Citadel Broadcasting collected a whopping $418 million on its sale of 12 million shares of common stock during Friday's IPO.

Trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol CDL, the company, which owns and operates 151 FM and 64 AM stations in 44 markets, will use some of the proceeds to pay down its $389 million in debt.

Citadel owns six stations in Central New York: 93Q (WNTQ), 95X (WAQX), Lite 105.7 (WLTI), ESPN Radio 1260 (WNSS), I100 (WIII), and NewsTalk 920 (WKRT).

In Arbitron numbers released today for the Syracuse radio market, Y94FM (WYYY) and Lite 105.5 (WLTI) both clocked in with the best ratings either station has seen in over two years. Y94FM had the biggest jump of all the Syracuse stations with a 1.5 increase, which helped move them from 7th to 5th in market rank.

National Public Radio (NPR) and Slate Magazine have teamed up to produce a new daily newsmagazine which will air locally on WRVO FM 90 beginning next week.

Day to Day is NPR's first collabortive effort with a commercial media outlet since the network debuted in 1970.Veteran NPR correspondant Alex Chadwick will host the hour-long show which will air at 1 p.m. weekdays following Fresh Air.
Source (link may no longer work):
www.wrvo.fm/daytoday.html

There are a couple of new Central New York radio airchecks at NortheastAirchecks.com as they add to their growing roster of sound clips from the past.

Listen to Don Rossi on WFBL in Syracuse from 1980 and from Utica-Rome's WRUN, its a 1979 tape of Jeff Moulton.
Source (link may no longer work):
www.northeastairchecks.com

Conservative radio talk host Rush Limbaugh has signed on with ESPN to provide a weekly opinion piece on the network's Sunday NFL Countdown show beginning in September.

Limbaugh, who is a huge football fan, says, "I get to take my observations from the living room couch to the ESPN studios and talk football with the best journalists and players in the business."

Limbaugh's afternoon radio show airs on 570 WSYR in Syracuse, NewsRadio 950 (WIBX) in Utica-Rome, and 790 WTNY in Watertown.
Source (link may no longer work):
espn.go.com/nfl/news/2003/0714/1580436.html

The lineup for this year's University Lectures series, which will be formally announced later today, includes writer and host of A Prairie Home Companion, Garrison Keillor. The dry-witted public radio broadcaster is scheduled to speak at Syracuse University's Hendricks Chapel on February 17, 2004.

A Prairie Home Companion airs Saturday evenings and Sunday afternoons on WRVO FM 90.

The lineup, or at least part of it, for the 8th annual K-Rockathon has been announced.

Evanescence will headline the Augest 16th concert at Vernon Downs organized by K-Rock (WKRL/WKRH). Also along for the ride: Tantric, Saliva, Cold, Revis, Cauterize and Plan 607 who won a local competition to open the day-long event.

Bob Brown is back spinning oldies at WSEN. The veteran Syracuse jock had been helping out over at Sunny 102.1 (WZUN) for a few months earlier this year, pinch hitting for Marty Santy on afternoons.

In addition to his part-time/swing work at Oldies 92.1, Brown stays busy heading up his local theater company Opening Night Productions.

Laura Ingraham is switching syndication companies and moving her three-hour show to mornings. Ingraham is leaving Westwood One for Talk Radio Network and in the process her live show will shift from early evenings to the 9 a.m. - noon time slot.

K-Rock (WKRL/WKRH) isn't ready yet to tell us who will be performing at this year's K-Rockathon, but modern rock fans can at least circle their calendars in pen.

The annual summer concert returns to Vernon Downs this year on Saturday, August 16. To help keep traffic under control, attendance at the day-long event will be capped at 25,000.