UTICA/ROME -- A problem with phone service near the Oriskany transmitter site of WUTI is to blame for recent technical difficulties at the talk station. While the station waits for Verizon to fix the problems, management says an alternate programming delivery method is in the works.
CNYRadio.com reader Mark Fuller contacted us today to ask why he hasn't been able to hear anything on WUTI for the past few days. He wondered whether the transmitter building could have been affected by flooding after two tropical storms recently passed over the area.
According to Leatherstocking Media Group GM Don Wagner, the WUTI transmitter is fully operational. The problem lies in the chain which delivers WUTI's programming from flagship station WFBL to the transmitter building. Wagner tells CNYRadio.com audio is currently delivered through a telephone line and "we've had problems off and on for awhile now." As a result, he can't estimate when the feed will be restored because "it is in Verizon's hands."
For a long-term solution, Wagner says Leatherstocking plans to install an internet connection at the WUTI transmitter site. Compared to a phone line, an internet connection would be more secure and reliable.
CNY Talk just shuffled it's schedule a bit, inexplicably going to repetitive canned national news in the PM drive slot (3-6 PM) formerly occupied by an hour of Dennis Miller and two hours of Doug Urbanski, who remain on the schedule (Miller noon-3 and Urbanski gains an hour at the expense of Phil Valentine, 9pm-midnight). I guess they've given up entirely on pulling any listeners away from the big guy across town during that slot.