CENTRAL NEW YORK -- There's still no end in sight to two separate disputes involving Time Warner Cable and the owners of different local television stations. In Syracuse, Sinclair-owned stations Fox 68 (WSYT) and My43 (WNYS) are set to disappear from Time Warner lineups at 11:59pm on Friday night. In Utica, Smith Media's NBC affiliate NewsChannel 2 (WKTV) has already been taking away from most Time Warner viewers as of December 15th.
SYRACUSE -- Another sign that helps confirm the still-unconfirmed buzz that Clear Channel is transitioning 106.9FM from the urban-AC "Power" to a simulcast of sister station NewsRadio 570 WSYR. The FCC's call sign database shows an application was filed yesterday to bring the WSYR-FM calls back to Syracuse.
SYRACUSE -- It's no surprise -- especially after national coverage on Good Morning America and in the New York Times -- Syracuse and its neighbors have received plenty of snow this year. There were a few days recently where snow was falling as fast as 2 inches an hour, and one local morning man appears to be "all snowed out."
Inside: two extra pictures this week.
Updated 12/23 - SYRACUSE -- Shortly after 3:00pm Wednesday, Clear Channel ended the sports format on WHEN and replaced it with a simulcast of Power 106.9 (WPHR). Not too long after that, the Power 106.9 website is now sporting (pardon the pun) a new logo -- and there are new station liners -- branding it as "Power 620 AM." It is believed the changes are leading up to an FM simulcast of NewsRadio 570 WSYR.
SAN FRANCISCO -- A contract dispute between talk show host Michael Savage and his syndicator is going to federal court. Savage, who is heard locally on WSYR, is suing Talk Radio Network, accusing TRN of trying to "strong-arm" him into accepting a "sub-standard agreement" which he compared to "indentured servitude."
UTICA/ROME -- There's cause for celebration at Galaxy Communications: the company was named "Business of the Year" by the Mohawk Valley Chamber of Commerce. The Syracuse-based broadcaster, which owns six stations in the Utica-Rome market, was named the winner among businesses with 50 or fewer employees.
SYRACUSE -- Public broadcaster WCNY says tickets are still available for "The Party: WCNY's New Year Celebration," happening at the Oncenter Ballroom in Syracuse. Admission includes food, an open bar and a midnight champagne toast. For those who prefer a quieter New Year's Eve at home, WCNY will televise the event live.
SYRACUSE -- There's no confirmation yet from Clear Channel, but signs point toward a possible FM simulcast for news/talker WSYR in the near future. One national radio industry website says it found registrations for five -- count 'em, five -- new internet domain names that suggest that WSYR could be moving to the FM dial, displacing one of the cluster's music stations.
Updated 12/18 - UTICA -- A national TV trade website says Nexstar Broadcasting has issued a cease-and-desist letter to Time Warner Cable, regarding the cable company's decision to replace WKTV with WBRE, the Nexstar-owned NBC affiliate from Scranton, Pennsylvania. TWC made the switch on Thursday, after it and WKTV's parent company failed to work out a new retransmission deal before the old one expired.
WASHINGTON, DC -- Apparently, even the FCC's website gets to take some time off this holiday season. A temporary FCC homepage says "the normal FCC website and related electronic filing systems and documents" will not be available until 6:00am on Monday, December 20. The message attributes the outage to "scheduled maintenance." Hopefully you weren't planning to apply for a new station license this weekend! :-)