel Communications by Bain Capital Partners and Thomas H. Lee Partners for $20 billion. According to Reuters CC will divest 42 stations in the top 100 US Markets under this agreement.
Despite the approval, FCC Commissioner Michael Copps and fellow Democrat Jonathan Adelstein have concerns. They worry about the ownership of media outlets by private equity firms saying that it could affect the commission's "ability to ensure that broadcast licensees protect, serve and sustain the public interest."
No word on whether any of Clear Channel's Pittsburgh properties will be sold. CC owns WDVE, WXDX, WWSW, WKST, WPGB and WBGG
Pelky gone from 'JAS
Pittsburgh: Alert Listener Jim emailed us to ask what might have happened to WJAS/WSHH/WPTT afternoon traffic reporter Lisa Pelky. Well Jim, it's news to us too, but her picture has disappeared from the 'JAS website. She most likely has left the stations. Pelky had been holding down the shift at the Renda stations for the last few years. Stay tuned...Former ESPN Weekender in jail
Pittsburgh: According to the Tribune Review, US District Judge Alan Block sentenced John Duffy to nearly 4 years in prison on Tuesday. He was charged with possessing computer images and videos of child porn. Duffy was a weekend anchor at WEAE 1250 (ESPN Radio) as well as the public announcer for Pitt games, Penguins games and occasionally work in the pressbox for the Steelers.New anchor at TV 21
Youngstown: Cindy Matthews is the newest on-air personality at WFMJ-TV (21). The Youngstown NBC affiliate has added the former Cincinnati talent to the 6 and 11 p.m. newscasts, where she shares hosting duties with Bob Black.A graduate of Tulane University and University of Southern California, Matthews has a bachelor's degree in economics and psychology and a master's degree in broadcast journalism. She previously worked at Cinci's WXIX-TV (19) and WCPO-TV (9) as an anchor and consumer-affairs reporter. She started her career at Parkersburg, W.Va., NBC affiliate WTAP-TV, where she won two regional Associated Press awards.
According to the Vindicator, 'FMJ plans to launch a consumer-affairs segment featuring Matthews in the near future.
Matthews also will serve as spokeswoman for WFMJ's community service arm, Our Valley's Volunteers.
CBS Radio is 'cheep, cheep'
Pittsburgh: Terry Hazlett of the Observer-Reporter throws one hard and inside at the management of the revived "B-94" WBZW-FM (93.7)."Without virtually any promotion, B-94 (WBZW) took an almost two-point leap in the ratings after switching from 'The Man Station' to a top 40 format," he writes. "That 'cheep-cheep' you hear is CBS Radio, which three months into the format change, still hasn't hired a mid-day or overnight disc jockey, and didn't have a morning team in place until mid-January."
'Strue, though.
And as Hazlett notes, the "cheep, cheep" birds are also singing up at the flashcube in Green Tree, headquarters of Clear Channel Pittsburgh:
"You may have noticed 3WS has lengthened the shifts of its disc jockeys --- Sherri Van Dyke and Mike Fraser are now covering the 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. hours, although it's not clear if all of those hours are live broadcasts. Unfortunately, that's indicative of radio's cost-cutting trends across the country. Fewer disc jockeys over longer periods of time may save a little money, but it certainly doesn't help with maintaining a high-energy level."
Warren, Pa. Radio Legend Passes Away
Erie-Meadville: Sad news from Scott Fybush over at Fybush.com reports the passing of Warren Pa. radio legend LeRoy Schneck on January 3rd. (He was 88 at the time of his passing). LeRoy was in the hospital for a time following injuries he suffered in a fall. He was the owner of Kinzua Broadcasting stations including Full Service - WNAE 1310 (first station he signed on in 1946), Oldies - WRRN 92.3 and Country - WKNB 104.3. He sold the stations to Frank Iorio in 2005 when LeRoy was 85. Thanks to a reader for sending us a link of his complete obituary, which can be found at http://www.timesobserver.com/news/articles.asp?articleID=6955.TV covered a dream, 45 years ago
Monday Morning Nostalgia Fix: The "March on Washington" 45 years ago this August was a "coming of age" moment both for the civil-rights movement and national TV news.Never before had America's three television networks saturated any event --- save presidential conventions and inaugurations --- with such extensive coverage.
At least 22 TV cameras were trained on Washington, D.C., on Aug. 28, 1963 to pickup up both the marchers and the speeches in front of the Lincoln Memorial.
. . .
William G. Thomas III, professor of history at the University of Virginia and director of the Virginia Center for Digital History, which oversees a university project called "Television News of the Civil Rights Era, 1950-1970," says that more than 500 cameramen, reporters and engineers were deployed.
The cost was estimated by the New York Times at more than $300,000.
NBC slated three special reports --- two during the day and one at 11:15 p.m. --- while ABC set four live pickups and a taped program at 11:15 p.m. CBS covered events live between 1:30 and 4:30 p.m., cancelling "As the World Turns," "Password," "Art Linkletter's House Party," "To Tell the Truth" and "The Edge of Night."
. . .
The television coverage was significant for several reasons. First, the live pictures brought to American living rooms the faces of 250,000 black and white men and women, marching peacefully together for the cause of civil rights.
"Cameramen and technicians found placards to show that the marchers represented all major religious faiths, labor groups, social organizations and others," reported the Times. As a result, no one watching at home could deny the widespread support for the legislation that became the Civil Rights Act of 1965.
Second, for many people, the march turned out to be something that was "seen and not read about," according to Thomas. Some newspapers "described the march in sketchy detail," he writes, "and much of the commentary considered it ineffective."
But millions of people had watched on TV and come to a different conclusion, Thomas says: "What they saw and experienced as viewers contrasted sharply with what they read about it in their newspapers."
. . .
Millions did watch; in New York City alone, according to the Times, daytime ratings on the day of the march were 46 percent higher than normal.
Perhaps for the first time, TV news had supplanted the printed word as the way that Americans learned about major unfolding events. It was a cultural shift that became even more pronounced a few months later, when the nation watched, transfixed, the aftermath of President Kennedy's assassination.
The formal program at the Lincoln Memorial included the singing of the National Anthem by Marian Anderson, a hymn ("'Buked and Scorned") by Mahalia Jackson, prayers by several clergymen and speeches by union leaders A. Philip Randolph and Walter Reuther, among others.
. . .
Yet the march may be best remembered today for a speech that almost wasn't included.
According to a 2003 story by NPR, some of the organizers of the program didn't want the president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., to speak. A few groups, apparently jealous of King's celebrity, were worried that he would dominate the march.
In the end, they agreed to allow him only four minutes, and pushed him to the end of the program, in hopes that the TV crews would have packed up and gone home to get ready for the evening news broadcasts.
. . .
They were wrong about the TV crews; they stayed to the very end of King's remarks, which blew away the four-minute time limit, stretching to 16 minutes.
They were right that King dominated the event; his so-called "I Have a Dream" speech might be the most famous address ever delivered on U.S. television, and is perhaps the defining moment of the civil-rights demonstrations of the 1960s.
Just don't "Wait, Wait" for tickets
Pittsburgh: NPR's comedy quiz show "Wait, Wait ... Don't Tell Me" will tape an upcoming broadcast before a live audience at the Byham Theater, Downtown.The March 13 taping begins at 7:30 p.m. with host Peter Sagal and announcer and NPR newsman Carl Kasell. Tickets start at $20 and may be purchased by calling (412) 456-6666 or visiting PghArts.org.
The show, celebrating its 10th anniversary this month, airs at 11 a.m. Saturdays* on Pittsburgh's WDUQ-FM (90.5), which is sponsoring the local taping.
The program taped in Pittsburgh will air nationwide on the weekend of March 15-16.
* -- corrected per reader comment
Look out, Loretta!
Pittsburgh: Keith Barnes of the Tribune-Review "Focuses" on Penguins play-by-play man Mike Lange in an article for the newspaper's Sunday magazine.Lange has now been broadcasting hockey for 38 years --- first for the Phoenix Roadrunners of the defunct Western Hockey League, then for the San Diego Gulls, and finally for the Pens since 1974. He cites the legendary Pirates' sportscaster Bob Prince as an early influence.
The 59-year-old native of Sacramento, Calif., now lives in the city's North Hills; in 2001, he received the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award (named for the legendary host of Hockey Night in Canada) from the Hockey Hall of Fame for outstanding work as a broadcaster.
Lange was bumped from the Pens' TV broadcasts and now exclusively works radio broadcasts, heard on 21 stations in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland and West Virginia, including flagships "The X" WXDX-FM (105.9) and Fox Sports WBGG (970).
Barnes doesn't mention persistent rumors that Lange might leave Pittsburgh for the chance to work on TV again, but Lange does allow that he has no plans to retire soon.
"I still enjoy what I do," he tells Barnes, "and maybe when it stops being fun I'll decide to take another avenue and try something different."
K-105, WKBN 570 Leads Pack Again
Youngstown: Country powerhouse "K-105" (WQXK 105.1) leads the pack again in the fall ratings period. Not too far behind is "News Talk 570 WKBN." "Y-103" (WYFM 102.9) gains a bit, but remains in 3rd. Meanwhile, "Big 106.1 " (WBBG) leaps to 4th place, thanks to their temporary flip from Oldies to Christmas music in November and December. They leaped over Top 40 leader "Hot 101" (WHOT 101.1) in 5th while "95.9 Kiss FM" is a distant 10th. Hot AC "Mix 98.9" (WMXY) remains in 6th over newly reformatted Urban "102 Jamz" (WRBP 101.9) in 7th. The station was an Urban AC until recently, which may have helped to knock Pittsburgh Urban outlet "WAMO 106.7" out of the fall book. Adult Standards is still very strong for "1390 WNIO" in 8th while "WSOM 600" is in a 14th place tie with sports station "WBBW 1240." A bit of a surprise is "Real Rock 104" (WWIZ 103.9) moving up to 9th place while "93.3 The Wolf" falls to 11th. Both stations play new & classic rock, though "Real Rock" tends to play harder selections. Finally, "Froggy 95" (WWGY 95.1) sits at 13th. The very powerful station has yet to be a Country challenger to "K-105", but it's focus on the Pennsylvania side of the Ohio / Pa. border could partially be the reason why.Eh...so we're two days late...
Pittsburgh: According to Radio & Records, there wasn't much change to the Pittsburgh Arbitron ratings for Fall 2007. WBZW (AKA -The reincarnated B-94) is showing some signs of improvement after falling to the lowest level as The Zone. The Winter book will tell all about how the station is doing now that it has a nearly full complement of jocks. Sister station WZPT seems to be on the rise as well. Otherwise, things remain about the same. Will there be changes afoot in 2008 for WLTJ or WXDX which seem to have a consistent standing below the top 10? Stay tuned...Did Jet TV Go Over The Line?
Erie-Meadville: Last night (1/16/08) my wife & I were watching Action News 24 at 5pm on WJET. The were talking about an automobile accident yesterday morning in Cranesville on route 18. Sadly, a 12 year old boy died an hour after the accident at a local hospital and the video showed the 17 year old brother (who was the driver) crying and wondering how his little brother was. We both were stunned that they would show the boy during a very difficult time & felt that showing him was not appropriate under the circumstances. What do you think? Did Jet TV go over the line of ethics & class during a very difficult situation. Feel free to let me know. Our condolences to the family during a very difficult time.'TAE's Clark opens diocese lecture series
Pittsburgh: WTAE-TV (4) news anchor Mike Clark will open the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh's 2008 adult education lecture series.
Clark's lecture, slated for 7:30 p.m. Jan. 24 at St. Paul Seminary in Crafton, is titled "The Everyday Challenge to Follow Christ's Path."
The lecture is free and open to the public, but donations will be accepted.
A 1985 graduate of St. John's University in New York, Clark has been at WTAE since 1995, and his Catholic faith has frequently informed his coverage. Clark covered Pope John Paul II's visits to the United States in 1995 and 1999, as well as the pontiff's funeral in 2005; a series of reports in 2000 from a Catholic mission in Peru netted Clark an award named for the late Bishop Fulton J. Sheen.
For more information, call (412) 456-3112.
A not-so-quiet week in Lake Wobegon
National News: I'll bet this has got people at the Chatterbox Cafe talking."A Prairie Home Companion" host Garrison Keillor is suing his next-door neighbors to block their construction of a three-car garage, reports the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.
The lawsuit, filed Monday in St. Paul, Minn., says completion of the addition to the neighbor's house would obstruct Keillor's property and harm the value of his house.
The city of St. Paul is also named as a defendant; Keillor claims neither he nor his wife were informed about the date or time of the zoning hearing meeting where the addition was approved.
The neighbors, Lori Anderson and Paul Olson, say they're "heartsick" over the lawsuit, and that Keillor and his wife have otherwise been good neighbors. "We wrote them a very conciliatory e-mail to say we'll do anything we can to work it out," Anderson told the newspaper. "They refused to talk to us."
One of the nation's longest-running public radio shows, "PHC" is heard on more than 500 radio stations, including Pittsburgh's WQED-FM (89.3), Youngstown's WYSU-FM (88.5), Erie's WQLN-FM (91.3), and State College's WPSU-FM (91.5), as well as the West Virginia Public Radio Network.
Johnny Marx cut from The Wolf
Erie-Meadville: Following Friday's mid day shift at Connoisseur Media owned "93.9 The Wolf", a voice familiar to Erie radio listeners was let go due to budget cuts. Johnny Marx was a victim of those cuts & hopefully will turn up on the dial again in the near future. Far as I can recall, Johnny also worked at the former "Jet 102", and later "Star 104" before his move down the hall to the former "US 93.9" which would later flip to "The Wolf."Country rock, anyone?
Pittsburgh: The Observer-Reporter's Terry Hazlett says that local radio stations have dropped the ball. No one offers a format that's a hybrid of country and rock.
"This year, I put together some personalized CD mixes for my son, nieces, grandsons and a few of my wife's coworkers, knowing full well most of the discs would never see a CD player," he says. "They would, however, eventually work their way to an iPod. The odd thing about the music requests was that the choices were always rock and country. Finger Eleven and Rascal Flatts. Taylor Swift and Daughtry. Carrie Underwood and Fleetwood Mac. Bon Jovi and Brad Paisley. Oh, yeah. And Hannah Montana --- well, her dad is a country singer."
Hazlett says a country-rock format would "have mostly youth appeal" but "a good many old rock 'n rollers would be tuning in, too. Current country takes considerable cues from classic rock."
He came to the "epiphany" while listening to the mix of hit music on the new "B94" WBZW-FM (93.7). "The one genre I didn't hear was country, which I thought was very odd, considering the Christmas I had just experienced," he says. "It's time to rock on into the 21st century --- with a cowboy hat in tow."
. . .
A PBRTV aside: Edison Media Research said in 2006 several stations have tried a hybrid of country and rock with mixed success. The biggest problem is that the listenership tends to skew heavily male; also, most classic rock songs don't endorse the "family-friendly" (read: "conservative and Christian") message that many modern country artists embrace.
"In fact, the format has been most mass-appeal in its least pure format: when it is, essentially, a gold-based Country outlet that has a few Skynyrd titles," wrote Sean Ross of EMR. "Clearly, a niche for some sort of Country and Rock hybrid exists; the question is how it can be built into something more."
This PBRTV writer suspects that Pittsburgh --- with its love of "classic rock" and its mix of rural-suburban communities like Westmoreland and Washington counties --- would be an ideal place to test such a format.
Crazy, man, crazy!
Monday Morning Nostalgia Fix: Gather 'round, cats and kittens, while I spin a tale of a groovy grotto that percolated over Pittsburgh in the early '70s.
Your host was a rotund profundity named Al "Jazzbeaux" Collins, who hung his Tyrolean hat here between 1969 and '76 --- first at Pittsburgh's WTAE (1250), then at McKeesport's WIXZ (1360). He also hosted a show called "Jazzbeauxz Rehearsal" on WTAE-TV (4).
For a native McKeesporter, it's odd to think of the legendary "Jazzbeaux" (sometimes he spelled it "Jazzbo") working from WIXZ's grotty studios on Long Run Road, near the Zayre's and the Winky's, but it happened, daddio.
(According to the website 440: Satisfaction, which tracks the careers of radio personalities, "Jazzbeaux" also worked briefly at WKPA, now WGBN, in New Kensington during World War II.)
Pittsburgh had a lively jazz scene in the 1960s and '70s, but it's hard to imagine that Jazzbeaux was happy in the Steel City, where "cool" and "hip" radio meant the gritty, vintage R&B and slow-jams spun by Porky Chedwick at WAMO (860) or "Mad Mike" Metrovich at WZUM (1590).
In more cosmopolitan places like New York and San Francisco, Collins' hipster raps found a ready audience, and that's where he was best known --- and most beloved.
How to describe Collins? "Beyond cool," wrote author and broadcaster Gene Sculatti in a profile for Jersey City, N.J., based public radio station WFMU-FM (91.1):
Back then they turned to Jazzbo for jazz. He was in the clubs, at Birdland and the Hickory House, down at the downbeat office, digging, and he was on the air laying a taste on the ears (Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Sinatra and Shearing and Peggy Lee, and Slim Gaillard doing that whole "mello-roony" rap about "Ce-ment mixer, putty putty.")
But if it's music that brought 'em in, it was Jazzbo who kept them coming back, with an announcing style so laid back it was four winks west of Sominex, but so hip. Snooze and you lose, 'cause what he's saying at that crazy half-speed is twice as gone as any other disc jockey you've ever heard.
Last week, James Lileks, blogger, author of a series of books on popular culture, and writer for the Minneapolis Star Tribune, posted a 1957 episode of the NBC Radio sci-fi series "X Minus One" featuring none other than Jazzbeaux Collins as narrator. At the time the show was taped, Collins was at WNEW (1130) in New York City and a regular contributor to NBC Radio's Monitor.
Now, with a tip of the PBRTV propeller-beanie to Mr. Lileks, here's Al "Jazzbeaux" Collins in the Feb. 27, 1957 episode of "X-Minus-One," as it was heard nationwide over NBC:
X-Minus-One, NBC Radio, Feb. 27, 1957 (10.2 MB)
Is Anyone Listening to HD Radio in the Youngstown area?
Youngstown: With a few FM stations in the greater Youngstown area adapting to "Hybrid Digital" HD Radio, I was just wondering if anyone in the area was listening to the improved sound. Just in case you were not aware of what stations were on the HD babdwagon, here's a list. WQXK 105.1 "K-105" Country, WYFM 102.9 "Y-103" Classic Rock, WHOT 101.1 "Hot 101" Top 40, WMXY 98.9 "Mix 98.9" Hot AC (HD-2 Channel: Love Songs), WNCD 93.3 "93.3 The Wolf" Rock (HD-2 Channel: Blues), and WYSU 88.5 News/Talk/Classical (HD-2 Channel: Classical). Drop me a line here if you have an HD Radio & share your positive and negative thoughts.It starts Thursday-Thursday-Thursday!
Pittsburgh: The reborn "B94" WBZW-FM (93.7) finally gets its morning show this week.
"Buck Head and Bubba" start work at 6 a.m. tomorrow. (They'll sell you the whole seat, but you'll only need ... THE EDGE! Oh, sorry ... "The Edge" got sold, too.)
Anyway, this is Bubba's third tour of duty on mornings at the "B" --- he was previously part of the "JohnDaveBubbaShelley" and "DaveBubbaBrianShelley" morning shows (shows that were so exciting they didn't even take time to put in spaces!)
Buck (er ... do you prefer Mr. Head?) comes to Pittsburgh via stations in Tampa, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Detroit and Dallas. He was most recently host of "The BuckHead Show" at Clear Channel's "Z100" KKRZ-FM (100.3) in Portland, Ore. According to published reports, he left the station after being bumped aside on 'KRZ by the syndicated "T-Man Show."
With "Kobe" recently added to afternoon drive, B94 finally has personalities in key dayparts ... though clearly the arrival of a real morning show is the most important piece.
(P.S. to CBS Radio Pittsburgh's FM cluster: Hey, how come we don't rate a press release of our own? PBRTV has 4,000 readers per week, and yet we had to sponge from someone else. I know Eric and I don't have Adrian McCoy's cute dimples, but c'mon, we're not that awful: pbrtv at aol dot com or jtogyer at gmail dot com.)
Bernie Armstrong passes
Pittsburgh: John Bernard Armstrong, Jr., better known as "Bernie" passed away from a bout with Cancer at his home in California on 12/21/07. Bernie held a 40-year career in broadcasting which included a stint as music and program director at WTAE Radio working with personalities like O'Brien and Garry, Myron Cope and Bill Hillgrove. His father was a well-known Pittsburgh entertainer and was musical director at KDKA in the 1930s and 40s. Armstrong is survived by his mother, two sisters and several children. (Trib)Judge throws out Froggy lawsuit
Pittsburgh, Johnstown-Altoona-State College: A Blair County judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by Forever Broadcasting against a former saleswoman who was accused of violating her contract by taking a job at WRTA (1240) radio in Altoona.That's according to the Altoona Mirror and WRTA.
Forever Broadcasting sued Virginia Smith when she quit Forever to work for WRTA, a news-talker that competes with its own WFBG (1290). The lawsuit also named WRTA as a defendant.
Forever is the parent company of Central Pennsylvania's "Froggy" radio stations, and is a sister company to Carnegie-based Keymarket Communications, which owns Duquesne-licensed WOGI-FM (98.3), Uniontown's WOGG-FM (94.9), Burgettstown-licensed WOGH-FM (103.5) and East Liverpool's WOGF-FM (104.3).
WRTA and Forever have been bitter adversaries in the past; back in 2000, current WRTA owner Dave Barger and former WRTA owner Rod Wolf publicly accused Forever and its related companies of non-competitive, monopolistic business practices.
Besides WFBG and "Froggy 95" WFGI-FM (95.5), Forever and its investors either own or control many other Johnstown-Altoona-State College area stations, including WMAJ (1450), WRSC (1390), WALY-FM (103.9), WBUS-FM (93.7), WQWK-FM (103.1), WRKY-FM (104.9), WRKW-FM (99.1), WFGY-FM (98.1), WSGY-FM (98.7) and WFZY-FM (106.3).
Along with WRTA, Barger owns WKMC (1370), WBRX-FM (94.7) and WBXQ-FM (94.3).
Forever alleged that Smith's move to WRTA violated a non-compete clause in her contract. Her attorney argued that the contract was not enforceable, and Common Pleas Judge Hiram Carpenter last month ruled that Forever could not prove that it suffered any harm, or that Smith took any clients from Forever to WRTA.
"This is not a suit between CBS and NBC," Carpenter wrote in his decision. "It is a suit in a small local market. It should be easy for plaintiffs to establish the fact of damage. ...Yet plaintiffs come before us unable to name anyone who was approached or a single dollar that was lost."
WICU-TV's Eisenman promoted
Erie-Meadville: WICU-TV (12) morning news anchor Julie Eisenman has been named the station's news director, according to the Erie Times-News.
The 32-year-old native of tiny Marble, Pa., north of Clarion, becomes the first woman to serve as news director at the NBC affiliate.
A graduate of Clarion University of Pennsylvania, Eisenman joined WICU seven years ago. She previously worked at Pittsburgh's WPXI-TV (11) as an assignment editor.
Former WICU News Director Phil Hayes stays with the station as a consultant, the Times-News says.
Erie-born 'Gladiator' creator left out
Erie-Meadville: The Erie-born creator of the "American Gladiators" TV series feels as if he's been cheated out of credit and royalties he deserves.
The series was resurrected this week by NBC, which needs to fill airtime otherwise devoid of new content because of the Writers Guild strike. The show, which airs Monday nights on WICU-TV (12) in Erie, along with WPXI-TV (11), WJAC-TV (6) and WTOV-TV (9), is hosted by former WWE wrestler Hulk Hogan and boxer Laila Ali.
Danny Carr, 60, created the syndicated "Gladiators" series that ran from 1989 to 1996, but tells the Erie Times-News he won't watch a minute of the new show. "It's too painful," he says.
According to the newspaper, "Gladiators" evolved from a series of "strongman" competitions that Carr staged in Erie at union picnics, beginning in the 1960s.
The first organized show was staged in 1982 at Tech Memorial High School in Erie, and one of the original "Gladiators" was Donny Plonski, a 255-pound construction worker nicknamed "The Sledgehammer" who trained by pulling a sled full of concrete blocks.
Plonski also refuses to watch NBC's new version of the show, and tells Gerry Weiss of the Times-News it "still hurts" for people not to know that the series "originated from little Erie, Pennsylvania."
Sorry (?) we missed this
Pittsburgh: Hey, daddy, how much do you love your little girl?Enough to raid your wife's wigs?
Last week, the morning crew at country station "Y-108" WDSY-FM (107.9) offered two free tickets to the upcoming Hannah Montana concert to the winner of a "Hannah Montana Daddy Dash" inside The Mall at Robinson. Contestants donned blonde wigs and raced through an obstacle course at the shopping center Friday morning.
"The 'Hannah Montana' show is all about silly fun and disguising yourself, so naturally we thought of dads dressed in drag running through a mall," Y108 morning host Monty told Scott Tady of the Beaver County Times.
Yeah, it's not what I thought about, either, but that's why I'm writing about morning shows and not hosting one.
Luckily for the winner, I couldn't find any photos on the Y108 website. The blackmail possibilities would be endless.
Indymedia center wants LPFM license
Pittsburgh: The independent producers and journalists behind "Rustbelt Radio" hope to apply for a low-power FM license if Congress and the FCC relax the regulations, according to the Tribune-Review.
Produced by the Pittsburgh Independent Media Center, "Rustbelt" examines issues with a distinct anti-corporate slant. The weekly one-hour roundup of news "from the grass roots" is heard live Mondays at 6 p.m. on Carnegie Mellon's WRCT-FM (88.3) as well as Wednesdays on WPTS-FM (92.1), Thursdays on Benwood, W.Va.'s WVJW-LPFM (94.1), and Fridays on WIUP-FM (90.1) in Indiana, WNJR-FM (91.7) in Washington and WKCO-FM (91.9) in Kenyon, Ohio.
"Community radio is all about covering issues in our community and getting it on the air," says Matt Toups of the local IMC. "The reason we do what we do, with grassroots volunteers, is because we don't like the current media offered."
U.S. Rep. Mike Doyle, a Democrat from Swissvale, is leading the congressional charge to expand the number of LPFM licenses available.
But the National Association of Broadcasters and National Public Radio oppose the move, saying it would increase interference levels on the FM band.
"The radio dial is so crowded in major markets that shoe-horning other stations onto the dial will cause interference," the NAB's Dennis Wharton tells the Trib.
(Editor's Note: In the interest of full disclosure, this PBRTV correspondent is a WRCT volunteer and a member of a group that wants to bring a low-power FM station to the Mon Valley area.)
Y-town Crimestoppers return
Youngstown: The stories that you hear --- beginning tomorrow --- on Youngstown TV will be true.
"Crimestoppers" is returning to the airwaves after a three-year absence, according to the Warren Tribune-Chronicle.
The program was discontinued due to a lack of funding.
Youngstown police Detective Sgt. Charles Swanson is the law-enforcement liaison to the revived program, which is headed up by Andrea Wood, publisher of the Youngstown Business Journal. Nationally, "Crimestoppers" programs claim a 93 percent success rate, Swanson said.
Viewers who want to report information that can help Youngstown-area police solve a crime are invited to call (330) 746-CLUE.
WWCP news team still at work
Johnstown-Altoona-State College: With only a week remaining before management pulls the plug on them, reporters, editors and anchors at Fox affiliate WWCP-TV (8) in Johnstown are continuing to put out the best broadcast they can, reports the Altoona Mirror.
News Director Jim Penna calls it "a test of your professional mettle."
"My obligation is to produce the product, and we will do that until we are done," he says.
WWCP shares a news department with sister station and ABC affiliate WATM-TV (23). The station's owners announced in November that they would contract all news functions to crosstown rival and NBC affiliate WJAC-TV (6), beginning Jan. 14.
Penn State communications professor Matt Jackson tells the Mirror that although local news is important, stations are no longer willing to support newscasts that don't generate revenue.
The stations will not hold personnel to the non-compete clauses in their contracts, though several admit they will probably have to leave either central Pennsylvania or broadcasting to find work.
WNEO COO to retire
Youngstown, Misc. Ohio: The COO of Kent-based PBS stations WNEO-TV (45) and WEAO-TV (49) will retire at the end of March.
Don Freeman (right) has worked at the pubcaster since 1988, according to a press release. He joined the stations after stints at KRMA-TV in Denver, Nebraska Educational Television, and Ohio Educational Television.
An Air Force veteran, Freeman began his broadcast career with American Forces Radio in Spain in the 1960s.
As an executive producer, he holds two regional Emmys and has been nominated 10 times. Freeman intends to retire to his native Colorado with his wife of 39 years, Joan. They have two sons and two grandchildren.
WNEO, licensed to Alliance, and WEAO, licensed to Akron, are owned by Northeastern Educational Television of Ohio, a partnership between the University of Akron, Kent State University and Youngstown State University. Its studios are located on the KSU campus. Besides their core markets in Akron, Canton and Youngstown, the stations can be received in Beaver, Washington, Lawrence, Butler and other counties near Pittsburgh.
(PBRTV propeller-beanie tip: Ohio Media Watch)
Channel 11 News at 10pm not in HD on Fox 53
Pittsburgh: In my area, I am very fortunate to be able to pull in several Pittsburgh area digital and analog TV stations. One is WPGH (Fox 53) which has been carrying "Channel 11 News on Fox 53 at 10pm." During the newscasts you will hear it mentioned that the entire newscast is in high definition. I checked & the 10pm newscast is not in high definition despite the promos. WPXI may want to drop any mention of HD on the 10pm news unless the station will begin carrying the newscast in HD. It just sounds very misleading to say that it's in HD when it's in Standard Definition.Mike and Edye are on this blog
Monday Morning Nostalgia Fix:Are you tired of the presidential campaign yet? Well, return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear --- exactly 20 years ago, to January 1988.
Dick Caliguiri was mayor of Pittsburgh, and Mike Hambrick and Edye Tarbox were anchoring the WPXI-TV (11) news, along with Sam Nover on sports and Dennis Bowman, who was doing the "weather outside" on the roof of the station's recently-closed "Television Hill" facility along Rising Main Avenue in Fineview.
And Dan Rather, then anchoring the "CBS Evening News," had made conservatives hotter than an armadillo on a Texas highway in July.
Or something like that.
. . .
Two weeks before the 1988 New Hampshire primary, Rather interviewed Vice President George H.W. Bush, and began questioning his knowledge of the Reagan administration's controversial decision to sell arms to the Nicaraguan "contras" to raise money to ransom hostages from Iran. (A portion of the interview is available at the Media Research Center website.)
Republicans later claimed Rather was "interrogating" Bush and demonstrating a liberal bias.
Under Rather's relentless questioning, the usually mild-mannered vice president finally blew his cool.
"I want to talk about why I want to be President, why those 41 percent of the people are supporting me," Bush said. "And I don't think it's fair to judge my whole career by a rehash on Iran. How would you like it if I judged your career by those seven minutes when you walked off the set in New York?"
. . .
Bush was referring to a notorious Sept. 11, 1987, incident when Rather --- angry that CBS had delayed the start the evening news for a tennis match --- walked away just before the broadcast began, leaving the network and more than 100 affiliates scrambling to fill six minutes of dead air.
Bush went onto win the New Hampshire primary, the Republican nomination, and the White House. Rather endured until 2005, when he finally retired under pressure from the network, which was unhappy with his ratings and his talent for continually attracting controversy. (Critics said he was slanting the news.)
. . .
Speaking of Republican, both Tarbox and Hambrick have solidly established their conservative credentials. Hambrick is now senior vice president of communications for the National Association of Manufacturers and hosts its weekly radio show, "America's Business."
Tarbox (now known as E.D. Hill) anchors "America's Pulse" weekday afternoons on the Fox News Channel. She previously hosted "Fox News Live" and the "Fox and Friends" morning show.
The Fox News Channel has been rumored (or so I've been told) to harbor an ever-so-slight right-wing bias.
But what do I know? As Dan Rather would say, "We've lived by the crystal ball and learned to eat so much broken glass tonight that we're in critical condition."
Uh, right.
Cullen's father passes
Pittsburgh: An emailer notes that the father of WPTT (1360) talk host Lynn Cullen has passed away.Norman Miller, 86, was a U.S. Navy veteran and real-estate developer who was active in the civic life of Cullen's native Green Bay, Wis., for more than a half-century, according to an obituary in the Green Bay Press-Gazette. He died New Year's Day and was buried on Thursday.
In lieu of flowers, the family has suggested memorial contributions to Cnesses Israel Congregation, Bellin College of Nursing, or Unity Hospice, all in Green Bay.
PBRTV extends its deepest sympathy to Cullen and her family.
WQLN 91.3 FM Celebrates 35 Years
Erie-Meadville: Right after WQLN TV 54 (DT 54-1) Celebrated 40 years on the air, there is more to celebrate on the FM side. It was 35 years ago on January 7th, 1973 when WQLN 91.3 FM first signed onto the Erie airwaves. The first broadcast day was from 6pm - Midnight which consisted of Classical, Jazz & Blues and Contemporary music. The station had three studio locations during the broadcast day. Edinboro State College, Mercyhurst College and the "Opportunities Industrialization Center" studios shared the broadcast schedule on WQLN FM. Great hosts like the late Paul Brown, Joe DiGiorgio, Tom McLaren and Mavis Sergeant opened the doors for some of today's voices you hear on the Q like Wally Faas, Bill Garts, Al Lubiejewski, Jason Gibbs and a voice who started with WQLN back in 1973, Robb Hoff. The station is also Erie's NPR & PRI affiliate with a great like up of program including "Morning Edition", "Fresh Air", "A Prarie Home Companion" and "Car Talk" among others. The station can also be heard online and in outlying areas with help from translators in Meadville 89.3, Titusville 91.5, Warren 98.9, Oil City 91.9 & Mayville, NY 90.1.2007
Musings From Eric:
I shouldn't be doing this now, but anytime I get over to my "holy office" where there is a high-speed connection, I feel compeled to sit down and write something. Perhaps I should move the PBRTV World Headquarters here? But then again, I really should be writing my Annual Reports for the stuff I do here...not stuff for PBRTV. Oh well, it's my time and I'll do what I want to...do what I want to...do what I want to...you would too...oh nevermind!
Last week I promised you that I would post some of 2007's best and worst nominations from readers, but I didn't get any! Well, I did receive one - but my being told to shut up doesn't count! So, borrowing from Pat Cloonan's page in the McKeesport Daily News and Adrian McCoy's Post-Gazette top 10, I have contrived my own list of 2007 Best and Worst.
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