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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This Sunday at 11AM, Rolling Hills Radio will present a reprise of an episode recorded in January of 2016 featuring John & Joe Dady. Joe Dady passed...
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Different Radio is attending the NonCommvention at World Cafe Live in Philadelphia and you can join in the music discovery by watching the events on the…
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The Tiny Desk Contest this year is now closed and we thank all the local artists who entered this year. We will have a complete list of local entrants…
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Carole King's iconic career as a singer, songwriter, and pianist extraordinaire is celebrated with a two-hour special, Natural Woman, The Carole King…
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March is Women's History month, and Different Radio will air a series of specials focussing on some extraordinary women singers and singer-songwriters....
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Once again, Different Radio is partenering with NPRMusic for this year's Tiny Desk Contest! https://youtu.be/RYcQiWgEG2Q
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"It’s hard to believe, but the Whole Lotta Shakin’ Radio Show turns 35 years old on March 11th. It's been a long time and I've loved every minute of it....
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March is Women's History month, and Different Radio will air a series of specials focussing on some extroidnary women singers and singer-songwriters....
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The Albright-Knox Art Gallery announced that Death Cab for Cutie will headline the museum’s Rockin’ at the Knox 2019 concert on Sunday, June 16, with...
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Listen in Tonight, Februrary 16th, at 9PM to The Grateful Dead Hour, as Bob Weir and the Wolf Brothers are featured from their performance at Syracuse's…