Ohio State fans can go into overdrive thanks to a new TV channel starting next summer.The college sports powerhouse conference Big Ten is the latest entrant into the Which Sports Organization Can Start Its Own Channel sweepstakes. "The Big Ten Channel" will be co-produced with FOX Sports, and Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany tells the Associated Press that the 24 hour outlet will "dramatically increase" the conference's visibility. Delany says The Big Ten Channel will also let the various … [Read more...]

It wasn't that long ago that rock oldies, particularly songs from the 50's and 60's, was a mainstream, popular format in radio.But faced with the realization that their listeners were rapidly aging out of the so-called "money demo", powerful FM oldies stations have had to make major adjustments to even survive.Locally, it's often said that Clear Channel oldies WMJI/105.7 has still done well for two reasons - a gradual nudge of the music mix into the songs of 60's and 70's, but mostly due to the … [Read more...]

As we mentioned yesterday, the folks at Jewelry Television have taken over the Shop at Home network...and the details are now official.A press release says Jewelry Television is taking over a large number of Shop at Home assets, including the network's satellite equipment and website. Another release says Jewelry Television will operate Shop at Home on a "part-time basis", presumably in combination with their current branding. But the $17 million dollar deal, as expected, does not include … [Read more...]

Just some stuff floating around the OMW Brain (such as it is):BERNIE, BERNIE: WTAM/1100 afternoon driver Mike Trivisonno has once again managed to make a segment on his show "the talk of the town". Last time, it was an interview with much maligned former Cleveland Browns owner Art Modell. Tuesday, it was an uninterrupted 30 minute phone call with a much more beloved former Browns figure, number 19 himself, Bernie Kosar.We were about to direct you to WTAM's Triv website page to hear the … [Read more...]

Last week, local TV movie host Keven Scarpino - otherwise known as the spooky looking "Son of Ghoul" - celebrated his 20th year on the local airwaves. "Son of Ghoul" has been planted for roughly half of that time on WNIR/100.1-owned low-power combo WAOH-LP/29 - W35AX, otherwise known as "The CAT".That placement has meant longevity for the show, but less visibility...due to the small range of the Akron and Cleveland based signals - actually based in Portage County's Brimfield Township and in the … [Read more...]

The history of talk radio in the Mahoning Valley has been somewhat colorful, and usually somewhat controversial.Youngstown/Warren's fixation with local talk radio started with the long-time dominance of Dan Ryan, first on WBBW/1240 and later as a fixture on WKBN/570. Warren talk station WOKG/1570 "Talk 1570" burned to the ground in 1990, in an arson-caused fire with controversy swirling around its politically-charged local talk programming.And then, there's Louie Free.Free made a name for … [Read more...]

Though it's mostly out of our coverage area, we do occasionally check in with news about Cincinnati, and particularly Clear Channel news/talk powerhouse WLW/700. A couple of items about WLW from the Cincinnati Enquirer's John Kiesewetter:NEWS SWITCH: As it turns out, WLW's previously announced news/weather/promotion partnership switch from Clear Channel sister CBS affiliate WKRC/12 to NBC affiliate WLWT/5 will happen sooner than announced. It'll likely be not that long after next Monday, … [Read more...]

After all the rumors swirling about concerning the future of WTAM/1100 afternoon motormouth Mike Trivisonno, the host himself finally weighed in when it was safe - after sister rocker WMMS/100.7 announced they were bringing in Premiere's "Bob and Tom" to replace their local morning show.Evidently, the "Triv to WMMS" chatter extended far beyond your Mighty Blog of Fun(tm).We know for sure it made it to print, as a recent Cleveland Free Times column by former WMMS programmer John Gorman brought up … [Read more...]

Here's a pretty visible sign that Dover/New Philadelphia station WJER's AM side is severing itself from the soon-to-move FM side...this new logo on the station's website only references AM 1450.OMW still hasn't spotted a construction permit application in the FCC database for 101.7's move to North Canton, with about three weeks to go before the deadline to file for the new facilities.There's certainly a possibility that the application has been filed by Clear Channel, but hasn't hit the FCC … [Read more...]

DYER'S BLINK ADS PIECE: You know, OMW misses the days when the Akron Beacon Journal had a regular local radio/TV columnist. The paper has occasionally taken a stab at it, with brief efforts by Denise Grollmus (don't get us started, we've been rather harsh on her in our past) and Dan Kadar, a part-timer out of the University of Akron's "Buchtelite" who still writes other entertainment articles.But for our money, the last "real" local radio columnist at the Beacon was the inimitable Bob Dyer. … [Read more...]