It's been a fairly quiet week on the local media front, give or take items we've already covered, but all the off-blog activity has involved a high profile radio show. Our inbox has been peppered with questions like this one about Clear Channel rock/talk WMMS/100.7's "Rover's Morning Glory", which we'll copy verbatim from one of our readers: Rover was recently on vacation for 2 weeks, returned with a major arm injury, and subsequently, the show has been on "Best Of" for 4 to 5 weeks now. Give … [Read more...]
Our Next Pile Of Items
Posted on April 15, 2011 · Leave a Comment
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...]
TRANSCRIPT: Joe Tait’s Last Cavs Radio Words
Posted on April 13, 2011 · 3 Comments
The following is a transcript of Joe Tait's last moments as the Voice of the Cavaliers...first, his final exchange with Mike Snyder, and then, his sign off - slightly altered from his usual version. We'd like to thank Fox Sports Ohio for replaying the Cavaliers Radio Network call, so we could properly transcribe these segments: ---------- MIKE SNYDER: Joe, we've reached that time, and I'll tell ya, I must say, it's really been a privilege for me to work with you, doing this over the last 20 … [Read more...]
Have A Good Night Everybody
Posted on April 13, 2011 · 2 Comments
A big "thank you" to our Secondary Editorial Voice(tm), for handling things in what ended up being over a one month long hiatus. We'll have a much larger item with other news nuggets a little later today, but this one's for Joe Tait. We've gotten a small taste of what Cleveland Cavaliers basketball on the radio sounds like without Tait, but unfortunately, that'll become a permanent meal after tonight. Yes, Joe Tait...who has been the NBA team's radio voice almost continuously since a few … [Read more...]
Jim Mantel Heads to the Tar Heel State
Posted on April 4, 2011 · 2 Comments
Former Clear Channel country WGAR/99.5 morning fixture Jim Mantel is now waking people up in North Carolina. As of this morning, Mantel took the morning gig for NextMedia country outlet WRNS 96.1/960 Kinston for "Mantel in the Morning" joined by station veteran Heather Davis. (Yes, WRNS AM/FM is owned by the same NextMedia that owns Canton stations talk WHBC/1480 Canton and Hot AC WHBC/94.1.) Interestingly enough, Mantel himself is also replacing a longtime personality in the market - Wayne … [Read more...]
THIS JUST IN: It’s Curtains For WCER
Posted on March 31, 2011 · 14 Comments
UPDATE (03-31-2011 at 5:29PM): Or is it? We've heard from different sources that WCER may have changed their minds about signing off today or tonight. More on this as details emerge... The original post as follows: ---------------------------------------------------- **This is a developing story... please keep checking back for the latest developments! ** We've also received word that another AM radio station in Canton has decided to throw in the towel and go silent. This time, it's … [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...]
Skip Hornyak Passes Away
Posted on March 26, 2011 · 3 Comments
OMW has learned that WHBC/1480 Canton personality Skip Hornyak passed away early yesterday. Hornyak was a fixture at the then-Beaverkettle-owned WHBC starting in 1967 as morning host, then moved to the midday slot, and finally hosted overnights until his retirement in 2000. Hornyak also hosted "Tradio" on WHBC for many years. Prior to joining WHBC, Hornyak also served as the program director for WTIG/990 Massillon (of course, WTIG now operates as an ESPN Radio affiliate). The … [Read more...]
BREAKING: Joe Tait to Return as Voice of the Cavs this March 27th
Posted on March 26, 2011 · Leave a Comment
Very good news for Cleveland Cavaliers fans that have had to deal with much change and turmoil this season: Joe Tait will be making his return to calling home games for the Cavs this Sunday, March 25, against the Atlanta Hawks - his first official game for the team since being sidelined on October 11 for pneumonia... that eventually resulted in a successful cardiac surgery and rehabilitation which took him out of service for the rest of 2010. Of course, Tait's iconic sign-on of "It's … [Read more...]
A Youngstown Two-For-Tuesday
Posted on March 22, 2011 · 1 Comment
Two big news items impacting the Mahoning Valley today: WHTX's "Fabulous" Turn: Back in January, Whiplash Media's WHTX/1570 Warren formally announced plans to convert the station to adult standards, in response to Youngstown standards stalwarts WSOM/600 Salem and WNIO/1390 Youngstown to spoken word formats (WSOM went all-talk; WNIO went all-sports). After some contractual hang-ups with the TKO Radio Network - providers of the now-former "Classic Top 40" format - WHTX finally made the switch to … [Read more...]
