For some time, we've told you to expect a new "radio station" on the FM frequency of 87.7 in Cleveland...dubbed by some industry wags as a "Franken FM", because it is the byproduct of the audio carrier of analog TV channel 6. Tonight, Venture Technologies' WLFM-LP has made that creation a reality. WLFM-LP is most assuredly testing at this point, and the sounds coming out of 87.7 on the FM radio dial are a collection of historic "fight songs" for the city's three professional sports … [Read more...]
Press Release Theatre (Plus), Vol. 2
Posted on June 12, 2012 · 1 Comment
With two brief non-press release notes... First, new Clear Channel hot AC WKDD/98.1 personality Shannon Steele, back in Akron and at the station which started her career, won't be heard in afternoon drive from 2-7 PM. WKDD has moved her to the morning co-host position mysteriously vacated by Jenn Ryan. She'll co-host "Keith and Shannon" with WKDD program director/CC regional operations manager/OMW reader Keith Kennedy. The second item affects mainly an area we don't really cover anymore, but … [Read more...]
It All Happens At Once
Posted on June 7, 2012 · 1 Comment
We paused long enough to take a breath or two, and then, six things happened in the space of a day. And we're sure we missed something... LEON'S REDUCTION: A veteran TV anchorman in Cleveland is moving around his work schedule. Scripps ABC affiliate WEWS/5 "NewsChannel 5" anchor Leon Bibb, who has been anchoring the noon and 6 PM editions of the station's newscasts, is no longer anchoring the 6 PM show as of this week...replaced by Chris Flanagan, the Dallas-Fort Worth anchor the station … [Read more...]
A Nice Pile Of Items
Posted on June 5, 2012 · Leave a Comment
One of our readers commented the other day that they wished "we'd post more often"...but of course, life continues to intervene, and off-blog business is keeping us very busy...dealing with both extreme highs and lows. But...we're around this afternoon, so here goes... THE R WORD WATCH: When you're 80 years old and have been doing weather on TV for 50 years, it's no surprise that there's speculation on your eventual retirement. But for now, we have no information on when Local TV LLC Fox … [Read more...]
The Awards Post
Posted on June 5, 2012 · Leave a Comment
Local TV and radio broadcasters spent a lot of time in Indianapolis and Columbus this past weekend, picking up awards from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Great Lakes Chapler (the local Emmy awards), and the Ohio Associated Press Broadcasters. Here are the winners for stations and organizations within the OMW primary coverage area. Of course, a number of operations did not enter nominations... ----------- EMMY AWARDS (Only categories with Northeast Ohio winners are … [Read more...]
Heading Into A Grab Bag
Posted on May 30, 2012 · 1 Comment
As we head into June, which has the potential to be a very busy month for us (both good and bad), let's let out some more items. We may be a bit scarce for a while, again, due to Life Intervening(tm), but we'll be around from time to time... WHAT COMES UP, EVENTUALLY COMES DOWN: We spent a lot of time with the digital TV transition back in 2009, both here and on our other blog, Ohio Digital TV. One major change on the TV landscape in Northeast Ohio was the occupant of RF channel 17. Channel … [Read more...]
Alt Rock “99X” For Cleveland Translator?
Posted on May 23, 2012 · 14 Comments
UPDATE 5/23/12 12:02 PM: As expected, alt-rock "99X" has launched on the 99.1 translator known legally now as W256BT (due to the move from 99.7 to 99.1). Debut song: "Gold on the Ceiling" by Akron's Black Keys. UPDATE 5/23/12 11:15 AM: There's word out of Oak Tree that this may launch on 99.1 FM as soon as 12 noon today. We noticed what we think is a dead carrier on 99.1 a little earlier, replacing a distant, scratchy pickup of what we believe was BAS Broadcasting's WFRO/99.1 "Eagle 99.1" … [Read more...]
Press Release Theatre, Act 1
Posted on May 17, 2012 · 2 Comments
From time to time, we will directly put up press releases from area broadcasters, shows or other media related entities... mostly of items we don't intend to "cover" in any depth. Many of these will be put up in a group of more than one, like we're doing with this entry. Some of these are a few days old, since we just started this feature. We reserve the right to not post releases sent to us, especially if they don't meet the criteria we're looking for. We also reserve the right to put … [Read more...]
The Train Goes On
Posted on May 16, 2012 · Leave a Comment
Here we go...it's time to distribute what we have as of late, and even some stuff we missed... MORE PRAYERS: It is a scene unlike anything we've seen in local media. A popular personality not as a polished TV host, but a crying wife just praying for her husband to be brought back to her. Local TV Fox affiliate WJW/8 "Fox 8 News in the Morning" co-host Stefani Schaefer wasn't smiling about the latest news or Hollywood gossip in her return to the show on Wednesday morning. No, she was Roger's … [Read more...]
We’re Back
Posted on May 3, 2012 · 6 Comments
Whew. That was a long hiatus, wasn't it? As explained in the previous items, various issues affecting your Primary Editorial Voice(tm) are not done yet. But we missed this blog, frankly. We will not "be back" on a daily basis, and life off-blog may still intervene from time to time. But, overall, we have returned. We'll start with some newer stuff, and recap some other things that happened in our absence...most of it in a "Twitter Recap" of items we've posted before on our social media … [Read more...]
