ZIPS RE-UP, EXPAND: The University of Akron has agreed to a contract extension that'll keep Zips football broadcasts on Clear Channel sports WARF/1350 Akron through the 2012-2013 athletic season. And the Zips are also expanding to the north and west east (sorry, our compass got spun around for some reason!). A new deal also puts University of Akron football broadcasts on Salem talk WHK/1420 Cleveland, and sister religious/brokered WHKZ/1440 Warren, according to a university press … [Read more...]
You’ll Need A Scorecard
Posted on June 27, 2010 · 5 Comments
You'll definitely need a scorecard to keep track of weekend talk radio in Ohio and beyond...in four steps... STEP ONE: We'll start off at the Clear Channel complex in the Kenwood area of Cincinnati, where sister talk WTAM/1100 Cleveland weekender and former WKDD/98.1-WHLO/640 Akron voice Matt Patrick, as scheduled, did a 12 noon-3 PM Saturday shift on the original "Big One"...WLW/700. As we pointed out before, WLW is filling that time slot - formerly occupied by now-former WLW host Mike … [Read more...]
The Big Turmoil
Posted on June 14, 2010 · 1 Comment
Happenings at a Cincinnati radio station have taken over talk radio news in the entire Midwest, and Northeast Ohio is even involved... FROM CINCY TO CHICAGO: The story of Clear Channel talk WLW/700's schedule turmoil continues to grow in Cincinnati. There's word from Chicago that two hosts could be out at Tribune talk WGN/720 in the next month, as at least one now-former WLW host is headed in that direction. Now-former WLW "Midday" host Mike McConnell told the Cincinnati Enquirer that … [Read more...]
Wholly Unrelated Items
Posted on June 7, 2010 · 7 Comments
UPDATE 6/8/10 8:55 AM: Radio-Info.com's Tom Taylor confirms that McConnell is heading to WGN, starting August 9th...thanks to TSMW for the heads up! --- Here are two three items that are entirely unrelated, except they both all have to do with radio... FIRST OF TWO?: This is right in the middle of the Tri-State Media Watch coverage area, but we've always kept an eye on this station, anyway...and it, as we've long said, is much bigger than Cincinnati. And it could have effects up here, … [Read more...]
Live From Northeast Ohio
Posted on June 3, 2010 · Leave a Comment
We just wanted to dispel the rumor that we've moved to another state, and are doing this blog remotely, while you thought we were still in Ohio. Heh! We couldn't resist... BATH TOWNSHIP, OHIO...HELLO!: Read that in the voice of CNN's Larry King, as the veteran talk show host dropped in at the Bath Township mansion of Cleveland Cavaliers superstar LeBron James this week - to conduct an interview with the soon-to-be free agent to air on Friday's edition of "Larry King Live" (9 PM Eastern, last … [Read more...]
Assorted June Items
Posted on June 2, 2010 · 2 Comments
Here are some assorted items as we head into June. It must be June, because Scripps ABC affiliate WEWS/5 "NewsChannel 5" forecaster Mark Johnson is taking up a lot of airtime talking about a tornado warning on the edge of the station's coverage area. At least he's not preempting a series finale... FIRE KNOCKS OFF WSTB: Streetsboro school-owned radio station WSTB/88.9 has gone through a lot recently. Are locusts next? The station was forced off the air late Tuesday afternoon due to fire at … [Read more...]
Holiday Weekend Post
Posted on May 29, 2010 · 2 Comments
UPDATE 8:33 PM 5/29/10: There's an update to the last story in this item. Please scroll to the bottom of the item for more... ------ Here's an update to get you through Memorial Day weekend... LOST UPDATE: First, an update on Channel 5's problems with the series finale of ABC's "Lost", parts of which were, well, lost to area viewers last Sunday night. As we noted on our original item, the Scripps-owned local ABC affiliate was able to convince the network to allow it to rerun the show before … [Read more...]
Clearing Off The Virtual Desk
Posted on May 22, 2010 · 5 Comments
Here's just a collection of stuff once again topping our virtual desk. We've been meaning to clean this thing off...though there are still a couple of items we'll have to take off later... 20 QUESTIONS: OK, so they're 10 questions each to two people, but both are Northeast Ohio radio types. The popular trade site "AllAccess" spotlights two local radio types in its weekly "10 Questions" section. One is Clear Channel Akron market hot AC WKDD/98.1 former morning man and former talk WHLO/640 … [Read more...]
The Ohio Connection
Posted on April 13, 2010 · Leave a Comment
Here are a couple of very unrelated items about Northeast Ohioans in or near the national media spotlight...CONVENTION TIME: Those in local radio and TV are noticing that many people have left Ohio for Las Vegas this week, site of the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) annual convention.Long-time OMW readers are aware that a regular reader of the Mighty Blog of Fun(tm), Rubber City Radio Group VP/information media Ed Esposito, has been involved with what is now the Radio-Television … [Read more...]
In No Particular Order
Posted on March 24, 2010 · Leave a Comment
Since we've been sporadic lately, here are some items that have taken place in recent days... in no particular order...and there are still more items we haven't touched yet..."MISS BARBARA" PASSES ON: If you grew up on Northeast Ohio television into the early 1970s, you need no further explanation.Barbara Plummer, known as "Miss Barbara" on Scripps ABC affiliate WEWS/5's local edition of "Romper Room", has died.From her online obituary (we have the text, but don't have a link):From 1958 to 1972 … [Read more...]
