Updated 12/31 CENTRAL NEW YORK — While most media outlets use this week to look back at all the general news from 2011, we’re using these last few days of the year to look back at all the news from within those media outlets.  On New Year’s Eve, we’ll countdown our “top 10″ stories based on our server stats.  But first, our annual month-by-month “debriefing” of the most notable stories we covered in 2011.

January

• 1st: The year begins with a last-minute temporary deal to keep Sinclair stations on Time Warner Cable lineups nationwide.  In Syracuse, the deal includes Fox 68 (WSYT) and My43 (WNYS).
• 2nd: News-talker 570 WSYR’s long-rumored simulcast on 106.9FM begins.  Clear Channel transfers the WSYR-FM call sign back to Syracuse, after using them in Florida for many years, on the 6th.
• 3rd: We note the December 29th passing of Tom Burke, former Utica radio personality who went on to run an ad agency and DJ business.
• 7th: Longtime WSEN/WFBL General Manager Judy Kelly announces she’s heading to a new job in Florida.
• 8th: A long corporate battle between Time Warner Cable and Utica NBC affiliate WKTV finally comes to a close.  WKTV had been removed on some TWC systems on December 15th; the cable company piped in Scranton affiliate WBRE.
• 14th: Former Utica radio personality Larry Oyer — “Big Larry Williams” on-air — dies at 57.
• 14th: Multiple readers send concurrent tips WSYR radio has dismissed two reporters — Tiffany Latino and Michelle Clark.
• 18th: Former I-100 (WIII) programmer Dave Ashton returns to Ithaca; this time, as PD and morning co-host at Lite Rock 97.3 (WYXL).
• 19th: Sports talk host Mike Bristol’s two shows resurface at ESPN Radio CNY (WSGO/WTLA), after multiple format flips at Clear Channel in late 2010 resulted in the death of the “SportsRadio 620″ format on WHEN.
• 20th: NPR’s first-ever news director, Cleve Mathews, dies at 84.  After NPR, Mathews became a professor and administrator at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications.
• 29th: NewsChannel 9 (WSYR-TV) executes a “soft launch” of Syracuse’s first-ever HD local newscast, ahead of schedule of the “February 2011″ launch date promoted earlier.  The new HD look includes a new set and new graphics, along with a new logo.
• 30th: The Irish Power Hour is moving down the Syracuse FM dial, from 105.9 The Big Talker (WXTL) to active rock 95X (WAQX).

February

• 2nd: Updating a story from New Year’s Day, Time Warner and Sinclair Broadcast Group ink a long-term deal to keep Sinclair stations (like WSYT and WNYS) on TW cable lineups.
• 7th: Weeks after exiting 92.7 The Drive (WXUR), Bill Keeler announces he’ll soon return – on his own network of internet-only stations.
• 7th: The FCC announces plans for the first-ever nationwide Emergency Alert System (EAS) test, on a date to be announced later.
• 7th: Syracuse PBS affiliate WCNY-TV cancels WCNY Connected, a locally-produced show hosted by 93Q (WNTQ) morning duo Ted Long and Amy Robbins.  The station also scales back its daily Central Issues show to a weekly schedule.
• 14th (reported on 2/23): Syracuse native and former WTVH anchor David Muir is named the sole weekend anchor of ABC World News.  He previously split weekend anchoring duties with Dan Harris.
• 16th: Minor league baseball’s Syracuse Chiefs are moving to Citadel’s The Score 1260 (WSKO).
• 17th: We learn that Bible Broadcasting Network has sold WYFY/Rome for $90,000.
• 17th: 92.7 The Drive makes two notable hires — programmer Tom Starr and sales veteran Chuck Hebbard.
• 18th: We first learn about talks of a potential merger between Citadel and Cumulus — the merger materializes months later.
• 26th: Don Wagner is named GM at Leatherstocking Media.  He formerly worked as GM for Regent in Watertown, and OM for Regent in Utica.
• 27th: Former WOUR personality Alison returns to local radio as a weekend host for 92.7 The Drive.
• 28th: Utica-Rome’s WIBX ends nearly 80 years of affiliation with CBS News, switching to Fox News Radio for top-of-hour newscasts.
• 28th: Longtime NewsChannel 9 (WSYR-TV) meteorologist Dave Longley reveals he has multiple sclerosis.  He was diagnosed six years earlier, but finally chose to go public “to show people they’re not alone” in fighting the disease.

March

• CNYRadio.com’s 10th Anniversary
• 1st: Updating our very first story from 2001, 93Q’s Rick Roberts says he still has no idea who started the widely-spread internet rumors that he was dating pop star Britney Spears.
• 2nd: We asked local radio fixtures what they consider “the” biggest local radio story of the past decade.
• 3rd: Local on-air personalities and managers pencil in their predictions for radio’s next ten years.
• 4th: Reflections on CNYRadio.com’s history from radio personalities, from founder Scott Jameson and from current editor Peter Naughton.
• 4th: Station crediting errors force Arbitron to revise and republish the Fall 2010 Utica-Rome book.
• 4th: WAER’s new series SoundBeat features unique recordings from Syracuse University’s Belfer Audio Archives.
• 6th: We learn Oldies 1050 (WSEN) personality Dave Smith has exited for a job outside of broadcasting.
• 8th: Longtime Utica-Rome broadcaster Dick Nellis dies at 70.
• 10th: Blaming the sudden departure of two staffers, Bill Keeler puts his internet-only radio show on hiatus.
• 11th: A milestone in Picture of the Week – Utica’s WIBX hosts its 40th Annual Heart Radiothon.
• 11th: A heart attack claims former Syracuse broadcaster Rod Carr two weeks shy of his 65th birthday.
• 11th: ESPN Radio CNY is the new home of Perry Noun’s weekend golf show, Tee Time with the Pronoun.
• 12th: WCNY says Executive Producer Peter Spartano is promoted to VP of Broadcasting.
• 16th: Garrison Keillor, the host of A Prairie Home Companion, announces plans to retire from the popular public radio program in 2013.
• 22nd: Barry Ackerley, whose company owned NewsChannel 9 for 20 years (and Utica ABC affiliate WUTR for several years), dies at 76 in California.
• 25th: The Score 1260 (WSKO) midday host Danny Parkins surprises listeners with a farewell announcement; he’s leaving to launch a new show in Kansas City.
• 26th: Rich Lawrence announces he’s leaving after five years hosting the Flashback Saturday Night on Utica’s Lite 98.7 (WLZW).
• 28th: The Syracuse Press Club announces longtime local TV anchor Matt Mulcahy (WSTM) and photog Eddie Jones (WSYR) will receive some of the club’s biggest awards at this year’s annual awards dinner.
• 31st: Utica TV stations WUTR (ABC) and WFXV (Fox) announce plans to revive local news, eight years after Clear Channel shuttered the WUTR newsroom.

April

• 1st: The NYS Broadcasters Association announces longtime NewsChannel 9 anchors Rod Wood and Carrie Lazarus will be inducted to its Hall of Fame later this year.
• 3rd: CNYRadio.com is among the winners for this year’s Syracuse Press Club awards, with Second Place in the Internet Public Service category.
• 4th: Sound of Jazz host Leo Rayhill celebrates 50 years in local radio.
• 4th: YNN senior reporter Bill Carey wins a Regional Emmy Award for his documentary reviewing a mass shooting in Binghamton.
• 7th: Yankees fans are upset to learn WSYR radio will not carry the team’s weekday afternoon games this season.
• 9th: After two weeks off-air due to a transmitter failure, Cazenovia College’s WITC returns to the airwaves — thanks to a spare on-loan from WHWS at Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva.
• 20th: Syndicated “Oldies Radio” PD and midday host Dave Michaels dies at 60.  He and his Dallas-based programming were formerly carried on Utica’s WODZ.
• 21st: With Matthew Benedict up for parole in early 2012, former Syracuse broadcaster Maria Leaf launches an online petition to keep Benedict behind bars.  He killed Leaf’s brother Bill, also a broadcaster, in 2006.  Benedict was driving drunk the wrong way on Interstate 81.
• 22nd: Kudos to WCNY-TV, the only local station to win a 2011 Regional Edward R. Murrow Award.
• 22nd: The Score 1260 (WSKO) names Mike Lindsley to host middays, filling a vacancy left by Danny Parkins.
• 25th: Former WOLF personality Don Lancer dies at 68.  After Syracuse, Lancer worked at Philadelphia’s KYW for nearly 40 years.
• 29th: Gary Nolan says he’s leaving 105.9 The Big Talker (WXTL) to return to his former station in Missouri, to launch a nationally-syndicated show (which we’re still waiting to hear anything about).
• 29th: Call it a career for longtime Utica radio host Hank Brown, whose morning show on 95.5 WUTQ is displaced by programming changes.  Brown reportedly declined WUTQ’s offer for a different timeslot.
• 29th: Citadel Syracuse rocker 95X (WAQX) promotes “Big Smoothie” to afternoons and night guy “Joe D” to assistant PD.
• 30th: The local Associated Press award winners are named, and Oswego’s WRVO is the only radio station in our coverage area on the list, with 16 wins in total.  TV awards are doled out among several local stations.

May

• 2nd: Reporter/anchor Kelly Quinn is leaving NewsChannel 9 to take a new job in public relations.
• 8th:  Former Utica and Watertown radio personality Budd Yeman (aka “Budd Money” and “Budd Green”) launches a “WTLB Tribute Page” on Facebook.
• 8th: A Utica-area man is jailed after police say he stole more than $3,000 from his employer — radio station owner Galaxy Communications.
• 9th: Bad timing for a transmitter failure at CBS affiliate WTVH – the middle of May sweeps.  CNYCentral temporarily moves WTVH programming to NBC affiliate WSTM’s digital subchannel 3.3.
• 10th: Longtime WSYR-TV news director Jim Tortora suddenly resigns after more than a decade at the station.
• 13th: “Better late than never” File: former WSYR radio reporter Ellen Abbott joined WRVO a few weeks earlier.
• 17th: Ithaca’s Lite Rock 97.3 adds syndicated host Tom Kent.
• 17th: Rome station WYFY changes call letters to WRUY.
• 23rd: Syracuse native David Muir offers the commencement speech at his alma mater, Ithaca College.
• 23rd: Johnny Lew announces he’s leaving Utica’s Kiss-FM (WSKS/WSKU).
• 25th: Did we miss WCNY-TV’s annual TelAuc?  Nope: the on-air auction has been moved from April to June.
• 26th: NewsChannel 9 investigative reporter Jennifer Lewke resigns from the station.  Her departure at the end of May sweeps was of little surprise, after TVSpy.com reported what it learned about longtime ND Jim Tortora’s exit earlier in the month.
• 30th: We learn that former longtime WRVO news director Chris Ulanowski has died at 51.

June

• 2nd: WRVO hires several new reporters including Emma Jacobs, formerly of Binghamton’s WSKG.
• 4th: A story we first reported on May 25 is now official: WIBX program director Gene Conte and colleague Fred Miller have moved across town to Galaxy’s ESPN Radio.
• 6th: WIBX announces SportsWatch will return (after a two-week hiatus caused by Conte’s sudden exit) with news director Jeff Monaski and Ray Rich hosting.
• 6th: K-Rock announces the Stone Temple Pilots will headline KRockathon 16 at the NYS Fairgrounds in July.
• 10th: The FCC sets the date for the first-ever national EAS Test — it’ll be November 9 at 2:00pm Eastern.
• 11th: WRVO says it’s launching a third stream, WRVO-HD3, accompanied with several lineup changes.
• 14th: Utica Mayor David Roefaro makes national headlines when he asks the FCC to ban the term “breaking news” from broadcast ads, calling it a cheap tactic.
• 14th: CBS News travel editor Peter Greenberg will broadcast an episode of his nationally-syndicated Peter Greenberg Worldwide on-location from Skaneateles later in the month.
• 15th: Linda Wertheimer from NPR’s All Things Considered visits Syracuse to speak about her career.
• 16th: Ithaca’s Cayuga Radio Group raises $12K for a new police dog, after cancer claimed the previous K9.
• 18th: After many years at Verona Beach, Big Frog 104′s annual “FrogFest” moves to the Herkimer County Fairgrounds.
• 21st: Utica College announces live sports coverage will move from Townsquare’s WIBX to Galaxy’s ESPN Radio.
• 28th: Several CNY stations take home trophies from the NYS Broadcasters Association’s annual awards dinner.
• 29th: Corey from Ithaca’s Z95.5 says he’s leaving — and that opens the search for a new PD and morning co-host.

July

• 1st: No word on when Tammy Palmer left Time Warner Cable’s YNN, but she’s now reporting at NewsChannel 9.
• 1st: After a few years off-air, former WSYR radio APD and news anchor Jules Thompson is headed back to radio — as news director at Utica’s WIBX.  Current ND Jeff Monaski is promoted to PD.
• 5th: Brad Stone is moving his internet-only Kiss-FM from Syracuse to Watertown, beyond the CNYRadio.com coverage area.
• 5th: Classic FM (WCNY-FM) debuts a new locally-produced program called Arts Talk.
• 10th: Former Bridge Street co-host Julie Abbott loses her 2-year-old son in a drowning accident.
• 11th: Clear Channel announces its iHeartRadio platform will soon allow users to create their own stations, making it more competitive with Pandora.
• 11th (reported 14th): The Syracuse-based Mars Hill Network gets final FCC approval for its latest addition, WMHU in Cold Brook, Herkimer County.
• 18th: WEOS General Manager Aaron Read takes a new job in Calfornia, and Greg Cotterill is promoted to GM.
• 19th: 93Q morning hosts Ted & Amy are named the voices of the State Fair.  Former announcer Bob Gibbons had passed away since last year’s fair.
• 22nd: Former WSYR radio news anchor Eric Reinhardt heads west to join the anchor team at Buffalo’s WBEN.
• 28th: WCNY says plans to build facilities on Syracuse’s Near Westside — on hiatus for four years — are back on track, with construction to begin later in the summer.
• 30th: Utica’s Lite 98.7 raises $29,000 in its 11th Annual Radiothon for the Children’s Miracle Network.
• 31st: Rick Buckley, the former owner of Syracuse stations WSEN AM/FM and WFBL, dies.

August

• 1st: Sporting News Radio is rebranded as Yahoo! Sports Radio.  Affiliates include The Score 1260 in Syracuse.
• 8th: Bill Heiderich dies at age 89.  He spent more than 60 years working for Utica’s WIBX, in a variety of roles including General Manager.
• 8th: WSYR-TV prepares for ”life after Oprah” by signing “Dr. Oz” for the 4pm timeslot.  (December update: WSTM, which previously aired Dr. Oz, replaced him with “The Nate Berkus Show.”)
• 10th: After 5 years with Utica’s WKTV, Pat Bailey exits TV news to become GM of a new local sports bar.
• 15th: Nexstar says Eyewitness News on Utica’s WUTR and WFXV will be in high-def when it debuts in September.
• 16th: Cayuga Coummunity College’s WDWN launches a translator station on its satellite campus in Fulton.
• 19th: Bill Knowlton from WCNY’s Bluegrass Ramble wins a national award recognizing his efforts to promote bluegrass music.
• 22nd: The FCC officially deletes the “Fairness Doctrine.” Although it was abolished in 1987, it had not been completely removed from the rulebooks.
• 27th: CNYCentral chief meteorologist Wayne Mahar is featured on the cover of “55 Plus” magazine.
• 29th: Rob Jason — formerly of newsrooms in Syracuse, Ithaca and Watertown — is arrested on child porn charges in Rochester.  The charges would be dismissed following his passing in September.
• 29th: ESPN Radio CNY adds WSYR-TV sports director Steve Infanti and former SU football star Donovin Darius to the hosting staff of Disturbing the Peace.  The weekday talk show expands from two hours to three.

September

• 2nd: Our “State Fair Mega-Picture of the Week” includes shots of every broadcast booth we could find at the fair.
• 5th: WSYR-TV morning traffic reporter and Bridge Street co-host Kaylea Nixon is featured on the cover of “CNY Woman” magazine.
• 7th: Former WNDR personality Peter C. Cavanaugh is featured in a new exhibit at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
• 9th: Utica has a new TV station: the FCC gives final approval for WVVC-LP channel 33.
• 12th: The debut of Eyewitness News in Utica includes HD newscasts at 6 and 11pm on ABC affiliate WUTR, and 10pm on Fox affiliate WFXV.
• 14th: WKTV GM Vic Vetters — who joined the station in the mid 90s as News Director — announces he’s leaving to run the NBC affiliate in Providence, RI.
• 15th: Sunny 102.1 (WZUN) and Mix 102.5 (WUMX) afternoon host Rick Gary is to be inducted to the Syracuse Area Music Awards (SAMMY) Hall of Fame.
• 16th: The takeover of Citadel Broadcasting (owner of 4 Syracuse radio stations) by Cumulus Media is complete.
• 20th: Finger Lakes Radio Group’s Alan Bishop wins “GM of the Year” from Radio Ink magazine.
• 22nd: After less than one season on ESPN Radio CNY, Perry Noun’s Tee Time with the Pronoun is moving to The Score 1260.
• 28th: Former WSYR-TV news director Jim Tortora has a new job – ND at WGGB in Springfield, Massachusetts.
• 29th: Former Cortland radio personality David McGrady dies at 44.

October

• 8th: Ithaca College’s WICB and VIC Radio say they’ll be participating in a nationwide “College Radio Day.”
• 10th: Reader question: Why has Rome’s WRUY been silent since May?  CNYRadio.com digs through FCC records to find out why — and how much longer the station can stay dark before the FCC kills the license.
• 10th: Longtime Utica TV news anchor Don Shipman ties the knot, following New York’s recent legalization of same-sex marriages.
• 12th: Former Utica talk radio host John Dote is going to jail for 6 months after stealing $60,000 from the political party he chaired.
• 13th: WCNY’s future home on Syracuse’s Near Westside will include a $6.6 million “master control hub” to serve every PBS affiliate in New York State and two in New Jersey.
• 13th: Clear Channel gives more work to Syracuse GM Joel Delmonico  and OM Rich Lauber — they’ll be overseeing the company’s six-station Binghamton cluster as well.
• 13th: ESPN Radio CNY’s afternoon show Disturbing the Peace is renamed Upon Further Review and moves to a new studio at WSYR-TV — so the show’s first two hours can be simulcast on WSYR-DT 9.2 every day.
• 17th: Mere months after joining WIBX, Jules Thompson leaves to become nightside assignment editor at WSYR-TV.  He’ll be working with former WSYR radio colleague Dave Bullard, who runs the desk during the day.
• 26th: A major shocker in Syracuse radio — WSYR afternoon talker Jim Reith is axed after 27 years with the station.  Also hit by nationwide Clear Channel layoffs: producers Mike Foltz and Bill Ali, and on-air talent Rachel Marisay, who had shifts on almost every station in the cluster at one point or another, sometimes all on the same day.
• 27th: Utica NBC affiliate WKTV gets a new general manager — Steve Doerr comes from WLNE in Providence, RI.
• 31st: Oswego-based NPR affiliate WRVO officially announces a “staffing reset” which actually started several weeks earlier, resulting in three people exiting, and one reporter reduced from full-time to freelance status.

November

• 1st: Wall-to-wall holiday music begins on Galaxy’s Sunny 102.2 in Syracuse, and Mix 102.5 in Utica.  Other “usual suspects” throughout CNY jump on the all-Christmas bandwagon as the month progresses.
• 1st: Notable departure #1 — WFTV Orlando has hired WSYR-TV reporter Racquel Asa.  She’ll leave Syracuse by month’s end.
• 1st: Notable departure #2 — Longtime Citadel Syracuse staffer Kevin Keefe is leaving to become the GM of three stations in Ogdensburg.
• 4th: Jennifer Lewke, who exited WSYR-TV in May, is back on TV, reporting at Albany CBS affiliate WRGB.
• 9th: The first-ever nationwide EAS Test takes place, exposing failures which could leave some parts of the country out of the loop in the event of an actual national-scale emergency.
• 20th: Cumulus Media hands out pink slips nationwide.  In Syracuse, 93Q night host Brandon C is sent packing.
• 23rd: WSTM news photographer Brian Erb marks 40 years with the station.
• 23rd: The FCC says Utica’s Roser Communications Network is planning to buy WRCK 100.7FM for $425,000.
• 25th: WSYR radio PD Jason Furst is given extra duties, programming Rochester’s WHAM and WHTK.  In exchange, he’ll no longer be programming Syracuse’s Hot 107.9 (WWHT).
• 29th: Local sports talk hosts put in extra hours appearing as guests for sports shows elsewhere, as stations seek “local insight” on the erupting scandal involving former SU associate basketball coach Bernie Fine.
• 30th: Cumulus Syracuse GM Shane Bogardus is part of this year’s “40 Under 40″ awards winners.

December

• 3rd: After a search lasting almost 7 months, WSYR-TV names Rob Cartwright as its next News Director.
• 5th: A rare alliance between two of radio’s biggest rivals: Cumulus Media stations will be added to Clear Channel’s iHeartRadio platform.  That means Syracuse competitors Hot 107.9 and 93Q will be offered by the same app.
• 7th: Richard Long dies.  He produced a 1990s cable TV documentary series called Skaneateles Scrapbook.
• 7th: Former WHCU/Ithaca women’s features editor Barbara Hall dies at 89.
• 15th: The FCC unveils new regulations aimed at maintaining consistent audio volume levels on TV.
• 16th: Syracuse’s K-Rock (WKRL/WKRH) is named “Modern Rock Station of the Year” by nationally-renowned industry trade publication FMQB.
• 21st: Paul Lehmann explains why he ended “The Fat Old Man Show” after five years on Utica College’s WPNR.
• 22nd: Syracuse’s only Italian-American radio show, Ciao!, is moving to WCNY-FM as of New Year’s Day.
• 27th: Longtime Utica broadcaster Hank Brown is returning to radio in 2012, but there’s question over the legality of 1120 WKAJ, whose construction permit appears to have expired on December 15th.
• Late additions:
• 29th: WSYR radio news director Chris Barnes is leaving to take a job with soon-to-launch CBS all-newser WNEW-FM in Washington, DC.
• 30th: After more than 33 years in Syracuse radio, the last 8 with Galaxy, Dave Frisina is fired from TK99 and WOUR. No reason is given.

Coming Saturday: The Top 10 Stories of 2011

On the final day of the year, we’ll tally up our site traffic stats to find out which stories on CNYRadio.com and CNYTVNews.com were the biggest stories of 2011.  Our top 10 countdown will appear at noon on Saturday.  But first..

Coming Tomorrow: YOUR Picks on 2011′s Biggest Stories

We know “the numbers” don’t always necessarily reflect what we, as a community, might deem to be the most important stories in our hearts and minds.  This year, we’re trying out something new: earlier this month, we gave an open invitation for you to share YOUR picks on the year’s biggest stories.  So, before we total up all the web traffic stats, we’ll take a subjective look the year.  Look for that article, powered by your opinions, tomorrow at noon.