UTICA-ROME -- Some lineup changes to report at Townsquare Media's cluster in the Mohawk Valley, as Dave "Wheels" Wheeler exits mornings at Lite 98.7 (WLZW), moving literally right next door to join Polly Wogg on the wake-up shift at country powerhouse Big Frog 104 (WFRG).
The move follows the arrival of Rachel Davis to handle mornings at Lite, which recently made its annual switch from adult contemporary to all-Christmas music. It also allows Bill "Tadpole" McAdams to retire from Big Frog -- for a second time.
Longtime listeners may recall McAdams, who at one time was the cluster's operations manager, returned to the morning shift at WFRG to "fill-in" after the previous morning co-host left the station about a year ago. And one heck of a "fill-in" gig it was, as the husband-and-wife team won this year's "Best Morning Show" award from the New York State Broadcasters Association in June.
Some listeners figured out what was happening before it was first announced on the Big Frog 104 Facebook page this morning. For the past two weeks, "Wheels" had been appearing in the background of Tad & Polly's daily live Facebook videos from the WFRG studio. He never said a word, nor was his presence acknowledged by the duo, until this morning. When Tad stepped out for a minute, Wheels moved into his chair and Polly made the news official.
The pair are taking the rest of the week off for Thanksgiving, and come Monday, it'll be Polly Wogg and Wheels in the morning, though Polly said Wheels will be "slowly" taking over as Tad "slowly" exits the show.
"If you quit, I'll come looking for you," Tad Pole said jokingly to Wheels after the announcement, indicating he hopes to stay retired this time.
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