Buffalo Broadcasters Association June Newsletter

Volume IV, Issue II

June 2011

In This Issue

Industry News

Broadcasters in the News

News from the BBA

A Musical Portrait of Buffalo

Neaverth for County Executive?

INDUSTRY NEWS

Here are the Winter 2011 ratings of Buffalo radio stations as compiled by the Arbitron company for the 12+ audience.  WYRK soared to a 12.1 share to maintain its number one ranking.  WBEN stayed in second place with a 9.9.  The rest of the top ten:  WBLK, 7.4; WKSE, 7.3; WHTT, 5.2; WGRF, 4.9; WJYE, 4.8; WGR, 4.6; WBUF, 4.4 and WTSS, 4.2.  Here's how the remaining stations ranked:  WEDG, 3.8; CKEY, 2.5; WNED-FM, 2.1; WHLD and WLKK, 1.7; WWWS, 1.4; WNED-AM and CHTZ, 1.2; CFZM, 0.9; WWKB and WXRL 0.8 ; CFNY, 0.7; WDCX, WECK and CILQ, 0.6; WLVL and WUFO, 0.5; and CKFM, 0.4. 

WIVB's "News 4" continued to hold onto its number one position in most local newscast time slots during the May sweeps.  WGRZ's "2 on Your Side" rates at the top during the early morning newscasts.  According to Alan Pergament's blog, "Still Talkin' TV," WKBW's "Eyewitness News" remains in third place.  Interestingly, Pergament points out that "Eyewitness News" won the 11pm timeslot on Tuesday, May 24th -- the date of the special election in the 26th congressional district -- due largely to the strong lead-in it received from the "Dancing with the Stars" finale on ABC.  Overall in May, Pergament's May sweeps analysis found that news viewership in Buffalo was flat or slightly down from one year ago, except for the 12noon and 10pm newscasts.

Entercom, owner of WBEN, WGR, WWKB, WWWS, WKSE, WTSS and WLKK in Buffalo, began simulcasting WBEN's signal at 107.7FM in April.  The switch is part of a nationwide trend that is seeing many heritage AM news-talk stations putting their signals on FM to attract a wider, and perhaps, younger audience.  The adult, mostly classic rock format of what was known as "The Lake" continues online and at 107.7's HD-2 channel.  Also in April, Entercom aired Buffalo Sabres playoff games on its flagship sports station, WGR, as well as on WBEN at 930AM and 107.7FM. 

Citadel Broadcasting, owner of WGRF, WHTT, WEDG, WHLD and WBBF in Buffalo, was acquired by Cumulus Media in March in a deal worth $2.4 billion.  The combined company now has 572 radio stations in 172 markets, which makes it the second largest radio conglomerate in the nation, second only to Clear Channel. 

After several years of labor unrest at WKBW, Channel 7, the station's management and NABET-CWA, Local 25, reached agreement on a new contract in March.  The agreement covering news and technical employees at Channel 7 runs through December 31, 2014.  "The WKBW family looks forward to continue working together under this new contract, serving our viewers," said Bill Ranson, WKBW's President and General Manager.  NABET-CWA representative Bill Murray said, "We are pleased to have a new contract for our members."

LIN Media, owner of WIVB and WNLO in Buffalo, reached a retransmission agreement with the DISH Network in March.  The two stations had been removed from the DISH line-up of stations when the previous contract ended earlier in the month. 

WGRZ, Channel 2 has won four Emmy awards from the New York chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.  The station was nominated for 16 awards in 14 categories.  In the Historical/Cultural News category, WGRZ was honored for a piece by Pete Gallivan and Andy DeSantis on a lost P-39 airplane that had been recovered.  A piece titled "The Death of Justin Strelczyk" by Scott Brown and DeSantis won in the Health/Science News category.  Anchor Mary Alice Demler and photojournalist Dooley O'Rourke received an Emmy for "Prison and Persistence" in the Crime News category.  And Brown was honored in the Research category for his story on "The Death of Laura Cummings."

WGRZ was also honored this Spring with seven regional Edward R. Murrow awards from the Radio Television Digital News Association.  The station was honored for Overall Excellence, Use of Video, Continuing Coverage in the death of Laura Cummings, Video Feature Reporting, Video Hard News Reporting, Video News Series and Best Website.

WNLO, CW23, in Buffalo launched a new morning show in April, titled "Winging It!  Buffalo Style."  The daily program is co-hosted by news anchors Victoria Hong and Joe Arena and WNLO spokeswoman Allie Hartwick.  It's described as a show about lifestyles, fashion, finance, health, fitness and cooking.  "Winging It!" also includes news updates from News 4 anchor Melissa Holmes and weather updates with meteorologist Mike Cejka.

WBFO and WNED-AM are bringing "On Point" host Tom Ashbrook to Buffalo on Friday, June 10.  "On Point" is a daily interview/talk show that airs on NPR member stations from 10am to 12noon.  Ashbrook will host his program that day from the WBFO studios.  He'll also meet with members of the two public radio stations. 

WYRK is hosting "The Taste of Country" on Friday, June 3rd at Coca Cola Field in downtown Buffalo.  Featured artists include Josh Turner, Easton Corbin, Chris Young, Josh Thompson and Chuck Wicks. 

The WNED-TV documentary, "Glorious: The Siege of Fort Erie," will premier on the station Wednesday, June 22, at 10pm.  The 30-minute film was written, produced and directed by WNED's Paul Lamont and documents the War of 1812 battle that killed or wounded 3,000 troops from both sides.  The documentary will air on PBS stations nationwide this Fall.

WUFO is celebrating 50 years of broadcasting at 1080AM this year.  The station has been owned by Sheridan Broadcasting since 1972 and is known for its commitment to programming that targets Buffalo's African-American community.  Such legendary broadcasters as the late Frankie Crocker got their starts at WUFO. 

WNGS-TV in Springville is airing 21 New York Yankees games this season that are being produced by New York City's Channel 9.  Most of the remaining games can be seen on the Yankees "YES" cable network, which is carried locally by Time Warner Cable.  The Yankees air on the radio in Buffalo on WECK 1230AM. 

I try to do a comprehensive search for news from the Buffalo TV and radio market.  But I need your help!  If you have industry news you would like to see included in our quarterly newsletter, please send your news releases to Editor Mark Scott at bfoscott@buffalo.edu.   

Broadcasters in the News

Longtime Buffalo Sabres play-by-play announcer Rick Jeanneret is cutting back.  Starting with the new season in October, Jeanneret will call the action of all home games and 10 to 15 away games.  He'll also do the play-by-play for any playoff games the Sabres compete in.  The 68-year-old Jeanneret says he was tiring from the travel to away games.  There is no word yet on whom the Sabres will use to fill in during Jeanneret's absences.  Possible choices include Jeanneret's son, Mark, who is play-by-play announcer for the Sabres farm team in Portland, Kevin Sylvester, who has filled in for Jeanneret in the past and hosts the pre- and post-game shows on the Sabres cable broadcasts and Paul Hamilton, Sabres beat reporter for WGR. 

Heidi Raphael, vice president of corporate communications for Greater Media and a board member of the Buffalo Broadcasters Association, has been elected to the board of directors of the National Association of Broadcasters.  The NAB is the broadcasting industry's primary advocacy organization.  Raphael begins her term in June. 

Dennis Williams, a top sales representative for WGRZ, Channel 2 in Buffalo, has left the station for another Gannett owned station in Sacramento, California.  He is business development manager for the ABC affiliate there.  Williams is best known for his time as the lead sports anchor at WIVB, Channel 4, prior to John Murphy's arrival. 

Matt Wells, a top sales performer at WIVB, Channel 4 in Buffalo, has left the station for a sales position at CoxMedia in Pittsburgh. He will join WPXI, the NBC affiliate as an Account Executive.

Tricia Cruz has left her reporting job at WIVB, News 4 at the end of her contract this Spring.  She said she has no immediate position lined up and was planning to spend some time with her family before seeking a new job, perhaps outside of broadcasting. 

Rachel Kingston resigned from WBEN radio, where she served as a news anchor and reporter since joining the station as an intern in the mid 2000s  Kingston is pursuing a career in television news. 

Bill O'Loughlin is no longer hosting his mid-morning talk show on WECK Radio.  O'Loughlin said in a Facebook posting that he resigned on May 24 and will host a late night television show that he says will air on WGRZ, Channel 2 following the 11pm news on Sunday evenings.  He starts June 26. 

Prior to O'Loughlin's departure, WECK adjusted its programming schedule, touting the fact that it was the only news-talk station in Buffalo with all local programming between 6:00am and 6:30pm.  Nick Mendola, who joined WECK from WGR last year, is now hosting a daily talk show from 12noon to 3pm.  Brad Riter moved the start time of his show up an hour to 3pm.  WECK now simulcasts WGRZ's 6pm newscast, followed by the syndicated Dennis Miller Show when the Yankees aren't playing. 

Veteran Buffalo radio broadcaster Harv Moore is now the voice of WHLD, Swing 1270 in Buffalo.  Moore joined the station in April. 

Emily Smith, whose career began as a news anchor at WBEN radio, has joined WCBS-TV in New York City as a reporter and fill-in anchor.

Buffalo native Mary Lynn Ryan won a coveted Peabody Award for coordinating CNN's coverage of the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico last year.  Ryan serves as Southeast Bureau Chief for CNN.  Ryan worked at all three Buffalo TV newsrooms after graduating with a degree in communications from Canisius College.

In memoriam... 

Al Lafler, broadcast engineer, WKBW Radio, member of the Buffalo Broadcasting Hall of Fame

Tom Whalen, broacast engineer, WBEN Radio, member of the Buffalo Broadcasting Hall of Fame

Daryl Hicks, sports anchor for Chicago's ABC affiliate, Niagara Falls native

David Michael Wilson, former broadcaster at WUFO and WUTV   

Ken Dodd, general manager, sales executive and on-air personality, WWOL, WBUF, WFXZ, WUTV and WKBW Radio

Chris Ulanowski, news director, WRVO, Oswego, Buffalo native

News from the Buffalo Broadcasters Association

Planning for the Buffalo Broadcasting Hall of Fame ceremony continues.  All six candidates for induction this year have been notified and accepted our honor.  They'll be formally introduced at a news conference later this summer.  The board voted to secure Ilio DiPaolo's Restaurant to cater this year's dinner.  The next step for board members and volunteers will be putting together the bios and presentation videos for the inductees.  This year's Hall of Fame ceremony will be held at the WNED studios on Thursday, September 22. 

The BBA's news footage archiving project is moving forward.  As you know, the BBA is in possession of thousands and thousands of reels of film from the late 1960s and early 1970s that must be preserved.  BBA board member Rich Newberg says a number of nationally-respected TV news broadcasters and executives have agreed to serve on an advisory committee for the archiving project.  They are Av Westin of ABC News, Bob Thompson of Syracuse University, Wolf Blitzer of CNN, legendary news cameraman Izzy Bleckman, Mike Collins of WNED and Lee Coppola of St. Bonaventure University.  Rich also announced Channel 4 film footage from the year 1966 is now in the hands of Scene Savers, the Ohio company which will digitize it. 

Our annual 5K Run to benefit the BBA and homeless veterans of Western New York is scheduled for Wednesday, June 29, at 7pm.  Run Chairman Ron Rice says several sponsors have signed up to support the race.  They are Univera, O'Brien Boyd, Russell's Steaks, Chops and More and Folonari Winery.  Volunteers are needed to assist us in staging the race.  Please contact us at bflobroadcasters@aol.com if you're interested in helping.  This year's race course is changed from last year with the beginning and ending points at Canal Side's Central Wharf. 

The Buffalo Cultural Coalition, which is made up of the BBA and the Music and Sports Halls of Fame, made a formal presentation on its plans for a Mall of Museums to the consultant assisting the Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation with Canal Side development.  President Dave Gillen said the interview went well and that the collaboration of the three groups was seen as beneficial.  A decision is expected by mid-July.

A Musical Portrait of Buffalo

by Jeremy Helton,  the Recollective

In 2008, a team of young public radio producers came to Buffalo to collect stories from

Buffalo area residents for the nationally-distributed StoryCorps series that airs on NPR.  They were known as facilitators, who helped people record their stories inside a trailer parked outside of the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library downtown.  These young people fell in love with our city, so much so that they returned in 2010 to record more stories on their own, but this time about Buffalo's storied music history.

The result is Sounds & Echoes: A Musical Portrait of Buffalo, NY, an independent radio and web-based series using music as a lens to explore the cultures, communities and character of the Nickel City.  The five former facilitators now collaborate under the name The Recollective, and have produced the series for their website www.therecollective.net/site.

Here are the segments available for listening:

The Colored Musicians Club:  The Colored Musicians Club is one of Buffalo's oldest music venues. Jazz giants from Count Basie to Billie Holiday played there, but even with the grandeur of its star-studded guest list the club remains as down home and friendly as a backyard barbecue.  Listen as club regulars Les Davis, Charlie Reedy, Shirley Reeves and George Scott show us why the club is more than just an historical institution.  It's also a fun place to spend a Monday night.

Rock 'N' Roll Hotel:   Sounds & Echoes producer Whitney Henry-Lester introduces us to Susan Tanner and her husband Marty Boratin who love music so much they've opened their home in Hamburg to touring bands who need a good night's sleep -- and maybe a little breakfast in the morning.  Musical house guests over the years have included Janet Beveridge Bean, Arrington De Dionyso, Erin McKeown, Jon Spencer and the band Glossary, all of whom share their thoughts on Susan's and Marty's unique brand of Buffalo hospitality. 

Casa Rico:  Lenny Rico and wife Cindy talk about inheriting the longest running Italian-American radio show from Lenny's parents, Emelino and Mary Rico.  Their show, Casa Rico, is the heir to Neapolitan Serenade that began broadcasting to Buffalo in 1935.

Mr. Polka Radio:  Legendary radio broadcaster Stan "Stas" Jasinski was a fixture of Buffalo's Polish community for decades before his passing in 2005. His longtime co-host, Mark Wozniak is joined by writer/musician Mark Kohan, retired WBFO News Director Mark Scott and his mother Sylvia Scott as they remember the man behind the title: Mr. Polka Radio.   

Each short episode of the Sounds and Echoes series is accompanied by a slide show and can be experienced online at www.therecollective.net/site where one may also read regularly updated blog posts from local music connoisseurs and bonus episodes, including:  

Gail & Emile:  In the 1970s, dancer Gail Lyons and drummer Emile Latimer discovered love in Buffalo through West African music.  After all these years, they find that the beat still goes on.

Blues Run The Game:  Buffalo native Jillian Mertz talks about the music of Jackson C. Frank, a little known folk musician from Cheektowaga, and how his music helped her to understand her complex relationship with her father, magician Ray Mertz. 

Sounds & Echoes was produced in partnership with WBFO radio, which aired the series over the course of a week in early April.

Neaverth for County Executive?

by Mark Scott, Newsletter Editor

As we were heading to Cleveland to visit "the kid" on yet another snowy March day, we tuned in WBEN at 3:00 to hear Sandy Beach.  Sandy teased his audience that Danny Neaverth was joining him for a big announcement.  So, I became even more interested. 

Would Danny be returning to the air?  Well, the announcement was that Danny would be running for Erie County Executive as the candidate of the ABC party.  ABC stands for "Anybody But Collins."  It was just so much fun to hear these two broadcasting legends going back and forth about Danny's campaign.  It was all tongue-in-cheek.  At least I think it was!  If not, Danny, you've got my vote!

Sometimes it's difficult for us old timers to stop living in the past.  I long for the days when Danny moved my fanny every morning on KB.  His "adventures" with the late Jim McLaughlin were creative and fun (watch this space in September for some big news from the BBA about Jim! Wink! Wink!).  But then I realize just how good we have it today, especially because of the technology that allows us to do so much more with better sound and video than the good old days.  

Plus, there are young people in our business who are making names for themselves, just as Sandy and Danny did a generation ago, some of them in the national spotlight.  Jeff Glor is in his 30s but anchors the news on the CBS "Early Show."  Then, I read in the Buffalo News the other day that Buffalo native Carrie Keagan is anchoring a new show on VH1 called "Big Morning Buzz."  She's just 31 but has already made a name for herself as a celebrity interviewer.  And we have so many talented young personalities in Buffalo who are reporting the news and hosting TV shows.  So, yes, we respect the past, but we celebrate the talent of today, too!

I was going to ask if you're glad the 26th congressional district special election is over.  Then, I remembered my audience here includes some who manage TV and radio stations.  So, I would assume the answer is no!  Our industry is the primary beneficiary of the millions of dollar spent on this one campaign.  Chris Lee's dumb decision to take a photo of himself without his shirt on resulted in an unexpected big boon to the bottom lines of just about every TV and radio station in our market.  It also kept us reporters busy.  WGRZ hosted a debate as did Rochester's public TV and radio stations.  And the unexpected victory of Kathy Hochul provided a surprising end to this saga.  But I have to admit this.  I'm troubled by TV and radio ads that demonize opponents rather than highlighting the attributes of the candidate they're touting.  Here's a case where I hope TV viewers and radio listeners pay more attention to the reporting done by the stations rather than the ads as they make their decisions. 

I read an interesting article in the New York Times recently that focused on how the TV networks are starting to target the older demographic because of its growing numbers and disposable income.  Now, please, I defer to you sales folk who do this for a living.  But I have to admit I buy the argument that 35-64 may be the new 25-54.  Here's my thinking!  I'm smack dab in the middle of the baby boom generation -- born in 1955.  The baby boomers have been a dominant presence at each stage of our lives.  As teens, we grooved listening to KB, WYSL and WNIA.  As we entered our 20s, we discovered FM radio.  Eventually, classic rock stations like 97 Rock became our choice in our 30s and 40s.  And now that we're in our 50s and 60s, we will refuse to be ignored by advertising executives who are so focused on the younger demographic.

Really, do you think the 28-year-old still living with Mommie and Daddy because he can't find a job is a better target than someone in his late 50s or early 60s who is at his peak earning years?  And I reject the argument that advertisers are eager for younger people because they have not made lifelong brand choices!  I can't think of one item in my life where I made a brand choice in my 20s that has stayed with me this long -- not a car model and dealer, not my toothpaste, not my choice of coffee.  Nothing!  Well, maybe my Jockey shorts but we won't go there.  I'm influenced by what's on sale this week.  Or I might hear a restaurant on the radio and think maybe that would be a good place to eat this weekend.  Again, I'm sure you sales folk have the research to prove me wrong.  But this Times article has me thinking I may be on to something here!

Finally, I will leave you with this salute to the "Greatest Generation," if I may use Tom Brokaw's term.  I'm talking about two broadcasting greats, both of whom worked behind the scenes, but were well-known names nonetheless -- Al Lafler and Tom Whalen.  They were broadcast engineers who died within days of each other this Spring.  Al and Tom are forever immortalized in the Buffalo Broadcasting Hall of Fame.  And we honor their memories.  I never worked with either.  But I have heard stories from those of you at KB who had Al on the other side of the glass as you did your shows.  And Tom was such an important part of Clint Beuhlman's legendary program on WBEN.  In my vision of Heaven, there's a radio station with Clint doing the morning show with Tom at the controls.  And then at 7pm, Jack Armstrong comes on, with Al in master control.  Rest in peace, Al and Tom.