Thursday, July 19, 2007

Quick Thursday Hits

We're back, after a brief pause, with some new items...

ANCHOR "ACTION": No, it doesn't involve WOIO/19 "19 Action News"' most controversial anchor, who was reported to be looking at a gig in Houston earlier. There's no word on that subject yet.

But we once again tip the hat to the folks at a popular TV news/gossip site for this item involving the Cleveland CBS affiliate.

NewsBlues reports that Tiffani Tucker, a "reporter and fill-in anchor" for FOX affiliate WSVN/7 Miami, is heading to Reserve Square to anchor the morning news.

NB doesn't address the other half, but OMW hears that means the contract of current "19 Action News" morning anchor Allison Alexander may not have been renewed...

FOX 8 SET: OK, so we'll admit that we had a big headache the night we first saw the new set of FOX O&O WJW/8 "FOX 8 News". (Maybe we should put that in vertically now, in honor of the station's new logo.)

But yes, it appears that they don't actually have a "weather center", yet...with forecasters standing either just outside the station's South Marginal Road studios, or if they're inside, only in front of the green screen.

And the weather segments continue to use the old graphics, with only a slight overlay on the newly updated graphics system that indicates what segment it is.

OMW hears that there will be a new "weather center", though we don't know when it will go in.

We're also wondering if WJW will debut it with an updated graphics package, to compete with the "HD" radar as part of the "Power of 5" (Five! Yes, FIVE National Weather Service radars scanning on one screen! Look! There's Fort Wayne!) on WEWS/5's "NewsChannel 5".

And while we're on the subject of South Marginal, a brief note since we haven't talked about it yet.

FOX owner News Corporation (Rupert Murdoch et al.) has a tentative agreement to purchase Dow Jones, owner of the Wall Street Journal. That happened earlier this week.

It's far from certain, though, as certain members of the family that controls Dow Jones and the WSJ are fighting to get the rest of the family to block the sale. With majority voting control of the company, that could spike the deal.

If the sale does go through, OMW has this "gut feeling" that FOX may hang onto WJW and at least one other larger market O&O, both put on the sales block presumably to help nudge along the WSJ/Dow Jones purchase.

That, though, is just a guess...

WOXY BACK ON THE AIR, IN A WAY: Iconic Cincinnati market alt-rocker WOXY, which once occupied the 97.7/Oxford frequency, is now heading back to the airwaves. Well, sort of.

WOXY, which decamped to the Internet only after its broadcast frequency was sold to First Broadcasting, will show up as an HD2 channel when NPR outlet WVXU/91.7 Cincinnati fires up its digital transmitter in a month or so.

It's an interesting pairing.

WVXU itself was once also an "eclectic" station when it was owned by Xavier University, before classical WGUC/90.9 bought the one-time home of the "X Star Network" and turned it into a pretty standard issue NPR news/talker.

This isn't the first time this sort of pairing has happened, though the one we're thinking about involves a station which never left the airwaves.

In the Baltimore MD area, Towson University AAA outlet WTMD/89.7 is relayed into the nearby Washington DC market on an HD subchannel of WAMU/88.5...

THE NEW WKNR STUDIOS ARE COMING: We still don't have a date on when Good Karma sports talk WKNR/850 "ESPN 850" and sister WWGK/1540 "KNR2" are headed for their new studios in downtown Cleveland.

But prompted by a recent on-air comment by mid-morning host Tony Rizzo - who was battling with the phones during his "Rizzo on the Radio" show at the time - we went up to the Galleria at Erieview and saw if we could scope out any progress.

Since our last visit, the space inside is now no longer visible, thanks to this new fronting, with large station logos and the message "Coming soon" painted on the fronting.

Before this was put up, the station put up computer-printed pages with the WKNR and WWGK logos and put them up in the window of the previous fronting.

We still expect the move from Broadview Road to happen by the end of the year. The antiquated equipment at WKNR's current location may not last that long...

29 comments:

Anonymous said...

WJW is not making drastic changes to the weather center, just minor changes according to a friend who works there...they don't need to "compete" with the "power of 5". WJW has Dick Goddard, WEWS has Mark Johnson..game over.

Anonymous said...

Aside from the fact that Dick Goddard's voice puts me immediately into the comatose-zone, how exactly is the "game over?" Maybe FOX figures that since people can't stay awake during ol' Dick's snoozefest, they don't have to worry about a weather set. I'll take Mark Johnson anyday.

Anonymous said...

Mark Johnson is the worst weatherman in the history of forecasting. He is chiken little anytime a rain drop falls he is interuppting programming. I remember one time he interuppted because of a thunderstorm in Boardman you know the suburb of Youngstown, which has 4 of their own TV stations to tell them about the news and weather in their town, plus you cannot even get Ch 5 in YTown. Dick Goddard is the best can't touch him, but Mark Johnson is the lowest of the low. I put him right down there where most of you put Sharon Reed.

Anonymous said...

Did anyone ever stop to think that maybe the management at WEWS has TOLD Mark to pump up weather?

I seem to recall that one of the reasons that Brad Sussman left TV5 was that he did not buy into the "weather alert" style. As a good employee, Mark is just following his marching orders.

Although we may not like a particular anchor and their style, it is the various station managers that dictate the style and tone of their "product." They sign the checks, and if you want to keep your job, you have to follow their orders.

So don't take your anger and frustration out on the on-air talent. It is the GM's and news directors who should feel your wrath. Brooke, John, Mike and Bill are the ones we should be talking about. They make the decisions and have the ultimate power to determine the tone and style of each anchor.

Just my two cents...

Anonymous said...

Dick Goddard is a great weatherman.. Go to youtube and search WJW. Age effects everyone.
His walk, voice and slowness in coming up with the words at the tip of the tongue may not be there. But, his accuracy, the love of weather, humans, and and animals are still there.
WJW, keep him on as long as he wants to stay.

~~ NPHSQUAKER

BTW THE LARGE SIZE OF THE FOX 8 NEWS LOGO ON THE LEFT SIDE OF THE SCREEN HAS TO BE REDUCED IN SIZE!!!

Anonymous said...

One of the most memorable weather interruptions in recent memory was not too long ago when at the time, Fox 8's A.J. Colby broke into the GAME ENDING PLAY of a Pittsburgh Steelers game to tell us about a weather advisory.

I think it was Pittsburgh against Atlanta. Fellow board readers, please help me out on this with more info.

Anonymous said...

Well, if they dump Allison, there goes all the viewers Fiction 19 News has in Wadsworth.

Anonymous said...

I agree, FOX 8 needs to reduce the size of the logo, it's almost as big as a Yugo...but not as flashy.

Rock said...

Yeah... the game ended up in a tie at 34-34. I remember watching the game, and the tone in AJ's voice changed. He had to be annoyed, because I remember him saying something about the HUGE rush of calls into the station. That was about the time I didn't care for him as a forecaster, not because of him doing his job, which I respect, but the way he sounded like an absolute A** on the air.

Anonymous said...

It's funny that 19 is willing to keep Sharon Reed from leaving but is willing to let Allison Alexander leave. That stinks.

I'm now assuming that Dan Salamone is bringing his own set off on-air personel for the station. Maybe he felt he could take the morning show in a different direction by replacing Allison.

I'm also surprised that he was quick to find a new female morning anchor considering it took months to find replacements for Ryan Andrews and Tiffany Burns.

First David Pingalore, now Allison, next is Tom Meyer (he's going to 3) and possibly Sharon? I wonder who else could be or is leaving. I wonder if David Wittman is still happy at 19 after he was moved to low-rated 10 p.m. newscast in favor of Paul Joncich.

This could be the start of the new regime at 19. As for Allison, maybe she can go to either 3 or 5 (Lorna Barrett is still a fill-in).

The one good thing about Tiffani Tucker (that's how her name is spelled on WSVN's website) is that she'll probably bring a new jolt of energy to 19 Action News This Morning. I'm guessing Tiffani will also do the noon news. Maybe 19 wanted someone to click better with Jeff Eliasoph and Tiffani is probably the one.

I wish Allison luck with her next career and Tiffani luck coming to 19.

Anonymous said...

As the 2 "Anonymous" quibblers at 9:09 and 9:16 keep going at each other, both seem to forget that viewers, for the most part, are not impressed with the high-tech toys the stations purchase.

It does not matter that someone on here thinks Goddard's voice puts them to sleep. What matters is to the viewer is CREDIBILITY & RELIABILITY. It's no different than news. Or when weather IS the news.

Anyone who's in this biz AND has a clue would know this. Oh yeah -- and some common sense. I guess that would exempt many of the people going back and forth like little girls. And most employed at 12th and Chester LOL. This is not rocket science.

Anonymous said...

Also, I noticed that old FOX8 logos are still being used in commercials for their syndicated shows and the transparent logo on during shows like Judge Judy is the old logo. Think these logos will be replaced, espesially the transparent one, it's big and outdated. Other cities have smaller versions of the new vertical logo.

And for Mark Johnson, he's insane. He cut into the series finale of Traveler last night around 10:40pm just to show off the ''Power of 5 HD'' and how it spotted some thunderstorms over the lake by Ashtabula. Channel 5 is insane with their weather coverage. I cant wait to see what is coming in the weather department over at FOX8, even Dick Goddard's dog is a better forecaster than Johnson

Anonymous said...

My personal preference for weather is Mark Nolan and Betsy Kling at Channel 3. They are top notch. I can take or leave AJ Colby. Hollie Strano is way too bubbly. Mark and Betsy are definetly top talent.

Anonymous said...

"Look out!!! A raindrop, the end is near"

Mark Johnson - 2007

Thanks for interrupting another show for usless info about a storm over water

Anonymous said...

Hey, NPHSQuaker, who is going to be hosting the new TV 2 morning shows down there in your area?

Anonymous said...

OMW-
The weather center showed up at the 6pm news last night and it looked exactly the same, unless a new weather center is being built somewhere else(in the other studio or maybe be added to the new set)
Old logos are still seen in some commercials, not unusual since they just switched this week(hope the transparent horizontal 'FOX8' logo on syndicated shows will go soon)

Anonymous said...

Maybe they havent finished updating the Fox 8 weather center because they're still trying to figure out a way for Dick Goddard to hurl lightning bolts at anyone who dares to even think of changing the channel.

Anonymous said...

WJW has Dick Goddard, who can't run a weather computer for...well, you know what.

and that new set is a piece of garbage. i was right, all flash.

Anonymous said...

Goddard doesnt need a weather computer, he's Dick freakin' Goddard. Cleveland's weather king..check the ratings for the past 40 years!

Anonymous said...

And check out much of the old "City Camera News" video on YouTube. It is kinda scary... and to the critics, his voice and demeanor haven't changed ONE BIT!

Also scary to remember that Dick's been through almost every phase of newscast at Channel 8 ("City Camera," "NewsCenter 8," "ei8ht is News," and "FOX 8 News"). He's outlasted all other stalwarts at the station: Howard Hoffman, Bob Cerminara, Neil Zurcher, and most notably, Big Chuck.

- Nathan Obral

Anonymous said...

I seem to remember that when I first moved here in the early 70's that Wally Kinan was the Big Cheese of the Cleveland weathermen and everyone talked about him then as they talk about Dick Goddard now.

Anonymous said...

Wally took over at Channel 3 when Westinghouse left for Phildadelphia. Dick Goddard's contract was with Westinghouse, so he couldn't stay with Channel 3.

NBC hired Wally to take over.

As soon as the contractual details were resolved, Goddard signed on with Channel 8 (City Camera).

I don't remember Wally as the "Big Cheese" here. I remember him as a very nice, competent guy who was never fully accepted in the wake of the big NBC-Westinghouse flap.

Tim Lones said...

I have a VHS Video of WKYC Channel 3:50 Golden Years,,The 50th anniversay of the station program from 1998.. In that program Dick Goddard tells that he actually tried to contact Wally Kinnan to see if there could be a deal worked out for Wally to stay in Philly and Dick at WKYC..But somehow they never made contact..

Anonymous said...

Anyone is better than Mark Johnson or Bubbly Strano doing the weather. Mark panics when a Cumulus cloud rolls over the area. And Bubbly is forever giggling and laughing. Is this the best we can do for weather forecasters in Cleveland?

Anonymous said...

Mark Johnson is great. At least he has a personality, unlike Dick, who makes cardboard seem upbeat. All Dick can do is fondle his williebear.

Anonymous said...

I would like to see Hollie fondle a woolybear

Anonymous said...

perhaps I'm in the minority, but I hate the amount of time it takes before we actually hear the forecast. all of this extra information and stats...and blah..blah...What's is the weather going to be tonight, tomorrow and the next day? that is what I want to know. I don't care about winds aloft and cold fronts in Topeka... Get to the point.

Anonymous said...

Hollie might be a ditz, but she's eye candy for 3.
Not to mention Betsy Kling, who was outside yesterday morning with shades on and hair half pulled back with some curls in it. YOWZA!!

Anonymous said...

Melissa Mack is eye candy. Hollie Strano is just annoying. Betsy Kling is hot too.