Ohio Media Watch

This is kind of the way OMW is working this week, as we continue to chase the proverbial tail of stories we've been working on...* Stand down on those Michael Graham-to-WSPD rumors. The Clear Channel Toledo news/talker may or may not be Graham's eventual destination, though we haven't heard for sure that he's out of the running there, yet. Instead, he could be aiming for a possible opening at a talk station in a much larger market in the Northeast.* Day 2 in the Post-Kim Mihalik Era at Clear … [Read more...]

We don't have a lot of details, but we've asked around...and as we hinted in an earlier note, OMW hears that WTAM/1100 afternoon drive co-host Kim Mihalik is indeed no longer with the station, due to budgetary reasons.We weren't in town when she joined the station in the mid-90's, but Mihalik joined chief afternoon motormouth Mike Trivisonno after winning a station contest...and had no previous radio experience.She's since become comfortable on the air next to Triv, and occasionally provided … [Read more...]

He wasn't in the best of moods anyway, but syndicated morning star Howard Stern unleashed on his soon-to-be-former broadcast company, Infinity, on this morning's show.Regular readers know that we're not usually awake in most of morning drive, so OMW read about this on AllAccess.com this evening. The radio trade website noted that Stern was upset with not only Infinity, for touting its Stern replacements with a full advertising buy in Advertising Age magazine...but also that he was upset with … [Read more...]

Updating again:* Thanks to a podcast archive service, we got to hear Kevin Metheny - Clear Channel's top Cleveland programmer - filling in for liberal host Jerry Springer on Friday. Springer's show airs on WTAM/1100 middays, and on other Clear Channel stations, along with most of Air America's affiliates.Color us impressed. Metheny hasn't had a regular on-air gig since the late 70's, and by his own admission, it was his very first stab at talk radio. To our ears, he reminded us a lot of his … [Read more...]

Updating the entry below:Via Clear Channel talk WSPD/1370 Toledo's web stream today, no, it isn't the voice of former WMAL/Washington host Michael Graham being heard by Northwest Ohio talk radio listeners this afternoon. It's Fred Lefebvre, a local radio personality who's been doing regular fill-in during the slot opened by the departure of Denny Schaffer to WGST/Atlanta.Lefebvre's hosting this afternoon opened with produced station imaging welcoming listeners to "The Fred Lefebvre Show", but … [Read more...]

RUMOR ALERT: A Radio-Info Cleveland board regular with his ears close to the Toledo rumor mill drops this little bombshell: He says he hears deposed WMAL/Washington host Michael Graham will officially take the WSPD/1370 Toledo afternoon drive position, starting tomorrow. This is still a rumor, as we have not confirmed it, but the original message was posted by someone we believe would be in a position to hear about it, even second-hand.Graham was suspended, and later fired, from the ABC-owned … [Read more...]

Checking in with updates to a few past OMW items:* There's been a lot of rumbling about why WXTM/92.3 morning doggie Rover (hey, we're running out of dog references, here!) decided to head to Chicago's WCKG/105.9...as the new home base for his expanding syndicated morning show. OMW even weighed in, noting that we'd heard it was Rover's "dream" to be on the air in his original hometown...and figured, from what we'd heard from folks who heard him talk about it at the Cleveland "TalenTrak" … [Read more...]

(Thanks to Radio-Info poster "bierkenstock" for the heads up.)This pretty much came out of nowhere, but Friday, syndicated liberal radio host Jerry Springer ("Jerry! Jerry! Jerry!") tapped an unusual fill-in for his show heard on a number of Clear Channel liberal talk stations, Air America's network, and CC Cleveland's WTAM/1100.And that latter affiliate is where he went for the substitute host - Kevin Metheny, better known locally for his day job as Director of Programming for CC's Cleveland … [Read more...]

Radio One CEO Alfred Liggins tells the Boston Globe's Clea Simon that the company is planning to launch a new nationwide talk radio network aimed at African-Americans on many of its own AM stations across the country, and that among the markets involved at launch will be...Cleveland.The new network's marquee attraction will be the Rev. Al Sharpton, a former presidential candidate who's made noises about going into talk radio before. He's slated to host the 1-4 PM ET slot, putting him in almost … [Read more...]

It's not often that a major market sports station becomes the second affiliate for radio broadcasts of a Single-A minor league baseball team, but it's just happened in Cleveland.The Lake County Captains have announced that Salem sportstalker WKNR/850 Cleveland will broadcast 120 games of the popular Eastlake-based minor league team in the 2006 season. It will not be the flagship station. That honor goes to Willoughby's WELW/1330, which has broadcast the team since it began play in Lake County. … [Read more...]