Midweek Potpourri

Just some stuff clogging up the OMW inbox and seen elsewhere:

WJW/FOX AND TWC DEAL: OMW reported earlier that Time Warner had put a required 30 day notice about the possible removal of Cleveland FOX O&O WJW/8 from the TWC lineup, due to retransmission consent issues.

FOX 8 isn't going anywhere for Time Warner customers, as the companies reached a long-term nationwide deal late Friday, before the ball dropped at Times Square. The Hollywood Reporter notes that the deal not only includes FOX-owned stations like WJW, but also FOX News Channel, and adds the FOX Reality Channel to TWC lineups.

And in the future, if the channel launches, Time Warner subscribers will also see the FOX Business Channel...

WHILE WE'RE IN TWC-LAND: OMW has noticed that the HD channel INHD2 is now gone from the local Time Warner system, at least from the Cleveland-based former Adelphia end of things.

In reality, INHD2 is gone everywhere - as parent inDemand Networks merged it into the main INHD channel. There has been speculation that TWC will bring aboard Universal-HD, the hodgepodge of HD content from NBC Universal-owned networks like USA Network, but that direct replacement hasn't yet been made...

WTOD ADDS LOCAL SHOW: The first of three AllAccess items, though really, we should have gotten this from the source (not like we're hinting, Mr. Matthews!)...

Cumulus talk WTOD/1560 Toledo is adding a new local show to its weekday lineup.

And the host of "Toledo Today"?

None other than Tom Watkins, a name certainly familiar to Toledo news/talk radio listeners as the long-time news director of Clear Channel talk WSPD/1370 there.

The show will air 8-9 AM weekdays, displacing an hour of the syndicated "Good Day with Doug Stephan", and will be followed by a full clearance of TRN's Laura Ingraham from 9-noon. We haven't checked WTOD's air schedule yet, but we believe 8 AM is late enough to get the show 12 months a year on the station's daytime signal...

BUDGET AXE AGAIN: The budget axe falls again in Ohio radio, this time in Columbus. AllAccess reports that North American standards WMNI/920 afternoon host Dave Sherman is out after an eight year run...

AND A FORMER OHIO BROADCASTER: A tip of the hat to former WWIZ/103.9 "Rock 104" Mercer PA/Youngstown programmer Matt Spatz, who picks up "Best Radio Station 2006" and "Best Net Radio Station 2006" honors for his current station, Roanoke VA rocker WROV/96.3. AllAccess reports the honors come from a reader music poll in the city's daily newspaper, the Roanoke Times...