PBRTV NEWSWIRE ... PBRTV NEWSWIRE ... PBRTV NEWSWIRE ...
Progress in WTAE/AFTRA negotiations
Pittsburgh:Fairness for WTAE, the group assisting WTAE-TV (4) airstaffers in getting a fair contract, is seeing progress in negotiations between station management and the AFTRA union. The group held a rally at the station in late January where 100 supporters delivered nearly 2000 signatures to Hearst management. "It appears the support of the community is doing what employees alone had a hard time accomplishing," says a press release, "...moving Hearst management towards productive negotiations."
WTAE General Manager Michael Hayes and Allegheny County Labor Council President Jack Shea met January 31 where Shea made it clear that he was not there to negotiate for AFTRA. Instead, Shea made it known that the Allegheny County unions, made up of 150,000 members and retirees, were closely following the negotiations.
The first negotiations since before the Christmas holiday were recently held with a federal mediator present. The next session is scheduled for March.
AFTRA and other union members show support for WTAE airstaff
Pittsburgh:From last week: The video speaks for itself. Courtesy of Fairness 4 WTAE and AFTRA.
Holiday ratings are out
Pittsburgh: In the December readings, all-Christmas WSHH-FM (99.7) was at the top with all-Christmas WWSW-FM (94.5) in third. The Holiday 2011 readings show the two stations at the tippy top but in an opposite order. WWSW topped the list with a 12.0 and WSHH was in second with an 11.0. Both were way over the normal top station - WDVE-FM (102.5) which showed up in third. Complete numbers from Radio-Info.Koeppen returns to air; faces future surgery
Pittsburgh: 39-year-old KDKA-TV anchor Susan Koeppen suffered a cardiac arrest back in November 2011 and nearly lost her life. Fortunately she was one of a statistical few who overcame the odds and recovered. Koeppen returned to KDKA's 6:00 p.m. newscast Monday night after being off since the episode happened. She still faces open-heart surgery in March to repair a fawlty heart valve which is believed to be the cause of her health scare. She told the story of her experience on KDKA and has also shared it with the Post-Gazette.Krenn officially parts ways with Clear Channel; Paulsen to return
Pittsburgh:We are hearing rumblings from various sources that Jim Krenn has officially parted ways with WDVE. According to a source, Krenn was offered a new position with the station but declined the offer.
That same source happens to be Krenn's former partner, Scott Paulsen who announced on his Facebook page today that after more than a year of looking for work and being away from morning radio for 12 years, he will be returning to WDVE this Monday, January 23. He will serve as a writer and contributor to the morning show first and foremost and will make regular appearances each week. "My imprint will be all over it," he says. Paulsen will also fill in for Randy Bauman, Michelle Michaels and Sean McDowell when the need arises.
JR leaves WBZZ
Pittsburgh:JR Randall has left WBZZ-FM (100.7 New Kensington) after 14 years with the station. The decision was mutual between he and CBS Radio. Market Manager Michael Young says Randall leaves as a "friend of the radio station." Randall meanwhile says, "14 years at any one place is an unbelievable length of time in this business."
Rambaldo to put antenna on top of an apartment building
Erie-Meadville:GoErie.com is reporting that First Channel Communications LLC as abandoned a proposal for putting a 328-foot tower in Zuck Park for its 6000 watt 92.7 FM. That means the company has also pushed back plans to put the station on the air until it gets approval for a new location. The new location being sought is on top of the 10 story South Shore Place apartment building northeast of Frontier Park where they would place a 78-foot tower. An amended application has been filed with the FCC.
First Channel owner, Richard Rambaldo tells the paper that the newly-proposed site would be just as effective as Zuck Park and that the tower atop the apartment building would look like a flag pole. "I'm being sensitive to the community. I'm not putting up and eyesore," he said. The site would also eliminate the need for guy wires, tower lights or approval from the FAA.
Rambaldo had hoped to be on the air by the end of 2011, but now, pending FCC approval, hopes to be on the air by Christmas 2012.
Dish subscribers could lose WKBN, WYTV & Fox Youngstown tonight.
Youngstown:Attention Dish Network subscribers:
As of midnight tonight, Dish Network subscribers will no longer be able to view WKBN, WYTV or Fox Youngstown without an OTA antenna hooked up to your digital TV or a converter box hooked to your analog TV unless an agreement can be reached between New Vision and Dish Network. Over the past several months, WKBN has entered into good faith negotiations with the Dish Network, as well as numerous other cable and satellite providers, to discuss terms for the continued carriage of the WKBN signal.
WKBN HAS REACHED AN AGREEMENT WITH ALL OTHER CABLE AND SATELLITE PROVIDERS EXCEPT DISH.
As of now, it appears that the Dish Network is unwilling to negotiate further to prevent the loss of WKBN from your channel line-up.
What has led to this issue?
To serve viewers such as yourself, WKBN negotiates agreements with cable and satellite companies like Dish Network that deliver our signal to your home. WKBN closely monitors these companies since they are taking a signal, which WKBN provides for free over the air, and they then sell that signal, along with other networks, to paying customers.
Since companies like Dish make a profit off of the WKBN signal, WKBN asks for a small amount of compensation in return. What is being asked of Dish is no more and no less than what has been asked of all other cable and satellite providers. All other cable and satellite companies have found this to be a fair and reasonable amount and have reached an agreement with WKBN. So far, Dish is the only provider that refuses to come to terms.
Dish says WKBN is asking for a 200% increase, is that true?
While we are not at liberty to discuss the actual figures, please remember that an increase from 1 penny to 3 pennies is a 200% increase. WKBN is asking for pennies on the dollar compared to what the Dish Network pays for the hundreds of other channels on your channel line-up.
The high cost of subscription services cannot be attributed to local channels, but from companies like Dish paying high dollar amounts for countless cable channels you may rarely watch.
Wouldn't it be nice to pick the channels you want to watch a-la-carte and only pay for those? Imagine how much less expensive your bill would be!
Dish says that they will have to raise the rate on my bill if they reach an agreement with you. Is this true?
We cannot speak for Dish, but if this were true, the inverse would be true as well. If WKBN is removed from their system on January 15, 2012, your monthly bill should go down. We feel it would be wrong for you to continue to pay for a channel which they no longer provide.
WKBN has reached a similar agreement with all other cable and satellite providers and to our knowledge, not a single one has publicly said they must raise their rates.
Who should I contact to voice my concerns about losing WKBN?
You can call the Dish Customer Service phone number: 1-800-894-9131
Let them know you do not want to lose WKBN! (Editors Note - The same message appears on the WKBN, WYTV and Fox Youngstown websites. I just posted the WKBN version here.)
Cool 1370 moves to a new location
Erie-Meadville:
Rehkopf, DelSignore headed to WNEW
Pittsburgh:Matt DelSignore joins Bill Rehkopf as both head down to the new WNEW-FM (99.1 Bowie MD) where an all-news format will begin January 19. Rehkopf has already made the move and tells the Post-Gazette, "I thoroughly enjoyed KDKA, but this was a career move within the company and a challenge that, in the end, I really couldn't turn down." Meanwhile, DelSignore's last day at KDKA will be January 16.
WNEW will go up against all-news WTOP-FM (103.5 Washington, DC).
WDUQ calls show up on Benwood WV station
West Virginia:Effective on 1/1, WVJW-LP in Benwood, West Virginia became WDUQ-LP. The station has been on the air since August, 2002 and is owned by Kol Ami Havurah Synagogue in Benwood. The WDUQ callsign was long used on Pittsburgh's 90.5 FM until the station was officially sold in September 2011. "DUQ" was chosen as the letters are a form of the word "report".
Rehkopf headed to DC?
Pittsburgh: DCRTV Dave is reporting that Bill Rehkopf is rumored to be leaving KDKA-AM (1020) to head to CBS' new all-news WNEW-FM (99.1, Bowie, MD) debuting on the DC/Baltimore market later this month. A Pittsburgh-area native, Rehkopf spent several years in the Baltimore market before arriving at KDKA. WNEW is being created to go up against DC's top-rated station WTOP-FM (103.5 Washington and two simulcasts). WTOP was the top-ranked station in the country for sales in 2010.Krenn not returning to morning show
Pittsburgh: It turns out that Jim Krenn will not be returning to the WDVE-FM (102.5) morning show. But he remains an employee of the station. Dennis Lamme, president and market manager of Clear Channel Pittsburgh, tells the Post-Gazette that the station and Krenn are currently discussing his future with the station. No possibilities have been made public. The remaining team members, Randy Baumann, Val Porter and Mike Prisuta will return Tuesday, January 3.Ring in the old as WRCT flashes back 40 years on New Year's Eve
Pittsburgh:Nostalgic for the AMC Gremlin, Spiro Agnew and "The Flip Wilson Show"? Of course you aren't. Ready or not, WRCT-FM (88.3) will take listeners back to December 31, 1971, this New Year's Eve, beginning at 9:00 p.m.
In what has become a dubious New Year's radio tradition in Pittsburgh dating back nearly 10 years, WRCT's resident oldies guru, Jay Thurber, will again roll back the clock four decades. Unlike 1971 though, the program will be heard over 88.3 FM and online at www.wrct.org. WRCT's time-traveling sports car ( well, actually, it's a Dodge Dart Demon) will rev its slant-six-powered flux capacitor up to 88.3 MPH and head for Carnegie Mellon's old student union, Skibo Hall, in the era when the station was still at 900 kHz AM.
Thurber, WRCT's resident dinosaur and aspiring elderly crank, will count down the top songs of 1971, interspersed with news reports, commercials and other announcements from the Pittsburgh of that December 40 years ago.
"Even the audio - a glorious, low-fi mono - will sound like 1971! No HD, IBOC or 5.1-Channel Digital sound here, even though WRCT is based at one of the nation's leading research universities," says Thurber, "Please don't tell the National Science Foundation that we're setting back progress by 40 years!"
The "number one song of 1971" will be unveiled at 12 Midnight, but don't worry WRCT will tell you exactly when the New Year 1972... er, 2012... arrives.
Thurber (the nom de radio of a Carnegie Mellon grad and WRCT volunteer) hosts a weekly oldies show from 12:00 Noon - 3:00 p.m. on Saturdays. The oldies show also touts a Facebook page.
Santa awards WSHH with top spot for December
Pittsburgh: WSHH-FM (99.7) takes the top of the ratings list for December with a 2.2 jump from November. The station reverted to its Christmas format on November 16 - two days before rival WWSW-FM (94.5). WWSW hit third place just under sister station WDVE-FM (102.5) which fell to second. KDKA-AM (1020) lost nearly a whole point since November, but maintained a fourth place standing. Complete numbers at Radio-Info.Dickey Tribute to air Friday
Pittsburgh:KQV-AM (1410) will air a tribute to President and General Manager Robert Dickey who passed away Christmas Eve at the age of 84. KQV anchor PJ Maloney has produced the fifty minute retrospective for Dickey who dedicated his professional life to radio. The special will include tributes from broadcasters, staff, friends and public officials who have worked with Dickey in his 60+ years in broadcasting. The tribute is expected to air tomorrow (12/30) at 10:10 a.m. and will be rebroadcast an hour later. It will also be available on KQV's website.
As an aside, today (12/29) would have been Mr. Dickey's 85th birthday.
Locally owned stations making noise
Erie-Meadville:As part of two locally owned and operated radio organizations, it is really exciting to see a few others in the Erie region take over a few signals. It's great to see Chris Lash take over a station he worked at in his younger days. A station from Corry that was known as WWCB 1370 when he was there. With Joe Vilkie giving Chris a chance (with an LMA) to take over what is now oldies formatted WHYP "Cool 1370", it's a chance for Chris to run a station that is near his hometown of Union City. (Listen online at www.cool1370online.com.) Longtime Erie broadcaster Bill Shannon is enjoying radio ownership with a 50% share in WWOW 1360 "1360 WOW." The Conneaut, Ohio station dropped Catholic talk for oldies (with a similar format Bill helped to create at Mercyhurst College owned WYNE 1530 in North East.) It appears to be a natural fit for Bill. You can listen online at http://radio.1360wwow.com/. Of course, Joe Vilkie has been taking on the Forever stations in Meadville with WMVL "Cool 101.7" (www.cool1017online.com) for a few years now with the only station online in Crawford county (until Majic 99.3 and 104.5 begins streaming in January.) He will soon be extending his locally owned flavor into Mercer County with WGRP 940 (www.940wgrp.com) in Greenville and WLOA 1470 in Farrell. It's definitely great to be a part of Vilkie communications as well as Mercyhurst College with Programming / Operations duties at WMCE "88.5 Jazz FM" (www.erieradio.com). It's fun to be part of another locally owned station with something different from the corporately owned stations in the Erie marketplace. It's also nice to see some local owners back in the market or nearby trying to shake up an otherwise sleepy market. Your thoughs are welcome.
A Word about Comments on PBRTV
Musings From Eric:If you have tried to place a comment on PBRTV and you end up getting redirected to a site which tells you "Spammers Suck", don't panic. A few years ago, we had to implement a security question for commenters on posts 5 days old or older due to the massive amounts of spam we were receiving. A week or two ago, we had to reduce the number of days from 5 down to 1 in order to block the inordinate (more than "massive") amounts of spam we were receiving.
Alert Reader Albert alerted us that there seemed to be a discrepancy in the comment security. While the security question still shows up on posts 5 days old or older, it is not showing up on posts 1-5 days old... so you will, unfortunately, be redirected to the spammers suck site. We are looking into this issue and will let you know more as we know it. Thank you for your patience and support - and please feel free to send us some e-mail!
Robert Dickey Sr. dies
Pittsburgh: Just a few days shy of his 85th birthday, Robert W. Dickey, Sr. passed away on Saturday, December 24 after a brief illness reports the Tribune-Review. He served as president and general manager of KQV-AM (1410) for many years and had been in his office as recently as December 9. A Beaver County native, Dickey worked for WJAS-AM, WDTV-TV (now KDKA-TV) and KDKA radio. Dickey came to KQV in the mid-1970s from WINS New York just after the station flipped to all news from its popular top-40 format. In 1982, he and Dick Scaiffe purchased the station and they have operated it ever since. Dickey is survived by 12 children - including well-known local traffic reporter Carol Finelli - 33 grandchildren and 9 great-grandchildren. Funeral arrangements have not been finalized, but it's likely that services will be held at St. Paul's Cathedral in Oakland where he attended faithfully.WTOV to carry MeTV
West Virginia:Effective January 16, 2012, WTOV-TV (9; Steubenville) will join its Cox sister stations WPXI-TV (11; Pittsburgh) and WJAC-TV (6; Johnstown) in carrying MeTV on its Channel 9.2. "Me-TV's library of TV classics allows us to provide our viewers with some of the most popular and enjoyed shows ever on television," said WTOV VP/GM Tim McCoy.
RTV is still carried on the Pittsburgh-licensed WBGN-TV (59) out of Greetree.