A Couple of WLW Items

Though it's mostly out of our coverage area, we do occasionally check in with news about Cincinnati, and particularly Clear Channel news/talk powerhouse WLW/700. A couple of items about WLW from the Cincinnati Enquirer's John Kiesewetter:

NEWS SWITCH: As it turns out, WLW's previously announced news/weather/promotion partnership switch from Clear Channel sister CBS affiliate WKRC/12 to NBC affiliate WLWT/5 will happen sooner than announced. It'll likely be not that long after next Monday, depending on technical considerations.

Monday, Kiesewetter tells us in his TV/Radio blog, the national news radio network affiliations will go shuffling among Clear Channel's three Cincinnati talk stations...much like what happened here in Northeast Ohio a few months ago when ABC and CBS saw affiliation changes, and FOX News Radio debuted.

WLW, as always the kingpin in the market, will dump FOX News Radio in favor of ABC News Radio. WLW originally made the switch to FNR as part of Clear Channel's long-term multi-station deal with FOX's new radio news division.

FOX News Radio will not have to look far for a home, though, as it will comfortably fit on the airwaves of CC's conservative talk station in the Cincinnati market, WKRC/550.

That will likely shuffle WKRC's CBS News Radio affiliation off to the third talker in the Clear Channel Cincinnati chain, liberal talk WCKY/1530.

When you look at the lineup after this game of Musical News Radio Network Chairs, it makes sense ideologically and otherwise.

Conservatives glued to WKRC hosts like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity will welcome a radio network linked with what's probably their favorite cable TV news network, FOX News Channel (where Hannity works).

Liberals who listen to Jerry Springer and Al Franken will find little fault with CBS, and the generally straight-ahead style and strong depth of ABC's news offerings will find a comfortable home returning to the most news-oriented station of the three, WLW "The Big One".

To tell you how powerful a force WLW is in the Cincinnati media market, Kiesewetter notes that the upcoming WLW partnership is thrilling the folks at new partner WLWT/5...the NBC affiliate apparently believes it'll help juice up their ratings.

PODCASTING, CINCY STYLE: Kiesewetter also notices the podcasting of WLW content, including full shows from hosts Mike McConnell and Bill Cunningham. The podcasts are quite popular, with nearly 15,000 downloads a week...earning the Cincinnati news/talker a top-5 ranking in Clear Channel's national list of podcasting stations.

Here in Cleveland, sister CC talker WTAM/1100 offers full shows from afternoon driver Mike Trivisonno, though we don't know how popular Triv is by comparison...