We don't have all the information yet, but we think we can take a look at the "picture" of the upcoming digital TV transition in Northeast Ohio...just two weeks before the originally scheduled mandated date for full-power TV stations to take their old analog signals dark.And yes, that phrase "originally scheduled" is becoming quite important.After fits and starts in Washington, it looks like the U.S. House of Representatives is about ready to approve a shift of the national digital transition … [Read more...]
The Shortest Month
Posted on February 2, 2009 · Leave a Comment
Your Mighty Blog of Fun(tm) is Northeast Ohio-based again, as we're back at the OMW World Headquarters after being in other states.With our departure seeming to trigger major media changes in Ohio each time, this time was no exception...with no fewer than three Central Ohio stations changing format while we were outside the Buckeye State.Notice, we said "no fewer"...FALLOUT: As we headed back home, we got word from two OMW readers that the Columbus Radio Format Shuffle may not be done yet.When … [Read more...]
WCMH Dumps 11
Posted on January 30, 2009 · Leave a Comment
Briefly: The Columbus Dispatch reports about the latest round of Ohio TV news job cuts.The Dispatch's Molly Willow reports that Media General NBC affiliate WCMH/4 has laid off veteran news director Stan Sanders and ten other employees - there's no word who else was let go.The TV trade site TV Newsday indicates that the Columbus cuts are among others nationwide by the company which bought "NBC 4" from the NBC network itself in 2006... … [Read more...]
More Details
Posted on January 30, 2009 · Leave a Comment
As we wrap up our out of town excursion, we'll wrap up some loose ends from a newsy week, particularly for our friends in Central Ohio...SPORTSY: As it turns out, there's a good reason two Columbus radio stations flipped to a sports format within hours of each other this week.The Columbus Dispatch's Tim Feran quotes RadiOhio president/GM Dave Van Stone, who says research helped lead the move of the "Fan" sports format from its long-time home on WBNS/1460 to displace hot AC "Mix 97.1" at … [Read more...]
Keeping In Touch
Posted on January 28, 2009 · Leave a Comment
Your Primary Editorial Voice(tm) will be heading back to Northeast Ohio by late Saturday, it appears.And those working in media will breathe a sigh of relief...no, not because they're glad to have us back in town.If you've followed the Mighty Blog of Fun(tm) since we started in mid-2005, there's one particular truism. When we leave Ohio for any lengthy period of time, major changes happen in the media world. At one point, then-Cleveland Browns general manager Phil Savage actually lost his job … [Read more...]
Sports And Digital
Posted on January 27, 2009 · Leave a Comment
Your Primary Editorial Voice(tm) is "on the road" for much of this week, and our updates will be a little more sporadic than usual.But, we did manage to put some "breaking news" up here before it happened on Monday, didn't we? And as usual, our physical exit from Ohio prompted a major change...sorry, Columbus, we should have warned you!THE SPORTS HIT THE FM FAN: And as reported here Monday, Dispatch hot AC WBNS-FM/97.1 Columbus "Mix 97.1" faded into oblivion as scheduled at 4 PM on … [Read more...]
Digital TV Date Etched In Water
Posted on January 26, 2009 · Leave a Comment
It's been kicking around Washington for the past few weeks, but it looks like Congress may indeed try to stand in front of the speeding Digital TV Express Train, wave its arms wildly and shout into the train's loud whistle - "slow down!"A number of reports late last week indicate that a key Republican U.S. Senator, Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas (ranking member of the Senate's Commerce Committee), has ended her opposition to a move of the digital TV transition date from February 17th to June … [Read more...]
WNEO Goes Full Power
Posted on January 22, 2009 · Leave a Comment
OMW hears that Western Reserve PBS' Youngstown market outlet, WNEO/45 Alliance, has successfully raised its power to the post-transition 500KW level.As readers here already know, WNEO signed off its analog transmitter in Salem in mid-November 2008, going digital only with a 44KW authorization on its former analog channel, 45.But as station manager William O'Neill notes in a station press release, Western Reserve PBS quickly found out that 44KW was just not enough, and filed for a special … [Read more...]
Toledo Sale
Posted on January 22, 2009 · Leave a Comment
It appears that the folks at Toledo's Cornerstone Church may be getting out of the broadcasting business.AllAccess reports that the church's two radio stations - WNKL/96.9 Wauseon and WNWT/1520 Rossford - are being sold to California-based Educational Media Foundation for $2.8 million.EMF, of course, programs the satellite Christian contemporary music format "K-Love" from suburban Sacramento, and has been operating with that format on WNKL via a local marketing agreement since late 2004. The … [Read more...]
An Odd Wednesday
Posted on January 22, 2009 · Leave a Comment
And considering the events of this week, "odd" may be an understatement.Yeah, we're tiring rather rapidly of listing those tossed aside from the Good Ship Radio this week. For the moment, we'll lead with something not related to job loss...THE ANALOG SHUFFLE: When local television stations figure out how they'll deal with cable systems and signal carriage, they have basically two choices.Broadcasters can either demand "retransmission consent", which means they get some consideration (monetary, … [Read more...]
