WCRN-AM (830) is taking a few more steps toward its goal of becoming Worcester's "true talk" station, as it bills itself. Last week, the 50,000-watt outlet announced the hiring of news director Alec Callender, who had previously been at Worcester news station WTAG-AM (580).
After the first of the year, the station will also add Dianne Williamson, a Worcester Telegram & Gazette columnist, as a host weekdays from 1 to 2 p.m., and CBS news service will provide news at the top of each hour. WCRN is also planning a move to new studios in a downtown Worcester location, with more changes on the horizon, according to program director Hank Stoltz.
"We've been building the station here," says Stoltz, who also came from WTAG. Stoltz was brought in as program director six months ago and in addition hosts weekday afternoon talk from 2 to 6 p.m. "We are trying to continue to evolve and keep this locally focused."
WCRN started the transition in May 2006, when the parent Carter Broadcasting Co. abandoned the former swing and oldies programming for a talk format that featured Peter Blute, along with mostly syndicated shows, such as Laura Ingraham and Michael Savage. Blute's show now runs 6 to 10 a.m. Since then, the station has been slowly transforming - upping its overnight broadcast power last spring from 5,000 watts to the full 50,000 watts, carrying Red Sox games, and planning more local news and talk shows.
"This was a market not being served, which we can do very, very well because of the strength of the signal and where we're located," Stoltz says of the shift. "We have a tremendous opportunity to go from Worcester outward."
The new year will bring more announcements as contracts are finalized, Stoltz says. It will also see the completion of the new studio, which will feature glass walls "so people can see inside, see what's going on," Stoltz says. In addition to this feature, he says, the new studio's proximity to other Worcester media, including the Telegram & Gazette and public access station television WCCA (Channel 13), may facilitate more sharing of resources.
Although WCRN focuses on its Worcester base, Stoltz explains, the station also intends to cover topics of interest to other Central Massachusetts communities. "There are issues here that are very different than the issues that face Boston," Stoltz says, including transportation.
"We can't get enough trains [in Worcester's Union Station] in and out of Boston for people to be able to commute," he says. Other topics, such as immigration, vary from community to community, including "Framingham and its outreach to the Brazilian immigrant population there and how in Westborough, they're taking a harder line on illegal immigrants."
"WCRN's move is very smart," says Michael Harrison, editor of the Springfield-based Talkers magazine. "In this era of consolidation and syndication . . . locally originated talk radio programming is becoming the exception, not the rule, and serious local radio news departments are on the verge of extinction. By super-serving the news needs of Central Massachusetts, WCRN will carve out a vital niche for itself."
Spinning the dial
Julie Kahn, vice president and market manager for Entercom New England, and Phil Redo, Greater Media vice president and market manager for Boston, have both been named to the 2007 "Best Managers in Radio" list by the trade publication Radio Ink. . . . Michele McPhee is getting a permanent slot at talk station WTKK-FM (96.9). The former weekend substitute host will be taking over weeknights from 7 to 10, starting Jan. 7.
