Items From All Over

Our collection is from all over, but there’s a Northeast Ohio connection for each one…

TSJ BUYS COLUMBUS: In speculation about the fate of for-sale Radio Disney O&O WWMK/1260 Cleveland, we wondered if Cincinnati-based TSJ Media would buy the station.

TSJ operates “La Mega 87.7”, the Spanish-language station being leased from Tom Wilson’s Murray Hill Broadcasting, and known to the FCC as LPTV outlet WLFM-LP/6, recently given a temporary and possibly permanent reprieve as a “radio station” operating on the audio carrier of a TV signal.

We discounted TSJ’s interest in 1260:

Well, TSJ’s other two stations in Ohio are rimshot FM stations: WVKO-FM/103.1 Johnstown in the Columbus market, and WOXY/97.7 Mason in the Cincinnati market.

More importantly, in all three markets, TSJ does not actually own the stations it is operating.

WOXY is owned by First Broadcasting, and WVKO-FM is owned by Bernard Ohio…so unless TSJ is willing to move into ownership, someone else would have to buy 1260 and lease it to them.

Our content partners at RadioInsight report that TSJ is now very much moving into ownership, winning the battle to buy its Columbus radio home:

Bernard Radio is selling Spanish AC “Mega 103.1” WVKO Johnstown and Gospel “1580 The Praise” WVKO Columbus, OH to TSJ Radio for $743,750.

The saga (no, not Saga) of these stations is well-known to long-time OMW readers, even though we haven’t directly covered Central Ohio radio for years.

Bernard Radio is the operating concern born out of the D.B. Zwirn investment fund, which won the Stop 26-Riverbend stations out of bankruptcy (it was the primary lender).

Former Stop 26-Riverbend principal Percy Squire recently started his attempt to return to radio, by filing to buy translators in two of his former markets – Youngstown and Columbus.

By “operating concern”, we mean what we always have… Bernard Radio exists to keep the stations going, so they have value when sold.

How does this affect TSJ in Cleveland?

We still don’t believe they’re interested in an AM signal for “Mega 87.7”. We have no reason to believe that a “Mega 1260” is in any cards, and would be surprised if it happened…even if Disney offered a good price.

Would TSJ buy WLFM-LP from Tom Wilson and his partners?

That would certainly be more likely than a purchase of AM 1260, but we don’t know if Wilson/Murray Hill is interested in selling. (The price would certainly be agreeable to TSJ, which is paying over $700,000 for the WVKO stations. Murray Hill bought, er, Channel 6 for $25,000 from closely associated Venture Broadcasting.)

Our semi-educated guess is that any transaction regarding WLFM would be “on hold” until the FCC deals with the proposal to keep analog FM stations operating on 87.7 FM…alongside eventual digital TV Channel 6 licenses.

In the meantime, as now, TSJ would continue to operate “La Mega 87.7” on the audio carrier of Murray Hill’s LPTV analog channel 6.

One other thing we didn’t know about TSJ, thanks to the excellent Tom Taylor Now E-mail newsletter this early morning:

Frank “Bo” Wood and Bobby Lawrence were principals of Jacor in the early days, and now Wood is the leading investor in a new group named TSJ Radio. Its parent is Great West Coast Ventures, and some of the other participants are Brian Wiles and Spanish media entrepreneur Josh Guttman.

We seem to recall that Lawrence ran Local TV LLC when Randy Michaels exited the suburban Cincinnati TV operator for Tribune. Local TV LLC bought WJW/8 from Fox, and recently itself sold to Tribune…

CAVS EN ESPANOL: We don’t believe we’ve mentioned this already. The aforementioned “La Mega 87.7” will broadcast Cleveland Cavaliers games in Spanish this season.

The sound of LeBron James, Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving leading a major Cleveland pro sports team to the first title since 1964 is probably just as appealing to Spanish-speaking listeners…

BOBBY BONES ALERT: Subscribers to the AT&T U-verse system were basically freaked out in some markets recently, when an EAS alert from the White House appeared…with a note that all programming would be interrupted for a message from Washington.

All of the pieces have been put together, and as it turns out, the “alert” didn’t come from the White House…but from Premiere syndicated morning drive country show “The Bobby Bones Show”. (Bones airs in Northeast Ohio on iHeart[/former Clear Channel] Canton market translator W259BW/99.7 “Canton’s New Country”, powered by AC WHOF/101.7 “My 101.7″‘s HD2 sidechannel.)

RadioInsight’s Lance Venta explains how a syndicated morning drive radio host can trigger an alert that looks like it’s coming from the president:

During a segment discussing an EAS test that went off during Game 2 of the World Series somebody made the mistake of playing a YouTube clip of the 2011 national test over the air. That led to the affiliates of his show that are EAS primary stations like his flagship 97.9 WSIX Nashville, in their market to send the alerts out. Thankfully most of the other broadcasters had that outdated timestamp in the audio not trigger the warning unlike AT&T.

And as such, the alert wasn’t seen in Northeast Ohio, since A) neither W259BW nor WHOF are EAS primary stations and B) we don’t believe AT&T U-verse serves the Canton area as of yet (we could be wrong on that).

It’s a lesson other broadcasters have already learned: do NOT air recorded EAS audio from other events, in any form, and for any reason. The FCC comes down hard on that, even fining at least one cable TV network for such shenanigans…

BOB LANDS: A bit belated on this one, as we meant to Get A Round Tuit(tm), but former iHeart[/former Clear Channel] talk WTAM/1100 evening host Bob Frantz has landed…in his former market of Toledo.

Bob has taken over the afternoon drive slot at Cumulus sports WLQR-FM/106.5 “The Ticket” there, a slot left open after the station released veteran program director/afternoon drive host Norm Wamer. (Another Cumulus PD has added “The Ticket” and AM talker WLQR/1470, the former home of the sports format, to his existing station oversight.)

The Toledo Blade reports that Frantz is hosting on “The Ticket” mainly from his home (in Elyria):

Frantz will broadcast much of the time from a studio Cumulus Media Toledo is building in his Cleveland home, as well as at Cumulus studios in Toledo, said Andy Stuart, regional vice president and marketing manager for Cumulus, which owns WLQR.

“It will be a northwest Ohio sports talk show,” Stuart said, with a regional focus that includes Detroit, Cleveland, and South Bend.

Frantz came to WTAM to in 2006 try to clean up the disaster left behind in the station’s midday slot…when the Jerry Springer Experiment blew up in 1100’s virtual face.

After WTAM returned Premiere syndicated talker Glenn Beck to the time slot he occupied before Springer’s liberal talk show, Frantz spent the rest of his time at WTAM in the 7-11 PM evening time slot…before losing his job recently in company budget cuts.

Bob Frantz is no stranger to Toledo radio, once hosting morning drive on iHeart[/former Clear Channel] talk WSPD/1370 before being bumped to evenings, before heading to WTAM.

He’s also no stranger to Andy Stuart, who as we recall, was market manager for the then-Clear Channel cluster in Toledo when Frantz worked there (along with a side job of trying to recall Toledo’s mayor at the time).

We didn’t hear his debut on Monday, but some who did hear it are wondering if new Digity talk WHBC/1480 Canton afternoon drive host Kenny Roda is doing his program from a home studio in Medina…just down Route 57 from Frantz…

TOP 50 VOICES: There’s always been a lot of chatter in the world of voiceover in regards to success in the field, and now, there’s a ranking.

And Los Angeles-area based Benztown has taken the job of ranking the 50 top imaging voices in radio:

Benztown today released its Benztown 50 Voice Power Index, the first-ever industry ranking of the top 50 voiceover artists in the U.S. Benztown enlisted SparkNet Research & Consulting to compile and analyze industry data that was the foundation for the ranking. SparkNet ranked voiceover professionals against their industry peers across several criteria, including number of radio station affiliates, station size and market. More than 100 radio groups provided information for this exclusive annual ranking.

A number of the voices listed have been heard on Northeast Ohio stations, and at least one used to work here (Harry Legg, known as Scott James in his time in Cleveland radio).

But look! Right there on the list is an actual OMW reader!

45. Chuck Matthews

Our congratulations to long-time Friend of OMW Chuck, whose voice is heard not only on radio stations across the country, but on commercials for clients like Canton’s Pro Football Hall of Fame. He’s also employed by Rubber City Radio Group’s Akron cluster (talk WAKR/1590, rock WONE/97.5 and country WQMX/94.9).

Chuck is repped by the Benztown folks…and if you want both information about his clients and demos, you’ll find it here…

CANADIAN RADIO SEX SCANDAL: And really, did you ever think you’d read those words? Anywhere?

But that “sex scandal”, such as it is, has affected the programming of one Northeast Ohio station.

That station would be Kent State University public radio outlet WKSU/89.7-and-its-many-simulcasters, which now features CBC Radio’s “Q” *without* founding host Jian Ghomeshi weeknights at 7.

That’s because the Canadian public broadcasting giant has bounced Ghomeshi after a lengthy and popular run.

From the CBC itself:

CBC’s relationship with Jian Ghomeshi, host of the cultural affairs radio show Q, has ended, the network announced Sunday.

“The CBC is saddened to announce its relationship with Jian Ghomeshi has come to an end. This decision was not made without serious deliberation and careful consideration. Jian has made an immense contribution to the CBC and we wish him well,” the network said in a statement.

Late Sunday afternoon, Ghomeshi posted a lengthy message on his Facebook page in which he claimed that he was terminated by the broadcaster because of the risk of his “private sex life being made public as a result of a campaign of false allegations pursued by a jilted ex girlfriend and a freelance writer.”

Ghomeshi added that CBC executives told him “that this type of sexual behaviour was unbecoming of a prominent host on the CBC.”

The Toronto Star has published a story with some allegations…that may not put Ghomeshi’s behavior in a favorable light, even if you’re OK with the whole kinky sex/private life thing (and a pretty big NSFW warning applies to the link here to some of the alleged details).

But the now-former “Q” host says everything was consentual, and has filed a $55 million (Canadian) lawsuit against the CBC.

For its part, the Canadian public broadcaster is continuing “Q”, “moving forward” without its signature host…with substitute hosts for now.

And it appears CBC’s U.S. partner, Public Radio International, is keeping the show on its roster, as is WKSU.

And the fact that the words “Jian Ghomeshi” and “sex scandal” are intertwined may not make much difference in the U.S.

For all his popularity north of the border, Ghomeshi may be considered even by U.S. listeners to “Q” as “that guy who hosts the Canadian interview and music show on public radio”.

We’re not sure his personal travails will register with American listeners, though the gossip site Gawker has sure had a time with this story…