There's a reason SportsTime Ohio Cleveland Indians play-by-play voice Matt Underwood has been off the air recently...and it's nothing he said.OMW readers have been peppering our inbox with questions every time they see STO's Al Pawlowski filling in on the sports network's Indians game coverage.The Cleveland Plain Dealer's Paul Hoynes noted Friday that Underwood's mother has passed away.The Ashland Times-Gazette has more on the death of 65 year-old Sophie Callas Underwood, who was - among other … [Read more...]
News And More News
Posted on June 8, 2009 · Leave a Comment
A wide variety of items from across the world of Ohio radio and television opens up our Monday...including some stuff we meant to mention before...ABBY GONE: Yes, we're aware that Gannett NBC affiliate WKYC/3 Cleveland has parted ways with Abby Ham, as the "Channel 3 News Today" co-host heads back to her former TV home, Gannett NBC sister station WBIR/10 in Knoxville TN.No, we don't know why Ham apparently did her last week solo, we're told without co-host Mark Nolan or weather forecaster … [Read more...]
Friday Quick Follow
Posted on June 5, 2009 · Leave a Comment
It's Friday, follow quick!WE'LL MISS IT, BUT...: We may well miss all the activity, but OMW hears that if you're interested in watching activity involving a new digital TV antenna...Broadview Road in Parma is the place to be this Friday afternoon. (Any regular OMW/ODTV reader needs no help finding the location.)It is, of course, one week out from the official end of full-power analog TV, and both stations camped out on that new tower hope to start up brand new full-power digital … [Read more...]
The Power Of Two
Posted on June 4, 2009 · Leave a Comment
OMW hears that yet another local TV type is about to leave his station, due to a contract non-renewal.We hear that Scripps Cleveland ABC affiliate WEWS/5 "NewsChannel 5" weather forecaster Jeff Mackel will exit the station soon, after the station declined to renew his contract.We don't know when Mackel's last day is, but as our subject header hints, his exit will leave the station's weather department with just two forecasters - Mark Johnson and Jason Nicholas.WEWS made a similar move in the … [Read more...]
Radio And Records Closing
Posted on June 3, 2009 · Leave a Comment
UPDATE 6/3/09 5:29 PM: We had no idea how quickly the link to Radio & Records' announcement of its own demise would go away. The R&R site went down roughly 5 minutes after we posted the below link. We did warn you to "click it as soon as you can", but we didn't think the R&R site would go under in minutes!To read more on R&R's closure, check out these stories from Inside Radio and Mediaweek...Our original item is below...---------If you're a Certain Age in the radio business, … [Read more...]
WVIZ-DT STA Granted
Posted on June 3, 2009 · Leave a Comment
We hadn't diligently watched ideastream PBS affiliate WVIZ/25's application to run its post-transition power level before the June 12th transition, one week from Friday.As it turns out, the Special Temporary Authority request was quickly approved by the FCC on May 29th.(We guess we're not used to the FCC or any other government agency processing digital paperwork that quickly.)That means whenever WVIZ-DT's new antenna is mounted on the tower it will share with WKYC-DT, the station will be able … [Read more...]
One TV, One Radio
Posted on June 3, 2009 · Leave a Comment
One quick hit for TV, one for radio...WKYC DIGITAL: From the ODTV side of OMW, a bit about Gannett NBC affiliate WKYC/3 Cleveland's new facility.As if drawn by a giant magnet to Broadview Road in Parma, the OMW/ODTV Mobile took another trip up to the tower that will soon hold antennas for WKYC-DT (RF 17) and ideastream PBS affiliate WVIZ-DT (RF 26).Why, this time, again?Our inbox was peppered Tuesday with questions from folks who were having trouble picking up the current WKYC-DT (RF 2) … [Read more...]
WCPZ Moving A Bit South
Posted on June 3, 2009 · Leave a Comment
This one is another that fell out of our "we meant to get to it" files...from a couple of weeks back.BAS Broadcasting hot AC WCPZ/102.7 Sandusky, still known by its old Clear Channel moniker of "Mix 102.7", has filed an application to move a few miles south and maximize its power.Long-time friend and colleague and World Champion Tower Hunter Scott Fybush at NorthEast Radio Watch gave us the heads up on this proposal, which would land 102.7's new facility on the tower of Christian Faith … [Read more...]
This Is Here, Cable Wise
Posted on June 2, 2009 · Leave a Comment
If you were trying to figure out what was taking Time Warner Cable's Northeast Ohio system so long to add the MGM classic TV channel "This TV" (via WUAB-DT's 43.2 subchannel), you weren't alone.But considering that we just found it, we can't blame you for missing the addition.We stumbled upon "This TV Cleveland" almost by accident the other day.At least in this part of the TWC NEO universe, it is now airing on digital cable channel 248.A quick look at the lineup shows "This TV" out there on its … [Read more...]
Uncovering Items
Posted on June 2, 2009 · Leave a Comment
It's a very, very busy list today...so, let's get at it...LAST ONE STANDING: We'll have a one-week-out update on our Ohio Digital TV blog later this week.For now, just one note...we have confirmation that at least one Cleveland market TV station will be waiting until the very last minute, literally, to shut off its analog signal.Western Reserve PBS station manager and OMW reader Bill O'Neil checks in to let us know that the PBS station's Akron outlet, WEAO/49, will retire the analog 49 … [Read more...]
