John Shearer in the booth at WNBZ. (Provided photo — John Shearer)

PLATTSBURGH — On Monday, WNBZ-FM Operations Director Rick Woodhouse began reading out the morning news over the air, as he has for the past few days.

“Excuse me, Woodhouse?” a deep, crisp voice interrupted. “I think you do a great job with the morning show. But you should probably let somebody else do the news.”

For morning radio listeners, John Shearer’s voice was likely familiar. He’s been WIRY 1340 AM’s news director for the past four years, but as that station is closing down its news programming, Shearer is returning to WNBZ to lead its new news division.

Woodhouse said WNBZ, 106.3 NBZ-FM, has not had a news division as long as he’s been there. But with the pending closure of WIRY, after 75 years on the air, he said WNBZ had to fill the gap to better serve its community.

“It’s on us to pick up the baton that wasn’t exactly handed to us,” Woodhouse said.

In a statement about its closure, WIRY leadership said the station was facing challenges in the rise of digital platforms leading to declining traditional radio listenership, rising music royalty costs, a shrinking media sales force and decreasing profit margins. The station is continuing to play music, but is expected to go off the air soon.

WNBZ created a news department and WNBZ Sports Director Steve Criss made the introduction between Shearer and WNBZ General Manager Bill Dickerson. Shearer said he had been taking a break, updating his resume, when he got a call last Friday asking if he was available. By Monday, he was doing the news again.

Shearer is leading WNBZ’s news department, providing local news to Plattsburgh, the North Country and the Champlain Valley. He actually worked at WNBZ as a disk jockey from 2018 to 2021.

He started on Monday by setting the place — giving the number of days past in the year, the number of days left in the year and how many days are left until summer begins — before diving into State Police arrests, a reminder that New York has the option of direct filing taxes through the IRS and news about how lifeguards are needed at state beaches and pools.

Over the years in radio, Shearer said the news has always appealed to him and he’s become more interested in keeping up on what’s going on over the years.

His report covered local road work, a reminder to upgrade identification to Real ID to fly domestically and a “this day in history” segment.

He thinks of the newscast as a “menu” offering a selection of courses to listeners — local, state, regional and then “dessert,” human interest stories and news oddities. Part of Tuesday’s dessert was a story on the power line worker’s rodeo in California. It also started with a note of caution that Tuesday was April Fool’s Day.

“People know him, they like him,” Woodhouse said of Shearer. “He reports the facts, he doesn’t give any conjecture or put a spin on it. He’s very mellow, very smooth.”

This even came through when they did their bit introducing Shearer to WNBZ on Monday.

“I was hoping he’d be a bit more brusk with it just to add that tinge of humor, but John Shearer is a very gentle man,” Woodhouse said.

A good quality for a news broadcaster, he added.

“He can deliver bad news without it being so jarring,” Woodhouse said.

Shearer will anchor the newscasts at 6, 7 and 8 a.m., Monday through Friday, as well as his “Week In Review” weekend segment he had at WIRY.

“His remarkable track record, achievements and vision align perfectly with our goals for the future,” Woodhouse said in a statement. “We are confident that his hard work and dedication will continue to elevate the radio station and help us achieve our next phase of growth, all while doing what we’re here to do first and foremost … serve the community we’re so fortunate to call home.”

Shearer started in radio in high school. By that, he means himself and his friend doing announcements over the PA system in the lunch room. But he got hooked. He attended SUNY Plattsburgh for a mass communications degree and worked as a DJ, announcer and director for a number of radio stations, as well as having time in public television.

Radio has evolved a lot in his time behind the mic. Editing, which is done digitally now, was done on reel-to-reel tape, using razor blades and tape to cut and paste audio together. He said technology has make the job a lot easier and the product a lot smoother.

“No love lost,” he said. “Trust me.”

Woodhouse said northern New York is “underserved” by other neighboring markets. He said it feels like Vermont stations forget their signal doesn’t stop at the lake.

“Having grown up in this market, that’s been a frustration of mine, personally,” Woodhouse said.

So he wants to focus on New York coverage because others don’t. The independently owned and operated WNBZ has a large coverage area with half-a-million potential listeners, stretching from Ogdensburg in the west to half-way through Vermont to the east, and from Ticonderoga in the south up close to Montreal to the north.

The station also streams live on its website, offers on-demand listening of previous broadcasts and recently launched a mobile app.