Michael Black
Radio Program ManagerI was born in Fairmont, West Virginia, and grew up mostly in and around the Rochester area. I got my radio start at WBKT at Brockport High school as a sophomore, and was its station manager in my senior year in high school. I had caught the radio & TV bug. While in high school, I started working for the local commercial station in town (WWBK/WJBT). While attending SUNY Brockport, I helped build WBSU-FM, and started as an intern for WXXI-TV. I started working for WXXI in the broadcast operations area, and eventually became an online television editor. In 1985, I took a position at WHYY in Philadelphia in their engineering department, working primarily as a video editor, but also provided audio support for TV productions and for some radio productions, including NPR's Fresh Air.
In 1988, I took a position at Hobart & William Smith Colleges as station manager for WEOS, and transformed the station into a public radio service serving the Finger Lakes, including laying the ground work for WITH in Ithaca, which is on the air today. This included expanding coverage area, and increasing local programming that in some cases, went national. A lot of students I worked with have gone into the broadcast industry, including Jonas Schwartz, Chris Carlin, Josh Horowitz, and Dana Glaser, to name a few. I even dabbled in on air play-by-play sports, garnering a Media person of the year award from the USILA for lacrosse broadcasts.
In 2007, I rejoined WXXI as the radio program manager, to oversee WXXI-AM and WRUR, and work on new projects, which now include our partnership with HWS with WEOS and helping to launch WITH in Ithaca. I have a passion for public media and new music, and strive to continue to grow public media.
I have a passion for micro brews, and really enjoy sampling great beers. I also am a chili-head! Bring the heat!
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In 2017, Rhiannon Giddens stopped by the World Cafe with her album, Freedom Highway. On that record, she went straight to the darkest parts of history,...
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Led Zeppelin has partnered with YouTube for an exclusive streaming event of Celebration Day, the concert film chronicling the band’s historic live...
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Music lovers are invited to celebrate the songs of John Prine with a very special LiveStream Tribute concert produced by The State Theatre of Ithaca and…
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Saturday night, APM's Live From Here, starring Chris Thile, airs on WITH at 6PM. This variety show features a unique blend of musical performances, comedy…
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The 30th Annual Finger Lakes Grassroots Festival scheduled for this July is postponed until next year. From their website: "Due to the Covid-19 pandemic,…
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Join Different Radio and NPR Music as we celebrate Public Radio Music Day. Tonight, singer-songwriter Steve Earle will perform in a live concert from...
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We lost two musical giants this week: Bill Withers and John Prine. In this radio hour, Death, Sex & Money host Anna Sale shares her conversations...
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With the current social distancing recommendations extending past our original festival date, The Ithaca Festival of the Arts will be moving to our new…
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WXPN, the member-supported public radio station of the University of Pennsylvania and producer of the NPR-distributed daily music program World Cafe,…
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Different Radio will once again be live at the Grassroots Festival this Friday morning beginning at 9:00 during Open Tunings with Scott Regan. Scott...