Radio Stations

It's been a rough year for WJHU-FM (88.1), the Johns Hopkins University radio station that surprised listeners last June by yanking classical music off the air and replacing it with a news and talk format that leans heavily on syndicated programming.Longtime listeners are complaining, some decrying the loss of classical music, others insisting WJHU relies too much on syndication and not enough on its own resources. The station ran up a $130,000 deficit last year. And, in three short months, it has lost its general manager, program director and one of its best-known on-air personalities.

Continuing its rapid growth strategy, Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. said yesterday that it will buy Heritage Media Group's six television and 24 radio stations for $630 million in cash.The Baltimore-based operator of radio and television stations said the deal is subject to regulatory approval and would not take place until the first quarter of 1998. Australian-based News Corp. Ltd. is in the process of purchasing Heritage Media Group, which also provides supermarket coupons and promotions, for $1.35 billion.

At 8:45 Friday morning, with rain falling out of a leaden sky, Johnny Dark's upper lip starts to quiver in spite of itself."I'm OK," he says, but then his eyes start to betray him, and he removes his glasses and dabs at them with a handkerchief."

SFX Broadcast Inc., a New York-based operator of radio stations, said yesterday that it will buy three Nashville, Tenn., radio stations for $35 million from Baltimore-based Sinclair Broadcasting Group, Inc.The stations are WJZC-FM, WLAC-FM, and WLAC-AM.Upon completion of the sale, Sinclair will own 31 radio stations. It also has agreements to buy 24 others.Patrick Talamantes, Sinclair's director of corporate finance, declined to say why the company decided to sell the Nashville stations.Sinclair Broadcast Group, which operates 29 TV stations, announced last week that it plans to raise $290 million from stock offerings to finance an expansion that includes the purchase of Heritage Media Group's television and radio stations.

Former radio talk-show host Alan Christian, who was found guilty of misappropriating $680,000 from hundreds of Maryland investors in 1990, has won a $14.5 million court judgment against a man he says caused his financial downfall two years ago.Mr. Christian accused Leighton E. Harrell Jr. of promising to provide financing for his proposed purchase of area radio stations -- but producing nothing. After a brief hearing before Judge Christian M. Kahl in Baltimore County Circuit Court on March 10, Mr. Harrell agreed to the judgment.

Radio stations open in county As Harford County increased in population, the need for dissemination of local news and business advertising gave rise to three radio stations within the county. The first was WASA-AM with 5,000 watts of power and was managed by the Chesapeake Broadcasting Corporation near Havre de Grace. The second station, WASA-FM with 3,000 watts of power under the same management, went on the air June 19, 1960. The Bel Air Broadcasting Corporation, launched the third station, WVOB, on June 11, 1965 with 250 watts of power.

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)

Democratic state comptroller candidate and former Gov. William Donald Schaefer is to take to the airwaves today on radio stations across Maryland in a series of advertisements with the theme "integrity, experience, independence."Four ads are to run in rotation several times a day on 17 radio stations throughout the state until the Nov. 3 election at a cost of more than $50,000, according to Schaefer campaign spokesman Michael D. Golden.In one ad, an announcer notes Schaefer's decades of public service and says, "He will respond to the best interests of the people of the state and not political pressures.

WASHINGTON -- In a move likely to raise hackles in Congress, a staff report by the Federal Communications Commission recommended that a single company be allowed to buy as many radio stations in a city as it wanted until it had 25 percent of the audience.In a highly fragmented market such as New York City, for example, a company could own four of the largest stations, or many more smaller stations, without exceeding the 25 percent limit.In small markets with fewer than eight radio stations, the proposal specifies that a company could buy as many as four of the licenses.

PHILADELPHIA -- Station WXPN-FM's (88.5) "World Cafe" is making its way into the world.Actually, it only goes to five other public radio stations, in such far-flung outposts as Duluth, Minn., Laramie, Wyo., and Spindale, N.C. Even so, public radio executives from here to Hawaii are watching response to the program, which began national broadcast on Monday.The reason is simple. If "World Cafe," with host David Dye and his eclectic mix of rhythm and blues, acoustic rock and just-out-of-the-box pop, takes hold outside Philadelphia, it could sow the seed of the biggest boon to public radio in years.