Thursday's Stack

Here's how Thursday is stacking up so far...

RADIO ONE NAMES CLEVELAND OM: Cleveland's Radio One cluster has named its replacement for former operations manager/program director Kim Johnson.

A Radio One E-mail news release obtained by OMW makes the announcement:

Colby Colb will return to Radio One. Colby will act as OM for all Radio One Cleveland stations, and PD for WENZ and WZAK, starting in October. Colby previously worked as an on-air personality and Program Director at Radio One Philadelphia's 100.3 The Beat.

And there are the appropriate "welcome aboard" quotes, first from Radio One senior VP/programming Jay Stevens:

"I welcome Colby back to the Radio One family and am confident he will energize and take our Cleveland cluster to new heights and help the Cavs win a championship."

(We're pretty sure Colby won't be moonlighting next to LeBron James and Shaquille O'Neal this fall, but that's just a guess.)

And from Radio One Cleveland VP/GM Chris Forgy:

"We are delighted to have Colby Colb join the Cleveland team. Colby's vast experience in programming, promotions, interactive as well as his leadership skills make him a perfect fit for our cluster. Colby is a radio rat and that's a good thing. Our properties are already #1 in the market and we are looking forward to having Colby be an integral part of not only being number one, but also being THE BEST!"

Here at the Mighty Blog of Fun(tm), we like that "radio rat" line...

IT'S BIGGER: In a move announced some time ago, Good Karma sports WKNR/850 "ESPN 850"'s mid-morning show is now three hours long.

WKNR host/WJW "Fox 8" sports anchor Tony Rizzo and his "Really Big Show" crew now occupy three hours of WKNR's radio real estate - 9 AM-noon - in a move that took effect on Tuesday.

And our speculation from earlier was confirmed - the fourth hour of ESPN Radio's "Mike and Mike in the Morning" does indeed move to WKNR sister station WWGK/1540 "KNR2", 9-10 AM weekdays. (Of course, the first three hours are still on WKNR.)

The change on 1540 appears to have knocked syndicated host Dan Patrick off of the station's schedule. Patrick was basically an "accidental" addition to the WWGK schedule when Fox Sports Radio added his Content Factory show to its national schedule.

1540 had not carried the show in its syndicated incarnation, and had been carrying FSR's "Out of Bounds" in that one hour time slot. The station continues to carry FSR's "The Drive" with Chris Myers in afternoon drive, and the Steve Czaban in morning drive, along with other programming from the network.

WWGK continues with ESPN Radio in middays after the new "Mike and Mike" hour, airing "The Herd with Colin Cowherd" and "The Scott Van Pelt Show". We suspect the presence of former ESPN host Patrick next to other network shows made the Worldwide Leader a bit uncomfortable, but we also suspect the greater issue is keeping some sort of clearance for hour 4 of "Mike and Mike".

Back at the Good Karma Cleveland mothership at the Galleria, a quote from the release announcing the expansion:

When asked for his reaction, Rizzo was surprisingly bitter. “Working an extra hour is enough,” Rizz said. “Just leave me alone.”

Note to WKNR assistant program director/"Really Big Show" producer-sidekick Aaron Goldhammer, who was nice enough to pass this along - show schtick generally falls flat in print.

A thought crossed our minds...

As Rizzo expands his schedule an hour north, to 9 AM, his television employer has expanded its morning show south, into the same hour.

Is there a "synergy" possibility there? Could WJW put a camera in the WKNR studio, and somehow squeeze some more face time out of its weekday sports anchor by airing segments with him on "Fox 8 News in the Morning" - doing some cross-promotion for both stations?

It's just a thought/quasi-suggestion on our part. We have no indication that anyone is thinking about it, other than your Primary Editorial Voice(tm). We don't know if any of the involved parties want to do it...but it's an interesting idea...

MORE TALK: OMW was first to report, thanks to alert readers, that a Youngstown area FM music station added a syndicated conservative talk radio show to its schedule.

But the addition of Premiere's Glenn Beck to the schedule of Beacon Media Group Christian/eclectic rock WEXC/107.1 "Indie 107.1" is just the first such change for the Greenville PA-licensed Youngstown market rimshot.

OMW hears that "Indie 107.1" is getting set to add another Premiere syndicated talk host to its schedule.

That host is Minnesota-based Jason Lewis, who airs live 6-9 PM on a program recently taken national by the company out of Clear Channel talk KTLK-FM/100.3 in the Minneapolis/St. Paul market. Lewis was also a frequent substitute for Premiere's biggest talk radio gun, Rush Limbaugh.

OMW hears that "Indie" will air Lewis' show on a three hour delay, from 9 PM to midnight, as soon as all the technical (automation) issues are worked out.

Premiere is the radio syndication arm of broadcasting giant Clear Channel, which, of course, owns talk WKBN/570. But WKBN does not air Glenn Beck - it goes with a local midday show by program director Dan Rivers in a time slot formerly occupied by late, iconic host Dan Ryan.

Lewis' program is new, and has not been added to the WKBN schedule at all.

Thus, WEXC was able to grab Youngstown market rights for both shows.

Now, why is a young-skewing Christian/mix rocker adding AM-style talk radio to its schedule? That, we don't know. We've put out the question to "Indie"'s program director/morning host, and we'll share his answer when we get it...