We're back for a Monday morning update, with some new stuff, and not one direct mention of Something Else that's been kicking around the local media world recently. But this update appears to be All About Clear Channel...like most of last week...A CLEVELAND VALENTINE: OMW reported last week that Los Angeles-based Sean Valentine, he of the one-named "Valentine in the Morning", would be once again expanding his empire to Cleveland.The hot AC KBIG/104.3 "My 104.3" host's syndicated offering was … [Read more...]
Local News And Premium Choice
Posted on April 29, 2009 · Leave a Comment
Isn't branding a wonderful thing?"Local news" is a brand, really. Radio stations that still offer news on a local basis hammer that into listeners' brains. "DEPEND on us for LOCAL news!" "We're your LOCAL NEWS SOURCE!"The reality is somewhat different in 2009.For many stations which once had a, well, "local" newsroom...the "source" is often an anchor in a newsroom anywhere from 25 to a few hundred miles away, trying to sound like they know the area they're serving via computer file … [Read more...]
The CC Ohio Cut List, As We Know It
Posted on April 28, 2009 · Leave a Comment
UPDATE: This list will be updated as new names come in...-----------The following is a list of all the Clear Channel employees we know to have been cut this week in Ohio.There are some new names on the list, that we haven't yet reported, and still some unconfirmed names.For the most part, this list contains names on-air or programming department employees laid off at the company's stations starting Monday.It's our belief that each cluster lost at least one or two off-air employees. If we know … [Read more...]
Tuesday’s Full Basket
Posted on March 24, 2009 · Leave a Comment
It's a pretty random, but important, collection of items in our basket on Tuesday morning...OH, AND BY THE WAY, THE PD: The news of the impending end of another American newspaper had everyone buzzing Monday, including your Mighty Blog of Fun(tm).Oh, by the way, employees of the Northeast Ohio sister paper of the Ann Arbor News took a budget hit Monday as well.Shortly after we took ourselves out of the media news stream to attend to Real Life, the Cleveland Plain Dealer announced its own latest … [Read more...]
Sports And Digital
Posted on January 27, 2009 · Leave a Comment
Your Primary Editorial Voice(tm) is "on the road" for much of this week, and our updates will be a little more sporadic than usual.But, we did manage to put some "breaking news" up here before it happened on Monday, didn't we? And as usual, our physical exit from Ohio prompted a major change...sorry, Columbus, we should have warned you!THE SPORTS HIT THE FM FAN: And as reported here Monday, Dispatch hot AC WBNS-FM/97.1 Columbus "Mix 97.1" faded into oblivion as scheduled at 4 PM on … [Read more...]
A Snowy Update
Posted on January 10, 2009 · Leave a Comment
As local TV weather forecasters predict anywhere from 4, to 10, to 250 inches of snow for Northeast Ohio this weekend, what else do you have to do but read this Snowbound Week-Ending OMW update?We've stocked up on the essentials...you'll have enough here to last you through the snowy weekend. And we're only kidding about that "250" number above. It only seems like it...WEOL EXIT: We have few details, but we hear that Elyria-Lorain Broadcasting talk WEOL/930 Elyria has parted ways with … [Read more...]
February 17…Or Not?
Posted on January 8, 2009 · Leave a Comment
UPDATE 1/8/09 4:03 PM: As hinted below, President-elect Barack Obama is indeed urging a delay in the DTV transition date.Quoting an Associated Press article we found on the TVNewsday trade news website:In a letter to key lawmakers, transition team co-chair John Podesta warned Thursday that too many Americans who rely on analog TV sets to pick up over-the-air broadcasts won't be ready.The letter to Congress reportedly focuses on two reasons for delay: the reported problems with the government's … [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...]
OMW’s First Digital TV Q&A
Posted on September 26, 2008 · Leave a Comment
We went back to read our item about the early analog switchoff of Youngstown market PBS affiliate WNEO/45 Alliance, and...well, we figured some of our readers may have some questions about the digital TV transition.Late on the night of February 17, 2009, just before the clock strikes midnight into the 18th, TV transmitter facilities around America will be very busy places...as every full-power TV station in the nation shuts off its analog transmitter for good. (For the record, as far as we … [Read more...]
Midweek Teasers
Posted on May 16, 2007 · Leave a Comment
Well, mostly teasers, as it's a motley collection of semi-developed items and rumblings...with SOME very solid news...FAREWELL SOON: OMW was the very first place where the impending retirement of WJW/8 "FOX 8"'s Big Chuck and Lil John was reported in October 2006, much to the chagrin of, well, management on South Marginal Road.Just one day later, Plain Dealer entertainment/media writer Julie Washington talked to "Big Chuck" Schodowski, who told her that he was considering retirement...oh, right … [Read more...]
