Three Thursday Things

Some stuff that's been hanging around and really, really needs to be freed:

DIRECTOR'S CUT: As an OMW reader, you're probably used to a look "inside" various local radio and TV operations, usually involving talent moves or other station changes.

You can't get any more "inside" one local TV station without showing up on their doorstep, thanks to a relatively new blog.

WKYC/3 senior producer/director Frank Macek's "Director's Cut" is must reading for those who want to know all the details of why things happen at the local NBC affiliate.

Among recent items: The actual workings of what it takes for the station's recent graphics package upgrade to work, questions and answers about the technical and behind-the-scenes workings at "Channel 3 News" and even a news item about the upcoming switch of NBC Nightly News' studio to HDTV.

It's well worth a visit, and we'll find a place for it as a permanent link sometime in the very near future!

And reading Frank's bio on his profile page, we know why his name sounds familiar. He's had past stints in Cleveland radio, including on-air stints at the WDOK, WNWV and the old WRMR.

At WKYC, Frank is responsible for directing all of the stations' evening newscasts (6, 7 and 11 PM), as well as the 6:30 and 10 PM editions of the WKYC-produced "Akron/Canton News" on Time Warner Cable 23...

STOP 26 STOPPED: The takeover of the former Stop 26 Riverbend Productions stations in Columbus and Youngstown by Bernard Radio LLC has been approved by the FCC, as of late last month.

In the Youngstown market, that includes gospel WGFT/1330, urban talk WGFT/1500 and urban AC WRBP/101.9. And in Columbus, that includes Spanish language WVKO-FM/103.1 and the currently silent WVKO/1580.

It's the latter station getting our attention...for now that Bernard Radio has taken it over, the company has restarted the process of trying to land a new transmitter site for 1580 AM. The bankruptcy trustee operating the station in the transition took it off the air last May, due to finances and the station's impending loss of its then-current site.

An OMW reader passes along an article a week ago in "ThisWeek", a suburban Columbus newspaper.

After getting approval last fall by Columbus City Council for a new facility on Morse Road, and securing that site from a local redevelopment agency, WVKO must now get a building permit approved for the towers planned for that site.

Bradley Scher, the aforementioned trustee, tells the newspaper that the station hopes to be on the air sometime this year, but gives no indication of the format for 1580's return.

Before all this happened, the station aired a mix of gospel music and urban talk and information, along with being the home station for the Columbus Clippers AAA baseball team...

WHILE WE'RE IN COLUMBUS: Electronically, that is, local radio watchers there have been buzzing about the 80's music format that's camped out on new non-comm station WHKC/91.5, which first lit up its construction permit back in December.

Is the 80's music format the permanent choice for WHKC owner Robb Case, a former local TV helicopter reporter?

He plays coy with Tim Feran at the Columbus Dispatch, in an article in Wednesday's newspaper.

New format-wise, Case hints at anything from an NPR-affiliated news/talk outlet with local drivetime shows, to a new place for Christian contemporary music now heard on WCVO/104.9 "The River". It would appear the 80's music is just a filler.

And like any good promoter, he asks listeners for suggestions on the station's new format, via E-Mail...

Feran's article also touches on an item we had here a while back, the proposed move of WJZK/104.3 Richwood to a new community of license of Grandview Heights...and Saga's proposed donation of WQEL/92.7 Bucyrus to the Bible Broadcasting Network, if FCC regulations do not allow Saga to keep it after the WJZK move...