It's no surprise to anyone, particularly anyone reading the Mighty Blog of Fun(tm), but it's now official. Local TV LLC Fox affiliate WJW/8 "Fox 8 News" morning co-anchor Tracy McCool is putting the early alarm clock away, and will sit alongside anchor Bill Martin on the 5 and 10 PM editions of "Fox 8 News", starting in January. Our friend Rich Heldenfels at the Akron Beacon Journal had first word of the move this afternoon on his Ohio.com blog "The HeldenFiles Online": McCool told me she … [Read more...]
Romona Leaving WKYC
Posted on December 7, 2011 · 2 Comments
UPDATE: We just wanted to link Plain Dealer writer Mark Dawidziak's very extensive article to this item. We'll have more speculation and rumblings in a later post. As Mark notes, rumors of Romona Robinson leaving WKYC have actually been around for a few months, coinciding roughly with six months of contract talks that failed to produce a new deal...but the actual "final day" has been in the rumor mill for about a month now. He also gets WKYC GM Brooke Spectorsky to confirm that there have … [Read more...]
Technical And Non-Technical
Posted on December 6, 2011 · 6 Comments
UPDATE 12/6/11 6:23 PM: If you're just seeing this notice, we've added one more update we forgot...at the end of this item... -------- We have some "facilities" items up front, and a nice mix of non-technical stuff after that. Scroll down for the latter... THE WBNX FLY IN WJW'S OINTMENT: We breathlessly reported here recently that the Federal Communications Commission had issued an "NPRM" (Notice of Proposed Rulemaking) that would clear the way for Local TV LLC Fox affiliate WJW/8 in … [Read more...]
A Snowy Mix Piling Up
Posted on November 30, 2011 · 7 Comments
As we write this item, the first snow of the season can be seen outside the OMW World Headquarters. Meanwhile, our items are piling more than the snow in this short-lived event... THIS JUST IN, FROM THE FCC: Monday, the Federal Communications Commission officially approved the $6.5 million sale of Elyria-Lorain Broadcasting AAA WNWV/107.3 "V107.3" to Akron's Rubber City Radio Group. There's no word on a timetable for the deal to close, or on what the new owners plan to do with the … [Read more...]
The Exit Door
Posted on November 22, 2011 · 6 Comments
It's nearing the end of the year, and that means at least one high profile TV news personality in Cleveland is about to end her run here...and one other could follow in the next month or so... BELL MOVES ON: The first primary evening news anchor to exit the Cleveland market this season is Stacey Bell, who has been co-anchoring the 5 PM and 10 PM editions of Fox affiliate WJW/8 "Fox 8 News" with Bill Martin for the past few years...starting anchor duties on the 5 PM show in 2000, and adding 10 … [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 New GMC Gang’s Together
Posted on November 10, 2011 · Leave a Comment
Scripps ABC affiliate WEWS/5 "NewsChannel 5" has announced the final piece of the new "Good Morning Cleveland" puzzle. From a station press release, which also mentions the hire of MMJ Josh Boose that we reported earlier: ----------- WEWS NewsChannel5 welcomes anchor Mike Dunston to Good Morning Cleveland. Dunston will join new anchor hire Macie McInnis Jepson, Meteorologist Christine Ferreira, Traffic Anchor/Reporter Alicia Roberts and new multimedia journalist hire Josh Boose. "I'm … [Read more...]
The Monday Collection
Posted on November 7, 2011 · 1 Comment
Some of this you've already read before, of course, but it's official... SLATS TO WNCX: In a previous item, we told you that former Cleveland market radio veteran Tim Slats was heading back to town for a big gig...morning driver at CBS Radio classic rocker WNCX/98.5. On Friday, we found a familiar sight in our mailbox...official confirmation that Slats would start in morning drive on WNCX (as we reported) today, Monday, November 7th. And from that official release out of the Halle Building, … [Read more...]
The All Ones Update
Posted on November 1, 2011 · 1 Comment
That's because today is November 1, 2011, otherwise known as "11/1/11". Some TV changes are up first, with radio not far behind... WHERE'S AMANDA? WHERE'S AJ?: The big movement among local TV newsrooms this week involves weekend weather forecasters. First, we'll start with brand new forecaster Amanda Jahn, who moved to Cleveland from Phoenix to join OMW reader Mark Zinni on the recently launched weekend morning editions of Local TV LLC Fox affiliate WJW/8's "Fox 8 News". You might recall the … [Read more...]
Comings And Goings, Late October Edition
Posted on October 25, 2011 · Leave a Comment
OMW once again becomes Grand Central Station, Media Hub... 3001 EUCLID, INCOMING: Scripps ABC affiliate WEWS/5 "NewsChannel 5" has two incoming newsies, and one is a familiar local TV name from the past. The station has already announced the arrival of Macie McInnis Jepson as one of two new "Good Morning Cleveland" co-anchors, the other to be named later. And yes, she is a name you'd recognize if you watched local TV news in the 1990s, says the station's announcement: Northeast Ohioans will … [Read more...]
