SYRACUSE -- Satellite problems contributed to a rocky first day for the debut of CNY Talk Radio (1390 WFBL), but Leatherstocking Media Group management says the glitches are being worked out. CNYRadio.com has also obtained the station's programming lineup, which includes names like Larry King, Phil Hendrie and Jim Bohannon.
Your editor tuned in shortly before noon today, hoping to hear a new legal ID, top-of-hour news and talk programming, but instead we heard oldies music, an ID from WSEN, and 15 minutes of silence, followed by more oldies music.
GM Judy Kelly graciously spoke with CNYRadio.com on the phone for a few minutes today, explaining that there were some glitches with one of the satellite receivers being used to bring in the talk shows. For example, instead of Laura Ingraham at 9am, the receiver dialed up Dennis Miller's feed instead. Kelly says, "that's one reason we chose to launch on a holiday," hoping not as many people would notice if any problems did spring up at the last moment.
Kelly says the problems are being fixed right now, and the talk format will be back in place this afternoon. (Update: talk format returned at 1:30pm.) She also provided us with WFBL's new weekday schedule:
Regarding the weekend schedule, Kelly says "we're still finalizing timeslots, so I can't really get into specifics right now," but she says weekends will consist mostly of "entertainment and lifestyle" programming. "The Car Guys," a longtime staple of the WFBL lineup, will remain in place. She says other shows will cover topics like hunting, home improvement and travel.
Kind of anemic outside of Ingraham and Miller, but you have to start somewhere I suppose; I've never heard Thopmson's show either so I'll have to give a listen before passing judgement on it.
Those who remember the Phil Hendrie Show that ran on WSYR may not enjoy the current one; assuming he hasn't changed it up since it was carried on WGY he seemed to stick to what sounded like a conservative talk show, but taken to the extreme that it was more like a parody. At least the couple of times I was able to listen it was like that for the entire hour.
In his daily column today, Tom Taylor at radio-info.com says that Hendrie has decided to reinstate the old cast of characters. So you are right; at first, Hendrie did try to make it a more serious talk show, but it sounds like he's back to the way things were when he was carried by Premiere.
Yeah, it's been quite some time since WGY even had the show, they run Mark Levin in that slot now. WFBL may still be having sattelite feed issues, one night that I was still up and tried to tune in Phil I got more of Jim Bohannon.