In this week’s issue… Upstate NY loses two radio greats – DC’s Elliott returns to NYC – Phil D signs off – New England noncomms deleted – TV tower move in Canada? – Baseball on the Radio: The Minor Leagues
By SCOTT FYBUSH
Jump to: ME – NH – VT – MA – RI – CT – NY – NJ – PA – Canada
*Two veteran upstate NEW YORK on-air talents left us last week, at opposite ends of the I-88 corridor.
Potter had been both operations manager for GM Broadcasting and the midday host on WLTB, part of a tight-knit locally-run operation there. In 2013, he was named a “Living Legend” by the Binghamton Broadcasters for his radio career and for his community involvement, including his support of the Handicapped Children’s Association.
In recent years, he’d been fighting cancer, a battle he lost on Friday. Potter was 67.
*In Albany, Bob Mason was a morning fixture from the 1980s into the mid-2000s, most prominently as half of the “Mason and Sheehan” morning show on WPYX (106.5) when the rock station was high atop the ratings.
A native of Catskill, Mason (born Roy Moon) claimed to have started in radio by building a pirate transmitter. By the late 1970s, he’d made it to Albany and WFLY (92.3), where he did afternoons until crossing over to WPYX in 1981. For the next decade and a half, alongside Cliff Nash and Bill Sheehan, Mason was one of the city’s biggest radio stars, provoking controversy and standing up for state workers.
Mason was hired away by Clear Channel in 1997 for the short-lived WXCR (102.3), later suing the company, claiming he was set up to fail so that Howard Stern could succeed on a sister station. After the lawsuit was settled, Mason worked in New Hampshire for a bit, returned to Albany for a run at Galaxy’s WRCZ (94.5), then retired in 2004, later working at a liquor store.
Mason died Sunday at 73.
BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND….
This is the 23rd edition of our popular wall calendar, featuring gorgeous full-color photos of tower and transmitter sites from around the country, and sometimes the world. Our photos capture the sites throughout the day and throughout the year.
This makes a great gift for the tower enthusiast in your life — or a special treat for yourself!
Don’t wait – order yours today!
We have the Radio Historian’s Calendar again this year, too. There are only 25 in stock and they sell fast, so don’t wait to order.