And now, some items that have nothing to do about major changes at a local sports radio station...though we'll revisit that in the next day or so... PERMANENT REPLACEMENT: It may just be a coincidence, but as the trial of former Scripps ABC affiliate WEWS/5 "NewsChannel 5" sports anchor/reporter Terry Brooks plays out on the station's own newscasts, the man who's been filling in for him has been given the job permanently. He's Mike Cairns, who is well familiar with the role of second sports … [Read more...]
The Really Big Bombshell
Posted on January 21, 2011 · 14 Comments
As it turns out, all those rumors about Good Karma sports WKNR/850 Cleveland "ESPN 850" midday host Tony Rizzo being heard in the afternoon were true. But...not in late afternoon, as expected in a Facebook status update by Clear Channel talk WTAM/1100 afternoon drive host Mike Trivisonno and/or his staff. As OMW tipped minutes before a "big announcement" on WKNR, Rizzo's "Really Big Show" is not moving...it's expanding. Starting Monday, Rizzo, Aaron Goldhammer, Chris "Negative Ned" Fedor and … [Read more...]
Some Big Updates
Posted on January 19, 2011 · 2 Comments
We have some big updates from the fringes of the OMW coverage area, but let's start in Cleveland first... THE MOSSMAN AND REBECCA SHOW?: We didn't see it, so we don't know what Local TV Fox affiliate WJW/8 "Fox 8" is calling the temporary replacement for "The Robin Swoboda Show", taking the 10 AM weekday time slot after the sudden departure of that show's namesake host on Friday. But we're told that indeed, Fox 8 entertainment reporter David "Mossman" Moss was in the former "RS" studio … [Read more...]
Two Really Big Items
Posted on January 17, 2011 · 6 Comments
An update on two big Cleveland items, one TV, one radio related... THE RS SHOW: Local TV Fox affiliate WJW/8 "Fox 8" has replaced "The Robin Swoboda Show" with..."The Robin Swoboda Show", at least for now. As expected, the station aired a repeat of a previous "RS" show on Monday, and OMW hears that it will do so again on Tuesday. Starting Wednesday, we're told, a live, local 10 AM show will resume, with WJW entertainment reporter David Moss expected to be a fill-in host. We don't know how … [Read more...]
Items Left Behind
Posted on January 15, 2011 · 1 Comment
IF YOU MISSED...our big Friday night update, keep reading after this item! ------- Every so often, we'll get tips on items...look at them, read them, respond to them, and have every intention of posting them. And then, we don't. The E-mail gets archived, the information gets lost in the shuffle and doesn't get posted. Or in this case, a spate of other "breaking news" overwhelms what we had intended to post. Or, "real life" outside the Mighty Blog of Fun(tm) takes over. We've fired the … [Read more...]
Busy News Cycle
Posted on January 14, 2011 · 2 Comments
UPDATE 10:30 AM 1/15/11: We have corrected now-former WTAM/1100 evening anchor Dean Leyland's name below. Sorry about that! And we hear that now-former WTAM weekend evening anchor Cliff Baechle is not leaving the building - his voice will be heard elsewhere, moving to a weekday gig feeding news to Clear Channel hub stations WPGB/104.7 Pittsburgh and WKBN/570 Youngstown from Oak Tree... ------------ Though your Primary Editorial Voice(tm) clearly has his own schedule when it comes to updating … [Read more...]
Robin Swoboda Leaving WJW Show
Posted on January 13, 2011 · 5 Comments
Long-time WJW/8 personality Robin Swoboda is leaving her perch at the local station, again. We had a tip from inside South Marginal about the end of Swoboda's hosting gig on "The Robin Swoboda Show", weekdays from 10-11 AM on Local TV's "Fox 8", and when we went to send a tweet hinting about it, we found a tweet from Akron Beacon Journal pop culture writer Rich Heldenfels confirming it. As it turns out, Heldenfels quoted her Facebook account in his "Heldenfiles" blog: "Friday is my last show. … [Read more...]
Other Early January Stuff
Posted on January 7, 2011 · 8 Comments
UPDATE 1/7/11 12:30 PM: There's one additional item we forgot to add, later in this update. If you've already read this, scroll down... ---------- Let's run through some other items not involving a homeless former Ohio radio personality appearing on major network TV shows... RICK'S GONE: Long-time local traffic reporter Rick Abell is apparently gone from his perch at Raycom Media CBS affiliate WOIO/19's "19 Action News". Readers have been asking about his absence since the start of this … [Read more...]
The Year Starter
Posted on January 5, 2011 · 6 Comments
UPDATE 1/5/11 11:13 AM: An update on "The Homeless Radio Voice Guy": With Ted Williams' story going national, he's appeared on national morning TV (NBC's "Today" and CBS' "Early Show", among others), and has gotten job offers from diverse places like MTV and the Cleveland Cavaliers. (They want him for voice work, not to play power forward.) RTDNA's website cites a "Mail Online" report that Williams once "worked overnight shifts" for WVKO/1580 Columbus, in its days as an urban music station. … [Read more...]
The Best Calendar Ever
Posted on December 24, 2010 · Leave a Comment
Our apologies to long-time personal friend and professional colleague Scott Fybush ("NorthEast Radio Watch", 100000watts.com, The Radio Journal) for not putting this up in time for Christmas, but there's still another week to get it before the New Year. It, of course, is Scott's world-famous Tower Site Calendar. For those of you unfamiliar with the Tower Site Calendar, it's really the only calendar a radio/TV enthusiast or engineering type will ever need. We'll let Scott describe it himself, … [Read more...]
