UPDATE 9:26 AM 4/28/09: Reliable OMW sources at Oak Tree confirm that WMVX's Brian and Joe have indeed left the building, and were let go earlier this morning...
------------
On Inauguration Day this past January 20th, radio giant Clear Channel cut some 1,800 employees nationwide...part of its effort to pay less money to less people, due to its financial situation, the economy, advertising revenue falling through the proverbial floor, a heavy debt load, and so forth.
Among those shown through the We Can't Afford You Door at Clear Channel's Cleveland cluster on Oak Tree Boulevard in January - a reported number well over 50 employees, many of them in the sales and promotions areas.
Among other staffers, it looks to be job cut time for on-air personalities in this second wave.
And it appears more evident by the hour that the layoffs of talk WTAM/1100 afternoon producer/sidekicks and station veterans Paul Rado and Marty "Big Daddy" Allen on Monday are apparently only just the first ones we've learned about at Oak Tree.
We hear rumblings of as many as four high-profile air personalities on the FM side of Oak Tree's operation. And though we haven't confirmed any of them, yet...we have heard evidence that could lean in that direction on the air.
Hot AC WMVX/106.5 "Mix 106-5" morning team Brian and Joe are nowhere to be found on the station this morning.
As of this writing, WMVX is running an automated, er, "mix" of music, complete with the station's trademark recorded female back announce voice, and non-introduced recorded traffic and weather...joined by other generic station liners.
There are no station liners announcing "Brian and Joe", and there's no other air personality "filling in" for the 22 year local broadcast veterans.
We're hearing rumblings of the departures of at least two other full-time air personalities from Oak Tree's FM stations, though as we said, we're not able to confirm it right now. For that matter, we can't confirm the employment status of WMVX's "Brian and Joe", though it sure sounds like they're gone from listening to the station.
As of this writing, it's before 9 AM, and WMVX has not - yet, we guess - performed the Soviet Style Purge of Brian and Joe from the "Mix 106-5" website.
OMW is also hearing that the cuts in this second wave won't be limited to on-air types, with (again, unconfirmed) rumblings that office staff and engineering employees could be hit with layoffs as well.
This one will develop all day, so keep looking in...as a number of members of Northeast Ohio's broadcasting community are in shock at this latest Clear Channel layoff wave.
And we don't yet have word of cuts at other Clear Channel operations, though we leave you with this from Radio-Info.com news columnist Tom Taylor's update this morning:
Clear Channel’s “Second Wave” of cuts may strike today.
In programming. And in back-office functions like traffic, continuity and the business office. (The hub-and-spoke principle can apply to more than just programming, you know.) If today’s the day for Second Wave (my name, not San Antonio’s) it would follow the formula of First Wave. That happened on a Tuesday, two weeks after the January 6 managers meetings in Dallas. Fast-forward to this month, and CC managers were in Dallas again, exactly two weeks ago.
We don't want to unnecessarily worry Clear Channel employees who haven't heard anything about this in their own clusters yet.
But based on what we're hearing out of Oak Tree...it does sound like something's happening...at least there, at any rate...
Showing posts with label rumormill. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rumormill. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Monday, December 08, 2008
NBC Leads With Its Chin
It's not a local media story, but it's big enough to be displayed prominently on the website of the Cleveland station that'll be most directly affected by it.
The not-yet-confirmed news is spreading like wildfire among the various national TV writers this Monday evening.
NBC's late night talk show king Jay Leno, who is scheduled to step down from his post hosting the network's "Tonight Show" next year, won't be leaving that network after all.
The New York Times' Bill Carter is one of many reporting that Leno instead will stay with the Peacock, signing a multi-year deal to host a brand new 10 PM prime time hour that will air Monday through Friday on NBC. (We picked Carter's story because of the key role he's played in reporting Leno's career - remember "Night Shift"?)
Back at the "Tonight Show", current "Late Night" host Conan O'Brien will still take over the 11:35 PM slot on the network next May, and we assume he will still be followed by comedian Jimmy Fallon, who'll take over "Late Night" after a few month "test run" on the Internet. Leno's prime time show would start in Fall 2009.
Though the move, as reported, would give Leno a big pay raise, it would also save NBC Universal some much needed money. As Carter's piece points out, even a highly-paid Jay Leno and his show would cost the network somewhat less than a slate of nightly hour-long dramas, and NBC would now program as many prime-time entertainment hours as FOX (17 hours per week, vs. the current 22 hours).
Just Monday, NBC executives contemplated a reduced schedule of entertainment programming, pointing to newer networks like FOX, MyNetwork TV and The CW not mounting a full three hour (four on Sunday)/seven day schedule like NBC, ABC and CBS have done for decades.
And NBC avoids another worry...by putting Leno in prime-time on its own network, it keeps him out of the 11:35 PM slot on, say, ABC, FOX or even on Tribune stations. (Tribune may not be able to afford Leno now, anyway, as it just filed for bankruptcy Monday.)
NBC is reportedly set to announce the deal on Tuesday.
It does have one local effect - Leno, starting in the Fall, will become the lead-in for WKYC's "Channel 3 News at 11" and all the other local late-night NBC affiliate newscasts across the country...
The not-yet-confirmed news is spreading like wildfire among the various national TV writers this Monday evening.
NBC's late night talk show king Jay Leno, who is scheduled to step down from his post hosting the network's "Tonight Show" next year, won't be leaving that network after all.
The New York Times' Bill Carter is one of many reporting that Leno instead will stay with the Peacock, signing a multi-year deal to host a brand new 10 PM prime time hour that will air Monday through Friday on NBC. (We picked Carter's story because of the key role he's played in reporting Leno's career - remember "Night Shift"?)
Back at the "Tonight Show", current "Late Night" host Conan O'Brien will still take over the 11:35 PM slot on the network next May, and we assume he will still be followed by comedian Jimmy Fallon, who'll take over "Late Night" after a few month "test run" on the Internet. Leno's prime time show would start in Fall 2009.
Though the move, as reported, would give Leno a big pay raise, it would also save NBC Universal some much needed money. As Carter's piece points out, even a highly-paid Jay Leno and his show would cost the network somewhat less than a slate of nightly hour-long dramas, and NBC would now program as many prime-time entertainment hours as FOX (17 hours per week, vs. the current 22 hours).
Just Monday, NBC executives contemplated a reduced schedule of entertainment programming, pointing to newer networks like FOX, MyNetwork TV and The CW not mounting a full three hour (four on Sunday)/seven day schedule like NBC, ABC and CBS have done for decades.
And NBC avoids another worry...by putting Leno in prime-time on its own network, it keeps him out of the 11:35 PM slot on, say, ABC, FOX or even on Tribune stations. (Tribune may not be able to afford Leno now, anyway, as it just filed for bankruptcy Monday.)
NBC is reportedly set to announce the deal on Tuesday.
It does have one local effect - Leno, starting in the Fall, will become the lead-in for WKYC's "Channel 3 News at 11" and all the other local late-night NBC affiliate newscasts across the country...
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Maybe Nothing To These - Yet
A couple of rumors, reports and such that may or may not mean anything to Northeast Ohio... yet:
CLEAR CHANNEL/CBS SWAP: A note in Monday's "Taylor on Radio-Info" E-Mail newsletter caught our attention.
Columnist Tom Taylor reports word that CBS Radio chief Dan Mason spent Monday in Houston, reportedly working out details a rumored swap that would have Clear Channel sending two stations to CBS Radio there.
As part of Clear Channel's recent privatization deal, the U.S. Department of Justice required it to flip a number of stations to another owner.
In addition to the two Houston outlets Taylor cites, one of those stations on the Flip List is right here in OMW land - Clear Channel top 40 WAKS/96.5 Akron, the Cleveland market's "Kiss FM", which still operates out of the Clear Channel World Domination HQ on Oak Tree while under the nominal care of the Aloha Trust spinoff company.
This is not at all to suggest that even if it were possible, that WAKS would end up in CBS Radio's cluster in Cleveland.
Not only would that put them over the ownership limits, CBS Radio itself is trying to unload its four Cleveland market stations, and pretty much all of its stations outside the top 10 markets.
But it's a reminder. The tighter-than-a-drum credit markets mean that station sales are not nearly as automatic as they once were...and by "once were", we mean even a few months ago.
Could the fate of the five Cleveland market FMs up for sale be decided, in part, by either Clear Channel or CBS working out swaps with other operators in other markets?
With debt-laden Big Deals pretty much a thing of the past, everywhere, in every line of business, this may be the only way the companies get those stations off the books in markets like Cleveland...
SPEAKING OF THE BAD ECONOMY: A brief note we spotted from Dave Hughes over at DCRTV, the long-established Washington DC-based media news and rumblings site:
Speaking of Gannett, we're hearing rumblings that the McLean-based media giant has started offering a series of employee cost-savings buyouts at many of its TV stations around the country. No word about buyout cuts at Gannett's Channel 9/WUSA.
In OMW land, of course, Gannett owns Cleveland NBC affiliate WKYC/3, which just saw a number of reporters depart 13th and Lakeside involuntarily - mainly by the station exercising early contract-ending windows.
We don't know if this was part of the company-wide initiative Dave Hughes mentions, or if more cuts are on the way.
Unfortunately, it's probably not a bad bet to say that more cuts are on the way at anything remotely resembling a media outlet nationwide. And now that local TV and radio stations are no longer swimming in political ad buys, 2009 could get worse in a hurry.
One thing that continues to bother us: in the past few months of massive layoffs, it doesn't seem to matter how important you are to a station or a newspaper, or how many years you've been there.
If they can cut costs by taking you off the books, they'll do it, and institutional memory is rapidly becoming a thing of the past. (WKYC saw this in the most recent round, with the departure of veteran reporter Obie Shelton.)
There's gotta be a light at the end of the tunnel sometime, no? A light that isn't coming from a speeding, oncoming train?
Positive thoughts...it's all we can do right now...
CLEAR CHANNEL/CBS SWAP: A note in Monday's "Taylor on Radio-Info" E-Mail newsletter caught our attention.
Columnist Tom Taylor reports word that CBS Radio chief Dan Mason spent Monday in Houston, reportedly working out details a rumored swap that would have Clear Channel sending two stations to CBS Radio there.
As part of Clear Channel's recent privatization deal, the U.S. Department of Justice required it to flip a number of stations to another owner.
In addition to the two Houston outlets Taylor cites, one of those stations on the Flip List is right here in OMW land - Clear Channel top 40 WAKS/96.5 Akron, the Cleveland market's "Kiss FM", which still operates out of the Clear Channel World Domination HQ on Oak Tree while under the nominal care of the Aloha Trust spinoff company.
This is not at all to suggest that even if it were possible, that WAKS would end up in CBS Radio's cluster in Cleveland.
Not only would that put them over the ownership limits, CBS Radio itself is trying to unload its four Cleveland market stations, and pretty much all of its stations outside the top 10 markets.
But it's a reminder. The tighter-than-a-drum credit markets mean that station sales are not nearly as automatic as they once were...and by "once were", we mean even a few months ago.
Could the fate of the five Cleveland market FMs up for sale be decided, in part, by either Clear Channel or CBS working out swaps with other operators in other markets?
With debt-laden Big Deals pretty much a thing of the past, everywhere, in every line of business, this may be the only way the companies get those stations off the books in markets like Cleveland...
SPEAKING OF THE BAD ECONOMY: A brief note we spotted from Dave Hughes over at DCRTV, the long-established Washington DC-based media news and rumblings site:
Speaking of Gannett, we're hearing rumblings that the McLean-based media giant has started offering a series of employee cost-savings buyouts at many of its TV stations around the country. No word about buyout cuts at Gannett's Channel 9/WUSA.
In OMW land, of course, Gannett owns Cleveland NBC affiliate WKYC/3, which just saw a number of reporters depart 13th and Lakeside involuntarily - mainly by the station exercising early contract-ending windows.
We don't know if this was part of the company-wide initiative Dave Hughes mentions, or if more cuts are on the way.
Unfortunately, it's probably not a bad bet to say that more cuts are on the way at anything remotely resembling a media outlet nationwide. And now that local TV and radio stations are no longer swimming in political ad buys, 2009 could get worse in a hurry.
One thing that continues to bother us: in the past few months of massive layoffs, it doesn't seem to matter how important you are to a station or a newspaper, or how many years you've been there.
If they can cut costs by taking you off the books, they'll do it, and institutional memory is rapidly becoming a thing of the past. (WKYC saw this in the most recent round, with the departure of veteran reporter Obie Shelton.)
There's gotta be a light at the end of the tunnel sometime, no? A light that isn't coming from a speeding, oncoming train?
Positive thoughts...it's all we can do right now...
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
A Service To Our XM Subscribers
Other than one small part, this isn't connected to Ohio radio.
But we figured if the folks at Sirius XM won't do it, we'd give our readers who subscribe to XM Satellite Radio the heads up...the service's music lineup changes, drastically, tomorrow.
We won't get into the details, but we found a new leaked (PDF format) lineup here, and a leaked (PDF format) FAQ about the XM lineup changes here.
The links are from an unofficial fan site run by XM users, where users are discussing the changes here.
The FAQ says the revamped XM lineup will take effect late tonight/early Wednesday morning at 12 AM ET.
For now, it doesn't appear that the other half of Sirius XM, Sirius, will go through the same changes - though a couple of Sirius channels have moved channel positions.
The base reason for the XM changes?
You may have heard that a rather large boatload of XM Satellite Radio employees, from programmers to on-air personalities, have been laid off at the company's Washington DC headquarters. The layoff numbers are in the high double digits, from most reports.
New parent Sirius is based in New York, and it appears most of the changes are designed to merge the music channel offerings between the two services.
It doesn't necessarily mean that XM subscribers will now get the existing Sirius-based services. Some offerings are being shuffled around, and it looks like Sirius subscribers will encounter some programming changes (mostly), just not wholesale lineup changes like on the XM side.
But the apparent new goal of Sirius XM is to drastically reduce costs of providing those music channels...and it would appear that however everything lands, the music channels will be the same on both services at some point, if not starting tomorrow.
Despite the changes, XM subscribers will still have shell out extra for the "stars" of the Sirius lineup in "Best of Sirius" - Howard Stern, Martha Stewart and the like, along with sports play-by-play offerings like NFL games.
The updated lineup shows very few changes to the news/talk lineup, though XM users will get such formerly-Sirius-only offerings like National Public Radio's satellite radio channel, and World Radio Network, the 24/7 service offering English-language programming from various international radio broadcasters (Radio Netherlands, Germany's Deutsche Welle, etc.)
Unfortunately for us, Sirius' carriage of Canada's CBC Radio One - CBC's news/talk/information service - is not coming over to XM. We presume because it's tied directly to Sirius' deal with Sirius Canada, a separate entity, still, than XM Canada. If they found a way to put CBC Radio One on XM, we'd dump our Sirius equipment entirely.
And speaking of news/talk offerings, there's the small point that concerns this report.
Yes, that's Clear Channel talk WLW/700 "The Big One" still present in the XM lineup at channel 173.
We mention this because there are rumors going around that Clear Channel will pull WLW from the XM lineup later this year. Clear Channel programs a portion of the XM spectrum separately from the satellite firm.
Art Vuolo, Jr., the Michigan-based radio/video chronicler also known as "Radio's Best Friend", weighs in, in this column we found on Mike Austerman's excellent Michiguide.com:
(WLW has) been available on XM Channel 173, but not for much longer. The powers-to-be at Clear Channel, who owns "The Big One," will take it off satellite radio because they can make more money with other programming that they can sell advertising on.
We don't know where Art is picking this up from, but we would be sad to see WLW go off of XM.
The station's 50,000 watt signal mostly appears here only at night, and we like keeping track of one of the country's better news/talk outlets right here in our home state...
But we figured if the folks at Sirius XM won't do it, we'd give our readers who subscribe to XM Satellite Radio the heads up...the service's music lineup changes, drastically, tomorrow.
We won't get into the details, but we found a new leaked (PDF format) lineup here, and a leaked (PDF format) FAQ about the XM lineup changes here.
The links are from an unofficial fan site run by XM users, where users are discussing the changes here.
The FAQ says the revamped XM lineup will take effect late tonight/early Wednesday morning at 12 AM ET.
For now, it doesn't appear that the other half of Sirius XM, Sirius, will go through the same changes - though a couple of Sirius channels have moved channel positions.
The base reason for the XM changes?
You may have heard that a rather large boatload of XM Satellite Radio employees, from programmers to on-air personalities, have been laid off at the company's Washington DC headquarters. The layoff numbers are in the high double digits, from most reports.
New parent Sirius is based in New York, and it appears most of the changes are designed to merge the music channel offerings between the two services.
It doesn't necessarily mean that XM subscribers will now get the existing Sirius-based services. Some offerings are being shuffled around, and it looks like Sirius subscribers will encounter some programming changes (mostly), just not wholesale lineup changes like on the XM side.
But the apparent new goal of Sirius XM is to drastically reduce costs of providing those music channels...and it would appear that however everything lands, the music channels will be the same on both services at some point, if not starting tomorrow.
Despite the changes, XM subscribers will still have shell out extra for the "stars" of the Sirius lineup in "Best of Sirius" - Howard Stern, Martha Stewart and the like, along with sports play-by-play offerings like NFL games.
The updated lineup shows very few changes to the news/talk lineup, though XM users will get such formerly-Sirius-only offerings like National Public Radio's satellite radio channel, and World Radio Network, the 24/7 service offering English-language programming from various international radio broadcasters (Radio Netherlands, Germany's Deutsche Welle, etc.)
Unfortunately for us, Sirius' carriage of Canada's CBC Radio One - CBC's news/talk/information service - is not coming over to XM. We presume because it's tied directly to Sirius' deal with Sirius Canada, a separate entity, still, than XM Canada. If they found a way to put CBC Radio One on XM, we'd dump our Sirius equipment entirely.
And speaking of news/talk offerings, there's the small point that concerns this report.
Yes, that's Clear Channel talk WLW/700 "The Big One" still present in the XM lineup at channel 173.
We mention this because there are rumors going around that Clear Channel will pull WLW from the XM lineup later this year. Clear Channel programs a portion of the XM spectrum separately from the satellite firm.
Art Vuolo, Jr., the Michigan-based radio/video chronicler also known as "Radio's Best Friend", weighs in, in this column we found on Mike Austerman's excellent Michiguide.com:
(WLW has) been available on XM Channel 173, but not for much longer. The powers-to-be at Clear Channel, who owns "The Big One," will take it off satellite radio because they can make more money with other programming that they can sell advertising on.
We don't know where Art is picking this up from, but we would be sad to see WLW go off of XM.
The station's 50,000 watt signal mostly appears here only at night, and we like keeping track of one of the country's better news/talk outlets right here in our home state...
Friday, February 22, 2008
And Even More Silent
There's still no confirmation of what we reported here earlier - the move of now-former WKRK/92.3 "K-Rock" morning host Shane "Rover" French to Clear Channel rock WMMS/100.7, scheduled to start on April 1st.
We haven't heard much in the past day or so, aside from rumblings from within Clear Channel's Oak Tree World Domination HQ that engineers are busy - reconfiguring the WMMS studio to Rover's specifications.
But there is one more small thing.
The note put up by Rover the other day on RoverRadio.com - "Uncharacteristically Quiet" - has now been cleared of its original message.
The blog post still exists, but no longer appears on the front of the website. And Rover's explanation on why he couldn't say anything has been replaced with this:
POST REMOVED BY REQUEST OF XXX XXXXX
"CBS Radio", anyone? We didn't even have to ask Pat Sajak if we could buy a vowel...
The natives, aka fans of "Rover's Morning Glory", are restless. Instead of turning on the radio to 92.3 to listen to their hero, who is no longer there, they're clogging his website.
At this writing, which would be in the middle of his show if it was still airing, there are over 400 unique users on RoverRadio.com.
And we have our own evidence of the apparent popularity of Mr. French. Since this story broke, we've noticed that our own daily hit count has soared to a new record...with hundreds of more visitors per day than we've ever had. (Since OMW doesn't sell advertising, that number doesn't really mean anything to us, but we thought we'd mention it.)
We're sure much of the hit traffic comes from the Rover fanbase via the comments section of the blog post we posted earlier. So, in response to one of those posters, we have one clarificatiom to someone posting about the story aired on "19 Action News" recently:
I think its funny that 19 is a CBS affiliate yet they air something about their main show going to a rival.
WOIO/19 is indeed the CBS affiliate in the Cleveland TV market.
But they're not owned by the CBS network, and have no direct connection with CBS Radio's WKRK/92.3. They merely have signed up to carry CBS's TV programming, and Rover is not "theirs".
So, so far, still status quo...as Clear Channel prepares a "doghouse" for its incoming canine...
We haven't heard much in the past day or so, aside from rumblings from within Clear Channel's Oak Tree World Domination HQ that engineers are busy - reconfiguring the WMMS studio to Rover's specifications.
But there is one more small thing.
The note put up by Rover the other day on RoverRadio.com - "Uncharacteristically Quiet" - has now been cleared of its original message.
The blog post still exists, but no longer appears on the front of the website. And Rover's explanation on why he couldn't say anything has been replaced with this:
POST REMOVED BY REQUEST OF XXX XXXXX
"CBS Radio", anyone? We didn't even have to ask Pat Sajak if we could buy a vowel...
The natives, aka fans of "Rover's Morning Glory", are restless. Instead of turning on the radio to 92.3 to listen to their hero, who is no longer there, they're clogging his website.
At this writing, which would be in the middle of his show if it was still airing, there are over 400 unique users on RoverRadio.com.
And we have our own evidence of the apparent popularity of Mr. French. Since this story broke, we've noticed that our own daily hit count has soared to a new record...with hundreds of more visitors per day than we've ever had. (Since OMW doesn't sell advertising, that number doesn't really mean anything to us, but we thought we'd mention it.)
We're sure much of the hit traffic comes from the Rover fanbase via the comments section of the blog post we posted earlier. So, in response to one of those posters, we have one clarificatiom to someone posting about the story aired on "19 Action News" recently:
I think its funny that 19 is a CBS affiliate yet they air something about their main show going to a rival.
WOIO/19 is indeed the CBS affiliate in the Cleveland TV market.
But they're not owned by the CBS network, and have no direct connection with CBS Radio's WKRK/92.3. They merely have signed up to carry CBS's TV programming, and Rover is not "theirs".
So, so far, still status quo...as Clear Channel prepares a "doghouse" for its incoming canine...
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
More Barking From Rover
Now-former CBS Radio alt-rock WKRK/92.3 "K-Rock" morning host Shane "Rover" French is saying a LITTLE more about his situation with the station's owner, CBS Radio, on his website.
But...not much more.
In a blog post titled "Uncharacteristically Quiet", the host known to his family as Shane French says he can't talk about the ongoing situation between the show and CBS Radio for one big reason.
At this time the show is still under contract to CBS. They've told us we can't talk about it, nor can we discuss what the future holds, or we'll be in breach of contract.
They're also holding the website hostage, saying we can't post anything here in regards to what's going on (who knows, they may even demand this post be removed).
Hang in there. You'll be hearing a lot more of us very soon.
OMW has heard and reported strong rumblings that Rover has already inked a deal with a competitor, thought by many to be crosstown Clear Channel rock WMMS/100.7.
But we repeat that we have NOT heard any confirmation that the rumored deal is with Clear Channel and WMMS. None. Or for that matter, any decent rumors that either Mr. French or his agent have been spotted there (something an anonymous commenter has said in the comments following up Rover's latest missive).
Stay tuned...
But...not much more.
In a blog post titled "Uncharacteristically Quiet", the host known to his family as Shane French says he can't talk about the ongoing situation between the show and CBS Radio for one big reason.
At this time the show is still under contract to CBS. They've told us we can't talk about it, nor can we discuss what the future holds, or we'll be in breach of contract.
They're also holding the website hostage, saying we can't post anything here in regards to what's going on (who knows, they may even demand this post be removed).
Hang in there. You'll be hearing a lot more of us very soon.
OMW has heard and reported strong rumblings that Rover has already inked a deal with a competitor, thought by many to be crosstown Clear Channel rock WMMS/100.7.
But we repeat that we have NOT heard any confirmation that the rumored deal is with Clear Channel and WMMS. None. Or for that matter, any decent rumors that either Mr. French or his agent have been spotted there (something an anonymous commenter has said in the comments following up Rover's latest missive).
Stay tuned...
Monday, February 18, 2008
Your Rover Update
As promised, more on what we're hearing about the apparent departure of WKRK/92.3 "K-Rock" morning doggie Shane "Rover" French from his perch at the CBS Radio Cleveland alt-rocker.
We've heard unconfirmed, but strongly sourced rumblings, that Rover has accepted an offer from a competing station. We don't understand the exact situation, but apparently, Mr. French wasn't under the provisions of a non-compete - as the folks at CBS hoped to sign him to a new contract.
Our "rumblings" are seemingly confirmed by Rover himself, in this blog post on his own website:
Haiku
Posted by Rover in Untagged
----------
Told the Eye we're gone,
They're bitter we found new friends,
Scared, they yanked us off.
Yipes.
We still have no information about the new destination for "Rover's Morning Glory", or for that matter, if Mr. French has a clear path to that new home.
But at least it would appear that "Rover's Run" at 92.3 is over...the end of a long, strange CBS Radio journey that once saw him touted as one of the successors to Howard Stern, had him leave Cleveland for Chicago, and ended up in a relatively quick and successful return to Cleveland...
We've heard unconfirmed, but strongly sourced rumblings, that Rover has accepted an offer from a competing station. We don't understand the exact situation, but apparently, Mr. French wasn't under the provisions of a non-compete - as the folks at CBS hoped to sign him to a new contract.
Our "rumblings" are seemingly confirmed by Rover himself, in this blog post on his own website:
Haiku
Posted by Rover in Untagged
----------
Told the Eye we're gone,
They're bitter we found new friends,
Scared, they yanked us off.
Yipes.
We still have no information about the new destination for "Rover's Morning Glory", or for that matter, if Mr. French has a clear path to that new home.
But at least it would appear that "Rover's Run" at 92.3 is over...the end of a long, strange CBS Radio journey that once saw him touted as one of the successors to Howard Stern, had him leave Cleveland for Chicago, and ended up in a relatively quick and successful return to Cleveland...
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
WLW Set Adrift?
By now, most of you probably know that Clear Channel has been ordered by the U.S. Department of Justice to sell off stations in four markets - including Cincinnati - to pave the way for the approval of the private equity fund purchase of the company (Thomas H. Lee Partners/Bain Capital). Houston, Las Vegas and San Francisco are the other three markets.
What we're all trying to figure out is...what's next? How many stations would CC have to sell in Cincinnati?
The problem is that the Lee/Bain Capital groups have a financial interest in Cumulus, which has a cluster of its own in the Queen City.
It's hard to imagine that any more than the size of one of the current clusters would be allowed to stand. CC has managed to squeeze in eight stations in Cincinnati on both the AM and FM bands, Cumulus has three FMs. Since Bain/Lee is only an investor in Cumulus, the sell-off would likely center around Kenwood.
And here's the "bombshell", floated in a blog item by Cincinnati Enquirer radio/TV guru John Kiesewetter:
The government did not specify which stations must be sold here. But I'm told that Clear Channel managers here told employees Tuesday that the company could consider selling off WLW-AM and KISS107.1, or the tandem of FOX92.1 and Radio94.1 (the old MIX94.1).
Selling off the original "Big One"? Huh?
Kiese makes the case that the WLW/Kiss combo being sold would help speed along the long-delayed deal in the eyes of regulators, and would take the station's high payroll off of CC's books.
Well, OK. We'll see.
Like we did when we first thought about it, Kiese wonders about the prospect of WLW being reunited with the one and only Randy Michaels, the former Jacor and Clear Channel radio head who cut his programming teeth there long ago.
Randy is, of course, now head of the broadcast division of media giant Tribune. And Tribune has just one radio station...a big 50,000 watter like WLW, Chicago's WGN/720.
The pairing of WLW and Randy just makes too much sense. He knows the facility like no one else. He has an affinity for the big AM sticks, probably developed from his own time at WLW.
Under Jacor, owned by now-Tribune owner Sam Zell, Randy went on a shopping spree for a bunch of heritage, flamethrowing AM stations...now all under the Clear Channel umbrella.
But as of this moment, we have no idea if buying WLW, or any other of the Cincinnati Clear Channel stations that have to be sold off, is on Randy's plate. Or, if Mr. Zell has any plans to add any more radio to the Tribune broadcast empire.
If WLW is tagged on the "sell" list...you couldn't ask for a more perfect buyer.
If someone wants to keep WLW in its current form, with high-profile local talk personalities, little to no syndication, and with its "edgy" style...what better new operator than the man who took the station in that direction in the first place? He certainly won't have to be introduced to personalities like Bill Cunningham and Mike McConnell.
In other possibilities, Bonneville does news/talk radio, and they'd be another possible buyer...but that company has been moving the format onto FM in a lot of markets.
We'll be watching...as closely as we can from our Northeast Ohio perch...
What we're all trying to figure out is...what's next? How many stations would CC have to sell in Cincinnati?
The problem is that the Lee/Bain Capital groups have a financial interest in Cumulus, which has a cluster of its own in the Queen City.
It's hard to imagine that any more than the size of one of the current clusters would be allowed to stand. CC has managed to squeeze in eight stations in Cincinnati on both the AM and FM bands, Cumulus has three FMs. Since Bain/Lee is only an investor in Cumulus, the sell-off would likely center around Kenwood.
And here's the "bombshell", floated in a blog item by Cincinnati Enquirer radio/TV guru John Kiesewetter:
The government did not specify which stations must be sold here. But I'm told that Clear Channel managers here told employees Tuesday that the company could consider selling off WLW-AM and KISS107.1, or the tandem of FOX92.1 and Radio94.1 (the old MIX94.1).
Selling off the original "Big One"? Huh?
Kiese makes the case that the WLW/Kiss combo being sold would help speed along the long-delayed deal in the eyes of regulators, and would take the station's high payroll off of CC's books.
Well, OK. We'll see.
Like we did when we first thought about it, Kiese wonders about the prospect of WLW being reunited with the one and only Randy Michaels, the former Jacor and Clear Channel radio head who cut his programming teeth there long ago.
Randy is, of course, now head of the broadcast division of media giant Tribune. And Tribune has just one radio station...a big 50,000 watter like WLW, Chicago's WGN/720.
The pairing of WLW and Randy just makes too much sense. He knows the facility like no one else. He has an affinity for the big AM sticks, probably developed from his own time at WLW.
Under Jacor, owned by now-Tribune owner Sam Zell, Randy went on a shopping spree for a bunch of heritage, flamethrowing AM stations...now all under the Clear Channel umbrella.
But as of this moment, we have no idea if buying WLW, or any other of the Cincinnati Clear Channel stations that have to be sold off, is on Randy's plate. Or, if Mr. Zell has any plans to add any more radio to the Tribune broadcast empire.
If WLW is tagged on the "sell" list...you couldn't ask for a more perfect buyer.
If someone wants to keep WLW in its current form, with high-profile local talk personalities, little to no syndication, and with its "edgy" style...what better new operator than the man who took the station in that direction in the first place? He certainly won't have to be introduced to personalities like Bill Cunningham and Mike McConnell.
In other possibilities, Bonneville does news/talk radio, and they'd be another possible buyer...but that company has been moving the format onto FM in a lot of markets.
We'll be watching...as closely as we can from our Northeast Ohio perch...
Monday, January 28, 2008
The CC Sale And Northeast Ohio
What's been "topic number one" in Northeast Ohio radio-land the past few days doesn't concern the debut of a new co-host this morning on CBS Radio AC WDOK/102.1 "Soft Rock 102.1".
It's not Craig Karmazin's latest move in his Sports Radio Empire, sort of headquartered these days at the Galleria in downtown Cleveland - depending on where Mr. Karmazin hangs his hat most of the year.
No, it's something that hasn't even happened yet.
Various trade publications last week reported the official word that the FCC has OK'ed the transfer of Clear Channel Communications (PDF file link) to two private equity firms - Bain Capital and Thomas H. Lee Partners. The move means only the Federal Trade Commission's approval stands between the deal and its consummation sometime later this year.
You might recall that Clear Channel proposed sending a number of stations into the "Aloha Trust", a third-party that would eventually have to sell the stations marked.
One of those stations was the company's top 40 WAKS/96.5 Akron "Kiss FM", which operates out of the Clear Channel Cleveland World Domination HQ at Oak Tree.
Well, with the FCC approval, the commission put a condition on it - a certain number of stations will indeed have to be transferred to that trust for eventual sale to another owner.
And as you can see in this list compiled by RadioInsight.com's Lance Venta - look! There's WAKS! (The list is taken from Appendix B of the FCC's order, in the PDF linked above.)
Also on the list are two of the company's Dayton area stations, and some southeast Ohio stations once tabbed for sale to the now-deceased "GoodRadio.TV LLC" effort, which will have to be sold to SOMEONE.
We're not just in the theoretical, anymore. The folks at Oak Tree will have to get WAKS off the ownership books to be sold, to comply with the FCC's wishes.
Or will they?
Some rumblings we heard floating out of Oak Tree, onto the wind and into our ears, say that Clear Channel may - or may not - sell the WAKS facility specifically. The feeling there is that if one of the other current five FM holdings out of Oak Tree were to get a larger price, they'd sell that station instead.
How the formats would shuffle out is anyone's guess. The low stations on the Format Change Speculation Totem Pole are usually hot AC WMVX/106.5, and rock WMMS/100.7.
But even classic hits WMJI/105.7 could be in play, if John Lanigan's latest reported on-air chatter about not signing another contract turns into reality. The conventional wisdom there is that 105.7 could become just about anything format-wise without "Lanigan and Malone" to hold it up in morning drive.
Who's out there buying? That could be a big problem for Clear Channel.
CBS doesn't have any room for a fifth FM, and CC wouldn't likely sell it to their primary in-market competitor. Radio One has room, but do they have the cash? The company is said to not be doing very well nationally, though Cleveland is a good market for them - with popular WZAK/93.1 and WENZ/107.9 leading the way. And again, would CC sell?
Salem also has been selling more than buying, and with a full-market FM signal running its "Fish" format already, what would they do with a second? Salem's three core formats are represented with decent signals in Cleveland - 95.5, 1220 and 1420 - and Salem doesn't strike us as a company that would buy prime real estate on the FM dial for top dollar.
As for other possibilities, the sold station would be a single FM, which means unless someone picked up one or two other signals from other operators, it doesn't make sense for the usual players, even those who aren't here already.
Entercom is one of those, but we doubt they'd enter the Cleveland market with a solo FM.
And some speculate that Good Karma's Craig Karmazin gets involved here.
Well, his AM holdings (specifically WKNR/850) are a direct competitor to Clear Channel's WTAM/1100. Do you think CC wants to sell him a powerful FM signal where he can run his sports programming against their big AM talk/sports outlet?
And if CC is - as we've mentioned - rumored to be selling whatever signal gets it the most money...would that big FM stick be too rich for Mr. Karmazin's money? Even if CC agreed to sell it to him?
He doesn't have many full-signal stations. His FM sports talker in Madison is a class A rimshot from Columbus WI, which is in the process of being moved into the heart of the market. His FM rocker in that market is a class A rimshot from southern end of the market.
We have no evidence that Good Karma is interested in - or can even afford - a full-market class B FM signal in a market like Cleveland. WKNR was the company's very first full-market, full-time AM signal in a top 30 market.
Then, there's the Akron Situation.
WAKS/96.5 is licensed to Akron. It's the former home of WKDD, of course, the 2008 version of which now resides on 98.1 Canton.
Assuming CC can't get "top dollar" for "lakefront" property with one of the other Cleveland FM stations, could 96.5 basically be moved back down to Akron, returning the station to its historic home just to get it off the books?
And could a 96.5 signal downgraded back into Akron - presumably from its former tower next to WCUE/1150 on Bellaire Road - satisfy the commission by being transferred to Freedom Avenue, on CC's Akron/Canton books?
Probably not, due to the general definition of the area market, but we're throwing it out there. We don't know the answers to pretty much all these questions, even in Rumorland.
For now, with WAKS tabbed to go into the Aloha Trust...we presume the folks at Oak Tree will continue to program and run it as they do now, until whenever the station goes out of the company...or if another of the Oak Tree FMs is sold instead in the required effort to reduce the company's ownership stake in the Cleveland market.
There are a lot of other questions here, and nearly all of the above is pure speculation. But since everyone else is talking about it...why not us?
It's not Craig Karmazin's latest move in his Sports Radio Empire, sort of headquartered these days at the Galleria in downtown Cleveland - depending on where Mr. Karmazin hangs his hat most of the year.
No, it's something that hasn't even happened yet.
Various trade publications last week reported the official word that the FCC has OK'ed the transfer of Clear Channel Communications (PDF file link) to two private equity firms - Bain Capital and Thomas H. Lee Partners. The move means only the Federal Trade Commission's approval stands between the deal and its consummation sometime later this year.
You might recall that Clear Channel proposed sending a number of stations into the "Aloha Trust", a third-party that would eventually have to sell the stations marked.
One of those stations was the company's top 40 WAKS/96.5 Akron "Kiss FM", which operates out of the Clear Channel Cleveland World Domination HQ at Oak Tree.Well, with the FCC approval, the commission put a condition on it - a certain number of stations will indeed have to be transferred to that trust for eventual sale to another owner.
And as you can see in this list compiled by RadioInsight.com's Lance Venta - look! There's WAKS! (The list is taken from Appendix B of the FCC's order, in the PDF linked above.)
Also on the list are two of the company's Dayton area stations, and some southeast Ohio stations once tabbed for sale to the now-deceased "GoodRadio.TV LLC" effort, which will have to be sold to SOMEONE.
We're not just in the theoretical, anymore. The folks at Oak Tree will have to get WAKS off the ownership books to be sold, to comply with the FCC's wishes.
Or will they?
Some rumblings we heard floating out of Oak Tree, onto the wind and into our ears, say that Clear Channel may - or may not - sell the WAKS facility specifically. The feeling there is that if one of the other current five FM holdings out of Oak Tree were to get a larger price, they'd sell that station instead.
How the formats would shuffle out is anyone's guess. The low stations on the Format Change Speculation Totem Pole are usually hot AC WMVX/106.5, and rock WMMS/100.7.
But even classic hits WMJI/105.7 could be in play, if John Lanigan's latest reported on-air chatter about not signing another contract turns into reality. The conventional wisdom there is that 105.7 could become just about anything format-wise without "Lanigan and Malone" to hold it up in morning drive.
Who's out there buying? That could be a big problem for Clear Channel.
CBS doesn't have any room for a fifth FM, and CC wouldn't likely sell it to their primary in-market competitor. Radio One has room, but do they have the cash? The company is said to not be doing very well nationally, though Cleveland is a good market for them - with popular WZAK/93.1 and WENZ/107.9 leading the way. And again, would CC sell?
Salem also has been selling more than buying, and with a full-market FM signal running its "Fish" format already, what would they do with a second? Salem's three core formats are represented with decent signals in Cleveland - 95.5, 1220 and 1420 - and Salem doesn't strike us as a company that would buy prime real estate on the FM dial for top dollar.
As for other possibilities, the sold station would be a single FM, which means unless someone picked up one or two other signals from other operators, it doesn't make sense for the usual players, even those who aren't here already.
Entercom is one of those, but we doubt they'd enter the Cleveland market with a solo FM.
And some speculate that Good Karma's Craig Karmazin gets involved here.
Well, his AM holdings (specifically WKNR/850) are a direct competitor to Clear Channel's WTAM/1100. Do you think CC wants to sell him a powerful FM signal where he can run his sports programming against their big AM talk/sports outlet?
And if CC is - as we've mentioned - rumored to be selling whatever signal gets it the most money...would that big FM stick be too rich for Mr. Karmazin's money? Even if CC agreed to sell it to him?
He doesn't have many full-signal stations. His FM sports talker in Madison is a class A rimshot from Columbus WI, which is in the process of being moved into the heart of the market. His FM rocker in that market is a class A rimshot from southern end of the market.
We have no evidence that Good Karma is interested in - or can even afford - a full-market class B FM signal in a market like Cleveland. WKNR was the company's very first full-market, full-time AM signal in a top 30 market.
Then, there's the Akron Situation.
WAKS/96.5 is licensed to Akron. It's the former home of WKDD, of course, the 2008 version of which now resides on 98.1 Canton.
Assuming CC can't get "top dollar" for "lakefront" property with one of the other Cleveland FM stations, could 96.5 basically be moved back down to Akron, returning the station to its historic home just to get it off the books?
And could a 96.5 signal downgraded back into Akron - presumably from its former tower next to WCUE/1150 on Bellaire Road - satisfy the commission by being transferred to Freedom Avenue, on CC's Akron/Canton books?
Probably not, due to the general definition of the area market, but we're throwing it out there. We don't know the answers to pretty much all these questions, even in Rumorland.
For now, with WAKS tabbed to go into the Aloha Trust...we presume the folks at Oak Tree will continue to program and run it as they do now, until whenever the station goes out of the company...or if another of the Oak Tree FMs is sold instead in the required effort to reduce the company's ownership stake in the Cleveland market.
There are a lot of other questions here, and nearly all of the above is pure speculation. But since everyone else is talking about it...why not us?
Friday, January 18, 2008
Friday Warmup
Think warm as you read this item to wrap up our week.
After all, the weather forecast tells us that the wind chill over the weekend in Northeast Ohio will be roughly 200 degrees below zero, give or take a hundred...
DID YOU HEAR IT?: Anytime Cleveland market morning drive radio icon John Lanigan even remotely talks about his career and future, the Bat Signal appears in the sky, and OMW gets contacted by numerous readers.
That's what happened earlier this week, when a caller apparently called the WMJI/105.7 "Majic 105.7" morning fixture on Wednesday, suggesting something when Lanigan "goes on vacation or negotiates a new contract".
A reader tells us that Lanigan responded that there "will be no new contract", leading to massive speculation - at least among our readers - about Lanigan's retirement...and if it's soon.
We didn't hear the segment, and can't confirm it aired.
And we remind readers that just about everyone of that stature in this business throws out stuff - sometimes to set the tone or atmosphere for contract negotiations.
We're told that Lanigan has negotiated shorter contracts over the years, for the express purpose of being able to walk off into radio's sunset whenever he wishes to do so.
We also hear that both sidekick Jimmy Malone, and newsman Chip Kullick, have socked away money from other, non-show ventures, and would likely follow Mr. Lanigan off the dial if he retired.
This item is mainly up to get reaction from people who may have heard the quip mentioned above, which may or may not even mean anything. We also don't remember when Lanigan's current contract expires...
WHIO-FM MOVE SET?: OMW hears that the move of Cox talk WHIO-FM 95.7 Piqua, currently simulcasting the company's WHIO/1290 Dayton, has been announced as being approved.
The application to move the station from Piqua to the northern Cincinnati suburb of Sharonville was filed a year ago, and at least at this writing, there's no indication on the FCC website that it has been approved. (The FCC web database has lagged behind reality in the past.)
But OMW hears that the news of the move was delivered inside Cox's Dayton headquarters, and that employees were told that the station would be sold to another company.
We speculated on much of this long ago, even going so far as to point out the presence of long-time broadcast move-in specialist First Broadcasting on the application to move it.
And it's no secret that First Broadcasting still actually operates stations - in Cincinnati, no less - including the "MAX FM" adult hits trimulcast. Or simulcast. Or whatever it is now. (We haven't kept track.)
Wither the FM side of WHIO's news/talk simulcast?
We'd be surprised if it didn't land at the current WZLR/95.3 Xenia, which filed to move its transmitter location west - closer to Dayton - at the same time Cox filed the WHIO-FM move.
That last part is just our own guess, but it would appear to make sense to us. We have no indication that Cox, either as a company or locally in Dayton, is abandoning news/talk formats on FM.
This is very lightly sourced at this time, but our sources tell us they're surprised it hasn't popped up anywhere else...
ANOTHER TWEAK: We spent an entire item recently tweaking Columbus progressive talk outlet WVKO/1580 for being unable to acquire its satellite-fed syndicated talk shows by, well, satellite...which forced it to substitute a different morning drive talk show for Jones' Bill Press when an Internet feed went down.
Someone presumably associated with the station ripped us in a comment response, basically taking us to task for not knowing "what (WVKO) is up against" - and not just the inability to point a satellite dish through downtown Columbus buildings.
We'll take a "we'll agree to disagree" stance with that one, and chalk it up to WVKO's small budget or lack of engineering expertise.
But we're not going to let Good Karma Broadcasting sports WKNR/850 Cleveland "ESPN 850 WKNR" off so easy.
It's now a running on-air joke on the station's most popular local talk show, Tony Rizzo's midday show "Rizzo on the Radio". Somewhere after the WKNR move from Broadview Heights to downtown Cleveland's Galleria, the station was apparently not able to move its long-time toll-free number, 866-228-0850. (Try it! See if anyone answers!)
OK, new place, new number. We get that.
But MONTHS after the sports talk station "moved on up" to a deluxe studio in a downtown shopping mall, the station has no toll-free number of any kind. Period.
Efforts to return toll-free calling to WKNR callers have been chronicled in one of "Rizzo on the Radio" co-host/producer Aaron Goldhammer in one of those It Really Should Be Shorter "update" segments for the past few weeks, and Hammer told the Rizz and listeners last week that prospects of the new toll-free number being activated were "farther away than ever".
Huh?
A sports talk radio station with no toll-free number? You might as well have one without play-by-play!
Now, the world has changed somewhat in recent years. Most callers use cell phones - either using their own minutes or a station-provided free call hotline. Even if callers at home don't use their cell phones, many of them have Internet-based phone services (Vonage, cable company services) with unlimited toll-free calling nationwide.
But...why in the world is getting a toll-free number such a big deal for a radio station, and why has it taken WKNR so long?
It really makes the station look unprofessional...and in our humble, outside opinion, Good Karma boss Craig Karmazin should stop the joking and get the number installed ASAP...
After all, the weather forecast tells us that the wind chill over the weekend in Northeast Ohio will be roughly 200 degrees below zero, give or take a hundred...
DID YOU HEAR IT?: Anytime Cleveland market morning drive radio icon John Lanigan even remotely talks about his career and future, the Bat Signal appears in the sky, and OMW gets contacted by numerous readers.
That's what happened earlier this week, when a caller apparently called the WMJI/105.7 "Majic 105.7" morning fixture on Wednesday, suggesting something when Lanigan "goes on vacation or negotiates a new contract".
A reader tells us that Lanigan responded that there "will be no new contract", leading to massive speculation - at least among our readers - about Lanigan's retirement...and if it's soon.
We didn't hear the segment, and can't confirm it aired.
And we remind readers that just about everyone of that stature in this business throws out stuff - sometimes to set the tone or atmosphere for contract negotiations.
We're told that Lanigan has negotiated shorter contracts over the years, for the express purpose of being able to walk off into radio's sunset whenever he wishes to do so.
We also hear that both sidekick Jimmy Malone, and newsman Chip Kullick, have socked away money from other, non-show ventures, and would likely follow Mr. Lanigan off the dial if he retired.
This item is mainly up to get reaction from people who may have heard the quip mentioned above, which may or may not even mean anything. We also don't remember when Lanigan's current contract expires...
WHIO-FM MOVE SET?: OMW hears that the move of Cox talk WHIO-FM 95.7 Piqua, currently simulcasting the company's WHIO/1290 Dayton, has been announced as being approved.
The application to move the station from Piqua to the northern Cincinnati suburb of Sharonville was filed a year ago, and at least at this writing, there's no indication on the FCC website that it has been approved. (The FCC web database has lagged behind reality in the past.)
But OMW hears that the news of the move was delivered inside Cox's Dayton headquarters, and that employees were told that the station would be sold to another company.
We speculated on much of this long ago, even going so far as to point out the presence of long-time broadcast move-in specialist First Broadcasting on the application to move it.
And it's no secret that First Broadcasting still actually operates stations - in Cincinnati, no less - including the "MAX FM" adult hits trimulcast. Or simulcast. Or whatever it is now. (We haven't kept track.)
Wither the FM side of WHIO's news/talk simulcast?
We'd be surprised if it didn't land at the current WZLR/95.3 Xenia, which filed to move its transmitter location west - closer to Dayton - at the same time Cox filed the WHIO-FM move.
That last part is just our own guess, but it would appear to make sense to us. We have no indication that Cox, either as a company or locally in Dayton, is abandoning news/talk formats on FM.
This is very lightly sourced at this time, but our sources tell us they're surprised it hasn't popped up anywhere else...
ANOTHER TWEAK: We spent an entire item recently tweaking Columbus progressive talk outlet WVKO/1580 for being unable to acquire its satellite-fed syndicated talk shows by, well, satellite...which forced it to substitute a different morning drive talk show for Jones' Bill Press when an Internet feed went down.
Someone presumably associated with the station ripped us in a comment response, basically taking us to task for not knowing "what (WVKO) is up against" - and not just the inability to point a satellite dish through downtown Columbus buildings.
We'll take a "we'll agree to disagree" stance with that one, and chalk it up to WVKO's small budget or lack of engineering expertise.
But we're not going to let Good Karma Broadcasting sports WKNR/850 Cleveland "ESPN 850 WKNR" off so easy.
It's now a running on-air joke on the station's most popular local talk show, Tony Rizzo's midday show "Rizzo on the Radio". Somewhere after the WKNR move from Broadview Heights to downtown Cleveland's Galleria, the station was apparently not able to move its long-time toll-free number, 866-228-0850. (Try it! See if anyone answers!)
OK, new place, new number. We get that.
But MONTHS after the sports talk station "moved on up" to a deluxe studio in a downtown shopping mall, the station has no toll-free number of any kind. Period.
Efforts to return toll-free calling to WKNR callers have been chronicled in one of "Rizzo on the Radio" co-host/producer Aaron Goldhammer in one of those It Really Should Be Shorter "update" segments for the past few weeks, and Hammer told the Rizz and listeners last week that prospects of the new toll-free number being activated were "farther away than ever".
Huh?
A sports talk radio station with no toll-free number? You might as well have one without play-by-play!
Now, the world has changed somewhat in recent years. Most callers use cell phones - either using their own minutes or a station-provided free call hotline. Even if callers at home don't use their cell phones, many of them have Internet-based phone services (Vonage, cable company services) with unlimited toll-free calling nationwide.
But...why in the world is getting a toll-free number such a big deal for a radio station, and why has it taken WKNR so long?
It really makes the station look unprofessional...and in our humble, outside opinion, Good Karma boss Craig Karmazin should stop the joking and get the number installed ASAP...
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Clear Channel Spins Five To BAS
AllAccess reports this afternoon that Clear Channel has spun off five stations in its Sandusky and Findlay/Tiffin clusters to local operator BAS Broadcasting. The move has been long rumored, and even hinted about here among recent news from that region.
The stations listed are CC's Sandusky cluster stations - sports WLEC/1450 "Sports Radio Sandusky", AC WCPZ/102.7 "Mix 102.7", and classic rock WMJK/100.9 Clyde "The Coast", along with WTTF/1600 Tiffin and one of its clustermates, the recently changed WPFX/107.7 North Baltimore, now AC outlet "My 107.7".
The move puts the entire Clear Channel Sandusky cluster under BAS, and two of Clear Channel's Findlay/Tiffin cluster stations in the company's hands as well.
But...note what's NOT on the list, and it's a big one: country WCKY-FM/103.7 Tiffin, which recently reimaged as "103-7 CKY" after years as "Buckeye Country".
We mentioned it very recently...when former WSPD/1370 Toledo talk host Denny Schaffer started his new Sunday morning music-and-commentary show, crafted with computerized, pre-recorded care from Denny's current home in the Atlanta area. (By the way, the music in the show? The songs weren't from WCKY's country playlist, but Christian contemporary hits provided by Denny himself.)
Since the BAS rumor has been kicking around a while, let us pull another from the unverified rumor mill. Some are wondering if Clear Channel - or another potential buyer - will nudge 103.7's signal just far enough north to make it a viable Toledo rimshot station.
We're not all that familiar with the region, but the signal right now is apparently better than we thought. But as pointed out by a local radio wag there, there would have to be a major effort - if not signal move - to make the station a serious Toledo player.
If there's another possible buyer for WCKY-FM that wishes to turn it into a Toledo-focused station, that'd be interesting. Of course, Clear Channel would have to be OK with the move, as it would bring another competitive outlet against its existing stations.
Perhaps a format operator that doesn't compete with Clear Channel, like a religious broadcaster, would be the player there. Since there's some question just how far 103.7 can move closer to Toledo, if at all, a religious operator would be much more willing to deal with a far rimshot signal.
Or, the company itself could hang onto it and have it serve some sort of "flanker" purpose alongside the existing CC Toledo stations.
This is enough speculation to make one queasy, so we remind you that we're just pointing out what we see as possibilities. None of this is backed by fact. We're just moving the chess pieces around in our collective heads.
BAS Broadcasting already has two stations in the region where it's buying the above stations - one being AC WFRO/99.1 "Eagle 99" out of Fremont. "Eagle 99" is pumping out ABC/Citadel's full-time satellite format "Hits and Favorites", with some fairly active coverage of local sports squeezed in there.
WFRO used to be WFRO-FM, before the station split from its former and historic AM sister station. That outlet was spun to ABC Radio, which ran it for a short time as an ESPN Radio outlet before shuttering the AM for good...to make way for the company's new Radio Disney move-in for the Detroit market.
BAS also owns oldies outlet WOHF/92.1 Bellevue "92.1 The Wolf", which runs ABC/Citadel's "Pure Gold"/"Oldies Radio" format, rimshotting Sandusky and Fremont.
Slightly closer to the OMW World Headquarters, BAS owns the former Clear Channel stations in Mount Vernon, standards WMVO/1300 and AC WQIO/93.7 "Eagle 93.7" - which, as you'd expect from the name, runs the very same ABC/Citadel 24/7 format as WFRO...
The stations listed are CC's Sandusky cluster stations - sports WLEC/1450 "Sports Radio Sandusky", AC WCPZ/102.7 "Mix 102.7", and classic rock WMJK/100.9 Clyde "The Coast", along with WTTF/1600 Tiffin and one of its clustermates, the recently changed WPFX/107.7 North Baltimore, now AC outlet "My 107.7".
The move puts the entire Clear Channel Sandusky cluster under BAS, and two of Clear Channel's Findlay/Tiffin cluster stations in the company's hands as well.
But...note what's NOT on the list, and it's a big one: country WCKY-FM/103.7 Tiffin, which recently reimaged as "103-7 CKY" after years as "Buckeye Country".
We mentioned it very recently...when former WSPD/1370 Toledo talk host Denny Schaffer started his new Sunday morning music-and-commentary show, crafted with computerized, pre-recorded care from Denny's current home in the Atlanta area. (By the way, the music in the show? The songs weren't from WCKY's country playlist, but Christian contemporary hits provided by Denny himself.)
Since the BAS rumor has been kicking around a while, let us pull another from the unverified rumor mill. Some are wondering if Clear Channel - or another potential buyer - will nudge 103.7's signal just far enough north to make it a viable Toledo rimshot station.
We're not all that familiar with the region, but the signal right now is apparently better than we thought. But as pointed out by a local radio wag there, there would have to be a major effort - if not signal move - to make the station a serious Toledo player.
If there's another possible buyer for WCKY-FM that wishes to turn it into a Toledo-focused station, that'd be interesting. Of course, Clear Channel would have to be OK with the move, as it would bring another competitive outlet against its existing stations.
Perhaps a format operator that doesn't compete with Clear Channel, like a religious broadcaster, would be the player there. Since there's some question just how far 103.7 can move closer to Toledo, if at all, a religious operator would be much more willing to deal with a far rimshot signal.
Or, the company itself could hang onto it and have it serve some sort of "flanker" purpose alongside the existing CC Toledo stations.
This is enough speculation to make one queasy, so we remind you that we're just pointing out what we see as possibilities. None of this is backed by fact. We're just moving the chess pieces around in our collective heads.
BAS Broadcasting already has two stations in the region where it's buying the above stations - one being AC WFRO/99.1 "Eagle 99" out of Fremont. "Eagle 99" is pumping out ABC/Citadel's full-time satellite format "Hits and Favorites", with some fairly active coverage of local sports squeezed in there.
WFRO used to be WFRO-FM, before the station split from its former and historic AM sister station. That outlet was spun to ABC Radio, which ran it for a short time as an ESPN Radio outlet before shuttering the AM for good...to make way for the company's new Radio Disney move-in for the Detroit market.
BAS also owns oldies outlet WOHF/92.1 Bellevue "92.1 The Wolf", which runs ABC/Citadel's "Pure Gold"/"Oldies Radio" format, rimshotting Sandusky and Fremont.
Slightly closer to the OMW World Headquarters, BAS owns the former Clear Channel stations in Mount Vernon, standards WMVO/1300 and AC WQIO/93.7 "Eagle 93.7" - which, as you'd expect from the name, runs the very same ABC/Citadel 24/7 format as WFRO...
Saturday, January 05, 2008
Findlay And Lima Changes Monday?
OMW is hearing that some changes on the radio dial are about to take place on Clear Channel radio stations in the Findlay and Lima areas.
It starts with a brief official announcement on the website of Findlay-based classic rocker WFPX/107.7 North Baltimore OH "107.7 The Fox":
"Catch us on the dial at 106.3 on Monday!"
That's all it says.
106.3 in the region is currently oldies WBUK/106.3 Ottawa OH "The Big Buck", which pumps out mostly satellite-fed oldies...and is headquartered at Clear Channel in Lima.
"The Fox" targets Findlay from its location just east of that western Ohio city, and "The Big Buck" is a class A rimshot that touches both Findlay and Lima on the fringes of its signal coming out of a tower between those cities.
Clear Channel Findlay/Tiffin recently advertised to hire a program director for a new adult contemporary outlet in their cluster.
Add that with this new website an OMW reader in the region pointed out for "My 107.7" - a virtual clone of the "look and feel" of sister Canton market AC outlet WHOF/101.7 North Canton "My 101.7" - and the pieces seem to fit together for changes as soon as Monday.
We'd expect the new "My 107.7" AC format to displace "The Fox" classic rock format on that frequency. A brief click of the site's "Listen Live" link would seem to confirm that...it brings up an error message tagged with the WPFX call letters.
In turn, the above announcement would place "The Fox" on 106.3 Ottawa, and unless Clear Channel Lima is making more changes to keep the oldies format going down there, "The Big Buck" would appear to be heading out.
None of this is confirmed by sources in the Findlay or Lima regions, by the way, aside from the above announcement of "The Fox's" format being heard on 106.3 on Monday.
That announcement is brief, and for all we know, "The Fox" will simulcast until the presumed AC format on 107.7 is ready. The wording on the WPFX website doesn't make it clear.
All of these stations are still in the Clear Channel fold, with the various changes to the company seemingly on hold.
The plan to take CC private in the hands of two private equity funds hasn't closed yet, and the once-proposed mass sale of small market stations ran into problems as well.
CC has managed to sell off some groups (Ashtabula, etc.), but with "GoodRadio" out of the picture as a large buyer of many of CC's small market clusters, the effort to sell the remaining groups targeted in Ohio and other states is going slowly. Some of these stations (including WBUK) were tabbed to go into the "Aloha Station Trust", but that hasn't happened yet, either.
So, for now, all of this is still in Clear Channel's court.
But, a question...if, for example, sales split the Lima and Findlay/Tiffin clusters to different companies...what happens, then? We'll just have to wait and see...
It starts with a brief official announcement on the website of Findlay-based classic rocker WFPX/107.7 North Baltimore OH "107.7 The Fox":"Catch us on the dial at 106.3 on Monday!"
That's all it says.
106.3 in the region is currently oldies WBUK/106.3 Ottawa OH "The Big Buck", which pumps out mostly satellite-fed oldies...and is headquartered at Clear Channel in Lima."The Fox" targets Findlay from its location just east of that western Ohio city, and "The Big Buck" is a class A rimshot that touches both Findlay and Lima on the fringes of its signal coming out of a tower between those cities.
Clear Channel Findlay/Tiffin recently advertised to hire a program director for a new adult contemporary outlet in their cluster.
Add that with this new website an OMW reader in the region pointed out for "My 107.7" - a virtual clone of the "look and feel" of sister Canton market AC outlet WHOF/101.7 North Canton "My 101.7" - and the pieces seem to fit together for changes as soon as Monday.We'd expect the new "My 107.7" AC format to displace "The Fox" classic rock format on that frequency. A brief click of the site's "Listen Live" link would seem to confirm that...it brings up an error message tagged with the WPFX call letters.
In turn, the above announcement would place "The Fox" on 106.3 Ottawa, and unless Clear Channel Lima is making more changes to keep the oldies format going down there, "The Big Buck" would appear to be heading out.
None of this is confirmed by sources in the Findlay or Lima regions, by the way, aside from the above announcement of "The Fox's" format being heard on 106.3 on Monday.
That announcement is brief, and for all we know, "The Fox" will simulcast until the presumed AC format on 107.7 is ready. The wording on the WPFX website doesn't make it clear.
All of these stations are still in the Clear Channel fold, with the various changes to the company seemingly on hold.
The plan to take CC private in the hands of two private equity funds hasn't closed yet, and the once-proposed mass sale of small market stations ran into problems as well.
CC has managed to sell off some groups (Ashtabula, etc.), but with "GoodRadio" out of the picture as a large buyer of many of CC's small market clusters, the effort to sell the remaining groups targeted in Ohio and other states is going slowly. Some of these stations (including WBUK) were tabbed to go into the "Aloha Station Trust", but that hasn't happened yet, either.
So, for now, all of this is still in Clear Channel's court.
But, a question...if, for example, sales split the Lima and Findlay/Tiffin clusters to different companies...what happens, then? We'll just have to wait and see...
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Randy, Tribune And TV 8
UPDATE 3:56 PM 12/20/07: The Sam Zell takeover of Tribune is complete, and Randy Michaels has been announced as "executive vice president and chief executive officer of Interactive and Broadcasting" for Tribune under Zell's leadership...
------------------
This is by no means a confirmation of our earlier report that Local TV, LLC, the television operating arm of Oak Hill Capital Partners, is in line to buy the FOX sub-top 10 market owned-and-operated stations being sold - most notably, for this report, including WJW/8 "FOX 8" in Cleveland.
But it may explain why nothing's been announced.
The Los Angeles Times reports (along with another story by the Wall Street Journal) that veteran broadcast executive Randy Michaels - now running the Local TV group - is heading for Tribune...to rejoin long-time colleague and partner Sam Zell, who's about to buy the chain.
From the Times article (free registration required):
Michaels' is the first name to surface as Zell begins assembling his management team. A company source said Michaels would probably focus on Tribune's broadcast and interactive businesses.
Anyone who knows Randy's history knows that he ran the old Jacor Communications for Zell, then stayed on after Clear Channel bought out the company as CC's top radio executive.
So, it's no surprise that Randy would lead the charge for Zell with his new company's broadcast - and interactive - divisions.
What does this have to do with "FOX 8", and the eight other FOX O&Os being spun off by News Corporation?
Well, we'd announced that a new buyer was "found", widely expected to be Michaels' Local TV group.
A number of folks who know this sort of thing better than we do are speculating that along with Michaels' move to Tribune, Oak Hill Capital Partners may invest in the new Sam Zell-led Tribune, folding its Local TV stations into that company.
In effect, if this all pans out (and this is major speculation and rumor at this point), Randy Michaels would still end up overseeing the nine smaller-market FOX O&Os, including WJW, but as Tribune's broadcasting boss...not Local TV's.
As such, this deal potentially being "in flux" may be the cause of the delay in the announcement of WJW's new ownership.
That, like everything in the preceding few lines, is our own speculation. But it makes sense, since we already know Randy Michaels is heading for Tribune.
Just some food for thought...
------------------
This is by no means a confirmation of our earlier report that Local TV, LLC, the television operating arm of Oak Hill Capital Partners, is in line to buy the FOX sub-top 10 market owned-and-operated stations being sold - most notably, for this report, including WJW/8 "FOX 8" in Cleveland.
But it may explain why nothing's been announced.
The Los Angeles Times reports (along with another story by the Wall Street Journal) that veteran broadcast executive Randy Michaels - now running the Local TV group - is heading for Tribune...to rejoin long-time colleague and partner Sam Zell, who's about to buy the chain.
From the Times article (free registration required):
Michaels' is the first name to surface as Zell begins assembling his management team. A company source said Michaels would probably focus on Tribune's broadcast and interactive businesses.
Anyone who knows Randy's history knows that he ran the old Jacor Communications for Zell, then stayed on after Clear Channel bought out the company as CC's top radio executive.
So, it's no surprise that Randy would lead the charge for Zell with his new company's broadcast - and interactive - divisions.
What does this have to do with "FOX 8", and the eight other FOX O&Os being spun off by News Corporation?
Well, we'd announced that a new buyer was "found", widely expected to be Michaels' Local TV group.
A number of folks who know this sort of thing better than we do are speculating that along with Michaels' move to Tribune, Oak Hill Capital Partners may invest in the new Sam Zell-led Tribune, folding its Local TV stations into that company.
In effect, if this all pans out (and this is major speculation and rumor at this point), Randy Michaels would still end up overseeing the nine smaller-market FOX O&Os, including WJW, but as Tribune's broadcasting boss...not Local TV's.
As such, this deal potentially being "in flux" may be the cause of the delay in the announcement of WJW's new ownership.
That, like everything in the preceding few lines, is our own speculation. But it makes sense, since we already know Randy Michaels is heading for Tribune.
Just some food for thought...
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Your Tuesday News
At least two items from our Rumormill, and one correction, in this batch...
WEATHER OR NOT: OMW hears strong rumblings that a now-former Cleveland TV weather forecaster could be back on the air soon in the market at another station.
We haven't confirmed this, though it's quite likely obvious who we're talking about from our wording.
We don't know when this will be made official, or what role the new weather person would take at their new station...
COLUMBUS HIT AGAIN?: Clear Channel holiday season job cuts are almost a sad tradition now, and it looks like one of the company's Ohio clusters has been hit - again.
OMW hears that as many as seven people may have just gotten a holiday pink slip from Clear Channel's cluster in Columbus, just as the group prepares to launch another new station with a new format.
Among those rumored to be out: Stuart Osborne, the former-and-again WTVN/610 news anchor who was first let go in last year's round of holiday layoffs.
After we'd reported this last year, we heard Stuart on the air a few months later (doing a report via WAN for Cleveland's WTAM/1100), and didn't realize he'd been brought back. Well, that apparently didn't last long.
We're still confirming the other six employees that our sources tell us are gone from Clear Channel in Columbus. And we're wondering if some of this could be fluid, given that the company could well be bringing people in for the new 106.7 format.
Is it adult rock, in the "Radio 106.7" mold? Is it a full-market smooth jazz competitor for Saga's WJZA/WJZK rimshot combo? Is it something else? We'll find out soon.
But either of those formats could well not require a lot of air personalities.
By the way, we hear the new 106.7 format may debut as soon as tomorrow...
NO, TV 26 ISN'T INCLUDED: An update to our earlier item about Defiance-based, Clear Channel-owned LPTV outlet WDFM-LP 26.
Sources in the region tell us that the FCC filing we linked in Monday's item was indeed a mistake, and Clear Channel and Providence Equity Partners moved to make the application moot shortly after it was filed last May.
WDFM-LP was apparently included by mistake in a global filing for "all" of Clear Channel's TV stations. Those wildcards will get you, no?
Why it hasn't disappeared or been marked "dismissed" in the FCC application, we have no idea. We seem to remember a recently uncovered proposed FM swap being marked dismissed within days after we brought it to life.
So, no...the intent is as we suspected, for WDFM's FM outlet ("Mix 98.1") to continue to run the LPTV station as a side business.
Left unanswered, of course, is the future for WDFM/98.1 itself. It's one of a number of Clear Channel small market stations that didn't even get tabbed for the now-defunct GoodRadio.TV LLC buyout.
WDFM's FM side is one of four radio stations run out of the Clear Channel Defiance area operation, along with talk WONW/1280 and country WZOM/105.7 "The Bull", licensed to Defiance itself, and AC WNDH/103.1, which is apparently run out of separate studios in Napoleon.
If, as we've speculated, WDFM ends up in the hands of a Fort Wayne operator, we'll assume the LPTV side would stick with the remaining stations in Defiance, which - again, if Clear Channel is still trying to exit its micro-markets - could end up in another operator's hands.
Only 98.1 would be of interest to someone looking to run it as a Fort Wayne semi-rimshot....with an on-channel Fort Wayne booster likely to be revived if that scenario happens.
Again, all of the above is only our own speculation, aside from the confirmation that WDFM-LP 26 is NOT included in the Providence Equity Partners/Clear Channel Television deal...
WEATHER OR NOT: OMW hears strong rumblings that a now-former Cleveland TV weather forecaster could be back on the air soon in the market at another station.
We haven't confirmed this, though it's quite likely obvious who we're talking about from our wording.
We don't know when this will be made official, or what role the new weather person would take at their new station...
COLUMBUS HIT AGAIN?: Clear Channel holiday season job cuts are almost a sad tradition now, and it looks like one of the company's Ohio clusters has been hit - again.
OMW hears that as many as seven people may have just gotten a holiday pink slip from Clear Channel's cluster in Columbus, just as the group prepares to launch another new station with a new format.
Among those rumored to be out: Stuart Osborne, the former-and-again WTVN/610 news anchor who was first let go in last year's round of holiday layoffs.
After we'd reported this last year, we heard Stuart on the air a few months later (doing a report via WAN for Cleveland's WTAM/1100), and didn't realize he'd been brought back. Well, that apparently didn't last long.
We're still confirming the other six employees that our sources tell us are gone from Clear Channel in Columbus. And we're wondering if some of this could be fluid, given that the company could well be bringing people in for the new 106.7 format.
Is it adult rock, in the "Radio 106.7" mold? Is it a full-market smooth jazz competitor for Saga's WJZA/WJZK rimshot combo? Is it something else? We'll find out soon.
But either of those formats could well not require a lot of air personalities.
By the way, we hear the new 106.7 format may debut as soon as tomorrow...
NO, TV 26 ISN'T INCLUDED: An update to our earlier item about Defiance-based, Clear Channel-owned LPTV outlet WDFM-LP 26.
Sources in the region tell us that the FCC filing we linked in Monday's item was indeed a mistake, and Clear Channel and Providence Equity Partners moved to make the application moot shortly after it was filed last May.
WDFM-LP was apparently included by mistake in a global filing for "all" of Clear Channel's TV stations. Those wildcards will get you, no?
Why it hasn't disappeared or been marked "dismissed" in the FCC application, we have no idea. We seem to remember a recently uncovered proposed FM swap being marked dismissed within days after we brought it to life.
So, no...the intent is as we suspected, for WDFM's FM outlet ("Mix 98.1") to continue to run the LPTV station as a side business.
Left unanswered, of course, is the future for WDFM/98.1 itself. It's one of a number of Clear Channel small market stations that didn't even get tabbed for the now-defunct GoodRadio.TV LLC buyout.
WDFM's FM side is one of four radio stations run out of the Clear Channel Defiance area operation, along with talk WONW/1280 and country WZOM/105.7 "The Bull", licensed to Defiance itself, and AC WNDH/103.1, which is apparently run out of separate studios in Napoleon.
If, as we've speculated, WDFM ends up in the hands of a Fort Wayne operator, we'll assume the LPTV side would stick with the remaining stations in Defiance, which - again, if Clear Channel is still trying to exit its micro-markets - could end up in another operator's hands.
Only 98.1 would be of interest to someone looking to run it as a Fort Wayne semi-rimshot....with an on-channel Fort Wayne booster likely to be revived if that scenario happens.
Again, all of the above is only our own speculation, aside from the confirmation that WDFM-LP 26 is NOT included in the Providence Equity Partners/Clear Channel Television deal...
Monday, December 10, 2007
Monday's Return
So, the ol' OMW Inbox has clogged up again over the weekend, and there are still some outstanding items...
WJW/FOX SALE?: Estimates are not always perfect, so we weren't 100% sure that we'd hear more by now on our story from last week - the pending sale of Cleveland FOX O&O WJW/8 and eight other FOX below-top 10 market stations, presumably to Oak Hill Capital Partners (Local TV, LLC).
The announcement made by a high-level FOX executive in two meetings a week ago today at South Marginal Road told staffers that there would be news on the identity of the buyer "by the end of (last) week".
So far, unless we're missing something, there hasn't been a peep about this outside of this report... though we have been featured twice in the popular industry web publication ShopTalk, and we also hear that the TV news gossip site NewsBlues has also reprinted us. That basically means every local TV news type on the planet has read our reports.
We'll read the tea leaves and listen for the rumblings as the new work week begins.
Oak Hill certainly seems well positioned to be the buyer.
From a November 23 article in the Dallas Business Journal:
Although large private-equity firms are having a rough year, that isn't stopping Oak Hill Capital Partners from pushing ahead with plans for a third fund that organizers hope can generate $4 billion, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
The firm, which was formed by Fort Worth billionaire Robert M. Bass in 1999, already has received commitments for at least $1.4 billion for what is being called Oak Hill Capital Partners III LP, the Oct. 29 filing says.
This is similar to the earlier report from Reuters, echoed by Radio-Info.com columnist Tom Taylor - that the number of private equity funds that are able to swallow such big transactions has been dwindling with the economy's downturn.
In other words, for a deal that's somewhere roughly in that same dollar neighborhood, Oak Hill wouldn't appear to have a lot of competition for the smaller-market FOX O&Os...including "Cleveland's Own FOX 8".
We'll keep you posted...
TELE-WHAT?: More on the ongoing story out of the Columbus market, where you can actually keep track of "Television 106.7" from anywhere in the world.
Clear Channel's Columbus cluster has launched streaming audio for the current WMRN-FM Dublin, which moved from its long-time perch in Marion - and down one notch on the FM dial - last month.
The collection of TV themes is actually rather odd. We didn't recognize some of them in the half-hour long stretch we heard the other day.
But the name is even odder.
When CC Columbus decides to unveil a new format on the 106.7 signal - and we hear that could be later this week - could "Television 106.7" become "Radio 106.7"?
We can't claim credit for that one...we read it on a message board post, and like that post, we're just speculating. But it sure put some ideas into our Editorial Heads.
A stunt format named "Television 106.7" would certainly make sense for a station about to take that "Radio 106.7" positioner.
If that's the case, there's a model right down I-71 - Clear Channel's own "Radio 94.1" in Cincinnati, the station long known as AC "Mix 94.1".
Here's a description of the format as it launched in Cincinnati, courtesy of an article from September by contributor Robert Riggsbee in the "Business Courier":
The new "Radio 94.1," according to a Clear Channel source, will be a "guitar and pop" variety station targeting females ages 25-39. It is a new type of Adult Contemporary radio station that is being positioned as "Starbucks" style music. The DJs, to be named in the future, will be more laid-back and mellow, concentrating more on the song selection with less-intrusive bantering, according to the source.
Radio 94.1's core artists will include: Dave Matthews Band, Nora Jones, Jack Johnson, Rob Thomas, John Mayer, Tori Amos, Matchbox Twenty, Coldplay, Sarah McLachlan, Goo Goo Dolls, Bare Naked Ladies, and Sheryl Crow.
Clear Channel tends to cultivate these "next thing" formats, and if they work at all in one place, they get cloned rather quickly in other markets. (We don't know how Cincinnati's "Radio" is doing, though we suspect it would play into the company changing to such a format and positioner in a nearby market.)
But we warn you - this is all speculation on our part, with no internal evidence or even rumblings to support it.
We also remind you that half of the online Radio Observation World was convinced that Clear Channel was going to launch a "Bull" country station at 101.7/North Canton.
And outside Ohio, Clear Channel in the Milwaukee market stunted as if they were about to launch an FM liberal talk format to go along with successful Madison WI liberal talk outlet WXXM/92.1, complete with on air allusions to Air America Radio and its hosts.
We seem to remember that the Milwaukee FM in question ended up with a "Brew"-labeled rock format, which, to bring this full circle, has also already happened in Columbus.
Our motto? Again, don't believe the rumblings, or what even sounds plausible or obvious...
AND ONE MORE 106.7 STOP: Which, since we've gone on at length, needs a separate "stop".
Yes, Columbus Public Schools outlet WCBE/90.5 is aware that the new 106.7 full-power signal out of greater Columbus has wiped out their Newark translator on the same frequency.
The Newark Advocate newspaper heard from upset WCBE listeners, now hearing TV theme songs instead of public radio on 106.7 in that city.
And the answer from both Clear Channel Columbus and WCBE itself is as we outlined here when we started hearing from these folks: WCBE's translator has been displaced, legally, since translators are a secondary service subject to being knocked off by approved full-power stations, even new ones.
WCBE station manager Dan Mushalko didn't get back to us, but did tell the Advocate:
"I'd like to find another frequency that's clear, and switch frequencies, but we're probably crowded out of it," Mushalko said. "It's kind of crowded in Ohio. That's part of the problem."
Again, as we also alluded, there's a line seemingly a mile long to put new FM translators on in Newark, many of them dating back four years (!!) from the previously opened FM non-comm/educational filing window. (Coming up later this week - we'll walk through some of the more recent window's filings - though not many of them affect our primary coverage area.)
But Mushalko seems to want to find some way, telling the Advocate that based on donor numbers, there are around five thousand WCBE listeners in the Newark area:
"That's a lot of a community to not be serving," Mushalko said. "I've got to find a way to get this public radio service out to them."
PAUL HARVEY...GOODBYE!: Ending what must have been the oddest format pairing the veteran news commentator's program has ever had, OMW hears from multiple sources that Elyria-Lorain Broadcasting AAA outlet WLKR/95.3 Norwalk has said goodbye to ABC Radio Networks' icon Paul Harvey.
We haven't combed the affiliate list, but we'd have to believe WLKR, whose positioner in recent months has been "It's About The Music", was the only AAA format station in the nation carrying Mr. Harvey's newscasts and commentaries.
Outside of that, we hear WLKR has also moved along news-wise, and is the latest Ohio station to carry FOX News Radio - right down to, we hear from long-time Lorain County OMW reader/contributor Nathan Obral, using the FOX News Radio sounder for local newscasts...
AND YES, IT IS A CLEAR CHANNEL TV STATION: As it turns out, the nearly completed deal to buy Clear Channel's TV station doesn't just include the company's CBS affiliate in the Cincinnati market, WKRC/12 (and digital CW network affiliate subchannel "CinCW").
Though it is not listed in any of the press releases put out about this deal, Providence Equity Partners will also pick up - assuming the FCC paperwork is correct - tiny WDFM-LP/26 in the small Ohio town of Defiance.
Yes, you read that right.
WDFM-LP has operated by its sister FM powerhouse, WDFM/98.1 "Mix 98.1", since even before Clear Channel predecessor Jacor picked up the radio station in the late 1990's.
Today, "TV 26" is basically the LPTV-equivalent of a public access cable channel, with numerous public affairs shows geared at the listening/viewing area.
We'd assume that the station would remain in the hands of whoever owns WDFM's radio side.
But sure enough, an application filed in May by WDFM seeks to sell the station as part of the deal to the Providence Equity folks (aka "TV Acquisition, LLC"). There it is, right there in the FCC database.
We wonder - was this a mistake? Do the buyers know that along with a long list of network-affiliated stations markets large and small, they picked up an LPTV station in little Defiance, OH?
Or do they intend to flip WDFM-LP A) back to the radio folks - whoever ends up buying that radio station/cluster, or B) to someone else in the LPTV game? (Greg Phipps, you have a call on the white courtesy phone...)
Just guesses on our part, due to the unusual nature of WDFM-LP.
Speaking of "TV 26"'s radio mothership - we wonder who'll eventually end up with it, if Clear Channel is successful at selling off its supposedly unwanted small market radio stations.
We can't help but wonder if one of the numerous local group owners in nearby Fort Wayne IN will take a run at adding the full-B 98.1 FM signal to an existing group of stations. Remember, WDFM (FM) still has a license for the long-gone on-channel booster in that Indiana city...
WJW/FOX SALE?: Estimates are not always perfect, so we weren't 100% sure that we'd hear more by now on our story from last week - the pending sale of Cleveland FOX O&O WJW/8 and eight other FOX below-top 10 market stations, presumably to Oak Hill Capital Partners (Local TV, LLC).
The announcement made by a high-level FOX executive in two meetings a week ago today at South Marginal Road told staffers that there would be news on the identity of the buyer "by the end of (last) week".
So far, unless we're missing something, there hasn't been a peep about this outside of this report... though we have been featured twice in the popular industry web publication ShopTalk, and we also hear that the TV news gossip site NewsBlues has also reprinted us. That basically means every local TV news type on the planet has read our reports.
We'll read the tea leaves and listen for the rumblings as the new work week begins.
Oak Hill certainly seems well positioned to be the buyer.
From a November 23 article in the Dallas Business Journal:
Although large private-equity firms are having a rough year, that isn't stopping Oak Hill Capital Partners from pushing ahead with plans for a third fund that organizers hope can generate $4 billion, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
The firm, which was formed by Fort Worth billionaire Robert M. Bass in 1999, already has received commitments for at least $1.4 billion for what is being called Oak Hill Capital Partners III LP, the Oct. 29 filing says.
This is similar to the earlier report from Reuters, echoed by Radio-Info.com columnist Tom Taylor - that the number of private equity funds that are able to swallow such big transactions has been dwindling with the economy's downturn.
In other words, for a deal that's somewhere roughly in that same dollar neighborhood, Oak Hill wouldn't appear to have a lot of competition for the smaller-market FOX O&Os...including "Cleveland's Own FOX 8".
We'll keep you posted...
TELE-WHAT?: More on the ongoing story out of the Columbus market, where you can actually keep track of "Television 106.7" from anywhere in the world.
Clear Channel's Columbus cluster has launched streaming audio for the current WMRN-FM Dublin, which moved from its long-time perch in Marion - and down one notch on the FM dial - last month.
The collection of TV themes is actually rather odd. We didn't recognize some of them in the half-hour long stretch we heard the other day.
But the name is even odder.
When CC Columbus decides to unveil a new format on the 106.7 signal - and we hear that could be later this week - could "Television 106.7" become "Radio 106.7"?
We can't claim credit for that one...we read it on a message board post, and like that post, we're just speculating. But it sure put some ideas into our Editorial Heads.
A stunt format named "Television 106.7" would certainly make sense for a station about to take that "Radio 106.7" positioner.
If that's the case, there's a model right down I-71 - Clear Channel's own "Radio 94.1" in Cincinnati, the station long known as AC "Mix 94.1".
Here's a description of the format as it launched in Cincinnati, courtesy of an article from September by contributor Robert Riggsbee in the "Business Courier":
The new "Radio 94.1," according to a Clear Channel source, will be a "guitar and pop" variety station targeting females ages 25-39. It is a new type of Adult Contemporary radio station that is being positioned as "Starbucks" style music. The DJs, to be named in the future, will be more laid-back and mellow, concentrating more on the song selection with less-intrusive bantering, according to the source.
Radio 94.1's core artists will include: Dave Matthews Band, Nora Jones, Jack Johnson, Rob Thomas, John Mayer, Tori Amos, Matchbox Twenty, Coldplay, Sarah McLachlan, Goo Goo Dolls, Bare Naked Ladies, and Sheryl Crow.
Clear Channel tends to cultivate these "next thing" formats, and if they work at all in one place, they get cloned rather quickly in other markets. (We don't know how Cincinnati's "Radio" is doing, though we suspect it would play into the company changing to such a format and positioner in a nearby market.)
But we warn you - this is all speculation on our part, with no internal evidence or even rumblings to support it.
We also remind you that half of the online Radio Observation World was convinced that Clear Channel was going to launch a "Bull" country station at 101.7/North Canton.
And outside Ohio, Clear Channel in the Milwaukee market stunted as if they were about to launch an FM liberal talk format to go along with successful Madison WI liberal talk outlet WXXM/92.1, complete with on air allusions to Air America Radio and its hosts.
We seem to remember that the Milwaukee FM in question ended up with a "Brew"-labeled rock format, which, to bring this full circle, has also already happened in Columbus.
Our motto? Again, don't believe the rumblings, or what even sounds plausible or obvious...
AND ONE MORE 106.7 STOP: Which, since we've gone on at length, needs a separate "stop".
Yes, Columbus Public Schools outlet WCBE/90.5 is aware that the new 106.7 full-power signal out of greater Columbus has wiped out their Newark translator on the same frequency.
The Newark Advocate newspaper heard from upset WCBE listeners, now hearing TV theme songs instead of public radio on 106.7 in that city.
And the answer from both Clear Channel Columbus and WCBE itself is as we outlined here when we started hearing from these folks: WCBE's translator has been displaced, legally, since translators are a secondary service subject to being knocked off by approved full-power stations, even new ones.
WCBE station manager Dan Mushalko didn't get back to us, but did tell the Advocate:
"I'd like to find another frequency that's clear, and switch frequencies, but we're probably crowded out of it," Mushalko said. "It's kind of crowded in Ohio. That's part of the problem."
Again, as we also alluded, there's a line seemingly a mile long to put new FM translators on in Newark, many of them dating back four years (!!) from the previously opened FM non-comm/educational filing window. (Coming up later this week - we'll walk through some of the more recent window's filings - though not many of them affect our primary coverage area.)
But Mushalko seems to want to find some way, telling the Advocate that based on donor numbers, there are around five thousand WCBE listeners in the Newark area:
"That's a lot of a community to not be serving," Mushalko said. "I've got to find a way to get this public radio service out to them."
PAUL HARVEY...GOODBYE!: Ending what must have been the oddest format pairing the veteran news commentator's program has ever had, OMW hears from multiple sources that Elyria-Lorain Broadcasting AAA outlet WLKR/95.3 Norwalk has said goodbye to ABC Radio Networks' icon Paul Harvey.
We haven't combed the affiliate list, but we'd have to believe WLKR, whose positioner in recent months has been "It's About The Music", was the only AAA format station in the nation carrying Mr. Harvey's newscasts and commentaries.
Outside of that, we hear WLKR has also moved along news-wise, and is the latest Ohio station to carry FOX News Radio - right down to, we hear from long-time Lorain County OMW reader/contributor Nathan Obral, using the FOX News Radio sounder for local newscasts...
AND YES, IT IS A CLEAR CHANNEL TV STATION: As it turns out, the nearly completed deal to buy Clear Channel's TV station doesn't just include the company's CBS affiliate in the Cincinnati market, WKRC/12 (and digital CW network affiliate subchannel "CinCW").
Though it is not listed in any of the press releases put out about this deal, Providence Equity Partners will also pick up - assuming the FCC paperwork is correct - tiny WDFM-LP/26 in the small Ohio town of Defiance.
Yes, you read that right.
WDFM-LP has operated by its sister FM powerhouse, WDFM/98.1 "Mix 98.1", since even before Clear Channel predecessor Jacor picked up the radio station in the late 1990's.
Today, "TV 26" is basically the LPTV-equivalent of a public access cable channel, with numerous public affairs shows geared at the listening/viewing area.
We'd assume that the station would remain in the hands of whoever owns WDFM's radio side.
But sure enough, an application filed in May by WDFM seeks to sell the station as part of the deal to the Providence Equity folks (aka "TV Acquisition, LLC"). There it is, right there in the FCC database.
We wonder - was this a mistake? Do the buyers know that along with a long list of network-affiliated stations markets large and small, they picked up an LPTV station in little Defiance, OH?
Or do they intend to flip WDFM-LP A) back to the radio folks - whoever ends up buying that radio station/cluster, or B) to someone else in the LPTV game? (Greg Phipps, you have a call on the white courtesy phone...)
Just guesses on our part, due to the unusual nature of WDFM-LP.
Speaking of "TV 26"'s radio mothership - we wonder who'll eventually end up with it, if Clear Channel is successful at selling off its supposedly unwanted small market radio stations.
We can't help but wonder if one of the numerous local group owners in nearby Fort Wayne IN will take a run at adding the full-B 98.1 FM signal to an existing group of stations. Remember, WDFM (FM) still has a license for the long-gone on-channel booster in that Indiana city...
Wednesday, September 05, 2007
No, We Don't Know About WMMS
UPDATE 9/5/07 3:37 PM: It would appear from what we've heard and seen, WMMS has excised nearly all mentions of those legendary call letters.And that means from both the airwaves and from the station's website, which carries this new "100.7"-only logo.
Does this mean anything, or is 'MMS...er...100.7...hoping to get a little attention in a stunting fashion? We'll see.
The station also appears to be having some fun with its website playlist.
Original item below...
----------------
No, we don't have any information on rumblings of changes at Clear Channel rocker WMMS/100.7 in Cleveland, as hinted in today's AllAccess Net News scroll.
The item points to some imaging adjustments, and seems to indicate a "gold"-leaning playlist today.
Here at the OMW World Headquarters, we haven't heard of any major adjustments to the once-iconic rock outlet.
But local programmers certainly remember the last time someone tried to "adjust" the station known universally as "The Buzzard"...
Friday, July 06, 2007
RUMBLINGS: Sharon Reed To Houston?
We mark this item very clearly as "gossip", but it's from a good source for such things.
An alert OMW reader tipped us off that the popular industry gossip site NewsBlues is reporting Sharon Reed sightings in Houston.
The anchor/reporter for Raycom Media's WOIO/19 "19 Action News" was apparently seen, according to the NB folks, being "squired around" the studios of FOX Houston O&O KRIV/29, which has a vacant morning anchor slot. The item says Reed would appear to be "in line" for that position.
NB or OMW have no word on if the FOX outlet in market #10 called her on her World Famous Personal Cell Phone to bring her out to Texas...
OK, we couldn't resist. Please try to show as much restraint in your comments as we have in this item...
Try...
An alert OMW reader tipped us off that the popular industry gossip site NewsBlues is reporting Sharon Reed sightings in Houston.
The anchor/reporter for Raycom Media's WOIO/19 "19 Action News" was apparently seen, according to the NB folks, being "squired around" the studios of FOX Houston O&O KRIV/29, which has a vacant morning anchor slot. The item says Reed would appear to be "in line" for that position.
NB or OMW have no word on if the FOX outlet in market #10 called her on her World Famous Personal Cell Phone to bring her out to Texas...
OK, we couldn't resist. Please try to show as much restraint in your comments as we have in this item...
Try...
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
RUMOR MILL: "GoodRadio" Coming To Ohio?
UPDATE 8:40 AM 5/3/07: Inside Radio reports this morning that it appears GoodRadio gets "just shy" of 180 of the Clear Channel small market spinoffs, in what looks to be half of the 72 markets mentioned below.
There's no word on what markets are involved, or if any of them are in Ohio - though those numbers would make it appear favorable that the company would pick up at least some Ohio stations.
More as we find out more...
----------------
We've read some reports, heard some rumblings, and are ready to put some speculation on the line: It looks like the company "GoodRadio" may be the winner in the sweepstakes to buy at least some of the Clear Channel small market stations the company has put on the block in Ohio.
We're just doing the math here, starting with a rumor passed along Wednesday by the radio trade press, with word that Clear Channel has announced the sale of 362 of the 448 small market stations it put up for bid with the move to go private.
The company hasn't disclosed the buyers of those stations in 72 small markets, with 17 markets left to go.
Inside Radio reports that it "believes Dean Goodman’s new GoodRadio will claim many of them."
AllAccess also chimed in that "rumors are circulating that DEAN GOODMAN, who recently has been active in buying small-market Midwestern stations, is among the buyers."
Dean Goodman is former president of the Ion TV network (formerly PAX TV), which owns Cleveland market affiliate WVPX/23 Akron. He left the company last October, after a long stint which started with Lowell "Bud" Paxson's group of radio stations in Florida.
And GoodRadio is his current company.
Or perhaps, it's named "GoodRadio.tv" for his web domain, which currently redirects to a simple contact page at "DeanRadio.tv". (Gotta love his creative naming style, no?)
And we did a search, which led us to a job posting on the Iowa Broadcasters Association job webpage:
General Managers - GoodRadio.TV is in a nationwide acquisition mode and is looking for General Managers and Regional Managers to join our growing company. If you have a strong sales orientation and believe in growing your people by motivating and working directly with team members and clients, we woudl like to talk to you. GoodRadio.TV is acquiring small market stations where our radio stations are integrated with communities we serve. Direct Sales experience a must. Send your resume to: gpelletier@goodradio.tv. GoodRadio.TV is a Equal Opportunity Employer.
OK, now YOU do the math.
It adds up for us, that GoodRadio says it is looking to expand nationwide, and Ohio not only has a few small market CC clusters up for sale, but it isn't that terribly far from Iowa. Well, as opposed to, say, Oregon.
It gets better.
OMW hears that GoodRadio apparently lists former NextMedia executive Carl Hirsch - a name very familiar to Cleveland radio - as a "minority investor".
And though it really means nothing, while searching under Dean Goodman's name, we found this press release on the initial launch of then-WVPX's "Akron-Canton News", which was originally aired by the local PAX TV affiliate, and still airs today on Time Warner Cable - as always, produced by Cleveland NBC affiliate WKYC/3.
Nothing special there, just a quote from Goodman about how happy PAX TV was to be a part of the Akron-based newscast's launch back in 2001.
We are hearing rumors that GoodRadio may buy more than one of the Ohio CC small market clusters, perhaps somewhat more than one.
But we'd be kind of surprised if Goodman's operation didn't end up with at least a couple of them...if only because he's branching out from the Midwest, and there are a lot of small market CC clusters up for sale in Ohio.
Again, this is only rumor and speculation based upon that, which we try to clearly identify. We're just patting ourselves on the virtual back(s) a little, since it seems to line up in our eyes...
There's no word on what markets are involved, or if any of them are in Ohio - though those numbers would make it appear favorable that the company would pick up at least some Ohio stations.
More as we find out more...
----------------
We've read some reports, heard some rumblings, and are ready to put some speculation on the line: It looks like the company "GoodRadio" may be the winner in the sweepstakes to buy at least some of the Clear Channel small market stations the company has put on the block in Ohio.
We're just doing the math here, starting with a rumor passed along Wednesday by the radio trade press, with word that Clear Channel has announced the sale of 362 of the 448 small market stations it put up for bid with the move to go private.
The company hasn't disclosed the buyers of those stations in 72 small markets, with 17 markets left to go.
Inside Radio reports that it "believes Dean Goodman’s new GoodRadio will claim many of them."
AllAccess also chimed in that "rumors are circulating that DEAN GOODMAN, who recently has been active in buying small-market Midwestern stations, is among the buyers."
Dean Goodman is former president of the Ion TV network (formerly PAX TV), which owns Cleveland market affiliate WVPX/23 Akron. He left the company last October, after a long stint which started with Lowell "Bud" Paxson's group of radio stations in Florida.
And GoodRadio is his current company.
Or perhaps, it's named "GoodRadio.tv" for his web domain, which currently redirects to a simple contact page at "DeanRadio.tv". (Gotta love his creative naming style, no?)
And we did a search, which led us to a job posting on the Iowa Broadcasters Association job webpage:
General Managers - GoodRadio.TV is in a nationwide acquisition mode and is looking for General Managers and Regional Managers to join our growing company. If you have a strong sales orientation and believe in growing your people by motivating and working directly with team members and clients, we woudl like to talk to you. GoodRadio.TV is acquiring small market stations where our radio stations are integrated with communities we serve. Direct Sales experience a must. Send your resume to: gpelletier@goodradio.tv. GoodRadio.TV is a Equal Opportunity Employer.
OK, now YOU do the math.
It adds up for us, that GoodRadio says it is looking to expand nationwide, and Ohio not only has a few small market CC clusters up for sale, but it isn't that terribly far from Iowa. Well, as opposed to, say, Oregon.
It gets better.
OMW hears that GoodRadio apparently lists former NextMedia executive Carl Hirsch - a name very familiar to Cleveland radio - as a "minority investor".
And though it really means nothing, while searching under Dean Goodman's name, we found this press release on the initial launch of then-WVPX's "Akron-Canton News", which was originally aired by the local PAX TV affiliate, and still airs today on Time Warner Cable - as always, produced by Cleveland NBC affiliate WKYC/3.
Nothing special there, just a quote from Goodman about how happy PAX TV was to be a part of the Akron-based newscast's launch back in 2001.
We are hearing rumors that GoodRadio may buy more than one of the Ohio CC small market clusters, perhaps somewhat more than one.
But we'd be kind of surprised if Goodman's operation didn't end up with at least a couple of them...if only because he's branching out from the Midwest, and there are a lot of small market CC clusters up for sale in Ohio.
Again, this is only rumor and speculation based upon that, which we try to clearly identify. We're just patting ourselves on the virtual back(s) a little, since it seems to line up in our eyes...
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