Farewell

Updated 7/8/09 – Radio reacted quickly to the death of Michael Jackson last month, sharply increasing spins of his titles.  But few local radio stations went out of their way to offer live coverage of the singer’s memorial service in Los Angeles today.

Stations all over the country have been paying tribute to Michael Jackson, since the news broke of the singer’s sudden death at the age of 50 on Thursday.  Several in Central New York were among them, including at least two that threw out their regular formats to play the King of Pop’s hits exclusively.

UTICA-ROME — Former WIBX board operator R. Clark Witt, IV, passed away on Sunday, following a long illness.  He was 32 years old.  Writing obituaries is never pleasant — but this one is especially tough for your editor — we were co-workers at Regent Broadcasting from 1999 until about 2002-ish, when Clark graduated from Utica College

SYRACUSE — We first heard of the passing of voiceover great Brian James last week, but it’s just been brought to our attention that 93Q (WNTQ) was among James’ many clients across the country.

BOONVILLE — Kenny Youngs, longtime host of the “Afternoon Jamboree” on WBRV, died this past Saturday.  He was 83 years old.

SYRACUSE — He was best known by his on-air names “Johnny C” and “Johnny Vann.”  Former WNDR, WOLF and WFBL broadcaster John L. Creveling has died.  Memorial services will take place tomorrow in Durham, NC, but an “audio tie-in” will be provided in North Syracuse.

NEW YORK CITY – Bob DeLaney, a former WFBL announcer who went on to announce baseball games for four different major league teams in the 1950s and 60s (including the Yankees and Red Sox), died last month at the age of 84.  News of DeLaney’s passing was just made public with an article in the

CNYRadio.com is saddened to report the sudden death of WFIZ (Z95.5) program director and morning co-host Tommy Frank. GM Frank Lischak tells us Frank died early this morning of an apparent heart attack.

An unfortunate explanation for radio legend Paul Harvey’s extended time away from the broadcast booth over the past several weeks.  His wife, Lynne, passed away Saturday morning at the age of 92.  According to ABC News, Lynne Harvey had been battling leukemia for about a year.  Paul Harvey’s syndicated content can be heard locally on

Calling hours are tonight for Barb Gibbons, a longtime Syracuse radio personality who died last Saturday following a sudden illness.  Gibbons, 65, had worked at WNDR, WFBL, WNTQ, and WSYR.