This is a very hard story to write...one that affects a Northeast Ohio broadcaster and his family. Dave Dial was most recently heard on Dix country WQKT/104.5 Wooster, doing an afternoon live, local show called "The Best of the Best"...until the station decided to return to the Dial Global satellite feed already heard most of the day. Dave, an OMW reader, has been unemployed since then...and is still very much looking for work. But now he has a new, even more personal struggle. Dave, and … [Read more...]
Passings In May
Posted on May 20, 2011 · Leave a Comment
From two different parts of the outer OMW Coverage Area, two noted broadcasters have passed away recently. Since we don't know all that much about either man, we'll mostly let the information we've been provided carry the day... WALT: Known on-air in the Ashland/Mansfield/Mid-Ohio area as Walt Roberts, a veteran broadcaster in the region is no longer with us. Roberts, known away from the microphone as Walt Stampfli, was quite instrumental in management and station ownership. (His radio … [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...]
Rudy Pie Passes Away
Posted on May 5, 2011 · 1 Comment
When noting the passing of notable media figures, we occasionally point out that the person is pretty much synonymous with their field. That's certainly the case for long-time Akron high school sports radio broadcaster Rudy Piekarski, who died of natural causes Tuesday at the age of 69. Rubber City Radio's AkronNewsNow.com has more here, and the Beacon Journal's Ohio.com has more here. Over his decades on the air, "Rudy Pie" called thousands of games on a number of radio stations...starting … [Read more...]
THIS JUST IN: WCLV to Ideastream
Posted on May 4, 2011 · Leave a Comment
Cleveland market classical mainstay WCLV/104.9 recently moved in at the "Idea Center", the headquarters of Ideastream (owner of NPR affiliate WCPN/90.3 and PBS affiliate WVIZ/25) at Playhouse Square. Now, the station has announced that Ideastream will be taking over ownership of WCLV, keeping it as a commercial classical operation with the current staff and programming intact. All the details are in the press release below, which was helpfully provided to us directly from WCLV president Bob … [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...]
Want To Replace Joe Tait?
Posted on May 4, 2011 · 1 Comment
The Cleveland Cavaliers have thrown open the door for play-by-play announcers who think they can follow in Joe Tait's footsteps. With the ending of Joe's 39 year run as "Voice of the Cavaliers", the team has officially announced that it's accepting applications to replace the veteran announcer. (Well, maybe you can't really ever "replace" Joe Tait, but someone's gotta call the games whenever the NBA starts up its next season.) There's more, in this article by the Lake County News-Herald's Bob … [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...]
Not Rumors, For The Most Part
Posted on April 27, 2011 · 3 Comments
We generally deal in facts here at the Mighty Blog of Fun(tm), give or take an occasional rumble. And at this juncture, there are a LOT of rumbles out there, and nearly all of them haven't been confirmed to our satisfaction yet. The item just before this one is just one example...there are more hot-and-heavy rumors out there. So, if you're looking for the answer to "who's about to be fired", after hearing it on a certain morning drive show...not yet. We'll pass along changes as soon as they … [Read more...]
The Rover Post
Posted on April 23, 2011 · 4 Comments
It's been a fairly quiet week on the local media front, give or take items we've already covered, but all the off-blog activity has involved a high profile radio show. Our inbox has been peppered with questions like this one about Clear Channel rock/talk WMMS/100.7's "Rover's Morning Glory", which we'll copy verbatim from one of our readers: Rover was recently on vacation for 2 weeks, returned with a major arm injury, and subsequently, the show has been on "Best Of" for 4 to 5 weeks now. Give … [Read more...]
