Catching up on some news after several days off:
WGRZ-TV (Channel 2) staffers should be giving out a sigh of relief that the next general manager of the NBC affiliate is inside the Delaware Avenue station and knows them well.
Tegna, the owner of the station, announced last week that general sales manager Mark Manders will be the president and general manager at WGRZ effective Monday. Manders will replace Jim Toellner, who ends his 19-year run as general manager on Friday.
It should be a smooth transition since Manders has been the director of sales at WGRZ for 16 years under Toellner’s leadership.
“I don’t really see any changes in the immediate future,” Manders said in a brief telephone interview. “We have a great team here.”
He takes over WGRZ several months before the pending sale of Tegna, which owns WGRZ and 63 other stations, to Standard General for $5.4 billion that is expected to get FCC approval.
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According to a Tegna release, Manders “led a high-producing team responsible for sales leadership and strategy, competitive positioning, client services and achieving revenue goals.”
Before working at WGRZ, Manders worked in a similar role at two Syracuse stations and was a national sales manager at an ABC affiliate in Kansas City, Mo.
“Mark stands out as one of the most effective leaders in our company,” said Paul Trelstad, senior vice president for media operations of Tegna, in the same release. “His investment in Buffalo and service to his team and our advertising customers has been extraordinary. No one is better suited to lead the talented ‘2 On Your Side’ team in serving the greater Buffalo community with exceptional news, information and community engagement.”
A summa cum laude graduate of the business school at Arizona State University, Manders was a member of the ASU men’s gymnastics team.
He is a member of the Roswell Park Alliance Board and is a peloton coordinator for the Ride for Roswell.
Bill Lacy, the Hall of Fame morning man at Cumulus Buffalo’s Classic Hits 104.1, announced last week that he is retiring on May 27, ending his 50-year radio career.
Bill Lacy said he just felt “it is time” to retire.
He has been at Classic Hits 104.1 for 20 years and before that had a memorable 16-year run as the WBEN morning man. He also worked at WBUF and at stations in Rochester, Bradford, Jamestown, Pa., and Erie, Pa.
In a brief telephone interview, Lacy, 70, said he just felt “it is time” to retire.
“I wanted to do it before the pandemic,” said Lacy. “Then we all got sent home. I thought, how long can the pandemic last? Two years later, it is time. I am 70. I have worked a long time.”
He and wife Pat have no plans to leave the area permanently, but they may spend some time in Florida during the winter.
In a Cumulus release, Lacy said: "Radio gave me the opportunity to meet and talk with some people I ordinarily would never have had the opportunity to meet, and to take part in some great adventures. Thanks for allowing me into your homes, cars and workplaces over all these years. I hope I was good company." And then, showing the humor that listeners came to know over the years, he added: "I must confess, I am a bit worried about the financial aspects of retirement ... apparently Tom Brady ran out of money after six weeks.”
Jim Riley, vice president/market manager at Cumulus Buffalo, praised Lacy in the same release.
“Hosting a morning show on a major station is a tough job and Bill has done it really well,” commented Riley. "There are a rare few broadcasters with the talent to stay at the top of the game for almost 40 years and I feel very fortunate that I got to work with one of them. Bill really is a Hall of Famer.”
A talent search is underway for his replacement.
Inquiring minds want to know: Where has WBEN host Tom Bauerle been lately?
He posted on Facebook three weeks ago that his March 2 surgery to deal with scar issues from the open heart surgery took longer than expected. Sources close to Bauerle, who will be celebrating his 41st year in radio in April, say he hopes to be back on the air by mid-April.
Jason Tartick, the Western New York native who had a long run on “The Bachelorette” in 2018, will do a book signing event at Seneca Buffalo Creek Casino from 4 to 6 p.m. Tuesday. His book is titled, “The Restart Roadmap: Rewire and Reset Your Career.”
Western New York is the first stop on a national tour for a book described as “written to help others find their own path.”
Presumably, the path doesn’t include appearing on “The Bachelorette.”
“When you're born and raised in Buffalo, especially as an avid Buffalo sports fan, you have no choice but to become resilient,” said Tartick in a release. “We can get knocked down, snowed in, and let go but we bounce back and drive forward in a tenacious manner to put ourselves and our families in better positions to succeed.
“There are many cities with larger infrastructure and populations, but the people and character of Buffalo are undoubtedly unmatched! Learning how to rewire, reset and restart my life and path has been a direct derivative of being from Buffalo. Without these roots, my book, ‘The Restart Roadmap,’ would have never come to fruition.”
At 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, the first 80 attendees to visit the Social Club at Seneca Buffalo Creek Casino will receive a free copy of the book.
