[BC] Dead air or no air...

[Rich Wood]

------ At 09:46 PM 3/11/2009, Scott Fybush wrote: -------

>The license that was WDEW is now WNNZ, but there's little similarity 
>between the two: WDEW was a daytimer on 1570 in Westfield, Mass., 
>with something like 500 watts that barely even reached the 15 miles 
>to Springfield. (Rich Wood or Richard Johnson can probably correct 
>me on the power level.)

We had monster power. It was 1Kw days.  None of this 500 watt stuff.

>It became WLDM, and then, circa 1990, owner Curt Hahn got a CP to 
>move it to 640 with 50 kW days and fairly minimal night power. It 
>now blankets western Mass. and parts of eastern NY during the day, 
>but it's owned by Clear Channel and leased out to public broadcaster 
>WFCR Amherst, which runs NPR news programming on it.

Curt once told me he had a CP for 50Kw nights but never constructed 
it. The nighttime power is 1Kw. You may want to add that it also 
blanketed much of Northern New England. WNNZ was one of my WOR Radio 
Network affiliates. We'd get calls from Northern Vermont and Western 
New Hampshire. It also puts a decent signal into Hartford. Until 
Buckley (owner of WOR and WDRC, Hartford) carried the nework's 
programming Other stations wouldn't take it because WNNZ was already 
receivable in Hartford. It was wiped out when WEEI, Boston, moved a 
small FM station to Easthampton, MA, and located the antenna on Mt. 
Tom. It's WVEI-FM and simulcasts WEEI, Boston, with live sports 
programming. WNNZ was a canned sports station. I suspect Clear 
Channel didn't sell it outright to avoid creating additional 
competition with a very strong signal. Maybe it'll be liquidated 
under the new owners.

The LMA with WFCR is a blessing. WNNZ, I believe, carries most of 
what's on WFCR's HD-2. Like most stations in this market any HD-2 
is  wasted power in a moving vehicle. If I want Public Radio talk I 
go to WNNZ. The other good thing is that most of the time WNNZ 
doesn't carry the begathons, though that may have changed since I 
heard one recently. I hope it was a mistake. I continued my trip in 
blessed silence.

I hope the economy has reduced the value of the station to a point 
where WFCR can buy it, outright.

Rich