Laura Ingraham's syndicator, Talk Radio Network, tells affiliates she will be back on the air by Monday... after a long absence which -- according to national radio columnist Tom Taylor -- angered many affiliates. Ingraham's show is carried in Syracuse, Utica and Watertown.
Earlier this month, national trades like R&R reported Ingraham posted a message on her website explaining "this absence is not of my choosing, nor is it health or family-related. I am ready, willing and eager to continue the conversation we started seven years ago about politics and the culture." Similar posts followed in the same regard, more pointedly blaming TRN for locking Ingraham out of the studio, presumably as a contract negotiation tactic.
Taylor claims he's heard from several affiliates who were especially upset about the timing of this shouting match -- TRN pulled Ingraham off the air during the middle of Arbitron's spring ratings period, which just ended yesterday.
Locally, Ingraham can be heard weekdays on WIBX (950) in Utica and WTNY (790) in Watertown. Oddly, her website says a different Watertown station (with a different owner) -- WATN (1240) -- carries Ingraham's weekend show on Saturday afternoons. In Syracuse, WFBL (1390) was the place to find Ingraham, until it flipped to Oldies in April. About a month later, she resurfaced -- but only on Sunday afternoons -- on WSYR (570).