From your Mighty Blog of Fun(tm), a better mix of today's and yesterday's media news items. (Well, since Clear Channel's WMVX changed to variety hits WHLK/106.5 "The Lake", the slogan hasn't been used much - give or take NextMedia's WHBC-FM "Mix 94.1" in Canton...) NEW ASSISTANT NEWS DIRECTOR: Scripps ABC affiliate WEWS/5 will have a new second-in-command in the newsroom, and she's actually a familiar name to long-time Cleveland TV news viewers. That's because Ellen Miller spent a number of … [Read more...]
Some Leftover Stuff
Posted on January 25, 2011 · 2 Comments
And now, some items that have nothing to do about major changes at a local sports radio station...though we'll revisit that in the next day or so... PERMANENT REPLACEMENT: It may just be a coincidence, but as the trial of former Scripps ABC affiliate WEWS/5 "NewsChannel 5" sports anchor/reporter Terry Brooks plays out on the station's own newscasts, the man who's been filling in for him has been given the job permanently. He's Mike Cairns, who is well familiar with the role of second sports … [Read more...]
Busy News Cycle
Posted on January 14, 2011 · 2 Comments
UPDATE 10:30 AM 1/15/11: We have corrected now-former WTAM/1100 evening anchor Dean Leyland's name below. Sorry about that! And we hear that now-former WTAM weekend evening anchor Cliff Baechle is not leaving the building - his voice will be heard elsewhere, moving to a weekday gig feeding news to Clear Channel hub stations WPGB/104.7 Pittsburgh and WKBN/570 Youngstown from Oak Tree... ------------ Though your Primary Editorial Voice(tm) clearly has his own schedule when it comes to updating … [Read more...]
Other Early January Stuff
Posted on January 7, 2011 · 8 Comments
UPDATE 1/7/11 12:30 PM: There's one additional item we forgot to add, later in this update. If you've already read this, scroll down... ---------- Let's run through some other items not involving a homeless former Ohio radio personality appearing on major network TV shows... RICK'S GONE: Long-time local traffic reporter Rick Abell is apparently gone from his perch at Raycom Media CBS affiliate WOIO/19's "19 Action News". Readers have been asking about his absence since the start of this … [Read more...]
The Year Starter
Posted on January 5, 2011 · 6 Comments
UPDATE 1/5/11 11:13 AM: An update on "The Homeless Radio Voice Guy": With Ted Williams' story going national, he's appeared on national morning TV (NBC's "Today" and CBS' "Early Show", among others), and has gotten job offers from diverse places like MTV and the Cleveland Cavaliers. (They want him for voice work, not to play power forward.) RTDNA's website cites a "Mail Online" report that Williams once "worked overnight shifts" for WVKO/1580 Columbus, in its days as an urban music station. … [Read more...]
TV People Changes
Posted on December 15, 2010 · 1 Comment
Some exits at local TV operations... END OF HIS ERA: OMW has confirmed a tip we received Tuesday about Time Warner Cable's management locally. Vin Zachariah has resigned as head of Time Warner Cable's Northeast Ohio division for "personal reasons". He took over the local arm of the cable giant in September 2009, taking over for long-time TWC NEO boss Steven Fry. We're told that Doug Whiting, the company's Midwest Regional Vice President for Customer Operations, will step in on an interim … [Read more...]
No Theme Anymore
Posted on December 10, 2010 · Leave a Comment
We were going to have a "theme week" item, with three things all related in some way, and then...a whole bunch of other media news popped up... THE FCC SAID THAT: Long-time listeners to Good Karma sports WKNR/850 "ESPN 850" midday fixture "The Really Big Show" know it well...the infamous "Who Said That?" contest. For those who don't follow the antics of Tony Rizzo, Aaron Goldhammer and company: the contest, which ran until it finally ran out of gas last year, asked listeners to identify a … [Read more...]
Comings And Goings
Posted on December 2, 2010 · Leave a Comment
Or, more accurately, in order, "goings, and comings, and goings"... HE'S OUT: It's no secret that Clear Channel Canton hot AC WHOF/101.7 "My 101.7" morning driver Gary Rivers has been in, uh, a little legal hot water lately..and it's a pretty decent educated guess that those problems have turned him into the now-former morning driver for "My 101.7". The folks at Freedom Avenue say Rivers is indeed no longer with the station, and tell OMW: "We are searching for the next My 101.7 morning show … [Read more...]
The Big Update
Posted on November 23, 2010 · 3 Comments
"We're slipping," as a reader said. Just days after our big return, your Primary Editorial Voice(tm) became scarce, and we did not invoke our Secondary Editorial Voice(tm), though we notice he was busy with some items "off stage". So, it's a Thanksgiving feast of items, some of them courtesy of our second... EARLY CAST: Scripps ABC affiliate WEWS/5 is joining a growing trend in local TV news across the country - pre-5 AM newscasts. GM Sam Rosenwasser notes, in a memo that floated out of … [Read more...]
RIP, Uncle Bill
Posted on November 5, 2010 · 4 Comments
OMW hears that "Uncle Bill" Weisinger, veteran local radio engineer and volunteer program director of WSTB/88.9 Streetsboro's "Sunday Oldies Jukebox", passed away this morning. Unfortunately, Bill's passing is no surprise to OMW readers, as we informed readers of his courageous battle against a cancerous tumor... and let people know back in late August that Bill was maximizing his time with friends and radio colleagues. This picture is reprinted from our earlier item, where a host of friends … [Read more...]
