Sorting Through The Week

Here are some items we’d been working on, but put on the back burner after the passing of WKYC legend Del Donahoo…

NORM GONE: A long-time radio personality known for oldies music is out at SiriusXM.

The departure of Cleveland’s Norm N. Nite wasn’t specific to him, though, as numerous reports say the satellite radio service dumped all air personalities from two channels, “50s on 5” and “90s on 9”.

Norm did Saturday and Sunday shows live from the Alan Freed studio at Cleveland’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum.

Engineering for the broadcasts was handled by Cleveland radio historian Jim Davison, an OMW reader who recently ran Mahoning Valley stations WHTX/1570 Warren and WYCL/1540 Niles.

Jim writes:

I know how much work and time Norm puts into his show each week especially with his “Remember Then” hour. and It upsets me that they have to take away a living legend who really cares and knows the music from his time.

The weekly interviews we did with the artist from that time was awesome especially during his annual Christmas show where we interviewed over 20 artist each year over that three hour show including Connie Francis, Lesley Gore, Lou Christie, Lloyd Price, Mel Carter, Jay Black, Duane Eddy and so many more.

Jim directs Norm’s fans to his website, where the following statement is posted:

To all of my loyal listeners:

SiriusXM Radio made a decision to no longer employ any on-air personalities on the Fifties on Five station.

It is with deep regret that I inform you of this management decision.

I’ve enjoyed a wonderful 8 ½ years bringing you the best possible shows over the SiriusXM airwaves. I’m sorry I didn’t have a chance to say goodbye to each and every one of you.

Please continue to go to my web site for any updates or to contact me.
You can also contact me on my Facebook Page.

I wish you continued good health and happiness.

Rock ‘On

Sincerely,

Norm N. Nite

Norm has also done shows for CBS Radio’s oldies flagship station, WCBS-FM/101.1 New York, from the Rock Hall studio. And that studio continues to house activity for SiriusXM.

The satcaster’s Classic Vinyl channel has a decidedly Cleveland flavor, with local radio names Rachel Steele, Nancy Alden and Kim Monroe based there…with Alden and Steele broadcasting live weekdays from noon to 6 PM. And last we checked, Monroe was the program director for Classic Vinyl…

87.7 ANALYSIS: The end of alt-rock on Murray Hill Broadcasting’s WLFM-LP/87.7 (TV 6) has produced looks back on why it “didn’t work”, and not just here on the Mighty Blog(tm).

A long article from our friends at alt-weekly Cleveland Scene, “Why Cleveland Radio Sucks: the True Story Behind 87.7 Cleveland Sound, and the Future of Radio Innovation”, attempts to chronicle the end of the English-language alt-rock format on the “Franken FM”, so named for the hybrid of a “radio station” created by the analog audio carrier of a low-power TV station.

But first, the article by Lee Chilcote spends a lot of time lamenting the spread of “corporate radio” on the dial in Cleveland and elsewhere:

Yet mainstream Cleveland radio is predictably bland. During morning drive time, you’ll hear local shock jocks, celebrity gossip and that Skynyrd tune you loved in high school. What you won’t hear is any new music beyond the latest Top 40 singles by Katy Perry and Justin Timberlake. And new, contemporary rock ‘n’ roll? Just fuhgeddaboutit.

There’s a lot of intersection between the desire for “new music” on the radio, Scene itself, and the fanbase of “87.7 Cleveland’s Sound”. The station turned to Latin music at the start of 2014 as “La Mega”.

The part of Chilcote’s article that specifically deals with 87.7’s former format contains few surprises to OMW readers, as we’ve covered the topic extensively here:

During its brief history, Cleveland Sound lacked a robust marketing budget, never even filled the General Manager position, and rotated through four program directors. Former staffers say (WLFM owner Tom) Wilson and his partners simply lacked the kind of hands-on management and investment that would have made the station successful over the long-term.

The station also faced an uphill battle given its spot on the left fringe of the dial. Many Clevelanders probably never knew it existed or assumed it was a college radio station.

Chilcote goes on to quote former WMMS/100.7 programmer and consultant John Gorman (“87.7 was a joke”) and fellow former WMMS veteran Denny Sanders, now at Telos/Omnia (“the whole thing was run like it was somebody’s plaything”).

The article repeats something we’ve reported from the very start: the technical nature of WLFM-LP being a TV station with audio at 87.7 on the FM dial, and the fact that the configuration goes away in September 2015 – analog LPTV will be forced to convert to digital, and there’s no 87.7(5) FM signal attached to digital TV channel 6.

Living in denial is WLFM head honcho Tom Wilson:

Wilson acknowledges that 87.7 may go off the air in September 2015, but says that he’s confident the FCC will extend the deadline and eventually allow the station to become permanent. He won’t discuss the possibility that the partners might sell the digital frequency to a TV station. “We’re not talking ‘what ifs’ at this point,” he says.

We’re not sure where Wilson is getting that “confidence”.

Chilcote quotes the FCC website about the September deadline, and here in this very blog, we came up with the agency’s reaffirmation of the deadline late last year.

The future of “local rock music” audio in Cleveland may well be, as many have suggested to us, online. The Scene article says Gorman is “already working” on such a project, and others are likely doing so as well.

In the meantime, “La Mega” programmer Daniel Melendez once again cites the positive reaction to the new station.

But we assume the TSJ Media folks are aware that no matter what airs on 87.7 FM, be it alt-rock or Latin music, the station is still slated to go away in September of next year…and we assume TSJ is hoping for “La Mega” to build enough that they can find some other home for it next year…

NASH?: No, Cumulus Youngstown market-and-beyond country radio powerhouse WQXK/105.1 isn’t “Nash FM”…yet.

But the rebranding of Cumulus’ country stations has become a fast moving train, with 11 such stations (including the company’s WKDF in Nashville) taking on the new corporate “Nash FM” name this past week.

Included in that list is a station with at least some Northeast Ohio listeners.
WXTA/97.9 in the Erie PA market, long known as “Country 98”, has a signal that reaches into Ashtabula County.

But even more changes are coming to Cumulus’ country stations, with 19 of them next Monday debuting the new national “America’s Morning Show”, currently only heard on the company’s New York City market station, WNSH/94.7 (the former WFME, Family Radio’s long-time outlet licensed to Newark NJ).

Blair Garner and company’s Nashville-based show will displace local morning shows at those stations.

With all this, we have no idea when or if “K105” will be affected, and what would happen to its local air personalities (including incumbent morning hosts Doug James and Mary Ann Graff).

WQXK already carries Cumulus’ national evening show, “Nash Nights Live with Shawn Parr”.

Cumulus seems intent on spreading both the Garner show and the “Nash” brand nationwide on its stations, and others, so it seems likely the Salem-licensed country radio giant – with a big signal that reaches far beyond the Youngstown market – will be affected at some point down the road…

ANN’S CORNER: We owe long-time professional and personal friend Ann VerWiebe, marketing guru for Kent State University public radio outlet WKSU/89.7-and-its-many-simulcasters, more than just another “Ann’s Corner”.

This time around, it’s about WKSU executive director/general manager Dan Skinner, who was recently elected president of the regional public radio group PRIMA (Public Radio in Mid America).

Ann helpfully describes the group to us:

“PRIMA is a regional membership organization that brings together managers of public radio stations from an area encompassing 20 states in the mid-section of the nation.”

In her hand-crafted release, Ann quotes her boss:

“I’m honored to represent PRIMA and believe that regional organizations have a vital role to play in shaping the future of public media.”

And in case Mr. Skinner does happen upon this Mighty Blog(tm), please note that such releases and information come from Ann in a very timely fashion, each and every time.

Our publishing schedule accounts for any delays…

HACKSAW: Former Northeast Ohio sports radio voice Lee “Hacksaw” Hamilton has been a human fixture in San Diego sports radio for a long, long time.

That fixture gets moved occasionally, though, and “Hacksaw” finds himself out of the morning drive slot at “The Mighty 1090”, the San Diego sports talk station beaming across the international border from Baja California, Mexico.

Most of his career in San Diego, Hamilton has been associated with the afternoon drive time slot.

But he was moved to mornings, initially paired with talk host and former politician J.D. Hayworth.

Hayworth was quickly dispatched (and later sued the station for luring him to San Diego), and the “Mighty 1090” morning show has featured Hamilton and a rotating cast of co-hosts, until now.

This time, the San Diego sports talker has brought in controversial Florida host Dan Sileo for its morning drive slot.

“Hacksaw” is still with 1090, though, as he’ll take a new role as of yet unannounced.

For those whose radio memories don’t reach back into the 1970s, Lee “Hacksaw” Hamilton hosted WHLO/640 Akron’s evening sports talk show, and did play by play for the WHA hockey Cleveland Crusaders on the former WWWE/1100 “3WE”.

1100, of course, is now Clear Channel talk WTAM, and 640 is a Clear Channel sister station of WTAM once again in the talk format…