Some assorted stuff in our Thursday update...PUBLIC EYE RETURN: When long-time CBS Radio AC WDOK/102.1 morning co-host Robin Benzle found herself not waking up Cleveland with Trapper Jack on the station's popular morning show, she lamented that it'd be difficult to find her way back onto the air...as stations seemed to be interested in female hosts who were - as she put it to Plain Dealer media columnist Julie Washington - "giggle queens".There's no such worry about the Internet, where Benzle … [Read more...]
The End Of The Road
Posted on February 19, 2009 · Leave a Comment
Neither item below directly impacts this area - but some readers might be interested.THE DEATH OF "FM TALK": The young male-skewing "FM talk" format, primarily seeded by former CBS Radio morning star Howard Stern, can pretty much be pronounced dead.CBS Radio made a go of it with "Free FM", the company's post-Stern FM talk strategy.After Stern went to Sirius Satellite Radio, the CBS outlets featured a trio of regionally syndicated Stern replacements, including Cleveland's own Shane "Rover" … [Read more...]
Rolling Into 2009
Posted on January 5, 2009 · Leave a Comment
And here it is...with the exception of our special "Breaking News" over the weekend - more on that later - our first regular update for 2009.Since we've been mostly gone since just before Christmas, it'll be a long one...SUNDAY NEWS: With TV groups looking to save money, the latest focus is on Sunday mornings.As we hinted earlier, Local TV Fox affiliate WJW/8 in Cleveland has indeed scrapped its Sunday morning edition of "FOX 8 News", which had been airing from 8 to 9 AM.We hear from our … [Read more...]
The New Way To Cover News
Posted on November 20, 2008 · Leave a Comment
Rest assured, given the current economic conditions and the flagging fortunes of media outlets, this'll be here soon enough.But right now, a joint "news coverage sharing" venture between NBC and FOX is being implemented in markets where the two entities actually own stations. This USA Today story from last week has details.Basically, the NBC and FOX-owned stations in those markets will create a shared assignment desk, with some camera crews from each station devoted to staffing it. The goal, … [Read more...]
The FM News/Talk Watch And CBS
Posted on October 20, 2008 · Leave a Comment
No, not in the Cleveland market, but more on CBS Radio and Cleveland in a bit.We have a regular feature here we haven't brought up in a while - the FM Talk Watch.We should call it the "FM News/Talk Watch", as we've never really used it to track the so-called "hot talk" stations that have dwindled to a very few these days. We're talking about the move of traditional AM news/talk/sports formats to the FM dial...as either simulcasts or moves.And CBS Radio has just uncorked a big one out in … [Read more...]
Two Quick Updates
Posted on October 8, 2007 · Leave a Comment
We'll throw these up this afternoon, instead of waiting for our usual morning report...FM TALK WATCH ROLLS ON: Our ongoing tracking of the move of traditional news/talk/sports formats to the FM dial nets a big one this afternoon, not that terribly far from Ohio.AllAccess reports that Emmis talk powerhouse WIBC/1070 Indianapolis is the latest to be added to the FM Talk Convert list. Emmis will move the legendary Indiana talk station to the FM dial at 93.1, replacing top 40 "Radio Now" WNOU.Not … [Read more...]
CBS Kills Off Two More Nearby FM Talkers
Posted on October 1, 2007 · Leave a Comment
The FM Talk Watch isn't looking good at this hour, and the carnage is not far from Ohio's borders. In fact, the stations are close enough that both can claim at least some Ohio listeners.This time, it's the death of two CBS Radio-owned FM talk stations, one which had been in the format long before the whole "Free FM" thing (think David Lee "Awful Radio Show" Roth).That's Detroit's WKRK/97.1, which did eventually adopt the "Free FM" name, but continued with a mostly local lineup until recently - … [Read more...]
Day Of Silence
Posted on June 26, 2007 · Leave a Comment
Those who have a favorite Internet radio stream, or two, or six, will be a bit grumpy today.A broad-based effort by a number of webcasters, both large and small, will replace programming on the streams with "A Day Of Silence", in protest of the...well, we'll let webcast guru Kurt Hanson and his "RAIN: Radio And Internet Newsletter" tell the story:On Tuesday, June 26, thousands of U.S.-based webcasters plan to turn off the music and go silent in a unified effort to draw attention to an impending … [Read more...]
No Longer “Free”
Posted on May 24, 2007 · Leave a Comment
A format flip in New York City may have minor, or future, effects on Cleveland.CBS Radio talk WFNY/92.3 "Free FM" in the Big Apple has dumped the talk format. AllAccess reports that later today, the station will return to its old "K-Rock" slogan and rock format, focusing on 90's rock and "some currents and 80's titles".At least for now, morning drive team Opie & Anthony - normally shared with XM Satellite Radio - remain in the new "92.3 K-Rock" lineup...staying in mornings on the otherwise … [Read more...]
