Here are some items we haven't visited, or updates to what we have, or random pieces of information... VALLEY RADIO: As we promised, an earlier item on Mahoning Valley radio changes has been taken "backstage". We can't explain it until later this week, but we are trying to nail down facts related to the item in question. Expect an update here Wednesday or Thursday... FACEBOOK FRENZY: Cleveland market TV stations are giving away the store...or the iPad 2...or car leases...as a result of … [Read more...]
Rudy Pie Passes Away
Posted on May 5, 2011 · 1 Comment
When noting the passing of notable media figures, we occasionally point out that the person is pretty much synonymous with their field. That's certainly the case for long-time Akron high school sports radio broadcaster Rudy Piekarski, who died of natural causes Tuesday at the age of 69. Rubber City Radio's AkronNewsNow.com has more here, and the Beacon Journal's Ohio.com has more here. Over his decades on the air, "Rudy Pie" called thousands of games on a number of radio stations...starting … [Read more...]
THIS JUST IN: WEAO/49 Back On The Air
Posted on April 30, 2011 · 2 Comments
Western Reserve PBS' Akron outlet, WEAO/49, is back on the air...after spending much of April off the air due to transmission line problems. In honor of the return, we present this picture of tower crews making a quicker ascent of the Copley Township tower in a rather unusual way...during an earlier attempt to return the station to the air. (Thanks, of course, to Western Reserve PBS communications coordinator and OMW Handler Diane Steinert for passing this along!) Those with Time Warner … [Read more...]
Not Rumors, For The Most Part
Posted on April 27, 2011 · 3 Comments
We generally deal in facts here at the Mighty Blog of Fun(tm), give or take an occasional rumble. And at this juncture, there are a LOT of rumbles out there, and nearly all of them haven't been confirmed to our satisfaction yet. The item just before this one is just one example...there are more hot-and-heavy rumors out there. So, if you're looking for the answer to "who's about to be fired", after hearing it on a certain morning drive show...not yet. We'll pass along changes as soon as they … [Read more...]
WEAO/49 Outage
Posted on April 15, 2011 · 1 Comment
UPDATE 4/16/11 10:45 AM: Here's the update from Western Reserve PBS' Facebook page: WEAO outage update: Work on the technical problem is delayed until Monday morning due to high winds and rain. Most cable subscribers are getting Western Reserve PBS now, thanks to cable systems switching over to our WNEO signal. And as the station explains it, there's a very good reason that the weather is delaying plans to fix the problem: The problem appears to involve an 800-ft. transmission line that … [Read more...]
Our Next Pile Of Items
Posted on April 15, 2011 · Leave a Comment
Now that Joe Tait has said "have a good life, everybody!" and retired to his southern Medina County farm, let's get to the other items piling up in the OMW Topics List... ...SOON ON FM?: You may be hearing Clear Channel talk WTAM/1100 in Cleveland branding itself as "NewsRadio 1100, now on 99.1 FM", and soon. That's because it appears Cleveland is about to become the latest Clear Channel market where a powerhouse AM talk station takes up residence at an additional spot on the FM dial, and a … [Read more...]
Assorted Monday News Nuggets
Posted on March 28, 2011 · 6 Comments
LAFORCE IS WITH FOX 8: It looks like Local TV Fox affiliate WJW/8 has brought aboard a new sports reporter after former weeknight sports anchor Tony Rizzo's departure last December. VermilionOhioNews.com posted on their March 28 issue that Vermilion native Allie LaForce has been hired by WJW as a sports reporter. A recent broadcast journalism graduate of Ohio University (where she also played on the Bobcats' girls basketball team), LaForce was the Miss Teen for 2005 and also made a guest … [Read more...]
WINW, R.I.P.
Posted on March 22, 2011 · 4 Comments
One recent story that had been extremely problematic to report on recently has been the fate of tiny daytimer WINW/1520 Canton. Actually, make that DWINW/1520 Canton. That is the official call sign in FCC records, as the Pinebrook Corp.-owned gospel station last known as "Joy 1520" was officially yanked from FCC records on March 3. The details as to how and why this happened were and still are hard to figure out. For one, neither the Primary Editorial Voice (tm) nor yours truly were ever able … [Read more...]
Another Big Return
Posted on February 22, 2011 · 3 Comments
This time, the hiatus was caused by technical problems...which are now completely fixed. So, on with the show...we have a LOT of catching up to do! And if we missed anything, we'll get to it later... JOE TAIT: The "Voice of the Cavaliers" has been heard on the airwaves again, at least temporarily. Cavaliers Radio Network Hall of Fame broadcaster Joe Tait made an appearance by telephone on Fox Sports Ohio's Cavaliers pre-game show with Jeff Phelps and Campy Russell last Wednesday … [Read more...]
Four Short Items
Posted on February 11, 2011 · 5 Comments
Three from radio, and one from TV... 19 REACHES A DEAL: Those incessant "we're still negotiating with DirecTV" crawls on Raycom Media CBS affiliate WOIO/19 "CBS 19" and MyNetwork TV affiliate WUAB/43 "My 43" have changed. The message we saw last night announced that the station had come to an agreement to keep the two local affiliates on DirecTV, and thanked viewers for their support. In a Twitter update last night, we promised further details today...but we can't find them. Anywhere. The … [Read more...]
