She's moving from AM in Philadelphia to FM in Boston

For Grace Blazer , it's not as simple as switching teams. The new program director of talk station WTKK-FM (96.9) has already noticed some serious differences between her old home base of Philadelphia and Boston. For one, Boston is "crazier about baseball," she says. While in Philadelphia, it's "all about the Eagles" football. But the former program director of AM talk station WPHT in Philadelphia is already picking up on other distinctions.

"Everybody here is very vested in their community," says Blazer, who started at WTKK last week. "Boston is a great talk radio town, way more so than Philly. . . . You have a lot of good talk going on, even on the music stations. There's a lot of history in the market for talk radio; for a long time the talent has been here."

Still, says the Pennsylvania native, the similarities may outweigh the differences. Politically, she notes, both cities lean toward the Democrats, although more conservative listeners can be found in the suburbs. And both, she notes, care intensely about local issues. "Both markets are very parochial, very provincial," she says. "They seem like cities of neighborhoods."

The new job, which makes her only the second program director in WTKK's eight-year history, brings other changes as well. Blazer's last station was owned by media giant CBS, whereas WTKK is owned by the smaller group owner, Greater Media. In addition, Philadelphia is the nation's seventh largest market, according to Arbitron, with 4,360,200 potential listeners, whereas Boston is ranked 11th, with 3,838,800. But while Blazer is moving to a smaller radio group in a smaller market, she's also stepping up from an AM station to the more clear and penetrating FM band.

"It's always been a dream of mine to work on an FM talk station," says Blazer. "You can put on a more contemporary product and have a bigger exposure to a slightly younger audience."

What that new product will be, Blazer isn't sure. "I've only been here a week," she says. However, yesterday the station announced that Mike Barnicle is taking himself out of the running for the morning slot previously occupied by Don Imus. A statement from Greater Media said: "The decision was based on Barnicle's contractual obligations with NBC Television and his upcoming commitments pertaining to the 2008 presidential election." Barnicle will continue to fill in until a permanent host is found.

While acknowledging the issues surrounding Imus, Blazer notes that avoiding controversy doesn't have to mean dull radio.

"I think that you can be a great talk-show host and still be responsible," she says. "You can say what's on your mind and still be responsible. I think the hosts here do that -- and will continue to do that. For instance, Jay Severin goes to the edge but doesn't necessarily cross it in a disrespectful way to his audience."

"It's a very difficult line to walk," says Michael Harrison, editor of the Springfield-based trade magazine Talkers. Blazer, Harrison continues, is "a great choice" for ' TKK. "She has come up through the ranks at CBS," he says, "and learned the ins and outs of talk radio in one of the industry's most competitive situations.

"A good PD," he says, "is a person who can strike a balance that equally represents the interests of the station's talent, management, and listeners."

For Blazer, that challenge is the same in her new city as in her old. "The balance changes all the time," she says. "You just have to readjust your balance according to where you are. Smart people and smart stations can do that."