ITHACA/CORTLAND -- ROI Broadcasting's top 40 Z95.5 (WFIZ) is looking for a morning co-host. Didn't they just hire one? Yep, about two months after the station announced the arrival of Nikii, PD and morning co-host Corey tells us Nikii had "family/personal problems and had to move back to her hometown in Ohio."
SYRACUSE -- Play-by-play broadcasts of Syracuse Crunch hockey will have a new home starting this fall. The team has signed a deal with Citadel Broadcasting's The Score 1260 (WSKO), ending a long-lasting partnership with Clear Channel's Sportsradio 620 WHEN.
SYRACUSE -- The new afternoon show Disturbing the Peace was supposed to debut yesterday on The New ESPN Radio (WTLA/WSGO/W249BC/W259AX). But listeners who tuned in during the advertised 2-6pm timeslot heard ESPN network programming instead. We checked in with Galaxy Communications management to see what happened.
UTICA-ROME -- Country station Big Frog 104 (WFRG) will be celebrating 22 years on the air with Frogfest 22 next month at Verona Beach State Park. And this year, MCA Nashville recording artist Josh Turner will appear as the headline act. The station made the announcement Monday morning, after naming several other local acts over the past few weeks.
ITHACA -- Public radio listeners are noticing some recent changes on the FM dial, thanks to the anticipated launch of WITH 90.1. Ithaca's Community Radio at 88.1FM (W201CD), which had been simulcasting Geneva-based WEOS, is now simulcasting a Binghamton-area station's signal instead. Updated 5/19.
SYRACUSE -- Public broadcaster WRVO took home First Place in the "Radio Newscast" category at the Syracuse Press Club awards dinner on Saturday night. The Oswego-based NPR affiliate took home four other first-place awards and a second-place title. Syracuse-based NPR affiliate WAER had the second-longest list of awards, and WSYR took home three titles. Updated 5/18.
UTICA-ROME -- Galaxy Communications has announced former Allman Brothers Band guitarist Dickey Betts and his current band, Great Southern, will headline the schedule at Classic Rock 96.9 WOUR's "Party in the Park" concert on July 21. Admission is free and a number of local bands are also expected to perform.
UTICA-ROME -- Roser Communications' Kiss-FM (WSKS/WSKU) recently invited local high schools to submit videotaped entries for the chance to let the simulcast CHR stations "invade" their prom. The station will be joined by the national recording artists Lovesick Radio, who recently posed for a photo with the station crew.
MIAMI, FL -- From the "better late than never" file, we've just learned former Syracuse and Utica personality Jeanne Ashley is on the move to Miami. Her last day with Star 102 (KCKC) in Kansas City was April 23, and starting next week, she'll be hosting evenings at Miami's 101.5 Lite FM (WYLF).
UTICA-ROME -- Central New York native Kidd Chris, who now hosts mornings at KUFO in Portland, Oregon, is returning to the Mohawk Valley's airwaves. He's hosting a new Saturday night show, starting tonight, on 92.7 The Drive (WXUR). The show will air from 7pm to midnight. Updated 5/10 with correction.