Archive for the ‘Radio’ Category

Why Lawrence Park FM wants to go to Zuck Park

July 19th, 2011 joel

Ed Palattella has the lead story on the City & Region section of Tuesday’s Erie Times-News about the tower location for the new 92.7 Lawrence Park, owned by First Channel Communications. First Channel’s application was accepted for filing last Thursday, and in the technical section of the application, shows that a 91 meter (298.6 foot) tower is called for in the southwestern corner of Zuck Park, owned by Millcreek Township.

Palattella quotes First Channel principal Rick Rambaldo as to the appropriateness of the site:

“Zuck Park is an excellent location to put a city-grade signal to serve the entire market,” Rambaldo said.

The following map that accompanies the application shows us why:

Lawrence Park 224A Contour Map

The “bow tie” contour of the directional signal will cover the population areas surrounding the city of Erie, provide a 70 dBu signal over the community of license of Lawrence Park, from a tower partially hidden by woods, paying rent to a township where every dollar counts. Meanwhile, as we covered before, because of the directional nature of the license, the antenna farm up on Peach Street won’t work for 92.7.

See the tower location and 60 dBu contour on Google Maps.

Posted in Radio Tags: , , , , , , , 3 Comments »

Former K104 jock Chris Tarbell passes

May 28th, 2011 joel
Chris Tarbell

Chris Tarbell

Waking up to shocking news this morning that Erie native and former radio personality Chris Tarbell has passed away Friday evening in Lynchburg, VA.

Those on Facebook have been following Chris’s situation all week as he suffered from a massive heart attack on Sunday. Dozens of posts praying for his healing and recovery have now turned to words of condolences and memories.

Chris was a classic Erie guy who followed his passions where they would go while making so many friends along the way. From his own bio on erieradio.tripod.com:

Chris started at K104 two weeks after high school graduation, in June of 1988.  His stay lasted until 1990, when he thought the grass was greener, then returned through 1991.

Weekend nights and overnights were his specialty, along with week-day overnights, and fill-in on every day-part at one time or another.  His other claim to fame: portraying Pockets the K104 Kangaroo.

He went on to work for JET Broadcasting until 1995 when took a job with the Millcreek School District doing TV production. He has video and technical work ever since, most recently with the City of Lynchburg, Virginia.

To say that he loved Erie radio does not indicate the passion he had for it. He created the aforementioned Erie Radio history site, paying tribute to the many DJ’s passing through our area. In addition he made websites about the history of Erie television, professional baseball teams, and the Erie Blades.

Funeral arrangements have not been released. Our sincere condolences go to his family and Chris’s so many friends that are feeling this loss.

Posted in Radio Tags: , , , , 10 Comments »

First Channel wins 92.7 auction

May 3rd, 2011 joel

UPDATED: It took 17 rounds, but it is confirmed that First Channel Communications of Erie has won the license for the new FM station for Lawrence Park at 92.7. The winning bid was $2,068,000. First Channel’s competition, Mini Me had to participate in Round 19 and did not do so, and had no waivers remaining, thus bowing out of the competition.

First Channel Communications’ principal Rick Rambaldo issued the following statement Tuesday afternoon, and there’s no doubt that he is excited to be reentering the broadcasting business:

Musically speaking, “Happy Days are here again!” This day couldn’t be happier for First Channel Communications!

(more…)

Posted in Radio Tags: , , 21 Comments »

Lawrence Park FM goes on the block today

April 27th, 2011 joel

Could a new era of local-owned commercial radio in Erie begin today?

At monitor screens and conference rooms across the U.S. today, investors are pulling out their wallets to bid on 144 permits to operate in what’s supposed to be a dead medium: radio. According to an extensive article by Ed Palattella in Sunday’s Erie Times-News, one of those investors is Rick Rambaldo, who made a fortune doing great, locally-responsive radio and then selling at the peak of the broadcast consolidation frenzy.

Rambaldo’s First Channel Communications put up $100,000 in advance money; the minimum bid for the Erie market signal, at 92.7 for the community of Lawrence Park. According to the article, he couldn’t resist:

“When I saw the opportunity to bid on the incoming frequency, the thought of creating yet another new radio station within the Erie market was a challenge I couldn’t resist.”

The partner of the very busy Rambaldo Gonda Media ad agency won’t be alone at the virtual auction block, 117 bidders have qualified to participate in any of the competitive channels for Auction 91.

We will soon find out just how much a new FM in Erie is worth in this diversified media market.

Posted in Radio Tags: , , , 21 Comments »

Lew Dickey keeps Erie

April 13th, 2011 joel

According to RadioInk Magazine, the shakeout from the big Cumulus/Citadel radio merger leaves the four stations in Erie, WXKC, WXTA, WQHZ, and WRIE in the hands of Cumulus Media. Because of FCC rules, Cumulus can’t keep 14 of the stations from the resulting massive broadcast group. From their report:

The paperwork has been filed for the Cumulus-Citadel merger, including an application to assign 14 stations to a divestiture trust since, with the deal, Cumulus will lose grandfathered status in some markets and go over ownership limits in others…The stations will be assigned to Volt Radio, a divestiture trust with Scott Knoblauch as trustee.

Posted in Radio Tags: , , , , , , No Comments »

Warren County welcomes The Light

February 21st, 2011 joel

WYVL/Youngsville-Warren

Listeners in the Warren-Youngsville area got a sweetheart deal last week as a new station appeared on the dial.

It’s 88.5 WYVL “The Light”, and the programming originates from the Waterford studios of Inspiration Time, Inc., the owner of Christian AC WCTL. GM Ron Raymond says that the 88.5 signal was the baby of the late Bill Baker:

Youngsville, PA radio station WTMV-FM re-launched on Valentine’s Day 2011 as 88.5 WYVL “The Light.” The station programs Contemporary Christian Music and will soon also be heard at 100.7 FM in the Warren, PA area. The 100-watt non-commercial radio station was acquired by Inspiration Time, Inc. (ITI) after the passing of its founder, the Rev. Bill Baker. The Baker family has a long history with ITI, dating back to the beginnings of WCTL-FM in the mid 1960s.

The station is totally regionally-programmed and plans on making a significant impact on the local community. And that’s good news in this era of flipping on the satellite and calling it a day.

Posted in Radio Tags: , , 1 Comment »

Cumulus buys Citadel, includes four stations in Erie

February 17th, 2011 joel
Classy 100/WXKC

WXKC/Classy 100's parent is sold to Cumulus Media

Nearly half of Erie’s radio stations are about to answer to a new boss. According to a flash report Thursday afternoon on RadioInk.com:

Radio Ink has confirmed that a deal to purchase Citadel, which includes the radio network and the former ABC-Disney properties and Citadel properties with 550 stations in 120 cities and eight of the top 10 markets has been agreed to. The offer, which was accepted is due to be announced at $37 a share ($30 cash).

The transaction valued at 2.4 billion and 1.5 billion in market equity totaling a $4 billion enterprise value.

The magazine was unable to get comment from the major players, but internal communication confirmed the sale.

This puts the nation’s second largest radio owner in charge of four stations licensed in Erie County, including WXKC/Erie (Classy 100), WXTA/Edinboro (Country 98), WQHZ/Erie (Z102.3), and WRIE/Erie (ESPN 1260 The Score). Citadel Broadcasting prided itself as the largest “pure-play” radio operator in America, and recently emerged from bankruptcy protection last summer. As we have reported over several months, Cumulus has had its eye on the group for a takeover, hostile or otherwise.

As of this afternoon, there is no official word of the sale from either party.

Posted in Radio Tags: , , , , , , 3 Comments »
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    Press and Tower is a web community for Erie Pennsylvania's producers and consumers of newspapers, radio and television stations, and new media outlets. We connect, celebrate, complain, and communicate about all aspects of media.

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