Like the upcoming Memorial Day weekend usually signals the start of the mythical Summer Driving Season, today apparently signals the start of the Official DTV Transition - We're Serious About This, We're Really Going To Do This Now - Season...with the June 12th transition date just weeks away.Local TV stations in Northeast Ohio are indeed joining along with a nationwide DTV "soft test", interrupting their analog signals three times today to urge viewers to, well, make their own transition.More … [Read more...]
Hey, Is Someone Retiring This Week
Posted on May 18, 2009 · Leave a Comment
In case you're reading OMW from underneath a rock, a reminder...Scripps ABC affiliate WEWS/5 is saying goodbye this week to one of the few remaining news anchor icons in the Cleveland market.You can be forgiven if you get a sense of "deja vu" this week while watching the station pay tribute to long-time "NewsChannel 5" anchor Ted Henry...who exits the anchor chair after the 11 PM newscast on Tuesday.After all, the station celebrated his 35th anniversary a few years ago with various clips and … [Read more...]
TWC HDTV Request
Posted on May 15, 2009 · Leave a Comment
OMW would like to know if any readers are still experiencing various glitches related to the rollout of new HD channels in Time Warner Cable's Northeast Ohio footprint.This request is only for those in areas which have already received the most recent set of channels released to areas with Switched Digital Video (SDV) activated, who have seen such issues as channel breakup or audio with no video.Please tell us where you live (city/community), and which part of the TWC system you are in...legacy … [Read more...]
THIS JUST IN: Ike Exits WQMX
Posted on May 13, 2009 · Leave a Comment
OMW has confirmed that Rubber City Radio Akron market country powerhouse WQMX/94.9 has parted ways with night personality Michael Izic, also known as "Ike the Night Guy"."Ike" had been with WQMX since 2001, and moved from overnights to nights four years after he started on the air. We don't know why he is no longer with the station.An OMW reader tells us that WQMX weekender George McFly was heard in the 7-midnight slot Tuesday evening, though we don't know if he has a shot at the full-time … [Read more...]
TWC Updates – Everyone
Posted on May 13, 2009 · Leave a Comment
We've been getting scattered reports from our readers about the Time Warner Cable HDTV situation in Northeast Ohio.Since we reported earlier that the company's latest wave of HD channels has been rolling out in some, but not all, of the Northeast Ohio footprint due to the implementation of SDV - "Switched Digital Video" - TWC has basically acknowledged that in its latest "Programming Notice" online, updated Tuesday afternoon.Quoting some of the important parts, first, in reference to the April … [Read more...]
TWC’s Next HD Wave
Posted on May 9, 2009 · Leave a Comment
OMW hears from Time Warner Cable locally that the wave of HDTV channels planned for addition in Northeast Ohio in late April is now showing up for local cable subscribers.A quick check of the HD DVR here at OMW World Headquarters shows that the channels are indeed available to your Primary Editorial Voice(tm).OMW hears that though the new HD channels are indeed rolling out, some TWC Northeast Ohio subscribers may not have them yet.We're told that the launch is indeed, as we've already speculated … [Read more...]
Embargoed Until Wednesday Morning
Posted on May 6, 2009 · Leave a Comment
We're just picking up random items here in midweek, with mostly a TV theme...THE CLEVELAND (NON-)EMBARGO: As it turned out, in the end, nothing apparently happened.But there was a lot of behind the scenes intrigue in the past couple of days about a story "you saw first on 19 Action News at 10 on My43 WUAB" on Monday night's show.We hear that the 10 PM show that night on the MyNetwork TV outlet told viewers that the Cleveland Clinic's face transplant patient would make an appearance in front of … [Read more...]
Time Warner Cable HD Express Unscheduled Stop
Posted on April 30, 2009 · Leave a Comment
In a well-planned and deliberate effort to add 30 new HDTV channels for its Northeast Ohio customers, Time Warner Cable's HDTV Express has to make an unscheduled stop.The next group of seven new HD channels to be offered in the TWC NEO footprint did not meet an intended April 29th launch on Wednesday, and we don't have any indication when that group of channels will launch.But OMW hears that the company is still working on the second wave of new HD channels, and will let us know when the new … [Read more...]
Time Warner Cable Gets The Flu
Posted on April 29, 2009 · Leave a Comment
With growing worldwide attention to the swine flu situation, Time Warner Cable's "Northeast Ohio Network" (NEON) is offering up a special local program on the topic this week.And OMW readers may be interested in who's hosting it.From a TWC press release:-----Medical Special About Swine Flu to Air on Time Warner Cable’s Northeast Ohio Network (NEON)Cleveland Clinic Expert Dr. Thomas Tallman to Discuss Local and National Aspects of the Disease Akron, OH (APRIL 2009) – With the swine flu outbreak … [Read more...]
Local News And Premium Choice
Posted on April 29, 2009 · Leave a Comment
Isn't branding a wonderful thing?"Local news" is a brand, really. Radio stations that still offer news on a local basis hammer that into listeners' brains. "DEPEND on us for LOCAL news!" "We're your LOCAL NEWS SOURCE!"The reality is somewhat different in 2009.For many stations which once had a, well, "local" newsroom...the "source" is often an anchor in a newsroom anywhere from 25 to a few hundred miles away, trying to sound like they know the area they're serving via computer file … [Read more...]
