WXUR-FM’s Bill Keeler of “Keeler in the Morning” was promoting his station in the form of hanging the show’s Fred Dunleavy from a Seneca Turnpike utility pole while wearing a promotional sign, until the owners of the pole had police pull the plug on the “human billboard” stunt.
According to Utica Daily News, National Grid was concerned that damage to the pole, particularly the ground wire, could make it electrically unstable. The pole in question also was bearing three transformers.
A National Grid employee called in the police to advise the station to bring the stunt to an end. The poles are considered the private property of the utility company.
Keeler insisted that the stunt was safe, and said they had just done it a day earlier at a different location. However, he said the station would comply with National Grid’s request – in fact, it had to — since they own the poles. For its part, National Grid did not plan to press any charges or request further police action, other than to get WXUR to cease and desist from this particular stunt.
WXUR, owned by Arjuna Communications, plays Rock over 92.7 MHz, and is licensed to Herkimer NY.
