AUBURN -- Congratulations are due to Jeff Szczesniak, advisor of Cayuga Community College's Win 89 FM (WDWN). He took home the "Adviser of the Year" award from College Radio Day's 2012 Spirit of College Radio Awards.

SYRACUSE -- One month after Hunter Scott and Josh Grosvent resigned from 95X (WAQX) -- only to reappear at rival K-ROCK a couple days later, setting off a flurry of legal action -- the Cumulus-owned rocker has officially opened the search for a new morning host.  According to the posting, "Qualified Candidates will possess integrity, emotional intelligence, and be someone whose words and actions are true to self and non-hypocritical."

SYRACUSE -- When the new CBS Sports Radio network launches on January 2, the lineup on "select stations" will include a graduate of Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications.  Damon Amendolara, who was Sports Director of WAER prior to graduating in 2001, has been assigned to the network's overnight shift.

SYRACUSE -- There's a date for one more local station to flip on the "All-Christmas" switch.  Classic FM (WCNY-FM) will be offering wall-to-wall holiday jazz music on its HD-3 subchannel starting next Wednesday, November 21.

SYRACUSE -- Season 3 of the award-winning British historical drama Downton Abbey doesn't premiere here in "The States" until January.  But fans can get a sneak peek in December, without flying to England (where the entire season aired earlier this fall and is already available on DVD).  WCNY-TV is hosting a preview party in December.  It's free, but seating is limited, and advance registration is required.

UTICA-ROME -- Townsquare Media's Lite 98.7 (WLZW) is the newest addition to the list of Central New York radio stations going all-Christmas.  WLZW Brand Manager Eric Meier tells CNYRadio.com the adult contemporary station made the switch this morning.  And the Syracuse-based Mars Hill Radio Network will soon begin mixing holiday hits in with its religious programming.

SYRACUSE -- For new students visiting the S.I. Newhouse School of Communications for the first time, one of the most impressive sights is the school's Professional Gallery.  This year, the school inducted forty people to the gallery, including Ed Levine, CEO and President of Galaxy Communications, the Syracuse-based owner of 14 radio stations in the Syracuse and Utica-Rome markets.

SYRACUSE -- Congratulations to Y94 (WYYY) program director and morning host Kathy Rowe, on her 30 years with the Clear Channel adult contemporary (and temporarily all-Christmas) station.  Rowe, her husband Frank Malfitano and Clear Channel GM Joel Delmonico recently spoke with Jessica Novak of the Syracuse NewTimes (and Cumulus Media's 105.9 The Rebel WXTL) for the cover story of this week's edition.  Click here to read the full article.  And click here to see a 2002 "Picture of the Week" (taken in 1982, when the station was still "94 Rock") we ran when Rowe reached her 20th anniversary at the station.

SYRACUSE -- K-Rock (WKRL/WKRH) has a new TV spot to promote its morning team, but it seems that the ad will be getting limited exposure.  The three stations of CNY Central -- NBC3 (WSTM), CBS5 (WTVH) and CW6 (WSTQ-LP) -- have turned down the ad, calling it "inappropriate."  Inside the story: Watch the ad.

SYRACUSE -- Although it's been nearly two years since NewsChannel 9 (WSYR-TV) started producing local programming in high-definition, most syndicated fare and commercial breaks continued to air in standard definition.  Those days appear to be over, as the ABC affiliate has upgraded its master control facilities.