Former 570 WSYR newsman Aaron Katersky, 27, is far from Syracuse and his suburban Boston hometown of Scituate. Katersky, now a reporter for KTRH in Houston, was asked by ABC News a couple of weeks ago to be part of the network's team of embedded journalists reporting first-hand on the war in Iraq.
UTICA -- Former Rock 107 (WRCK) morning man Bill Keeler has filed a $500,000 lawsuit against his former employer. The lawsuit, filed in Herkimer County Supreme Court March 21, claims Keeler was wrongfully terminated by Galaxy Communications. Galaxy's president, Ed Levine, said the company plans to file a counter lawsuit against Keeler soon.
"It's hard to know how to call it." That was Clear Channel general manager Joel Delmonico's assessment of 570 WSYR's decision to forgo round-the-clock coverage of the Iraq war last weekend. Local NPR affiliate WRVO FM 90 opted for continuous daytime network reporting for which the station received only a few listener complaints according to general manager John Krauss.
With both NPR and the BBC planning extensive coverage of the war in Iraq over the next few weeks, public radio station WRVO has decided to put its spring fund drive on hold until next month. The on-air campaign which was set to start last Saturday will instead begin on April 9. In a statement to the station's listeners, general manager John Krauss said the postponement "will allow WRVO staffers to solely focus on bringing you the news and information you desire at this critical time."
Source (link may no longer work):
www.wrvo.fm/warnotes.html
The FCC plans to do some additional "concentration analysis" of the proposed station swap involving nine stations in Duluth, MN and Evansville, IN. If the deal is approved, former Regent Communications Watertown cluster manager Bob Dakin will have five new stations to look after in Evansville. Regent owns nine stations in Watertown and Utica-Rome markets.
Big Frog 104's afternoon jock, Matt 'Bullfrog' Raisman, is headed to Watertown in a deal that sends Froggy 97 (WFRY) morning man, Bean Pole (Tom Jacbosen), to Utica as the cluster's new operations director and WFRG afternoon guy. Raisman, who picks up program director duties at WFRY and ESPN Radio 1410 (WNER) and the afternoon shift at Froggy 97, follows Don Cristi who moved to Watertown last month from Utica to manage Regent Communications' cluster up north.
K-Rock's J.J. Herr is packing his bags for a new night gig at Curtis Media's active rock station, 96 Rock (WBBB), in Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina. Herr, who has been host of K-Rock's Total Request Morning show since last September when he moved up from evenings, started out at the station as a 16-year-old intern. A search is underway for his replacement.
The 570 WSYR news department has seen some staffing changes over the past few weeks. Maria Leaf leaves her weekend anchor job at WSYR and "Your Stories" producer gig at WIXT TV 9 for a morning co-anchor spot at WGY in Schenectady. Josh Bertaccini, an S.U. graduate who has worked for WSYR and SportsRadio 620 (WHEN), joins WSTM TV 3 as a part-time sports anchor. WSYR reporter Evan Hirsch signs on with WIXT as a weekend producer, while Kafi Drexel and Sarah Bynofski join WSYR as part-time reporters.
Dakota and Nicole Wilcox of Hot 107-9 (WWHT) are scheduled to appear on a BBC Radio program tonight. They'll offer an American perspective on the current conflict in Iraq. Dakota participated in a similar cross-Atlantic discussion in the days following the Sept. 11th terrorist attacks in 2001. The show will be simulcast locally tonight beginning at 7 p.m.
Local oldies band Dunes and the Deltunes have released a brand new CD of hits from the 50s and 60s called Let's Go to the Hop!. Oldies 92.1 morning man Gary Dunes, who fronts the band which he formed in the late 1970s, will have copies of the new release available during the Deltunes' appearance at this weekend's Custom Classic Car Show at the State Fairgrounds.