The coming week, local media outlets are winding down for the holiday season. You'll see and hear a lot of fill-ins starting today, but it's still early enough in December that some regulars will still be working at least part of this week.We're here, too. Due to the general flow of news, the next three weeks will likely see fewer updates, and we'll probably try to put away the keyboard in the week between Christmas and New Year's Day...but we'll try to keep in touch...TIM WHITE EXITS: Today … [Read more...]
Friday’s Week Ender
Posted on December 12, 2008 · Leave a Comment
Barring any breaking news, this one should wrap up our week...CLEVELAND CHRISTMAS SWEATER: As mentioned earlier, way back when Premiere syndicated midday host Glenn Beck had not yet returned to Clear Channel talk WTAM/1100, Beck's "The Christmas Sweater" stage tour has a Cleveland stop...and it's this weekend.And though the performance Saturday night at Playhouse Square's Allen Theater is sold out, you can still have a chance of meeting the popular talk radio personality.Beck will be signing … [Read more...]
Television Facility Changes
Posted on December 10, 2008 · Leave a Comment
This is an item about two proposed local facilities changes - one approved, one on the consideration table - and oddly enough, a very indirect link between them.First, thanks to the many tipsters who have let us know that Western Reserve PBS' Youngstown-market WNEO/45 Alliance has indeed received FCC approval of a construction permit to increase its new Channel 45 digital facility from 44KW to 500KW.The "maximization" permit was approved after WNEO and Post-Newsweek Detroit NBC affiliate WDIV/4 … [Read more...]
“KNR2” Denied Tower Zoning
Posted on December 10, 2008 · Leave a Comment
As it turns out, there's a good reason Good Karma sports WWGK/1540 Cleveland "AM 1540, KNR2" hasn't been able to upgrade its power under a recently granted construction permit.The city of North Royalton's zoning appeals board has turned back the tower construction needed to move WWGK from Cleveland's East Side to the transmitter site of "big brother" station WKNR/850 "ESPN 850".The weekly newspaper the "Sun Star" has more:City leaders contend the property is now zoned "Traditional Town … [Read more...]
Layoffs Hit Another Station
Posted on December 10, 2008 · Leave a Comment
UPDATE 12/10/08 8:50 AM: Plain Dealer media columnist Julie Washington - who apparently escaped her own employer's recent layoff axe - confirms a number of the details in this PD story.Washington says "as many as 13" WOIO/WUAB employees were shown through the We Can't Afford You Anymore door, including "19 Action News" morning co-anchor Jeff Eliasoph, in what appears to be a nationwide cut of about 10 percent of station owner Raycom Media's staff.Eliasoph tells Washington that he didn't have … [Read more...]
WAKS Isn’t Going Anywhere
Posted on December 9, 2008 · Leave a Comment
And by "isn't going anywhere", we mean "isn't being sold".In a move we first saw reported today by AllAccess, an application has been filed with the FCC to return top 40 WAKS/96.5 Akron - the Cleveland market "Kiss FM" outlet - to Clear Channel, along with a number of stations in similar situations.WAKS and the other stations had been flipped to the Aloha Station Trust, a holding company which was charged (in principle) with selling the stations to other companies so Clear Channel could comply … [Read more...]
A Mess Of Cable Changes
Posted on December 9, 2008 · Leave a Comment
Every once in a while, we dip into the legal programming notices section of Time Warner Cable's website, where the company has to disclose some upcoming changes without shouting them from the rooftops.The list currently up for TWC's Northeast Ohio service area is long, complex and detailed.But...what looks innocuous on the legal notice could well develop into a problem not many anticipated.The notice includes what most usually think is "boilerplate" language about the potential loss of carriage … [Read more...]
Out Of The Box Monday
Posted on December 8, 2008 · Leave a Comment
Items have been piling up, almost literally, over the weekend...so, let's give them room to breathe free. But this update is so big, we'll have to split it into two...with more coming later today...WRUW BACK: Case Western Reserve University's WRUW/91.1 Cleveland is back on the air again.The non-comm station's website has details:We were able to turn on our transmitter again just after 9:30 am on Friday, December 5, 2008, after almost two weeks off the air due to a fire at our transmitter site … [Read more...]
Wrapping Up December’s First Week
Posted on December 5, 2008 · Leave a Comment
UPDATE 10:29 PM 12/5/08: Umm, oops.Our apologies to Akron Beacon Journal popular culture writer and OMW reader Rich Heldenfels, for posting this item without yet reading his detailed story on the WKYC changes in Friday's paper.Rich's item even contains some of the information we listed as "not confirmed 100%" below, including the weekend anchor moves involving Jeff Maynor and Kim Wheeler. We guess "not confirmed" meant "we hadn't read the Beacon yet" in this case.Since we're pretty sure Rich … [Read more...]
Replacing Tim, Adding Eric and Carole
Posted on December 4, 2008 · Leave a Comment
OK, so now it can be told.Gannett NBC affiliate WKYC/3 Cleveland has come up with its plan for replacing news anchor Tim White, who was unable to reach a contract renewal agreement to remain as co-anchor alongside Romona Robinson. White's last day at WKYC will be one week from Friday, on December 12th.Tim's replacement on "Channel 3 News" at 6 PM and 11 PM weekdays starting Monday, December 15th is pictured here:No, that's not a broken picture link.Co-anchoring WKYC's 6 and 11 PM weekday shows … [Read more...]
