We're not sure if that means anything - if the presence of Levine in that time slot one week after WJW/8 "FOX 8" sports anchor Tony Rizzo means that new WKNR owner Craig Karmazin wants to hear a rotation of possible future WKNR hosts for himself.Or, it could be nothing more complicated than tapping some local sports media veterans to hang out on the radio on a Saturday morning.
It would appear to mean, for now, that the rotation of young producers/hosts that formerly occupied the time slot is done.
It's not the first time Levine's been heard on WKNR, of course, but all of it was before Karmazin announced his purchase of the station that has been owned by Salem.
The FOX Sports Net Ohio personality, seen weeknights on Time Warner Cable Cleveland channel 15 on his "More Sports and Les Levine", was on WKNR regularly via FSN Ohio's "Cleveland Rants" simulcast with the sports talk station during the Cleveland Indians season.
And we seem to remember that WKNR briefly aired Levine's Internet-based "Sports Club" show, in a delayed time slot - 6-7 PM.
By the way, it would appear that the rumors we've heard are correct, and that "Rants" will return - with Levine - for the upcoming Indians season.
To that end, Akron Beacon Journal sports media writer George M. Thomas reports that former WKNR host Kendall Lewis - now doing middays at SportsTalkCleveland.com - has been talking with FSN Ohio about joining Levine this year on "Cleveland Rants". (Read the rest of the article, too...it's a good one.)
And we've heard in rumorland that if Lewis does join up with Levine, it won't return him to the WKNR airwaves. We've heard since nearly the end of the show's first season that it would likely be TV-only for 2007...
Other WKNR-related items:
COSTAS MOVES: OMW hears that the station's schedule change on Saturday mornings, including the 7-9 AM time slot for "The Golf Show" and the move of the "Saturday Morning Sports Show" to 9-noon, have meant a new time slot for Premiere syndicated host Bob Costas. "Costas on the Radio" will air Sundays from 8-10 AM.
SALE APPROVED: We went into the FCC online database, and found that the sale of WKNR to Good Karma was officially approved by the FCC on January 24th. (For those playing at home, "Caron Broadcasting" is a Salem Communications license subsidiary.)
Of course, the company must close on the station and officially file that closure with the FCC. It's kind of a moot point here, since Good Karma has been operating WKNR in an LMA since the very day the sale was announced.
STUDIOS: An OMW spy in Downtown Cleveland tells us that the future studio space for WKNR and Good Karma sister sports WWGK/1540 is marked by a sign for "Cleveland's ESPN Radio 1540" and a "Coming Soon!" sign.
As reported a while ago, the studios will be on the first floor of the Galleria at Erieview shopping/office complex a short drive away from Cleveland Browns Stadium. The Good Karma space will be at the east end of the complex at East 12th Street.
So far, we're told it appears no construction has begun, at least yet. (And the presence of only the "Cleveland's ESPN Radio 1540" logo tells us that the sign likely went up before Good Karma announced the purchase of WKNR from Salem.)
We're told by our downtown spy that the space appears basically unchanged from what appears to be a previous life as a craft or flower shop...but we're sure that'll change as the year goes on...
19 comments:
Uh, yeah....good luck with that GOLF SHOW. Ha ha ha. WKNR might as well just air silence, because they're wasting their breath with that snoozefest.
For fans of high school sportstalk (you know, the hundreds of thousands of us who actually watch, play or have family involved)...our only local show has been shipped over to 1540, Sat. from 8-10am. I guess it can also be heard online.
This, as well as Karmazin's screwing with the Sat. morning hosts, is his worst mistake since taking over the Cleveland station.
Thanks for the reminder, by the way.
There's now a prominent placement for "The High School Sports Show" on the ESPNCleveland.com site.
What there isn't, as of this writing, is a link to listen to it online. Mr. Isabella mentioned on his last WKNR show that listening online would be possible.
The "Listen Live" link points to ESPN Radio's national website.
It's possible WWGK will do what they did shortly before Tony Rizzo hosted that Ohio State-Michigan preview show - put up a link right before the show.
Didn't WKNR at one time have two Golf Shows on? What were they thinking there? Talk about boring.
Talking about Golf is almost as boring as watching it on TV.
The ESPN 1540 listen live link in the upper right part of the page works. Jim Isabella's show is available live right now by clicking on that link.
Incidentally, I tried tuning in 1540 AM on the radio this morning down here in North Canton and could not receive it - that signal is non-existant down here. Stark County high school sports fans are going to have to dial in the show via the internet.
I like Les...Enjoyed his work with Booms a few years ago.
Kendall Lewis on "Rants" talking baseball? That is like listening to George W talk about the war, the guy has no clue.
Les was great this morning. I'd love to hear him everyday and put the regular saturday morning hosts back in their time slot.
Les Levine is a no-talent has been. I don't understand people's infatuation with him. He's horrible. Sadly though, he is an upgrade over the 'KNR board op/producer rotation that had been on Saturday mornings. Here's hoping Craig Karmazin doesn't fall into the same old trap that past Cleveland Sports Radio programmers fall into...hire a "blast from the past" for the sake of pleasing a few people.
"Rants" makes absolutely no sense as a TV show. There is nothing visual about it. It is a radio show with a camera--a camera that captures nothing worth looking at.
What happened to 'KNR's Sunday morning show 'Inside the Great Outdoors' from 7 to 9 ?
For the anonymous person who bashed rants as a television show...have you been outside of this market? True, it's not exactly visually stimulating, however, Mike and the Mad Dog is a stable of the "YES" network in and around New York. It's literally two cameras and two guys doing a radio show.
Great outdoors is now on from 7-8 on Sundays.
To SportsboyTony...are you ACTUALLY going to compare Les and Rants to Mike and the Maddog??? I'll assume you know better...
Those "two guys" have the best show in America.
I enjoyed Les Levine on the radio. He is far superior to Greg Brinda. I say get rid of Brinda and put Kenny on middays and give Les the Afternoon drive with his sidekick Pat McCabe. Bring back the How Come Quickies!
Yes, Tony, I have heard Mike & Mad Dog on WFAN. It's a good radio program but I wouldn't sit in front of the television to watch it.
I also want to hear Les Levine on in afternoon drive. Les always had many great guests on during "the coveted 5pm hour"
Levine's "Gimmeahowcomequickie" was the reason I preferred to listen to Sindelar in PM drive.
Now I don't much care who talks sports in that time because I'm listening to Medved or Hannity.
Wow..medved and hannity, there's some original conservative radio. How many different ways do you need to hear "Liberals = bad" within a 24 hour day? I love how people need to be spoonfed their talking points. Les is vastly more entertaining.
To anonymous above I agree I would much rather listen to How come Quickies than Republican talking points in afteroon drive.
Post a Comment