The week ender, as we head into the weekend... ALBRIGHT TO MIDDAYS: The death of iconic Akron talk radio host Howie Chizek has left a major hole in the schedule of his 38 year home station, Media-Com talk WNIR/100.1 "The Talk of Akron", which is vowing to continue its all-local talk lineup...while faced with the unenviable task of figuring out who will be heard on WNIR, permanently, from 10 AM to 3 PM weekdays. The unfortunate demise of Akron's talk radio king has also presented an opportunity … [Read more...]
Press Release Theatre, Vol. 4 (The Drew Carey Edition)
Posted on June 27, 2012 · 1 Comment
It's not often we get two press releases within a day about the same person, with wholly unrelated topics behind them...but that's what's happened with Cleveland native Drew Carey ("The Price is Right", "The Drew Carey Show"). As per usual, Friend of OMW Ann VerWiebe, marketing and public relations guru for Kent State University's WKSU/89.7-and-its-many-simulcasters, goes first...with help from Cleveland's Ideastream (WCPN/90.3)... --------------- Drew Carey on Stage for Live Presentation of … [Read more...]
Press Release Theatre, Vol. 3
Posted on June 21, 2012 · Leave a Comment
We're not even going to explain these items anymore...but first, "Ann's Mini Corner"! With at least one day left in "this week" (sorry, Ann!)... ----------- VIVIAN GOODMAN REPORTS FROM EUROPE ON THE CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA YOUTH ORCHESTRA TOUR (Press release from Ann VerWiebe, WKSU) This week, WKSU Reporter/Producer Vivian Goodman is on the road with the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra in Europe as they travel to Vienna and Salzburg, Austria. She is capturing audio during the day and … [Read more...]
The Howie Followup
Posted on June 19, 2012 · 6 Comments
The death of a popular and well-regarded media personality, particularly when it comes in such a sudden way, often feels like a body blow to the rest of the broadcast community. So it has been after Saturday's untimely death of WNIR/100.1 "The Talk of Akron" midday talk show host Howie Chizek of a massive heart attack at the age of 65. Chizek had another range of admirers - those who had no idea he had an Akron talk radio show (let alone for 38 years running, most of those years dominant in … [Read more...]
WNIR Iconic Host Howie Chizek Dead After Heart Attack
Posted on June 16, 2012 · 30 Comments
UPDATE 6/16/12 11:25 PM: WNIR president Bob Klaus tells WEWS "NewsChannel 5": "We have lost a great friend very saddened by it as are thousands of people in Northeast Ohio who spent hours and hours and years and years listening to Howie." --------- MediaCom Akron market talk WNIR/100.1 "The Talk of Akron" midday host Howie Chizek has died, according to station weekend host Bob Earley tonight on the air. Earley says Chizek apparently died of a heart attack on an airplane headed for Florida, … [Read more...]
Press Release Theatre (Plus), Vol. 2
Posted on June 12, 2012 · 1 Comment
With two brief non-press release notes... First, new Clear Channel hot AC WKDD/98.1 personality Shannon Steele, back in Akron and at the station which started her career, won't be heard in afternoon drive from 2-7 PM. WKDD has moved her to the morning co-host position mysteriously vacated by Jenn Ryan. She'll co-host "Keith and Shannon" with WKDD program director/CC regional operations manager/OMW reader Keith Kennedy. The second item affects mainly an area we don't really cover anymore, but … [Read more...]
It All Happens At Once
Posted on June 7, 2012 · 1 Comment
We paused long enough to take a breath or two, and then, six things happened in the space of a day. And we're sure we missed something... LEON'S REDUCTION: A veteran TV anchorman in Cleveland is moving around his work schedule. Scripps ABC affiliate WEWS/5 "NewsChannel 5" anchor Leon Bibb, who has been anchoring the noon and 6 PM editions of the station's newscasts, is no longer anchoring the 6 PM show as of this week...replaced by Chris Flanagan, the Dallas-Fort Worth anchor the station … [Read more...]
A Nice Pile Of Items
Posted on June 5, 2012 · Leave a Comment
One of our readers commented the other day that they wished "we'd post more often"...but of course, life continues to intervene, and off-blog business is keeping us very busy...dealing with both extreme highs and lows. But...we're around this afternoon, so here goes... THE R WORD WATCH: When you're 80 years old and have been doing weather on TV for 50 years, it's no surprise that there's speculation on your eventual retirement. But for now, we have no information on when Local TV LLC Fox … [Read more...]
The Awards Post
Posted on June 5, 2012 · Leave a Comment
Local TV and radio broadcasters spent a lot of time in Indianapolis and Columbus this past weekend, picking up awards from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Great Lakes Chapler (the local Emmy awards), and the Ohio Associated Press Broadcasters. Here are the winners for stations and organizations within the OMW primary coverage area. Of course, a number of operations did not enter nominations... ----------- EMMY AWARDS (Only categories with Northeast Ohio winners are … [Read more...]
Heading Into A Grab Bag
Posted on May 30, 2012 · 1 Comment
As we head into June, which has the potential to be a very busy month for us (both good and bad), let's let out some more items. We may be a bit scarce for a while, again, due to Life Intervening(tm), but we'll be around from time to time... WHAT COMES UP, EVENTUALLY COMES DOWN: We spent a lot of time with the digital TV transition back in 2009, both here and on our other blog, Ohio Digital TV. One major change on the TV landscape in Northeast Ohio was the occupant of RF channel 17. Channel … [Read more...]
