So, we were right to be skeptical of talk (and even some rumors, not connected to us) that Venture Technologies could LMA WLFM-LP/87.7 to local sports radio operator Good Karma Broadcasting (WKNR/850-WWGK/1540) to simulcast their operation on the FM band. No, as it turns out, we should have paid attention to these curious, anonymous comments on our own item about the so-called "Franken FM" radio station, posted the night of June 14th by an OMW reader named "Kate": Interesting new FM Cleveland. … [Read more...]
Viral TV News Video, Round 2
Posted on June 22, 2012 · 2 Comments
UPDATE 6/22/12 6:53 PM: "ABC World News with Diane Sawyer" featured a portion of this video in tonight's newscast, though Sawyer called Johnson "Mark Jackson"... - - - - - - - Just about everyone in Northeast Ohio knows by now that Akron native and former Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James finally got his "ring"...as an NBA champion, his Miami Heat closing out the NBA Finals series with the Oklahoma City Thunder last night. Note, of course, that both teams have weather related … [Read more...]
Much Ado About Sports Radio
Posted on June 21, 2012 · 4 Comments
We actually predicted this before local CBS Radio sports outlet WKRK/92.3 "92.3 The Fan" debuted last August. We'd been hearing rumors that CBS was going to launch its own national sports talk radio network, though at the time we believed it would be limited to the night/weekend hours to fill time on its full-fledged sports talkers. The comparison we made was with CBS' initial efforts to air KMOX/1120 St. Louis-based overnight host Jon Grayson ("Overnight America") on other large market CBS … [Read more...]
The Howie Followup
Posted on June 19, 2012 · 6 Comments
The death of a popular and well-regarded media personality, particularly when it comes in such a sudden way, often feels like a body blow to the rest of the broadcast community. So it has been after Saturday's untimely death of WNIR/100.1 "The Talk of Akron" midday talk show host Howie Chizek of a massive heart attack at the age of 65. Chizek had another range of admirers - those who had no idea he had an Akron talk radio show (let alone for 38 years running, most of those years dominant in … [Read more...]
Fallout And More
Posted on June 13, 2012 · 2 Comments
UPDATE 6/13/12 7:06 PM: The Asset Purchase Agreement (PDF) for Bernard Radio's WRBP/101.9 Hubbard says that Educational Media Foundation will pay $500,000 for the Youngstown market station... ---------- We had planned this as a "fallout" item after the testing of Venture Technologies' WLFM-LP/6 "87.7" FM Cleveland, but as they say in the news business..."This Just In". WRBP TO EMF: Just under a month ago, Bernard Radio urban WRBP/101.9 Hubbard "JAMZ 101.9" was presented a resolution by the … [Read more...]
It All Happens At Once
Posted on June 7, 2012 · 1 Comment
We paused long enough to take a breath or two, and then, six things happened in the space of a day. And we're sure we missed something... LEON'S REDUCTION: A veteran TV anchorman in Cleveland is moving around his work schedule. Scripps ABC affiliate WEWS/5 "NewsChannel 5" anchor Leon Bibb, who has been anchoring the noon and 6 PM editions of the station's newscasts, is no longer anchoring the 6 PM show as of this week...replaced by Chris Flanagan, the Dallas-Fort Worth anchor the station … [Read more...]
We’re Back
Posted on May 3, 2012 · 6 Comments
Whew. That was a long hiatus, wasn't it? As explained in the previous items, various issues affecting your Primary Editorial Voice(tm) are not done yet. But we missed this blog, frankly. We will not "be back" on a daily basis, and life off-blog may still intervene from time to time. But, overall, we have returned. We'll start with some newer stuff, and recap some other things that happened in our absence...most of it in a "Twitter Recap" of items we've posted before on our social media … [Read more...]
The Parade
Posted on November 16, 2011 · 3 Comments
It's a short parade of news items, as local media is pretty quiet, news-wise, just before the Thanksgiving holiday. But one parade is at the front of our larger parade, so to speak... HO HO HO!: Northeast Ohio radio has its first Christmas music station of the season. As no surprise to anyone, it's Clear Channel AC WHOF/101.7 "My 101.7" in the Canton market, which started rolling out the holiday tunes at 9 AM Wednesday. WHOF is traditionally at or near the start of the Christmas Music … [Read more...]
The Sports Radio Imaging Battle
Posted on October 24, 2011 · 7 Comments
Our extensive coverage of "The Sports Radio Battle" in Cleveland, between Good Karma's "ESPN 850 WKNR" and CBS Radio's "92.3 The Fan", got noticed by someone well-qualified to talk about the respective stations' sound. And we mean "sound"...as in "overall station sound". After all, Ken Dardis of Cleveland's Audio Graphics, Inc. was directly responsible for WKNR's first "sound" in the 1990s, when he was the sports station's first creative/production director. Ken adds a much less important … [Read more...]
THIS JUST IN: Cavaliers Name Michael, Broadcast Team
Posted on October 6, 2011 · 1 Comment
The NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers have named the team's new radio broadcast team. And the new play-by-play voice is a surprise to many. John Michael, a host on Fox Sports Ohio's NHL Columbus Blue Jackets coverage, has the monumental task of being the next Cavs radio voice after retired legend Joe Tait. Michael is not a stranger to working for a Dan Gilbert-owned team at Quicken Loans Arena... he was the first radio/TV voice of the AHL's Lake Erie Monsters. Jim Chones' stint doing analysis with … [Read more...]
