May 2003

Power 106.9 (WPHR) program director Butch Charles has been awarded a professional fellowship by the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB). The grant, which comes from the NAB’s Education Foundation, will be used to help defray the costs of attending the NAB Management Development Seminar for Radio and TV Executives. Power 106.9 was one of four

Kevin LeGrett is leaving his position with Infinity Broadcasting as general manager of the company’s four-station cluster in Rochester to become a regional vice president at Citadel Communications. LeGrett will work out of Buffalo and oversee Citadel’s Buffalo, Syracuse, Ithaca, and Binghamton markets. Citadel owns six stations in the Syracuse and Ithaca markets.

ESPN’s popular television show Pardon the Interruption is coming to ESPN’s radio network. The fast-paced show, hosted by Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon, will air weekdays from 7:05 – 7:30 p.m. ESPN Radio can be heard on WNSS 1260 AM in Syracuse, WNRS 1420 AM in Utica-Rome, and WNER 1410 AM in Watertown.

It’s been 25 years since ‘Saturday Night Fever’ topped the box office, when disco music ruled the pop charts. Y94FM (WYYY) celebrates the movie’s silver anniversary by featuring one of its soundtrack artists, The Trammps, at the station’s annual Y94FM Disco Reunion.

The Syracuse Press Club handed out its annual awards at a dinner on May 17. In the radio division, WRVO picked up five awards, WSYR took home four, and WAER received two honors.

Listen for a new voice on 95X (WAQX) beginning next Tuesday night. Spyder, who, with previous stints at Q105-7 (WNYQ) in Queensbury and Rochester’s 98.9 The Buzz (WBZA), takes over 95X’s 8 – midnight slot which opened up earlier this month after Ryno moved to middays.

Oldies 92.1 (WSEN) returns to the Regional Market this July for its annual summer outdoor concert. This year’s OldiesFest lineup features the legendary R&B group Rare Earth along with regional favorites Ruby Shooz, The Fab Five, The Critics, Classified, Primetime Funk, and Dunes and the DelTunes. The free three-day event runs July 24-26.

Investigators are looking into the cause of Sunday’s blaze that destroyed three businesses in Fulton including the studios of WAMF 1300 AM. Because its transmitter facility is located in Granby, the automated country station was able to remain on the air. (2010 Update: Original source article at fultondailynews.com is no longer available.)

Nashville’s Michael Peterson headlines next month’s Frogfest. The 15th annual outdoor country music summer concert will also feature live music from Rick Adams, Ciara Lynn, Custom Taylor Band, The Back 40 Band, Lazy – T, and Jill King. The Big Frog 104 (WFRG) free day-long event happens Saturday June 14 at Verona Beach State Park.

While the balloons are flying, 93Q (WNTQ) once again provides the entertainment at this year’s Balloonfest. The roster of acts includes Bowling for Soup, Lillix, Edwin McCain, Rachel Farris, Lucy Woodward, Becky Baeling, The Troys, Kaci, and Autumn Hawk. The three-day event gets underway on Friday June 13th at Jamesville Beach.