A status update, first...Life is Intervening(tm) much less than it was, and we should be back to more regular blog updates soon. We're still mulling around a regular schedule, but for now...let's delve in... ROVER'S NEW GLORY: As posted below this, Clear Channel rock/talk WMMS/100.7 morning doggie Rover has been in the legal doghouse as of late. But instead of his court schedule being on the TV news, the man known on his driver's license as Shane French is getting attention for something much … [Read more...]
Partial Quick Hits
Posted on July 16, 2013 · Leave a Comment
Partial, we're calling it, because this brief update has a lot of items and many we missed. Look for more whenever, however we can get a Round Tuit(tm)... LAW AND ORDER, MEDIA DIVISION: No, we're not talking about the Dick Wolf series of TV procedurals (clung, clung!). It's Cleveland's Own version, with a number of media personalities getting on the wrong side of the law. Let's update what we know so far. ROVER'S BACK OVER: Clear Channel talk/rock WMMS/100.7 morning chien Shane "Rover" … [Read more...]
L’Affaire Rover
Posted on July 6, 2013 · 4 Comments
So, it's been a season for local media personalities to get into trouble with the law. Just below this item, we shared news of OVI charges against two of them - sportscaster Chuck Galeti, still off SportsTime Ohio, and reporter Kenny Crumpton, seen this past week back once again "Kickin' It With Kenny" on Local TV LLC Fox affiliate WJW/8's "Fox 8 News in the Morning". (Oh, and as a brief mention, WJW and the other Local TV LLC stations are being sold to Tribune. More on that, some other … [Read more...]
Broadcasting Under The Influence
Posted on June 25, 2013 · 3 Comments
In less than 24 hours, two prominent Cleveland TV personalities got pulled over by the police, in two entirely separate traffic stops. First in the OVI Charges Hopper is someone who's no stranger to the routine. After all, it was in 2003 when local sportscaster Chuck Galeti, a veteran of a number of area TV sports operations, had an alcohol fueled car crash and entered rehab after his first tangle with being caught driving under the influence. In 2013, police in Parma picked him up on OVI … [Read more...]
Quick Hits For May
Posted on May 13, 2013 · 2 Comments
Some quick hits before we focus on Cleveland's media obsession this past week...which will be in a separate item as soon as we get a Round Tuit(tm)... SUNNY FORECAST: Congratulations to former Scripps ABC affiliate WEWS/5 "NewsChannel 5" morning weather forecaster Christine Ferreira. As predicted, she's landed at a TV station in her new/returned to hometown area of Central Pennsylvania, Hearst NBC affiliate WGAL/8 in Lancaster PA...where she's that station's midday and weekend … [Read more...]
Browns Radio Rights: Throwing The Long Ball
Posted on March 28, 2013 · 3 Comments
In what's been perhaps the worst kept local radio secret since a certain Cleveland station switched to a sports format, that station is about to get into the big leagues when it comes to play-by-play rights. Did we mention the games will also air on their biggest rival station? In what has to be a unique situation, the NFL's Cleveland Browns are expected to announce Thursday morning what everyone already knows...that the team is leaving a multi-decade relationship with Clear Channel, which has … [Read more...]
Wilma’s Exit
Posted on March 20, 2013 · 2 Comments
It's no surprise that "Fox 8 News" anchor Wilma Smith would retire sometime soon...it's just not been known when. That changed on Monday, when the long-time WJW/8 anchor (with a total time in Cleveland TV news of some 35 years) announced to viewers that she was calling it a career at the end of May. A lengthy, steady career it's been for the former Wilma Pokorny. Wilma is one of the last remaining members of a class that dominated the local TV landscape in Cleveland for decades. She spent a … [Read more...]
The Matlock Incident
Posted on March 3, 2013 · 2 Comments
Cleveland market TV viewers are no stranger to Ben Matlock in rerun form, or the propensity of local stations to run "Matlock" in prime time occasionally. But this time, Gannett NBC affiliate WKYC/3's decision to bump NBC's Thursday night lineup out of prime time for a 2-hour 1992 TV movie featuring the genial southern lawyer played by Andy Griffith...well, went viral. Almost as soon as ol' Ben started TV lawyering, our own social media presence was swamped. The clamor went nationwide, and … [Read more...]
Our Funny Little Valentine (Stories)
Posted on February 15, 2013 · 3 Comments
We have a backlog of stuff that we're never going to get to, and what do you know, Life Intervenes(tm) with a vengeance. But we had to share these stories. We'll put up a "Quick Hits" item to clear out the list later... REUNITED, WILL IT SOUND SO GOOD?: CBS Radio AC WDOK/102.1 "New 102" has found the man who will replace "Trapper Jack" Elliot, the 17-year morning drive fixture who was shown the We're Not Renewing Your Contract Door along with 18-year "Infoman" Jim McIntyre last December. And … [Read more...]
Jeff Kinzbach’s Radio Return
Posted on February 2, 2013 · 10 Comments
We have a whole stack of items we don't have time - yet - to cover. Look for them in the next few days...we hope. But for now, we can't ignore the Radio Topic Elephant In The Room. Jeff Kinzbach, with partner Ed "Flash" Ferenc, dominated Cleveland morning drive radio as "Jeff and Flash", morning drive ringmasters as the "Buzzard Morning Zoo" on iconic rocker WMMS/100.7...until Howard Stern showed up in 1992 and took over top ratings from "Jeff and Flash" not long after. Now, Kinzbach will try … [Read more...]
