At Cleveland's WWMK/1260, the "mouse" is silent, but the "rock" could take its place soon. Sometime in the past few days, the kiddie-pop music heard on AM 1260 went away, and the Radio Disney-owned station signed off the air. Up next: OMW hears that the new occupant of the 1260 dial spot, St. Peter the Rock Media lay Catholic "AM 1260 The Rock", could be heard as soon as Monday, May 4th. That meshes with the current "coming soon" message on the "Rock" website (May 2015). We have no … [Read more...]
Reprieve For “La Mega”
Posted on April 28, 2015 · 3 Comments
As expected, the looming September 1st FCC deadline for analog LPTV stations to convert to digital has been suspended. The excellent Tom Taylor Now E-mail newsletter gave us first word of the FCC's decision (released on Friday) here, and explains some of it: The reprieve is a logical move given the early-2016 TV spectrum auction that’s going to turn the whole dial upside down after it’s been trimmed up and “re-packed.” The FCC says postponing the September 1 transition date is “appropriate … [Read more...]
On To The Next Radio
Posted on April 23, 2015 · 2 Comments
Radio and TV, both traditional and "new", in this update. But first... NEXT RADIO MOVE: We're still compiling items for our "#TheNextRadio" series, focusing on non-broadcast versions of "radio" in 2015. One long-time OMW reader is diving into that universe head first. Chuck Matthews, who has a thriving voiceover business, is leaving his "day job" at Akron's Rubber City Radio Group to join the region's most high profile online radio operation. It was John Gorman's "oWOW" that we first … [Read more...]
Spinoff Name Change For Cleveland TV Owner
Posted on April 22, 2015 · 1 Comment
It's all the rage in communications. Large companies with holdings in both broadcast and print are spinning off their print properties from broadcast operations. It's already happened twice in Cleveland TV, and it's about to happen again. NBC affiliate WKYC/3 owner Gannett announced Tuesday that its newspaper side will become a separate operation this summer from its broadcast side, but unlike in previous splits, the broadcast part of Gannett will take a new name...TEGNA. Our blogging … [Read more...]
No Longer Ink Stained
Posted on April 20, 2015 · Leave a Comment
The trend is growing - with long-time print reporters trading ink and print for electrons. Veteran Akron Beacon Journal reporter Phil Trexler is the latest "ink stained wretch" to go electronic, as he's leaving East Exchange Street to take his talents to the North Coast... Proud to announce I'll be Seeing the Possible @wkyc as their investigative producer with @tommeyerWKYC. Of course @denisep is a bonus!— PHIL TREXLER-ABJ (@PhilTrexler) April 17, 2015 That's Denise … [Read more...]
Fee’s No Longer Company
Posted on April 10, 2015 · 76 Comments
UPDATE 4/10/15 10:05 AM: All Access says it's a contract expiration - CBS RADIO Hot AC WQAL (Q104)/CLEVELAND FEE's KOMPANY morning show host ALLAN FEE exits as his contract expires. Look for GLENN ANDERSON, CARLEY McCORD and WOODY JUSTIK to remain with the show. Midday host AVERAGE JOE (a.k.a. JOE KRAUSS) moves to mornings in the interim. All Access says program director Dave Popovich is indeed looking for a new morning host... ----- When a radio station performs what we call a … [Read more...]
Press Release Theatre, Vol. 12
Posted on April 8, 2015 · Leave a Comment
As usual, guess who starts our press release parade? Well, she WAS first...and she has some help from another Kent-based Friend of OMW... ----- (WKSU and Western Reserve PBS) WKSU AND WESTERN RESERVE PBS EXAMINE VIETNAM’S LEGACY 40 YEARS LATER COLLABORATION INCLUDES RADIO REPORTS AND DOCUMENTARY FILM The WKSU newsroom looks back at two significant historical events, presented in collaboration with Western Reserve PBS. As the 40th anniversary of the fall of Saigon and the end of the … [Read more...]
A Cozi Laff
Posted on April 6, 2015 · 8 Comments
There were rumblings that the previously announced "Laff" comedy subchannel would not actually directly replace "Live Well Network" on Scripps ABC affiliate WEWS/5's 5.2 subchannel when that home and lifestyle subchannel goes away later this month. That turns out to be correct, but only because another subchannel network will come to Cleveland on WEWS' 5.2 subchannel instead. The station confirms in an official release that the "Cozi TV" network, another treasure trove of popular reruns, … [Read more...]
A Star (102) Is Born
Posted on April 3, 2015 · Leave a Comment
When CBS Radio AC WDOK/102.1 took the name "New 102" in early 2012, we wondered how long "New" would last. Peg it at three years and three months, as the AC side of the Halle Building has trotted out its "Star" destiny...and has become "Star 102" as of today. The move was first reported earlier this week by super domain snoop Lance Venta of our content partners at RadioInsight...who, as usual, spotted a domain name registration before anyone short of the registrants themselves: As the … [Read more...]
Jobs And Other Stuff
Posted on April 1, 2015 · 3 Comments
As promised, some job openings and some other stuff. And...not a single April Fools Day-inspired post in the bunch... JOB OPENING #1: A staffer at Radio One Cleveland has nabbed a new job, and that means the cluster is looking for a new assistant chief engineer. Chief engineer Gary Zocolo, who is a long-time Friend of OMW and then some, lets us know: Ben Slagle was hired here as Assistant Chief Engineer two years ago. Ben had IT skills but very limited broadcast knowledge. After two very … [Read more...]
