Miles to retire in 2010
Pittsburgh:WQED Multimedia announced today that George L. Miles, Jr., the longest-serving chief executive of WQED, will retire as President and CEO effective one year from this date - September 30, 2010. The news came as part of the station's annual meeting and released in an email press release. Deborah Acklin, currently Executive Vice President and General Manager, was promoted to the new position of Chief Operating Officer and will be elected to the Board of Directors later this year once a by-law change has taken place. She will continue to oversee day-to-day operations and strategies for the multimedia company.
Miles said, "We have a brand new strategic plan that will guide us through the next five years and beyond. Through diligence and foresight, we completed a fiscal year in the black again in spite of months of challenges and economic uncertainty. And we are a streamlined organization focused on our core business of electronic media and communications." He continued by saying that he strongly believed that it was time to begin a transition of the organization by implementing a long-term succession plan which would make WQED sustainable for future decades.
George Miles has been WQED's President and CEO since September 1994. He held leadership roles at public station WNET-TV in New York, KDKA-TV and Radio in Pittsburgh, WPCQ in Charlotte, North Carolina and WBZ-TV in Boston, Massachusetts. Additionally he was Vice President and Controller of Westinghouse Broadcasting Television Group in New York and the US Department of Defense. He also served a tour of duty in Vietnam for the US Army.
Deborah Acklin is considered to be one of the country's pre-eminent women in media. She first served WQED as an executive producer and later as senior vice president of production and technology. WQED'S magazine program, "OnQ" is a brainchild of Acklin. She began her career at KDKA-TV and worked her way through the ranks of the newsroom before being promoted to executive producer.
Eddie Edwards a doer, not just a talker; WLTJ tries to fill void
Pittsburgh:Former WPTT-TV (22) (Now WPMY) owner Eddie Edwards has told the Pittsburgh Courier newspaper, "Don't be surprised if I announce that I have negotiated a deal to buy a property and put a black radio station back on the air." Edwards thinks he could be announcing a deal as early as next week. He says he was doing fine in retirement, but it made him angry when the Davenport family sold WAMO-AM/FM and WPGR-AM and nobody was doing anything about replacing them. Local station broker Ray Rosenblum confirms to Tom Taylor that Eddie Edwards is a doer - not just a talker.
Meanwhile, Scott Fybush says WLTJ-FM (92.9) has attempted to fill the void by going urban AC in the evening hours. "Q in the City" is being hosted by former WAMO-FM Program Director Tracey Lee and they hope to pick up some loyal WAMO listeners.
Corrie Harding leaves WPXI
Pittsburgh:WPXI-TV (11) News director Corrie Harding is out of the job tonight after he and General Manager Ray Carter came to a mutual decision today. Carter tells the Post-Gazette that the ratings weren't terrible, but it became necessary to make a change. Assistant News Director Melissa Knollinger was let go under similar circumstances a couple weeks ago. During the search for a new news director, Carter will oversee things in the newsroom which he says will give him the opportunity to see what's effective and what needs work.
Harding had been with the station since 2005.
Faces on the Radio, 1940
Monday Morning Nostalgia Fix:
(Above: "Sportscaster Joseph George Tucker, 31, Canadian born, a fixture at WWSW, here looks up from his script. Tucker is a good hockey announcer, began 1500 Club." From the Pittsburgh Bulletin-Index, Nov. 14, 1940.)
. . .
"To the listening public, a radio announcer --- known only by the radio time he keeps --- is a kind of glamorous person whose voice is heard often and whose face is seen seldom," reported the Pittsburgh Bulletin-Index magazine on Nov. 14, 1940, in a photo spread called "Men Behind the Mikes."
And it indeed was "men" behind the mikes, because few women were then employed as "announcers."
They weren't "disc jockeys," either --- not by a long shot. Although the concept of a "disc jockey" playing recorded music had emerged five years earlier at New York's WNEW, where Martin Block's "Make-Believe Ballroom" had become a surprise hit, most respectable radio stations tried to avoid playing recording music. Instead, they picked up live concerts or employed their own musicians.
Pittsburgh's five radio stations were no different, generally paying their announcers not to spin platters, but to read news, time and weather checks and introduce both local and networked programs: "This is WCAE, Pittsburgh. The time now is 11:30."
What a sweet gig, right? Not according to the Bulletin-Index. (more)
Edgar returns to Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh:From DCRTV: David Edgar is returning to Pittsburgh to take over the spot at Clear Channel recently vacated by Alex Tear. Edgar's new role is as Operations Manager of CC's 6-station cluster and as Program Director of WKST-FM (96.1) and WWSW-FM (94.5). Before leaving the area, he was a part of the morning show at WBZZ-FM (93.7) - the original incarnation of "B-94". Until recently he was Director of Operations for Emmis in Indianapolis.
Edgar tells FMQB, "I can't wait to get back to Pittsburgh, break out my Steelers Terrible Towel, chow down a Primanti Brothers sandwich and create great radio!"
BPEP writes to FCC
Pittsburgh: Tim Stevens, the chairman of the Black Political Empowerment Project, has written an open letter to the FCC asking "all appropriate bodies" to support the creation of one or more "Afro-centric" radio stations in the greater Pittsburgh market. This move was brought on by the recent departure of the Urban format on WAMO-AM/FM and WPGR-AM.WAMO-FM becomes WAOB
Pittsburgh: WAMO-FM has become WAOB (106.7) according to the FCC. The station and its AM sisters fell silent on September 8. All three were bought by St. Joseph Missions during the summer. WAMO-AM and WPGR-AM so far remain for 860 and 1510 respectively.Jet & Fox to go off air for reception issues
Erie-Meadville: Weather permitting, both WJET TV & WFXP TV will leave the air over the next few days from 9am - 4pm. WJET will be working on ways to address reception problems with some viewers in the city of Erie. Both stations will have to leave the air during that time since both are now on the same tower. Time Warner customers will not lose either station but other cable and Dish network viewers will lose both stations.Working together
Pittsburgh:Local company CMS Station Brokerage announced today that it is offering Station Operation services to its clients through Velocity Radio Management. Velocity will work with CMS clients to maximize station profit potential. "Many stations need to focus on maximizing their revenue - both traditional and non-traditional - as well as discovering efficiencies which will improve their bottom line," says Roger Rafson, President of CMS. Velocity's CEO, Tony Renda, said, "We look forward to driving profitability and increasing asset value for CMS Station Brokerage's sellers and buyers. Also, because these are challenging times for every operator, we're here to help defend and guide stations that face the major task of bank restructuring/workouts or acquiring new capital."
KDKA-TV Morning co-anchor named
Pittsburgh:Looking for someone to replace Keith Jones? Look no further than Rick Dayton. Dayton will take Jones' place at KDKA-TV (2; D25) for the second time in his career and took over for Jones at WOWK when he returned to Pittsburgh and KDKA in 2005. Before WOWK, Dayton was in radio sports with Capitol Broadcasting in Raleigh, NC and started broadcasting in high school at WEDA-FM in Grove City. The move gives the Western Pennsylvania native a chance to return home and comes just as his contract at WOWK was ending and not being renewed.
Verizon FiOS approved for city
Pittsburgh:City Council gave the green light to Verizon on Tuesday to begin rolling out its FiOS service throughout the Pittsburgh city limits. As soon as Mayor Luke Ravenstahl signs the legislation, Verizon expects to get to work. "We fully intend to be out in force in the very, very near future," said Gale Givens, president of Verizon Pennsylvania who continued by saying lots of intitiatives and approaches are a part of the deal. The move breaks a monopoly on cable service held by Comcast.
A proposed amendment to protect funding for Pittsburgh Community TV failed. PCTV will continue getting funding from every Comcast customer in the city. Instead the funds for public, educational and government programming from potential Verizon customers will be determined by a strategic plan yet to be crafted.
Verizon has been given a time frame of six years to build FiOS in the city and make it available to all city residents.
WWGE says tower isn't taxable
Johnstown-Altoona-State College: According to Tom Taylor, Johnstown's WWGE (850) says the tower shouldn't be taxable. The Tribune-Democrat reported that the tower site was "put in taxation" several years ago by Allegheny Township. The tower has been on its site since 1963 and Cambria Radiowerks has owned the station for nearly 10 years. The station's attorney says the tower "is like a tool of the trade" and should be tax-exempt. 2007 taxes were paid under protest, but there are unpaid taxes of about $7000.Callsign Soup
Pittsburgh:According to Fybush.com, the recent changes at Froggyland have brought on several callsign changes. We knew that WOGF at 104.3 would take on the WOGI calls, but knew nothing after that. WOGF briefly made an appearance at 98.3 but quickly changed to WPKV representing the K-Love format on that frequency. WPKV came from 98.3's new sister station at 90.7 in Nanty Glo, PA. That frequency is now WPAI and serves as K-Love's sister format "Air 1".
Tape of a 20-year-old tiff
Monday Morning Nostalgia Fix:(If the above video fails to load, visit the DailyMotion website.)
. . .
Mr. Monday Morning Nostalgia Fix is feeling old.
He spent part of his recent summer hiatus sorting videotapes. On one of the cassettes was a recording of "Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House," the classic 1948 movie starring Cary Grant and Myrna Loy, which he had taped off of the Saturday late movie on KDKA-TV (2).
Mr. MMNF quickly skimmed through the commercial breaks, thinking, "Well, this isn't very old --- it was only taped in 1989."
. . .
Suddenly, it dawned on Mr. MMNF that 1989 is old. Today's college juniors weren't even born when Mr. MMNF was setting the timer on the VCR to catch this flick.
After he finished sobbing, Mr. MMNF sat down for another look --- and realized that this tape had several elements that qualify it as "nostalgia." (more)
Local broadcaster wants investigation into WAMO sale
Pittsburgh:Eddie Edwards, former owner of WPTT-TV (22) and pioneer in minority broadcasting is "saddened - and outraged - by events that led to a final sign off for the WAMO stations." So says Pat Cloonan of the McKeesport Daily News (not online). Edwards suggests that an investigation may be necessary to find out what forced Sheridan Broadcasting to sell WAMO-AM/FM (860/106.7) and WPGR-AM (1510) to St. Joseph Missions. The stations all signed off on September 8. "If I had my way I would have screamed out, 'no way can we let our one and only station providing music, news and public service get away,'" Edwards told Cloonan.
When the sale was announced, one reason that was given was the use of the Portable People Meter in the Arbitron ratings which apparently has a negative effect on overall radio listening with a disproportionate impact on minority-targeted formats. Edwards argues that Western Pennsylvania has a significant African-American population which WAMO served. He had also heard that advertising agencies had put the three stations at the bottom of the buy list and that's why he would like to see an investigation. He has also talked to community leaders about the rumors suggesting format changes/purchases of other local stations.
It was over 30 years ago when Edwards helped to launch WPTT-TV (now WPMY) with studios and a transmitter in Monroeville. It was the most powerful Western Pennsylvania station. He hosted "Eddie's Digest" which focused mainly on issues in the African-American Community. He owned the station two different times selling it to Sinclair both times. It currently operates out of the WPGH-TV facility in Reserve Township.
Final day at WQLN
Erie-Meadville: I have been sharing my thoughts regarding losing my job at WQLN and that is coming to an end today (9/11/09). It's not easy knowing that you are no longer needed to ran the controls at the station. Like so many other stations, WQLN TV is joining the automation revolution. Let's hope that WQLN will be serving Erie for years to come but with the state funding issues, nothing is guaranteed. I wish everyone who is still with the station all of the best. I would like to close with a thank you to most of those whom I worked with past and present since October 17th, 1997. Dave McIntyre, Ed Upton, Dennis Spagnolo, Paul Stone, Paul Scarpino, Lori Trebik, Charissa Schwartz, Herb Sommers, Brady Louis, Pat Combine Simon, Tracy Ferrier, Aaron Coseo, Sally Baker, Brian Williams, Sue Allen, Gwen Campbell, Wally Faas, Mavis Sargent, Joe Digiorgio, Al Lebiejewski, Paul Brown, Bill Clarke, Tom McLaren, Adam Ladaika, Bill Garts, Aubrey Dillon, E. Douglas Pohl, Dwight Miller, Tom New, Skip Nygaard, Rob Hoff. If I missed anyone, my apologies to you. Of course you can refresh my memory by posting here.WQLN TV returns to the air
Erie-Meadville: It was September 2008 when WQLN TV & DT were both knocked off the air by a thunderstorm that put a permanent end to the analog side of WQLN. September 2009: WQLN DT 50 is off the air once again. The station went off at about 2:45 pm on Wednesday and is expected to be off until sometime this afternoon according to station engineer Aaron Coseo. WQLN will still be available to Time Warner Cable customers thanks to a fiber feed from the station. Update: WQLN TV returned to the air yesterday at 10:45 am.Notes
Pittsburgh:Tom Taylor on Radio-Info.com reports:
- Keymarket and Forever have received some relief from their lenders Bank of Montreal and Wells Fargo. This in addition to the recent LMA and eventual sale of the 98.3 FM signal (licensed to Duquesne) to Educational Media Foundation. The new deal restructures $30 million and is good through the end of 2013.
- As we illuded to, WAMO-AM/FM (860/106.7) went silent around 6 p.m. yesterday leaving a hole where the urban format used to be. (We've received unconfirmed reports that sister 1510 in Monroeville fell silent over the weekend.) The departure was reportedly maked with the airing of the Jackson 5 singing "Never Can Say Goodbye" and BoyzIIMen singing "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday." No word on when the new Catholic format (a la Saint Joseph Missions) will take over. Taylor reports that the signals may be dark for some time to come. SJM is paying $8.9 million to Sheridan Broadcasting in a deal made earlier this summer.
Bye WAMO
Pittsburgh: Take one last look at the website before it's gone forever...Antkowiak returning to KDKA
Pittsburgh: Jennifer Antkowiak left KDKA-TV (2; D25) and the 5 p.m. news in 2006 and to do some work as a corporate spokeswoman. Then she moved over to WTAE where she has hosted her own program. On September 21, Antkowiak will return to KDKA-TV to become the morning news anchor. She will replace the slot recently vacated by Sonni Abatta. No co-anchor has been named to replace the slot vacated by Keith Jones who left earlier this year.My view of losing my job in broadcasting (Part 3)
Erie-Meadville: First of all, I would like to thank fellow blogger Joel Natalie over at Press and Tower for putting a link of this story on his website. Joel has done an incredible job with the Erie media site which recently celebrated its first anniversary. Secondly, Joel shared another link regarding thoughts from one of my co workers Jim Richwalsky. Jim has posted pictures of the old WQLN Master Control room which was designed by Dennis Spagnolo. He also has pics of the new Master Control which looks like something out of Star Trek. He also shares his thoughts regarding being laid off. You can check out his blog at http://jayahrsblog.com/. Of course, it's the final week of my employment at WQLN. Over the years WQLN has felt like a second home with great employees who were also friends. Some have come and gone but it's amazing what I am remembering as Friday approaches. Losing my job on 9/11 will be a somber occasion but I will be able to put it in perspective. While I can and will find another job, so many others lost so much more eight years ago on 9/11/01. You can find another job but you cannot replace a life.WCXJ permit expires
Erie-Meadville: According to news from the FCC website, the construction permit for what would have been a new AM station in Erie has expired as of September 6th. WCXJ (Kearsarge) was to be located at 1590 AM with a 24 hour signal that probably would not be so well received at night outside of Erie. Eaton Diettrich partnership was the owners listed to operate the station, though it's not clear what format would have been on 'CXJ.Deaths to report
Pittsburgh:We are grateful to Frank Gottlieb of KQV who brought to our attention (or lack thereof) two deaths in the radio world.
Jim White, last heard on St. Louis' KMOX and a one-time WJAS-AM (1320) and KDKA-AM (1020) announcer, passed away last Wednesday (September 2) due to complications from surgery. He was 72. He served KMOX for 30 years beginning in 1969 when he started as an assistant news director. 20 of those years, he was heard in the late night hours over the clear channel signal throughout much of North America.
Hilary Bogden, who also worked for WJAS and was well known throughout the broadcast media in Pittsburgh, passed away at the age of 85 last Thursday (September 3). Bogden was a member of AFTRA.
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