Bill Knowlton would like to hear the national anthem played daily on central New York radio stations. The host of WCNY's Bluegrass Ramble show said in a recent letter to the Syracuse New Times that the broadcast of the anthem is a "needed musical morale booster."

Tickets went on sale today for the 2002 Syracuse Area Music Awards show which returns to the Landmark Theater on Friday, February 1. The biennial event which honors local musicians is sponsored in part by Galaxy Communications.

With Matt Johnson's move to Jackson Mississippi, part-timer Carson slides into the producer/sidekick roll on Dakota's morning show at Hot 107-9. Kathy Denman at the newsdesk rounds out the Hot morning crew.

Thanks to volunteer Ashley Caster for helping to get this archive article republished.

Beginning with tonight's show, WAER FM 88's Women's Voices is making a couple of format changes.

Galaxy Communications president Ed Levine is quoted in today's R&R Online on the issue of media consolidation. Saying that "smaller, focused organizations will always thrive", his hope for the new year is that large organizations like Clear Channel and Citadel will scale back their ownership in markets where they control more than five or six stations.

The Federal Communications Commission recently launched an investigation into the consolidation of radio station ownership in the Syracuse market. Joel Delmonico, vice president and market manager for the six local stations owned by Clear Channel Communications, says he welcomes the review.

Syracuse Post-Standard radio and television columnist William LaRue has put together his list of top stories of the year in radio and television. (2009 Update: the link to LaRue's article is no longer valid because syracuse.com changed their format, rendering links to older material invalid.)

All Access is reporting that Diana DeGuida was let go from her position of promotions director for B104.7. According to the report, DeGuida, whose last day was Friday December 21, was laid off due to budget cutbacks.

The Syracuse radio community said goodbye to several broadcast veterans this year.

Over the past year, the national radio scene saw the big guys getting bigger, Limbaugh and Harvey facing medical problems, and legal tangles with regard to the Internet and its role in broadcast radio. Here are CNYRadio.com's picks for the top ten national radio news stories that are also of local interest in the Syracuse market.