Salisbury Cable Television acquires local radio station

SALISBURY — The town’s local access cable channel will soon be expanding across the airwaves following the acquisition of a decade-old local radio station.

“It was actually end of last week that everything went through,” Salisbury Community TV and Media Center Executive Director Lance Wisniewski said.

SCTV recently announced the purchase of WXBJ Cool 94.1 LP-FM from Good Neighbor Station Inc. for approximately $74,000.

The transition of ownership comes as part of a mutual agreement, with both parties jointly applying for the license transfer to the Federal Communications Commission, according to a statement from SCTV.

SCTV Chairman Gil Medeiros shared his excitement at being able to expand the organization’s reach.

“This acquisition represents a milestone in SCTV’s mission to enhance our local media landscape. It’s a step forward in preserving the unique cultural and musical heritage of Salisbury, while embracing the future of community broadcasting,” Medeiros said.

Medeiros explained that this effort is an extension of SCTV’s dedication to its public, educational and government access TV mission, and that the organization is excited about incorporating community feedback into its programming.

“We are committed to providing outstanding community support through this venture and eagerly anticipate the positive impact it will have on Salisbury’s media offerings,” Medeiros said.

WXBJ signed on in Feburary 2014 after being founded by Jay McDonough and Good Neighbor Station Inc.

“They’ve been operating it for 10 years,” Wisniewski said.

McDonough passed away in 2019, but the station has continued to operate, streaming live from the home of longtime station runner Mike Hemeon around the clock at www.wxbj941.com as the transition takes place.

Hemeon clarified that while he has helped run the station since its creation, he has no affiliation with Good Neighbor Station Inc.

“That’s just the corporation,” Hemeon said.

The station is set to go back on air in late June or early July.

“The station was operating out of a house on Southern Lane in Salisbury and they have the transmitter in the backyard,” Wisniewski said.

The new plan is to eventually relocate the transmitter to the town’s water tower off North End Boulevard.

“We’ve been talking with Town Manager Neil Harrington about that for several months. This has been in the planning stage now since late summer,” Wisniewski said.

The goal going forward it to try to steer the content in a way that is more oriented around “the civic and cultural responsibilities and the events of the town,” according to Wisniewski.

“We’re hoping we can really boost that up. But the main emphasis of the programming is going to remain, ‘Seacoast Oldies.’ It’s really going to be a music format, but we hope to bring a lot more civic content in between those songs,” Wisniewski said.

Set to re-retire, Hemeon said he is glad to hear that the station is going to remain true to the theme of “Seacoast Oldies,” citing his joy listening to groups such as The Moody Blues.

According to Hemeon, he once had the pleasure of interviewing John Lodge, a vocalist and bass player for the group. Lodge spoke with him about how not just any old songs qualify as “Seacoast Oldies.”

“We were talking and he said, well you wouldn’t consider Beethoven an oldie even though that is classical music. They are not the same,” Hemeon said.

The Daily News could not reach anyone from Good Neighbor Station, Inc. in time for this report.

Matt Petry covers Amesbury and Salisbury for The Daily News of Newburyport. Email him at: mpetry@northofboston.com.