Channel
Surfing
by Laura Nachman
www.bradyresidence.com/channelsurfing.html
Bucks
County Courier Times
August 30, 2005
WPEN
950-AM will try its third format in a year, as it becomes a sports-talk
station October 3. ‘PEN, which
was Nostalgia for years, switched to Oldies around a year ago.
The ratings plummeted (In ratings measured August 20, it was in 21st
place out of 30 stations for listeners 12 and above), and now it will try to
compete with sports radio station WIP 610-AM.
Former WIP host Jody McDonald will host the afternoon drive timeslot
from 3-7 p.m. Jim Rome’s
syndicated show will air from noon – 3 p.m.
WPEN will probably carry former WIP host Tony Bruno’s Sporting News
Radio show for morning drive. Other
names being bandied around for inclusion on 'PEN include former WIP
personalities Steve Martorano and Joe Conklin.
It’s almost a given that Conklin will be a contributor, since his
contract with Greater Media Philadelphia, which owns WPEN, doesn’t expire
until April.
All
of the disc jockeys on WPEN including Christy Springfield, Jim Nettleton,
Charlie Bennett, and Jerry Blavat will lose their jobs. Also most of the
brokered airtime shows on the weekend will be canceled according to WPEN
general manager Bob DeBlois. DeBlois
said the station will be looking to broadcast more live sporting events.
Currently, St. Josephs’ basketball is the only team heard on WPEN,
which took measures to boost its 5,000 watt signal earlier this year.
Today,
every Channel 3 newscast will note the 40th anniversary of KYW
(CBS3’s) “Eyewitness News.” The
first “Eyewitness News” newscast was a noon broadcast co-anchored by Tom
Snyder and Marciarose Shestack.
Former
Channel 3 (CBS3) anchor Denise Saunders has landed in Las Vegas, NV.
She’ll be anchoring the 10 p.m. news for the UPN affiliate there.
For
viewers curious about the song that played during the great final ten minutes
of the series finale of “Six Feet Under,” it was “Breathe Me” by
Sia. It’s available on the
“Six Feet Under Volume 2 – Everything Ends” soundtrack.
We
still have seven months until the season premiere of “The Sopranos.”
WBCB
1490-AM sports director Dave Collins will move from the morning show to
afternoon drive. Margaret
Kavanaugh will join Jim Foxwell in the morning.