Even Quicker Hits

A funny thing usually happens to us on the way to a hiatus: Stuff happens, and we feel the need to post it.

So, unlike the last item...this is a very quick collection of "quick hits" we didn't want to wait to post...

CHALMERS SERVICES MOVE: It's no surprise to us, as an important figure in Cleveland radio (and TV) history will be memorialized Saturday...in a different location than planned.

Former WMMS/100.7 program director John Gorman passes along word that a bigger venue has been secured for the memorial service for former WMMS/WKYC graphic artist Brian Chalmers:

Due to the overwhelming response of Brian’s passing the funeral home has moved the service to a larger facility. Brian Chalmers' memorial service will now be at the North Royalton Christian Church, 5100 Royalton Rd. (R.82) in North Royalton this Saturday June 27 from 10 AM to 1 PM.

The church is just west of State Rd. (R.94) on the north side of Royalton Rd. The church phone number is 1.440.237.4531.

Though Chalmers worked many years for Gannett NBC affiliate WKYC/3, he's best known as the man who took over drawing the iconic WMMS "Buzzard" after original artist David Helton spread his own "wings" to then-WMMS owner Malrite's other stations, including another big outlet, WHTZ/100.3 "Z100" in New York City.

Chalmers wasn't an on-air personality, but the "Buzzard" was as much a part of the station's on-air personality as anyone who opened up a microphone on 100.7...

CHUCK LANDS: We've talked occasionally about the OMW Karma, but joke all you wish...it appears to have worked for one of our regular readers.

Long-time reader Chuck Matthews, the former Cumulus Toledo talk WTOD/1560 program director and cluster imaging director who has a thriving voiceover business, has landed a full-time gig as production director for Rubber City Radio's Akron cluster - oldies/news WAKR/1590, rock WONE/97.5 and country WQMX/94.9.

Chuck tells OMW (and other trade publications):

I will be doing mainly commercial production, but will also do some imaging.

Mr. Matthews will be working under another long-time OMW reader, Rubber City operations manager Chuck Collins - meaning that the folks on West Market Street have reached their full quota of "Chucks"...

WHERE'S CHRIS?: We heard former Metro Networks/Cleveland morning news anchor Chris Coleman the other day doing sports updates - subbing for Metro's Jeff Thomas - on Good Karma sports WKNR/850 "ESPN 850" in Cleveland.

But...we have no idea where Chris was sitting.

It sounded, from the by play and technical difficulties on 'KNR's "Really Big Show" with Tony Rizzo, that Coleman was not in the Galleria studios of the Cleveland sports station.

Since Jeff Thomas began doing his updates at the Galleria a while back, Rizzo and company have made a big deal about the fact that he is currently working in the building. (Of course, as we reported, Thomas is still actually working for his long-time employer, as Metro has "embedded" him in the WKNR studios after closing the Cleveland office.)

In fact, former Browns quarterback/local sports legend Bernie Kosar asked about Thomas' physical presence on a Rizzo show, and asked Jeff, on-air, where he had been before. "On Granger Road in Independence", he noted, and when Bernie asked if he'd been in the former WKNR studios on Broadview Road, Thomas joked, "no, they wouldn't let me in there, either".

Back to Chris Coleman, whose last Metro job was as morning news anchor, heard primarily on Salem talk WHK/1420. While there, he also occasionally subbed for Jeff Thomas on WKNR. But where was he this week?

As far as we know, the Metro Networks/Cleveland studios at the aforementioned Granger Road facility are closed for good.

There are still some remnants of Metro there - the cameras atop that building being remoted to Detroit, among other - but we'd be surprised if there were any remaining studio equipment or broadcast loops at the Independence facility...despite the fact that WKNR's Rizzo and Josh Sabo mentioned "the Metro pot" on the air when they were trying to get Coleman on the air that morning.

And if there were, the link would have been presumably identical to the one they used to pull up Jeff Thomas over the years.

OMW hears that Metro's current Cleveland setup generally involves recorded reports being scooped up automatically into stations' automation systems, but the 'KNR updates are still live, and Mr. Coleman was definitely live - or trying to be, amid the technical glitches - from wherever he was sitting.

With WHK's Metro-provided news updates now handled by long-time Metro/Cleveland director of operations Terry Groden out of WHK's Summit Park Drive facility, we don't know Coleman's fate otherwise.

We don't believe he's moved to Detroit.

And no, neither has Rizzo sidekick/producer/WKNR assistant program director Aaron Goldhammer. He hasn't moved to Denver, either.

We've chosen not to participate in the station's "Aaron Walked Off The Show" stunt....