CORRECTION (04/01/2001 at 3:08PM): Art Lafredo, in fact, did retire from WJW three years ago... the post below has been amended to reflect the change. My apologies for the oversight. Here's a sample of Bill Ward's work from the late 1970s, when he was at WEWS/5: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4DYX2nCobM] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- OMW has learned that Local TV Fox affiliate WJW/8 is currently making a series of budget-related personnel … [Read more...]
Assorted Monday News Nuggets
Posted on March 28, 2011 · 6 Comments
LAFORCE IS WITH FOX 8: It looks like Local TV Fox affiliate WJW/8 has brought aboard a new sports reporter after former weeknight sports anchor Tony Rizzo's departure last December. VermilionOhioNews.com posted on their March 28 issue that Vermilion native Allie LaForce has been hired by WJW as a sports reporter. A recent broadcast journalism graduate of Ohio University (where she also played on the Bobcats' girls basketball team), LaForce was the Miss Teen for 2005 and also made a guest … [Read more...]
Skip Hornyak Passes Away
Posted on March 26, 2011 · 3 Comments
OMW has learned that WHBC/1480 Canton personality Skip Hornyak passed away early yesterday. Hornyak was a fixture at the then-Beaverkettle-owned WHBC starting in 1967 as morning host, then moved to the midday slot, and finally hosted overnights until his retirement in 2000. Hornyak also hosted "Tradio" on WHBC for many years. Prior to joining WHBC, Hornyak also served as the program director for WTIG/990 Massillon (of course, WTIG now operates as an ESPN Radio affiliate). The … [Read more...]
BREAKING: Joe Tait to Return as Voice of the Cavs this March 27th
Posted on March 26, 2011 · Leave a Comment
Very good news for Cleveland Cavaliers fans that have had to deal with much change and turmoil this season: Joe Tait will be making his return to calling home games for the Cavs this Sunday, March 25, against the Atlanta Hawks - his first official game for the team since being sidelined on October 11 for pneumonia... that eventually resulted in a successful cardiac surgery and rehabilitation which took him out of service for the rest of 2010. Of course, Tait's iconic sign-on of "It's … [Read more...]
A Youngstown Two-For-Tuesday
Posted on March 22, 2011 · 1 Comment
Two big news items impacting the Mahoning Valley today: WHTX's "Fabulous" Turn: Back in January, Whiplash Media's WHTX/1570 Warren formally announced plans to convert the station to adult standards, in response to Youngstown standards stalwarts WSOM/600 Salem and WNIO/1390 Youngstown to spoken word formats (WSOM went all-talk; WNIO went all-sports). After some contractual hang-ups with the TKO Radio Network - providers of the now-former "Classic Top 40" format - WHTX finally made the switch to … [Read more...]
WINW, R.I.P.
Posted on March 22, 2011 · 4 Comments
One recent story that had been extremely problematic to report on recently has been the fate of tiny daytimer WINW/1520 Canton. Actually, make that DWINW/1520 Canton. That is the official call sign in FCC records, as the Pinebrook Corp.-owned gospel station last known as "Joy 1520" was officially yanked from FCC records on March 3. The details as to how and why this happened were and still are hard to figure out. For one, neither the Primary Editorial Voice (tm) nor yours truly were ever able … [Read more...]
The H Word Again
Posted on March 5, 2011 · Leave a Comment
Yes, we know it happens often, and is almost a curse word for OMW readers, but... Major offline events affecting your Primary Editorial Voice(tm) have once again forced us to go into hiatus. And major is kind of an understatement. Does that mean we're going away? No. We'll still update our Twitter and Facebook presence whenever possible. We'll try to put up news of any format change, major news or schedule change, or personality-related change here, but will definitely feed Twitter and … [Read more...]
Passings, Iconic and Immediate
Posted on March 1, 2011 · 5 Comments
Sometimes, OMW updates write themselves due to breaking media news, and we definitely have that this evening. CLEVELAND RADIO ICON DIES: Much of what you hear on the radio airwaves in Cleveland, even now, can somehow be connected to Carl Hirsch. And calling Hirsch a "radio management icon", as we did in our Twitter update, may be an understatement. Numerous media and trade reports say Hirsch, who was a key manager and owner in Cleveland and beyond, died in Palm Beach FL on Monday at the age … [Read more...]
Six Inches Of Partly Cloudy
Posted on February 24, 2011 · 1 Comment
Northeast Ohio may once again be looking at bad winter weather, but the conditions are sunny on South Marginal Road. That's because the Cleveland TV market's biggest name, Local TV LLC Fox affiliate WJW/8 "Fox 8 News" meteorologist Dick Goddard, celebrates 80 years on this Earth today...and he's still going strong. The Plain Dealer's Mark Dawidziak weighs in on Goddard's birthday and local TV dominance in an article published Wednesday...which is pretty good "Goddard 101" primer focusing on … [Read more...]
Another Big Return
Posted on February 22, 2011 · 3 Comments
This time, the hiatus was caused by technical problems...which are now completely fixed. So, on with the show...we have a LOT of catching up to do! And if we missed anything, we'll get to it later... JOE TAIT: The "Voice of the Cavaliers" has been heard on the airwaves again, at least temporarily. Cavaliers Radio Network Hall of Fame broadcaster Joe Tait made an appearance by telephone on Fox Sports Ohio's Cavaliers pre-game show with Jeff Phelps and Campy Russell last Wednesday … [Read more...]
