Now that Joe Tait has said "have a good life, everybody!" and retired to his southern Medina County farm, let's get to the other items piling up in the OMW Topics List... ...SOON ON FM?: You may be hearing Clear Channel talk WTAM/1100 in Cleveland branding itself as "NewsRadio 1100, now on 99.1 FM", and soon. That's because it appears Cleveland is about to become the latest Clear Channel market where a powerhouse AM talk station takes up residence at an additional spot on the FM dial, and a … [Read more...]
WKYC Cuts A.J. Colby, Jeff Maynor
Posted on April 3, 2011 · 18 Comments
Budget cutbacks have also come once again to another television outlet. This time, Gannett NBC affiliate WKYC/3 announced that they would be parting ways with weekend meterologist A.J. Colby and newscaster Jeff Maynor. The Plain Dealer's Mark Dawidziak elaborates more on Colby's dismissal. Maynor joined the NBC affiliate in the early 90s after lengthy stays as anchor/reporters for both WJW-turned-WJKW/8 (early to late 1970s) and for WEWS/5 (late 1970s to mid 1980s). For most of his stay at … [Read more...]
Assorted Monday News Nuggets
Posted on March 28, 2011 · 6 Comments
LAFORCE IS WITH FOX 8: It looks like Local TV Fox affiliate WJW/8 has brought aboard a new sports reporter after former weeknight sports anchor Tony Rizzo's departure last December. VermilionOhioNews.com posted on their March 28 issue that Vermilion native Allie LaForce has been hired by WJW as a sports reporter. A recent broadcast journalism graduate of Ohio University (where she also played on the Bobcats' girls basketball team), LaForce was the Miss Teen for 2005 and also made a guest … [Read more...]
Six Inches Of Partly Cloudy
Posted on February 24, 2011 · 1 Comment
Northeast Ohio may once again be looking at bad winter weather, but the conditions are sunny on South Marginal Road. That's because the Cleveland TV market's biggest name, Local TV LLC Fox affiliate WJW/8 "Fox 8 News" meteorologist Dick Goddard, celebrates 80 years on this Earth today...and he's still going strong. The Plain Dealer's Mark Dawidziak weighs in on Goddard's birthday and local TV dominance in an article published Wednesday...which is pretty good "Goddard 101" primer focusing on … [Read more...]
Another Big Return
Posted on February 22, 2011 · 3 Comments
This time, the hiatus was caused by technical problems...which are now completely fixed. So, on with the show...we have a LOT of catching up to do! And if we missed anything, we'll get to it later... JOE TAIT: The "Voice of the Cavaliers" has been heard on the airwaves again, at least temporarily. Cavaliers Radio Network Hall of Fame broadcaster Joe Tait made an appearance by telephone on Fox Sports Ohio's Cavaliers pre-game show with Jeff Phelps and Campy Russell last Wednesday … [Read more...]
WKYC Revamps 7, Adds Robin
Posted on February 11, 2011 · 2 Comments
As we expected early Thursday afternoon (and hinted on our earlier item), big chances were indeed afoot at a Cleveland TV newsroom, though the news hit earlier than we expected. By the time Gannett NBC affiliate WKYC/3 announced that it would overhaul its 7 PM newscast, bringing aboard a high-profile personality to co-anchor it, the news had been bouncing around the market like a child's bouncing ball. Yes, former Local TV Fox affiliate WJW/8 "Fox 8" personality Robin Swoboda is returning to … [Read more...]
A Better Mix
Posted on February 10, 2011 · 2 Comments
From your Mighty Blog of Fun(tm), a better mix of today's and yesterday's media news items. (Well, since Clear Channel's WMVX changed to variety hits WHLK/106.5 "The Lake", the slogan hasn't been used much - give or take NextMedia's WHBC-FM "Mix 94.1" in Canton...) NEW ASSISTANT NEWS DIRECTOR: Scripps ABC affiliate WEWS/5 will have a new second-in-command in the newsroom, and she's actually a familiar name to long-time Cleveland TV news viewers. That's because Ellen Miller spent a number of … [Read more...]
Monday, Monday, February Style
Posted on February 7, 2011 · 1 Comment
UPDATE 2/7/11 6:15 PM: Our sincere apologies to long-time OMW reader Dr. Phil Hoffman, who may not be so avid a reader after we incorrectly posted his last name. It's probably not the first time his name has been confused with another local media Phil, and we certainly know the difference between the two (it was a temporary brain freeze). But, our apologies to both men! UPDATE 2/7/11 10:53 AM: It looks like "Fox 8" is running one of those "Robin Swoboda Shows" without either a name or Robin, … [Read more...]
Some Leftover Stuff
Posted on January 25, 2011 · 2 Comments
And now, some items that have nothing to do about major changes at a local sports radio station...though we'll revisit that in the next day or so... PERMANENT REPLACEMENT: It may just be a coincidence, but as the trial of former Scripps ABC affiliate WEWS/5 "NewsChannel 5" sports anchor/reporter Terry Brooks plays out on the station's own newscasts, the man who's been filling in for him has been given the job permanently. He's Mike Cairns, who is well familiar with the role of second sports … [Read more...]
Closing Out The Week And Year
Posted on December 17, 2010 · 3 Comments
After this, OMW will go on official Holiday Hiatus, with a return scheduled for January 3, 2011. As per usual, we'll try to get any major media news mentioned here, either on the blog itself or via our Twitter feed. You can see our Twitter feed on the right hand side of the blog, even if you don't "do" Twitter...and the items will also appear on our Facebook page... 4:30 NEWS: The trend of early TV news getting earlier isn't going away with the new year. Gannett NBC affiliate WKYC/3 enters … [Read more...]
