ZIPS RE-UP, EXPAND: The University of Akron has agreed to a contract extension that’ll keep Zips football broadcasts on Clear Channel sports WARF/1350 Akron through the 2012-2013 athletic season. And the Zips are also expanding to the north and west east (sorry, our compass got spun around for some reason!).
A new deal also puts University of Akron football broadcasts on Salem talk WHK/1420 Cleveland, and sister religious/brokered WHKZ/1440 Warren, according to a university press release:
“We’re excited to continue our longstanding partnership with 1350 AM as well as create two new relationships with 1420 AM and 1440 AM,” said Akron ISP General Manager Chad Gerrety. “These agreements will continue to give our fans in the greater Akron and Canton areas, as well as those in Cleveland, Youngstown, Warren and Western Pennsylvania, the opportunity to follow the Zips all season, while also providing our Akron ISP corporate partners additional exposure.”
The ISP Sports Network folks in North Carolina, of course, produce the Zips Sports Radio broadcasts, as well as a host of other collegiate properties (including the rival Kent State Golden Flashes, which air on Media-Com talk WNIR/100.1).
WARF is also continuing with its other Zips broadcasts, including men’s and women’s basketball, soccer and baseball games, and the “Zips Live” coaches show.
Zips athletic broadcasts have been on 1350 AM since the WSLR days, dating back to 1983 – when the station was locally owned.
Two notes here:
1) Zips football will only be heard (out of Freedom Avenue) on WARF. Rock WRQK/106.9 Canton “Rock 106.9” will no longer be carrying the games.
2) We wonder if the inclusion of Salem’s WHKZ/1440 Warren means anything significant past the fact that the station has simulcast Cleveland games heard on WHK and religious WHKW/1220 – the latter, sometimes a function of its general simulcast of WHKW, give or take a local infomercial, preacher or Salem’s Hugh Hewitt, a Warren native.
Is Salem giving up on the long-ago-and-never-consummated sale of WHKZ to Pittsburgh-area owner Rev. Loren Mann, the former TV reporter who owns a station in that area?
The sale was approved by the FCC in May 2008, and hasn’t seen any activity since…and Salem has continued to operate WHKZ…
FILL-IN GUY: When we were talking about his other activities, we neglected to tip the hat to OMW reader Chuck Matthews for some fill-in work.
While he was busy working as RCRG’s creative director, and signing up a slew of North Carolina sports radio stations for his voiceover business, the oldies radio vet subbed for Tim Daugherty in afternoons on WAKR last week…
WHILE WE’RE TALKING ABOUT FILL-INS: Clear Channel talk WHLO/640 morning host Jim Albright has been off this week, and a very busy man has been filling in for him.
He’s Jeff Thomas, the former Metro Networks morning sports anchor long heard on Good Karma sports WKNR/850 Cleveland “ESPN 850” – heard, of course, until the station decided recently it no longer needed his services.
Since then, Jeff has filled in a couple of times on Elyria-Lorain Broadcasting talk WEOL/930 Elyria, which will need a new morning host (or program) next month when Les Sekely leaves the station and radio for a teaching job in Westlake.
We also hear Mr. Thomas has been in other local radio operations over the past few weeks, though we don’t know where his final radio destination will be…
PARTNERSHIP: Health care news provider MedCity News is opening up another partnership.
After previous agreements with the Akron Beacon Journal, Gannett NBC affiliate WKYC/3 and Dispatch’s Ohio News Network, the Cleveland-based company is hooking up with Akron’s Rubber City Radio Group.
From a joint release found on RCRG’s AkronNewsNow.com:
Under the agreement, Rubber City Radio will use MedCity News content on the award-winning AkronNewsNow.com, and will also feature MedCity News content in broadcast programming. The agreement provides for MedCity News staff members to periodically appear on-air and discuss news from the medical sector of interest to the Akron audience.
The radio side, of course, involves news/oldies WAKR/1590, rock WONE/97.5 and country WQMX/94.9…
SOME CLOSURE: A small addendum to our earlier coverage of the events at Clear Channel talk WLW/700 Cincinnati “The Big One”… pretty much the major exception to our non-coverage of the Cincinnati market these days, since it impacts a large section of the state.
We now know which time slot former WLWer Mike McConnell will occupy when he starts at Tribune talk WGN/720 Chicago on August 9th.
The station has announced:
WGN Radio today announced its new daytime lineup featuring Mike McConnell and John Williams, effective Aug. 9. McConnell will host from 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., followed by Williams from 12:30-3 p.m.
The time slot is familiar to McConnell – it’s almost identical to his long-time 9 AM-noon “Midday” slot on WLW…though Ohio listeners who want to catch McConnell via WGN’s Internet streaming will have to start at 9:30, since Chicago is on Central Time…
WHERE IS SMOKIN BILL CANNON ?
DID HE FIND A NEW SPOY ANYWHERE?
I WOULD LIKE TO HEAR HIM ON THE AIR AGAIN…
CRAZY LENNY
WHERE IS SMOKIN BILL CANNON?
LENNY PITTS WANTS TO KNOW…HOPE IS ON THE AIR SOMEHERE. HE IS TOO GOOD NOT TO BE EMPLOYED WITH A GOOD STATION???
And Chuck did a very commendable job filling in for Tim.