UPDATE (12/29/05 10:25 PM) - WEOL's website now confirms Sean Hannity is indeed that pixelated and fuzzy host pictured below, and that he's coming to the station's lineup. They don't yet confirm a live 3-5 PM or 3-6 PM placement.--------------One of our regular tipsters - Lorain County resident Nathan Obral - noticed this picture on the front of talk WEOL/930 Elyria's webpage:Underneath what appears to be a picture of ABC Radio/FOX News Channel star Sean Hannity, appear the words "Guess who's … [Read more...]

When Clear Channel talk WSPD/1370 program director/afternoon drive host Brian Wilson took that gig recently, he was most known in talk radio for his regular fill-ins for stations across the country. It looks like that's continuing.Wilson is filling in this week for WBAP/Dallas-Ft. Worth mainstay Mark Davis, both on his local show, and his new ABC Radio syndicated midday show. (The show doesn't air in Northeast Ohio as far as we know, but is available via ABC's satellite radio "News and Talk" … [Read more...]

Driving in the afternoon near Belden Village Mall, the OMW Mobile was close enough to Canton to get a car radio to stop on that market's talk/religious WCER/900, still promoting itself on-air as "News/Talk WCER 900".OMW can't remember what USED to be on the station at 3 PM, but the show we heard Tuesday afternoon is definitely an oddity in the mainstream news/talk world.According to WCER's website, the show is called "The Patriot News Hour w/ Jim and Eric Cederstrom".Anyone landing on WCER … [Read more...]

Alternative rocker WMAD/96.3 Madison WI has flipped to country as "Star Country 96.3". WisconsinBroadcasting.com has audio of the change, and of a goodbye message from station program director Brad Savage.And yes, CBS Radio alt-rock WXTM/92.3 Cleveland's "Rover's Morning Glory" is among those mentioned in the goodbye message...as the Madison station was one of the first two affiliates for the show fronted by Shane "Rover" French. (The other - Columbus' WAZU/107.1, also known as "The Big … [Read more...]

(UPDATED: 12/26/05, 12:35 PM)The second part of the Cleveland Indians' new TV deal has now been officially announced.As expected, it's Time Warner Cable that'll be the Tribe's new cable TV partner starting in 2006, with what the team calls a "non-exclusive" contract to carry the 150 regular season and 8 Spring Training games tabbed for cable TV. The Indians-connected "Fastball Sports Productions" - a new company owned by the team's ownership group - will also offer the games to other cable … [Read more...]

Spotted on the always interesting "Browns Tonight" on WOIO/19 this Christmas Night... look who's playing Santa! It's "Santa Bob" Golic!Too bad the former Browns defensive star and WNIR/100.1 afternoon drive talk show host couldn't come down the chimney and deliver his former team a win against Pittsburgh on Saturday. Ouch. Don't talk to us about that one for a while... … [Read more...]

On behalf of the entire vast editorial staff of Ohio Media Watch... Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah and Happy Holidays, or however you prefer to celebrate this season.Random thoughts on our minds:* Maybe we're becoming a bit too sensitive to excessive advertising. But while listening to a recent Cleveland Browns game on the radio, one thing came out and jarred us into paying closer attention. In the middle of his play-by-play, with no apparent connection to anything else, Browns radio voice … [Read more...]

It'd been hinted at on the message boards, but AllAccess makes it official - it'll basically be ABC Radio syndicated talker Sean Hannity replacing long-time local late night host Steve Cannon at Clear Channel Columbus talker WTVN/610.The addition of Hannity's show comes with a time shift of WTVN's programming. The other local casualty is the station's long-running noon news hour...as 'TVN moves up Rush Limbaugh to a live clearance from noon to 3 PM. We liked hearing the news hour when we … [Read more...]

The first part of the expected Cleveland Indians TV deal has been officially announced...by broadcast partner WKYC/3.WKYC reports tonight that they've nabbed a 10 year deal to become the Tribe's over-air TV partner. They'll air 20 games this coming season. What hadn't been announced officially until tonight is a new detail...all 20 of those games will be broadcast in high definition and its accompanying Dolby Digital 5.1 sound.Indians president Paul Dolan, seen tonight on Channel 3 News at 11, … [Read more...]

(With apologies to Steve Martin in the movie "The Jerk"...)One of our odder hobbies at OMW is to go through a newly arrived phone book, and peruse the listings of local radio and TV stations. SBC's...er...AT&T's...January 2006 "Akron/Medina" book - named despite the fact that Medina itself is serviced by Verizon - arrived at our doorstep this morning.Some things we noticed in the radio/TV listings:* PBS affiliate WVIZ/25 and its ideastream sister station, NPR affiliate WCPN/90.3, have … [Read more...]