With the caveat that we're not regular listeners to Clear Channel Cleveland top 40 WAKS/96.5 "Kiss FM", and couldn't identify this person if you pointed us to one of his videos and said his name:"Kiss" has announced that it's dumping music by Chris Brown, the popular recording star accused of assaulting his girlfriend Rihanna (another singer), off of its playlist. (We aren't familiar with her, either. We're obviously not P1 listeners for WAKS.)Quoting Kiss PD Bo Matthews from a Clear Channel … [Read more...]
Back To Digital TV
Posted on February 10, 2009 · Leave a Comment
We return to the world of the Up In The Air Digital TV Transition on a key day.The deadline was late last night for local TV stations to file notifications that they intend to shut down their analog signals on the original transition date of February 17, 2009 - which, looking at the calendar, is exactly one week from today.A bill passed by Congress and awaiting President Barack Obama's expected signature (today?) moves the date to June 12.Even if stations had already filed such notifications, … [Read more...]
Toledo Cumulus Update
Posted on February 9, 2009 · Leave a Comment
Put an asterisk by the list of names in our earlier item about layoffs at Cumulus Toledo.OMW hears that WRQN afternoon drive host Ron Sobzak has apparently been spared from the cuts, and an OMW reader in the market tells us that he is indeed on the air as usual this afternoon.We are also hearing conflicting information about WXKR/WLQR/WTOD sales manager Hugh McPherson's departure... and that his apparent exit to another market may have been in the works before this latest round of Cumulus Toledo … [Read more...]
Monday Potpourri
Posted on February 9, 2009 · Leave a Comment
It's Monday, and unlike some potpourri, ours is a mix of both palatable and unpalatable items. (We wish we could control the ingredients...)CUMULUS LAYOFFS: Looks like we start off with the unpalatable, as Cumulus Media dropped the layoff axe again late last week...and the company's two Northern Ohio markets were hit hard.We already told you about Toledo's job carnage on Friday...we'll fill in some of the names in a bit.And like in Toledo, if Cumulus keeps cutting like this in Youngstown, … [Read more...]
Digital TV Date Frustration, Part Two
Posted on February 8, 2009 · Leave a Comment
Here's the promised second update in our "When Will Ohio Stations Dump Analog?" series, covering markets outside Cleveland/Akron. This one is also getting too big, so we'll cover the remaining markets in Southern Ohio and Southwest Ohio later.Just as we cautioned Saturday, remember that stations will have to re-file their intentions to hold to the original February 17th digital transition date. The FCC will accept those filings through the end of Monday (just before midnight Tuesday).From what … [Read more...]
A Weekend Digital TV Update
Posted on February 7, 2009 · Leave a Comment
We're taking a rare Saturday opportunity to answer questions that peppered our mailbox all day Friday - about the digital TV transition, and when Ohio stations will shut off analog signals...February 17th or June 12th?The answer, right now, is that some cases we know, and in others, we don't believe the station has made a decision yet.That decision must be filed with the FCC by this coming Monday night, and President Obama is now expected to sign the bill Monday - after a built-in five-day … [Read more...]
An Uplifting Radio Item
Posted on February 6, 2009 · Leave a Comment
To help brighten your mood on this Friday, here's a radio item that isn't about layoffs...and about the significant power the medium still has to do good.Clear Channel Akron/Canton hot AC WKDD/98.1 is in the midst of a huge annual event - the 10th Annual "Have A Heart, Do Your Part Radiothon" to benefit Akron Children's Hospital.Looking back at our item from last year, the 2008 edition raised $1,000,760 for the local hospital last year, a record...and much more than even top 15 market stations … [Read more...]
Yes, There’s Radio
Posted on February 6, 2009 · Leave a Comment
We've focused so much on the digital TV transition recently, that we wouldn't be surprised if some of our newer readers wondered if we forgot about radio.Of course not. We just can't control all the crazy activity surrounding the change in the digital TV transition date.But here are some radio items hitting our radar, along with one that also touches TV. Unfortunately, not all the news is good...MORE LAYOFFS: OMW hears that the already devastated Cumulus cluster in Toledo is undergoing … [Read more...]
Figuring Out Digital TV
Posted on February 6, 2009 · Leave a Comment
We do have an update with other items (honest, we do!) which will appear later, but there's significant news on the digital TV front still breaking seemingly every hour.With a clearer picture from the FCC, it looks a wrench may have been thrown into TV stations' earlier plans to cease analog broadcasting on the original digital transition date, February 17, 2009...and that wrench may have already landed in Cleveland.We're hearing from readers that Local TV-owned Fox affiliate WJW/8 is now … [Read more...]
Jerry Healey Passes Away
Posted on February 5, 2009 · Leave a Comment
Except perhaps for very young listeners in the Rubber City, the name Jerry Healey invokes many memories of Akron's WAKR/1590.Word is coming in that the former WAKR mainstay has passed away "peacefully" near his Southern California home.Quoting his obituary, which an OMW reader passed along to us this morning:The dominant areas of Healey's career were as a sports broadcaster and as a radio morning show host. A product of Syracuse University, he was the voice of football for the University of … [Read more...]
