It’s been an interesting couple of weeks in the world of radio, hasn’t it? Big-market format changes at Emmis, layoffs galore at CBS, Clear Channel getting the Justice Department order to sell stations in Cincy, Vegas, San Francisco and Houston, an LPTV masquerading as a bottom-of-the-dial dance station in the big Apple, and, oh yeah, Crawford flipping a station away from religion and over to oldies here in Toppy Northeast-land.
And with the help of some good friends (Garrett in Boston and John in Connecticut) and a bit of luck, we have five IDs this week that are all very newsworthy.
From New York, we have the launch of “Pulse 87.7” on WNYZ-LP, channel 6, aka “87.7 FM.” We also fix a big hole in the collection, which inexplicably never had a WQCD 101.9 ID, even though that was by far that frequency’s most stable identity over the decades. Fortunately, we were there last month, and snagged what turned out to be one of Dennis Quinn’s last morning shows after an amazing 36-year run on 101.9.
From Boston, it’s the first day of “Radio 92.9,” the jockless “classic alternative” format on WBOS.
And from here in the One True Rochester, we hear the farewell announcement of Crawford’s “102.7 the Light,” contemporary Christian WRCI, followed 24 hours later by the start of its new life as WLGZ-FM, oldies “Legends 102.7,” now simulcast on WLGZ 990.
There was news in the Other Rochester, too – Clear Channel actually took two of its AM stations silent while awaiting a sale. It’s hard to aircheck a silent station, but thanks to the diligence of Our Fearless Leader, KNFX 970 and KMFX 1190 have been preserved for the ages here on Toppy, so you can hear what they used to sound like.
(No, Milwaukee fans, we haven’t forgotten you – in fact, we’re going back to Brew City for a quick ID hit this coming weekend, as part of a longer Fort Wayne/South Bend/Chicago swing, and we’ll finish off those August IDs in next week’s installment!)
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