Updated 9:00pm with date correction -- SYRACUSE -- Longtime morning show host "Big Mike" Fiss is promising "the biggest line-up ever" for his annual Christmas broadcast on Sunny 102.1 (WZUN) on Wednesday, December 21.  That's because this will be the 30th year Fiss has hosted the live-on-location broadcast, featuring holiday favorites performed by local talent.  You can listen on the radio or attend in person. 

UTICA/ROME -- It's a joint effort between radio and TV stations in the Mohawk Valley, and organizers say this year's "Stuff the Bus" toy drive is on pace to surpass last year's total of 8,000+ toys.  The entire thing wraps up with two events taking place tomorrow -- in New Hartford and in Utica.

Every year, we put together various "year in review" stories.  This year, we'd like to try adding something new -- but we need your input.

ITHACA -- For nearly sixty years, listeners tuning in to News-Talk 870 WHCU may have heard the voice of Barbara Hall, the station's longtime Women's Editor. We're sorry to hear word from Ithaca of Hall's passing on Tuesday at the age of 89.

SYRACUSE -- Longtime local newspaper reporter Richard Long -- who logged plenty of time as a television documentary producer later in his career -- has died. In the late 1990s, Long produced Skaneateles Scrapbook, an 11-episode series which aired on local cable access channels. Of the two plays he wrote, one eventually became an award-winning made-for-TV movie.

SAN ANTONIO, TX -- It's an unprecedented deal between two of the biggest companies in radio: Cumulus Media is joining iHeartRadio, the platform owned by Clear Channel which already provides mobile streaming of more than 800 Clear Channel stations.  By adding the 570 stations owned by Cumulus, iHeartRadio will offer roughly 1400 stations -- many direct competitors with each other -- through one single application.

SYRACUSE -- "The most famous Syracuse broadcasters that most of Syracuse has never heard of."  That's how reporter Hart Seely describes Mars Hill Radio (WMHR) morning co-hosts Mark Hard and Rich McVicar on the front page of today's Syracuse Post-Standard.  Seely's referring to the longevity and reach of Mars Hill, a station which measures success differently than the ratings which rule commercial stations.

Updated 12/6 with WSYR press release -- SYRACUSE -- Nearly seven months after Jim Tortora vacated the News Director's office at NewsChannel 9 (WSYR-TV), there's now word of a new leader for the ABC affiliate's news department.  Reliable sources tell CNYTVNews.com that the new boss will be Rob Cartwright, who comes to Syracuse after three years as Assistant ND at The CW affiliate in Dallas.

SYRACUSE -- Friends and family of former WSYR radio reporter Bill Leaf will have to wait at least another month before they learn whether the drunk driver who killed Leaf in 2006 will be paroled in February 2012. This is the second time Matthew Benedict's initial parole hearing has been postponed.

SYRACUSE -- When it comes to local television news, the Carrier Dome is usually the domain of sports reporters and sports anchors.  But ever since the Bernie Fine story broke about two weeks ago, stations have been changing their usual staffing arrangements to cover the developments.