Cleaning Up After Ourselves

A few things just fell out, so we have to clean up after ourselves...

FOX 8 FOLO: Well, at least we know that someone at the Cleveland Plain Dealer still reads OMW.

After our item on the FCC's approval of the sale of WJW/8 "FOX 8" and other FOX O&Os to Local TV, LLC, PD media columnist Julie Washington wrote an article for the following day's paper - based on the same source we found, the "tvnewsday" trade news website.

Shortly after Ms. Washington's story hit Cleveland.com Tuesday morning, the Business Courier of Cincinnati picked it up, citing both the PD story and the tvnewsday site.

Look at what we started! (Well, technically, what "tvnewsday" started with our slight help moving it along.)

There is one other independent confirmation of the original story: Broadcasting & Cable magazine ran a story on its website Monday afternoon, noting the sale was expected to close in the 3rd quarter of this year.

We have one note about Ms. Washington's article, though, particularly this part:

It is not clear whether Channel 8 will change network affiliations. The stations owned by Local TV have a variety of affiliations, according to the Local TV web site.

OMW reported in one of our earlier items that we've been told that the Local TV buy includes a multi-year affiliation contract, keeping WJW as a FOX affiliate. We hear the deal lasts 10 years.

Even if we'd not uncovered that small detail, we'd be surprised if there was an affiliation change.

We realize not everyone has this information, though, so we're just noting it for our own readership...

HOST MOVES - OR NOT: Two syndicated radio hosts have been the topic of much "behind the scenes" discussion as of late.

One is ABC Radio's Sean Hannity, who reportedly has a clause in his contract triggered by the sale of ABC Radio's operations to Citadel a ways back, with a "trigger date" reported by a number of sources to be - June 12th.

A lot of the backchatter has been covered by "Radio Equalizer" blogger Brian Maloney, who reports that there's a new "three way deal"...where Citadel, Clear Channel and Hannity will share in a partnership for his show.

The deal presumably would keep Hannity on Citadel's big market talkers including flagship WABC/770 in New York City, and about 70 Clear Channel talk stations (including Akron's WHLO/640, where Hannity's show now airs 3-5 PM weekdays).

Similar reporting has crossed the transom from Radio-Info.com's Tom Taylor.

Meanwhile, another syndicated talker has been missing from the airwaves for a while now - and interesting explanations have come out as to why she hasn't been on the air.

Talk Radio Networks' midday host Laura Ingraham's show has been without, well, Ms. Ingraham. At some point, she felt the need to let listeners know why via her website, which most recently has borne this message:

IMPORTANT NOTE TO LAURA INGRAHAM SHOW LISTENERS
Reports are circulating in the press that I "took a leave of absence" or walked out on my radio show. As I wrote in this space earlier this week, that is false. The decision to remove the Laura Ingraham Show from the airwaves was made unilaterally by Talk Radio Network as a tactic in contract negotiations, against my will and over my protest. Additionally, any notion that I am leaving radio is also completely false. After all my years on the air, you know that I would never voluntarily abandon you during such a critical time for our country. Power to the People.

Ingraham is busy, even if she's not behind a radio microphone right now.

She starts a FOX News Channel 5 PM weekday show next Monday...which the New York Times' Brian Stelter suggests is a tryout for a regular gig she's likely to get. The move would certainly not prohibit her radio career from flourishing, as the dual radio/TV thing is done by a large number of FNC's personalities - including Sean Hannity.

Ingraham has been heard weekdays on many Salem talk stations, including Cleveland's WHK/1420. We haven't heard the Ingraham show lately, but we do hear that WHK ran Salem's own Mike Gallagher on Wednesday from 9 AM until noon, instead of whoever's filling in for Laura...

NATIONAL RADIO: Shortly after it started, XM Satellite Radio once featured the, uh, tones of Cleveland's favorite on-air eating talk show host, Clear Channel talk WTAM/1100 afternoon sound machine and food maven Mike Trivisonno.

Two hours of Triv's show aired on a same-day delay on one of XM's talk channels, which was being programmed by Clear Channel. Other Clear Channel local hosts ended up on the channel, including WLW/700 Cincinnati mainstay Bill Cunningham, now syndicated traditionally on Sunday nights in the old Matt Drudge time slot.

Oak Tree is giving back a bit of Cleveland back to the satellite radio world - again.

A slew of Clear Channel air personalities are doing (presumably voicetracked) shows for XM channel 21 ("Kiss 21"), the top 40/hit music channel Clear Channel still provides on the XM lineup.

And two of those personalities are from Cleveland top 40 outlet WAKS/96.5 "Kiss FM" - afternoon driver/assistant program director/occasional OMW reader Kasper, and night slammer "Java Joel" Murphy.

Kasper's XM shift will be from 10 AM-noon, and Java Joel hits the channel from 10 PM-
midnight. We'll assume this is not all that difficult for them, as they both voicetrack other stations and presumably have "Kiss"-labeled bits stored up daily.

Java Joel still, as far as we know, voicetracks Montreal-market rimshot WYUL/94.7 "Hits FM" in rural upstate New York. But he won't be heard by XM Canada subscribers, since that division of the satellite company doesn't carry the Clear Channel-programmed offerings. U.S. XM subscribers - including those in the Malone NY area near the Canadian border - will still hear his "Kiss 21" XM offerings in either country.

XM and Clear Channel's relationship is strained at this point. XM has even launched non-commercial clones of the Clear Channel offerings, after a legal struggle which ended up keeping Clear Channel's XM offerings alive...