SYRACUSE -- Clear Channel's Newsradio 570 WSYR is sounding a lot clearer these days for listeners who have an HD Radio receiver. Observant CNYRadio.com readers report the station is now offered on the HD2 channel of sister station Power 106.9 (WPHR).
When Clear Channel first launched HD-2 channels, WPHR's secondary channel featured smooth jazz. We're not sure exactly when the switch was made to carry WSYR via WPHR-HD2 -- but guessing it happened around the same time Clear Channel recently moved the WPHR transmitter from Cayuga County to the Onondaga Community College campus. A call to Clear Channel Operations Manager Rich Lauber Monday afternoon for further clarification has not been returned as of Tuesday afternoon.
Testing the signal this morning, your editor's portable HD receiver was able to bring in WPHR-HD1 about 10 miles away from Syracuse. It took another few miles before the receiver could detect the HD2 channel. Oddly, the signal cut out intermittently along the Thruway, heading west between Exit 35 at the Carrier Circle and Exit 36 at Interstate 81. Otherwise, the signal has been crystal clear, almost as if listening to the studio program feed.
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Thanks to the observant CNYRadio.com reader who discovered the new HD signal and sent an e-mail to cnyradio@cnyradio.com. If you know of any radio-related developments in the area that we haven't reported yet, feel free to send your tips to that same address, or use the Contact Form (there's also a link in the main menu at the top of the page).
Offering WSYR on HD2 is an excellent step forward in improving the programming offered on HD Radio in this market. Congratulations to the local Clear Channel folks.
A message to the local Citadel people: Underdog sports station WNSS suffers from the signal superiority of WHEN, but you could make the competition a little fairer by putting WNSS on WNTQ-HD2!
Another note on WSYR; Dr. Dean has replaced the oft-preempted Sunday Laura Ingraham "best of" with her going back to WFBL.
I meant to add to that they're running a new local business program at noon, also, although today it seemed to be more like a Verizon FIOS infomercial than anything else.