WKLL 94.9 FM is cranking it down a few notches in Utica-Rome. The former modern rock station, which had been simulcasting Galaxy Communications' K-Rock (WKRL) signal out of Syracuse, will switch to WTLB's adult standards format and WTLB-FM call letters on Monday.

WKLL, WTLB, and WRCK were all recently purchased from Galaxy by Route 81 Radio which yesterday announced they have no plans to changes formats on WTLB or WRCK.

Today's Utica Observer-Dispatch has the scoop.
(2008: Link to original article is no longer valid.  We were unable to find it on the O-D's current website.)

Some financial analysts are projecting that a continued shift away from shock radio and the ripple effects of such a move could cost radio owners millions of dollars.

CNN reports that some experts are predicting Clear Channel's losses could near $12.4 million due to Howard Stern's banishment. They also concede that a financial hit in that range for a company the size of Clear Channel would have a minimal effect on the media giant's bottom line.

Following last month's announcement that Galaxy Communications is selling its Utica-Rome stations to Route 81 Radio, it looks like that transition has begun.  Over the weekend, Galaxy switched its WKLL 94.9 FM simulcast of K-Rock to sister station Rock 107 (WRCK). There's no official word yet on what formats Route 81 Radio has planned for WKLL, WRCK, and WTLB.

Howard Stern is still on the air in Syracuse, but radio programmers and management across the board are evaluating what the recent FCC and Congressional broadcast indecency hearings mean for their respective stations.

The Syracuse Post-Standard got reactions from local employees of Clear Channel, Citadel, and Galaxy radio groups.
Source (link may no longer work):
syracuse.com/entertainment/poststandard/index.ssf?/base/entertainment-7/1077788506247541.xml

All this week Howard Stern has been bemoaning the recent crack down on indecency in the media. That chatter will likely intensify Thursday morning following word today that Clear Channel Communications has suspended broadcast of his syndicated program on all six of their stations which air the show.

ESPN Radio has announced who will fill Tony Kornheiser's shoes after he drops his daily radio show at the end of March.

Colin Cowherd joins the network from KFXX AM in Portland. His new show, The Herd, will air nationally from 10 a.m. - 1 p.m. weekdays.

Kornheiser is leaving to concentrate on his television show, ESPN's Pardon the Interuption, and his Washington Post sports column.

ESPN Radio has affiliates in Syracuse, Utica-Rome, and Watertown.

570 WSYR has hired a news director. Dave Bullard, who joined the staff in December in a part-time capacity, will take on the full-time job of heading up the station's news department.

WSYR has been without a news director for the past five months following Bill Carey's move to News 10 Now.

TV Guide is reporting that 'Stuttering John' Melendez has signed on to be the new announcer on NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

Melendez, who has been a regular on Howard Stern's syndicated radio show for nearly 15 years, will replace Edd Hall who is leaving to pursue an acting career. Look for John's Tonight Show debut on March 29.

Former Hot 107-9 (WWHT) program director and jock, Jason Kidd, has landed a new programming gig in Austin, Texas at Infinity's Top 40/Rhythmic station Beat 104.3 (KQBT). Kidd left Syracuse two years ago for stints at WKST in Pittsburgh and Baltimore's WSMJ.

And we also hear that former New City Syracuse program director Alan Furst has left his SVP/Programming position at Clear Channel for a country format director job at Cumulus' corporate headquarters in Atlanta.

Garrison Keillor knows all about cold weather, so he should feel right at home in Syracuse Tuesday night.

The host of National Public Radio's A Prairie Home Companion, a weekly two-hour show produced in St. Paul, Minnesota, will be in town to give a lecture at Syracuse University's Goldstein Auditorium at 7:30 p.m. Doors open at 6:45 p.m. for the free event which is open to the public.
Source (link may no longer work):
sunews.syr.edu/fullstory.asp?id=2100406