A big update is coming a little later today, but first...are you an engineer and looking for a job? Retirements at Kent State University's WKSU/89.7-and-its-many-simulcasters have the station looking for new engineering talent. Thanks to two very long-time Friends of OMW for this one...WKSU marketing guru Ann VerWiebe, and Northeast Radio Watch's Scott Fybush... ------ WKSU seeks a talented, innovative and motivated individual to join our technical team as a Broadcast Engineer. In … [Read more...]
Sports Radio Changes
Posted on August 7, 2014 · 7 Comments
There are a lot of changes ahead in Cleveland sports radio...some announced, some rumored. Since the rumors have made it to the public through usually reliable outlets, let's go there first... WKNR SHAKEUP: Bob Finnan of the Lake County News-Herald and the Lorain Morning Journal submits possible upcoming lineup changes at Good Karma sports WKNR/850 "ESPN Cleveland". All were posted on Twitter on Wednesday by Scene's Vince Grzegorek and Crains Cleveland’s Kevin Kleps To wit: * Two … [Read more...]
Newspapers? Remember Them?
Posted on August 6, 2014 · 2 Comments
For many years, Northeast Ohio broadcasters have gone without newspaper siblings locally. The last such pairing (newspaper/TV division) was shuttered in the early 1980s, when the E.W. Scripps-founded Cleveland Press (originally the "Penny Press") was sold off by the media company that still bears its founder's name. The only broadcast/newspaper pairing left is in Elyria, where Elyria-Lorain Broadcasting still owns talk WEOL/930 and its sister stations in the Sandusky area - WKFM/96.1 … [Read more...]
Alan Freed’s Ashes
Posted on August 4, 2014 · 2 Comments
UPDATE 10:09 AM 8/4/14: Alan Freed's son Lance appeared on WONE's Jeff Kinzbach Show this morning. ----- The biggest controversy in Northeast Ohio media this Monday morning isn't what a "shock jock" said on the air, or a possible format change. It revolves around a man who died in 1965. But Alan Freed is not just any man, especially in the world of "rock and roll", a term he's usually credited with coining while a disk jockey at Cleveland's WJW/850 in the early 1950s. A golden urn … [Read more...]
Latest TV Mega Deal Reverberates Here
Posted on July 31, 2014 · 3 Comments
In the latest TV Super Deal, Cleveland's ABC affiliate will gain a bunch of sister TV stations, and even some sister radio stations. E.W. Scripps Company, the Cincinnati-based owner of WEWS/5, announced a merger with Milwaukee-based Journal, which owns TV, radio and newspaper assets nationwide. In the end, WEWS will remain a key piece of the new Scripps, which will focus on broadcast and digital while sending both companies' newspapers to the new Milwaukee-based Journal Media … [Read more...]
The When? The Now
Posted on July 28, 2014 · 2 Comments
Scripps is readying another in-house syndication project for its TV stations, and the next one is coming to the company's ABC affiliate in Cleveland, WEWS/5, soon. "The Now" is already airing on two of the company's stations - Denver ABC affiliate KMGH/7 and Kansas City NBC affiliate KSHB/41. (The picture is from the KMGH website, with Denver local anchor Lionel Bienvenu, who has been a sports anchor.) So, what is "The Now"...or as stylized by Scripps, "The NOW"? Let's let them describe … [Read more...]
Maggie Fuller: “Go Fund” My Sexual Harrassment Lawsuit
Posted on July 21, 2014 · 9 Comments
Regular readers are well aware of the story of Maggie Fuller, who spent 14 years as morning show co-host at MediaCom talk WNIR/100.1 "The Talk of Akron". She's no longer there, of course, leaving the station at the same time as co-host Stan Piatt, in a situation that could perhaps best be called messy...and embarrassing for the station. From our item last December, bouncing off an article by Beacon Journal pop culture writer Rich Heldenfels: Fuller filed for unemployment, claiming the … [Read more...]
Weekend Reading
Posted on July 19, 2014 · 2 Comments
We've got some reading for you to help fill your media weekend. Or, you can catch up at work on Monday morning... BACK UP: For nearly a week, Western Reserve PBS' Akron outlet was nowhere to be found on the airwaves. The outage at WEAO/49, the Cleveland-Akron market half of the public TV station's duo, lasted at very least from early Friday morning of last week. This Thursday night, a half-power signal came on the air from the station's Copley Township tower at about 9 PM. WEAO then … [Read more...]
Quick Hits Revisited
Posted on July 15, 2014 · Leave a Comment
UPDATE 10:16 AM 7/15/14: Another long-time friend of OMW, Kent State University WKSU/89.7-and-its-many-simulcasters marketing guru Ann VerWiebe, points out that the WEAO outage is also affecting other occupants of that tower, including WKSU, Rubber City Radio country WQMX/94.9 and the University of Akron's WZIP/88.1. Ann tells us that WKSU's Akron signal has to be shut off for obvious reasons when workers are on the tower (ZAP!), so the station switches to its backup tower in Kent. That means … [Read more...]
The King Of All Cleveland Media
Posted on July 14, 2014 · 4 Comments
No, it's not Howard Stern, the SiriusXM star once heard on CBS Radio classic rocker WNCX/98.5. If you're just rejoining us from a vacation under a rock, we're talking about "King James"...Akron superstar basketball player LeBron James, who announced last week that he would be rejoining his close-to-hometown Cleveland Cavaliers four years after the infamous ESPN-televised "Decision". And just about anything with a transmitter, a printing press or a presence right here online has been LeBron … [Read more...]
