Thank you for hanging in there while we took an extended hiatus. And, welcome to 2008!Here are some random items to carry you along for a while. And watch this space for a possible announcement sometime in the next few days...FREEMAN EXITS 45/49: Kent-based PBS outlet WNEO/45-WEAO/49 "PBS 45 & 49" is saying goodbye later this year to a key, long-time employee.The station says chief operating officer Don Freeman will retire on March 28 of this year.Freeman has been with the … [Read more...]
A FOX 8 Folo
Posted on December 26, 2007 · Leave a Comment
On this day after Christmas, we've had a couple of days to read followup on the reported sale of "Cleveland's Own" WJW/8 "FOX 8" and its seven mid-market owned and operated sister stations to Oak Hill Capital Partners.It's old news to us, of course, though we did have one bump in the road - which we quickly and publicly corrected.In the end, though, our first report that Oak Hill would be buying the for-sale FOX O&Os turned out to be fully correct...though we couldn't foresee the moves … [Read more...]
BREAKING NEWS: WJW, FOX O&Os Sold – This Time, Officially
Posted on December 22, 2007 · Leave a Comment
OMW first reported weeks ago that Cleveland's WJW/8 "FOX 8" - and eight of FOX's other smaller market owned-and-operated stations - were being sold to Oak Hill Capital Partners.The sale is now official. (Well, minus one of the stations, which we'll explain later.)OMW hears that this News Corporation press release was put up this morning, on walls all over the local station's South Marginal Road headquarters:------------News Corporation Announces Sale of Eight Television Stations to Oak Hill … [Read more...]
Weekend Update Without Chevy Chase
Posted on December 22, 2007 · Leave a Comment
...or, whoever's doing that segment now on "Saturday Night Live". (That show is still on, right?)We have a couple of items that can't wait until Monday. And we're basically on hiatus for the holidays, though again, we have promised to post major items whenever we are able to do so... like, perhaps, these...BUTTE LEAVING WEWS: OMW hears that Scripps Cleveland ABC affiliate WEWS/5 general manager John Butte is retiring from the station effective January 31st.And what do you know...Butte's … [Read more...]
BREAKING NEWS: Bruce Kalinowski Joins WKYC
Posted on December 20, 2007 · Leave a Comment
And yes, this is the Cleveland TV weather move we hinted about some time ago. After not being able to get confirmation about it in all this time, it's now official.WKYC/3's Frank Macek reports in his "Director's Cut" blog this afternoon that former WOIO/19 "19 Action News" metereologist Bruce Kalinowski will join Channel 3.Kalinowski's exact role isn't yet known, but he'll fill the weather staff vacancy left when "Channel 3 News" chief meterologist Mark Nolan left the weather center a while … [Read more...]
Randy, Tribune And TV 8
Posted on December 20, 2007 · Leave a Comment
UPDATE 3:56 PM 12/20/07: The Sam Zell takeover of Tribune is complete, and Randy Michaels has been announced as "executive vice president and chief executive officer of Interactive and Broadcasting" for Tribune under Zell's leadership...------------------This is by no means a confirmation of our earlier report that Local TV, LLC, the television operating arm of Oak Hill Capital Partners, is in line to buy the FOX sub-top 10 market owned-and-operated stations being sold - most notably, for this … [Read more...]
Wrapping Up Some Loose Ends
Posted on December 17, 2007 · Leave a Comment
...and waiting for others.First, a reminder: OMW will be sporadically updated between now and January 2nd, 2008. We will continue to provide "major" breaking news - i.e. format changes, sales, and major personality moves - throughout the holidays, into 2008.And by our count, we've got at least a couple or three of those waiting to happen...NOT YET, BUT...: We haven't heard an official announcement, even within the building, of a potential new hire by a Cleveland TV station. We hinted at it … [Read more...]
Your Tuesday News
Posted on December 11, 2007 · Leave a Comment
At least two items from our Rumormill, and one correction, in this batch...WEATHER OR NOT: OMW hears strong rumblings that a now-former Cleveland TV weather forecaster could be back on the air soon in the market at another station.We haven't confirmed this, though it's quite likely obvious who we're talking about from our wording.We don't know when this will be made official, or what role the new weather person would take at their new station...COLUMBUS HIT AGAIN?: Clear Channel holiday season … [Read more...]
Monday’s Return
Posted on December 10, 2007 · Leave a Comment
So, the ol' OMW Inbox has clogged up again over the weekend, and there are still some outstanding items...WJW/FOX SALE?: Estimates are not always perfect, so we weren't 100% sure that we'd hear more by now on our story from last week - the pending sale of Cleveland FOX O&O WJW/8 and eight other FOX below-top 10 market stations, presumably to Oak Hill Capital Partners (Local TV, LLC).The announcement made by a high-level FOX executive in two meetings a week ago today at South Marginal Road … [Read more...]
The Other Youngstown TV Shoe Drops
Posted on December 8, 2007 · Leave a Comment
The job carnage at the OTHER Youngstown TV news operation, the one absorbing Parkin ABC affiliate WYTV/33's news production starting Monday, wasn't quite as severe as the list of cuts at the station being merged into it.But the Youngstown Vindicator reports that "about a half-dozen" workers at New Vision's WKBN/27-WYFX/17-62 were told that their services were no longer needed - mostly off-air/engineering/production types.The two on-air staffers gone from "27 First News" include veteran reporter … [Read more...]
