UPDATE 6/25/09 2:21 PM: Our report of the buyouts accepted by WJW/8 "Fox 8" veterans Belinda Prinz and Dan Coughlin has been confirmed/separately reported by Cleveland Plain Dealer media columnist Julie Washington...---------There is a lot of information floating around, most of it related to broadcast television in Northeast Ohio.And we "know" most of it, though some of it is still speculation based on information that's out there...WE KNOW - TV: OMW hears that two veteran local TV names are … [Read more...]
Metro Heads North, Well, Sort Of
Posted on June 15, 2009 · Leave a Comment
Last year, Westwood One announced that it was shuttering about 50 of Metro Networks nationwide offices and bureaus, including its Cleveland office.The idea, according to the company, was to better utilize technology to gather information about area traffic (as well as sports and news)...and the result, we were told, is that markets like Cleveland would still receive reports - just from people based in Detroit. The same scenario would play out in the other 12 remaining market … [Read more...]
No, Dick Goddard Isn’t Retiring
Posted on June 12, 2009 · Leave a Comment
UPDATE 10:52 AM 6/12/09: A Friend of OMW tells us that the Plain Dealer's Julie Washington is "still in the building", just not this week...she's on vacation...--------In a normal OMW news cycle, putting the words "Dick Goddard" and "retirement" in the same sentence would warrant four-star ALL CAPS BREAKING NEWS! BREAKING NEWS! alerts.Even if that retirement isn't happening.But since we have been pre-occupied with the digital television transition the past few days, and since we haven't … [Read more...]
From The Rest Of The Broadcast World
Posted on June 9, 2009 · Leave a Comment
We're slowly getting more information on this week's Digital TV transition, and we'll have a separate update on that a little later today.But, in matters not involving the transition...METRO'S EXIT: To make this clear...the information we're passing along comes from a message board, and we don't know who wrote it.But we were tipped to it by Tom Taylor's excellent daily E-mail newsletter "Taylor on Radio-Info" this morning, and the information meshes with what we've already reported.Quoting a … [Read more...]
News And More News
Posted on June 8, 2009 · Leave a Comment
A wide variety of items from across the world of Ohio radio and television opens up our Monday...including some stuff we meant to mention before...ABBY GONE: Yes, we're aware that Gannett NBC affiliate WKYC/3 Cleveland has parted ways with Abby Ham, as the "Channel 3 News Today" co-host heads back to her former TV home, Gannett NBC sister station WBIR/10 in Knoxville TN.No, we don't know why Ham apparently did her last week solo, we're told without co-host Mark Nolan or weather forecaster … [Read more...]
Friday Quick Follow
Posted on June 5, 2009 · Leave a Comment
It's Friday, follow quick!WE'LL MISS IT, BUT...: We may well miss all the activity, but OMW hears that if you're interested in watching activity involving a new digital TV antenna...Broadview Road in Parma is the place to be this Friday afternoon. (Any regular OMW/ODTV reader needs no help finding the location.)It is, of course, one week out from the official end of full-power analog TV, and both stations camped out on that new tower hope to start up brand new full-power digital … [Read more...]
The Power Of Two
Posted on June 4, 2009 · Leave a Comment
OMW hears that yet another local TV type is about to leave his station, due to a contract non-renewal.We hear that Scripps Cleveland ABC affiliate WEWS/5 "NewsChannel 5" weather forecaster Jeff Mackel will exit the station soon, after the station declined to renew his contract.We don't know when Mackel's last day is, but as our subject header hints, his exit will leave the station's weather department with just two forecasters - Mark Johnson and Jason Nicholas.WEWS made a similar move in the … [Read more...]
Supersized Memorial Day Weekend Update
Posted on May 25, 2009 · Leave a Comment
We've been accumulating a Supersized Pile of Items here at your Mighty Blog of Fun(tm), and it's time to reduce the pile. The holiday weekend is as "good a time as any" to do so.And on behalf of the entire editorial staff of Ohio Media Watch, we mark the holiday to honor those who served and gave their lives for us...WHO'S #1?: Regular OMW readers know that we don't spend a lot of time in ratings land, for either TV or radio stations.The reason is simple: We don't have the unvarnished data, … [Read more...]
WEEKEND SPECIAL: Ted Henry’s Goodbye
Posted on May 23, 2009 · Leave a Comment
UPDATE 5/23/09 2:21 PM: OMW reader "Brad" notes that WEWS has posted a much better quality version on its YouTube page, which we've embedded below. (We didn't even realize Channel 5 HAD a YouTube page.)Despite the availability of an "HD" version, the video appears to be 4:3 SD with its own online "sidebars". Still, it's much more viewable than the tiny, low-bandwidth version on NewsNet5.The "Related Video" page shows a number of user-submitted video of various parts of Ted Henry's last … [Read more...]
Our Apologies To Leon Bibb
Posted on May 20, 2009 · Leave a Comment
In one of our earlier items surrounding the retirement of Scripps ABC affiliate WEWS/5 "NewsChannel 5" anchor Ted Henry, which starts after tonight's 11 PM newscast, we said Henry was one of the last iconic Cleveland TV news names left.We mentioned his former co-anchor at WEWS, Wilma Smith, who is now doing a single nightly newscast over at Local TV Fox affiliate WJW/8 "Fox 8", and long-time WJW meteorologist Dick Goddard.We mentioned, as an aside, "Fox 8"'s Robin Swoboda, back on the airwaves … [Read more...]
