We have a lot going on this start of the week, so we might as well go on.
Please note: our publishing schedule will still be quite sporadic, and there are days we may not be able to be here. We'll try to keep our Twitter feed going whenever possible...
THE 3001 EUCLID SHUFFLE: If this is February 8th, it must be time for the 3001 Euclid Anchor Shuffle.
More than any station in the Cleveland TV market, Scripps ABC affiliate WEWS/5 keeps rotating its anchors in and out, trying new combinations, or generally "seeing what works".
The station has its first permanent anchor schedule since long-time anchor Ted Henry left the building nearly 9 months ago, and here it is:
Noon: Leon Bibb (solo)
5 PM/Live on Five: Danita Harris and Lee Jordan
6 PM: Leon Bibb and Lee Jordan
11 PM: Danita Harris (solo)
"Good Morning Cleveland" - with anchors Pete Kenworthy and Kimberly Gill - is unaffected.
At most stations, there's at least a "main anchor team" doing either 5 and 11 PM, or 6 and 11 PM, or all three newscasts. WEWS appears to want to mix it up.
With the 11 PM anchor slot solo, Danita Harris becomes the second African-American female solo anchor in the market...with Gannett NBC affiliate WKYC/3's Romona Robinson the first, of course...
INCOMING?: OMW hears that Local TV Fox affiliate WJW/8 "Fox 8" is looking to fill the opening left behind when popular Melissa Mack headed for Boston, and a gig at CBS O&O WBZ/4.
A Northeast Ohio native, who currently toils in the Grand Rapids MI market, was spotted at South Marginal auditioning for the role over the weekend. (We'll assume she, or whichever weathercaster WJW hires, will take her place as a part of "Fox 8 News in the Morning", and cover similar duties.)
Stay tuned...
FIRST UP: ...to occupy the vacated Clear Channel talk WKBN/570 Youngstown morning drive chair this week is Mike Romigh.
Yes, that's the long-time former host at CBS Radio news/talk KDKA/1020 Pittsburgh, where now-former WKBN morning drive host Robert Mangino has landed in the evening slot.
Since leaving "KD", a quick Google search tells us that Romigh has been working for a Beaver County PA congressman, and for an economic development group based in the suburban Pittsburgh county.
OMW hears that Romigh is among those who are "up for the job", and no final decision has been made...and we don't know who will be heard in the WKBN morning slot after him...
PIONEER PASSES: There's actually a long history of Spanish-language radio in the Cleveland market, though only two non-commercial rimshot stations (Painesville's WHWN/88.3 and out-past-Lorain's WNZN/89.1) broadcast in the language full time. A number of local educational and non-commercial stations, and even commercial stations, have had such programs on weekends.
A pioneer in Latino-focused broadcasting in Cleveland has passed away.
The Plain Dealer's Cleveland.com carries the obituary for Daniel "Junior" Vargas, who died last month at the age of 71:
Junior was Cleveland's finest voice of Latino Radio on WZAK & WCSB for over 40 years. Your music will play forever!
An OMW reader tells us that Mario Ivan Benavides succeded "Junior", and that he now broadcasts "Latino International" on WCSB...
NYLA FOUND: OMW hears out of South Marginal that an apparently well-liked former presence on WJW's "Fox 8 News in the Morning" has a broadcast home.
After some time out of the media light, "Nyla" is now heard on Radio One talk/brokered WERE/1490 Cleveland Heights "NewsTalk 1490" Sunday evenings from 6-10 PM, on a program the station's schedule calls "Healing The Hurt Gospel With Miss Nyla And Daniel".
(The schedule actually has the show running until 2 AM Monday mornings, which we presume is a repeat of the live 6-10 PM airing.)
We hear that Nyla still gets E-mails at South Marginal, wondering what happened to her, so there you go...
Monday, February 08, 2010
Wednesday, February 03, 2010
Talking Mostly About The Valley
More random, unconnected (mostly), but important items...mostly concerning the Mahoning Valley this time around...
WKBN OPENING: Clear Channel talk WKBN/570 Youngstown is officially advertising its morning drive opening.
The time slot became open when long-time morning drive host Robert Mangino accepted the evening host job at CBS Radio news/talk KDKA/1020 Pittsburgh.
As a public service to our readers, we're reprinting the ad here:
A rare opportunity now exists and brings with it a chance to join Clear Channel's NEWSRADIO 570 WKBN in Youngstown Ohio.
We are looking for an experienced Talk Show host who is listener, as well as advertiser friendly.
Ideally, our candidate will have knowledge, not only of current events, but the special things that make up the landscape of Northeastern Ohio and Western Pa.
Ytown is a great place to live, work, and a great place to raise a family.
Resumes and work samples ( please no gigantic files) should be sent to;
youngstownjobs (at) clearchannel (dot) com
or
HR Director
Clear Channel Radio and Digital
7461 South Avenue
Youngstown , Ohio 44512
Clear Channel is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All who feel they are qualified are encouraged to apply.
Deadline for application is close of business February 15th, 2010.
The Mahoning Valley is indeed unique, and your Primary Editorial Voice(tm) has had some time in the market, so we know it pretty well. It ought to be interesting what kind of replacement WKBN finds for Mr. Mangino...
JIMBO: While we're talking about the Valley, former congressman-turned-now-ex-con Jim Traficant continues to make noises about running for Congress again.
As we noted earlier, Traficant, who now hosts the early Saturday afternoon shift on Clear Channel talk WTAM/1100 Cleveland, has an "early out" clause in his WTAM deal in case he does attempt a return to Washington.
Jimbo's most recent noise came in his first post-prison appearance in Akron. The Akron area is (partly) in the restructured version of the old 17th Congressional District Traficant served for so long.
The Akron Beacon Journal's Stephanie Warsmith reports that Traficant told the crowd at a Libertarian Party candidate's fundraiser at Akron's Tangier restaurant that he "will run" for Congress:
Traficant is focusing on the 6th and the 17th districts and must chose one by the Feb. 18 filing deadline for the May primary, unless he chooses to run as an independent. Charlie Wilson represents the 6th District, while Tim Ryan has the 17th, Traficant's former district, which has been reconfigured and includes parts of Summit and Portage counties. Wilson and Ryan both are Democrats.
Enjoy Traficant as a talk radio host (assuming you do enjoy him) while you can. This man sounds like he's headed for a Congressional race, one way or the other, and he'll have to exit WTAM as soon as he officially announces his candidacy.
If he isn't running, well, his home market Clear Channel talk station has an opening we posted above...
SPEAKING OF WKBN: A listener notes that Talk Radio Network's Phil Hendrie is out at the Youngstown talker, replaced by the syndicated John Batchelor program.
(We don't know who syndicates Batchelor these days...at one point, he was an ABC Radio/Citadel offering, but we believe flagship Citadel talk WABC/770 New York City is handling things directly now. The show's site contains no clue as to its syndicator.)
Our reader wants to know why...and speculated that either Hendrie cost too much, or said something he shouldn't have.
We don't have any answers from South Avenue on this.
But we told our reader that syndicated program changes on local radio stations are usually more mundane than intriguing, and usually don't involve money issues - most syndicated talk radio programs are free, offered on a "barter" basis (i.e. the station gets the show in exchange for airing the show's national commercials). There are exceptions: for example, Premiere midday talk titan Rush Limbaugh.
We don't know the status of either Mr. Hendrie or Mr. Batchelor's programs, but we suspect they are both typical "barter" shows...and we are pretty sure nothing Hendrie said got him bounced off WKBN...
ONE NON-VALLEY ITEM: A couple of OMW readers noticed that the full-time "Worship Channel" feed has disappeared off of Cleveland market ION Network O&O WVPX/23 Akron's over-air feed, where it aired on subchannel 23.4.
The story behind the exit is told by the Worship Network folks themselves, on their website, in the January 2010 newsletter section:
Due to changes in our contractual relationship with ION, The Worship Network will no longer be available on the ION digital multi-cast platform effective midnight January 31, 2010. In the short-term, this will also affect our channel on Verizon FiOS.
The network is supposedly seen at least part-time in parts of the Cleveland market on low-power WCDN/53, which is now putting out a digital signal on RF channel 7...
WKBN OPENING: Clear Channel talk WKBN/570 Youngstown is officially advertising its morning drive opening.
The time slot became open when long-time morning drive host Robert Mangino accepted the evening host job at CBS Radio news/talk KDKA/1020 Pittsburgh.
As a public service to our readers, we're reprinting the ad here:
A rare opportunity now exists and brings with it a chance to join Clear Channel's NEWSRADIO 570 WKBN in Youngstown Ohio.
We are looking for an experienced Talk Show host who is listener, as well as advertiser friendly.
Ideally, our candidate will have knowledge, not only of current events, but the special things that make up the landscape of Northeastern Ohio and Western Pa.
Ytown is a great place to live, work, and a great place to raise a family.
Resumes and work samples ( please no gigantic files) should be sent to;
youngstownjobs (at) clearchannel (dot) com
or
HR Director
Clear Channel Radio and Digital
7461 South Avenue
Youngstown , Ohio 44512
Clear Channel is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All who feel they are qualified are encouraged to apply.
Deadline for application is close of business February 15th, 2010.
The Mahoning Valley is indeed unique, and your Primary Editorial Voice(tm) has had some time in the market, so we know it pretty well. It ought to be interesting what kind of replacement WKBN finds for Mr. Mangino...
JIMBO: While we're talking about the Valley, former congressman-turned-now-ex-con Jim Traficant continues to make noises about running for Congress again.
As we noted earlier, Traficant, who now hosts the early Saturday afternoon shift on Clear Channel talk WTAM/1100 Cleveland, has an "early out" clause in his WTAM deal in case he does attempt a return to Washington.
Jimbo's most recent noise came in his first post-prison appearance in Akron. The Akron area is (partly) in the restructured version of the old 17th Congressional District Traficant served for so long.
The Akron Beacon Journal's Stephanie Warsmith reports that Traficant told the crowd at a Libertarian Party candidate's fundraiser at Akron's Tangier restaurant that he "will run" for Congress:
Traficant is focusing on the 6th and the 17th districts and must chose one by the Feb. 18 filing deadline for the May primary, unless he chooses to run as an independent. Charlie Wilson represents the 6th District, while Tim Ryan has the 17th, Traficant's former district, which has been reconfigured and includes parts of Summit and Portage counties. Wilson and Ryan both are Democrats.
Enjoy Traficant as a talk radio host (assuming you do enjoy him) while you can. This man sounds like he's headed for a Congressional race, one way or the other, and he'll have to exit WTAM as soon as he officially announces his candidacy.
If he isn't running, well, his home market Clear Channel talk station has an opening we posted above...
SPEAKING OF WKBN: A listener notes that Talk Radio Network's Phil Hendrie is out at the Youngstown talker, replaced by the syndicated John Batchelor program.
(We don't know who syndicates Batchelor these days...at one point, he was an ABC Radio/Citadel offering, but we believe flagship Citadel talk WABC/770 New York City is handling things directly now. The show's site contains no clue as to its syndicator.)
Our reader wants to know why...and speculated that either Hendrie cost too much, or said something he shouldn't have.
We don't have any answers from South Avenue on this.
But we told our reader that syndicated program changes on local radio stations are usually more mundane than intriguing, and usually don't involve money issues - most syndicated talk radio programs are free, offered on a "barter" basis (i.e. the station gets the show in exchange for airing the show's national commercials). There are exceptions: for example, Premiere midday talk titan Rush Limbaugh.
We don't know the status of either Mr. Hendrie or Mr. Batchelor's programs, but we suspect they are both typical "barter" shows...and we are pretty sure nothing Hendrie said got him bounced off WKBN...
ONE NON-VALLEY ITEM: A couple of OMW readers noticed that the full-time "Worship Channel" feed has disappeared off of Cleveland market ION Network O&O WVPX/23 Akron's over-air feed, where it aired on subchannel 23.4.
The story behind the exit is told by the Worship Network folks themselves, on their website, in the January 2010 newsletter section:
Due to changes in our contractual relationship with ION, The Worship Network will no longer be available on the ION digital multi-cast platform effective midnight January 31, 2010. In the short-term, this will also affect our channel on Verizon FiOS.
The network is supposedly seen at least part-time in parts of the Cleveland market on low-power WCDN/53, which is now putting out a digital signal on RF channel 7...
Tuesday, February 02, 2010
Tuesday Night Clear Out
UPDATE 2/3/10 9:15 AM: Duji is back on "Rover's Morning Glory", as the show talks about working through a "very difficult" personal dispute between Duji and Rover, who used to date. That's all for us on this topic.
For those looking for the "gory details", "19 Action News" has more...
-----------
Clearing out not only our Twitter feed, but some other stuff...some interesting, some frustrating...
WHERE'S DUJI?: No, we haven't seen the face of Clear Channel rock/talk WMMS/100.7 "Rover's Morning Glory" cast member Duji on any milk cartons in Northeast Ohio, but some are looking for her there.
The sudden absence of Duji's name, picture or staff listing on the show's in-house "Rover Radio" site led a virtual flood of E-mails into our inbox this weekend into early this week.
We've been trying to find out why - and if it means anything or not. So far, we haven't heard any word from inside Oak Tree...even among our usual sources in the building.
There seems to be considerable sentiment among Rover fans, who have been following our Twitter account in large numbers over the past day or so, that this could be some sort of "publicity stunt".
That, we don't know.
What we do know is that Shane "Rover" French complained of illness on his Friday show, and that "RMG" has been in repeats this week so far. Duji's voice has been heard on the repeats, but as a show-listening relative pointed out, it's hard to air repeat programming that is "Duji-free", due to her role on the show.
Oh, and WMMS has posted an ad for an "off-air producer" for the show, though we have no idea how long that ad has run, or if it has anything to do with Duji's (off-air) work on the show.
Duji's absence from the "RMG" site has merited a mention on the radio trade site AllAccess, but they don't seem to know any more than we do.
If there's anything to report on this, stay tuned...but we'll stop tracking the "could it be?" moves until then...
JOY'S EXIT: OMW hears that Scripps ABC affiliate WEWS/5 is not renewing the contract of "NewsChannel 5" reporter Joy Benedict, who has been heavily promoted as a consumer reporter for the station.
We hear Joy's last day at WEWS will be in March...and we don't know who will take the consumer reporting beat from her...
GOING JUST A BIT FAR: We really, really try to be fair with the folks at Reserve Square, home of Raycom Media's WOIO/19 and WUAB/43, and "19 Action News".
When they do something we like - one of the most recent examples is the hiring of former Clear Channel talk WTAM/1100 voice Mark Schwab to handle weekend sports anchoring - we mention it here.
But then, they do something like this.
OMW hears that "Action News"' on-air needling of competitor WEWS/5's "Power of Five" radar is likely to reach a new level, and it's due to one of those incidents the folks at Reserve Square do so well.
We hear from our sources at WEWS that an "Action News" reporter paid a visit to 3001 Euclid the other day, ostensibly for a friendly visit with "NewsChannel 5" chief meteorologist Mark Johnson.
We're told (by the WEWS sources) that Johnson instead got a full-court press...an on-camera interrogation on the "Power of 5" radar, including questions about its location(s).
For the record, the 5 radars are not owned by WEWS, but the data comes from National Weather Service locations. Really, like anyone thought "NewsChannel 5" owns radars in places like Wilmington OH and Fort Wayne IN...
WOIO has made quite a point in promos about the superiority of its live radar, which comes from a station-owned facility along I-71 in Brunswick. Gannett NBC affiliate WKYC/3 has the other in-house TV radar in Cleveland, which can be seen behind its studios at 13th and Lakeside.
This kind of incident when it comes to competitors is in the DNA of WOIO. "19 Action News" has a long history of being the Cleveland market's Stalker Station.
Just to cite two examples from memory:
* "Action News" treated an incident involving staff of Local TV Fox affiliate WJW/8 as if it were vital to national security, leading with the story with partially-hidden-behind-the-truck live shots near the South Marginal Road studios of its competitor.
* And who can forget when WOIO camped out on the Medina doorstep of WJW weather icon Dick Goddard, upon learning of allegations against someone else in his house? (The personable weatherman was actually the victim in the case.)
This may be the first such thing involving WEWS..."Action News" generally seems to have it in for "Fox 8"...but watch out, "Channel 3 News", as you may be next...
PAT'S MOVING ON: We don't cover the print media all that much here in your Mighty Blog of Fun(tm), but we've covered the moves of Akron Beacon Journal sportswriter Pat McManamon before.
And...as hinted in his Sunday column, he's leaving the Beacon again for new horizons.
According to the Cleveland Scene sports blog, McManamon is heading for the Internet, as a writer for AOL's Fanhouse site. Quoting McManamon from the Scene blog:
"It wasn't easy to leave a place that has been so good to me, and a job that was so much fun. But AOL Fanhouse is growing, aggressive and has a national audience. And I can write about the same teams and sports. It just seemed like the right move at the right time."
Yes, that means the now-former ABJ sportswriter will cover the Browns, Indians and Cavaliers for the site, which is apparently chock full of former newspaper sportswriters. Maybe there is life after newsprint after all, at least for those covering sports.
Pat heads off into the ABJ sunset in a blog post here, which also has his E-mail contact address for those who want to wish him well:
The decision was not an easy one because the Akron Beacon Journal has been a good place to work these past 11 years. The daily newspaper means a lot to me, as does being part of a local community. The Beacon Journal was gracious in providing both. I am fortunate and blessed, and grateful to the Beacon for the many opportunities.
Though McManamon says he's been at the Beacon for 11 years, we seem to remember a brief break when he took a job writing for the Browns' in-house website...
For those looking for the "gory details", "19 Action News" has more...
-----------
Clearing out not only our Twitter feed, but some other stuff...some interesting, some frustrating...
WHERE'S DUJI?: No, we haven't seen the face of Clear Channel rock/talk WMMS/100.7 "Rover's Morning Glory" cast member Duji on any milk cartons in Northeast Ohio, but some are looking for her there.
The sudden absence of Duji's name, picture or staff listing on the show's in-house "Rover Radio" site led a virtual flood of E-mails into our inbox this weekend into early this week.
We've been trying to find out why - and if it means anything or not. So far, we haven't heard any word from inside Oak Tree...even among our usual sources in the building.
There seems to be considerable sentiment among Rover fans, who have been following our Twitter account in large numbers over the past day or so, that this could be some sort of "publicity stunt".
That, we don't know.
What we do know is that Shane "Rover" French complained of illness on his Friday show, and that "RMG" has been in repeats this week so far. Duji's voice has been heard on the repeats, but as a show-listening relative pointed out, it's hard to air repeat programming that is "Duji-free", due to her role on the show.
Oh, and WMMS has posted an ad for an "off-air producer" for the show, though we have no idea how long that ad has run, or if it has anything to do with Duji's (off-air) work on the show.
Duji's absence from the "RMG" site has merited a mention on the radio trade site AllAccess, but they don't seem to know any more than we do.
If there's anything to report on this, stay tuned...but we'll stop tracking the "could it be?" moves until then...
JOY'S EXIT: OMW hears that Scripps ABC affiliate WEWS/5 is not renewing the contract of "NewsChannel 5" reporter Joy Benedict, who has been heavily promoted as a consumer reporter for the station.
We hear Joy's last day at WEWS will be in March...and we don't know who will take the consumer reporting beat from her...
GOING JUST A BIT FAR: We really, really try to be fair with the folks at Reserve Square, home of Raycom Media's WOIO/19 and WUAB/43, and "19 Action News".
When they do something we like - one of the most recent examples is the hiring of former Clear Channel talk WTAM/1100 voice Mark Schwab to handle weekend sports anchoring - we mention it here.
But then, they do something like this.
OMW hears that "Action News"' on-air needling of competitor WEWS/5's "Power of Five" radar is likely to reach a new level, and it's due to one of those incidents the folks at Reserve Square do so well.
We hear from our sources at WEWS that an "Action News" reporter paid a visit to 3001 Euclid the other day, ostensibly for a friendly visit with "NewsChannel 5" chief meteorologist Mark Johnson.
We're told (by the WEWS sources) that Johnson instead got a full-court press...an on-camera interrogation on the "Power of 5" radar, including questions about its location(s).
For the record, the 5 radars are not owned by WEWS, but the data comes from National Weather Service locations. Really, like anyone thought "NewsChannel 5" owns radars in places like Wilmington OH and Fort Wayne IN...
WOIO has made quite a point in promos about the superiority of its live radar, which comes from a station-owned facility along I-71 in Brunswick. Gannett NBC affiliate WKYC/3 has the other in-house TV radar in Cleveland, which can be seen behind its studios at 13th and Lakeside.
This kind of incident when it comes to competitors is in the DNA of WOIO. "19 Action News" has a long history of being the Cleveland market's Stalker Station.
Just to cite two examples from memory:
* "Action News" treated an incident involving staff of Local TV Fox affiliate WJW/8 as if it were vital to national security, leading with the story with partially-hidden-behind-the-truck live shots near the South Marginal Road studios of its competitor.
* And who can forget when WOIO camped out on the Medina doorstep of WJW weather icon Dick Goddard, upon learning of allegations against someone else in his house? (The personable weatherman was actually the victim in the case.)
This may be the first such thing involving WEWS..."Action News" generally seems to have it in for "Fox 8"...but watch out, "Channel 3 News", as you may be next...
PAT'S MOVING ON: We don't cover the print media all that much here in your Mighty Blog of Fun(tm), but we've covered the moves of Akron Beacon Journal sportswriter Pat McManamon before.
And...as hinted in his Sunday column, he's leaving the Beacon again for new horizons.
According to the Cleveland Scene sports blog, McManamon is heading for the Internet, as a writer for AOL's Fanhouse site. Quoting McManamon from the Scene blog:
"It wasn't easy to leave a place that has been so good to me, and a job that was so much fun. But AOL Fanhouse is growing, aggressive and has a national audience. And I can write about the same teams and sports. It just seemed like the right move at the right time."
Yes, that means the now-former ABJ sportswriter will cover the Browns, Indians and Cavaliers for the site, which is apparently chock full of former newspaper sportswriters. Maybe there is life after newsprint after all, at least for those covering sports.
Pat heads off into the ABJ sunset in a blog post here, which also has his E-mail contact address for those who want to wish him well:
The decision was not an easy one because the Akron Beacon Journal has been a good place to work these past 11 years. The daily newspaper means a lot to me, as does being part of a local community. The Beacon Journal was gracious in providing both. I am fortunate and blessed, and grateful to the Beacon for the many opportunities.
Though McManamon says he's been at the Beacon for 11 years, we seem to remember a brief break when he took a job writing for the Browns' in-house website...
Friday, January 29, 2010
The Twitter Followup
In the current State of OMW, it'll be much more convenient to update via our Twitter feed, which is also seen to the left of this report.
As it turns out, this time around, there's a lot to recap over the past few days...so let's tackle the items in reverse chronological order...
MANGINO TO KDKA: Clear Channel talk WKBN/570 Youngstown morning drive host Robert Mangino is heading down the Ohio and Pennsylvania Turnpikes. He'll take the open 6-10 PM talk slot at CBS Radio news/talk KDKA/1020 Pittsburgh.
The Youngstown Business Journal has more.
That evening time slot used to be occupied by KDKA's Mike Pintek ("Pintek Tonight"), but Pintek was recently named the station's 12 noon-3 PM host.
That midday time slot became vacant in the worst possible way, as veteran host Fred Honsburger passed away.
Mangino started in talk radio as host at what used to be a Clear Channel sister station to WKBN - now-Forever talk WKST in New Castle PA, not that terribly far from Pittsburgh.
There's no word yet on what WKBN plans to do in morning drive...but if Clear Channel Youngstown market manager and OMW reader Bill Kelly is reading, we'd be happy to hear from him...
BACK TO NE OHIO: Word came rather quickly that NextMedia hot AC WHBC-FM 94.1 Canton "Mix 94.1" program director and afternoon host Jerry Mac was no longer in that position, but word came even faster about his replacement.
And what do you know...it's someone who can find the Pro Football Hall of Fame without help.
"Mix's" new PD is inbound from Saginaw MI's WGER (a NextMedia sister to WHBC-FM), but he's familiar to Northeast Ohio radio listeners and readers of the Mighty Blog of Fun(tm) - former CBS Radio hot AC WQAL/104.1 Cleveland "Q104" assistant program director/PM driver Brian "Fig" Figula will start on-air in Canton on Monday.
"Fig" will, according to AllAccess, will continue his duties programming the Saginaw station...from Canton...
A SHANLEY PASSES: The last name "Shanley" is certainly known in Northeast Ohio...the late Gib Shanley was a local sportscaster - at Scripps ABC affiliate WEWS/5 and the long-time radio voice of the Cleveland Browns.
Shanley's son Greg later built quite a career for himself, as a news director and talk show host for Iowa' Public Radio. Greg Shanley died Tuesday night.
The Waterloo (IA) Courier has more:
Pat Blank, his longtime station co-worker, said the on-air host and producer once told her he had thought about doing sports broadcasting like his father, Gib, the voice of the National Football League's Cleveland Browns for 24 years. But Shanley told Blank he got bored waiting for something exciting to happen and realized his passion was in news.
The newspaper reports that the younger Shanley had worked at the Iowa public radio network since 1987. The station's website schedule lists him as the host of the midday talk program "Talk of Iowa":
Host Greg Shanley brings a range of experts to the microphone to discuss the the things that make Iowa unique, offer practical advice on home improvement or insightful analysis of politics.
The main Iowa Public Radio site has a tribute graphic to Greg Shanley:
Over the 23 years we've known Greg, we've admired his curiosity about the world, as well as his ability to speak knowledgeably about anything from politics to horticulture. We'll all miss his engaging conversation, his love of Iowa, and his award-winning Double Burgers.
Greg Shanley died at the age of 49...
REALITY EXPERIMENT: Not on our Twitter list, and really, only worth a small mention.
Clear Channel rock/talk WMMS/100.7 Cleveland has added a new cast member to its afternoon drive "Alan Cox Show".
It's not like we have anything against 22 year-old Erika Lauren personally.
But she's the latest reality TV personality to waltz into a radio studio and take up a chair. Ms. Lauren is a cast member of MTV's "The Real World: Washington, DC", which may or may not be running its current season right now. (We long ago forgot where to find MTV on the cable dial.)
We have this old-fashioned notion that reality TV stars are not really radio hosts by background, trade or skill, but we'll give her a chance.
And long-time readers know we don't entirely hate the reality TV genre. The new season of CBS' "The Amazing Race" is almost underway, and we still hope some Pittsburgh radio station gives a show to Matt Kennedy Gould.
Ms. Lauren joins host Alan Cox and co-host Chad Zumock on the WMMS afternoon show, at least as long as the experiment lasts...
SOCIAL MEDIA: It's fitting that we used our Twitter account to give first word of another new job title for an Oak Tree denizen.
Clear Channel has named WMMS/WAKS "Kiss FM" program director Bo Matthews as its Director of Social Media.
Bo will be responsible for Twitter, Facebook and other online social media presence for the entire Clear Channel Cleveland cluster.
It's kind of a natural evolution. Matthews has already been busy using the various social media outlets to promote his stations, and to interact with WMMS and "Kiss" listeners...
As it turns out, this time around, there's a lot to recap over the past few days...so let's tackle the items in reverse chronological order...
MANGINO TO KDKA: Clear Channel talk WKBN/570 Youngstown morning drive host Robert Mangino is heading down the Ohio and Pennsylvania Turnpikes. He'll take the open 6-10 PM talk slot at CBS Radio news/talk KDKA/1020 Pittsburgh.
The Youngstown Business Journal has more.
That evening time slot used to be occupied by KDKA's Mike Pintek ("Pintek Tonight"), but Pintek was recently named the station's 12 noon-3 PM host.
That midday time slot became vacant in the worst possible way, as veteran host Fred Honsburger passed away.
Mangino started in talk radio as host at what used to be a Clear Channel sister station to WKBN - now-Forever talk WKST in New Castle PA, not that terribly far from Pittsburgh.
There's no word yet on what WKBN plans to do in morning drive...but if Clear Channel Youngstown market manager and OMW reader Bill Kelly is reading, we'd be happy to hear from him...
BACK TO NE OHIO: Word came rather quickly that NextMedia hot AC WHBC-FM 94.1 Canton "Mix 94.1" program director and afternoon host Jerry Mac was no longer in that position, but word came even faster about his replacement.
And what do you know...it's someone who can find the Pro Football Hall of Fame without help.
"Mix's" new PD is inbound from Saginaw MI's WGER (a NextMedia sister to WHBC-FM), but he's familiar to Northeast Ohio radio listeners and readers of the Mighty Blog of Fun(tm) - former CBS Radio hot AC WQAL/104.1 Cleveland "Q104" assistant program director/PM driver Brian "Fig" Figula will start on-air in Canton on Monday.
"Fig" will, according to AllAccess, will continue his duties programming the Saginaw station...from Canton...
A SHANLEY PASSES: The last name "Shanley" is certainly known in Northeast Ohio...the late Gib Shanley was a local sportscaster - at Scripps ABC affiliate WEWS/5 and the long-time radio voice of the Cleveland Browns.
Shanley's son Greg later built quite a career for himself, as a news director and talk show host for Iowa' Public Radio. Greg Shanley died Tuesday night.
The Waterloo (IA) Courier has more:
Pat Blank, his longtime station co-worker, said the on-air host and producer once told her he had thought about doing sports broadcasting like his father, Gib, the voice of the National Football League's Cleveland Browns for 24 years. But Shanley told Blank he got bored waiting for something exciting to happen and realized his passion was in news.
The newspaper reports that the younger Shanley had worked at the Iowa public radio network since 1987. The station's website schedule lists him as the host of the midday talk program "Talk of Iowa":
Host Greg Shanley brings a range of experts to the microphone to discuss the the things that make Iowa unique, offer practical advice on home improvement or insightful analysis of politics.
The main Iowa Public Radio site has a tribute graphic to Greg Shanley:
Over the 23 years we've known Greg, we've admired his curiosity about the world, as well as his ability to speak knowledgeably about anything from politics to horticulture. We'll all miss his engaging conversation, his love of Iowa, and his award-winning Double Burgers.
Greg Shanley died at the age of 49...
REALITY EXPERIMENT: Not on our Twitter list, and really, only worth a small mention.
Clear Channel rock/talk WMMS/100.7 Cleveland has added a new cast member to its afternoon drive "Alan Cox Show".
It's not like we have anything against 22 year-old Erika Lauren personally.
But she's the latest reality TV personality to waltz into a radio studio and take up a chair. Ms. Lauren is a cast member of MTV's "The Real World: Washington, DC", which may or may not be running its current season right now. (We long ago forgot where to find MTV on the cable dial.)
We have this old-fashioned notion that reality TV stars are not really radio hosts by background, trade or skill, but we'll give her a chance.
And long-time readers know we don't entirely hate the reality TV genre. The new season of CBS' "The Amazing Race" is almost underway, and we still hope some Pittsburgh radio station gives a show to Matt Kennedy Gould.
Ms. Lauren joins host Alan Cox and co-host Chad Zumock on the WMMS afternoon show, at least as long as the experiment lasts...
SOCIAL MEDIA: It's fitting that we used our Twitter account to give first word of another new job title for an Oak Tree denizen.
Clear Channel has named WMMS/WAKS "Kiss FM" program director Bo Matthews as its Director of Social Media.
Bo will be responsible for Twitter, Facebook and other online social media presence for the entire Clear Channel Cleveland cluster.
It's kind of a natural evolution. Matthews has already been busy using the various social media outlets to promote his stations, and to interact with WMMS and "Kiss" listeners...
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
A Quick Followup
Some follow-up, mostly, and some other stuff...
BEACON FOLLOWUP: Some additional information about our weekend story on the death of Beacon Broadcasting owner Harold Glunt, who passed away last week at the age of 75.
Beacon's Gregg Allen, not a stranger to the Mighty Blog, shared some of his thoughts in the comment section of the original item...noting Mr. Glunt's passage with "great sadness":
To most at the Beacon family, Mr. Glunt was much more than an owner and a boss, he was a friend and a second father. He was always quick with a smile, a prayer, and even a joke to make you smile.
As for the future of the five Mahoning and Shenango Valley stations under Glunt's ownership, after his death, Allen writes:
It was his wish for the radio stations to continue after his death, and that is EXACTLY what we are going to do.
Some of this may be beyond the staff's control, however.
OMW hears there have been talks with a potential ownership group that wants to buy at least one of the stations, Christian/eclectic/rock/talk WEXC/107.1 Greenville PA "Indie 107.1". The talks apparently took place, initially, while Harold Glunt was still alive.
Whether this group wishes to resume the talks - with Glunt's surviving family members - hasn't yet been determined, and it's not known if these potential investors would be interested in the four AMs in the Beacon chain now that Harold Glunt has passed on.
We also don't have a firm handle on the group itself, or its financial backing....or if Glunt's heirs have any desire to continue operating his radio stations.
So, with all that uncertainty, it appears the five stations will continue operating as they have...at least in the short term.
Allen notes that "Indie 107.1" is sending two party busloads of listeners to a Christian CHR concert, "Winter Jam 2010", this Friday...and is dedicating their sponsorship of the event to their late owner...
AIRLESS AMERICA: Unless you were under a media rock this past week, you're aware that as of this writing, liberal talk network Air America has gone dark.
The network announced that it was filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy and ending all programming. Air America ended live programming last week, and offered up repeats for remaining affiliates until Monday night. Unlike previous bankruptcy filings, this one was a total liquidation.
This would have been a much bigger story in OMW a few years ago.
But...we're scratching our heads trying to figure out if there are any stations still running liberal talk programming in the state.
We believe tiny WAIS/770 Nelsonville (near Athens) was running Ed Schultz, but Ed is not - and has never been - part of Air America.
Neither has Stephanie Miller, who like Schultz is syndicated by the Dial Global folks. Both Miller and Schultz once counted at least some popularity, within the format, at Clear Channel liberal talkers in Columbus and Akron, and Schultz also ran on the company's liberal talk station in Cincinnati. All of the stations have long since changed format to conservative talk or sports.
We think there may still be a liberal talker owned by Clear Channel in the Portsmouth/Ironton area, but it may have flipped to sports while we weren't looking.
And of the stations listed, we're not sure any were still carrying Air America programming. In its final days, the "trailblazing" network of liberal talk was but a footnote...
SPEAKING OF EX-AIR AMERICANS: Jerry, Jerry, Jerry...could he be getting back into political talk?
No, not on the radio, but in Jerry Springer's more natural medium, television.
The Cincinnati Enquirer's John Kiesewetter has recently passed along word of a new pilot project involving the former Cincinnati mayor, trash TV talker, and former Air America host...with an interesting partner - a former co-worker of Jerry's at Clear Channel Cincinnati:
Score Round One for Jerry Springer. That’s my take on the “Jerry & Bill Show,” the pilot for a weekly debate show starring Springer and 700 WLW-AM’s Bill Cunningham that aired Sunday night (Jan. 10th) on WXIX-TV (Ch 19).
Though the pilot aired locally in Cincinnati on Raycom-owned "Fox 19", Kiesewetter noted that cable/satellite channel WGN America also aired the pilot, which was apparently developed for Tribune owned stations...by...oh, wait, this is too easy to guess...Tribune executives Randy Michaels and Sean Compton, both former Clear Channel (and WLW!) employees.
We'll have to see how far "Jerry & Bill", and Jerry and Bill, go in the format in the future. Jerry wasn't really a good radio host (we're being kind), so it may provide a measure on how he'll hold up in his "home medium" when people aren't throwing chairs around...
BEACON FOLLOWUP: Some additional information about our weekend story on the death of Beacon Broadcasting owner Harold Glunt, who passed away last week at the age of 75.
Beacon's Gregg Allen, not a stranger to the Mighty Blog, shared some of his thoughts in the comment section of the original item...noting Mr. Glunt's passage with "great sadness":
To most at the Beacon family, Mr. Glunt was much more than an owner and a boss, he was a friend and a second father. He was always quick with a smile, a prayer, and even a joke to make you smile.
As for the future of the five Mahoning and Shenango Valley stations under Glunt's ownership, after his death, Allen writes:
It was his wish for the radio stations to continue after his death, and that is EXACTLY what we are going to do.
Some of this may be beyond the staff's control, however.
OMW hears there have been talks with a potential ownership group that wants to buy at least one of the stations, Christian/eclectic/rock/talk WEXC/107.1 Greenville PA "Indie 107.1". The talks apparently took place, initially, while Harold Glunt was still alive.
Whether this group wishes to resume the talks - with Glunt's surviving family members - hasn't yet been determined, and it's not known if these potential investors would be interested in the four AMs in the Beacon chain now that Harold Glunt has passed on.
We also don't have a firm handle on the group itself, or its financial backing....or if Glunt's heirs have any desire to continue operating his radio stations.
So, with all that uncertainty, it appears the five stations will continue operating as they have...at least in the short term.
Allen notes that "Indie 107.1" is sending two party busloads of listeners to a Christian CHR concert, "Winter Jam 2010", this Friday...and is dedicating their sponsorship of the event to their late owner...
AIRLESS AMERICA: Unless you were under a media rock this past week, you're aware that as of this writing, liberal talk network Air America has gone dark.
The network announced that it was filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy and ending all programming. Air America ended live programming last week, and offered up repeats for remaining affiliates until Monday night. Unlike previous bankruptcy filings, this one was a total liquidation.
This would have been a much bigger story in OMW a few years ago.
But...we're scratching our heads trying to figure out if there are any stations still running liberal talk programming in the state.
We believe tiny WAIS/770 Nelsonville (near Athens) was running Ed Schultz, but Ed is not - and has never been - part of Air America.
Neither has Stephanie Miller, who like Schultz is syndicated by the Dial Global folks. Both Miller and Schultz once counted at least some popularity, within the format, at Clear Channel liberal talkers in Columbus and Akron, and Schultz also ran on the company's liberal talk station in Cincinnati. All of the stations have long since changed format to conservative talk or sports.
We think there may still be a liberal talker owned by Clear Channel in the Portsmouth/Ironton area, but it may have flipped to sports while we weren't looking.
And of the stations listed, we're not sure any were still carrying Air America programming. In its final days, the "trailblazing" network of liberal talk was but a footnote...
SPEAKING OF EX-AIR AMERICANS: Jerry, Jerry, Jerry...could he be getting back into political talk?
No, not on the radio, but in Jerry Springer's more natural medium, television.
The Cincinnati Enquirer's John Kiesewetter has recently passed along word of a new pilot project involving the former Cincinnati mayor, trash TV talker, and former Air America host...with an interesting partner - a former co-worker of Jerry's at Clear Channel Cincinnati:
Score Round One for Jerry Springer. That’s my take on the “Jerry & Bill Show,” the pilot for a weekly debate show starring Springer and 700 WLW-AM’s Bill Cunningham that aired Sunday night (Jan. 10th) on WXIX-TV (Ch 19).
Though the pilot aired locally in Cincinnati on Raycom-owned "Fox 19", Kiesewetter noted that cable/satellite channel WGN America also aired the pilot, which was apparently developed for Tribune owned stations...by...oh, wait, this is too easy to guess...Tribune executives Randy Michaels and Sean Compton, both former Clear Channel (and WLW!) employees.
We'll have to see how far "Jerry & Bill", and Jerry and Bill, go in the format in the future. Jerry wasn't really a good radio host (we're being kind), so it may provide a measure on how he'll hold up in his "home medium" when people aren't throwing chairs around...
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Beacon Owner Dies
The man who has owned a small Mahoning Valley radio group often written about here in OMW has died.
An obituary notes the death of Beacon Broadcasting owner Harold Glunt earlier this week:
NILES – Harold F. Glunt, 75, died of cancer on Thursday evening, Jan. 21, 2010, at his home.
(snip)
He semi-retired from Glunt Industries in 2001 and purchased Beacon Broadcasting in Warren to focus on Christian Broadcasting in the area.
Glunt Industries was the steel supply company Glunt started in 1966. (The photo and obituary are courtesy of Holeton-Yuhasz Funeral Home in Niles, which is handling arrangments.)
We don't have definitive information about the future of Glunt's Beacon Broadcasting stations in the Youngstown market - sports WANR/1570 "Fox Sports 1570" Warren, Christian contemporary WRTK/1540 "Freq 1540" Niles, classic country combo WLOA/1470 Farrell PA and WGRP/940 Greenville PA, and the sole FM in the group, Christian/eclectic rocker/talk WEXC/107.1 "Indie 107.1" Greenville PA...though there has been interest in that latter station, before Glunt's passing...
An obituary notes the death of Beacon Broadcasting owner Harold Glunt earlier this week:NILES – Harold F. Glunt, 75, died of cancer on Thursday evening, Jan. 21, 2010, at his home.
(snip)
He semi-retired from Glunt Industries in 2001 and purchased Beacon Broadcasting in Warren to focus on Christian Broadcasting in the area.
Glunt Industries was the steel supply company Glunt started in 1966. (The photo and obituary are courtesy of Holeton-Yuhasz Funeral Home in Niles, which is handling arrangments.)
We don't have definitive information about the future of Glunt's Beacon Broadcasting stations in the Youngstown market - sports WANR/1570 "Fox Sports 1570" Warren, Christian contemporary WRTK/1540 "Freq 1540" Niles, classic country combo WLOA/1470 Farrell PA and WGRP/940 Greenville PA, and the sole FM in the group, Christian/eclectic rocker/talk WEXC/107.1 "Indie 107.1" Greenville PA...though there has been interest in that latter station, before Glunt's passing...
Thursday, January 21, 2010
TWC Answers
Courtesy of Time Warner Cable, here are some answers for readers wondering about the Mentor-area conversion allowing more HD channels. And some more lineup changes are in the works systemwide in TWC's massive Northeast Ohio system.
First, in regards to Mentor's conversion, TWC's Travis Reynolds tells OMW:
The first "box swap" phase of the box exchange actually concludes today, followed by 6 other phases every 7 days. The final phase is scheduled Feb. 23. Each phase impacts approximately 1,200 customers in certain areas of Mentor. And by "box swap" "concludes" I mean the day the Motorola and General Instrument boxes in those areas will no longer work. If your area has gone through the "shutdown" you will begin receiving the new HDs.
Also, if anyone emails that their box has been shut down, and they live in that area and have a MOTO or GI box, they can visit our Sales and Service Center in Mentor or Concord to exchange it. We'll even give them a coupon book good for 6 Movies on Demand.
Here's the short answer. Everyone in the greater Mentor area will have all the HD channels by Feb. 23.
The lineup change, we first caught on a segment of TWC's "Ask Time Warner" (NEON channel 23), and is reflected on the company's TWCGuide.com site:
Our HD offering has grown so robust, we're moving the HD channels to the 1000 block and grouping them by category. With your new theme-based HD lineup coming in March, finding what you want to watch in HD will be faster and easier than ever.
*To find your favorite broadcaster in HD, you'll just add a "1" to the Basic Cable channel number
*To find your favorite Digital Cable channel in HD, you'll just add a "1" to the Digital Channel number, or go to Channel 1001 and start surfing.
More exciting changes coming in March
*All your Free On Demand favorites are moving to the "Free 400s". This includes Primetime On Demand with your favorite primetime shows and Kids on Demand with kids favorites such as Nickelodeon and PBS Kids Sprout. Local on Demand, your source for free local high school football, travel and news On Demand, moves to channel 411.
*Movies on Demand moving to the 500s gives you instant access to hundreds of hit movies now on our leading-edge platform.
The site (and the "Ask Time Warner" segment) says Cleveland-area customers are also going to get the Navigator program guide software for their cable boxes...
First, in regards to Mentor's conversion, TWC's Travis Reynolds tells OMW:
The first "box swap" phase of the box exchange actually concludes today, followed by 6 other phases every 7 days. The final phase is scheduled Feb. 23. Each phase impacts approximately 1,200 customers in certain areas of Mentor. And by "box swap" "concludes" I mean the day the Motorola and General Instrument boxes in those areas will no longer work. If your area has gone through the "shutdown" you will begin receiving the new HDs.
Also, if anyone emails that their box has been shut down, and they live in that area and have a MOTO or GI box, they can visit our Sales and Service Center in Mentor or Concord to exchange it. We'll even give them a coupon book good for 6 Movies on Demand.
Here's the short answer. Everyone in the greater Mentor area will have all the HD channels by Feb. 23.
The lineup change, we first caught on a segment of TWC's "Ask Time Warner" (NEON channel 23), and is reflected on the company's TWCGuide.com site:
Our HD offering has grown so robust, we're moving the HD channels to the 1000 block and grouping them by category. With your new theme-based HD lineup coming in March, finding what you want to watch in HD will be faster and easier than ever.
*To find your favorite broadcaster in HD, you'll just add a "1" to the Basic Cable channel number
*To find your favorite Digital Cable channel in HD, you'll just add a "1" to the Digital Channel number, or go to Channel 1001 and start surfing.
More exciting changes coming in March
*All your Free On Demand favorites are moving to the "Free 400s". This includes Primetime On Demand with your favorite primetime shows and Kids on Demand with kids favorites such as Nickelodeon and PBS Kids Sprout. Local on Demand, your source for free local high school football, travel and news On Demand, moves to channel 411.
*Movies on Demand moving to the 500s gives you instant access to hundreds of hit movies now on our leading-edge platform.
The site (and the "Ask Time Warner" segment) says Cleveland-area customers are also going to get the Navigator program guide software for their cable boxes...
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