OK, so we will sneak in a final update for the work week...IT'S BAAAAAAACK!: After what would appear to have been a one-day test earlier this month, Cleveland market CW affiliate WBNX/55 Akron has returned to the digital airwaves.WBNX-DT is back up as of this writing. (If you haven't set your digital tuner up for it yet, have it scan new channels, or specifically, RF channel 30.)And things are a little different for the station's return to digital broadcasting.This time, WBNX-DT is putting out … [Read more...]

Hump Day
Disorganized, and in no particular order...AND THE REST OF THE STORY: We've already reported that former WKYC/3 sports anchor Andy Baskin starts pinch-hitting in the WEWS/5 sports department Friday, which is now officially down to one person ("The Overworked Sue Ann Robak") on-air after the departure of anchor John Chandler.What we haven't reported yet may be just as interesting.OMW hears that upon the departure of sports director Chris Miller - now happily at Comcast SportsNet in Washington DC … [Read more...]

More Tuesday Potpourri
We're just in an odds and ends kind of mood lately...HELP INCOMING: Just two days after WEWS/5 lost sportscaster John Chandler to the land of New England, OMW hears that a fill-in may already be on the way.We hear that if it hasn't happened already, former WKYC/3 sportscaster Andy Baskin will soon be tapped to pitch in at the local ABC affiliate - to ensure Sue Ann Robak isn't chained to the sports department 7 days a week, and to help with "team coverage" of events like the Cavaliers' run in … [Read more...]

Monday, Monday
Some pickups/leftovers/questions to start the week:THERE GOES JOHN: OMW hears that Cleveland ABC affiliate WEWS/5 announced on its 11 PM newscast Sunday night that sports anchor John Chandler's last day would be - Sunday. It's news that isn't news to regular readers of This Space, which reported the "NewsChannel 5" sports anchor's exit on Thursday.(An error on our part resulted in us reporting a last date of April 26th.)We didn't get a chance to see it, but we're told anchors Curtis Jackson and … [Read more...]

BREAKING NEWS: Browns Re-Up With WKYC/3, Add SportsTime Ohio
The Cleveland Browns are sticking with local NBC affiliate WKYC/3 for the 2007 season, as the team's official broadcast TV partner and home of Browns preseason games.But on the cable side, the local NFL team is making a change for 2007, as it will start a new agreement with SportsTime Ohio, the local cable/satellite regional sports network owned by the Cleveland Indians.The other big news out of this agreement is for HDTV fans.Channel 3 will air four 2007 pre-season games in HD format, and new … [Read more...]

Local TV Turmoil
UPDATE WITH NEW INFORMATION - 3:35 PM 4/19/07There has been a lot of turnover in Cleveland TV over the past few months, and it's happening again. We have two items in just one day.OMW hears that WKYC/3 news director Mike McCormick has announced his resignation from the Cleveland NBC affiliate this afternoon, effective immediately.McCormick came to the station less than a year ago from Gannett sister station "First Coast News", the NBC/ABC combo in Jacksonville FL. We have no idea where he's … [Read more...]

WTAM’s Crystal Award
With the folks at the National Association of Broadcasters holding their yearly gathering this week in Las Vegas, it's also time for awards.And one of those awards goes to a local news/talk mainstay, Clear Channel talk WTAM/1100 Cleveland. WTAM received one of the NAB's Crystal Awards, which goes to stations with an "outstanding year-round commitment to community service".Two WTAM efforts got the NAB's attention for the 2006 Crystal Awards.The first is a long-running station campaign, "Coats … [Read more...]

And…Wednesday
NOTICE: We accidentally closed comments on this item too early, in our attempt to close the item below it. The comments are once again open on this item, if you'd like to add your two cents worth. -- The Management----------We weren't even planning on being here today, but...here we are, with a mid-week installment...BLACKSBURG NORTH: Two days after the largest shooting massacre in American history, local TV stations in Cleveland continue to camp out in Blacksburg, Virginia.The Virginia Tech … [Read more...]

Tuesday’s Here
And a note from your Mighty Blog of Fun(tm): Real life intrudes again, and our updates may not be as regular this week as we'd like. But we'll try to check in...MAD DASH TO BLACKSBURG: As America got really familiar with a college campus in Southwest Virginia really quick, coverage of the largest shooting massacre in American history overtook local airwaves as well.All local TV stations, that we saw, dipped in and out of coverage of the mass murder at Virginia Tech on Monday afternoon, … [Read more...]

Opening Up The Week
Happy Monday to you, such as it is...and our opening volley of the week is a mix of stuff...THAT WHK 85TH ANNIVERSARY SHOW: As first mentioned here months ago, Salem talk WHK/1420 Cleveland is planning an 85th anniversary special.We now know the date - this coming Thursday at 6 PM. And we know the host - former WHK personality Johnny Holliday.From the WHK website page about "The WHK Radio Retrospective":From 1959 to 1964, Johnny Holliday was the biggest name in Cleveland radio.Join Johnny as he … [Read more...]