Major League Catchup

No, that’s not something the Cleveland Indians are about to try, based on their dismal play as of late.

It’s something we’re going to try now, after an unplanned Life Intervenes(tm) hiatus for about two weeks. (Note: We’ll have a planned hiatus for personal reasons, right after the Labor Day holiday. Or, maybe we’ll be more active…)

Anyway, on with the show…

OTHER SHOE DROPS: We already told you that now-former Ohio News Network Cleveland bureau reporter Cristin Severance had found a new gig…just days before the Columbus-based cable news outfit leaves the airwaves at the end of this week.

We also told you that she’d have some Cleveland company at Scripps ABC affiliate KGTV/10 in sunny San Diego, and now, it’s official.

KGTV is also hiring Gannett NBC affiliate WKYC/3 reporter Dan Haggerty, and making him the second happy Clevelander to be able to treat snow shovels as a thing of the past.

It’s no accident.

It’s no secret in the Cleveland TV news community that Severance and Haggerty are together as a couple, and they’ll move their happy homestead to Southern California while sharing a workspace.

And though they leave a lot of friends behind in the Cleveland market, we wish both Cris and Dan the best in a beautiful city, San Diego…

THE NAKED MOVE: We’re sorry, former Raycom CBS affiliate WOIO/19-WUAB/43 “19 Action News” anchor Sharon Reed…this stuff writes itself.

After being out of the TV rumor mill for a while, Reed’s name is surfacing in St. Louis, as a potential anchor replacement in that market.

And there should be no surprise in the headline by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Joe Holleman, “Once-nude anchor in the mix for KMOV job”.

Vickie’s Newton’s KMOV Channel 4 anchor chair is still warm from her final show Thursday night. But the rumors already are heating up about possible replacements — including Sharon Reed, a former high-profile anchor at Cleveland’s CBS affiliate.

Reed made national headlines in 2004 when she agreed to be recorded disrobing for artist Spencer Tunick’s nude group photo shoot in Cleveland, which Reed was covering for WOIO Channel 19. The segment sent ratings through the roof and earned Reed an appearance on the “Late Show with David Letterman.”

Jokes are flowing freely to our keyboard…(“Maybe they’re trying to save on the clothing allowance”)… but despite the Nude Stunt, Reed is a capable news anchor and reporter, when she plays it straight.

We do wonder if we should give a heads up to team members of the St. Louis Rams, the St. Louis Cardinals and the NHL’s St. Louis Blues, though…but if she isn’t dating pro athletes, or trying to date them, she does a decent job in the sports arena as well…

THE OTHER NUDE 19 ACTION NEWS ANCHOR: The operation at Reserve Square had one distinction no other newsroom in the country could claim: it employed two female anchors you could see without clothing just by searching the Internet.

But unlike her former “Action News” colleague Sharon Reed, Catherine Bosley’s situation was more sympathetic.

Celebrating great medical news, Bosley and her husband visited a Florida bar in Key West, where she eventually got into a “wet T-shirt contest”. The photos in question were supposed to stay in the bar, but someone unleashed them on the Internet, and the then-WKBN/27 Youngstown “First News” anchor and her husband were mortified.

Bosley left “27 First News” and was hired at WOIO/WUAB, and she’s done a fine job since coming to Cleveland.

But when such pictures land on the Internet, and with questionable outlets like the skin magazine Hustler, they’re hard to eradicate.

The Plain Dealer’s Rachel Dissell reports that Bosley’s legal team won a battle with the Cincinnati-based skin magazine, and its notorious publisher Larry Flynt, last week.

Local news anchor Catherine Bosley triumphed this week over Hustler magazine publisher Larry Flynt in the latest round of a years-long battle over a revealing photo of her his publication ran without permission.

This week, a federal appeals court rejected an appeal by Flynt’s company to overturn a 2010 jury verdict that had awarded her $135,000 in damages.

The Bosleys had the copyrights to the pictures, Dissell writes, because, according to court documents, they negotiated for those rights with the amateur photographer who took the Key West bar shots.

We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again. Sharon Reed asked for the attention, and Catherine Bosley did not.

It’s incredibly difficult to “unring the bell” when it comes to Internet content, particularly pictures of unclothed, attractive females. But we wish Catherine Bosley all the best in similar efforts…

WLFM TESTING, AGAIN: Cleveland’s newest “radio station”, the 87.7 FM signal powered by Murray Hill Broadcasting’s WLFM-LP analog TV channel 6, has changed up its testing.

The past few days, the station has aired a long, continuous tape of 3-5 second snippets of popular songs of the past few decades.

YouTube user dannykewl, whom we believe is also an OMW reader, shared a sample on the popular video sharing website:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJZ8hHNo1pk&w=420&h=315]

From Danny’s description on the YouTube video:

They are playing a pre-recorded cassette tape loop of the Billboard Time-sweep which has a snippet of every Billboard magazine Hot 100 song from 1955 till 1992, in order. This 4+ minute video clip has the timesweep somewhere in the 1978 – 1980 range. They have a Western Digital logo screensaver on the channel 6 video, with no station ID seen. I have heard occasional audio ID’s, “This is WLFM Cleveland”

Some quick Google searching tells us that the station has apparently dumped the cassette tape’s audio onto a Western Digital brand consumer media player resulting in the screensaver logo noted above.

In the early testing using this loop, the audio had massive dropouts, leading us to wonder if WLFM was testing a studio-transmitter link over the Internet from the station’s apparent home (the Cleveland Agora) to the transmitter site (in Parma). That was just a guess on our part, though. Presumably, if they were doing that, they were using the Internet serving capabilities of the WD device.

As far as the station’s debut, unless you count this continuous loop, we doubt very much that they’ll make the second deadline of August 31st…this Friday.

The station now identifies itself as “87.7 Cleveland” on its placeholder website, though “87.7 Clevelanders Rock” is still in the title. (We’ll be that sounds familiar to AAA format fans…remember “107.3 Cleveland”?)

As of yet, we have no news on a debut. But if the WLFM folks have a rabbit to pull out of the audio side of a TV transmitter on 87.7 FM, we’ll let you know…

CAVS TV CHANGES: The Cleveland Cavaliers will, as earlier announced, air 81 games this season on Fox Sports Ohio…but there’ll be a change or two around the games.

Fred McLeod will continue to call Cavaliers action on FSOhio, with ex-Cavs star Austin Carr returning alongside him.

But with the exit of Dionne Miller, the network has made some changes elsewhere on the broadcast team.

Jeff Phelps gives up the role of sideline reporter, to become the full-time pre-game and post-game “Cavaliers Live” host.

He’ll add duties for road games this year, doing those shows from the FSOhio studios in Independence…and will continue doing shows for home games from Quicken Loans Arena. He’ll be joined for all shows by former Cavalier and FSOhio veteran Campy Russell.

FSOhio adds Allyson Clifton for sideline work. She’s a University of Toledo grad who’s worked for ABC affilate WTVG/13 and the Buckeye Cable Sports Network in that city, as well as with the AAA Toledo Mud Hens of minor league baseball’s International League.

Phelps, of course, remains behind the microphone at the Halle Building with WEWS sports director Andy Baskin as co-host of “Baskin and Phelps”, otherwise known as “Cleveland’s Talking Heads”, middays on CBS Radio sports WKRK/92.3 “The Fan”…

“NEWSNITE”, DEAD OR ALIVE: The word out of Western Reserve PBS, home of WNEO/45 Alliance and WEAO/49 Akron, is that the long-running news discussion program “NewsNite” returns this fall…with a new format.

But the back and forth discussion of weekly local news events, particularly in the Akron area, will not return.

From a station release:

Previously composed of a news panel discussing the week’s top regional stories, the program now features one-on-one interviews that address noteworthy news events about Northeast Ohio.

Long-time “NewsNite” panelist Jody Miller will preside over an interview program similar what she did with the show’s “NewsMaker” specials, which aired mostly during the holidays.

The new season’s debut is September 7th at its usual time, 8:30 PM on Fridays. It also repeats on Mondays at 6:30 PM.

The season’s opening show will feature interviews with John Green, PhD, distinguished professor at the University of Akron and director of the Ray C. Bliss Institute of Applied Politics; Dan Moulthrop, curator of conversation at the Civic Commons; and Diana Swoope, PhD, senior pastor of Arlington Church of God. They will discuss the Civility Project, a year-long study addressing the impacts of civil discourse, particularly as it relates to politics. Topics planned for upcoming episodes include the work of University Park Alliance and the 10th anniversary of the Akron Marathon.

Quoting Western Reserve Public Media president/CEO Trina Cutter:

“Using the ‘NewsMaker’ format provides a way for Western Reserve Public Media to continue its long-standing commitment to keep NewsNite on the air,” said TrinaCutter, Western Reserve Public Media president and CEO. “We will continue to offer timely, in-depth coverage of regional news topics while at the same time broaden the discussion to include community leaders and news makers.”

Though Trina Cutter doesn’t quite finish that thought, “a way to continue its long-standing commitment to keep NewsNite on the air” sounds to us like, well, that it’s cheaper to pay one interview panelist.

“NewsNite” host Eric Mansfield is out of broadcasting now, as a senior media relations executive at Kent State University. (His predecessor at the old “NewsNight Akron”, Vince Duffy, is a public radio executive in Michigan these days.)

But we bet regular “NewsNite” panelists like Rubber City Radio VP/Information Media and OMW reader Ed Esposito, and regulars from the Akron Beacon Journal and Kent State University’s WKSU/89.7 would have welcomed the opportunity to bounce Northeast Ohio’s issues off each other in front of the camera…

IN TAMPA: The slightly rain delayed Republican National Convention has quite a Northeast Ohio media presence.

This is an incomplete list, so we’ll add any we missed.

WKYC “Channel 3 News” has sent primary anchor and former network news anchor Russ Mitchell to Tampa, and he’ll repeat the assignment with the Democrats in Charlotte.

We’ve seen WEWS “NewsChannel 5” reporter John Kosich doing live shots from Tampa.

Radio-wise, WKSU/89.7 news director M.L. Schultze gets Tampa duties, with senior reporter Mark Urycki covering the Democrats in Charlotte. (It’s a mini “Ann’s Corner”, if you will…though we don’t think personal and professional Friend of OMW Ann VerWiebe, WKSU’s marketing guru, is driving the “Folk Alley” bus down to Tampa or Charlotte…)

We heard alternate Republican convention delegate Bryan Williams, the veteran Summit County politician, on Rubber City Radio oldies/news WAKR/1590 during the “Ray Horner Morning Show”…and he’ll continue to share his insights from Tampa, with another delegate doing so for the Democratic National Convention…

HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS INSIDER: SportsTime Ohio’s “High School Sports Insider” is back on the air, as OMW reader Bill Castrovince continues his recovery from having a brain tumor removed.

The show airs Mondays at 6:30 PM on STO…and it’s produced by Twinsburg’s Classic Teleproductions with Bill Boronkay aboard alongside Castrovince…

SPEAKING OF RECOVERY: Medical rehab appears to be going well for a long-time Akron and Canton radio sports personality.

Joe Jastrzemski has most recently been heard on NextMedia talk WHBC/1480 Canton, but is best known for his 17 year stint doing sports and news in Akron for Rubber City Radio’s WAKR.

Joe has been moved from Akron General Medical Center to the ManorCare center on West Market Street, a short drive from his former Akron radio home.

Joe would like to pass along his sincere thanks for all who have checked in with him during this time, and provided support and comfort.

We know you’ll hear him calling a game or doing a newscast or sportscast, somewhere on the radio, as soon as humanly possible.

And for now, we certainly hope he’s able to go home, soon…

RADIO PARENTS: At this rate, they’ll be able to staff a children’s radio station.

Our sincere congratulations to Kasper, assistant program director/music director/afternoon drive host at Clear Channel Cleveland top 40 WAKS/96.5 “Kiss FM”, and his wife, Clear Channel Akron hot AC WKDD/98.1’s Krissy Taylor, for their latest, uh, co-production. From Kasper via AllAccess:

NATALIE IRENE was born WEDNESDAY morning (8/22) at 11:58, weighing 7lbs exactly,” KASPER told ALL ACCESS. “Mom and big sister KATIE are doing great. Yep, two daughters. We’re in trouble!”

We’re wondering what Clear Channel markets will hear voicetracks one day from Katie and Natalie. Dad is already heard in his former home market of Youngstown on WAKZ/95.9 “Kiss FM”, and in Dallas on that market’s “Kiss FM”. Mom voicetracks into Grand Rapids in addition to her work on WKDD…

A VOID: Those of us who do this whole online media coverage thing are a small group.

You already know about our long-time personal and professional friend Scott Fybush (“NorthEast Radio Watch”), and we’ve also mentioned long-time friend Blaine Thompson (“Indiana RadioWatch”).

Many of us look up to those considered the best at what they do, like Tom Taylor.

The radio and media coverage veteran spent the past five years writing what he called a “slightly addictive” daily radio newsletter called “Taylor on Radio-Info”, brought to you by the Chicago-based Radio-Info.com, run until recently by the parents of the late Doug Fleming.

That’s changed, as “Talkers” magazine publisher Michael Harrison has taken over the editorial operations of the site that grew out of Doug’s cherished message boards….and with the change, there’s no more “Taylor on Radio-Info”. (The Flemings held onto the message boards, under the new URL RadioDiscussions.com.)

Tom told his readers last week that he was taking a break, for now, and we wish him much success in whatever his next endeavor will be.

And speaking for OMW, we will eventually stop twitching early Monday mornings, when we’ve read the latest “NorthEast Radio Watch” and then have nowhere else to go to get our fix…at very least until the AllAccess folks start updating for the day…