Friday, February 23, 2007

A 'KNR Preview

As reported here earlier, WKNR/850 owner Craig Karmazin is expected to take to the airwaves of his Cleveland sports station today to announce a new on-air lineup - scheduled to begin Monday.

We have a little more information. A little.

OMW hears that there are "at least two major lineup changes" starting Monday on WKNR. We also hear that there is no expected job loss as a result of such changes.

And further, the moving of the chess pieces on 850 may also have an impact on Good Karma sister sports talk outlet WWGK/1540 "Cleveland's ESPN Radio 1540"...and we hear that there may well be much-anticipated changes in the on-air sound and imaging of WKNR itself.

We also hear that at least one long-rumored local sports media name may become a permanent, daily addition to the WKNR lineup.

Mr. Karmazin is expected to make the announcement today on the station's afternoon drive show with host Kenny Roda...

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

yesterday Brinda kept joking that the studio clock kept reading 7am. Maybe that was a hint.

If so...bad idea. Czabe is a much better show.

Anonymous said...

Listen.

Are those crickets chirping?

Is it still considered an "announcement" if nobody is there to hear it, Craig?

Anonymous said...

KNR has just announced that Mike and Mike will be on 6 to 10 AM on "ESPN 850".

1540 will take the slogan "KNR 2".

Anonymous said...

Czaban was so, so much better. Mike and Mike is like an old vaudeville act gone bad.

Anonymous said...

should have stuck with Czabe...guess it's back to the "magic radio, 142" for me.

So does this mean Brinda is cut back to 2 hrs? That may be good news, A show that length would be good for Greg.

Hope Craig has better news for listeners at 4pm.

Anonymous said...

It has also been announced that Craig Karmazin will be hosting on WKNR 850 tomorrow morning 9-12 at Mentor Mitsubishi. Callers can discuss the KNR changes at that time..

Anonymous said...

Couldn't agree more that Czaban was much more listenable than M&M. Hopefully he is moved to 1540 or we will be forced to listen to him on the Kent "powerhouse" 1520.

Anonymous said...

What the FRAK is Karmazin's infatuation with Mike & Mike? Steve Czaban was such an upgrade! I used to listen to Steve ALL THE TIME when he was on late-nights. Maybe he can be utilized in that role again. I did not listen to Steve in the mornings, simply because I need "local" news & sports to start the day.

If Brinda returns to A.M. Drive Time, I will return to WKNR.

Anonymous said...

What is essentially happening is that WKNR will be the main ESPN affiliate in town airing all of ESPN's primetime stuff like MLB and NBA coverage and all 4 hours of Mike and Mike.

They won't mess with Jim Rome or Kenny Roda, so all of the ESPN stuff that doesn't air on 850 (The Herd, Dan Patrick) will air on 1540, so they will still have clearance in Cleveland.

Outside of Steve Cszaban (who was OK but no hall of famer), there was nothing on Fox Sports that was worthwhile, so it's no big deal that they're gone.

Anonymous said...

...and when did they stop letting Eddie Mularz intro the morning updates and traffic?

Anonymous said...

Eddie Mularz? Joe Announ-soor? Has it really come to this...broadcast school dropouts doing morning drive in a so-called major market?

Absolutely pathetic.

Anonymous said...

I like Fox Sports Radio's late night shows. It will be a shame if those go. ESPN All Night and The V Shows are snoozers. If I am trying to stay awake, I want something entertaining, not pre-recorded and dull.

Anonymous said...

Oh boy we are back to ESPN Radio on WKNR. Scores every 5 minutes and interviews for the rest of the time. Fox Sports Radio and Steve Czaban are so much better than ESPN and Mike and Mike.

Anonymous said...

A caller to Craig Karmazin said that they should have got rid of Greg Brinda. Amen to that. How he keeps his job is beyond me?

Anonymous said...

If Mike/Mike were so good why were they continually ranked as the 20th morning show in arbitron? I agree with the anonymous that said that Karmazin has an infatuation with Mike/Mike. This is typical of Cleveland radio. Bring back old has beens and then call it "Fresh". WKNR will be no better now than it was under Salem. Rizzo will say Weeeeeeeeeew for 2 hours and talk about golf. WKNR and WKNR will be cellar dwellers in the ratings as usual. Good job Good Karma!

Anonymous said...

Hey Eddie Mularz is the best announcer on WKNR he should have his own show

Anonymous said...

I give Craig credit at least he recognizes Bruce Drennan for the zero talent he is. I prefer Roda,Brinda,Rizzo anyday over Drennan. Thank you Craig for not subjecting us to Bruce Drennan again. Enough of him

Ohio Media Watch said...

Random thoughts:

I wouldn't expect Bruce Drennan back on 'KNR based upon a comment Craig Karmazin made on the Saturday show.

Someone asked him about Bruce, and Mr. Karmazin kept repeating: Drennan wasn't one of the highest rated shows in surveying. Drennan didn't rate among the top shows. Etc.

It sounded to us like he was ruling Drennan out. Similar questions about other hosts (Kendall Lewis, Les Levine, etc.) were answered quite differently.

Oh, and the new imaging voice is indeed the same voice now heard on 1540, but is not Jim Cutler (who is WTAM/1100's voice) - it's veteran sports radio imaging voice Paul Turner.

We'll put up another item sometime between now and Monday...we just wanted a bit of a "KNR Breather" with all the items up here now.

-The Management