And we'll start with a, uh, "handful of layoffs" at a local TV station... SCRIPPS HAMMER: Word spread among various markets that Scripps was letting a few people go (to the parking lot, then home for good). We have been told that the layoff count is a pretty big "handful" (more on that phrase later) at Scripps ABC affiliate WEWS/5 here in Cleveland...the last number we heard was that seven people are no longer "on your side" at NewsChannel 5. We don't have any names at this point, but we're … [Read more...]
Pieces Of Information
Posted on February 27, 2015 · 1 Comment
We have a pretty scattered list of items. But first, what we don't actually have... NO IDEA AT THIS TIME: If you've followed us on social media the past few days, well, we've been a bit annoyed. Our apologies, but we've been shelled with questions (and many E-mails as well) about a certain Cleveland AM sports talk radio host and his absence from the airwaves - and apparently, the station's own website. What we know at this point is that the host, Good Karma sports WKNR/850 "ESPN Cleveland" … [Read more...]
Kristi Capel, Round Two
Posted on February 25, 2015 · 3 Comments
We, along with many others, thought that "Fox 8 News in the Morning" co-anchor Kristi Capel's Worldwide Ordeal would be over on Tuesday. As reported that day, Capel returned to Tribune Fox affiliate WJW/8's morning newscast/talkfest. She delivered an apology similar to the one she ended up leaving on her Twitter account, and got genuine support from co-anchor Wayne Dawson. We tried to catch her apology for using an outdated racial slur on Monday's show, watching on and off during the … [Read more...]
You Say One Word
Posted on February 23, 2015 · Leave a Comment
...and if it's the wrong word, you, a local news anchor in Cleveland, become an international celebrity. And not at all in a good way. That's what happened to Tribune Fox affiliate WJW/8 "Fox 8 News in the Morning" co-anchor Kristi Capel on Monday morning. Talking about the Oscars from Sunday night with co-anchor Wayne Dawson, Capel was trying to compliment singer Lady Gaga, when a very old racial slur fell out of her mouth to describe Lady Gaga's musical performance. Now, we don't know … [Read more...]
The Next Radio 1: oWOW
Posted on February 23, 2015 · 2 Comments
Our first #thenextradio installment is a question and answer session with John Gorman. Both in Cleveland and beyond, he is best known for his stint programming iconic rock station WMMS/100.7, which is today the iHeart-owned blend of talk, rock and sports. Here's a snippet of his bio, in case you're one of a handful of readers at a Northeast Ohio media blog who doesn't know his past: Gorman programmed and served as Operations Manager at WMMS from 1973 to 1986, the station’s glory years, while … [Read more...]
About The Next Radio
Posted on February 22, 2015 · 2 Comments
Each Monday, we will have an installment in our series called #thenextradio. The series came about when we were, like many, noticing experienced broadcasters striking out on their own...more often than before. Some had left "traditional radio" voluntarily, some not in such a voluntary way. In the old days, these people basically disappeared when they left the chair behind the microphone...until they managed to get a new radio job, a lot of times "across the street" in radio parlance. Of … [Read more...]
Held A Virtual Hostage
Posted on February 9, 2015 · Leave a Comment
And other items...but first... RADIO/TV HOLDUP: Last month, a tiny West Michigan radio station was turned asunder...as parties unknown held a virtual gun to its computer systems. Grand Rapids NBC affiliate WOOD-TV/8 covered the story at Jim Higgs-owned standards WAKV/980 Otesgo MI: On Jan. 9, crooks used software called “ransomware” to remotely shut down the computers Higgs uses to get his station on the air. His files were encrypted so he couldn’t get to them. “Our entire music … [Read more...]
Stations New And Old
Posted on February 3, 2015 · 3 Comments
And our opener today is a big signal upgrade for a translator that'll apparently add to iHeart's Oak Tree stable... LATEST FORMAT?: Our content partners at RadioInsight first spotted a move that'd turn translator W291BV/106.1 Solon into a player in the Cleveland market, signal-wise: In Cleveland, an application filed by iHeartMedia will see EMF’s 106.1 W291BV Solon, OH move to the current auxiliary antenna of CBS’ 102.1 WDOK where it will operate with 200 watts at 264 meters rebroadcasting an … [Read more...]
Controversy, Exits And Entrances
Posted on January 26, 2015 · 7 Comments
In which a swirl of controversy envelopes radio and TV personalities...some of it significant, some of it not... HE'S GONE: When David Oliver became now-former chief of the Brimfield Police Department, we noted that as far as we knew, he still had his part-time job as a weekend radio host at Media-Com talk WNIR/100.1 "The Talk of Akron". After all, his employment there didn't depend on being chief of a small town Portage County police force. But Oliver's unceremonious exit from that … [Read more...]
Good For A LAFF
Posted on January 19, 2015 · Leave a Comment
With the home/lifestyle subchannel Live Well TV shutting down this month, there's been no word what Scripps ABC affiliate WEWS/5 in Cleveland would replace it with on 5.2...until now. The folks behind male-targeted GRIT (WUAB 43.3) and female-targeted ESCAPE (WQHS 61.4) are going after funny bones of both genders with the new "LAFF" network. Here's how the new subchannel network's press release describes it: The country's first-ever, over-the-air broadcast television network devoted to … [Read more...]
