Weekend Reading

We’ve got some reading for you to help fill your media weekend. Or, you can catch up at work on Monday morning…

BACK UP: For nearly a week, Western Reserve PBS’ Akron outlet was nowhere to be found on the airwaves.

The outage at WEAO/49, the Cleveland-Akron market half of the public TV station’s duo, lasted at very least from early Friday morning of last week.

This Thursday night, a half-power signal came on the air from the station’s Copley Township tower at about 9 PM. WEAO then went off the air periodically from Friday morning until apparently returning at full-power late Friday afternoon.

This might be the time to point out that cable/satellite penetration is pretty high in Northeast Ohio, with something like 90 percent of viewers hooked up to pay TV services.

So, those who watch WEAO via the massive Northeast Ohio Time Warner Cable system may not have known it was off the air. Time Warner tells us it picked up WNEO/45 Alliance, Western Reserve PBS’ Youngstown market signal out of Salem, throughout the area. WNEO was not affected by WEAO’s technical problems.

DirecTV viewers may not have been affected either, as we believe Western Reserve PBS had to establish a dedicated feed to get around the inability for the satcaster to pick up the WEAO signal…after moving its Cleveland local receive facility behind buildings between downtown Cleveland and Copley.

We’ll assume that any other pay TV operators pick up the WEAO signal off-air, though we don’t know if any of them were able to switch feeds to WNEO.

Fixing such things as faulty wiring is not easy, if they are high upon a tall tower. Western Reserve PBS tweeted out the picture you see here, of workers descending from the WEAO tower.

Also on that tower off Cleveland Massillon Road in the Akron antenna farm are three radio broadcasters – Kent State University public radio outlet WKSU/89.7, Rubber City Radio country WQMX/94.9 and the University of Akron’s WZIP/88.1.

All three stations either had to employ backup facilities, or reduce power or go off the air, so workers could safely climb the tower.

In the case of WKSU, that meant the temporary interruption of the station’s HD sidechannels (classical, “Folk Alley and all-news), which are not available at the auxiliary facility…

106 AND CLEVELAND: Radio One hip hop WENZ/107.9 “Z107.9” once again has turned to a former host of the BET TV show “106 & Park” to fill an on-air opening.

But it’s not to replace Shorty da Prince, the former co-host of that program who has now left Carnegie Avenue after a cup of coffee or two to take a larger market gig…nights at Radio One sister station WKYS/93.9 in Washington DC.

The incoming staffer at “Z107.9” is Shorty’s former co-host on the BET program, “Paigion”, who takes over the Cleveland station’s evening time slot.

(They’re Jordan Johnson and Kimberly Walker, for those keeping track of full names.)

Paigion joins Z107.9 from yet another Radio One sister hip hop station, Atlanta’s WHTA/107.9 “Hot 107.9”.

And thus, the connection may not be BET’s “106 & Park”, but Radio One Cleveland operations manager Bill Black…who came to Carnegie Avenue from a gig as assistant program director/music director for the aforementioned WHTA…

TESSA OUT: One of the disadvantages of using voicetrack talent within your company became apparent this week at Clear Channel adult CHR WKDD/98.1 in the Akron market.

WKDD used the services of midday talent Tessa Hall, but Hall was let go at her home station…Clear Channel rock WWDC/101.1 “DC 101” Washington DC. (We’ll presume she’s no longer in the building due to the company’s ongoing budget cuts.)

At this writing, WKDD has replaced Hall’s slot on the station schedule with a generic listing of “Akron’s Hit Music”. We don’t yet know the local station’s plan to fill its midday slot…

WEEKEND NEWS: The station that never left weekend morning newscasts is expanding its reach.

Our blogging colleague Frank Macek reports on his “Director’s Cut” blog that WKYC’s “Channel 3 News” will add news hours on both Saturday and Sunday.

An extra hour of “Channel 3 News Today” joins the schedule right before the Saturday edition of NBC’s “Today Show”, which will be followed by more “Channel 3 News” today from 9 AM to 10:30 AM.

On Sunday morning, the WKYC news expansion adds two hours before NBC’s Sunday “Today Show” (6-8 AM) before resuming from 9 AM to 10 AM. NBC’s “Meet the Press” moves up to 10 AM.

On both days, Macek notes that the weekend edition of “Channel 3 News at Noon” continues as usual.

In non-news programming, the item also notes the addition of “The Queen Latifah Show” (2-3 PM) and “Celebrity Name Game” featuring CBS “Late Late Show” host Craig Ferguson (3:30-4 PM).

“Name Game” will replace the second airing that hour of “Family Feud” (with Cleveland’s Steve Harvey) on WKYC. The shows are distributed by the same company, which is encouraging the pairing.

“The Doctors” finishes out its WKYC run in Very Late Night, from 3-4 AM, in a time slot where Syndicated Shows Go To Die…

CAM IN THE WRONG PLACE: It seems like TV stations have cameras (cue Drew Carey) “everywhere!”.

Most stations supplement the official Ohio Department of Transportation traffic cameras with extra cameras of their own, not to mention other live cameras…like the one at Progressive Field used by Cleveland Indians over-air rightsholder Gannett NBC affiliate WKYC/3.

You can bet that no station lists a camera in their guest bathroom, but one was discovered hidden there at Scripps ABC affiliate WEWS/5.

Northeast Ohio Media Group reporter Brandon Blackwell has details:

The video camera was discovered in a first floor men’s bathroom used by station guests at the ABC affiliate on Euclid Avenue. The camera has been removed, said General Manager Sam Rosenwasser.

Blackwell quotes a memo from Rosenwasser to staff:

“It has come to my attention an unauthorized camera was placed in the first floor men’s bathroom in response to complaints the bathroom was repeatedly being defaced,” Rosenwasser said in the memo. “First, let me assure you as soon as I found out about this, the camera was removed. Second, I want to let you know any recording made through the camera has been destroyed. Third, we are taking appropriate disciplinary action against those involved.

“Finally and most importantly, I want to apologize.”

As the memo points out, the camera apparently wasn’t used to get a peek at users of the men’s guest bathroom, but was what a station statement called an “ill-conceived and inappropriate response to catching a vandal.”

Blackwell’s report cites “multiple sources” as saying that a station engineer was let go as a result of the Camera Caper…

ENGAGEMENT CONGRATS: It’s not at all uncommon to find love blooming between staffers of competing stations.

That’s what has happened between Dick Goddard Way and Reserve Square.

Tribune Fox affiliate WJW/8 “Fox 8 News” announced the engagement of one of its own last weekend…a union of “I-Team” reporter Peggy Sinkovich, and “19 Action News” reporter Ed Gallek (“a reporter here in town” as the story on “Fox 8″‘s website notes).

Congratulations to the happy couple!