BALDWINSVILLE — As the COVID-19 pandemic forced local events, concerts, parades and meetings to go on hiatus last year, veteran videographer and journalist Ernie Hamm felt himself growing “terribly bored and somewhat depressed.”
Hamm, who grew up in Baldwinsville and returned to his hometown in retirement, volunteered with PAC-B TV, Baldwinsville’s Public Access Channel, for several years. COVID caused his PAC-B opportunities to dwindle.
“I got the sense that my gray matter was going to sleep permanently,” Hamm said.
In an effort to keep himself and his community entertained, Hamm decided to draw on his radio roots — he once had a job reading the morning news for an AM station in Globe, Arizona — and founded CNY Network Radio earlier this year. The station is entirely online and features a wide variety of music.
“Overall my music is a mix of rock, pop-rock, pop-country, a mix of songs from the ‘40s and ‘50s,” Hamm said, adding that on Sundays he plays primarily Christian music and gospel.
Hamm, who turned 78 in April, built his website from scratch using his self-taught programming knowledge. He said he tries to learn something new every day to stay sharp and have fun.
“If you don’t have fun, it becomes a job and a drudgery,” he said. “I quit working a ‘job’ a long time ago — sometimes I got paid, sometimes I didn’t.”
One of Hamm’s past ventures was an online newspaper, the Arizona Eagle News (coincidentally, the Messenger is published by Eagle Newspapers).
“I just had more fun than should have been legal,” Hamm said.
Like many raised in Baldwinsville, Hamm eventually returned to the hive.
“I left because I wanted to see the other side of the mountain. But then I came back,” he said. “They say, ‘You drink from the Nile and you will be back.’ Maybe there should be another saying: ‘You take a dip in the Seneca and you’ll be back.’”
In addition to music, CNY Network Radio broadcasts vintage comedy radio shows such as “Fibber McGee and Molly,” which originally ran from 1935 to 1959, and “The Great Gildersleeve” (1941-1958). The shows include wartime news reports and ad jingles.
“I’m going to appeal to an older market, but I’m finding that some of these millennials are interested in these shows because they’ve heard their grandparents talk about them,” Hamm said. “They’re all good, clean humor. There’s no foul language. It’s something people can listen to with their kids and explain what it was like in the ‘40s and ‘50s.”
The online radio platform he is using provides morning and evening weather forecasts voiced by artificial intelligence (AI) hosts.
Hamm is hoping to offer more programming in the future such as podcasts, ask-the-expert segments and Saturday Morning Marketplace, where listeners can call in if they are looking to buy, sell or trade items locally.
“I’m looking for a source for sports that I can use,” Hamm said. “I’m running some podcasts, but some of them are politically charged and I’m going to stay away from that.”
Visit cnynetworkradio.com to tune in. Contact Ernie Hamm at [email protected] to learn more about sponsorship, advertising and broadcast opportunities.
