We're closing out our weekend with a random grab bag...and for once, we have media related news on the positive side...MOVING UP: Long-time OMW reader Steve Kelly is moving up in the ranks at Saga's Columbus cluster.After a shuffle among Saga's four radio stations in Ohio's capital city, AllAccess reports that the afternoon driver at AC WSNY/94.7 "Sunny 95" adds programming duties at the newly-moved classic hits WODB/104.3 "Big Hits B104-3".The trade site also reports that the middayer at … [Read more...]
The End Of The Road
Posted on February 19, 2009 · Leave a Comment
Neither item below directly impacts this area - but some readers might be interested.THE DEATH OF "FM TALK": The young male-skewing "FM talk" format, primarily seeded by former CBS Radio morning star Howard Stern, can pretty much be pronounced dead.CBS Radio made a go of it with "Free FM", the company's post-Stern FM talk strategy.After Stern went to Sirius Satellite Radio, the CBS outlets featured a trio of regionally syndicated Stern replacements, including Cleveland's own Shane "Rover" … [Read more...]
The Week That Will Be
Posted on February 16, 2009 · Leave a Comment
So, we're back for our usual Monday morning go-around.Like last week, news about the now-mostly-moved digital TV transition will be hard to avoid this week - at least through the first part of this week, at any rate.For now, we'll start on the radio...with a digital TV update to follow later this morning...PAUL HARVEY...GOODBYE: Clear Channel talk WTVN/610 Columbus is the latest station to part ways with the news commentary nominally hosted by veteran broadcaster Paul Harvey.Echoing earlier … [Read more...]
NextMedia Lays Down Axe In Canton
Posted on February 13, 2009 · Leave a Comment
UPDATE 2/13/09 3:35 PM: OMW also hears that there are two part-time staff cuts on the FM side at Market Avenue South - "Mix 94.1" part-time air personalities Richard Nemec and Amanda Leary, bringing the total to eight - six full-time and two part-time - out the door at NextMedia Canton. The part-timers may still do holiday fill-in, but are losing regular work.We also aren't sure if Sam Bourqin's new afternoon drive show will be sports-related, or general issues talk. Via the 1480 stream, we … [Read more...]
Mixing It Up
Posted on February 12, 2009 · Leave a Comment
Yes, here at your Mighty Blog of Fun(tm), we realize that we've spent a lot of time and written a lot of items on the Now Officially Delayed Digital TV Transition.As always, we're basically driven by what's going on...and that's been the most active area that we cover. We'll try to mix it up at least a little in this item, though there's at least one DTV transition item in here, too...IT'S GOOD TO BE ALIVE...WEEEEE!: An OMW reader recently wrote:I haven't listened to Tony Rizzo lately but did … [Read more...]
More Cumulus Youngstown Fallout
Posted on February 11, 2009 · Leave a Comment
The media layoffs these days are not only frequent, and cut deep, but you seemingly can't put them in the past after reporting them.That's what's going on at Cumulus' Youngstown cluster, where we're getting word of two more on-air personalities losing their jobs in the most recent round of budget-driven layoffs.And if you're a long-time listener to Youngstown radio, they're names you'll probably recognize.OMW hears that talk WPIC/790 Sharon PA morning co-host/station manager Bob Popa and … [Read more...]
Cleveland’s Kiss FM Dumps Chris Brown Music
Posted on February 10, 2009 · Leave a Comment
With the caveat that we're not regular listeners to Clear Channel Cleveland top 40 WAKS/96.5 "Kiss FM", and couldn't identify this person if you pointed us to one of his videos and said his name:"Kiss" has announced that it's dumping music by Chris Brown, the popular recording star accused of assaulting his girlfriend Rihanna (another singer), off of its playlist. (We aren't familiar with her, either. We're obviously not P1 listeners for WAKS.)Quoting Kiss PD Bo Matthews from a Clear Channel … [Read more...]
Toledo Cumulus Update
Posted on February 9, 2009 · Leave a Comment
Put an asterisk by the list of names in our earlier item about layoffs at Cumulus Toledo.OMW hears that WRQN afternoon drive host Ron Sobzak has apparently been spared from the cuts, and an OMW reader in the market tells us that he is indeed on the air as usual this afternoon.We are also hearing conflicting information about WXKR/WLQR/WTOD sales manager Hugh McPherson's departure... and that his apparent exit to another market may have been in the works before this latest round of Cumulus Toledo … [Read more...]
Monday Potpourri
Posted on February 9, 2009 · Leave a Comment
It's Monday, and unlike some potpourri, ours is a mix of both palatable and unpalatable items. (We wish we could control the ingredients...)CUMULUS LAYOFFS: Looks like we start off with the unpalatable, as Cumulus Media dropped the layoff axe again late last week...and the company's two Northern Ohio markets were hit hard.We already told you about Toledo's job carnage on Friday...we'll fill in some of the names in a bit.And like in Toledo, if Cumulus keeps cutting like this in Youngstown, … [Read more...]
An Uplifting Radio Item
Posted on February 6, 2009 · Leave a Comment
To help brighten your mood on this Friday, here's a radio item that isn't about layoffs...and about the significant power the medium still has to do good.Clear Channel Akron/Canton hot AC WKDD/98.1 is in the midst of a huge annual event - the 10th Annual "Have A Heart, Do Your Part Radiothon" to benefit Akron Children's Hospital.Looking back at our item from last year, the 2008 edition raised $1,000,760 for the local hospital last year, a record...and much more than even top 15 market stations … [Read more...]
