We've just been hanging onto these for a while...ACCIDENTAL, BUT GOOD, EXPOSURE: We spent part of Tuesday evening catching the Monday return of Comedy Central's "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart", faithfully recorded by our TiVo.We didn't know until we went into the recording that Jon's guest for his first show back from a three week vacation was Akron's own mega sports superstar, the NBA Cleveland Cavaliers' own LeBron James.LeBron's been on with Stewart before, but something caught our eye in … [Read more...]
The Week That Won’t End
Local media news keeps coming out this week. We believe a boisterous former Northeast Ohio congressman is first in line...JIMBO RADIO: As just about anyone who can pronounce the name "Jim Traficant" expected, the former Mahoning Valley congressman is about to open up the microphone as a host on Youngstown's biggest talk station.But for now, at least, Traficant - fresh off a federal prison stint - won't be hosting his OWN show on Clear Channel talk WKBN/570.Tbe Youngstown Business Journal and … [Read more...]
Thursday’s Stack
Here's how Thursday is stacking up so far...RADIO ONE NAMES CLEVELAND OM: Cleveland's Radio One cluster has named its replacement for former operations manager/program director Kim Johnson.A Radio One E-mail news release obtained by OMW makes the announcement:Colby Colb will return to Radio One. Colby will act as OM for all Radio One Cleveland stations, and PD for WENZ and WZAK, starting in October. Colby previously worked as an on-air personality and Program Director at Radio One … [Read more...]
Ex-Cleveland GM Leaving Norfolk
We got word that a former Cleveland television general manager has left his current gig in Virginia.But we didn't remember what Bill Scaffide did here until we did a quick Google search on his name, and found this YouTube video from WKYC:[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxZNgDiUt2Y&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0]Yes, that's then-WKYC general manager Bill Scaffide circa 1994, urging viewers to call the WKYC Talkback line with their comments, input and suggestions about Channel 3 News.More … [Read more...]
Quick Midweek Notes
Just a couple of things...SDV/HD?: One of our regular readers brings word that Time Warner Cable subscribers in the Mentor area could be getting some of the company's newer HD offerings that have been missing in the former Comcast areas.We're told that at least one subscriber in the Mentor area reports getting the channels that would require TWC's Switched Digital Video (SDV) technology, which has enabled a broader HD channel expansion in both the "legacy" TWC areas … [Read more...]
GUEST COLUMN: Cleveland Digital TV
Long-time OMW reader Trip Ericson (RabbitEars) gives us his take on the local digital TV situation, including potential channel availability should one of the Cleveland market stations wish to make a channel move...particularly the alleged CBS affiliate currently stuck on RF digital channel 10...-----------------Hello, all!I'm Trip Ericson, the lunatic behind the website RabbitEars.Info, and I've penned this special guest feature on Ohio Media Watch to try to address some of the questions about … [Read more...]
Of Jimbo, Frogs and Love
That's "Love" as in "K-Love", and "Frogs" as in amphibian radio and TV symbols...MORE JIMBO: Former Youngstown-area congressman Jim Traficant could probably scratch his nose at this point, and he'd dominate media coverage...covering which direction he scratched, and at what time, and where.In our last item, OMW visited the possibility that Traficant could wind up doing something on the air at Clear Channel talk WKBN/570 in his home market.Though we'd earlier downplayed the prospect, Clear … [Read more...]
Some Answers
One thing we've learned here in the over four years we've been doing OMW - unanswered questions eventually get answered...CHUCK'S OUT: Like, for example, the question many of our readers had a few weeks ago - where is Chuck Galeti?We got a flood, well, a minor trickle, of E-mail when people started seeing former WEWS/5 "NewsChannel 5" sports anchor/reporter Sue Ann Robak doing the sports segments on the Cleveland market's alleged CBS affiliate's weekend newscasts...instead of Galeti.Fast … [Read more...]
All Over The Map
It's a typical Monday, as we let items free that need their freedom...GOING DOWN: It's no surprise to anyone who follows population figures, but the folks at Nielsen Media Research have announced that the Cleveland TV market continues to lose position in its market rankings.From the TV ratings giant's release:The Top 10 local markets, known in the industry as Designated Market Areas or DMAs, will remain the same this season, with a few rank changes in the Top 20. Moving up are Seattle, from 14 … [Read more...]