Friday, May 02, 2008

Loose Ends For A Friday

Fridays seem like just the time to clear up loose ends before the weekend...so, here we are!

NOT YET FOR ALL: Though it appears that Time Warner Cable has flipped around its digital cable channel lineups for the bulk of its Northeast Ohio customers, there are apparently some yet to be converted.

We're basing this on our own anecdotal evidence, but the former Adelphia/Western Reserve cluster in northeast Summit County and nearby would appear to be doing without the digital channel realignment - even after the bulk of the former Adelphia/Cleveland territory switched over early Wednesday morning.

The former Western Reserve system has always been a bit different. As we noted some time ago, its heavy access channel obligation left TWC no space to squeeze in the WKYC/3-produced Akron/Canton News for viewers in areas like Hudson and Macedonia.

OMW readers also told us a little earlier this week that the former Comcast systems based in Elyria and Mentor are still also on their former lineups.

And somewhere in here, those converted to the new lineups are going to get their cable boxes converted to TWC's "Navigator" channel guide software. That process is bound to have a glitch or two...

SPEAKING OF TWC: Readers have reminded us, and we already knew, that Time Warner Cable is destined to be spun off of its parent company. (Here's a good article about it from the newspaper Newsday in the New York City area, with a base in a Los Angeles Times story.)

Since we're not business analysts, we can't really say "what it'll all mean" for local TWC customers...

NEW FOR 4: Media General Columbus NBC affiliate WCMH/4 "NBC4" launches newscasts from its "NBC4 On The Square" downtown studio this month.

The station's morning and midday casts will start airing from the HD-equipped studio at Broad and High Streets on May 27th.

And WCMH will launch an hour-long "First at 4" newscast from the downtown studio on June 9th...

NEW FOR 6: And don't look now...but another station in the Columbus market could launch HD newscasts.

We can't find the reference right now, but Sinclair - owners of Columbus ABC affiliate WSYX/6 and FOX affiliate WTTE/28 - is readying an HD conversion for its stations this year...

AND ONE LONG-DELAYED ITEM: We've known for some time, but Salem CCM WFHM/95.5 "The Fish" in Cleveland has a new staffer.

She's afternoon driver Kristine Lane, who had been doing swing/fill-in/weekend work for the station and now officially steps in as replacement for the station's Josh Booth. The station announced it over a week ago, but we've been mostly away.

Lane won't take over Booth's music director job - that'll be folded into duties for program director Len Howser. She will take a different second job...that of promotions director for the Salem station...

2 comments:

Unknown said...

I've been out of the area for a while, so could someone fill me in on what happened to Josh Booth? Did he go to another station? Another market?

johnbasalla said...

Josh Booth is a congenial radio host. I'm disappointed that I don't hear him where he belongs in afternoon drive. I wish him well.
He is very knowledgable about Positive Rock music and could do well at a station like the new-to-this-market Air-One at, what is it, 91.9 FM.