Radio station moving studios, offices to Settlers' Green

After more than 45 years at its "farm house" location on East Main Street in Conway, the radio station for WBNC, WMWV and WVMJ is moving to Settlers' Green OVP in North Conway.The move is expected to take place in June.Ron Frizzell, who purchased the station from Joan and Skip Sherman last May, said the move was precipitated by the need for more space for the growing station."The building we're in now is structurally excellent," Frizzell said, "but it's not conducive to a radio station."Mount Washington Radio and Gramophone, which is the name of Frizzell's company, will be moving into a second-floor space previously used for storage at Settlers' Green."What I like about it is that nobody has been in that space," Frizzell said. "It's wide open, so we can design it the way we need it to be designed. We're not trying to carve up something else."WBNC (1050 AM in the dial) was established in 1955, and WMWV (93.5 FM) went on the air in 1967. A third station, WVMJ (104.5 FM) was added in 1995, first as a country station, then "oldies" and now adult contemporary featuring hit songs from the 1970s to today."When 104.5 played oldies, it was on satellite out of Dallas," Frizzell said, "but we're producing it all in this building now."There are also plans to "break out" 1050-AM into a new format, featuring the likes of Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Barbra Streisand and Barry Manilow, rather than duplicating much of the WMWV programming. This also will require additional studio space.The bottom line, Frizzell said, is that to operate three independent stations, "it just takes more room," Frizzell said."We had intended to move all along," he said. "We had been looking at space since we signed with Skip back in May."In a casual conversation with Dot Seybold, general manager of Settlers' Green OVP, Seybold mentioned to Frizzell that there was some second-floor space available if he was ever interested. The timing couldn't have been better."She took us over to look at it," Frizzell said, "and we stopped looking at that minute."Frizzell said two questions he gets asked frequently regarding the future of the radio station are whether there are any plans to change the musical format for WMWV, and whether Skip Sherman's popular Sunday-morning jazz show will continue.The answer to the first question is no."WMWV is a great radio station," Frizzell said. "We'd be crazy to change it, frankly."The answer to the second question is yes, Skip Sherman's Sunday morning jazz show will continue. "We're not going to take that off," Frizzell said.There are about 24 full-time and part-time people employed at Mount Washington Radio and Gramophone. Frizzell said about four people have been added to the payroll since he took over the station, and "there will probably be more as time goes by."Frizzell said that while the employees are generally excited about the upcoming move, there's a tinge of sadness also."Some of the employees who have been here a long time like to say there's good karma here," Frizzell said. "WMWV is transmitted from the original living room of the farm house. So there's a little sadness about moving. This building has been a good home for the station."The building, which is owned by Mount Washington Radio and Gramophone, is up for sale.