Comings and Goings

Some new, some we missed, and we'll start off with the big one...

MONDAY JUMPS: Veteran investigative reporter Carl Monday has jumped from NBC affiliate WKYC/3 to CBS affiliate WOIO/19, reports the Cleveland Plain Dealer's Julie Washington this afternoon on the PD's Entertainment blog.

Monday has spent the past few years at WKYC, after an over-two decade long stint at WJW/8 - which was the local CBS affiliate for the bulk of his time on South Marginal Road.

Washington reports that Monday has signed a "multi-year contract" with "19 Action News", and that current investigative reporter Tom Meyer remains aboard at Reserve Square.

And, yes, Monday did gain national fame for his expose of a prohibited activity one man was participating in at a local library. The Internet fueled that fire, which eventually burst into white hot heat on Comedy Central's "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart".

And our priceless Quote of the Month in Washington's piece comes from the mouth of WOIO/WUAB news director Dan Salamone:

Salamone said he looked forward to returning Monday to meaningful investigations, “as opposed to some of the rubbish he’s been asked to do the last few years.”

Oh, boy. You can't INVENT quotes like that!

Actually, when we heard about Monday's now-infamous Library Pervert Expose, we openly wondered if WKYC stole the idea from a mole at Reserve Square.

Monday won't be on "Action News" for a while. Salamone tells Washington that his new hire's start date is "flexible", and he'll have to wait out a WKYC non-compete...which will keep him off the air through roughly mid-summer.

And here's the funny thing.

We just saw a promo that proclaimed "Carl Monday is back!", but it didn't register to us that we were watching WOIO, and not WKYC. The folks at Reserve Square are gonna have to work on that. We bet some folks our age or older still remember him being at Channel 8...

BASKIN'S EXIT: In the article we linked earlier from the Akron Beacon Journal's George M. Thomas, we grabbed it solely because it had news on WJW/8 sports anchor Tony Rizzo's latest show on Good Karma sports WKNR/850 tomorrow.

We did not note Thomas' report that WKYC/3 weekend sports anchor/reporter Andy Baskin is leaving the station at the end of his contract, which is not being renewed by the local NBC affiliate.

Baskin came to WKYC from FOX Sports Net Ohio, and since showing up at Channel 3, he has also done some duty on FSN Ohio's chief competitor - WKYC-linked SportsTime Ohio...

AND ANOTHER THOMAS TIDBIT: The Beacon Journal sports/media writer notes that the new Cleveland AHL hockey team - the Lake Erie Monsters - should have a pretty easy time finding its way to local TV and radio.

Unlike the team's local predecessor, the Cleveland Barons, the Monsters are owned by the owner of the NBA Cleveland Cavaliers. And as such, cable networks FSN Ohio and SportsTime Ohio are reportedly eager to join in.

FSN Ohio is already the exclusive home of the Cavaliers, and would appear to have the "inside track", and the team's chief operating officer is quoted by Thomas as saying they'd talk to "family members first".

Radio-wise, the Barons - if we recall correctly - logged some radio time on WKNR/850 in its days as a Salem-owned station.

Speculation alert: It wouldn't be a shock to see new WKNR owner Craig Karmazin pick up the radio rights for the team in some fashion. Sister WWGK/1540 "Cleveland's ESPN Radio 1540" may help relieve scheduling for day and weekend games.

The Cavaliers "family" on the radio side would be Clear Channel talk WTAM/1100, the Cavaliers' radio flagship, but it's hard to see WTAM making room for minor league hockey - even for a team owned by the Cavaliers' owner. The station's "all the balls" schedule is already stacked up...