Some Other Stuff

We’re just a week away from the debut of a new station that’s held much of our attention lately…CBS Radio’s incoming Cleveland sports talk outlet, the transformation of alt-rock WKRK/92.3 “Radio 92.3” to “92.3 The Fan” next Monday.

We’ll have plenty more to update about that story later today. But for now, some other stuff…

JIM’S COMING BACK: With health problems sidelining him from calling Cleveland Browns preseason games on Gannett NBC affiliate WKYC/3, a lot of viewers are wondering…when will Jim Donovan return to the microphone?

Thanks to his Browns radio partner Doug Dieken, we have an answer – soon.

Browns AM flagship Clear Channel talk WTAM/1100 newsman (and OMW Reader) Tom Moore talked to Dieken, who says Donovan is getting ready to return to the booth for the regular season opener September 11th against Cincinnati:

Dieken said he had talked to Donovan before the game Friday, and according to Dieken, “He says he’s feeling great and he’s looking forward to being back for the opener.”

We don’t know if Donovan’s return to the Browns radio booth means his return to WKYC, where, of course, he is sports director.

An item earlier this month by our blogging colleague Frank Macek in WKYC’s “Director’s Cut” blog said Donovan responded “remarkably well” to his bone marrow transplant, part of his treatment for leukemia, but we don’t know if he’s able tor return to the Browns radio booth AND the WKYC sports desk.

Donovan normally does the WKYC pre-season games, with WTAM sports director Mike Snyder taking over play-by-play on the radio side…then Donovan does the regular season games with Dieken on the Browns Radio Network.

NBC affiliate WNYT/13 Albany NY weekend sports anchor Andrew Catalon has been doing the WKYC preseason games in Donovan’s absence.

His bio indicates that he’s done various network play-by-play work (including curling in NBC’s Olympics coverage) and at least one New York Giants preseason game, and regular fill-in on the network’s “Sports Desk”.

If WNYT sounds familiar to you as an OMW reader, there’s a good reason: WNYT primary weekday news anchor Jim Kambrich spent 10 years in Akron, at then-WAKC/23’s “23 Newsday”…

VETERAN VALLEY PLAY BY PLAY VOICE HOSPITALIZED: A veteran sports play-by-play voice in the Mahoning Valley was looking forward to the start of the high school football season.

Sadly, instead of being behind a microphone this week, Whiplash Radio standards WHTX/1570 Warren sports broadcaster Bob Church is sidelined in the hospital.

Church suffered “a massive heart attack” Friday, according to WHTX operations manager Jim Davison, less than a week before he was set to return to calling high school football games.

Davison tells us that announcers Ed Kornlos and Tim Gaffey will call games on WHTX in Bob’s absence.

We don’t know much more about Church’s condition, but sincerely hope he fully recovers and is able to return to something he truly loves, calling high school sports on the radio…

PD CHANGE IN AKRON: The change isn’t apparent to listeners of Rubber City Radio rock WONE/97.5 Akron, because the on-air lineup is not changing.

But morning co-host Tim Daugherty and midday host T.K. O’Grady have swapped off-air roles at the station.

Daugherty takes over as program director, swapping titles with O’Grady, who is now assistant program director.

As noted, both men remain in their existing on-air roles: Daugherty still hosting mornings with Christi Nichols, and O’Grady still helming the station’s midday shift.

And of course, Daugherty still voicetracks afternoon drive on sister oldies/news WAKR/1590…though with his extra time at West Market Street, he may well be in the building when that shift airs…

GOLDEN VOICE SUES: Remember Ted Williams?

He’s the out of work Columbus radio voice who was “discovered” by a Columbus Dispatch reporter panhandling along a Central Ohio road. Once the reporter heard his “Golden Voice”, Williams became a national sensation…being offered various gigs, from voiceover work for Kraft to a job with the Cleveland Cavaliers at Quicken Loans Arena.

(He did the Kraft spot, but the Cavaliers eventually pulled back after various problems surfaced in Williams’ life, including repeated stints in and out of rehab.)

One of those offers extended to Williams was a reality TV show entitled “Second Chances of Life”.

TMZ reports that he’s now suing the people involved in that project, including big voiceover names Randy Thomas and Joe Cipriano. (Hat tip to All Access for the find, since we don’t spend a lot of time with TMZ.)

Quoting the TMZ item

Williams — the homeless guy who became famous for his voice of thunder — claims when he hit it big earlier this year, he couldn’t handle the pressure and was plagued with “significant drug and alcohol abuse” and was “totally incapable of understanding what was happening to him or handling [his] own affairs.”

According to TMZ, the suit says Thomas, Cipriano and producer Zev Suissa “got Williams to sign a ‘one-sided, onerous, burdensome, non-negotiated and blatantly unfair’ deal that gives them a huge chunk of any money Williams makes,” aware of his substance abuse issues.

There’s no word on if the trial will be on truTV, the cable network once known as Court TV, or if Williams will do voiceovers for his own lawsuit…