UTICA -- Lots of people in the Mohawk Valley are familiar with "Heart Weekend" but did you know it all started with a radiothon on WIBX almost four decades ago? The news/talker is getting ready to go live for its 39th year of raising money for the American Heart Association this Friday and Saturday.
SYRACUSE -- According to New Country WOLF 105.1's Facebook page, Chili Palmer has been hired for middays. The name was mentioned in a status update at about 8:00pm Monday, but no bio or other details have been posted on the station website as of this writing (8:10pm).
SYRACUSE -- We're a bit late on this one, but much credit is due to Brent Axe, host of On the Block on The Score 1260 (WSKO), Syracuse University, WCNY, and others who helped put together the "Cuse Cares Telethon to raise $42,000 for earthquake relief efforts in Haiti on Friday.
CINCINNATI -- Regent Communications, the parent company of four radio stations in the Utica-Rome market, has filed for a "prearranged" Chapter 11 bankruptcy in order to eliminate $87 million in debt.
ITHACA/CORTLAND -- While it certainly wasn't the biggest or baddest snowstorm ever (we spotted one report hyping it as a "snow hurricane"), yesterday's snowstorm was the worst we've had so far this season. We challenged local radio folk to break out their cameras and show us how they're dealing with the snow.
SYRACUSE -- Longtime market fixture Tony Bombardo will be performing his very last traffic reports on radio and TV tomorrow (Friday) morning. Bombardo's decision to quit his reports comes after he and ABC affiliate NewsChannel 9 (WSYR-TV) failed to agree on a new contract for Bombardo's services.
SYRACUSE -- The website for 105.9FM The Big Talker (WLTI) is still under construction, and the website for The Score 1260 (WSKO) still reflects the current ESPN Radio lineup. But promotional documents obtained by CNYRadio.com through an anonymous source reveal the specific timeslots for the new lineups on both stations. (Updated 3/2 with 105.9 overnights.)
Deadline for entries was 5:00pm tonight, the contest is closed. We still need a Picture of the Week (it launches tomorrow) and we'd love to feature a photo that documents the "obvious" big story of the day: this massive snowstorm! Got a picture of your station van covered in snow? Talent and staff doing snow angels? Anything else along those lines? Submitter of the best picture wins a $15 gift card from your favorite chain restaurant.
SYRACUSE -- New call letters are in effect today for Citadel's AM 1260. According to Operations Manager Tom Mitchell, the former WNSS is now officially identified as WSKO. The new calls fit in with the station's new branding, as "The Score 1260."
There was such a whirlwind of activity surrounding yesterday's format flip news at Citadel's Syracuse cluster ... I forgot to take time to reflect on the second "re-birthday" of CNYRadio.com! February 22, 2008 was the day this site re-launched after nearly four years on hiatus. Today, a moment for thanks, and a look to the future.