The chief of a small Portage County police department is known far and wide for his Facebook posts. And that may be an understatement...as of this writing, his department's page has over 150,000 "likes". He's written a book, "No Mopes Allowed", based on his Facebook contributions. And Brimfield police chief David Oliver is certainly no stranger to radio appearances as a result...but now, he's turning pro. Will the "Internet Sensation" become a "Radio Sensation"? Let's let the chief … [Read more...]
Professor, Former Akron Newsman Heading To “Show Me State”
Posted on June 26, 2014 · Leave a Comment
Phil Hoffman has done a lot over his career in Northeast Ohio, specifically in the Akron area in the past 30-plus years. He was known for his "Untold Stories" series at the former "23 Newsday" at WAKC-TV/23, Akron's former ABC affiliate (now Cleveland-focused ION O&O WVPX). He worked in radio in Akron at WAKR/1590, then-WSLR/1350 and WKDD/then-96.5 and WCUE/1150. But for the past few years, Phil has been the "Media Doctor"...Dr. Phil Hoffman has been a professor in School of … [Read more...]
No Longer Working In Cleveland, Or Youngstown
Posted on June 24, 2014 · 2 Comments
Some items about former Cleveland broadcasters, including one that's being heard in Northeast Ohio again...but first, breaking media news not directly from Cleveland... MICHAELS EXITS: After veteran newsman John Nagy left Clear Channel's South Avenue complex in the Youngstown market due to budget cuts, there was still one experienced newsman in the building. But 30-year talk WKBN/570 veteran Jim Michaels is outside that building now as well, according to WFMJ-TV 21: Clear Channel, which … [Read more...]
On The Way In, And On The Way Out
Posted on June 10, 2014 · 3 Comments
Incoming and outgoing news tops our agenda today, in people, shows and channels... MOVING UP AT DICK GODDARD WAY: Sales wins the day when it comes to replacing former Tribune Fox affiliate WJW/8 "Fox 8" VP/general manager Greg Easterly. The station has tabbed one of two strong internal candidates to replace Easterly, who moved to Chicago to run new Tribune sister station (and Tribune TV flagship) WGN/9. He's Paul Perozeni, who's been VP/general sales manager for WJW for 13 years, and has … [Read more...]
Confusion And Change
Posted on June 5, 2014 · 2 Comments
UPDATE 6/5/14 2:00 PM: OMW hears that the open afternoon drive slot at Cumulus rock WYFM/102.9 "Y-103" in Youngstown will be filled by Steve Hammond. Hammond previously worked at Rubber City Radio rock WONE/97.5 Akron in afternoons and evenings. Hammond's time slot at WONE was filled by program director Tim Daugherty, who moved from morning drive when WONE hired Jeff Kinzbach for that time slot. Hammond starts at Y-103 next Tuesday... ----- Those who haven't been paying attention, or … [Read more...]
The U.S. 62 Update
Posted on May 30, 2014 · Leave a Comment
So named because most of our items today involve either Canton or Youngstown... THE STANSBURY CANTON SHOW: Veteran Northeast Ohio personality Dan Stansbury has found a new place for his radio show, and we're pretty sure the station will still be broadcasting in English next month. Stansbury has taken a ride down I-77, where "The Stansbury Show" will air weekday mornings on Clear Channel rock WRQK/106.9 Canton starting next week. He'll be joined by Matt Fantone, who was unceremoniously … [Read more...]
Get Down
Posted on May 21, 2014 · 1 Comment
If there was ever a weekend kickoff that'd was nearly official, it was delivered to Northeast Ohioans by Murray Saul. The man known for his weekend-starting Friday rants on WMMS/100.7 in its heyday in the 1970s has passed away at the age of 86. Yes, 86. The Northeast Ohio Media Group's Cliff Pinkard has more: Saul became a radio icon in Cleveland with his Friday Get Down rants, in which he talked about about heartless bosses, boring jobs and the screwed-up state of the world. Whipped to … [Read more...]
Spring Changes
Posted on May 1, 2014 · Leave a Comment
The theme for this one is change... in one way or the other... CHARTER, NOT COMCAST: Northeast Ohio customers of Time Warner Cable, the area's dominant cable provider, were preparing themselves to deal with Comcast. The merger of Time Warner and Comcast has been in the works, and is currently awaiting federal regulatory approval. It's that bid to garner approval that led Comcast and Time Warner to team up with a third company, Charter Communications...which will either directly or … [Read more...]
Spring Layoff Season
Posted on April 17, 2014 · Leave a Comment
The snow is no longer flying again, for now, but the layoff season is in full swing... CLEAR CHANNEL SALES CUTS: It'd been foreseen for weeks. Media giant Clear Channel was expected to radically overhaul its sales structure, cutting back on local sales efforts and streamlining that end of the company's operations. Sure enough, that became a reality on Wednesday. We'll let the excellent Tom Taylor Now newsletter handle the basic description, quoting from a company release about a topic Clear … [Read more...]
The Jasen/Jasons Have It
Posted on February 24, 2014 · 4 Comments
And as it would happen, two of our newsmakers this Monday have the same first name, albeit with slightly different spellings... JASEN RADIO: The local talk show tipped in an earlier item at Rubber City Radio talk WAKR/1590 Akron will be hosted by an existing station staffer. As we post this, "The Jasen Sokol Show" is making its debut on WAKR, with a time slot of 10 AM to 2 PM weekdays. The show bridges the news/talk/information gap on 1590 AM, airing between the morning drive news block … [Read more...]
