We actually got a tip to this earlier, but hadn't gotten around to posting until now...just two hours before the show airs.
WNEO/45-WEAO/49 "PBS 45 & 49" will air a special tonight, Tuesday, at 9 PM titled "Akron, Ohio: The City Where Commercial Television News Went Black".
We'll presume it delves, in-depth, into the saga most of our readers probably know well...the end of local news on then-ABC affiliate WAKC/23 (nee' WAKR-TV), which eventually got sold to the PAX TV folks and was stripped of its news and ABC affiliation.
The saga continued, as with help from the city of Akron, local over-air TV news was reborn as "PAX 23 News", produced by WKYC/3 from a new bureau in the heart of downtown Akron.
That newscast went off the over-air signal last year, when PAX TV's agreement with WKYC parent Gannett Broadcasting (and many other companies running PAX affiliates) ended.
And to complete the story, of course, the newscast still airs on cable on Time Warner Cable channel 23 - or channel 15 in some of the western Akron suburbs on systems formerly owned by Adelphia.
And to close all the loose ends, WKYC/3 Akron-Canton Bureau chief Eric Mansfield, who helms the "Akron/Canton News" operation on TWC as anchor, is also the newly minted host of... 45/49's own "NewsNight Akron" weekly news roundtable discussion program.
Whew. We trust it's all covered in the PBS 45 & 49 special, and in case you miss it, it'll re-air at 3 AM Saturday, July 14th. Now, THAT time calls for a "DVR Alert"...
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
47 comments:
I have often wished that WAKR would have kept it's ABC affiliation, as there were lots of times that WEWS would have a Billy Graham special on or other alternative program in the prime time hour and WAKR would have the ABC regularly scheduled program.
eric mansfield is good, but how about some african-american representation? i am sure there has be to some black talent somewhere that 45 could have at least looked at for their newsnight program, especially since the content is usally lilly white. this is a public television station? where is the diversity?
maybe eric mansfield applied for the job and he was the most qualified
your post shows contempt for the marketplace and how it works, implying some sort of racism with no basis for your almost slanderous attack against the station
i am not a supporter or fan of government television but to imply they are racist, which you have done is a travesty
Wasn't Mizell Stewart a regular panelist on that 45/49 show for a long time before he left Akron? He is African-American.
not implying racism, implying consideration. did the station reach out to any minorities? was mansfield the only one they sought? i harbor no ill feelings toward mansfield, nor the station. i only want the station, and others, to open their minds and their opportunities. and, i don't have contempt for the marketplace. in fact, if market forces were fully considered, the akron/canton n.e. ohio region has a substantial minority population that should be served along with other demographics. your comment should have taken that into consideration. and every time that someone raises the question, they are not automatically racist.
It is a fair question to ask about minority representation in the area's media. Asking about it, as anonymous said, is not accusing. We who are not minorities should be more sensitive to this whole issue, and not be so quick to criticize anyone for posing the question.
While the posts are hitting on the race issue...it was too bad to see that the show didn't hit on some of 23's other highlights including the music video show "Music Magazine" hosted by Billy Soule. For those of us who didn't have cable tv way back when, this was our source for music videos.
I think 23's problem was having a news program that looked like they were broadcasting from 1950's TV...shoddy graphics, weather maps that were just awful, etc. I've seen high school TV productions that were done better. I assume a lot of the problems was because there wasn't enough money to properly produce a TV new program.
What a disappointing report! I'll admit to a serious nose-out-of-joint over ignoring radio (hello?) for a subject ripe for serious discussion but a rehash of the same story, just with better use of WAKC and WAKR-TV archive tape?
Little mention of radio beyond the Mayor's assertion that nobody in Akron listens to Akron radio? Perhaps the reporter could have checked the Arbitron ratings; Akron listening is still skewed local with WNIR, WQMX, WKDD, WONE, WHLO, WAKR and WARF and WKSU.
Nice trip down memory lane but lacking in interviews with ad agencies, media buyers from local groups, even time spent with WEWS or Fox 8 bureaus besides WKYC's largest footprint in Akron).
Nothing from Time Warner Cable on the nature of their relationship with WKYC, little attempt to break down actual viewership trends geographically.
The Beacon Journal's done a better job of reporting on television than this television program.
I always found it amazing that the Berk family held on to WAKR-TV/WAKC as long as it did. Even when WAKR-AM's money was the only thing keeping the TV station afloat.
Yes, they were one of the first stations in the area to broadcast in stereo. But aside from that, WAKC could only do what it could, given the financial, logistical and economic circumstances. One can relate to outdated equipement and a sense of perpetually being "behind the times" in comparison to all the Cleveland stations.
The off-network programming situation by the early 90s wasn't that good either, as WAKC only was able to air syndicated shows no one else wanted to. Try "Bewitched," "Gimme A Break," "The Partridge Family" and "The Brady Bunch." In the early evening hours.
If WAKC had been sold to anyone else other than either ValueVision or Paxson, the situation would never have been that bad. Neither one had any background in traditional broadcast stations, and it really showed.
Sad to say, but if anyone else (even Raycom!) bought them instead, the situation could have been a bit different. But maybe not: the Berk family may have stipulated that the buyer keep the station an Akron one, which isn't HARD to think about as 23 would have been a nice move-in to the market. So WAKC may have been in a lose-lose situation.
Now, wouldn't it be nice if 23 reverted back to the way it once was - an ABC affil with local news? Yes, without a doubt - and it would be kinda kitchy at that. But it will never be. The reasons that WAKC was essentially killed were multifold, and it will never be brought back.
- Nathan Obral
I would have liked to have seen more from former WAKR/WAKC employees.
Seeing this show, we definitely need another Akron newscast. Just a thought, WKYC/Ganett should make a deal with WBNX and Angeley(similar to the agreement with the PAX network). WBNX would be a good choice because Angeley would be easier to work with than a big company. WKYC could help set up his religious digital subchannel in exchange for the 10pm timeslot on WBNX. And with the CW network coming up in the ratings and WBNX's high ratings, the news would have a good lead in. WBNX has offices in Akron and they even have Akron mentioned in their legal ID. Both stations are 1080i HD, which would be better than the analog channel on cable, plus its not good to rely on Time Warner, since everyone does not have cable. WBNX is about the closest thing Akron has to a major TV network(the TV station and church are on State Road).
The report made the point, made the point, made the point. It was tedious, the writing was clumsy and interviews scarce. Whole thing could have been done in 30 minutes, and done well. But it was not. perhaps that is the point: Akron newscast didn't make it because it, too, was done poorly. A parallel here.
I liked the special but it got me to thinking why couldn't Akron-Canton be its own market but realized that thanks to in part the Youngstown TV market, that could not happen. Before you throw stones, think of this.
In the 50's and 60's, before they figured out how to calculate Summit and Stark county for ratings purposes and the ADI, Youngstown had 3 or 4 stations depending on the year you are looking at. Since Youngstown is 65 miles from Cleveland, I assume they felt Youngstown needed to become its own market since it is not as close and reception is less than perfect.
Now if Youngstown did not have 21,27,33, and brief indeopendent 45 in the 50's and 60's, then there could of been a shot of Akron-Canton becoming its own market, but since Youngstown was just far enough away, and had 3 network stations by 1960, and Akron was within 35 miles of Cleveland, Akron-Canton got stuck with Cleveland.
Even if Akron was a little farther south, I don't think ABC,NBC, and CBS would have wanted viewers being split on three different stations since that would leat to confusion and lower ratings for each of the three stations.
Keep this is mind also. Many in the media, and ad business look at market numbers and how big the overall area is, and the less eyeballs you have means the smaller you are which in turn makes you less attractive to more ad dollars, and more attention from the money makers, which means a station could lose revune which does not help the bottom line.
If Cleveland takes a big dip in market numbers, it will make all of Ne Ohio look small and less attractive to an outsider who would want to be apart of this region.Trust me if you go from market 17 to market 27, it will affect the bottom line for all of us.
If Akron-Canton was its own market at the dawn of television, based on the regional economy and market conditions that NE Ohio is facing today, it more than likely ben dissolved into the Cleveland market.
This is why I beleive that if the networks had their way the Youngstown TV market would have been split up and the Youngstown stations would have been either repeaters of the Cleveland stations, home shoppers, religious, or Spanish stations.
This special did open the eyes up on how different Cleveland, Akron, and Canton are and how being one area tied together with shared Tv stations does not bring the area as a whole together.
But my question is why doesn't NE Ohio have a regional news channel? Most other areas have one, so why not us? If Time Warner and WKYC was smart, take the current channel Akron/Canton news is on, add rebroadcast of ch 3's newscasts, in addition to weather plus, and place it on all of the Time Warner systems in addition to ch 3's subcarrier and make a go at it? It would not really cost that much, and they would be serving a much wider audience and would give a local 24 hour news choice.
When it comes to the ch 23 of the mid 80's to its end in the 90's, the off network programming was indeed rejected programming like the Dukes of hazzard, slimer and the real ghostbusters, jem, Hill Street Blues,and first run talk show the Shriley show in addition to what was listed. But I think had ch 23 attepmpted to get better shows, that would not of helped seal the outcome of ch 23.
Since in the early 90's you has WOAC,WBNX,WUAB, and WOIO having more time to fill, it was difficult for ch 23 to purshase the rights to a program that was worth a damn, let alone afford it in the first place.
But what if the new world swap would of occured in 1990 instead of 1994? Would the Berk family considered taking CBS for the Cleveland market and creating news for both Akron and Cleveland? If ch 23 was anywhere near the table during the big swap of 1994, it could of been ch 23 being CBS and not WOIO. But since value vision (now shop NBC) had access to the station, that was out of the question since that like PAX had other plans.
I don't think the Berk family would of stipulated that ch 23 would be required to air an Akron newscast for the simple reason that if they were offered enough money I think they would have looked the other way and sold out.But since they sold to valuevision, who sold it to Paxxon, the news could of ended very quickly.
But had that been apart of the contract, it would of been very simple to do a 5 PM Cleveland newscast, a 5:30 PM Akron newscast or give equal time for both Akron and Cleveland and make everyone happy.
As for WBNX airing a 10 PM Akron news, don't count on it. Since WBNX is the offical home of the CW in Cleveland, if they air a news at 10 PM, it will be geared towards Cleveland and not Akron.
But I don't think thay want to air a news at all whether they produced it in house or purshased one from ch 3 or 5. If they wanted a 10 PM news, they would have already had one, but if you go to their front page of their website it does say you home for news, weather, entertainment, and sports so you never know what their plans are.
I have yet to see the special (I have it dvr'ed for late Friday night's airing.) I had in my Cleveland Classic Media Blog a May entry about Old FCC NE Ohio TV applications that never got built in the 1950's and 60's, as well as channerl allocations. Among these was a WMAC-TV 23-In Massillon..I plan probably in August to put out my idea for a Akron-Canton Market based on these applications on the Blog..
http://clevelandclassicmedia.blogspot.com/2007/05/what-might-have-been-in-northern-ohio.html
Quick mention:I have Video of a Christmas Eve 1977 News Center 8 6PM Newscast featured
in my blog curently from Google Video. This is the whole Newscast in one file..Commercials, promos and all..Interesting look at a different time at channel 8:
http://clevelandclassicmedia.blogspot.com/
I don't know why this area ever had--or needed--two ABC stations. Why ABC? Why don't all networks have two affiliates everywhere?
In this instance, It goes back to The early history of TV in Cleveland. At the time WAKR-TV 49 came on the air in early 1953 Channel 5 was CBS and WXEL Channel 9 was DuMont/ABC. UHF ststions could not survive without a network affiliation in that era. Channel 3 (NBC of course) and 5 covered Akron very well while WXEL's signal may not have been as strong. ABC was the 3rd/4th place network and would normally take any station that would take them, though for a number of years, WAKR did not carry anywhere near a full ABC schedule..Airing Local prime time movies and local shows instead..
Ch 23's newscasts looked second rate compared to 3, 5, 8, and even 43's 10 o'clock news in the beginning.
WAKR/WAKC wanted to be thought of as big-time, but always wound up looking small time.
I know some liked the more homey feel of Ch 23 News, but with the big 3 (later 4) newscasts in C-Town to compare it to, it just didn't measure up.
And please get it out of your heads about WBNX doing an Akron Newscast.
Ch 55's City of License may be in The Rubber City, but they (like Akron licensed radio station WAKS-Kiss 96.5) make no bones about the fact they they consider themselves and promote themselves as Cleveland stations.
And when watching that special last night, did you get the feeling that Ch 23 was whining about their plight?
"It was that mean old Arbitron's fault for lumping us with Cleveland!"
"It was that mean old Ronald Reagan's fault for deregulating the broadcasting industry!"
23 just was not that good of a station.
Who produced this show?
I saw a promo, but couldn't watch.
--newsnomore
I thought I saw something that Ohio U. had a hand in producing this.
It would explain a lot, because this show looked like a college production.
It was produced and hosted by Cheri Russo from WOUB News. So Ohio University or WOUB-TV would have info. In fact you can visit their web site at: www.woub.org/tv/video-akrontv-doc.html for info.
(A simple google check is all it took to find this info)
A simple yahoo check had this info as well. how come no one does a yahoo search?
I would not rule out WBNX. I'm sure that Ernie has considered doing a newscast, but it never happened because(like Eric Mansfield even said) it takes alot of time and money to produce a newscast. As good as WBNX is doing, they dont have the resources to do it. A duopoly would help their station. Some work needs to be done to the Akron Canton News, like a new set and maybe a co-anchor and more reporters. Having 10pm news for an hour would make another hour to sell local commercials. A newscast would get more viewers that reruns of Friends. I've always wondered why WBNX does not do news, and now their page banner says local news weather and sports(wbnx.com has a much better website than WUAB)
Viewed the trailer...
yep, college production.
not bad though..for college. Wish we did that stuff when I was in school.
Thanks for the link.
-newsnomore
Speaking of news, whatever happened to that supposed HD conversion at WOIO? I remember reading here around the beginning of this year that they were going to do it in June, but that sounded impossible. Any updates?
WBNX may well do news someday, but as has been mentioned earlier, they are a Cleveland station in all ways except on their FCC license.
They aren't going to do an Akron specific newscast.
55 wants to be a big boy TV station, so if they do news, it would be Cleveland based and Cleveland focused with some Akron tidbits thrown in as garnish.
Regarding the late WAKC/WAKR; whatever became of its news archives? Did they get tossed out the door along with the newsroom staff? I've also wondered the same thing about footage from WJAN and WOAC in Canton.
The news archives were donated to the Univ of Akron's library. I see a lot of firm opinions here concerning the operation of the early TV23 based on information that is incorrect. The syndicators of barter programs wouldn't place them on 23 saying that it wasn't a true Cleveland station. The syndicators that expected cash for programs said that since 23 was a Cleveland station, they should pay full price for the shows. That was often tens of thousands of dollars per episode! Too steep for a small market station--- and that's what 23 truly was. If it were move away from the Cleveland DMA, it would be somewhere just below top 50, I believe. In order to buy programming, we went to the other stations and asked them to release shows that they had "on the shelf" and never planned to air. Or, tried to convince the syndicators that placing the program with 23 first then, if it was a good as they it was, the Cleveland stations would still buy it. It worked a few times. 23 was a "starter" station... hiring former interns just out of college... that's what they could afford. The had some long time staff members that taught the newbies and helped them develop their talent. Most of the new folks moved on to larger markets then. Check out the staffs of the Cleveland stations... many are grads of TV23. Ted Henry, Mark Johnson are two that all see daily. Many behind the scenes as well. Some are now at CNN, producing the "Heroes", etc. There, I feel better.
Former 23 newspeople:
Carol Costello-CNN
Carole Sullivan-WKYC
Eric Mansfield-WKYC
Mark Nolan-WKYC
Mark Johnson-WEWS
Mike DiPasquale-WSVN/Miami
Len Rome-WYTV/Youngstown
Mike Snyder-WTAM
Laura Bailey-Buffalo TV
Dick Russ-WKYC
Tom Erickson-WNIR
Pat Kinnard-WAKR
Phil Ferguson-WNIR
Greg Saber-WTAM
No longer in biz:
Mark Williamson-City of Akron
Rich Barnett-Wadsworth Schools
Phil Hoffman-U of Akron
Joyce Johnson-U of Akron/ABJ
Lita Jensen-?
Joanna Porzak-?
Mindy McCortney-Infomercials in FLA
Rob Dumke-Summit Co.?
Don Ursetti-Summit Co?
Bob Jeffries-Attorney
RIP
Kenny Halterman
Jolly Jack Ryan
Fred Anthoney
Bill McKay
Ron Edwards
MIA
Patty Patang, anchor
Debbie Cutter, anchor
Barb Compton, rep;orter
Carl Dickens, news director
Marcie Messet, anchor
Tom Shay, anchor/reporter
My brain is tired...please fill in the blanks.
I know in doing Retro-Schedules on the Radio Boards lately, The name Bob Wylie comes up as doing sports..He was there a long time and passed away in the last couple years. Also someone in the 50's by the name of Bill Murphy..Dont know anything about him..And while he was not on the "News Team" per se..PBA founder Eddie Elias had a weekly or twice weekly sports show called "Trophy Room" In the late 1950's
Tim:
I knew Bob Wylie. I think he just did play by play for high school football and basketball on WAKR radio.
I think he also did radio sales at WAKR radio.
Don't remember him on the TV side.
Frank DeMarco is another WAKR-TV (and radio) alum. Don't know where he is now. Kent State maybe??
--newsnomore
Frank DeMarco had done Cleveland State games for WKNR for a few years until last year when current radio voice and STO Indians pre/post game host Al Palowski took over.
Where Frank is now, I have no idea.
Ummm.... Hey Ed Esposito.... The show was exactly what it claimed to be: A look at Akron television and how tv in the city died because of the way ratings are done; and the influence the Cleveland tv market has on tv in Akron. It did not claim to be about radio - and it wasn't. It barely mentioned newspapers - but the concentration was on TV not radio.
Perhaps you should concentrate on your area of knowledge, which is radio, and let others do the same with theirs. If this is indeed a 'subject ripe for serious discussion' perhaps you could do so on WAKR-1590 instead of complaining about how others do their stories.
Re: WAKC/WAKR alums.
How could you all forget Billy Soule??
A few of us still remember Billy as the host of a fine afternoon music video program, among other things. He now works in the mayor's office in Akron.
I was just listing news people.
We've really enjoyed the discussion here.
It brings us back to memories of our childhood, where we managed to get not one, but two tours of the WAKR-TV/WAKC-TV news operation.
The first was when we were about 8 years old. We have few memories of that, but have seen pictures later.
The second was many years later, when we were graciously given a tour thanks to Mark Williamson, long-time WAKC "23 Newsday" anchor and news director. We called up the station, literally out of nowhere, and got Mark...who was probably thrilled that someone expressed interest in the operation.
Those were the days when the "23 Newsday" set was oval, with a what-looked-to-be papier mache floating oval object hanging above the main set.
Weather anchor Jack Ryan was off on his own heavily-shag-carpeted island with an oval weather map that flipped around between an Ohio weather map and a national one.
Ah, the days!
Anyway, since then, we did catch this special, and yes, it looks like basically a televised college thesis - though done well enough, by the excellent Ohio University communications program.
And to clarify earlier comments, it appears Akron Mayor Don Plusquellic was not lamenting that "no one listens to radio" (hi, Tom Erickson!), but that the local radio audience is fragmented among several stations, each getting less than a certain share, and many in Cleveland.
As far as radio information goes, the entire story gave short shrift to the fact that Akron is served quite well in this category of "local radio"... not only by Mr. Erickson's employer, which runs local news 6 AM to 7 PM and local talk all day through the end of his show, but by the Rubber City Radio group's newsroom and even what WHLO/640 gets from local anchor Tom Duresky and reporter Greg Saber, who's often in Akron and Canton for stories of regional interest.
Is it the same as a full market of three competing TV newsrooms? Well, no.
But...
One point that was glossed over in the show in question: It's not just that Akron is roughly 35 miles from Cleveland.
It's that Akron is roughly 20 miles from the full-power transmitters for the Cleveland market stations, which are in the general area of Parma. The RF from those transmitters bathes most of greater Akron in a "grade A" signal.
THAT is what made Akron and nearby Canton unable to survive as a separate market. It's different than Dayton and Cincinnati, which are a little farther apart...
We'll keep this one open for comments the rest of the weekend, since the repeat aired Saturday morning, then close it on Monday.
--The Management
No list of 23 alumni would be complete without Jim Kambrich. He's still in the business as an achor in Albany, NY. Still the funniest man I've ever met in TV News. Here's a link:
http://wnyt.com/article/stories/S98094.shtml?cat=10265
Some forgotten names...
Former news boss Bob "Juggler" Tayek is a spokesperson for the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland.
Former news assignment desk person Tim "Coleman Cooler" Culek's whereabouts are unknown.
Former news producer Pamela Dennis, I think, went to Youngstown tv.
I think former local legendary weather forecaster Bob Alto went into retirement. Bob was one of the nicest guys around.
OMW-
You are probably the best one to ask this question to:
If 23 had decided to dump ABC earlier then what they did, and go independent with a Cleveland tinge, would they (and their newscasts) had survived?
As they were, 23 always came off looking like Ch 5's "little brother" with the ABC affiliation.
Instead of trying to compete with the big dogs (3, 5, and 8), if 23 had decided to focus on going after the pre-CBS 19, 43, 55, and pre-home shopping 61, then I feel they (with their newscasts) may even still be going today.
I use 55 as an example, instead of being thought of as Ernest Angley's little rinky-dink AKRON station, they set their sights north and are now thought of as an integral CLEVELAND station
What say you?
P.S. Keep up the good work.
Perhaps you missed the coverage on WAKR of "Radio Wars" in 2004 which did exactly that (and won an SPJ award in the process) as well as coverage of the contiued efforts by local TV broadcasters to present a product aimed at Akron viewers, as well as open discussions with not only TV and radio but also newspaper journalists on coverage of major stories. Sorry you missed it...and the point of my post.
"Ummm.... Hey Ed Esposito.... The show was exactly what it claimed to be: A look at Akron television and how tv in the city died because of the way ratings are done; and the influence the Cleveland tv market has on tv in Akron. It did not claim to be about radio - and it wasn't. It barely mentioned newspapers - but the concentration was on TV not radio.
Perhaps you should concentrate on your area of knowledge, which is radio, and let others do the same with theirs. If this is indeed a 'subject ripe for serious discussion' perhaps you could do so on WAKR-1590 instead of complaining about how others do their stories.
8:33 PM"
hey ed.. wow… your last post seems like you have a bit of TV envy. please settle down and have a little bit more of a civilized discussion. while I am sure that your "Radio Wars" coverage was stellar... but if a tree falls in the forest and no one hears the radio special...did it really happen?
as for the documentary... I agree with the earlier poster who said this story did exactly what it claimed to do... gave a solid look at the loss of local TV in Akron. I thought the production was good, not spectacular but good... and far better than a college production...I mean when is last time someone on here has seen a college production?
Also Ed, I have worked in and around the biz for a number of years and your complaints are pretty similar to those of other radio guys...always getting mad about not being included at the big table with other local broadcast media, like TV affiliates. Radio has its place in every market but it does not make up for the presence of a TV news product. sorry Ed... this special had nothing to do with radio and I thought it was done very well and was thought provoking...
Anon at 9:06 said: "this is a public television station? where is the diversity?"
So what if it's a public television station? That has no bearing. If you want diversity, then how about some African-Americans who are WORTHY of the position -- and not just placed there to meet an EOE requirement, which has been typical for years.
Anon at 10:02, how about actually getting off your backside and looking at their applications. You're making accusations you are unable to substantiate. So how about shutting up and looking for yourself. Good Lord. Freaking whiners.
I have just weighed in with some thoughts on the Special..with speculation on a potential "Akron-Canton TV Market" on my Cleveland Classic Media Blog.
http://clevelandclassicmedia.blogspot.com/2007/07/akron-canton-television-market-my.html
Well Ed.... If you did this - great - congrats on your award. Why are you complaining about what someone else did - when they said they were specifically focusing on television - and then they did just that?!
One could only believe after reading this quote in your first post - 'I'll admit to a serious nose-out-of-joint over ignoring radio (hello?) for a subject ripe for serious discussion.' - that you wanted to generate this discussion. If you already did - great - why complain about the way others approach their story? They did it their way - you did it yours. You won an award so someone thought yours was good. I think this one was good to... Sorry it didn't focus on radio - but that doesn't make it a bad special. I would hope - someone with your expected knowledge of new judgement could see that.
Ed Esposito wrote -
"Perhaps you missed the coverage on WAKR of "Radio Wars" in 2004 which did exactly that (and won an SPJ award in the process) as well as coverage of the contiued efforts by local TV broadcasters to present a product aimed at Akron viewers, as well as open discussions with not only TV and radio but also newspaper journalists on coverage of major stories. Sorry you missed it...and the point of my post."
IMO, the best way to get Akron news would be a low power station that could afford a few people to be a news department. Unfortunately, there isn't a low power network that covers both Akron and Canton (WIVM and its repeaters barely hit southern Summit, and WAOH barely makes it into Stark).
Post a Comment