Clearing out the ol' Inbox again, with some non-connected stuff from various trade sites and our own reporting...LATEST FM HD RADIO OUTLET: We hinted at it earlier, and now it's official - Clear Channel has lit up another Northeast Ohio station with HD Radio.Not long after hot AC WMXY/98.9 "Mix 98.9" in Youngstown turned on the digital bits, its sister hot AC station about 40 miles to the west has also done so.Akron/Canton hot AC WKDD/98.1 is new to the digital radio game, as of Friday morning. … [Read more...]
As It Turns Out
Posted on June 11, 2007 · Leave a Comment
It would appear that the big proposed swap between Clear Channel's WBBG/106.1 Niles and WREO/97.1 Ashtabula has fallen apart in mere days.OK, so we were skeptical when anonymous commenters alluded to it on the item immediately below this.But sure enough, both applications are listed as "dismissed" as of this evening on the FCC web site, with a dismissal date of today.Here's the link to the WBBG application, and the link to the WREO application, both of which show the "dismissed" status.Since we … [Read more...]
Eastern Ohio Swap
Posted on June 10, 2007 · Leave a Comment
UPDATE 6/11/07 8:01 PM: Well, not so much. Details on the update to this story are at this link, which is the item just above this on the regular scroll. Here's what we posted Sunday night...--------------On its way out the door in Ashtabula, Clear Channel is filing for a frequency swap between that area and Youngstown.The company has filed to move 97.1 FM - the long-time home of AC WREO "Star 97.1" - to McDonald, a small village in Trumbull County.In turn, 106.1/Niles, the current oldies … [Read more...]
Friday Wrapup
Posted on June 8, 2007 · Leave a Comment
Now, on to the stuff clogging up our inbox, and our collective mind...MIX TO KISS PD IN Y-TOWN: AllAccess reports that Clear Channel Youngstown hot AC WMXY/98.9 "Mix" middayer Sean Stevens slides across the hall to top 40 WAKZ/95.9 "Kiss FM" to take its program director opening.The move takes Stevens off the air at "Mix", with newly-minted PD Steve Granato going on the air there. Sean has been holding that pesky "acting PD" title at "Kiss FM" since Jerry Mac left the post a few months ago.And … [Read more...]
Two Semi-Related Items
Posted on June 3, 2007 · Leave a Comment
These two brief items are related only by the fact that they have been brought to our attention by Tom Lavery, the Shenango Valley contributor to our western Pennsylvania colleagues at PBRTV. As a result of his location, he's exposed to the Youngstown/Warren TV and radio markets...WNEO/WEAO HD: Lavery passes on word from elsewhere on the Internet that Northeast Ohio PBS affiliate WNEO/45 Alliance-WEAO/49 Akron is about to return to transmitting PBS programming in HDTV format.Those who have … [Read more...]
An Early Midweek
Posted on May 30, 2007 · Leave a Comment
Thanks to the Memorial Day holiday and a relatively slow local media news pace, this is our first update of the week...THE CAT HAS LANDED: Those who remember the old top 40 format on Cleveland's "Power 108" - known today as Radio One urban WENZ/107.9 "Z107.9" - might remember Cat Thomas.Thomas was PD at then-WPHR, and was originally heard in nights. Though he was apparently nudged into morning drive at one point, most people who remember the station at all remember John "Records" … [Read more...]
Packaging Up The Week
Posted on May 25, 2007 · Leave a Comment
This update will hopefully clear out the ol' inbox for the weekend.We're not going on an official "hiatus" over the holiday weekend, and will update anything major (format changes, major personnel changes at local TV and radio outlets and the like). But since it will be a holiday weekend, we don't expect much...WJW MOVES COMING: We have no idea why, but we get at least a handful of E-Mails out of nowhere every single week asking us when FOX O&O WJW/8 "FOX 8" Cleveland will adopt the … [Read more...]
A Newsy, Newsy Week’s End
Posted on May 18, 2007 · Leave a Comment
(Our apologies for posting this without allowing comments...it's a mistake that has been corrected. Thanks! -- The Management)Local media news items are stacking up like so many planes trying to land, so we'll try to close them out as we close out the week. And since we've done a lot of TV items recently, let's start on the radio side...WERE, WJMO SWAP: Radio One, on the heels of selling off its Dayton stations (we'll revisit that below), has announced major changes in Cleveland involving its … [Read more...]
Midweek Update
Posted on April 4, 2007 · Leave a Comment
And at nearly the exact middle of the workweek, at that...how did we manage that?DAVE AND JIMMY KISS YOUNGSTOWN: As rumored, OMW hears it's going to happen Monday at Clear Channel Youngstown top 40 WAKZ/95.9 "Kiss FM".Regionally syndicated morning team "Dave and Jimmy", based at Clear Channel top 40 powerhouse WNCI/97.9 Columbus, will take the open morning drive slot at the Youngstown station on Monday.WAKZ has parted ways with Los Angeles-based Sean Valentine, whose voicetracked morning drive … [Read more...]
Random Tuesday Stuff
Posted on April 3, 2007 · Leave a Comment
Just going through our "to do" list, with news and comment (no, not involving Paul Harvey)...there's still more, that we'll get to later tonight...KISSED OFF?: It looks like Clear Channel Youngstown top 40 WAKZ/95.9 "Kiss FM" is the latest CC Ohio top 40 station going a different direction in morning drive.On the heels of sister Cincinnati "Kiss" outlet WKFS/107.1, WAKZ appears to be ending its relationship with Los Angeles-based Sean Valentine, the afternoon driver at L.A.'s original "Kiss FM" … [Read more...]
