Odds and Ends: Friday Leftovers

Some stuff that's still sitting up there on our plate, either stuff we haven't touched yet, or stuff that's left over:

* Congratulations to WEWS/5 general manager Ric Harris, who's leaving the local ABC affiliate to head up the "digital media" section of NBC Universal. He'll help NBC forge ahead in Internet initiatives and other "new media" projects. Harris has been with "NewsChannel 5" for five years.

* The Cleveland Browns start their pre-season schedule against the New York Giants on Saturday night (WOIO/19, 8 PM). Two voices which should be very familiar to Browns fans and radio listeners handle the call - Akron market talker WNIR/100.1 afternoon host Bob Golic, a popular former Brown, does play-by-play. Will Kaiser Bill give him Saturday afternoon off of his radio show? Hmmm. Former Brown Brian Brennan, who's done on-air work for Browns AM flagship WTAM/1100, does color. The game will also be seen in Youngstown (WYTV/33), along with affiliates in Columbus and Toledo. And in case you missed it and have the NFL Network on cable or satellite, it'll rerun the game Sunday night at 11 PM ET, along with a high-definition feed (presumably from the Giants' home station, WNBC) at the same time. Adelphia cable carries NFL Network on digital channel 178, and NFL Network HD on channel 778.

* Speaking of Golic's radio home, it still hasn't happened yet - as the long-time CBS Radio News affiliate hasn't switched to ABC Information Network. OMW's sources have told us that WNIR was slated to pick up the affiliation after WTAM/1100 Cleveland dumped ABC. As we mentioned earlier, though WTAM and other Clear Channel talkers in Ohio have gone to FOX News Radio, there's no way to tell when WTAM's contract with ABC Information Network expires. We're pretty sure WTAM's continued carriage of ABC's Paul Harvey is not tied into this.

* Speaking of things that haven't happened yet - we're still in a holding pattern re: "JACK FM" in the Cleveland market, as Infinity's WQAL/104.1 and WDOK/102.1 (along with other Infinity Cleveland market stations) haven't budged from their current formats, despite rumors to the contrary. A suggestion: look to the start of the Fall book for ANY changes in the local Infinity cluster, and some of it may depend on how long Infinity hangs on to one-foot-out-the-door Howard Stern.

* Our usual listener/tipster in the area reports that Beacon Broadcasting's WGRP/940 Greenville PA, which had returned to the air simulcasting WLOA/1470's "Wexy 107" oldies format, is once again silent. There's no word if this is due to technical problems, or perhaps recent bad weather. When OMW visited the area recently, the 940 signal wasn't quite what it was last time the station was on the air, so maybe they're fixing it.

* Meanwhile, also in the Land of Glunt, we heard "Michael Angel" (aka soon-to-be-former majority owner Michael Arch) on Beacon's WANR/1570 Warren last Sunday, playing secular oldies music, and trying his best to turn the names or lyrics in the songs into religious messages. Yes, secular oldies, religious disk jockey. Our favorite was when "Mr. Angel" spun off the line "Jesus loves you more than you will know" from the Simon and Garfunkel hit "Mrs. Robinson" - without mentioning that whole Married Mother Seduces Young Student thing in the movie "The Graduate", by the character of the same name.

* OMW is once again on the road starting Sunday night, with a week long jaunt through much of the Upper Midwest. As usual, we're laptop equipped, and our stopping places are all reputed to have high-speed Internet access, so we won't stray TOO far from The Mighty Blog of Fun(tm). We also have full electronic access to most of our usual local radio and TV stations, thanks to modern technology, though we'll be occupied most of the day all week. But, if there's a big change, we'll be able to hear or see it.