Our apologies for being away, as what was advertised as a two-hour Blogger outage turned into a four-hour outage. It's free, right?
NEXTMEDIA CHANGES: And no, the NextMedia changes we're talking about are not at the company's Canton cluster...but rather, at the top.
NextMedia co-founder and executive chairman Carl Hirsch is stepping down from his post at the mid-to-small market radio group. He's heading out for new challenges in media, or so the release says. His departure is said to be amicable, and he's also cashed out his financial stake in the company.
NextMedia, of course, owns Canton's WHBC/1480 and WHBC-FM/94.1...
WHOF?: OMW hears that Clear Channel's new Canton move-in, WHOF/101.7 North Canton, could be on the air from 22nd and Whipple NW as soon as tomorrow.
We hear that the station could launch as "Marilyn 101.7", with hard rock featuring Canton native Marilyn Manson.
Wait, you didn't BELIEVE that, did you? We're just joking!
We actually don't know where the WHOF format wheel will land, between long-rumored format choices of country, soft AC, oldies or anything else that's been thrown out there just to confuse us.
We also caution that the station may not sign on with its final format, though that's just a wild guess on our part...based on what other stations have done before.
There wouldn't appear to be a need for a long stunt format, though, as the station has literally been off the air for all of 2007...
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
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9 comments:
OMW, word is that the Big Wazu in Columbus went country this week, and that our friend Rover lost another outlet. Maybe you can find out more and post your findings?
See the item directly below this, where we mention it at the end.
The only thing to add is that AllAccess and other trade sites confirm the death of The Big Wazu and its alt-rock format for, as we mentioned yesterday, a new-leaning country format called "Wink 107.1".
This one isn't Rover's fault...his show doesn't work on a "new country" station, of course, and it sounds like Wilks want to cover both ends of the country demo in its battle with dominant WCOL...
-The Management
So Rover's syndication is pretty much down to Cincinnati and St. Louis..guess those morning drive discussions of who Dieter beat up in parking lots over the weekend aren't the draw they once were..
I'm curious, now that Carl Hirsch has taken his sand from the sandbox and gone home, how long it will be before NextMedia finally takes whatever it can get for the WHBC combo..NextMedia's situation is only getting worse without Carl's cash floating around..he was pretty much only observing for the last 18 months or so anyway..and now that he's finally pulled his plug from the wall, only one of the original three founders of the company remains on board..but for how long?
Since no one's done it yet, and since it happens EVERY time some sort of news about Nextmedia is posted here, let me be the first to say:
"If you don't have your resume updated on Market Ave. S./WHBC/Mix 94.1 you should because bad things are about to happen!!!!!!!"
Does that about cover it?
An FM antenna was going up on the new tower for 101.7 this afternoon around 3pm as I left the area...so maybe any day now. Also - I've noticed a few of the 3-panel Clear Channel bill boards going up - with a blank space - presumably for the new station.
There may be no need for a long stunt, but if I were Keith Kennedy, I sure would have some fun for a day or two with bogus formats, maybe even switching from one to another every couple of hours. After all, nobody in the market except for media and advertising types even knows something's coming on 101.7, and they would be the only people tuned it at first. Why stop at the diversionary websites?
To the know-it-all above: Care to enlighten some of us at NextMedia about what's to come? Inquiring minds want to know specifics...
Sure. A once-mighty (if slightly ho-hum) ratings powerhouse will be decimated by corporate ownership. The "family feeling" of the Beaverkettle days will completely extinguish. Even "untouchables" may start fearing for their jobs. The ultimate goal will no longer be about community service, but doing whatever is cheap. If that means populating every key position with hacks, as long as it saves a buck, so be it. Sorry man, but that's the troof. As glib as all the "resume" comments may be, they actually contain sound advice. Ignoring the warning signs is just plain stupid. It's time for the heads to come out of the sand -- it's been time for a long while now.
Great observations above. Just WHO are the "untouchables" at NextMedia? Outside of Chenevey everyone else should be told "Don't let the door hit you in the ass."
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