And at least part of this multi-headed hydra of an update is under the sub-heading "overkill"...WEWS HD LAUNCH: In case you haven't figured out by the "HD" letters on the logo...or the roughly 200 mentions in the past day...or the 30th play of Angie Lau's "Buying an HDTV" piece...Yes, Cleveland ABC affiliate WEWS/5 has officially converted its "NewsChannel 5" newscasts to the HDTV format.The proverbial "switch" was pulled at the start of Sunday's 11 PM newscast. That broadcast opened up with a … [Read more...]

As expected, North American Broadcasting adult hits WTDA/103.9 "Ted FM" in the Columbus market is flipping to FM talk - with a heavy dose of sports talk - as "Talk FM".The station's website sports a new logo in the same color scheme as the old one, and has the new programming schedule - which includes the previously announced addition of Premiere's Glenn Beck for the 10 AM-1 PM slot.(Beck is live from 9-noon, but WTDA is keeping Premiere's "Bob and Tom" for the 6-10 AM time slot.)Also new to the … [Read more...]

UPDATE 1/7/07 1:25 PM: WEWS confirms the HD newscast launch we've been reporting here for some time, starting tonight. (We hear that the 6 PM newscast may be the first in HD.)From the item on NewsNet5.com:On Sunday night, Jan. 7, legendary WEWS NewsChannel5 makes Cleveland the nation's most advanced high-definition (HD) television city in America.Cleveland will be the first city where its top three television stations broadcast their local news in HD. NewsChannel5's launch will include … [Read more...]

A couple of weekend tidbits we need to put up before they happen...WEWS HD DEBUT: OMW hears that the debut of HDTV on WEWS/5's "NewsChannel 5" broadcasts is Sunday night at 11 PM on the Cleveland ABC affiliate.The time makes sense to us. It would basically be a dress rehearsal, allowing the station to get out the bugs out before the weekday newscasts start.At this point, we don't know what "NewsChannel 5" will do with out-of-studio video. Both WKYC/3 (NBC) and WJW/8 (FOX) use 16x9 standard … [Read more...]

Premiere syndicated host Glenn Beck is apparently not even missing a day on the air in the Columbus market.The very day his program last aired on Clear Channel talk WTVN/610, Beck's website is announcing his move in the market Monday to North American Broadcasting adult hits WTDA/103.9 "Ted FM".Well, maybe it's not announcing it exactly like that, as we quote the site:Attention Fans from Columbus, OH:THANK YOU! Because of your support and loyalty, we’ve found a new radio home in Columbus, … [Read more...]

Welcome to January...a month of change in local radio and TV.We've compiled this handy list of upcoming major events in local media, either announced or rumored, in no particular order...WKNR CHANGES: OMW hears lots of rumblings out of a certain building on Broadview Road...the beginning of Good Karma Broadcasting's overhaul of Cleveland sports talker WKNR/850 is imminent.If we had to pull out a calendar date for this momentous event, we'd aim for sometime in the next two weeks. We'd guess next … [Read more...]

OMW hears that if you were to put a bet on Monday or Tuesday of next week as the launch date for the new Canton-based 101.7 signal, you'd be backing a winner.The date would appear to depend upon the actions of American Electric Power, which still has to "light up" the site for full operations.There's still no definitive word on what you'll actually HEAR on the frequency early next week, though... … [Read more...]

Just some stuff clogging up the OMW inbox and seen elsewhere:WJW/FOX AND TWC DEAL: OMW reported earlier that Time Warner had put a required 30 day notice about the possible removal of Cleveland FOX O&O WJW/8 from the TWC lineup, due to retransmission consent issues.FOX 8 isn't going anywhere for Time Warner customers, as the companies reached a long-term nationwide deal late Friday, before the ball dropped at Times Square. The Hollywood Reporter notes that the deal not only includes … [Read more...]

As part of our ongoing service to Ohio's broadcast community, OMW runs - free of charge - both Help Wanted and Situations Wanted advertisements as part of the regular run of this blog. Here's one of the former... a full-time news opening at Dayton's news/talker, Cox's WHIO. Thanks to Nick Roberts for passing this along!--------------------Cox Radio AM1290 and 95.7FM – News Talk Radio – WHIO in Dayton has an opening for afternoon news anchor.If you are one of the great talents that have been … [Read more...]

OMW hears that WHBC-FM/94.1 Canton "Mix 94.1" personality Steve Rockford is out at the NextMedia AC outlet. His last program was Tuesday.We hear that new "Mix" programmer Hunter Scott will fill in, though we do not know if that situation will become permanent... … [Read more...]