A day before Scripps ABC affiliate WEWS/5's "NewsChannel 5" says goodbye to its most visible face, this is a good time to talk about the changing environment in local TV news "after Ted Henry".By our reckoning, after Mr. Henry says his final words on Wednesday night's 11 PM newscast, there will be just two of his generation of Cleveland TV news left: his former co-anchor Wilma Smith, now down to a single nightly newscast at Local TV Fox affiliate WJW/8 "Fox 8", and Wilma's WJW co-hort Dick … [Read more...]
Hey, Is Someone Retiring This Week
Posted on May 18, 2009 · Leave a Comment
In case you're reading OMW from underneath a rock, a reminder...Scripps ABC affiliate WEWS/5 is saying goodbye this week to one of the few remaining news anchor icons in the Cleveland market.You can be forgiven if you get a sense of "deja vu" this week while watching the station pay tribute to long-time "NewsChannel 5" anchor Ted Henry...who exits the anchor chair after the 11 PM newscast on Tuesday.After all, the station celebrated his 35th anniversary a few years ago with various clips and … [Read more...]
Radio News Changes, Part 2
Posted on May 15, 2009 · Leave a Comment
And now, your second news item related to radio news changes.This time, it's a veteran reporter who is leaving his Toledo station to pursue...politics.OMW hears that Clear Channel talk WSPD/1370 morning anchor/reporter Kevin Milliken leaves the station today, and is announcing a run for a seat on Toledo City Council.Aaron Brilbeck will move into the WSPD morning drive news shift. He joins Nik Rajkovic in the station's newsroom, along with recorded newscasts shipped up the Clear Channel computer … [Read more...]
Metro About To Close In Ohio
Posted on May 15, 2009 · Leave a Comment
There's really nothing new here for OMW readers, except some details and timing.This item on AllAccess' Net News scroll jumped out at us:METRO NETWORKS/WESTWOOD ONE Regional Dir.Operations/DETROIT-CENTRAL HOWARD BOUTON tells ALL ACCESS, "I am looking for talent in DETROIT for our Metro Networks Regional Hub. I need traffic producers and editors, traffic anchors for DETROIT, GRAND RAPIDS, CLEVELAND, CINCINNATI, COLUMBUS, TOLEDO and DAYTON Radio and TV stations. News anchors for same markets. … [Read more...]
News About Radio News: Part 1
Posted on May 15, 2009 · Leave a Comment
As promised in our Twitter update, here's the first of two items about radio newspeople.We wondered, when posting the "Help Wanted" ad put up by Clear Channel talk WTAM/1100 Cleveland, if news director Darren Toms would look to the outside in hiring a replacement for anchor/reporter Ted Klopp...who left the station on his own to pursue a job outside radio.It appears that outside hiring has happened.OMW hears that Elyria-Lorain Broadcasting talk WEOL/930 Elyria news reporter/anchor Colleen … [Read more...]
Odder Mix Than Usual
Posted on May 8, 2009 · Leave a Comment
And mostly items on the fringe of our usual OMW coverage area wrap up this Friday.But we'll start in Cleveland, and to our friends on South Marginal Road...thank you for the Twitter Shout-Out! Quoting:-----A special Fox 8 Twitter shout-out to Ohio Media Watch. Glad you're enjoying our tweets! Stay tuned, more to come-----We don't know who handles the Twitter account at Cleveland Fox affiliate WJW/8 "Fox 8". We suspect it's one of those Additional Duties added to a newscast producer's already … [Read more...]
Thursday’s Mixed Bag
Posted on May 7, 2009 · Leave a Comment
Try as we might, we can't get our daily updates to always fit into a neat, tidy little bag...THIS IS A TEST, OR WILL BE: Say, what are you doing on May 21st, at 7:30 AM, 12:30 PM or 7:30 PM?If you're watching over-air analog TV that day, anywhere in the nation, you could be watching a national DTV test.The Wall Street Journal reports this week that the FCC is working on a plan that would ask TV stations across the United States to, quoting the article, "suspend regular programming and instead … [Read more...]
Embargoed Until Wednesday Morning
Posted on May 6, 2009 · Leave a Comment
We're just picking up random items here in midweek, with mostly a TV theme...THE CLEVELAND (NON-)EMBARGO: As it turned out, in the end, nothing apparently happened.But there was a lot of behind the scenes intrigue in the past couple of days about a story "you saw first on 19 Action News at 10 on My43 WUAB" on Monday night's show.We hear that the 10 PM show that night on the MyNetwork TV outlet told viewers that the Cleveland Clinic's face transplant patient would make an appearance in front of … [Read more...]
Time Warner Cable Gets The Flu
Posted on April 29, 2009 · Leave a Comment
With growing worldwide attention to the swine flu situation, Time Warner Cable's "Northeast Ohio Network" (NEON) is offering up a special local program on the topic this week.And OMW readers may be interested in who's hosting it.From a TWC press release:-----Medical Special About Swine Flu to Air on Time Warner Cable’s Northeast Ohio Network (NEON)Cleveland Clinic Expert Dr. Thomas Tallman to Discuss Local and National Aspects of the Disease Akron, OH (APRIL 2009) – With the swine flu outbreak … [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...]
