Late Day Wrapup

Some other stuff that's hit the OMW inbox, including a few followups and some brand new information in the mix...

YEP, BYE, DAVE: OMW reported earlier this week that Salem was rumored to be dropping syndicated money advice guy Dave Ramsey, who airs on the company's Christian talk/teaching outlets WHKW/1220 Cleveland and WRFD/880 Columbus (both named "The Word").

We have confirmation direct from the show itself, courtesy of a helpful OMW reader who asked them about the rumblings. Dave Ramsey is parting ways with Salem, and the host's staff appears to be none too happy about it.

A show staffer tells our reader that what he saw here is correct. "Salem did ask The Dave Ramsey Show, a mainstream, bartered, nationally syndicated talk show, to pay to be on their stations. This does include Cleveland and Columbus. We did reject their request as paying to air our show is not what we do."

The Ramsey staff member goes on to say that they are indeed looking for new affiliates in both Ohio markets, and elsewhere where Salem will be dropping the show. From what we've heard, Ramsey's deal with Salem runs out in mid-August, which gives WHKW and WRFD roughly a month to slot a replacement. We're wondering if Dr. Laura's new owners pay for time...

TOLEDO PD OUT: The way it sounds, we're not even sure he had time to pack up his things in boxes. Cumulus Toledo market Top 40 WTWR/98.3 "Tower 98-3" program director Brent Carey has, from what we hear, been blown out of his job after less than a year.

We're hearing that despite a solid performance from "Tower", Carey wasn't getting along with Cumulus top 40 programming VP Jan Jeffries. The station has gained notoriety by, among other things, hiring popular morning host Johny D...

ALREADY LOOKING HERE?: The information is quite vague at this point, but we understand that future WABQ/1540 Cleveland owner Craig Karmazin may already be looking for some local talent here in Northeast Ohio.

While Karmazin's Good Karma Broadcasting just filed to purchase WABQ for $2.5 million, and while it's still not known what configuration a presumed ESPN Radio affiliate will take in the market, going after people now would probably be advised. ESPN's notice to Salem's WKNR/850 last week is a 90-day one, which means the network would presumably hope to be on the air somewhere in the Cleveland market by roughly mid-October.

Of course, though it seems somewhat likely, we still do not know for certain if Karmazin and his incoming WABQ (or whatever other station he'll run) are the new home for ESPN Radio. It's probably a safe bet that Karmazin will be involved one way or the other, due to the timing of all this news and his existing relationship with the network in Milwaukee.

And we know that there are several sports radio types who wouldn't mind "moving up" to a new operation in the market. We just don't have any names yet....