As first reported here last week, long-time Clear Channel Akron/Canton hot AC WKDD/98.1 morning co-host Matt Patrick will pick up an afternoon talk radio gig on sister AM talker WHLO/640.We've now uncovered the details we didn't have last week...with an early version of a press release that floated out on the wind out of a Freedom Avenue window."The Matt Patrick Show" premieres on Monday, April 28th on WHLO from 5-7 PM.No, Mr. Patrick isn't giving up his WKDD morning perch next to co-host Angela … [Read more...]
TWC Digital Realignment Update
Posted on April 17, 2008 · Leave a Comment
An update to our earlier post/question about Time Warner Cable's local digital channel realignment...TWC's Bill Jasso tells OMW that the cable operator expects to complete the digital channel moves in the Greater Cleveland area by the end of this month.The cable operator has already put in the new digital lineup in the so-called "legacy" areas in the Akron/Canton region - the systems that the company previously operated before acquiring Adelphia and Comcast's Cleveland area subscribers.He also … [Read more...]
THIS JUST IN: WKYC/TWC Akron/Canton News Shutting Down
Posted on April 16, 2008 · Leave a Comment
WKYC and Time Warner Cable announced today that "Akron/Canton News", the WKYC-produced weekday news broadcast airing on Time Warner Cable's "NEON" local programming channel at 6:30 and 10 PM, will close up shop on May 30th.Channel 3 senior director and Friend of OMW Frank Macek has an item on the end of "ACN" on his "Director's Cut" blog this evening, with a quote from WKYC general manager Brooke Spectorsky. The station blames poor economic conditions for the end of the newscast.And the anchor … [Read more...]
THIS JUST IN: WKDD’s Patrick To Do Talk Show
Posted on April 15, 2008 · Leave a Comment
The details are sketchy and few right now.But word is leaking out of Clear Channel Akron/Canton's Freedom Avenue compound that long-time hot AC WKDD/98.1 morning man Matt Patrick is set to do another regular show in May...a three-hour local talk show on the cluster's talk outlet, WHLO/640 Akron.We don't have further details on this, including in what time slot he would do the show, or how it affects his long-time gig hosting the WKDD morning show...which Patrick has been hosting since long … [Read more...]
BREAKING NEWS: WHBC’s Russell Out In Budget Cuts
Posted on March 20, 2008 · Leave a Comment
Even in better economic times, even when radio groups aren't firing people left and right for "budget reasons", it's often said that taking a vacation in radio is dangerous.NextMedia talk WHBC/1480 Canton talk show host Brady Russell found that out.OMW hears from numerous sources that NextMedia pulled the plug on Russell's employment Thursday...while he was on vacation from his afternoon drive show on "NewsTalk 1480". He was scheduled to return to the airwaves on Monday the 24th - which won't … [Read more...]
Random Leftovers
Posted on March 18, 2008 · Leave a Comment
UPDATE 8:21 PM 3/18/08: A name fix and another update below:-----------------In media news not involving canines in front of microphones, some stuff we need to revisit and update:REVAMPING TWC: As it turns out, the vast empire that is the Time Warner Cable firmament in Northeast Ohio isn't all "fixed" in a day.The highly-touted and advertised digital channel realignment at the local cable operator is being done area-by-area over the rest of this month, at least. OMW hears that folks in places … [Read more...]
Hey, THERE’S The “Q” in “Q92”!
Posted on February 29, 2008 · Leave a Comment
It took them over five years, but D.A. Peterson Canton market top 40 outlet "Q92" finally has the station's historic calls back.WDJQ/92.5 Alliance became WZKL in 1992, after a format change to oldies ("Kool 92"). But after abandoning oldies to return to a hit music format, the station wasn't able to reclaim the "WDJQ" calls...since the calls landed on a U.S. Coast Guard ship - the Damon B. Bankston, if you're curious. (And no, the ship wasn't pumping out today's favorite hit music.)OMW hears … [Read more...]
The End Of The Todd Kelly Story
Posted on February 11, 2008 · Leave a Comment
Posted here, because of his tenuous connection to Northeast Ohio radio...Former WDJX/Louisville KY personality and promotions guy Todd Kelly (Todd Smith) has been sentenced for defrauding listeners and donators by faking ALS, otherwise known as "Lou Gehrig's Disease".The Louisville Courier-Journal reports that Smith has been sentenced to 15 years on state charges, which will be reduced to 5 years if he pays back some 74 thousand dollars in restitution, with interest. He'd already been … [Read more...]
TWC Getting Systems Together?
Posted on February 1, 2008 · Leave a Comment
It hasn't been publicized anywhere else that we know of, but an OMW reader tipped us off to what could be pretty big news in the Time Warner Cable Northeast Ohio universe.According to this required legal notice on TWC's local website, it would appear that the cable operator is finally going about starting the business of standardizing lineups among the three different parts of the TWCNEO universe...the original "legacy" systems in Akron/Canton, the former Adelphia systems and the former Comcast … [Read more...]
End Of The Week
Posted on January 5, 2008 · Leave a Comment
No, no announcement yet...just a couple of updates, though! Well, it was a "couple of updates", but it grows by the hour...WKSU RESPONDS: OMW reported the end of Kent State University NPR outlet WKSU/89.7's "Your Way Home", hosted most recently by staffer Daniel Hockensmith.With Hockensmith's departure to the Crain Business Media Empire - in specific, Akron-based "Plastics News" - he won't be replaced as host, and the show will no longer air.But WKSU public relations chief and regular OMW … [Read more...]
