STO AND DIRECTV MEET: We've been hearing a rumor that the folks at SportsTime Ohio and DirecTV sat down on Tuesday to try to hammer out the "outer market" situation with the satellite service and viewers outside the immediate Cleveland/Akron/Canton and Columbus markets, who haven't gotten Cleveland Indians games since DirecTV agreed to carry STO.
STO's Jim Liberatore confirmed the meeting to us this morning, and tells OMW that DirecTV is "supposed to decide this week" about opening up the games to the outer "zones" - places like Toledo and Erie, to name just two, which are currently blocked for the Indians' new cable/satellite network. We'll let you know when we know...
NEW HIRE CONTROVERSY: What happens when a Northeast Ohio radio station hires a new promotions director, and that new hire is still under a legal cloud in his former home market?
When OMW told you of the hiring of Todd Kelly Smith as promotions director at Canton market CHR WZKL/92.5 Alliance ("Q92"), we didn't recognize the common-sounding name immediately. But then, it hit us...we'd read something about him earlier on AllAccess. Mr. Kelly Smith is in legal hot water in Louisville, as this story from TV station WHAS/11 points out.
We'll let the words of WHAS/11 reporter Kirby Adams in this March story speak for themselves:
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"The Louisville radio personality who raised thousands of dollars for a fatal disease he claims to suffer from appeared before a grand jury today.
For years Todd Kelly who’s real name is Todd Smith used his celebrity status to promote fundraisers for ALS, a fatal disease he claims to have.
The Todd Kelly Foundation raised over 100 thousand dollars through walks and gala fundraisers in Louisville. But when I asked Todd what he did with all that donated money, he couldn’t give us the name of a single ALS patient helped by the thousands of dollars worth of donations. The Kentucky State Police began to investigate the Todd Kelly Foundation and today after a number of delays. Todd Kelly complied and appeared before the grand jury."
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OMW understands that the investigation is still ongoing, and Mr. Kelly Smith has yet to be charged with any wrongdoing...thus, he is able to leave Louisville and accept a new job in Ohio.
But we're still not sure if the folks at WZKL were aware of this situation, which was widely reported in the media in Louisville. It could well be that Q92 was informed of this by Todd Kelly Smith himself, and they're standing by him as the case is resolved. After all, the move was openly reported in the radio trade press...and we know staffers at WZKL read AllAccess, which first carried news of Mr. Kelly Smith's situation in January in this item:
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"Ex-WDJX DJ Todd Kelly Under Investigation For Possible Fraud
ABC affiliate WHAS-TV/LOUISVILLE's KIRBY ADAMS reports that former RADIO ONE Top 40 WDJX/LOUISVILLE Promotions Dir. TODD KELLY, who resigned his job last week, is being investigated for possible fraud for his role in collecting over $100K in money for ALS (better known as LOU GHERIG'S DISEASE) research through his charitable organization, the TODD KELLY FOUNDATION. The IRS has no evidence or record of the foundation or any of the thousands of dollars in donations it collected. "
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Either way, we'll see. We understand the grand jury should weigh in, one way or another, early next month...
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
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4 comments:
Todd is have to answer to the hundreds of thousands of dollars that he stole and spent on himself. I think that The station that hired him should really revise their background check and realize they've hired a felon.
Todd is have to answer to the hundreds of thousands of dollars that he stole and spent on himself. I think that The station that hired him should really revise their background check and realize they've hired a felon.
I am one of the many who once considered Todd Kelly a friend. We listened for years as he cried over his ALS, brain tumor, bone cancer etc. We gave him our time and our money & cried along with him. Just because he has not been convicted yet does not mean he is not guilty. He's stolen over 100,000.00 but even more than that he looked straight into the crying eyes of his "friends" and lied to us. If you continue to stand behind this contemptuous individual, you will get what you deserve. He'll do the same to the people Cincinnati as he did to the people of Louisville
Todd Kelly is a disgrace to the community, Media family, friends that supported him blindly with love and affection, and to what family he had left, supposedly.
We heard his dad had past away last July, 6 weeks after his mother and counter partner in the alleged crime, left his dad after 49 years of marriage for another man. The rest of the story, get this, his dad we where told was paralized with a MD illness and was in a wheel chair and walker, and she just walked out on him and did not care whether he lived or died, but of course we know now he died.
These two are wicked to the core to say the least! Cold, worthless, humanity. If they do not get 20 years our system is badly broken.
I for one cannot believe that he pleaded NOT GUILTY? Can you imagine that with the mountain of evidence that is stacked against him and his mother?
I guess in February at Trial, we will get the rest of the story.
Bewildered By Far
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