As regular readers know, Life Often Intervenes when it comes to the ability to update this blog. We're often able to put up brief updates on Twitter and Facebook, but not able to set aside the time for a full blog post. We have the time, so here we are... FREE BEER AND HOT WINGS: A Youngstown station is offering Free Beer and Hot Wings. No, don't start lining up at Cumulus classic rock WYFM/102.9 "Y103" hoping for no-cost booze and snacks. "Free Beer and Hot Wings" is the name of a morning … [Read more...]
Opening June
Posted on June 7, 2011 · 1 Comment
Some changes, some "comings and goings" and a reminder or two... COMINGS AND GOINGS: They're both at Scripps ABC affiliate WEWS/5, with a long-time "NewsChannel 5" name heading out the door, and a new Internet hire coming in. From a memo that floated out of 3001 Euclid, took the RTA HealthLine downtown and then made a few transfers to get to the OMW World Headquarters(tm): Alicia Booth will be leaving Channel 5 after nine and a half years effective June 23rd. Alicia wants to spend more … [Read more...]
Some Tuesday Leftovers
Posted on May 10, 2011 · 2 Comments
Here are some items we haven't visited, or updates to what we have, or random pieces of information... VALLEY RADIO: As we promised, an earlier item on Mahoning Valley radio changes has been taken "backstage". We can't explain it until later this week, but we are trying to nail down facts related to the item in question. Expect an update here Wednesday or Thursday... FACEBOOK FRENZY: Cleveland market TV stations are giving away the store...or the iPad 2...or car leases...as a result of … [Read more...]
Youngstown Radio Vet Resigns, Admits To Child Porn
Posted on May 4, 2011 · Leave a Comment
Now, here's a bombshell from the Youngstown market. WKBN-TV reports that long-time Cumulus classic rock WYFM/102.9 "Y103" morning host Scott Kennedy is off the air, out of the building, and facing a long prison sentence: Morning host Scott Kennedy, 55, of Hermitage, has been entertaining listeners for years on the popular Y-103 morning show, but he resigned abruptly last week from the station. Tuesday, he pleaded guilty in federal court to a charge of possession of child pornography. The "27 … [Read more...]
THIS JUST IN: WEAO/49 Back On The Air
Posted on April 30, 2011 · 2 Comments
Western Reserve PBS' Akron outlet, WEAO/49, is back on the air...after spending much of April off the air due to transmission line problems. In honor of the return, we present this picture of tower crews making a quicker ascent of the Copley Township tower in a rather unusual way...during an earlier attempt to return the station to the air. (Thanks, of course, to Western Reserve PBS communications coordinator and OMW Handler Diane Steinert for passing this along!) Those with Time Warner … [Read more...]
WEAO/49 Outage
Posted on April 15, 2011 · 1 Comment
UPDATE 4/16/11 10:45 AM: Here's the update from Western Reserve PBS' Facebook page: WEAO outage update: Work on the technical problem is delayed until Monday morning due to high winds and rain. Most cable subscribers are getting Western Reserve PBS now, thanks to cable systems switching over to our WNEO signal. And as the station explains it, there's a very good reason that the weather is delaying plans to fix the problem: The problem appears to involve an 800-ft. transmission line that … [Read more...]
A Youngstown Two-For-Tuesday
Posted on March 22, 2011 · 1 Comment
Two big news items impacting the Mahoning Valley today: WHTX's "Fabulous" Turn: Back in January, Whiplash Media's WHTX/1570 Warren formally announced plans to convert the station to adult standards, in response to Youngstown standards stalwarts WSOM/600 Salem and WNIO/1390 Youngstown to spoken word formats (WSOM went all-talk; WNIO went all-sports). After some contractual hang-ups with the TKO Radio Network - providers of the now-former "Classic Top 40" format - WHTX finally made the switch to … [Read more...]
A Better Mix
Posted on February 10, 2011 · 2 Comments
From your Mighty Blog of Fun(tm), a better mix of today's and yesterday's media news items. (Well, since Clear Channel's WMVX changed to variety hits WHLK/106.5 "The Lake", the slogan hasn't been used much - give or take NextMedia's WHBC-FM "Mix 94.1" in Canton...) NEW ASSISTANT NEWS DIRECTOR: Scripps ABC affiliate WEWS/5 will have a new second-in-command in the newsroom, and she's actually a familiar name to long-time Cleveland TV news viewers. That's because Ellen Miller spent a number of … [Read more...]
Three Pronged Item
Posted on January 27, 2011 · 7 Comments
Here's that "three pronged item" we promised, all from the world of radio this time. Wait...it looks like we've added some prongs... NEW Q104ER: This is no surprise to anyone who follows our Twitter account, but CBS Radio hot AC WQAL/104.1 Cleveland "Q104" has named its new afternoon drive host. And she's coming from across the border to do it. She's Heather Backman, who comes to the Cleveland station from Montreal's Virgin 96 FM. Quoting a CBS Radio press release: “Heather’s love of pop … [Read more...]
Some Leftover Stuff
Posted on January 25, 2011 · 2 Comments
And now, some items that have nothing to do about major changes at a local sports radio station...though we'll revisit that in the next day or so... PERMANENT REPLACEMENT: It may just be a coincidence, but as the trial of former Scripps ABC affiliate WEWS/5 "NewsChannel 5" sports anchor/reporter Terry Brooks plays out on the station's own newscasts, the man who's been filling in for him has been given the job permanently. He's Mike Cairns, who is well familiar with the role of second sports … [Read more...]
