Wednesday, September 28, 2005

Glenn Beck Does Akron

It's been a heck of a year for Premiere's Glenn Beck in Northeast Ohio. After getting unceremoniously dumped by Clear Channel talker WTAM/1100 in Cleveland after a long run, the midday host made a soft landing at sister talk WHLO/640 in Akron. And now, he's making a landing in Akron in person.

OMW hears that Beck's "Christmas Tour" will have Akron's E.J. Thomas Hall on it, on December 13th. Tickets will be sold through Ticketmaster, and will be available starting October 24th. Beck's set to announce the entire list of cities next Monday.

It's the second WHLO-sponsored visit by one of its nationally-syndicated hosts. ABC Radio (and Fox News Channel) host Sean Hannity stopped in Akron on the Sunday before the November 2004 election. Regionally-syndicated morning show "Quinn and Rose" (based at Clear Channel talk WPGB/104.7 in Pittsburgh) has also broadcasted live from the Akron market.

Early ratings would suggest that Beck brought to WHLO at least SOME of the Cleveland market listeners who missed him on WTAM, as WHLO showed up in the Cleveland ratings for the very first time as a talk station in the book after the move. Well, at least in the Clear Channel incarnation of the talk format. OMW doesn't recall if the old Susquehanna-owned "WHLO News/Talk 64" made any appearance in the Cleveland ratings in the mid-70's...though we CAN list the station's entire lineup if you ask us.

In addition to his "southern exposure" into greater Cleveland via WHLO, Beck also makes it into much of the Cleveland market from the west, on Elyria-Lorain Broadcasting talk WEOL/930 Elyria.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Glenn Beck is also on Cleveland's East Side, on WFUN-AM out of Ashtabula.