Radio Stations

Three managers of five radio stations up for sale by the Scripps-Howard Broadcasting Co., including Baltimore's WVRT-FM (104.3), plan to make an offer to buy the stations.James P. Fox, vice president and general manager of the Baltimore station, announced the collaboration with Edward T. Hardy of Portland, Ore., (KUPL-AM/FM) and Donald W. Meyers of Memphis, Tenn., (WMC-AM/FM).The management group has engaged Pacific Coast Securities, a Portland investment banking firm, to assist in making the offer.

Cary L. Pahigian has been named to succeed Ed Kiernan as general manager of radio stations WBAL-AM and WIYY-FM. Kiernan is retiring after more than two decades at the helm of the Baltimore stations. Here's part of the release from Hearst Television: Cary L. Pahigian, a radio broadcasting veteran who has held management positions throughout New England and the mid-Atlantic, has been named  President and General Manager of WBAL-AM and WIYY-FM, the Hearst Television Inc. radio stations serving the Baltimore, Maryland, market.

Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. said yesterday that it has agreed to sell seven radio stations in Portland, Ore., and Rochester, N.Y., to Entertainment Communications Inc. for $126.5 million in cash.The seven are part of a package of six television and 24 radio stations Sinclair has agreed to buy from Heritage Media Corp. for million.Sinclair has agreed to sell some of the Heritage stations, such as a television station in Oklahoma City, because of federal concentration-of-media regulations.

After 45 years in the radio business, Ed Kiernan Friday told the staff at WBAL that he will be retiring this summer as vice president and general manager of radio stations WBAL-AM and WIYY-FM. “Having closely worked with Ed for all these years, I know firsthand how he has enhanced all aspects of the radio business he has managed with his enthusiasm, good humor and leadership,” Hearst Television President Jordan Wertlieb wrote in statement.  “With Ed at the helm, WBAL has been among the nation's most honored radio stations and a major community force through the WBAL Radio Kids Campaign.

All three public radio stations in Baltimore showed substantial audience increases in the Arbitron figures for the winter of 1991.Classical music WBJC-FM (91.5) had 8,200 listeners in an average quarter hour, up from 5,000 in the fall of 1990; National Public Radio affiliate WJHU-FM (88.1) had 5,600, up from 3,800; and jazz and public affairs WEAA-FM (88.9) had 4,600, compared to 3,200.The three stations also showed increases in their weekly cumulative audiences -- the total number of area listeners who tuned into the stations at some point during the week.

Dorothy E. Brunson, a prominent local businesswoman, has sold all three of her radio stations, including WEBB-AM in Baltimore, for just under $4 million.When Brunson bought WEBB in 1979, she became the first black woman in the country to own a radio station.Now the president of Brunson Communications Inc., she says she will use the capital from the sales to get the company's Philadelphia television station, WGTW-TV, back on the air.Brunson sold WEBB and WIGO-AM radio in Atlanta for $3.6 million to Allied Media Inc. of Woodstock, Vt. WBMS-AM radio in Wilmington, N.C., was sold for $168,000 to a businessman in that market.

Benjamin Wolfe, a longtime broadcast engineer who helped establish two local radio stations and design the three-antenna tower at Television Hill, died of heart failure Wednesday at Sinai Hospital. He was 83 and lived in Mount Washington.Erected in 1959, the tower, which resembles a candelabra and sits near Druid Hill Park, was the first of its kind, according to Arthur Honsell of Baltimore, a retired broadcast engineer and colleague of Mr. Wolfe's."Taking something like that from concept to reality is truly amazing.

WASHINGTON -- The Federal Communications Commission voted yesterday to more than double the number of radio stations that a single company may own.The commission also allowed a single owner to have as many as three AM and three FM stations in a single city.The action, approved 4-0 with one abstention, comes as the industry is enduring its worst recession in decades. FCC Chairman Alfred C. Sikes has argued that allowing greater consolidation will allow broadcasters to cut costs.Andrew C. Barrett, the only black on the commission, abstained.

If you're looking for good music on the Internet, you don't have to look far. And you don't have to break any copyright laws.While the recording industry has been engaged in a noisy battle with pirates who use a technology called MP3 to compress popular album tracks and post them online, the World Wide Web is host to two additional sources of music that are perfectly legal and easy to find.The first is Internet radio, which allows traditional broadcasters and Web-only stations to transmit directly to your computer - regardless of your location and theirs.

Alfred E. Burk, retired general manager of WBAL radio and creator of the station's Kids Campaign, died yesterday of heart failure at his Timonium home. He was 83. For nearly 30 years, he was general manager of WBAL's AM and FM stations. He retired in 1984. Born in the Govans section of Baltimore and raised in living quarters next to his father's general merchandise store and post office at Long Green and Manor roads in Baltimore County, he was a 1936 graduate of Towson High School. He worked at the former Glenn L. Martin Co. in Middle River, making aircraft parts, before enlisting in the Navy in 1941.

Baltimore is going to have a new all-news radio station. Or part of one, anyway. WNEW-FM (99.1), a CBS-owned Washington-oriented station, is repositioning itself as a Maryland station focused on Baltimore, Annapolis and Washington as of 5 a.m. Monday, according to Steve Swenson, senior vice president and market manager for CBS Radio in Washington. Will the change really mean more and better information for listeners in Baltimore, which does not have a 24/7 all-news station? Or is it mainly a matter of rebranding by a Washington station with a big signal that has failed in its two years as an all-news outlet to put a dent in WTOP's dominance in the D.C. market?

CBS radio will launch a country music station in Baltimore at noon Friday, management announced today. The station, called New Country, will air at 106.1 FM on the dial. This is the second station in the market that CBS is now programming through an arrangement with Hope Christian, a religious programmer that holds the broadcasting license. In August 2011, CBS started programming 97.5 FM under the same kind of arrangement. WPOC (93.1 FM), with Laurie DeYoung, is the Baltimore station that has enjoyed much success with country music for a long time.

San Francisco 49ers offensive tackle Anthony Davis called Terrell Suggs a “[expletive] loser” on his Twitter feed today after he took offense to comments made by the Ravens linebacker on a San Francisco-based radio show. Making an appearance on KNBR 680-AM largely to promote “The Coalition,” a movie he co-wrote, Suggs was asked about comments made by teammate Cary Williams following the Ravens' 34-31 victory over the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII on Feb. 3. Williams, a starting cornerback who was involved in a post-whistle scrum during the Super Bowl that led to him pushing a game official, called the 49ers “fake tough guys” and “pretenders” in the locker room after the game.

Ronald A. Stratton, who boosted ratings and transformed radio stations he managed, died of complications from a stroke June 29 at Madonna Heritage Assisted Living in Jarrettsville. He was 72 and lived in Red Lion, Pa. Born in Detroit, he broke into broadcasting in 1955 when his high school guidance counselor offered him credit if he would assist a local weekly children's TV show in Manton, Mich. "He wrote and typed scripts and was the cameraman," said his daughter, Barbara Stratton of Baltimore.

CBS Thursday announced the launch of a national sports radio network that will include two stations in Baltimore and looks to seriously challenge ESPN dominance of the sports-talk airwaves. The CBS action, which includes Cumulus Media, another broadcasting giant, will make for an audience of about 10 million listeners when the network debuts Jan. 2. CBS Sports Radio will be able to draw on such resources as CBS Sports, CBS News and cbssports.com, making it one of the most impressive sources of sports information in broadcasting right off the bat. In Baltimore, CBS Sports will air 24/7 on WJZ-AM, while only certain elements of it will be carried on WJZ-FM (105.7 The Fan)

On May 17, The Sun reported Del. Patrick McDonough distributed a press release with the title "Black Youth Mobs Terrorize Baltimore on Holidays" and urged the governor to make the Inner Harbor area a "no-travel zone. " On WBAL and WCBM radio, McDonough said the same, but this time he also mentioned the public urination and defecation and property damage caused by white youth in the Canton and Fells Point area. On both radio stations, he also drew a delineation saying a majority of black youth are not involved and that these crimes are the actions of gangs and that when these gangs leave the Inner Harbor, they go into majority black areas and terrorize honest and law abiding citizens in those areas.

THERE ARE roughly three dozen radio stations around Baltimore, but only one Ken Jackson. And now he's gone. Forty years after he arrived in town, he becomes another headstone marker along radio's drumbeat march to homogenization. Two weeks ago, the bosses at WLG, 1360 on the AM dial, delivered an ultimatum: Either get with the new style, or get another life. They've brought in the trend of the moment, called voice-tracking. All it does is remove spontaneity, and timeliness and energy. Instead of live broadcasts, the station's broadcasters now tape much of their programming in advance.

Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. said yesterday that it is selling three radio stations in Norfolk, Va.,to Barnstable Broadcasting Inc. for $23.7 million in cash.The Baltimore broadcasting company said it is shedding WFOG-FM and WGH-FM to comply with Federal Communications Commission rules that allow a company to have only four FM radio stations in a single market.As a result of earlier acquisitions, Sinclair found itself with six FM stations in Norfolk. The company plans to keep its other four Norfolk FM stations.

It's been a tough month for music fans, and the bad news hasn't slowed down. On Wednesday, we lost the Godfather of Go-Go and D.C. legend Chuck Brown to complications from sepsis. He was 75. Naturally, his loss was felt particularly hard in the Baltimore and D.C. areas. Local writer Al Shipley tweeted , "[O]n the drive home I heard Chuck Brown music on 5 different radio stations, including a Baltimore station and a rock station. " Read the Washington Post obituary by Chris Richards here . And today, Donna Summer lost her battle with cancer.

WTMD-FM, Towson University's radio station, is moving to downtown Towson. The change, talked about last fall, was formalized Tuesday when university officials signed a lease for an 8,000-square-foot space at Towson City Center, general manager Stephen Yasko said. The station's new home is a result of WTMD's growth since it changed formats a decade ago, and the university's own drive to carve out a niche in the downtown corridor. Along with the station, four centers belonging to the College of Health Professions signed leases at the mixed-use complex in January.