Browns Gear Up - So Does the Media

As the local NFL team's management starts its legal battle to take the local TV rights away from CBS affiliate WOIO/19, Cleveland Browns players start their drive to take away ballgames from opponents.

With training camp underway starting today, OMW hears that a LOT, and we mean a LOT of restrictions have been placed on the media covering that camp...much of it a direct result of that very TV station's behavior last year.

OMW's eyes and ears in Berea tell us that the various media members are getting photo IDs this year, and that their movements will be able to be tracked electronically by the team. (No word if that electronic tracking system will sound a giant alarm if a member of the "19 Action News" team attempts to swipe bottled water from the fridge.)

But it's the on-air differences you'll likely notice. We hear there'll be no sets or props allowed by TV crews covering the team at training camp. No logos, no helmets. And any live TV shots will have to be approved in writing by the Browns...with no TV or radio reports allowed at ALL from inside the team's Media Center. And no, the restrictions don't just apply to WOIO...they apply to everyone.

Les Levine and Neil Bender of FOX Sports Net Ohio/WKNR's "Cleveland Rants" are going to go off of solely covering baseball and do Browns-related shows the next couple of days - hey, this is Cleveland, and our baseball team is headed for the cellar, aping pre-1990's days of old.

And SportsTime Ohio also debuts its nightly training camp special tomorrow night.

While we're talking about the Browns, OMW wonders what kind of play WKYC/3 is able to make for the pre-season Browns games...should the team be able to cut loose from its WOIO contract. We note that Plain Dealer sports/media/real estate columnist Roger Brown thought it'd be something personal for WKYC boss Brooke Spectorsky, who was pushed aside at WUAB when the station first paired up with WOIO - long before the Raycom days.

But...let's talk practical, here. We note that the Browns pre-season contests this year (if the change happens that early) do not conflict with WKYC's Cleveland Indians coverage.

All but one Browns pre-season contest, the final pre-season tilt with the Chicago Bears, do conflict with SportsTime Ohio's coverage of the Indians...but we assume WKYC would have no problem hiring people to juggle those conflicts.

WKYC produces all of SportsTime Ohio's content, including pre-game and post-game shows, from its in-house high-definition production facility. They'd have to hire a remote truck for the Browns games no matter what, since those facilities are tied to Jacobs Field and the Indians games.

To that end, would WKYC getting the Browns rights also provide another entree for STO to widen its base?

WKYC's Indians-related content - the weekly show, etc. - also repeats on STO, along with WKYC's game broadcasts. We have no problem envisioning something of a similar relationship with the Browns content...and a joint bid by both outlets for the Browns contract.

Both Channel 3 and SportsTime Ohio would be very interested...of course, as we reported a while back, WEWS/5 is likely a strong suitor as well.

Again, this all assumes that Browns owner Randy Lerner is successful in beating WOIO's lawsuit against the team. By the way, it's totally off topic, but it appears Lerner is also bidding to purchase a "Premier League" English soccer team...

BREAKING NEWS: WOIO Fires Back - In Court

This just in...

Raycom Media's WOIO/19 has sued the Cleveland Browns for trying to get out of the team's contract with the local CBS affiliate.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer's news blog reports that WOIO says it "did nothing to warrant" the termination of a three-year, $4 million contract which is entering its second year. The station has also asked a judge to block the Browns from terminating the contract, and asks for unspecified damages.

For the team's part, a Browns official wrote in his July 13th letter to the TV station that the contract was being terminated because of "repeated instances where WOIO news staff stepped well outside any legitimate boundary of responsible journalism", and that Channel 19 aired "sensationalized, overtly negative reporting on the organization and its players."

Browns VP Mike Keenan says "19 Action News"' airing of a 911 call involving family members of owner Randy Lerner "irreparably ruptured" the team's relationship with WOIO.

The Plain Dealer reports that the contract does have an escape clause allowing it to be terminated "for cause", such as:

"...conduct by one party, its employees or representatives which substantially alters the aggrieved party's ability to benefit from this agreement."

It's now up to Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Timothy McMonagle to decide if that means the contract can be voided...

Tuesday Roundup

Some followup, mostly on previous items...and all from the Cleveland Plain Dealer, as it turns out:

NEW ANCHOR TEAM: Just an hour before we posted our own item, the Plain Dealer's Entertainment blog had official word of WOIO/19's new "19 Action News" weekend anchor team.

As we reported earlier, and heard from our own sources, it's indeed former KOVR/13 Sacramento anchor mainstay Paul Joncich coming to Reserve Square as half of the weekend anchor team at the local CBS affiliate.

His co-anchor, as rumored, is Danielle Serino...who spent six years in Chicago, and has worked in Miami and New York City. Her most recent gig has been as consumer reporter for FOX's O&O in Chicago, WFLD/32...in segments entitled "The Bottom Line".

The move not only puts Catherine Bosley back to full-time reporting, but also does the same for Denise Strzelczyk...who'd been solo anchor of "19 Action News"' Sunday broadcasts.

TIME WARNER/ADELPHIA: We're finally getting down to the wire in the Time Warner takeover of the Cleveland-based Adelphia systems...and Comcast here, as well. (In other markets, Comcast will be the company doing such consolidating.)

Cleveland Plain Dealer tech columnist Henry Gomez reports that Time Warner plans a big splash at Jacobs Field on August 1st...the date that the merger will apparently be completed.

Time Warner suits tell Gomez that they're not planning on rate increases "right now", and as expected, that it'll take some time for all the systems to be merged.

To that end, Time Warner is apparently undergoing negotiations with cable channels that are carried by Adelphia and Comcast locally, and aren't carried by the Time Warner Northeast Ohio system. Time Warner's Stephen Fry admits that some "obscure" channels could be lost to current Adelphia/Comcast subscribers.

The entire process is expected to take about two years, and will include the introduction of TWC's "DigitalPhone" service to the ex-Adelphia/Comcast service areas and new jobs at two area call centers.

911 CALL: Plain Dealer news columnist Sam Fulwood III defends WOIO/19 for airing that controversial 911 call involving family members of Cleveland Browns owner Randy Lerner.

Fulwood's basic reasoning is that "the rich should be treated just like the poor", and that WOIO would have (and should have) aired such a call no matter what the status is, of the bank account of the family involved. He writes:

Airing that call was a courageous - if unpopular - act of journalism. Every media outlet in this city should applaud Channel 19 for its integrity.

Channel 19 did what it is supposed to do. It informed the public by broadcasting news without fear or favor. Facing the possible loss of millions of dollars, the station refused to kowtow to a beloved local business and the wealthy family that owns it.

A brief comment or two...we don't want to veer too far off into Opinion Land here:

Airing a 911 call of a grieving mother is hardly an act of courage. It's done, as suggested, in newsrooms all over the country.

WOIO airing this particular call was hardly an act of integrity. It was very likely just "something they do". The flash-and-dash style of "19 Action News" calls for theatrics, and what better ready-made bit of theatrics than a crying mother calling 911 about her dead daughter?

Mr. Fulwood makes it sound like it was a courageous, conscious decision by WOIO to air the call, "wealthy team owner be damned". Nope...it's just how the station does business. Fulwood considers that an act of "integrity"...we consider it more of an accident if it appears that way to him.

And he, like everyone else, is well aware of the nature of the Action News Beast. He spends much of the first part of his column even talking about it.

As we've said more than once, it's the opinion of this corner that Channel 19 had every right to obtain and air the tape. The Browns organization has every right to try to find a legal exit to the contract with the TV station. And WOIO made a business - not news - decision to enter that contract.

And we would be much more impressed with "19 Action News" if the story were not the sobs of a mother who just lost her 6 year-old daughter, but some sort of actual news story involving Randy Lerner or his operations. If Lerner, say, were in some sort of legal hot water, WOIO would be expected...if not demanded...to cover such a story fairly and accurately. This is not the same thing.

To call what WOIO did an "act of integrity" is about the funniest thing we've read in the Plain Dealer since we hit the comic section...

CONFIRMED: Joncich to WOIO/WUAB For Weekend Anchoring

OMW has been hearing rumblings that Raycom Media's WOIO/19-WUAB/43 is bringing in new faces to anchor the weekend editions of "19 Action News", and we've confirmed the coming arrival at least one of those faces.

Reliable sources in California tell OMW that former KOVR/13 (CBS) Sacramento anchor Paul Joncich, who left the station amid recent changes caused by the network buying that affiliate, is coming to "19 Action News" to anchor weekend newscasts.

OMW has also heard rumors of Joncich being paired with an incoming female co-anchor, which would displace current "Action News" weekend anchor Catherine Bosley to solely a reporting role. We have not been able to confirm those rumors, though.

In what may be a piece of useless trivia, Joncich's former co-anchor at KOVR, Jennifer Whitney, is a Cleveland native. The long-time anchor team at the Sacramento CBS outlet was replaced in a network overhaul of its new O&O in that market...

Drennan Gets His Sentence

It's no surprise, as there was a plea bargain in the case, but long-time Cleveland sports radio/TV personality Bruce Drennan has been handed his sentence in his tax fraud case.

WKYC/3's Obie Shelton reports it's - as expected - a five month federal prison term, and a five month term under house arrest. Drennan admitted to not reporting income on illegal baseball betting.

Shelton says Drennan thanked supporters who wrote to Judge Donald Nugent, and said he only had himself to blame for the sentence. The former WKNR/850 morning host says he hopes to return to sportscasting after he serves out his sentence.

OMW presumes that his first call will be to Reserve Square, where WOIO/19-WUAB/43 has already enlisted him to do commentary for the "19 Action News" website...

Roger's Monday Column

Our apologies for a delayed update...but Blogger is having indigestion this morning, and we haven't even had access to the Mighty Blog of Fun(tm) for the past couple of hours!

It's Monday, and that means it's time to pick out the useful pieces from Cleveland Plain Dealer columnist Roger Brown's Monday Media Column...

STO PROGRAMMING: Roger follows up on an item we mentioned over the weekend...the new in-house programming by the folks at SportsTime Ohio, which showed up on the station's new website schedule last week.

Brown tells us that the Browns "Training Camp Daily" show, which premieres Wednesday at 10:30 PM, will be handled by WKYC/3 sports director Jim Donovan (an STO regular), Plain Dealer Browns beat writer Tony Grossi, and former team coach Sam Rutigliano.

Donovan also tells The Artful Roger that he hopes to bring ex-Browns lineman Doug Dieken - his Browns Radio Network partner - aboard the show.

The moves will bring STO to its previously announced goal of a seven-day a week evening schedule from 6 PM to midnight. STO boss Jim Liberatore says it starts a "new era" for the regional sports network, though we'd be more impressed if that new era involved a full-time channel.

As we've personally told Mr. Liberatore, many people even forget STO exists if they're not looking for an Indians game. Being lit up each evening will help, but STO really needs to move to the next step...a 24/7 channel. It won't take THAT much more to get there, as channels like FSN Ohio only have a certain number of shows that repeat during the day...

BROWNS TIFF: Roger goes over some of the past run-ins between Raycom Media CBS affiliate WOIO/19 and the Cleveland Browns, as evidence that the most recent difficulty between the two organizations is just the
latest problem.

In addition to the K2 Blowout between Browns receiver Kellen Winslow, his father and WOIO lead sports anchor Chuck Galeti (where we think Winslow Sr. overreacted), Brown reminds us of "unease" with 19's Sharon Reed and her behavior - and dress - at Berea. Well, we guess someone would dress that way if she were hoping to date players, not just interview them.

The PD columnist also says the team wasn't thrilled with the station's handling of the team-related shows, including spotlighting the station's personalities...and the low ratings those shows have gotten on WOIO.

But Brown doesn't mention our earlier report that the station came in last year with a "we own this place swagger" in training camp, not to mention the fact that such behavior got 19 Action News types placed on a short leash in Berea.

He also intimates that WKYC/3 is "drooling" over the prospect of swiping the Browns rights from WOIO, due to apparent personal dislike between WKYC general manager Brooke Spectorsky and his counterpart at WOIO/WUAB, Bill Applegate. If we recall correctly, Spectorsky was formerly the GM at 43...before the stations combined forces in the mid-90's.

WKNR/ESPN: Brown also fills column space with the laundry list of gripes that ESPN Radio may have had with Salem sports talk WKNR/850...which he said "tested ESPN's patience". Among them - pre-emption of network programming with infomercials and Lake County Captains games, not to mention repeats of Premiere host Jim Rome's show.

We're sure the brass in Bristol weren't thrilled with any of that, but our guess is that the move to drop WKNR was pro-active on the part of one Craig Karmazin, who runs the network at his sports outlets in Milwaukee and West Palm Beach FL.

Karmazin's Good Karma Broadcasting also has a sports station on FM in the Madison WI market, but it runs FOX Sports Radio... for at least one reason, possibly, because Clear Channel's WTSA/1070 owns the ESPN rights in that market.

To that end, Roger finally notes that current gospel daytimer WABQ/1540 is expected to take the ESPN Radio affiliation when WKNR loses it in mid-October. But he does not mention Karmazin at all, or his recent move to purchase WABQ. That's a surprise, because Roger Brown's column was the very first place Karmazin's name was mentioned locally...

Reintroduction

Late this Sunday night/early Monday morning, your Primary Editorial Voice(tm) is at the keyboard doing a Google "ego search". OK, so every once in a while...we want to know who's finding us and how, and we hadn't done it in a while. (Those who know us know we have an ego that can fit roughly in a thimble, with enough room to fit a needle and some thread.)

Our early morning tip of the hat goes to Pho's Akron Pages, a comprehensive and well-written politically-oriented blog from a left-leaning perspective. He gave us a nice plug in his author's profile at another well-regarded local blog, Brewed Fresh Daily.

(If you're looking for political balance, in our usual, even-handed style...we know that the proprietor of a popular local conservative blog, Right Angle Blog, is a long-time OMW reader.)

Anyway, back to Pho...who had this to say about us in a recent item of his own:

In my trolling for area blogs I found Ohio Media Watch which is less watchdoggy and more inside baseball than the portentous title makes it sound. It's quickly becoming a favorite.

Thanks, Pho!

We're sorry if the title made it sound like we'd mount the high horse and expose wrongdoing...it's just an extension of other similar titles for media news blogs all over, including our good friend Scott Fybush's NorthEast Radio Watch.

This gives us a chance to reset, and explain ourselves a little to new readers.

Ohio Media Watch covers news concerning radio and TV outlets and personalities in the Northeast Ohio region, including Cleveland, Akron, Canton, Youngstown/Warren and nearby areas. We also pass along rumors of changes at local broadcast outlets, and do our best to make it clear just how strong the information is. We try, as best we can, to be a responsible outlet.

Northeast Ohio is our primary coverage area. Occasionally, we'll run items from other Ohio markets, including, but not limited to, Columbus, Cincinnati and Toledo. These items run as we find them, usually on other sites such as AllAccess or in local newspapers. We don't have many in-house sources in these markets, so that information should be considered a bonus.

Our personal area of interest is radio news, talk and sports formats, and local TV operations. You'll see a lot about those topics here on OMW, but we do try to keep tabs on other radio formats. Generally speaking, we don't keep track of music stations and their playlists, but we do try to track personalities on those stations when warranted.

Your Primary Editorial Voice(tm) is a long-time broadcast veteran, with most of our experience coming outside the Cleveland/Akron/Canton region. No, before you ask, you probably don't know us.

We have several running jokes here...this Glossary we published some time ago may help you through some of them.

Anyway, welcome aboard, and we hope you enjoy our humble little blog!

Weekend Housekeeping

Just some minor housekeeping issues...

You'll notice that we've overhauled our "links" area to the left side of Ohio Media Watch. We hope we've been inclusive, but will continue to add any links we feel are vital.

We'd also like to thank Charlie Profit (CABRadio.com), who has registered the domain OhioMediaWatch.com on his own and redirected it to your Mighty Blog of Fun(tm). We didn't ask him to do it, but he wanted to make sure it was out there for folks who might need it.

The domain is not under OMW's control, and ohiomedia.blogspot.com will remain the primary address to reach OMW until further notice. Please continue to use that address in your bookmarks for OMW. At this time, we plan to do nothing further regarding the new domain.

But having it out there, and the redirect to here, will hopefully catch folks who don't remember the full URL for OMW...

As The 19/Browns Saga Turns

Today, it's Cleveland CBS affiliate WOIO/19's turn in the ongoing saga over the Cleveland Browns' desire to dump the station as its local TV rightsholder. But instead of station general manager Bill Applegate making the case, it's lawyer Jack Kluznik...a member of the firm representing WOIO in its legal dispute with the local NFL team.

Kluznik tells Cleveland Plain Dealer sports/media columnist Roger Brown that the station and team have a "legal, binding contract"...saying the local Raycom Media outlet has held up its end of the legal bargain, and "expects the Browns to do the same".

Brown characterizes WOIO's legal team as being prepared for a "long legal battle", and that could be vital here.

The legal system rarely moves with swiftness. And the first pre-season game is less than a month away. Unless the team gets an immediate court injunction or something, it appears somewhat likely that at very least the first pre-season game or two, if not more, will actually air on Channel 19. And of course, when the regular season starts, the local CBS affiliate will already be airing the games via the network.

Browns owner Randy Lerner seems already resigned to that possibility, noting in yesterday's Plain Dealer article that the pre-season games will air on television - even if he basically has to hold his nose and accept WOIO continuing as the team partner in the short term.

But Lerner still appears to be miffed, if we're reading his public comments correctly. We're a bit biased here at OMW - particularly over WOIO/WUAB general manager Bill Applegate's reported effort to contact Lerner's mother, the widow of late owner Al Lerner and grandmother of the young victim here.

The saying could be "hell hath no fury like a grandmother wronged". We're guessing from our own family experience that if Norma Lerner is upset by what "19 Action News" did to her family, she'd go to the ends of the earth to sever ties with the station...so trying to go to her to beg to keep the Browns TV rights may not have been a good move for Applegate. He's better off keeping quiet, and hoping the legal system upholds his station's contract.

But OMW finds it hard to believe that Lerner would actually make this move without at least running it past the team's lawyers. And we find it hard to believe he'd waste Browns lawyers' time and the team's money to pursue this, if he wasn't informed he had a reasonable shot of escaping the contract...

Unraveling the Browns TV Situation

Quite a bit more light has been shed on the dispute between the NFL's Cleveland Browns and Raycom Media's WOIO/19, the local CBS affiliate.

The sunlight comes from a Tony Grossi article in this morning's Cleveland Plain Dealer, where he clears up some of the confusion about that controversial 911 call...which prompted Browns owner Randy Lerner to move to sever the team's ties with WOIO.

In his first direct comments on the matter, Lerner confirmed that the 911 call incident was the sole reason he's trying to cut loose from the last two years of the team's 3 year contract with WOIO for pre-season games and other Browns programming.

Lerner tells Grossi that first and foremost, no matter what happens, the Browns' pre-season games will air on local TV this year. That's really never been in question, as the team has at least one very eager suitor (WEWS/5 - which Grossi confirms has offered to take over the rights)...but Lerner had to say it to calm the nerves of diehard Browns fans.

He also says that if it's decided that the Browns are legally bound by their contract with Channel 19, they'll abide by the contract...and they won't go after a resolution that would deprive the team's fans of seeing the games. "If we have to do business with them, then we'll do business with them. But if we don't have to, great," Lerner tells Grossi.

Grossi indicates that the Browns could end up buying their way out of the WOIO contract, and if forced to allow WOIO to air the games, the team could still pursue ending its endorsement of the station's other Browns-related programming.

Despite saying he'll "do business" with Channel 19 if forced to do so legally, Lerner is clearly still seething at Reserve Square, nearly ten days after telling them to get lost.

"I just don't know how you do business with people that do that to you," the Browns owner tells the Plain Dealer...saying the organization is "disgusted and shocked" with WOIO's actions. And he tells Grossi that the matter is very personal to him, considering it involves his family. "This is strictly a matter of dignity and trying to do what's right by my sister and by my mom."

As for the 911 call from Lerner's sister, today's report says that a part of the call was also aired by FOX's WJW/8, though not the "gruesome" part Grossi says ran on "19 Action News".

WKYC/3 and WEWS/5, after much internal discussion, decided to not to air any part of the call. WJW's Mike Renda said they wanted to be "respectful" of Mr. Lerner and his family, and felt comfortable with the part of the call they did air.

Too busy trying to save his job, WOIO/WUAB general manager Bill Applegate was not available for comment in the newspaper...

SportsTime Ohio's Website, Programming

This one's been on our back burner for a few days...

SportsTime Ohio has taken the wraps off of its shiny new website, and in the process, has also given some insight on the network's upcoming programming moves.

The current schedule lists non-game programming starting to populate the schedule next week. STO is planning daily coverage of the Cleveland Browns' training camp beginning on Wednesday, with an hour-long daily training camp wrapup show in late evenings...to be repeated the following day, usually in early evening.

New shows debuting next month include "Tee-it-Up Ohio" (a golf show, we presume) and "Outdoors Ohio" with veteran local outdoors media personality D'Arcy Egan. There are also new episodes of "Ohio Sports Profile", looking at athletes with local ties...though we're wondering if they're actually going to play the one with now-traded former Indians closer Bob Wickman...

STO is also scheduling numerous replays of Syracuse University vs. TCU in the 1957 Cotton Bowl, and a show called "Syracuse Football: Legend of 44". We'll assume that's on the schedule because of legendary Browns running back Jim Brown...

As for the website, it features such things as Indians news and a new Ohio sports message board, which has - among other things - featured users posting not-so-nice feelings about the Indians' recent moves.

It's kind of surreal to look at the list of message headers automatically fed to STO's front page, including the header "Lied to once again! Thanks Shapiro/Dolan!". At least the team-owned TV outlet is letting this stuff stay up...

Week Ending Potpourri

Or as a former co-worker used to say, "a myriad of topics on the hypothetical table"...

BROWNS TV FALLOUT: While WOIO/19 general manager Bill Applegate pleads with a grieving grandmother to save his station's Cleveland Browns TV rights bacon, we're wondering what happens to the team's TV broadcast team for the pre-season games...no matter which local station airs the games.

We're pretty sure the Browns hire the on-air talent for the games, so that would seem to ensure that they'll ask 2005 play-by-play voice Sam Rosen to come back into the booth this year. Rosen was called in at the last minute, and was pretty much universally praised for bringing a veteran TV sports broadcasting presence to WOIO's pre-season telecasts.

But what about former Browns defensive star Bob Golic, who easily moved into an analyst role on last year's telecasts after Rosen's arrival?

The WNIR/100.1 afternoon talk show host has also done separate work for the Cleveland CBS affiliate, including participating in their own non-team-sanctioned pre-game and post-game shows. (Beware, the Giant Brown Valu City Furniture Couch!) He's also filled in on the station's weekend sports anchor desk.

If the Browns are officially done with WOIO, will something have to give? Could Golic still do the analysis on the pre-season casts - airing on another station - and do the Channel 19-based shows as well? And even if he doesn't do his WOIO-based work, will the Browns associate him too closely with the TV station they want nothing to do with?

And then there's a wildcard. In addition to other former Browns like Brian Brennan - who did it last year - there's been talk of popular former Browns quarterback Bernie Kosar joining in the pre-season broadcasts on a regular basis. That should be very interesting. Kosar did a fine job in a brief "drop-in" appearance on one of last year's telecasts...

NEXT NEXTMEDIA: We've been remiss in not passing along the news from NextMedia, the owner of Canton combo WHBC/1480-WHBC-FM/94.1. President/Co-Chief Operating Officer Skip Weller has stepped down.

Radio & Records reports the news, and AllAccess tips that it could be the other co-COO, executive VP Jeff Dinetz, moving into the president's chair at the radio group owner.

We haven't said much about this, since we don't know how the move will affect the company's local outlet. OMW has reported for some time that it's believed the WHBC stations are heading for a sale...the configuration of such sale yet to be determined.

But...we're watching for signs of any change in direction at NextMedia, and will pass them along as we hear them...

WB NOSTALGIA: When a TV station changes networks, the old network's logo items aren't really worth keeping around (except for collectors), so Cleveland market WB Network affiliate WBNX/55 is giving them away in a "blowout".

You have to sign up for the giveaway contest, and tell the station your favorite show on The WB. As per usual with such things, we're sure WBNX will hang onto your information to try to sell you on all those great new shows on The CW...which include many former WB favorites, by the way.

The new CW Network will sign on, officially, on September 20th...with staggered premieres of new shows over the following week...

WABQ to ESPN

It would appear that incoming WABQ/1540 Cleveland owner Craig Karmazin will flip the 1000 watt gospel daytimer to a full-time ESPN Radio affiliate, when the network leaves WKNR/850 in the fall.

The Beacon Journal's David Lee Morgan gets the confirmation from a representative of Karmazin's Good Karma Broadcasting. Well, we think he did, at least of the ESPN affiliation. He didn't confirm the frequency, which is 1540, not 1520. (Is there a law that newspapers have to screw up radio frequencies?)

Morgan says the station rep (a receptionist? a producer? whoever answered the phone?) "confirmed" Karmazin's purchase of the Cleveland station. Well, anyone who can pull up the FCC database can "confirm" that, and they don't even have to work for Craig Karmazin. Here, "confirm" it yourself: FCC Record of Proposed WABQ Sale to Good Karma.

The unnamed Good Karma representative also confirmed the company would change WABQ's format. That's not a terrible surprise...Craig Karmazin doesn't exactly run gospel radio stations.

In the end, this may not be much than a confirmation of the obvious.

And we've said it before, we'll say it again. We can't see Mr. Karmazin running 1000-watt daytimer WABQ as his sole ESPN Radio outlet in the Cleveland market. And ironically, since this story ran in the Akron Beacon Journal, that would mean an exit of ESPN Radio from the Akron radio market. (Is that Media-Com's Bill Klaus we hear, rushing to the phone to change Kent daytimer WJMP/1520 "Fox Sports 1520" to "ESPN 1520"?)

Our best guess - new owner Karmazin parks ESPN on 1540 in mid-October with little or no local programming. Then, he works mightily to upgrade the 1540 signal to cover much more of the Cleveland market, and works out a night-time broker deal - a la his Milwaukee ESPN affiliate - to split the signal into day and night outlets.

The obvious choice for "ESPN Cleveland/Nights" would be Radio One urban talk WERE/1300, but we don't know how willing they are to broker up to 12 hours of their programming day. The Milwaukee urban talker Karmazin uses for his night coverage is owned by an independent operator.

The only OTHER choice is for Karmazin to trade the 1540 signal for something else, like Radio Disney's 1260.

We'll bet someone a steak dinner two years from now, if they believe that "ESPN Cleveland" sits solely on AM 1540. We just do not see it happening in the long term...

WOIO Wants to Talk to Mom

In the ongoing saga of Raycom Media's WOIO/19 and its loss of the Browns pre-season contract, the next reported move of the local CBS affiliate is to try to talk to Randy Lerner's mother.

Cleveland Plain Dealer sports/media columnist Roger Brown reports that WOIO/WUAB general manager Bill Applegate is seeking a meeting with Norma Lerner, mother of Browns owner Randy Lerner, and widow of late owner Al Lerner...in an effort to stop the loss of Browns rights.

We aren't very good with business protocol, frankly. But to us, this sounds almost like a move of desperation on WOIO's part...and how will trying to "go over the head" of Randy Lerner by appealing to his mother help?

Besides, we'd guess that she'd possibly be even more incensed about the station's airing of that 911 call than Randy would. What mother and grandmother is going to cut a tabloid TV station a break by overturning her son's decision in a matter that greatly affects the family?

Brown also hints that WOIO "will take legal action" to try to stop the Browns from ending the team's TV rights contract. Good luck with that, Reserve Square. See our earlier note about NFL lawyers...

Brown has no information regarding the market-wide rumors we heard yesterday...that Raycom Media executives hopped on a plane to Cleveland to talk about the Browns mess.

Our "gut feeling" prediction: If Bill Applegate is not able to pull a rabbit out of a hat and keep the Browns TV rights, Bill Applegate becomes the former general manager of "Cleveland's CBS 19" and WUAB/43...

Shout Out to Alabama

OMW would like to give a hearty "hello" to certain executives from Montgomery, Alabama...who are rumored to be camping out today at Reserve Square in downtown Cleveland.

Of course, this is all in reaction to the giant mess created there this past week, when a move by the "19 Action News" newsroom prompted the city's most popular professional sports team to pull the pre-season rights to its games from Raycom Media CBS affiliate WOIO/19.

If the Raycom folks are near a computer during their time in the market - and we can't help but think they are, and would have laptops in tow - they may well land here.

If so, we invite them to feel free to punch in "WOIO" up at the top, in the OMW search bar, and read some of the antics the company's Cleveland stations have been up to in the past year or so.

If it were us, and we were drinkers, we'd get a drink, first...

Whoopi's First Ohio Incursion

AllAccess reports that Clear Channel hot AC WVMX/94.1 "Mix 94.1" Cincinnati has become the first Ohio outlet to pick up the upcoming syndicated "Wake Up With Whoopi" show...hosted by comedienne Whoopi Goldberg.

The move displaces current Mix 94.1 morning host Mike Stevens, but he'll stay aboard in the station's morning drive slot to "provide local content" during the new show.

We believe the Whoopi show starts airing at the end of this month, but WVMX comes on board on August 14th...

The Correction Column

Well, it's not quite ALL "mea culpa", but...

STREAMING STATIONS: OMW noted that the online presence of Clear Channel Akron/Canton hot AC WKDD/98.1 made it the first commercial station in either market to stream its main signal. Well, maybe not.

We're reminded that three stations south of the Akron/Canton Airport have been streaming for some time:

Melodynamic talk/religion WCER/900 Canton. We should have remembered this, because we even listened to the station's stream a few months ago while trying to keep track of changes in the station's syndicated talk lineup.

Thanks to WCER's John Amhrein, a regular OMW reader, for the reminder! They're at www.wcer.us.

Tuscarawas Broadcasting Canton market CCM outlet WNPQ/95.9 is also heard online.

And "95.9 The Light" program director/afternoon driver Ed Franklin also tells us that the station's sister AM, news/talk/sports WBTC/1540 Uhrichsville, has begun streaming as well. They're at www.thelight959.com and www.wbtclive.com, respectively.

If we missed anyone else, let us know!

NO FISH FOR SALE?: It's not really a correction, because we put the rumor up the other day with a lot of skepticism. But that skepticism is growing regarding the rumblings that Salem Cleveland CCM WFHM/95.5 "The Fish" being on the sale block.

We've heard no other confirmation outside of our initial report, and the rumor has many scratching their heads...including those inside the Salem complex on Summit Park Drive in the Independence Media Gulch.

It had us scratching our head(s), too. The CCM format is one of the company's core formats. While it has sold off one or two of the stations in other markets, those stations were all less solid performers than WFHM.

And while "95.5 The Fish" has cooled off somewhat from its impressive debut in the Cleveland ratings, it's still solid enough to hang onto...particularly for a top-30 market station that runs one of the company's core formats.

We just put it out there because we'd heard it, and were wondering if anyone else has. So, here's another call for input...before we close the books on this one for now...

WKBN-TV/WYFX Sold?

OMW is hearing strong rumblings that Piedmont CBS/FOX combo WKBN/27 - WYFX/17-62 "FOX 17/62" Youngstown either has been sold, or will be sold in the very near future.

The station's been up on the market for some time. In fact, it appears to have constantly been on the market even going back to the days when GoCom Investments owned it - and a number of Youngstown radio stations which are now mostly owned by Clear Channel.

The station has seen the usual "parade" of potential buyers over the past two years. Either that, or a suit convention decided to make WKBN/WYFX a stop on their tour of Youngstown...

Who's the buyer? We hear that two names could be in the running:

* VestStar, a private equity investment firm out of Denver. Despite the name similarity, this is apparently NOT "NexStar", the well-known small market TV operator which runs two TV stations in the nearby Erie PA market. VestStar doesn't have a high profile, and we're unable to find mention of them being involved in TV station purchases.

* Raycom Media, the parent company of Cleveland CBS/UPN combo WOIO/19-WUAB/43.

The latter would certainly make sense as a candidate, as it would allow some sharing of resources (particularly news) between Cleveland, Youngstown and Toledo, where the company just picked up CBS affiliate WTOL/11 and is selling off NBC affiliate WNWO/24. Raycom's stations are mostly sub-top 50 market outlets...Cleveland is by far its largest market at number 16.

There may not be an announcement of the sale for a while, and we hear Piedmont will continue to run it likely through the end of the year. It'll certainly take a few months for the sale to be approved and finalized, at any rate...

Akron/Canton's First Commercial Streamer

It's been around for a month and change, but we just stumbled onto the first commercial radio streaming audio feed - of a main over-air signal - in the Akron/Canton area. Well, at least the first in some time.

It's from Clear Channel hot AC WKDD/98.1, which put up its live Internet audio feed back in early June.

WKDD follows non-commercial outlets like the Akron Public Schools' WAPS/91.3 "The Summit", the University of Akron's WZIP/88.1, Streetsboro Public Schools alt-rock/oldies outlet WSTB/88.9, and Kent State University-based NPR outlet WKSU/89.7 into the streaming pool.

It's actually a return to streaming for 'KDD, which was online from 1997 until about 2000, until high music rights fees forced many music stations to stop their online feeds.

OMW hears that WKDD's sister stations in the Akron/Canton cluster - right/left talk pair WHLO/640 and WARF/1350 - will soon follow with streaming audio feeds...adding yet another piece of new technology to WARF midday host Joe Finan's arsenal. If you'd have told Joe about five years ago that he'd be heard around the world both in live and recorded form, he'd have looked at you like you had lost your senses...

We're reminded that Rubber City Radio's WQMX/94.9 has an excellent secondary streaming audio feed on its website.

The feed offers up classic country tunes to complement the station's contemporary country on-air format. As of yet, 'QMX's main on-air feed is not available online...

FOX Morning Show Airing Later Here, New Local Show?

OMW recently passed along a FOX press release about the debut of a new national 9-10 AM morning show, to be hosted by two FOX News Channel personalities. It'll air on all of the network's owned-and-operated stations, including Cleveland's WJW/8.

But...it apparently won't air at 9 here in Northeast Ohio. And a new locally-produced morning show may air in that time slot.

The New York Times' Jacques Steinberg weighs in on the new show (registration required), but notes the following:

Because the Los Angeles station already has a morning show at 9, and the station in Cleveland is planning to produce one of its own, Mr. Swanson said those stations might delay carrying the new national show until 10 a.m.

This is the first we've heard of a possible new WJW-produced 9-10 AM show, which would follow the station's FOX 8 News in the Morning...

Roger's Back From The Beach

Here at OMW, we usually joke that when we're out of town, or too busy to update this blog on a regular basis, things happen. We didn't know that Cleveland Plain Dealer sports/media columnist Roger Brown had the same problem, but he apparently does...

Anyway, Roger's back from his most recent vacation and weighs in on the two biggest local sports media stories of the past week...the abrupt dropping of WOIO/19 as the Cleveland Browns' local TV partner, and the abrupt dropping of WKNR/850 as ESPN's local affiliate.

WOIO'S FIGHT: Brown quotes WOIO's normally chatty VP/GM, Bill Applegate, who says the station has turned over the dispute with the local NFL team to its attorneys. Applegate even helpfully provided the PD columnist with the name of that law firm - Cleveland's Weston Hurd - though Roger's still playing phone tag with a lawyer from that firm...and Applegate had nothing else to say.

Could WOIO "force" the Browns to stay with them, and ride out the two years left in the local rights contract?

OMW doesn't even have a legal firm on retainer, so we aren't gonna take a shot at that one... even if we had a copy of the contract. But our gut feeling is that Browns owner Randy Lerner ran this one through the team's presumed squadron of lawyers before deciding to cut loose... not to mention the vast legal representation the National Football League has.

Most contracts have escape clauses, which anyone who has signed a contract would know. WOIO certainly is not going to throw up its hands and say "sorry!", and Raycom Media would be stupid if it didn't run to its own lawyers to see if there's a way out of this.

But we don't give them much chance, in the end...

WKNR'S NEW NETWORK: Brown tells us that WKNR, having lost ESPN Radio after the network dropped a 90 day notice on them, is looking to join up with either FOX Sports Radio or Sporting News Radio as a network partner. Wait..."word is", says Roger.

Umm...

Last time OMW checked, there were only two other options in the national sports radio network game. FOX Sports Radio, or Sporting News Radio. That's it. It doesn't exactly take a rocket scientist to figure out that WKNR will hope to sign up with one of those two networks. They will HAVE to sign up with one of them!

Even if WKNR decided to program three or four repeats of Premiere's Jim Rome in the nighttime and overnight hours, they still need a national network...and not just because they have to fill hours of programming on weekends. And those are the only two left after the loss of ESPN Radio, unless Roger knows about another sports radio network that we haven't heard about...

UPDATE 8:45 PM 7/19/06: We're reminded of the Sports Byline USA folks, who even syndicate a show produced right here in Northeast Ohio on their network. (That would be the "Average Joe Poker Show", which is produced at a studio in the Clear Channel World Domination HQ/Southern Command on Freedom Avenue in Jackson Township...)

But Sports Byline USA isn't really in the same category as either Sporting News Radio or FOX Sports Radio. Its primary focus is the late night show of the same name, hosted by Ron Barr. That show airs 10 PM-1 AM (ET).

It also offers an overnight show. The schedule outside of that seems spotty, with a number of specialty shows and frequent repeats of those shows during the daytime hours.

It's not really a replacement network for a station losing ESPN Radio...

Random Tuesday Stuff

More followups and day-end stuff:

FISH SALE?: We're having a very hard time grasping this, due to the company's general mission, but...

An anonymous birdie tips us off that Salem's Cleveland Christian contemporary outlet WFHM/95.5 "The Fish" is rumored to be on the sale block, for a price of about $20 million...at least if the rumblings bouncing around the market are correct.

The CCM "Fish" format is one of the company's mainstays, along with the Christian teaching/talk format (WHKW/1220) and secular conservative talk format (WHK/1420). We have no idea why the local Salem cluster would want to let the station go, or if there's anything else behind this rumor, so we're just throwing it out there to see if anyone else has heard it. Other than the tip we just received, we have not heard it ourselves...

ABOUT WJER-FM: We've had a long discussion about it in the comments section of our original item about the construction permit for WJER-FM/101.7, tied to its new community of license of North Canton.

And we've pretty much nailed down what's been talked about there - 101.7 will indeed camp out at the facility on Canton's 22nd Street, a short drive off of Whipple Avenue just west of downtown Canton.

From satellite photos, there appear to be two towers there:

1) The tower we've heard called the "Mortenson tower", the long-existing structure there. It's called that for good reason...Mortenson Broadcasting, which still exists in Kentucky, actually still owns the tower according to the FCC's Antenna Structure Registration database. Cumulus rock WRQK/106.9 "Rock 107" is located here.

2) A second, newer tower that we're told is the location of Melodynamic's WCER/900. The only problem with this scenario is that the aforementioned antenna database shows WCER still being on the "Mortenson tower". (This could well be an error in the FCC online database.)

Cumulus has a construction permit to move WRQK to a new tower at the same site, which has a registration number but has not yet been built.

We understand that 101.7 FM will land on the current WRQK "Mortenson tower", and presumably move with that station to the replacement tower when it is constructed.

We are starting to get in the habit of not calling 101.7 "WJER". The call letters will certainly not move north with the station, and will stay on AM 1450 in Dover...

FOX 8'S NEW MORNING SHOW: We've talked about this for a long time, based on rumors in the industry and on other sites...but it's now official. FOX is launching a new national morning show for all of its owned-and-operated stations, which includes Cleveland's WJW/8.

The new show starts January 2007, and stars Mike Jerrick and Juliet Huddy of FOX News Channel's "Dayside".

However, the show is not aimed at replacing the popular local morning news shows at the company's O&O stations, including FOX 8 News in the Morning. It'll be an hour long program, airing at 9 AM weekdays. On WJW, Tyra Banks' talk show is the current occupant of that slot...

QUINN AND ROSE SUB: OMW hears (from people who get up early) that WPGB/Pittsburgh-based "Quinn and Rose" have tabbed former WEWS/5 weatherman and regular WTAM/1100 fill-in host Brad Sussman to fill in for them this week.

We're not sure how that connection happened, but we're guessing it was Kevin Metheny to Jay Bohannon in your radio baseball scorecards. WPGB program director Bohannon was WTAM's production director before coming to the Steel City, and of course, Metheny is Clear Channel's regional programming VP based in Cleveland...

"The Warroom" is heard not only on WPGB, Clear Channel's FM talker at 104.7, but also on Akron's WHLO/640 and Wheeling's WWVA/1170, along with channel 167 ("Talk Radio") on XM Satellite Radio...

Browns to WOIO: Get Lost

We apologize for not being able to weigh in on this bombshell today, but it's all anyone's been talking about in local media.

The Plain Dealer's Tony Grossi started it all in this morning's paper, with word that the Cleveland Browns have dumped Raycom Media CBS affiliate WOIO/19 as the local team rightsholder. Along with other official partnerships, the move takes the team's pre-season games away from Channel 19 just a month before the first game was set to air.

Any regular follower of This Space, or any regular watcher of "19 Action News", isn't surprised about what happened. The station's aggressive reporting style rubbed the team the wrong way once too often.

"19 Action News", as reported here last year, came in with a swagger in the first year of the three year Browns contract...acting like they basically owned the Browns' training camp in Berea, right down to swiping the team's bottled water. And after a WOIO interview of Braylon Edwards last year, the team wasn't happy.

But the final straw was the station's decision to air some portions of the 911 emergency call tape concerning Browns owner Randy Lerner's 6 year-old niece, who drowned in a tragic accident. That event apparently caused Lerner to unlaterally decide to dump the local "tabloid TV" outlet entirely...in the second year of a three year agreement reportedly costing Raycom Media some $2 million a year.

OMW hears that the team made a request to local media outlets for respect of the privacy of the Lerner family, including sister Nancy Fisher...who made the 911 call that aired on Channel 19. WOIO apparently aired parts of the call that other stations would not air.

It's hard not to call this incident a case of TV karma coming back to bite Reserve Square in the... umm...television posterior. Channel 19 pushed the envelope a little too hard, and suddenly, they're no longer "The Official Television Home of the Browns".

The Browns' decision means there'll be a mad scramble for the local TV rights, including those lucrative pre-season games.

OMW would go to the betting window for ABC affiliate WEWS/5 to take over, for many reasons:

* NBC affiliate WKYC/3 is tied up with the Cleveland Indians and SportsTime Ohio, and likely couldn't even consider doing anything.

* We haven't heard any suggestion that FOX's WJW/8 is interested, though they did reportedly showed an interest in the Indians' over-air rights before WKYC came in.

* WEWS has already run two stories on the loss of the Browns' over-air rights by competitor WOIO, including interviews with Browns ticket buyers who said they'd contact the team about getting a new preseason outlet, and quick.

The station would certainly appear to be making a play for that contract on the air, and appears to be setting itself up as the "knight in shining armor" here.

Not only that, Channel 5 is losing "Monday Night Football" this year to ESPN, with the over-air "Sunday Night Football" replacement over on WKYC with NBC. This would give them a huge jump back into the NFL.

WOIO is not out in the cold entirely, but there's nothing the Browns can do about that. As the market's CBS affiliate, Channel 19 will carry the vast majority of the team's regular season games...since CBS is the network that covers the AFC, the NFL division containing the Browns.

But you can bet the folks in Berea will give the coldest of shoulders to the folks from Reserve Square this year...

Marconi Calling Ohio

The National Association of Broadcasters has released this year's Marconi Award nominations, and there are plenty of Ohio entries.

Cleveland is well represented by the Clear Channel World Domination HQ on Oak Tree again this year, with country WGAR/99.5 up for Large Market Station of the Year.

And talk WTAM/1100 afternoon driver Mike Trivisonno is nominated for Large Market Personality of the Year for the second year in a row.

But Triv will have to compete with someone in the same building for the honor this year...veteran WGAR afternoon driver Chuck Collier is also nominated! Oh, to be a fly on the wall at Oak Tree...

We helpfully note that Collier's not listed for his voicetracking duties on sister oldies WMJI/105.7 (OK, so we're kidding), but it's no surprise that WMJI itself is up for Oldies Station of the Year.

To show you how far the oldies format has slid in recent years, WMJI's only large market competitor on the list is fellow Clear Channel oldies outlet WWSW ("3WS") down I-76 in Pittsburgh. The other nominees are from garden spots like Evansville IN, Pompton Lakes NJ, and Cheraw SC (where?). This category really got hit by CBS Radio dumping oldies in favor of Format of The Year (2005) adult hits "JACK FM" in major markets like New York and Chicago...leaving mainstays like WMJI and 3WS to carry the big market oldies torch.

Outside Northeast Ohio, Saga Columbus AC outlet WSNY/94.7 "Sunny 95" picks up nominations for AC Station of the Year and Medium Market Station of the Year. And just like in Cleveland, there's an intra-city, intra-cluster and even intra-time slot match between two Clear Channel Columbus stations for Medium Market Personality of the Year - WNCI/97.9 morning duo Dave Kaelin and Jimmy Jam ("Dave and Jimmy"), and WTVN/610 morning icon Bob Conners.

Cincinnati is only represented by one station, Clear Channel rock powerhouse WEBN/102.7, nominated for Rock Station of the Year.

The entire list is on the NAB's website here...the awards get handed out September 21st at the NAB Radio Show...

Late Day Wrapup

Some other stuff that's hit the OMW inbox, including a few followups and some brand new information in the mix...

YEP, BYE, DAVE: OMW reported earlier this week that Salem was rumored to be dropping syndicated money advice guy Dave Ramsey, who airs on the company's Christian talk/teaching outlets WHKW/1220 Cleveland and WRFD/880 Columbus (both named "The Word").

We have confirmation direct from the show itself, courtesy of a helpful OMW reader who asked them about the rumblings. Dave Ramsey is parting ways with Salem, and the host's staff appears to be none too happy about it.

A show staffer tells our reader that what he saw here is correct. "Salem did ask The Dave Ramsey Show, a mainstream, bartered, nationally syndicated talk show, to pay to be on their stations. This does include Cleveland and Columbus. We did reject their request as paying to air our show is not what we do."

The Ramsey staff member goes on to say that they are indeed looking for new affiliates in both Ohio markets, and elsewhere where Salem will be dropping the show. From what we've heard, Ramsey's deal with Salem runs out in mid-August, which gives WHKW and WRFD roughly a month to slot a replacement. We're wondering if Dr. Laura's new owners pay for time...

TOLEDO PD OUT: The way it sounds, we're not even sure he had time to pack up his things in boxes. Cumulus Toledo market Top 40 WTWR/98.3 "Tower 98-3" program director Brent Carey has, from what we hear, been blown out of his job after less than a year.

We're hearing that despite a solid performance from "Tower", Carey wasn't getting along with Cumulus top 40 programming VP Jan Jeffries. The station has gained notoriety by, among other things, hiring popular morning host Johny D...

ALREADY LOOKING HERE?: The information is quite vague at this point, but we understand that future WABQ/1540 Cleveland owner Craig Karmazin may already be looking for some local talent here in Northeast Ohio.

While Karmazin's Good Karma Broadcasting just filed to purchase WABQ for $2.5 million, and while it's still not known what configuration a presumed ESPN Radio affiliate will take in the market, going after people now would probably be advised. ESPN's notice to Salem's WKNR/850 last week is a 90-day one, which means the network would presumably hope to be on the air somewhere in the Cleveland market by roughly mid-October.

Of course, though it seems somewhat likely, we still do not know for certain if Karmazin and his incoming WABQ (or whatever other station he'll run) are the new home for ESPN Radio. It's probably a safe bet that Karmazin will be involved one way or the other, due to the timing of all this news and his existing relationship with the network in Milwaukee.

And we know that there are several sports radio types who wouldn't mind "moving up" to a new operation in the market. We just don't have any names yet....

WJER-FM Construction Permit Filed and Granted, Signal Apparently Mapped

OMW hears from database divers that a construction permit has been filed - and granted - for the move of WJER-FM/101.7 from Dover to North Canton - somehow without showing up on the station's record in the FCC database. (And believe us, we've looked.)

Since the deadline to file that CP passed, we enlisted some of our database gurus in finding FCC information. And though we still can't find it on the commission's own website, look at what we found elsewhere!


The signal map generated there is the projected 70 dbU "city grade" contour as displayed at REC Networks' page on the rulemaking for the North Canton COL for WJER. (REC Networks has an excellent, easy to use tool to go sifting through some of the FCC data.)

We've certainly seen enough online signal maps and projections to know that Your Signal Mileage May Vary.

As such, the signal may not be as robust as projected on the map above...which puts a city grade signal for 101.7/North Canton very nearly into downtown Akron and places like Tallmadge.

It also turns the station into an "other city" signal - still listenable, but not as strong - in much of its current home base of Tuscarawas County. The city grade projection cuts just short of the station's current license city of Dover. The station would still be somewhat listenable a few miles outside the above projected signal range, but it won't be a strong, local signal anymore in that area by the mere nature of the move of the 101.7 tower into the middle of Stark County.

And even if the above map is generous, there'd still be plenty of room for the new 101.7 to serve at least the southern half of Summit County with a very good signal.

Places like Montrose and Bath may be a challenge to reliably reach with the signal, but there'd certainly be no problem in Green, or in Jackson Township/North Canton - Clear Channel Akron/Canton's home base and one of the region's busiest retail areas.

OMW hears from an anonymous, unconfirmed birdie that the 101.7 antenna will be located on a tower at 22nd Street off Whipple Avenue. The facility is currently occupied by Melodynamic talk/religious WCER/900, and Cumulus rock WRQK/106.9.

But, we are not 100 percent sure that the above map is directly tied to the facilities actually specified in the construction permit. The center dot would certain be close enough to that particular location...and the power level being already set for an upgraded 6,000 watts, the projected signal map would be close enough as well.

We're digging further into this, to see if we can bolster this information with an actual FCC filing...

Of Ramsey and Collins

No, that's not a law firm, "Ramsey and Collins"...or for that matter, a radio equipment company merger!

BYE, BYE DAVE?: In an earlier OMW item, we talked about the growing number of Salem-owned stations picking up former Premiere host Dr. Laura Schlessinger, mainly their Christian talk/teaching stations. The latest was Dallas FM powerhouse KWRD "The Word".

We also thought that Dr. Laura would make a good schedule mate for homespun Christian-themed money advice guy Dave Ramsey, whose syndicated show airs weekdays here on Salem's WHKW/1220 "The Word".

We might want to rethink that idea of pairing her with Dave Ramsey.

OMW's been reminded of a rumor that's been floating around cyberspace nationwide for a month or two. As it goes, supposedly Dave Ramsey is disappearing from Salem's stations for a very specific reason - money. That's money that Salem is asking Ramsey's syndicator to pay them for his clearances, and money that Ramsey doesn't want to pay.

The move has recently resulted in Ramsey bailing on Salem's Atlanta conservative talk station, WGKA/920, and landing in evenings at Clear Channel Atlanta talk WGST/640. While WGST is certainly a higher-profile station, the bad news for Ramsey is that the 7-10 PM slot will be preempted most nights at least until October for Atlanta Braves baseball.

OMW hears that Salem has nixed the idea of even keeping Ramsey's show on its stations for free to cover non-paid time slots, so it appears likely Ramsey will also disappear from WHKW/1220 Cleveland, and WRFD/880 in the Columbus market, sometime in the next month or so.

We hear that corporate decision is unpopular in Cleveland, where WHKW is happy with his show. If his show goes away on 1220, it probably won't land anywhere else in the market...with no full-market talk outlets that aren't owned by Salem or Clear Channel...and a move to WTAM/1100 - in any capacity - not at all likely.

But the Salem move is no surprise, really.

WHKW and WRFD are both primarily "Christian brokered" stations. Salem makes a truckload of its money off of selling time slots to radio preachers, Christian-themed talk shows and the like. As well as Ramsey's "financial advice with Christian undertones" format works on WHKW, if he's not willing to pay, he's headed for the highway...

HELLO, CHUCK!: Our earlier item, plugging the writing efforts and radio future of one Chuck Collins, has a comment in reply...from none other than Mr. Collins himself.

The former WKDD programmer tells OMW that he is "happy to return to radio".

He won't let us know what capacity he'll fill, but Chuck would seem to hint in his comment that he'll be somewhere within the Akron Radio Center on West Market Street, home to Rubber City Radio's trio of WQMX/94.9, WONE/97.5 and WAKR/1590.

(That would presumably be the "only radio company in Akron" as the other two major Akron market broadcast operations are based in Stark County's Jackson Township and Portage County's Franklin Township...)

In fact, he calls that group "akin to Media Heaven". Ah, that "new job smell"! We know it well.

Again, congratulations to you, Chuck...and let us know when you can take the wraps off of your new gig! We do actually like good news around here...

A Murder - and Radio - Mystery?

This is something we've been hanging onto for a while, and it seems to be developing...soon.

Someone pointed out to OMW a "second career" being pursued by former WKDD/then-96.5 Akron program director Chuck Collins, and we've been meaning to give him a plug for his work.

Chuck - under the pen name Elmer Polk - has been writing mystery novels under the heading "The Radio Murders". You can sample some of his work on that site, and read some other musings at the Elmer Polk site. Those looking to publish his work can find his literary agent's number there as well.

And it's one musing there under the "Essay" heading that we found just as interesting as his works of fiction.

Radio has opened a door. It is up to me to make the most of the invitation. No delusion here, this will be tough. But unlike the foreign territory of financial services and life insurance, the reputation precedes me and the skills are well practiced. Living up to those expectations is, once again, a matter of one day at a time.

We are wondering just where that "door" will open, and how soon. Best of wishes to Chuck, though, for both his radio career and for his writing career...