Indiana RadioWatch: March 13, 2005
First, a correction from last week's issue: The Broadcasting for the
Challenged dismissals were for their applications for Construction
Permits. Thanks to an alert IRW reader for pointing out our oversight.
Now, onto the news...
Northeast
A historic change on the Fort Wayne television landscape as the sale of
ABC affiliate WPTA-TV (Channel 21, Fort Wayne) and NBC affiliate WISE-TV
(Channel 33, Fort Wayne) was completed on Tuesday 8 March. A recap:
Granite sells WPTA-TV for $45.9 million to Malara Broadcasting while New
Vision sells WISE-TV for $44.2 million to Granite. Granite will enter an
SSA (Shared Services Agreement), operating WISE-TV and retains the
operation of some aspects (for instance, sales) of WPTA-TV. By the end of
Tuesday, many changes were apparent to viewers, with more changes
appearing as the week rolled along. Here's a summary:
* WISE-TV GM John Dawson exits
* 57 employees at WISE-TV were let go, mostly from news and the technical
side. Amongst them: Weatherman Greg Shoup, evening co-anchor Jake Miller,
and Sports Director Kent Hormann. Lead evening anchor Linda Jackson
remains with the combined operation, as the primary "face" of WISE-33.
* The station websites are now combined, with http://www.wise33.com
redirecting to http://www.wpta.com
* WPTA's morning news (5am - 7am) is now simulcast on WISE-TV.
* WISE eliminated a noon-time news broadcast years ago, and that remains
true. WPTA-TV still airs news at Noon.
* WISE and WPTA stagger their night time newscasts:
5:00pm - 21-Alive News at 5pm (WISE has syndicated programming)
5:30PM - 21-Alive News on WISE-33 (anchored by Linda Jackson, from the
21-Alive News set) (WPTA has syndicated programming)
6:00PM - 21 Alive News at 6pm (WISE has syndicated programming)
6:30PM - World News Tonight (21) and 21 Alive News on WISE-33 (Jackson)
7:00PM - Syndicated programming on WPTA-TV, while WISE airs the delayed
NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams
11:00PM - 21 Alive News at 11pm and WISE airs "21 Alive News Express on
WISE-33," a Linda Jackson-anchored 7 minute news update, followed by
syndicated programming, timed to hit "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno."
* As of this evening, WISE-TV continues to run promos that say "Where
News Comes First," while WPTA has a aural ID that says "A Granite
Broadcasting station."
Weekend news programming is non-existent, except for a few "News Express"
short updates by 21-Alive weekend anchors and more syndicated programming
to fill the time.
What does the Fort Wayne viewership think? Examining several Letters to
the Editor at both daily newspapers reveals much emotion and some anger.
Many newspaper readers wrote to proclaim they now only watch local news
from competitor LIN-owned CBS affiliate WANE-TV (Channel 15, Fort Wayne).
Several radio stations and both Fort Wayne newspapers covered the story.
The morning Journal-Gazette was second to reporting the story. That piqued
our curiosity, as the newspaper has a working relationship with WPTA-TV,
often sharing stories and WPTA advertises one morning "sneak peak"
Journal-Gazette headline in its 11pm newscast.
Many questions from our readers this week:
* Is this the end of news changes?
* Will WPTA and WISE combine operations in one of their two buildings?
* Will all newscasts eventually originate from the newer WISE-TV news set?
(Former WISE-TV GM John Dawson purchased it off eBay from KCBS-TV-KCAL-TV
[Los Angeles] for $26,500 in December, 2002)
* Will WANE-TV hire any of the former WISE-TV staffers?
Summit City Radio's Alternative/WXTW (102.3fm, Auburn) APD/Promotions
Director Matt Jericho exits after six and a half years - one of the
longest tenures of anyone who didn't own those radio stations on Lower
Huntington Road.
Central
At 6:00PM tonight, Susquehanna's Oldies/WGLD (104.5fm, Indianapolis) flipped
formats to the highly eclectic "Jack-FM." Former "Gold 104.5" PD Steve
Cannon stays on as PD of Jack and tells IRW: "Gold 104.5 was not hurting
at all. This new format is a way to expand the audience." The station is
jockless for now and there's no word on any of the former Gold 104.5 DJ's.
The last song on Gold 104.5 was The Drifters - This Magic Moment and the
first song on Jack-FM was U2 - Where The Streets Have No Name. Finally,
IRW heard the 8pm hour:
Devo - Whip It
Fleetwood Mac - Rhiannon
Lenny Kravitz - It Ain't Over 'til It's Over
Joan Jett and The Blackhearts I Hate Myself for Loving You
Little River Band - Reminiscing
Aerosmith - Rag Doll
Sugar Ray - When It's Over
Styx - Babe
Kenny Loggins - Footloose
Tom Petty - You Don't Know How It Feels
Berlin - Take My Breath Away
David Bowie - Modern Love
Smashing Pumpkins - 1979
Michael Jackson - Beat It
Pat Benatar - Shadows of the Night
The FCC recently renewed six of the eight noncommercial FM licenses. Those
licenses were renewed over the shared-time petitions of Hoosier Public
Radio Corp. The remaining two applications are pending. The six renewed
were WEEM-FM (91.7fm, Pendleton), WHJE (91.3fm, Carmel), WBDG (90.9fm,
Indianapolis), WRFT (91.5fm, Indianapolis), WATI (89.9fm, Vincennes), and
WKPB (89.5fm, Henderson, Kentucky). The two pending renewal applications
are for WJEL (89.3fm, Indianapolis) and WFCI (89.5fm, Franklin).
Commenting on his stations' renewal, WEEM GM Jeff Dupont told IRW "I see
the FCC's decision as a victory for the children in the school system.
WEEM-FM exists primarily as a learning environment for the students and
our license renewal preserves that environment." In an e-mail to IRW,
Hoosier Public Radio Corp. director Martin Hensley asserts that "None of
the applications can be valid." and elaborates by saying "The Commission
has specific Rules about who can sign an application [...] the Pres Vice
Pres or Secretary [must] sign the application or contract. [...] In the
instances of each application, either an independent contractor
(engineer), teacher, or school official signed the app."
That's it for this issue. See you in a week!
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Blaine Thompson. Articles, photos, corrections, and other contributions should be
e-mailed to the editors.