Ohio Media Watch

Yes, we're still here at OMW. As seems to be normal, more happens when we're away from Northeast Ohio than when we're actually here. (If our base of operations ever moves out of the area, watch out! The entire radio spectrum in the area may combust spontaneously!)But there are still some loose ends to tie up. Most of this has been elsewhere, but OMW feels the need to add it to our own record.* OMW noticed the absence of long-time Akron Aeros play-by-play voice Jim Clark on WARF/1350 this week, … [Read more...]

OMW is mostly a Northeast Ohio production, focusing on markets like Cleveland, Akron, Canton and Youngstown. It's where we live, and the area of the state we know best. We mostly don't intend on covering Columbus and Cincinnati, but this is a unique one.The "X-Star Radio Network", a far-flung regional network of public radio FM stations based at Xavier University's WVXU/91.7 in Cincinnati, is going off the air tonight. In its place will be a new NPR-based news/talk service operated by incumbent … [Read more...]

STILL LIVE FROM THE UPPER MIDWEST -- We're not sure if the title on this one is a baseball joke about a former football player, or a radio joke, but regardless... we have one more item about WNIR afternoon host and Browns TV voice Bob Golic.As reported below, Golic moves to the analyst's chair for the WOIO/19 broadcast of today's Browns/Detroit Lions game, which is at 1 PM this afternoon. Even WNIR boss Kaiser Bill hasn't figured out how to have Bob do his regular Saturday noon-4 PM show at the … [Read more...]

LIVE FROM THE UPPER MIDWEST -- Just hours after OMW turned in our take on Bob Golic's performance on the Browns pre-season opener last weekend on WOIO/19, the Plain Dealer's Roger Brown reports in his Friday column that veteran play-by-play voice Sam Rosen has been hired to do the rest of the games, with Golic moving into a "co-analyst" role with fellow ex-Brown Brian Brennan.And like Mr. Brown in his Monday column - where he held back a little less than we did in the item immediately below this … [Read more...]

ON THE ROAD IN THE UPPER MIDWEST -- At OMW, we've been thinking about this for a while, and have been trying to word this as gently as possible.It's almost a sport for This Space to take shots at Raycom Cleveland CBS affiliate WOIO/19 and its "19 Action News". It's what it would look like if the folks at "The Star" tabloid in Florida decided to do local TV news in Northeast Ohio. And we've already taken WOIO to task for, among other things, its "domination" of the Browns training camp and its … [Read more...]

Greetings, OMW readers!We're on the road, as mentioned, traversing much of the Upper Midwest with some friends until early next week. We've had some form of high-speed Internet access along the way each night, though "high-speed Internet" in hotels is becoming much like the advertised "continental breakfast"...your mileage, and speed, may vary.One brief note which we'll expand upon later:We're hearing that there may be a dispute behind the recent shuttering of Beacon Broadcasting's WGRP/940 … [Read more...]

Some stuff that's still sitting up there on our plate, either stuff we haven't touched yet, or stuff that's left over:* Congratulations to WEWS/5 general manager Ric Harris, who's leaving the local ABC affiliate to head up the "digital media" section of NBC Universal. He'll help NBC forge ahead in Internet initiatives and other "new media" projects. Harris has been with "NewsChannel 5" for five years.* The Cleveland Browns start their pre-season schedule against the New York Giants on Saturday … [Read more...]

Now that we've finally figured out if the Cleveland Browns' top draft pick, Braylon Edwards, is signed or not (he is), we have some Brownie Points to make. For one, we spotted WEWS/5's "Chevy Network Dealers Sports Wrap Brought To You By Pepsi And In Part By Cintas" (OK, so we're kidding about everything after "Wrap", though we're pretty sure Cintas sponsors the Browns training camp this year.). And before WEWS sports director Chris Miller told us that Braylon Edwards had officially signed, a … [Read more...]

UPDATE: As of 11:30 tonight, both WOIO/19 and WKYC/3 are reporting that the tide has turned AGAIN, and that there is a deal between Braylon Edwards and the Browns. The below was written before that news came out, and still stands on its own... -- OMW----------Watch out, Reserve Square...this one is for you.So, OMW caught all but the very beginning of tonight's "19 Action News", the 10 PM edition on WOIO/19 sister station WUAB/43. We saw lead sports anchor Chuck Galeti reporting live, "breaking … [Read more...]

Our good friend Scott Fybush at NorthEast Radio Watch happened to be within listening range of new Clear Channel country station WYBL/98.3 Ashtabula on its first day Tuesday, and reports that the station has indeed launched as advertised.Scott tells OMW that "98.3 The Bull" charged out of the gate (too bad we don't get paid for our pithy prose!) with a live and local airstaff, and spent much of its first day with a live remote from the Ashtabula County Fair."The Bull's" website is up and … [Read more...]