Let's start with the legal action first... MAGGIE SUES: It was no surprise that former Media-Com talk WNIR/100.1 "The Talk of Akron" morning co-host Maggie Fuller was going to file a sexual harrassment lawsuit against her former employers. We just didn't know when. Welcome to When. The suit against Media-Com and its family owners, brothers Bill and Bob Klaus, was filed Tuesday in Summit County Common Pleas Court. Here, we'll let the Beacon Journal's Paula Schleis do the heavy … [Read more...]
Akron’s Most Trusted (Retiring) Radio Newsman
Posted on September 4, 2014 · 1 Comment
If you're at the top of your field, and have been for decades, you're basically the living dictionary definition of your profession. If the broadcasting dictionary entry is "Akron radio newsman", the answer is clearly "See: States, Larry". After over 40 years in radio news, the last 30-plus at Rubber City Radio Group talk WAKR/1590 Akron, Larry States is calling it a career. We'll call on long-time OMW reader and Rubber City VP/information media Ed Esposito for a few words about Larry, … [Read more...]
Sports And People
Posted on August 23, 2014 · 2 Comments
And let's start with a helpful item for sports fans tonight... BROWNS VS. GLADIATORS: No, the NFL's Cleveland Browns won't be tangling with the Arena Football League's Cleveland Gladiators in downtown Cleveland tonight. But on the radio dial, even with the Gladiators going for a league crown, the Browns obviously win that battle. CBS Radio sports WKRK/92.3 "The Fan" is the arena football team's flagship radio station, and has been carrying Gladiators games all season long, with Doug … [Read more...]
A Lot To Catch Up On
Posted on August 12, 2014 · 9 Comments
As Life is Intervening(tm) a little less here at the OMW World Headquarters, we have some time to catch up... WKNR MIXES IT UP AGAIN: The rumored lineup change at Good Karma sports WKNR/850 "ESPN Cleveland" came to fruition, but not quite as rumored. Still, the big pieces are as expected, and the biggest move affects the station's signature program, "The Really Big Show" in middays. The changes take effect August 25th. The 9 AM-1 PM show keeps its lead host, long-time local sports … [Read more...]
JOB OPENING: Engineer, WKSU
Posted on August 12, 2014 · Leave a Comment
A big update is coming a little later today, but first...are you an engineer and looking for a job? Retirements at Kent State University's WKSU/89.7-and-its-many-simulcasters have the station looking for new engineering talent. Thanks to two very long-time Friends of OMW for this one...WKSU marketing guru Ann VerWiebe, and Northeast Radio Watch's Scott Fybush... ------ WKSU seeks a talented, innovative and motivated individual to join our technical team as a Broadcast Engineer. In … [Read more...]
Alan Freed’s Ashes
Posted on August 4, 2014 · 2 Comments
UPDATE 10:09 AM 8/4/14: Alan Freed's son Lance appeared on WONE's Jeff Kinzbach Show this morning. ----- The biggest controversy in Northeast Ohio media this Monday morning isn't what a "shock jock" said on the air, or a possible format change. It revolves around a man who died in 1965. But Alan Freed is not just any man, especially in the world of "rock and roll", a term he's usually credited with coining while a disk jockey at Cleveland's WJW/850 in the early 1950s. A golden urn … [Read more...]
Maggie Fuller: “Go Fund” My Sexual Harrassment Lawsuit
Posted on July 21, 2014 · 9 Comments
Regular readers are well aware of the story of Maggie Fuller, who spent 14 years as morning show co-host at MediaCom talk WNIR/100.1 "The Talk of Akron". She's no longer there, of course, leaving the station at the same time as co-host Stan Piatt, in a situation that could perhaps best be called messy...and embarrassing for the station. From our item last December, bouncing off an article by Beacon Journal pop culture writer Rich Heldenfels: Fuller filed for unemployment, claiming the … [Read more...]
Weekend Reading
Posted on July 19, 2014 · 2 Comments
We've got some reading for you to help fill your media weekend. Or, you can catch up at work on Monday morning... BACK UP: For nearly a week, Western Reserve PBS' Akron outlet was nowhere to be found on the airwaves. The outage at WEAO/49, the Cleveland-Akron market half of the public TV station's duo, lasted at very least from early Friday morning of last week. This Thursday night, a half-power signal came on the air from the station's Copley Township tower at about 9 PM. WEAO then … [Read more...]
Quick Hits Revisited
Posted on July 15, 2014 · Leave a Comment
UPDATE 10:16 AM 7/15/14: Another long-time friend of OMW, Kent State University WKSU/89.7-and-its-many-simulcasters marketing guru Ann VerWiebe, points out that the WEAO outage is also affecting other occupants of that tower, including WKSU, Rubber City Radio country WQMX/94.9 and the University of Akron's WZIP/88.1. Ann tells us that WKSU's Akron signal has to be shut off for obvious reasons when workers are on the tower (ZAP!), so the station switches to its backup tower in Kent. That means … [Read more...]
The King Of All Cleveland Media
Posted on July 14, 2014 · 4 Comments
No, it's not Howard Stern, the SiriusXM star once heard on CBS Radio classic rocker WNCX/98.5. If you're just rejoining us from a vacation under a rock, we're talking about "King James"...Akron superstar basketball player LeBron James, who announced last week that he would be rejoining his close-to-hometown Cleveland Cavaliers four years after the infamous ESPN-televised "Decision". And just about anything with a transmitter, a printing press or a presence right here online has been LeBron … [Read more...]
