We have a lot going on this start of the week, so we might as well go on.
Please note: our publishing schedule will still be quite sporadic, and there are days we may not be able to be here. We’ll try to keep our Twitter feed going whenever possible…
THE 3001 EUCLID SHUFFLE: If this is February 8th, it must be time for the 3001 Euclid Anchor Shuffle.
More than any station in the Cleveland TV market, Scripps ABC affiliate WEWS/5 keeps rotating its anchors in and out, trying new combinations, or generally “seeing what works”.
The station has its first permanent anchor schedule since long-time anchor Ted Henry left the building nearly 9 months ago, and here it is:
Noon: Leon Bibb (solo)
5 PM/Live on Five: Danita Harris and Lee Jordan
6 PM: Leon Bibb and Lee Jordan
11 PM: Danita Harris (solo)
“Good Morning Cleveland” – with anchors Pete Kenworthy and Kimberly Gill – is unaffected.
At most stations, there’s at least a “main anchor team” doing either 5 and 11 PM, or 6 and 11 PM, or all three newscasts. WEWS appears to want to mix it up.
With the 11 PM anchor slot solo, Danita Harris becomes the second African-American female solo anchor in the market…with Gannett NBC affiliate WKYC/3’s Romona Robinson the first, of course…
INCOMING?: OMW hears that Local TV Fox affiliate WJW/8 “Fox 8” is looking to fill the opening left behind when popular Melissa Mack headed for Boston, and a gig at CBS O&O WBZ/4.
A Northeast Ohio native, who currently toils in the Grand Rapids MI market, was spotted at South Marginal auditioning for the role over the weekend. (We’ll assume she, or whichever weathercaster WJW hires, will take her place as a part of “Fox 8 News in the Morning”, and cover similar duties.)
Stay tuned…
FIRST UP: …to occupy the vacated Clear Channel talk WKBN/570 Youngstown morning drive chair this week is Mike Romigh.
Yes, that’s the long-time former host at CBS Radio news/talk KDKA/1020 Pittsburgh, where now-former WKBN morning drive host Robert Mangino has landed in the evening slot.
Since leaving “KD”, a quick Google search tells us that Romigh has been working for a Beaver County PA congressman, and for an economic development group based in the suburban Pittsburgh county.
OMW hears that Romigh is among those who are “up for the job”, and no final decision has been made…and we don’t know who will be heard in the WKBN morning slot after him…
PIONEER PASSES: There’s actually a long history of Spanish-language radio in the Cleveland market, though only two non-commercial rimshot stations (Painesville’s WHWN/88.3 and out-past-Lorain’s WNZN/89.1) broadcast in the language full time. A number of local educational and non-commercial stations, and even commercial stations, have had such programs on weekends.
A pioneer in Latino-focused broadcasting in Cleveland has passed away.
The Plain Dealer’s Cleveland.com carries the obituary for Daniel “Junior” Vargas, who died last month at the age of 71:
Junior was Cleveland’s finest voice of Latino Radio on WZAK & WCSB for over 40 years. Your music will play forever!
An OMW reader tells us that Mario Ivan Benavides succeded “Junior”, and that he now broadcasts “Latino International” on WCSB…
NYLA FOUND: OMW hears out of South Marginal that an apparently well-liked former presence on WJW’s “Fox 8 News in the Morning” has a broadcast home.
After some time out of the media light, “Nyla” is now heard on Radio One talk/brokered WERE/1490 Cleveland Heights “NewsTalk 1490” Sunday evenings from 6-10 PM, on a program the station’s schedule calls “Healing The Hurt Gospel With Miss Nyla And Daniel”.
(The schedule actually has the show running until 2 AM Monday mornings, which we presume is a repeat of the live 6-10 PM airing.)
We hear that Nyla still gets E-mails at South Marginal, wondering what happened to her, so there you go…
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