It’s nearly April…and news is breaking out all over…
LANIGAN’S GONE: Clear Channel classic hits WMJI/105.7 “Majic 105.7” morning icon John Lanigan has been hearing “goodbye” for weeks from thousands of people, particularly the last week.
He finally said “goodbye” himself to his over 40 years in Cleveland radio this morning.
Lanigan was honored during the intermission of Saturday’s 2014 edition of the station’s signature event, the “Moondog Coronation Ball” at Quicken Loans Arena.
We couldn’t be there, but the Plain Dealer’s Tom Feran was at the Q:
A full house at the Q jumped to its feet and sang along with classic hits, and showed its appreciation for John Lanigan, who is retiring after more than 40 years on morning radio.
“What am I gonna do without a microphone?” he quipped to the crowd. “It’s been a lot of fun. We’ve been through the radio wars. We had a great time. All I can do is tell you how grateful I am. Thank you.”
Lanigan was joined by his wife Sandy, and by a number of family members who flew in from Colorado.
He was also joined by co-hosts Jimmy Malone, Chip Kullik and Tracey Carroll, who will join now-former WMJI middayer and former WKYC/3 anchor and meteorologist Mark Nolan on the new “Nolan, Malone and Kullik” Majic morning show starting Tuesday.
Monday, Lanigan complained that the Cleveland Indians season opener was at 10 PM (Eastern), due to the team opening 2014 against the Oakland A’s in California.
But quickly, he realized that he could indeed stay up for the game, since he didn’t have a wake up call on Tuesday.
Lanigan noted that his last show earned a notification on Clear Channel’s national iHeartRadio platform, though the cast noted they didn’t get paid extra for that.
After Lanigan’s exit, Kat Jackson (who sounded voicetracked to us) started her double duty as WMJI’s new midday voice…with Nolan moving to mornings on Tuesday. She’ll continue to be heard evenings on sister country WGAR/99.5.
And really, Nolan’s presence in middays on “Majic” was basically the “Waiting for Lanigan To Retire” shift. You can likely count the number of live midday personalities on Clear Channel stations on one hand, and still have room to pick up a bowling ball…
BREAKING NEWS: Chicago media columnist Robert Feder reports that Tribune Fox affiliate WJW/8 “Fox 8” general manager Greg Easterly is getting a big promotion within his new parent company.
Feder reports that Easterly will take over as president and general manager of Tribune’s iconic WGN/9 in Chicago, effective April 24th.
More later, as we’re in a hurry…
INTEGRITY: Spirit Broadcasting talk WELW/1330 Willoughby has been a mainstay on the Lake County AM radio dial for decades.
WELW won’t be any longer, but 1330 AM will be.
That’s because WELW is changing its call letters and name starting today… 1330 is now officially WINT, referencing the new on-air handle of “Integrity Radio”.
The programming on the new WINT will not change, vice president/general manager/co-owner Ray Somich tells the Lake County News-Herald:
“There will be a different attitude, a different passion that I believe is going to come through,” he said. “We want to be a different one. We want to be a special one… We also want to be the one that adds the most value to the community.”
Somich and Cleveland polka radio star Tony Petkovsek have owned WELW since 1990, and Petkovsek’s long-running polka show still airs on Saturdays on the new WINT.
The station’s current combination of local and syndicated talk and local sports continues. WINT will continue to be the flagship of the Lake County Captains minor league baseball team.
One big change is the future addition of an FM signal, Somich tells the News-Herald, along with an “expansion and improvement of the AM signal”:
“We’ve acquired the license (for the FM signal), but we are working on the building component. So that will be done later this summer,” Somich said.
When the improvements are completed, Somich expects the signal to cover the entirety of Lake County and most of Cuyahoga County.
We presume that means the new WINT will pair up with an FM translator.
But Lance Venta, from our content partners at RadioInsight.com, tells us that “no application for a translator purchase has been made, nor has there been an app to move a translator to WELW’s tower site.”
Even the News-Herald notes that the location of the FM signal on the radio dial is “unknown”, and as of this morning, there’s no FCC application for any changes (if that’s even possible) to the 1330 signal.
And some of our Lake County sources tell us that they can’t get the details, either.
Still, whenever that FM signal shows up, it’ll play a big role in the future of the locally-owned station that very much superserves Lake County.
And since WINT’s main signal at 1330 puts out 500 watts daytime, and an anemic 42 watt nighttime signal that barely covers Willoughby and Eastlake.
As many signal challenged AM stations will tell you, winter sunrise/sunset times mean that there are many drive-time hours a year that the station airs on the lesser signal.
An FM translator that reaches into Cuyahoga County will help the new “Integrity Radio” serve Lake County residents who commute into Cleveland.
And presumably as a nod to that extended coverage, WINT’s new legal ID this morning is “WINT, Willoughby/Cleveland”…
SIXX MINUS ONE: Premiere Networks syndicated “Sixx Sense” evening music/talk show is losing one.
The show, hosted by Mötley Crüe co-founder Nikki Sixx, is losing co-host Kerri Kasem.
But as Radio Business Report notes, Kasem isn’t straying far from her radio partner:
Kasem, who broke the news to listeners 3/28, shared that her decision to leave the programs after more than four years stemmed from the time commitment necessary to join Sixx on the road for Mötley Crüe’s final tour.
Premiere says a new co-host for “Sixx Sense” will be named this week, and that the show will spend the next few days paying tribute to Kerri Kasem.
Locally, “Sixx Sense” started on Clear Channel rock/talk WMMS/100.7 in 2011.
But the show now airs on “99X”, the alt-rock station that lives on Cleveland translator W256BT/99.1, and is fed by WMMS’ HD2 sidechannel.
Kerri Kasem is, of course, the oldest daughter of radio legend Casey Kasem…and has made news recently for a family battle related to her famous father’s last days…
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