October 25, 2010
MONDAY EVENING UPDATE: It was supposed to be a pretty simple job: replacing the channel 59 translator antenna for W59AU in Utica with a new antenna, allowing Syracuse public broadcaster WCNY to switch from analog to digital (on channel 22, as W22DO-D.)
But something went terribly wrong as a three-person crew from Alpha Antenna Services worked 300 or so feet in the air atop the tower WCNY leases from Utica's WKTV. The old channel 59 antenna buckled, sending all three tower workers falling. William Fox, 49, suffered the most serious injuries to his face, while Kelly Dougherty, 30, suffered foot injuries and a third worker was checked out and released.
Because the tower with the dangling antenna sits right next to WKTV's Smith Hill studios, Channel 2 was forced to evacuate its building, cancelling its noon newscast and replacing its usual NBC feed with programming from its DTV subchannel. (The actual WKTV transmissions, from a site in Middleville 20 miles to the east, were unaffected, but WKTV's master control couldn't function until workers there were cleared to return to the building.)
As of Monday night, it's not yet clear how long it will take for WCNY to resume the translator-upgrade project, or whether WCNY's other signal at the site, WUNY (89.5 Utica), was affected. (Those are the WUNY bays seen at lower right in the WKTV image above.)
In Utica, we can now put a price tag on Digital Radio Broadcasting's sale of WUTI (1150) to Leatherstocking Radio: it's paying $150,000 for the station, which is now simulcasting Leatherstocking's "CNY Talk Radio" from WFBL (1390 Syracuse).
Here in Rochester, Entercom is losing its operations and programming director. John Thomas will depart WBEE-FM (92.5) and its sister stations next month to head west to a much bigger market: Denver, where he's the new PD at country giant KYGO-FM (98.5) and sister station KRWZ (950).
http://www.mefeedia.com/news/33451510
