UTICA/ROME -- Classic rocker 92.7 The Drive (WXUR) is getting ready to move on up... to new studios and offices currently under construction upstairs from the Arjuna Broadcasting station's current facilities.  That and more from the station tonight, as we catch up on items missed during your editor's summer hiatus.

SYRACUSE -- After years of going "all-Christmas" on November 1, classic hits Sunny 102.1 (WZUN) is pushing back the start of its annual flip to holiday mode until mid-November.   Co-owned Utica-Rome hot AC station Mix 102.5 (WUMX), which used to also flip on November 1, will be holding off even longer -- until Thanksgiving.

ALBANY -- Dan Austin, who ran the former Citadel (now Cumulus) radio cluster in Syracuse from 2008-2010, is on the move again. Today, he announced he's leaving the GM position at Townsquare Media's Albany cluster to take a sales management position in southern California.

SYRACUSE -- A decade-old backlog of applications for new FM translators is finally getting action at the FCC.  This week, the Commission announced it has given Galaxy Communications approval to add a new signal in Chittenango.  Interestingly, the transmission tower for the translator's parent FM station is located only a few miles away.

SYRACUSE -- No word yet on who's leaving -- or perhaps already left -- (any tipsters?) but ABC affiliate NewsChannel 9 (WSYR-TV) has an "immediate opening" for a news producer.  The job posting appeared on the station's website earlier this afternoon.  The posting doesn't indicate which newscast(s) the future hire will be producing, but states that applicants should be "willing to work nights, weekends and holidays."

SYRACUSE -- Condolences to family, friends and former colleagues of longtime WSTM-TV employee Joseph Turrisi, who died this past weekend at the age of 81.  The lifelong Syracuse resident enjoyed a 46-year career at channel 3, where he held the position of production manager upon his retirement.

SYRACUSE -- Fifty years ago, Rod Wood started his career in broadcasting.  And tonight -- much to his surprise -- NewsChannel 9 devoted most of its 5:30pm newscast to honoring the milestone.  Not wanting Wood to learn about the event in advance, the station did no promotions on-air, online or otherwise... and when you see how many people were on-hand in the studio, you might say organizers deserve a big hand for keeping it all under wraps.

SYRACUSE -- After many years split between two separate buildings, NewsChannel 9 (WSYR-TV) is looking to bring its entire staff back together under a single roof.  Texas-based owner Nexstar Broadcasting is looking to expand the station's main studio building on Bridge Street in East Syracuse, while selling-off a separate office building on nearby Enterprise Parkway.

Updated 10/22 with GM comment -- UTICA -- According to documents filed with the Federal Communications Commission, NBC affiliate NewsChannel 2 (WKTV) will very likely have a new owner in the near future.  Pending FCC approval, Utica's oldest television station will be sold to a company headed by Robert S. Prather, Jr., who resigned from the post of President and COO of Gray Television earlier this year.  The pricetag for the sale: $16 million.

UTICA-ROME -- From the "while we were on hiatus" file, all-sports 95.5 WUSP has become an affiliate of the CBS Sports Radio and Yahoo! Sports Radio networks.  But, in a twist not seen often in Central New York, it's a two-way connection with Yahoo, as the network has picked up one of WUSP's locally-produced programs.