A midday buffet:
ITEM 1: As expected, it's former WEWS/5 personality and regular station fill-in talk host Brad Sussman occupying the chair in the WTAM/1100 studios for the third mid-morning local talk show in the Clear Channel Cleveland talker's recent history. The show had a different opening today - with the station's imaging voice noting that in "nearly ten years, this time slot has been occupied by a Doctor, a Sick Freak and even a Ringmaster". (For those scoring at home, that's Dr. Laura, Glenn Beck and Jerry Springer, in order. Heh.)
Sussman also indicated that he'd be back next Wednesday. At this point, we don't know if WSPD/1370 Toledo's Bob Frantz is also returning in pattern on Monday and Tuesday of next week.
We've been getting a lot of "votes" on the topic, and we're noting that another potential occupant of the slot - WOIO/19-WUAB/43 sports director and former WTAM "Sunday Morning Sports Page" host Chuck Galeti is getting a lot of mentions among our commenters and E-Mailers. We hear Galeti may be in the rotation for this week or next in the 9 AM-11:30 AM slot, though we don't know if he'd be actually trying out for the permanent gig.
We also heard from folks who have their own take on our "betting line", and we'd like to explain it a little. Remember, we had the very first word in This Space that Frantz (a former WTAMer) may be heard on WTAM doing local issues talk, a good week and a half before "Springer on the Radio" was given its walking papers, and well before anyone expected the station to go local at 9 AM.
While it does appear to OMW that the mid-morning slot is a genuine contest at this point, Frantz was clearly in the picture - and on the minds of station management - when WTAM made the move. We still think it's his gig to lose. That's why he gets the "even money" designation in our original "betting line".
Some wondered why we had longer odds about Galeti, but part of that is because that we're not even sure he's officially in the rotation right now...or if he'd be interested in doing the gig on a regular basis. It doesn't really have much to do with our own personal opinion of how "good" the host is, for better or worse.
ITEM 2: The Cleveland Plain Dealer's Paul Hoynes checks in with the announcement of the Adelphia/SportsTime Ohio deal. STO's Jim Liberatore - all but shouting "see, satellite services, we have most of the local cable companies now!" - notes it brings them up to 1.5 million cable homes...with the 350,000 Adelphia contributes.
Though Hoynes says that the deal brings the Indians-owned cable network to viewers in "several Cleveland suburbs", we're pretty sure Adelphia also covers significant parts of Cleveland itself, if not the bulk of the city. Not that we expect much more accuracy on this topic even from the paper's alleged sports media columnist...
Liberatore provides some hope for Comcast subscribers, saying they're "close" to reaching a deal. But he's not using those words for Cox's local systems, just saying they're "still in negotiations" with that service, as well as Wide Open West and Armstrong...the three major holdouts within the immediate Cleveland area. He says they're hoping to be in "90 percent" of the cable homes within a 50 mile radius of Jacobs Field by Opening Day.
Meanwhile, the Lorain Journal reports that Comcast Cleveland also confirms those talks are nearly complete, and Liberatore even gives the paper a timetable. He says STO and Comcast should wrap up those negotiations "in the next three to 10 days". (We don't know if Comcast's management locally consists of diehard baseball fans, as the Indians PR folks felt the need to say about Adelphia regional vice president Pamela Mackenzie in yesterday's news release...)
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
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9 comments:
take it from me, a radio expert
frantz is a hack
sussman is a hack
both are as boring as hush bimbo
word has it that the former host from "the pinwheel up the dial" gets his shot soon
my vote goes to him..
i may call in, from west of the cuyahoga of course
Who is the ex-host from the pinwheel up the dial? Bruce Drennan?
Sussman IS boring...even on the weather. When he fills in for Wills in the a.m., it's a snoozefest.
I'm tellin' ya, Galetti's the man for energy, personality, likeability, intelligence, etc. And he's not as hacky as Kevin Keane, who's yuck-yuck "all about us" act is too much to handle.
Even Mark Schwab would be an upgrade (no knock on Mark...he's good).
I posted this a few days ago, but Sportstime Ohio is already on Comcast, channel 73. It was on over the weekend then blank yesterday during the game. But it's a channel in the guide for sure.
oh no
not mark schwab
remember jackie gleason
or fred flinstone?
schwab has nothing interesting to say and he thinks if has this over-bearing, gravvely yell like fred flinstone did "willmaaaaaaaaa, i'm home)..
schwab thinks if he talks like that or jackie gleason "one of these days.. pow.. to the moon"
if he talks like that, it will somehow make him interesting is what he must think..
what it does it takes his boring style and makes it loud and boring and more obnoxious.
note to those that want to know who the host "from the pinwheel up the dial is".
rick gilmoure..
funny and entertaining..
he understands radio
it is not about agreeing or disagreeing with the host..
it is about making it interesting.
i can disagree with gilmoure (aka gilly or gilley) and i can laugh and be kept listening.
listenting to brad sussmanm or bob frantz is literally torture
note to self: this could be my finest post ever
About SportsTime Ohio and Comcast - We're getting no confirmation that they've signed a deal, and some folks are telling us it is NOT in the guide on channel 73 in their area. We don't know enough about Comcast's local operations to know if they have multiple headends.
If it is indeed there, maybe they are preparing for the likely eventuality of a deal. It doesn't sound like the games are actually being aired yet.
Oh, Jim? For what it's worth, the name Rick Gilmour is only coming off of your fingertips in this situation, at least as far as we're concerned.
We haven't heard a single other source mention him in connection with the WTAM mid-morning slot, so if he does show up, you get credit for it.
We tend to doubt it, though. For all we know, Rick has disappeared and isn't inclined to do radio anymore!
rick gilmouure
the person that told me thru email that gilmoure gets his shot next week did not say i could not repeat it..
it was from marty allen
why was gilmore pushed out of wtam
i think the show was very entertaining.
even bob henderson is interesting
bob henderson is way better than frantz or sussman
Well, we'll see, Jim.
By the way, I assume you mean Bob Becker?
Bob Henderson hasn't been on the air here for over a decade, as I recall. (Though I'm pretty sure there's a chance his son is reading this...)
i made my first typo/error/incorrect message
i indeed mean bob becker
bob henderson - boring
bob becker is interesting
one last point
i find a spirited debate from both lib and con point interesting radio
this is one reason hush bimbo show is so boring.,.
3 hour commercial for W
i heard hush bimbo actually say UAE running the ports was needed because we spend too much money on social security
hush = zero credibility
me = credible
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