There hasn't been much going on in the world of media in Northeast Ohio lately, but we felt the need to cobble together what we have. And as it turns out, we do have some items on this Monday morning...WTAM VOICE SILENCED: A voice long associated with Clear Channel talk WTAM/1100 Cleveland has been silenced.No, he's not a WTAM talk show host or news person. But to an imaging-conscious station like WTAM, Brian James was just as important.Unless you're in the business, you don't know his name. … [Read more...]
Some Mixed News
Posted on March 3, 2009 · Leave a Comment
Let's see where the Tuesday morning item mix takes us...unfortunately, it's mostly not good news...CUTBACKS: The sour economy has resulted in some economic-related cutbacks on Campus Center Drive in Kent.That's the home of Western Reserve PBS, the local public TV outlet which operates WNEO/45 Alliance and WEAO/49 Akron, which is making some financial moves to try to ensure economic stability in an economy that's forced pretty much every media outlet to make some hard choices.Quoting a news … [Read more...]
Another Friday Mix
Posted on February 27, 2009 · Leave a Comment
It looks like another Friday mix as we close out the week, though we could have another piece of news later today.And no, "Mix" doesn't mean we're going to put up a computerized female voice announcing songs...PRINT WOES: As the rumor mill buzzes about yet another round of job cuts said to be in the works at one Northeast Ohio newspaper publisher, yet another major daily newspaper has printed its final edition.Denver is a one newspaper town after today, as the very last edition of the Rocky … [Read more...]
Sue Ann Robak Exiting WEWS
Posted on February 26, 2009 · Leave a Comment
OMW has confirmed that WEWS/5 "NewsChannel 5" sports reporter/anchor Sue Ann Robak is working her last week at the Cleveland ABC affiliate.We hear that Robak's contract isn't being renewed, and that Friday will be her last day at Scripps-owned Channel 5. We're also hearing that she won't be replaced, and that the "NewsChannel 5" sports department will shrink to just two people - sports director Andy Baskin and reporter/anchor Terry Brooks.Though WEWS has indeed managed to become the only local … [Read more...]
Enough To Run
Posted on February 24, 2009 · Leave a Comment
We're a day late, and hopefully not a dollar short...but to be honest, aside from issues like the news video sharing plan among Cleveland TV newsrooms, not much has been going on.We do have some items this Tuesday morning, though...SPORTS SHUFFLE: Clear Channel sports WARF/1350 and Media-Com sports WJMP/1520 in the Akron market* have shuffled networks and formats quite a few times before, and OMW hears it's in the works again...at least network-wise.It won't be happening right away, but we're … [Read more...]
Random Week Exit
Posted on February 20, 2009 · Leave a Comment
We're closing out our weekend with a random grab bag...and for once, we have media related news on the positive side...MOVING UP: Long-time OMW reader Steve Kelly is moving up in the ranks at Saga's Columbus cluster.After a shuffle among Saga's four radio stations in Ohio's capital city, AllAccess reports that the afternoon driver at AC WSNY/94.7 "Sunny 95" adds programming duties at the newly-moved classic hits WODB/104.3 "Big Hits B104-3".The trade site also reports that the middayer at … [Read more...]
Tubeless
Posted on February 19, 2009 · Leave a Comment
A Cleveland TV station has ended the longest-running video slide apologizing for missing programming in TV history.When "The Tube Music Network" shut down operations on October 1, 2007, Raycom Media's WUAB/43 in the Cleveland market put up an electronic slide on digital subchannel 43.2 - telling viewers that the network had been pulled off the air, and asking them to refrain from calling either the station or their local cable operator.That slide appeared on WUAB-DT/43.2 for over a year and four … [Read more...]
More On That Pool
Posted on February 18, 2009 · Leave a Comment
We're getting more feedback from around local TV newsrooms about that little bombshell that hit earlier this week...the announcement that two competing Cleveland TV stations, Gannett NBC affiliate WKYC/3 and Raycom CBS affiliate WOIO/19, would share routine video of planned news events...sending only one crew out to cover those stories, when each station would send a crew before.Then, we pointed out a quote from the TV trade site "Broadcasting & Cable", which quoted both WKYC VP/GM Brooke … [Read more...]
Wrapping Up The Early Switch
Posted on February 18, 2009 · Leave a Comment
We've been on the road, and have spent a lot of time talking about what was supposed to be a nationwide event...the end of full-power analog TV...on Tuesday.We'll continue to pass along news about the still-ongoing transition, but this item will wrap up the detailed coverage of "Transition Day One"...and we'll be spending more time on our usual mix of items from now on. Coming up later, either tonight or tomorrow morning, more rumblings about that news video sharing "pool" announced by … [Read more...]
Another Analog Bites The Dust
Posted on February 17, 2009 · Leave a Comment
ST. CLAIRSVILLE, OHIO -- We're live from the Wheeling/Steubenville TV market this afternoon.OMW can confirm directly that West Virginia Media CBS affiliate WTRF/7 Wheeling shut down its analog channel 7 transmitter this afternoon. We can further confirm that the station's digital operation has indeed moved into that channel 7 space...the first time WTRF has been at full-power in either analog or digital for some time.Unfortunately, we were still on the road to the Ohio Valley at 12:30 this … [Read more...]
