SYRACUSE -- It's a pretty common occurrence for The Sean Hannity Show to get pre-empted on WSYR, but usually it's because the Clear Channel news/talker is carrying live coverage of Yankees baseball. Tonight, the first hour of Hannity was bumped for a full hour of news -- hosted by former 93Q personality "Big" Jim Donovan.
It was puzzling at first, to tune in at about 7:45pm to hear an unfamiliar voice introducing sound bites from Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney. Then it suddenly became surprising when we realized the voice wasn't so unfamiliar after all. Most people are used to hearing Big Jim introduce songs, rather than sound bites.
It appears the show may have been a temporary "trial" run -- there was no mention of Donovan on the station's Twitter feed or website, where Hannity is still listed with a 7pm start time. As he signed off shortly before 8:00, Donovan said he'd be back for Central New York's Saturday Morning News, which airs 6-8am.
Coincidentally, we received an email earlier this week from an anonymous reader who thought he heard Jay Fishman would no longer be hosting Saturday mornings. We emailed Fishman asking for confirmation/clarification at that time, but he never responded. When we called Clear Channel OM Rich Lauber for comment on this and Donovan's appearance this evening, we were told he's out of the office this week.
But one thing's for sure -- Donovan is no longer mentioned on the website for 93Q, the Citadel Top 40 station where he was let go from middays in 2008, then rehired part-time in 2009. In fact, Citadel Operations Manager Tom Mitchell confirms for CNYRadio.com that Donovan recently resigned "to pursue his goal to be a news-talk host. We wish him well!"
We'll update the story as we learn more about some rumored (but yet unconfirmed) changes in the WSYR weekend lineup.
He was doing mid day on Y94 on the 4th. I was surprised to hear him on.
I think you have your facts crossed. Fishman is on right now.
@Justin: No, my facts aren't crossed. Fishman normally only hosts on Saturday mornings. He is just filling in this week, as normal morning host Joe Galuski is on vacation. Check 570wsyr.com and you'll see Galuski's photo is still featured "On Air Now" and the schedule lists Galuski as weekday AM host; Fishman as Saturday AM host.
Right but you said in the article Sean Hannity was on the web site when they began the new show last night. You are going back and forth on your logic, Peter.
Huh? WSYR often changes what they're running without notice, but they're not going to change it to show when someone takes a week off and they have a fill-in because it's not a permanent change. In the case of this news show it may be the same deal - it's not a permanent change. In fact with so many baseball pre-emptions in the summer I'd be very surprised if they started another hour of news at 7:00, permanently. If they changed anything I'd guess on a return of a noon news show, Rush delayed an hour, and lose the 3:00 hour of Jim Greif. But it sounds like instead they have some plans for the weekend.
Jay Fishman, for what it's worth, may never have planned to stay permanent; a few months ago I heard him telling a story of how he got a ticket while parked in the city for no inspection - even though his vehicle is registered in Michigan and an inspection isn't required. Generally if you plan to stay someplace you re-register your car in that state at some point.
I find it ironic though that Citadel flips a station to news/talk and Donovan has to go over to Clear Channel to become a news/talk host.