2003 marks the 25th year that Dave Frisina has been 'turning it up' at 95X. Mike Parrish, managing director of the industry trade publication Friday Morning Quarterback, recently talked with Frisina about his longevity, a shift in direction for the station, and his thoughts on when the S.U. Orangemen might win a national title...
Shortly after NASA declared a problem with Saturday morning's landing of the space shuttle Columbia, WRVO FM 90, 570 WSYR, and NewsRadio 950 (WIBX) switched to continuous coverage of the unfolding events.
Area musicians and radio personalities are coming together for a benefit for cancer survivor Sam Amato. Sunday's lineup of live music includes: Smokin', The Cobblerockers, Joe Whiting, and Dan Elliot. Syracuse air personalities Glenn 'Gomez' Adams, Ron Bee, Gary Dunes, Jim O'Brien, Becky Palmer, and Eric Will are also scheduled to make appearances.
Big Frog 104 (WFRG) celebrated 15 years on the air Friday morning with a surprise anniversary party during Matt Herkimer's morning drive show. Herkimer, who is the only original air personality left at the station, welcomed several local dignitaries including State Senator Ray Meier, Utica Mayor Tim Julian, and Rome Mayor Joe Griffo.
Syracuse was front and center in the debate over media ownership on Capitol Hill on Thursday. Robert Short Jr, former owner of WRDS 102.1 FM, testified before congress that Clear Channel and Citadel forced him out of the Syracuse radio market. Charging that he had to sell WRDS to Galaxy Communications because Clear Channel owned over 50% of the local market and Citadel Communications had 25% of the revenue, Short claimed that Clear Channel was able to leverage its market dominance, flip WPHR 106.9 FM to an urban format and knock WRDS out of the game.
While 570 WSYR and WIXT TV 9 may not be under the same roof, the two Clear Channel broadcast facilities continue integrating their news resources. Leila Walsh recently joined NewsChannel 9 as a reporter; she'll remain a morning co-anchor at WSYR.
It was another great ratings period for Froggy 97 (WFRY) in Watertown. In Arbitron numbers released today for fall 2002, with a 26.6, the Regent Communications country formatted station's 12+ numbers were more than double those of second place Border 102.7. Real Rock 100.7 saw a nice 3 point jump while Z93 (WCIZ) and Magic 103.1 (WTOJ) continued their downward trends.
How does a Louisiana girl end up in 30 inches of Syracuse snow programming the market's newest radio station? AllAccess.com has the scoop as Erin Bristol, program director of New Rock 105, The Dog, answers "10 Questions" from Alternative editor Shawn Alexander.
UTICA-ROME -- It's been a year and a half since the Utica-Rome radio market has had a sole station at the top of the 12+ ratings. For the past two books, Lite 98.7 (WLZW) and Big Frog 104 (WFRG) have been in a dead heat. For the fall 2002 ratings period, Lite 98.7 has pulled ahead of the pack in a big way.
It's been a year and a half since the Utica-Rome radio market has had a sole station at the top of the 12+ ratings. For the past two books, Lite 98.7 (WLZW) and Big Frog 104 (WFRG) have been in a dead heat. For the fall 2002 ratings period, Lite 98.7 has pulled ahead of the pack in a big way. With a 12.8, the adult contemporary station is more than three ratings points ahead of fellow Regent Communications station Big Frog 104.