With all the activity on the local sports media front, we missed Chicago Sun-Times media beat writer Robert Feder's final missive on now-former WCKG/105.9 morning doggie Shane "Rover" French. "Rover's Morning Glory" exited its Chicago flagship station earlier this week.Feder says the replacement team - CBS Radio/XM's Opie and Anthony - has "nowhere to go but up", and says they'll no doubt be better than "the mutt they're replacing". (And we thought WE overdid the dog references!)Feder says … [Read more...]

There's still more reaction to Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert's replacement of long-time Cavs TV play-by-play voice Michael Reghi with Fred McLeod, who comes from the same role on the Detroit Pistons' TV games...Plain Dealer sports/media columnist Roger Brown, in a rare Thursday appearance in the PD, confirms that McLeod will indeed be Reghi's replacement on FOX Sports Net Ohio and WUAB/43's Cavaliers telecasts.Reghi did not have much to say. In a prepared statement distributed to all the local … [Read more...]

We were able to hear the format change at former Youngstown market Spanish-language station WASN/1500, which we reported in an earlier item, because we made our first drive over to the Mahoning Valley in some time on Wednesday afternoon. Price of gas, you know, and all that...but we were finally able to make it over there.And more leftovers from that excursion about 40 miles east:STILL REJOICING: OMW reported earlier that ABC Radio Networks was pulling the plug on the gospel 24/7 format … [Read more...]

It has been a busy week or so in the local sports media world, and here's where it stands right now:BROWNS CONTRACT: The TV contract for pre-season Browns games and related local over-air programming could be announced as soon as Thursday, we've heard. But OMW hears it is not an easy decision for team officials.It would appear that the winner will either be Gannett NBC affiliate WKYC/3, or Scripps-Howard ABC affiliate WEWS/5.It's a dilemma that could basically be called "Tried and True vs. … [Read more...]

First, and as far as we know, exclusive to OMW...Northeast Ohio's only commercial Spanish-language outlet is no more.Stop 26/to-be-Bernard Radio's WASN/1500 Youngstown dropped its Spanish-language feed this week in favor of syndicated talk from Radio One/Reach Media's "Syndication One" urban talk network.The move puts the lineup of Michael Eric Dyson (10 AM-1 PM), Rev. Al Sharpton (1-4 PM) and the "Two Live Stews" sports talk show (4-7 PM) on the Youngstown outlet, which is being operated by a … [Read more...]

UPDATE 8/2/06 12:35 PM: This move is being confirmed not only by the Plain Dealer's Roger Brown, in a story now posted to Cleveland.com, but also by local sports radio reporter Joe Lull in his "Lull on Sports" blog. Both are reporting that long-time Cleveland Cavaliers TV voice Michael Reghi is being replaced by Detroit Pistons TV voice Fred McLeod.Lull quotes sources that say Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert actually interned for McLeod in Detroit many years ago. We were unaware that Gilbert has … [Read more...]

As first reported, exclusively, here on OMW, nearly a week ago:The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports that the Cleveland Browns have named FOX Sports Net Ohio as the team's local cable TV home.The PD reports that FSN Ohio will air a daily training camp show at 7 PM, hosted by the network's Michael Reghi and former quarterback Mike Pagel, along with contributions by Browns linebacker Andra Davis. FSN Ohio will also air coach Romeo Crennel's weekly press conferences live, and will have a weekly … [Read more...]

It's been nearly 24 hours since Time Warner Cable took over the former Adelphia systems in Northeast Ohio, along with the Cleveland area's Comcast systems. And the changes nearly all seem to have settled in.HDTV customers, while losing NFL Network, gained TNT-HD and the digital/HD feed of UPN/My Network TV affiliate WUAB/43. Thrown in with that, as well, is WUAB's "The Tube" music video subchannel.By the way, we're noticing a lag between video and audio on upconverted SD programming on the … [Read more...]

As OMW reported Monday, WTAM/1100 sports anchor and morning co-host Casey Coleman is back on the air as of this morning, doing his usual "20/20 Sports" updates on "Wills and Coleman in the Morning". WEWS/5 has pictures and video from Casey's first day back on the job.WTAM's own "Casey Update" page has downloadable audio of not only Casey's first sportscast back, but a call from Florida...where co-host Bill Wills is vacationing. Former WEWS weatherman Brad Sussman is filling in for Wills during … [Read more...]

More on some of the below stories, and others:BROWNS CONTRACT: So, it is official...Raycom Media's WOIO/19 won't be the "Official Home of the Browns" anymore...and it happened sooner than most expected, with the pre-season games airing on another station even this year.That'll be a tough order, as pre-season contest number one is just nine days away, August 10th against the Philadelphia Eagles.If OMW had money to bet, and could bet, we'd still be at the window for WEWS/5. The ABC affiliate has … [Read more...]