Ohio Media Watch

Like some others, OMW speculated that the move of WXTM/92.3 Cleveland morning dog Rover to Chicago - to mount his new syndication in place of Howard Stern in some markets - was prompted by Infinity wanting to base him in one of the top 3 markets in the country.Well, as it turns out, not so much.A number of observers in the business report that it's Shane "Rover" French's dream to go on the air from his original hometown market. Mr. French, 30, was born in the Chicago area, and lived there as a … [Read more...]

When 30 year-old Shane French - nom du chien "Rover" - takes over for Howard Stern in a half-dozen markets in early January, Chicago will be by far his largest market. So, it's no surprise that the Chicago media is focusing on his ascension to the Windy City, where he'll relocate after a successful run at Cleveland's WXTM/92.3 (which will still carry "Rover's Morning Glory" as an affiliate).The Chicago Tribune's Phil Rosenthal talks to Rover, and gets a bead on his feelings...and describes his … [Read more...]

We've finally encountered circumstances which would force local FOX O&O WJW/8 Cleveland to entirely cancel its 10 PM newscast.Last night's "longest ever" World Series game lasted some 5 hours and 41 minutes, before the Chicago White Sox finally beat the Houston Astros in the 14th inning. We were without sleep last night in the OMW World Headquarters in northwest suburban Akron, so we were watching the game late into the night. And as 1 AM gave way to 1:30, and then 2 AM, we pondered if WJW … [Read more...]

OMW hasn't had a lot of fun in the World of Glunt recently, so let's go back there, shall we?For new readers, that means we'll be talking about that Youngstown/Warren market cluster known as Beacon Broadcasting, owned by Warren steel supply magnate Harold Glunt. Among the operations in Glunt Land: WANR/1570 Warren, WRTK/1540 Niles, WLOA/1470 Farrell PA, WGRP/940 Greenville PA, and WEXC/107.1 Greenville PA - the latter targetting Youngstown as Christian rocker "Freq 107".We hear that Beacon sales … [Read more...]

(UPDATED - 2:35 PM ET)There's been a lot of speculation on what happens after Howard Stern leaves over-air radio, and now we have an official answer from Infinity itself...and at least in part, it involves a local morning star here in Northeast Ohio.A week after basically denying rumors it was flipping a number of FM stations to younger-skewing talk, the company is doing exactly that.And the Stern plans are as expected, with regional replacements including former Van Halen frontman David Lee … [Read more...]

OMW didn't hear it early Monday morning, but various radio trade sites repeated Howard Stern's contention from earlier in the day...that he was about to lose at least two affiliates of his show to a "JACK FM" format flip. Later, it was considered that the stations may do the format flip the rest of the day, after Stern's show (like WBUF/Buffalo did a while back)...and would continue to run the Stern show until his departure from over-air radio in just under two months.We quickly considered the … [Read more...]

When it was first announced that Fox News Channel reporter/weekend host Geraldo Rivera would do a weekday show for the Fox network's owned-and-operated stations, we assumed local WJW "FOX 8" would be along for the ride. And sure enough, it will be.At most of the FOX O&O's, Geraldo's new half-hour show will replace "A Current Affair". That'll indeed be the case in Cleveland, where "Geraldo at Large" will slip into the 7 PM weeknight slot starting a week from today.Not only have we seen the … [Read more...]

OMW noted below that local PBS affiliate WNEO/45-WEAO/49 has discontinued its 24/7 feed of PBS HD for now.We then stumbled upon a message at AVS Forum, a well-recognized audio-visual/home theatre support site, claiming to be from the station itself. (The author did not sign it with a name or title.) For us, it passes the "smell test" and we'll assume that it was indeed posted by someone at the Kent-based public TV station. Here's the message:------------"WNEO-DT and WEAO-DT (45 and 50) have … [Read more...]

Watching the Browns get beat by the Lions on FOX's high-definition feed (WJW-DT) yesterday reminded us...it's time for a local HDTV update.The biggest news so far is a change at the Akron area's PBS affiliate, "PBS 45 & 49" - digitally, in this area, WEAO-DT 50. Since the station put WNEO-DT 46 up out of the Salem transmitter site, and later added Akron's WEAO-DT, they've been running the 24/7 PBS HD feed on the digital signal, with a SD simulcast of the over-air PBS 45 & 49 feed. The … [Read more...]

If it's Sunday night, regular OMW readers know it must be time for a look at WOIO/19's "Browns Tonight" late night show, with 19's Brian Duffy, and ex-Browns player co-hosts Hanford Dixon (who does WTAM's Browns post-game show) and Bob Golic (WNIR's afternoon host).We note that the Giant Brown Value City Furniture Couch that threatens to swallow the trio for its size, is still on the set. (Only former defensive star Golic is big enough to overcome it...) And we also note that 19's Sharon Reed … [Read more...]