The year’s shortest month starts out with a pretty decent list of news items… many from the past few days…
SHOES TO FILL: Long-time Clear Channel Cleveland programmer Bo Matthews left behind some big shoes to fill when he departed the PD chair at rock/talk WMMS/100.7, top 40 WAKS/96.5 “Kiss FM” and station-in-a-closet alt-rock WMMS-HD2-W256BT/99.1 “99X”.
With Matthews now the cluster programming VP for Clear Channel’s Cincinnati cluster, Oak Tree has found his replacement.
He’s Chris Tyler. No, not the Chris Tyler in Harrisburg PA or the one in Duluth MN.
The new PD of WMMS/Kiss FM/99X is the Chris Tyler who has been at Clear Channel’s Providence RI cluster the past three years, as VP/Programming and hands on program director for rock WHJY.
Thanks to a press release helpfully sent directly to us by folks at Oak Tree, here’s a quote from Tyler on his new assignment:
“I’m beyond thrilled to join the amazing people in our Cleveland cluster,” said Tyler. “Programming such legendary stations as WMMS and 96.5 Kiss-FM is an opportunity I welcome with open arms. Plus, it’s not every day you get the chance to work with killer talents like Rover and Alan Cox. Thanks to Tom McConnell, Gene Romano, Gary Mincer and Keith Abrams for their enormous support during this process.”
And yes, there are other Chris Tylers in radio…a name that seems as common as “Justin Case” on the top 40 side. Our apologies for the confusion on social media…
BOYD EXITS: CBS Radio hot AC WQAL/104.1 “Q104” has one less member of its “Fee’s Kompany”.
After two years on the station’s morning show, Katherine Boyd left the show and the station on Friday.
She was open about the process on the show itself, telling her colleagues that she wanted to “return to journalism” in an audio segment Thursday with Allan Fee, who was enroute to the Super Bowl on Friday.
And in a very open “goodbye letter”, Boyd says she’s “not going anywhere” location wise, awaiting out a non-compete until August while doing writing online:
As part of my CBS contract I can’t work for a radio or TV station here until August. (It’s called a non-compete. And it’s standard in the radio and TV biz.) But I can write. So I’ll be reporting for Cleveland.com and other publications till then. And the folks here at CBS Radio are also kind enough to let me still do commerciasl for Q104. So you’ll still hear me every once and while on the radio.
Boyd replaced Jen Toohey alongside Fee…and Toohey, who started off across the hall at AC WDOK/102.1 “New 102” with “Trapper Jack”, is now paired with Tim Richards in the morning drive slot.
It would not at all be a surprise to see Boyd pop up on TV…where she’s already done some work for Gannett NBC affiliate WKYC/3.
She did mention “TV” twice in that part of her note, where she says she didn’t opt to renew her Q104 contract to get back to her “true calling: journalism”…
GETTING GETTV: It was announced months ago that Univision O&O WQHS/61 would get an English-language movie subchannel.
That channel, “GetTV”, has popped up on WQHS/61.3 subchannel as of this weekend. (And no, we don’t know why it’s 61.3 with 61.2 not used.)
The network promised a February 3rd debut…in specific, at 4 PM Monday, according to its online schedule.
The old movies come to WQHS because corporate owner Univision made a nationwide deal with Sony-owned GetTV.
If you’re a fan of older classic black and white movies…if the movies on “This TV” (WBNX/55.3) are too new for your liking…GetTV will be welcome in your home.
We’re not sure why, but the on-screen bug on GetTV does not reflect that name…it says “Cine Sony Television”. (61.3’s PSIP information shows the name “Get-TV”.)
And yes, none of this affects 61.1, where WQHS will continue to offer Spanish-language Univision programming…
19 ACTION NEWS SET: An eagle eyed OMW reader points out a new set for Raycom Media CBS affiliate WOIO/19’s “19 Action News”.
We got this screen grab from online video from last night’s newscasts.
Poor WOIO finally got a set, vs the desk set up in front of the newsroom, but look what they got. The bricks look fake, it looks like the anchor desk is about 2 feet in front of the video wall, and visually it sort of looks like odds and ends put together from other station’s castoffs. And- it looks like it should be about 2 feet higher. I think my living room is bigger than their set.