And other items...but first... RADIO/TV HOLDUP: Last month, a tiny West Michigan radio station was turned asunder...as parties unknown held a virtual gun to its computer systems. Grand Rapids NBC affiliate WOOD-TV/8 covered the story at Jim Higgs-owned standards WAKV/980 Otesgo MI: On Jan. 9, crooks used software called “ransomware” to remotely shut down the computers Higgs uses to get his station on the air. His files were encrypted so he couldn’t get to them. “Our entire music … [Read more...]
Stations New And Old
Posted on February 3, 2015 · 3 Comments
And our opener today is a big signal upgrade for a translator that'll apparently add to iHeart's Oak Tree stable... LATEST FORMAT?: Our content partners at RadioInsight first spotted a move that'd turn translator W291BV/106.1 Solon into a player in the Cleveland market, signal-wise: In Cleveland, an application filed by iHeartMedia will see EMF’s 106.1 W291BV Solon, OH move to the current auxiliary antenna of CBS’ 102.1 WDOK where it will operate with 200 watts at 264 meters rebroadcasting an … [Read more...]
Youngstown Weather Icon Dies
Posted on January 27, 2015 · 1 Comment
Not many people west of Portage County may be familiar with Don Guthrie. But Don was very much to the Mahoning Valley as Dick Goddard is to the rest of Northeast Ohio, and sadly, Don lost his battle with pancreatic cancer on Sunday night. His long-time home station, now-Media General CBS affiliate WKBN/27, has more on his passing. Despite battling a horrible disease, the same one that felled long-time Cleveland TV and radio sportscaster Casey Coleman, Don Guthrie worked as long as he … [Read more...]
Controversy, Exits And Entrances
Posted on January 26, 2015 · 7 Comments
In which a swirl of controversy envelopes radio and TV personalities...some of it significant, some of it not... HE'S GONE: When David Oliver became now-former chief of the Brimfield Police Department, we noted that as far as we knew, he still had his part-time job as a weekend radio host at Media-Com talk WNIR/100.1 "The Talk of Akron". After all, his employment there didn't depend on being chief of a small town Portage County police force. But Oliver's unceremonious exit from that … [Read more...]
Good For A LAFF
Posted on January 19, 2015 · Leave a Comment
With the home/lifestyle subchannel Live Well TV shutting down this month, there's been no word what Scripps ABC affiliate WEWS/5 in Cleveland would replace it with on 5.2...until now. The folks behind male-targeted GRIT (WUAB 43.3) and female-targeted ESCAPE (WQHS 61.4) are going after funny bones of both genders with the new "LAFF" network. Here's how the new subchannel network's press release describes it: The country's first-ever, over-the-air broadcast television network devoted to … [Read more...]
The Talk Of Brimfield
Posted on January 17, 2015 · Leave a Comment
Ordinarily, the resignation of a small town Ohio police chief embroiled in controversy would not attract worldwide attention. But we're talking about David Oliver here, "the Internet Sensation" and Facebook star...who until Friday was the chief of the Brimfield Township police department. And ordinarily, we wouldn't talk about the doings of a small town police chief, but as you probably know, Oliver has been a weekend host at Media-Com talk WNIR/100.1 "The Talk of Akron"...a short drive … [Read more...]
A Radio Followup
Posted on January 13, 2015 · 5 Comments
This one is all about radio, catching up on a couple of news items... CATHOLIC EARS: Word came out Friday that a local lay Catholic media group will be the new operators of Cleveland's WWMK/1260. The current kid-pop music format will certainly change, and the call letters will likely change as well, as St. Peter the Rock Media takes over AM 1260 from Radio Disney. The reported takeover price, as Disney continues to unload all but one of its RD over-air stations, is $895,000. Before … [Read more...]
Bob Frantz Resurfaces
Posted on January 7, 2015 · 3 Comments
In early July, talk show host Bob Frantz was unceremoniously shown the door at Oak Tree...bounced from his evening talk show on then-Clear Channel-now-iHeart talk WTAM/1100 in Cleveland. The reason? Budget cuts. Before being moved to evenings, Bob was hired to clean up the midday mess left behind by liberal syndicated talk host Jerry Springer...before WTAM brought back conservative syndicated host Glenn Beck. It's that midday slot where Frantz will return to the Cleveland radio airwaves … [Read more...]
The Monday Aftershock
Posted on January 5, 2015 · Leave a Comment
As if our earlier item - with a whole laundry list of changes at local TV newsrooms - wasn't enough... SAM'S REPLACEMENT: With well-liked Scripps ABC affiliate WEWS/5 VP/general manager Sam Rosenwasser no longer in the building at 3001 Euclid, we now know who'll replace him. We'll turn to the company's official press release: Steve Weinstein, an award-winning journalist and forward-looking leader, has been named vice president and general manager of WEWS in Cleveland, effective Jan. 12. His … [Read more...]
Opening The Year
Posted on January 5, 2015 · 8 Comments
Welcome to 2015...but first, we have to clear out the backlog from the end of 2014... WKYC CHANGES: First, we turn to 13th and Lakeside, one of several busy places TV-wise as the calendar winded down the year. (We'll wind our way through all the other local TV news operations in Cleveland, as this string continues.) The job descriptions in the Spectorsky-Byrnes household have once again shifted, and Gannett NBC affiliate WKYC/3 station manager Micki Byrnes has taken the top job at the station … [Read more...]
