08-05-2025
Syracuse TV Icon Mike Price Dies at 87
Legendary Central New York anchor Mike Price has died. He was 87.
Price retired from Syracuse ABC affiliate WSYR on July 9, 2008, after a 46-year career at the station.
He joined what was then WNYS-TV, as a staff announcer on September 2, 1962, a week before the station signed on for the first time. A few months in, he debuted the character Baron Daemon, which the station said would define him for the rest of his life.
The bumbling vampire launched as host of late-night movies on the weekends, but parents complained their children wouldn't go to bed for fear of missing the fun. The station quickly added an afternoon kids show, "The Baron and his Buddies."
"Baron and His Buddies" was a cartoon show on weekday afternoons that aired from 1962 until 1967. His buddies included a live studio audience of children, totaling thousands over the years, many of whom remember the experience as adults.
In the later decades of his career, Price brought the "good news" to Central New York. His segment closed NewsChannel 9 broadcasts for years, focusing on the light-hearted, happy stories around the community, often with visits to local schools.
On the occasion of his retirement in 2008, Price said, "I think I've contributed something to our community… I feel pretty good about that. It makes me feel great and it's very gratifying when people will come up to me almost every day and say, 'Oh, we love what you do!'"
WSYR
When he was in his mid-fifties, Price was called to active duty to serve during the Gulf War in 1991. He'd been in the Coast Guard Reserves for 30 years, retiring as a chief petty his deployment, Price produced an award-winning documentary called "Into the Gulf."
