The year's shortest month starts out with a pretty decent list of news items... many from the past few days... SHOES TO FILL: Long-time Clear Channel Cleveland programmer Bo Matthews left behind some big shoes to fill when he departed the PD chair at rock/talk WMMS/100.7, top 40 WAKS/96.5 "Kiss FM" and station-in-a-closet alt-rock WMMS-HD2-W256BT/99.1 "99X". With Matthews now the cluster programming VP for Clear Channel's Cincinnati cluster, Oak Tree has found his replacement. He's Chris … [Read more...]
Ohio’s LPFM Application Invasion
Posted on November 24, 2013 · 7 Comments
OK, so it's not an invasion yet, as many of the nearly 2,800 LPFM applications that recently landed at the FCC won't breathe a bit of (electronic) air. Thanks to our new content partnership with NorthEast Radio Watch and RadioInsight, with heavy data lifting by Lance Venta, Scott Fybush, and long-time friend Garrett Wollman at The Archives @ BostonRadio.org, we have a list of 56 applicants for new LPFM stations in Ohio. We'll break out the applicants in the OMW Coverage Area (basically, … [Read more...]
A Busy First Post
Posted on November 22, 2013 · 9 Comments
Now that we've resolved all our technical issues with the new blog, let's stock it with some content. And yes, we have a long, long list of items coming up here. A note: E-mail subscribers, who signed up for notification, should not have to resubmit at the new site. We are requesting that the E-mail subscriber lists be moved over. Until then, we'll post a link to the new content on our old WordPress.com site, so E-mail subscribers can still be notified... HO HO HO HOLIDAY: We knew that … [Read more...]
It’s On The Way
Posted on November 13, 2013 · 4 Comments
Ohio Media Watch, The Next Generation is coming soon. We hope the transition won't be too jarring for you. The core of this effort will remain as it is now, and the new site hopefully won't cause many complaints. Again, it isn't a retreat to social media like we tried in the recent past...if anything, it'll be an expansion. In the meantime, there's more media news to cover and talk about... ROVER'S AFTERNOON COURT DATE:The case against Clear Channel rock/talk WMMS/100.7 and syndicated … [Read more...]
Friday Morning Data Dump
Posted on October 11, 2013 · 7 Comments
Or, late Thursday night, if you prefer, as we can't sleep...for reasons having nothing to do with OMW... THE WNIR DRAMA: A MUST READ for anyone interested in recent WNIR events, by former local newspaper columnist Stuart Warner in one of his old newspaper haunts, the Akron Beacon Journal via Ohio.com. Retired WNIR morning man Stan Piatt opens up to Warner about how his exit from the station was handled. The details are (nearly) identical to unconfirmed rumblings we've heard for months now. It's … [Read more...]
An Experimental Blog Post
Posted on October 10, 2013 · 10 Comments
We've received a very mixed response to our "move" to social media. While we've received a flood of new Twitter followers, others are openly hostile to that being the only outlet for Ohio Media Watch. And hostile may not be a strong enough a word. So, we'll try this: copying and editing our Twitter posts to a blog post, without all the responses, tags and whatnot. -------- CRONAUER BACK TO RADIO, STILL ON TV: Joe Cronauer is now PM drive at Salem CCMer 95.5 The Fish. Still on WKYC, too, … [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...]
Welcome To A Busy 2013
Posted on January 5, 2013 · 2 Comments
And as usual when we start a new year, or return from a hiatus, there's stuff waiting to land like so many airplanes. We are probably missing a topic or three, so don't be surprised if there's a crash...we'll pick up where we left off in a future update... UPDATE 1:35 AM 1/5/13: Cox and Raycom have reached an agreement, and OMW social media followers tell us that the local stations, WOIO/19 and WUAB/43, are back in the Cox lineup. Here's part of what we originally wrote before Friday … [Read more...]
You Need This Calendar
Posted on November 20, 2012 · 1 Comment
You ask, "why do I need a calendar in 2013 at all, when there's one right on my smartphone?" Does your smartphone, even your tablet, include in its calendar full color, full size glossy pictures of some of the most interesting radio and television tower and transmitter sites, and broadcast facilities in North America and beyond? Does it note famous dates in broadcast history, anniversaries and other dates of interest? And you just try putting a nail through your smartphone or tablet's screen … [Read more...]
Letting Some Out
Posted on November 18, 2012 · 2 Comments
This may be one of our final blog updates of 2012, though we will continue to update our social media presence with breaking media-related news. No, not actual breaking news, as some of our E-mailers (not readers) haven't figured out... CLEVELAND RADIO HISTORY INTO HISTORY: As we write this, early Sunday morning, the storied Cleveland media address "One Radio Lane" is no longer occupied by, well, any radio stations. CBS Radio's local operations in Cleveland have been split between two … [Read more...]
