Thursday's Post

Some more things coming down the OMW Pipeline...

MANAGE THE MARKET: A day after OMW reported the exit of long-time Clear Channel Akron/Canton market manager Dan Lankford to Pennsylvania, we hear his replacement is heading for Freedom Avenue.

For the moment, we don't know the name of this mystery person, but expect the Akron/Canton cluster to have a new hand at the management wheel very soon.

The job presumably continues to include oversight of Clear Channel's Ashland/Mansfield cluster in the Mid-Ohio region...

HIGH SCHOOL HIJINKS: As we approach the All-Important Ohio High School Football Season, another Northeast Ohio TV outlet is talking about its plans to cover the games.

This time, it's SportsTime Ohio that has unveiled its 2009 HSFB coverage plans. From a network press release:

Home to the OHSAA State Championships, STO will launch its high school coverage Friday August 28th. New to the schedule will be a live 90 minute show previewing High School Football matchups from around the state. Ohio High School Kickoff Show will be hosted by Mike Cairns on Fridays from 3:30pm – 5pm and include interviews with coaches statewide.

In addition, STO will expand its High School Football coverage with a regular season game of the week. The season kicks off Saturday August 29th with a rematch of last year’s playoff battle between State Champion St. Ignatius and Glenville; ending on Halloween with the “Holy War” between St. Edward and St. Ignatius. For the 3rd consecutive year, STO will carry the OHSAA Football Playoffs and Championships.

A list of STO's currently-scheduled high school football schedule is here. Other games will be added by the week...

BUT NOT TO BE OUTDONE: When we wrote about this year's high school football schedule on Time Warner Cable's Northeast Ohio Network (NEON) local programming channel, we noted that it seemed to lean heavily upon games in the Cleveland and Canton areas, with very few Akron area contests.

Ah, that prompted a response directly from Time Warner Cable's downtown Akron offices, with local TWC VP and OMW reader Bill Jasso weighing in on our report.

Jasso assures us that Time Warner is not going to ignore high school football fans in Akron. He says the cable outlet is working to line up production of additional games from the Akron area...and for that matter, games in the western portion of the former Comcast service area...in places like Bay Village, Elyria and Lorain.

Yes, this is Northeast Ohio, and people take their high school football seriously.

Jasso tells OMW that we should hear some more about additional games later this week...

LIMA ACTIVITY: Ohio's smallest TV market is a hub of activity this month.

First, we note that the Dish Network satellite service is finally bringing "local-into-local" stations for the Lima TV market.

A quick check of the Local Channels dialog at Dish's website shows the available stations - and oddly enough, only Block Communications NBC affiliate WLIO/digital 8 is not listed. (Since we don't live in Lima, we used the studio address of WLIO - 1424 Rice Avenue, Lima, OH 45805 - to get the list.)

It's certainly odd, because all the other Lima network affiliates are on the Dish list, including ABC affilaite WLQP-LP/18, Fox affiliate WOHL-CA/25 and CBS affiliate WLMO-LP/38.

Of course, all three of those stations are now owned by Block Communications, which owns WLIO...so we don't know why WLIO is not listed on the Dish Network local channels availability page. Maybe it's a mistake. Maybe the previous owner of the LPTV outlets, Gregg Phipps, signed that deal before Block/WLIO bought the three stations.

The Lima stations - also including Bowling Green State University-owned PBS affiliate WBGU/27 and religious independent WTLW/44 - are only available in standard definition via Dish Network for now.

However, it looks like there's a lot of movement on the HDTV front in Lima, if you check out WLIO VP/engineering Frederick Vobbe's excellent WLIO Engineering blog.

There, you'll learn that Block has put on low-power Class A digital WOHL-DC/35, which now occupies the channel used by WLIO's analog signal for decades. WLIO exited channel 35 for RF channel 8, and the station also now uses channel 8 for both on-air and off-air marketing/PSIP purposes.

Vobbe's blog says the 9 kW WOHL-DC (DC for "Digital Class A") has been testing, and lit up regular programming on Monday, with a 720p HD feed of "ABC Lima" on 35.1, and a 720p HD feed of "CBS Lima" on 35.2.

Over on WLIO's 8.2, "Fox Lima" is still up, but, quoting Vobbe on his blog:

Fox (8.2) is in SD because that is what the network is sending us. We don't have a choice in that. However, we are sending out an HD signal in 720P format should they change their minds. That means that NBC, CBS, and ABC will be the only HD signals so far.

The Fox network uses something called a "Splicer" to seamlessly provide its HD feed to stations. Either they haven't sent the unit to WLIO yet, or there's some technical magic involved in making the "Splicer" work on a subchannel...since it's basically designed to manage the bandwidth on a full channel at the network level.

Fox HD can indeed be done on a subchannel, though. Maybe Mr. Vobbe should call Tom Zocolo, chief engineer at "Fox Youngstown", to see how it's being done there...with the "Fox Youngstown" HD feed riding along on WKBN's 27.2...

ODTV: Analog Shutoff Times As We Know Them

It has taken us far too much time to compile this list...and it's not even complete.

View the analog TV shutoff list for Friday, at least what information we do have, on our Ohio Digital TV blog...

Uncovering Items

It's a very, very busy list today...so, let's get at it...

LAST ONE STANDING: We'll have a one-week-out update on our Ohio Digital TV blog later this week.

For now, just one note...we have confirmation that at least one Cleveland market TV station will be waiting until the very last minute, literally, to shut off its analog signal.

Western Reserve PBS station manager and OMW reader Bill O'Neil checks in to let us know that the PBS station's Akron outlet, WEAO/49, will retire the analog 49 transmitter at 11:59 PM on June 12th.

OMW already reported that at least the four major commercial network affiliates in the Cleveland market - WKYC/3, WEWS/5, WJW/8 and WOIO/19 (along with sister WUAB/43) - are planning to end analog transmissions at 10 AM that day.

We've also heard, but not confirmed, that Univision O&O WQHS/61 will shut off the analog side of their facility at 11 PM that evening.

Back to WEAO, where there won't be much to do other than shut off analog 49 just before midnight the night of June 12th/morning of June 13th. The station continues digitally, post-transition, with its existing facility on RF channel 50, and no other changes will need to be made.

And of course, Western Reserve PBS' other outlet, Youngstown-market WNEO/45 Alliance, has been operating in digital-only mode since last November...

COMMUNITY SERVICE: As it continues to move to syndicated music programming in its "Premium Choice" generic voicetracking initiative, radio giant Clear Channel is taking great pains to note that it's upgrading community and public service commitments at its stations.

That effort has a face and a name now in Cleveland, as cluster veteran host Daune Robinson picks up the extra title of Public Service Coordinator for all the stations running out of Oak Tree - talk WTAM/1100, top 40 WAKS/96.5, country WGAR/99.5, rock WMMS/1007, classic hits WMJI/105.7, and hot AC WMVX/106.5.

(There's nothing like getting even MORE work on your plate, added to your current routine voicetracking hours and hours of work for a number of stations...including the 7-hour time slot Robinson occupies in afternoon drive and early evenings on WMVX!)

Daune (don't call her "Duane"!) will be responsible, says Clear Channel, for new public affairs programming initiatives, and "12 daily public service announcements" under Clear Channel's new effort.

Daune is a talented broadcaster, and a hard worker, no doubt.

But we'd be more impressed with Clear Channel's "new public service commitment" if they actually hired someone to handle it full-time...someone who doesn't already have a whole bunch of work on her plate...

THE FM SPORTS WATCH MOVES ON: And this time, it's in Ohio.

The Lima News reports that Maverick Media has moved its ESPN Radio-fueled sports format from AM 940 to the FM dial in Lima, apparently starting yesterday:

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The new station, called 93.1 The Fan, station will have some additions to its lineup. (Vince) Koza will host his own daily talk show from 5 to 7 p.m. weekdays and will continue with his current "Sportstalk with Koza" from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays. Matt Childers and Matt Metzger will host "The Saturday Morning Sportsrap" from 8 to 10 a.m. Saturdays. They will also broadcast Cleveland Browns, Cavaliers and Indians games as well as Notre Dame football.

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93.1's current "Froggy" country format has hopped over a lilly pad or two to a new home 92.1. The country format website reflects the change already, with a slightly new name "New Country 92.1 The Frog", and the calls at 92.1 Wapokaneta are now WFGF. The "Star" AC format on 92.1 is apparently the Odd Format Out.

940 AM transitions to an oldies format under its former calls, WCIT, with a new morning show hosted by Lima market veteran Phil Austin, and 940's existing 3-5 PM talk show with Ron Williams will stay on the frequency after the format change.

We're wondering how much of this was influenced by Dispatch/RadiOhio planting the WBNS/1460 sports format in Columbus onto WBNS-FM/97.1, which, of course, is now known as "97.1 The Fan"...

CELEBRITY CHEF TV: Time Warner Cable's "Northeast Ohio Network" (NEON) local programming channel is adding a taste of new programming to its lineup.

TWC says "Dinner and Drinks" is being added on NEON weekdays at 9 PM, with the first new episode scheduled for June 8. Quoting a release:

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Hosted by local celebrity cooks Jenn Thomas and Stefanie Paganini, “Dinner and Drinks” is a 30-minute cooking show that takes viewers from the local market to the kitchen, and finally, to the dinner table, all done with the idea of making a good, simple meal from start to finish.

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With absolutely no insult intended towards Ms. Thomas or Ms. Paganini, we've never heard of them. That's not their fault...we couldn't find The Food Network on our TWC lineup with help and a roadmap.

So, here's a brief snippet about what makes the local women "celebrity chefs":

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Thomas, winner of Rachael Ray’s 2007 “So You Think You Can Cook” TV contest, has appeared numerous times on “The Rachael Ray Show” and “Good Morning America.” Her recipes were published in “The Rachael Ray Everyday Magazine” and she’s been featured in “People Magazine.”

Paganini, an instructor at the International Culinary Arts and Sciences Institute (ICASI), has appeared on Cleveland TV shows like Studio 3, Cooking with Hollie Strano, Channel 3 Noon News, Fox 8 News in the Morning and is a regular guest on WKYC’s Good Company. She has a weekly radio segment called “Paganini’s Pantry” every Friday on WDOK’s morning show. She is an avid world traveler who is fluent in Italian.

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The show will also air Sundays at noon, and be available via TWC's "Local On Demand" portal (channel 1 or 501).

Now, if you'll forgive us...posting this item made us hungry, so we have to get a late lunch...

Odder Mix Than Usual

And mostly items on the fringe of our usual OMW coverage area wrap up this Friday.

But we'll start in Cleveland, and to our friends on South Marginal Road...thank you for the Twitter Shout-Out! Quoting:

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A special Fox 8 Twitter shout-out to Ohio Media Watch. Glad you're enjoying our tweets! Stay tuned, more to come

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We don't know who handles the Twitter account at Cleveland Fox affiliate WJW/8 "Fox 8". We suspect it's one of those Additional Duties added to a newscast producer's already full plate. But if they're a regular reader, they probably know we're a sucker for a mention...

And speaking of South Marginal...

PLAYOFF SILLINESS: The Twitter account provides a link to video of "Bill (Martin)'s Atlanta Feud",..where the Fox 8 News evening co-anchor "has it out" with an Atlanta Journal-Constitution sports columnist via a microwave video feed from Quicken Loans Arena.

Yes, it's playoff time again for the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers. And with the local team steamrolling through its second-round playoff series with the team reportedly actually showing up at "The Q", the Atlanta Hawks.

(We haven't seen much evidence that the team on the court there is actually the Hawks. Maybe they're stunt doubles. They look like the Washington Generals to us.)

With Not Much To Talk About with the actual series itself - the Cavaliers have scored roughly 586 more points than the Hawks in the first two games - it's the Other Stuff that dominates the local media's conversation.

Like, how DARE Journal-Constitution sports columnist Mark Bradley take THIS crack at Cleveland! How DARE he?:

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This city, as you’d expect, is pumped. We Atlantans moan over the state of our franchises, but Clevelanders have it way worse. For one thing, they have to live in Cleveland.

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Yeah, like we've never heard that one before. Throw in a joke about the burning Cuyahoga River! Go ahead, Mr. Bradley, we dare you!

Remember that Cleveland is the kind of town that can laugh about those fake tourist promotion videos racking up the views on YouTube right now. ("Cleveland...at least we're not Detroit!")

Bradley's blog before Game One of the Cleveland-Atlanta series drew the attention of Fox 8's Bill Martin, who conducted the "smackdown" upon Bradley from the safety of South Marginal...down the shoreway from the Q. (Yes, our tongue is firmly planted in cheek, as well.)

And Bradley runs with it even further, in his AJC blog before Thursday's Game 2:

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Anyway, I was asked to go on the local Fox affiliate with some guy named Bob — or maybe it was Bill — who bills (or bobs) himself as the Mayor of the City of Champions. (Yes, that would, in Bob/Bill’s mind, be Cleveland, Ohio, which hasn’t seen a professional championship since 1964. But I digress.)

So there I am, trying to be a good sport, and Bob/Bill comes on, calls me a knothead, calls my employer the Urinal-Constipation (hey, new one!) and starts ranting.

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Mr. Bradley, you oughta hear what locals call the Akron Beacon Journal and the Canton Repository.

More:

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Apparently deadpan doesn’t register up here because the Mayor had no rejoinder. And apparently this wasn’t making for the kind of Good TV this fine station had in mind. So Bob/Bill’s co-anchor — I believe her name was Stacy, though it might have been Cindy — said: “Mark, you know this is all in fun?”

And I said: “Actually, I thought this was supposed to be a serious discussion.”

So then the folks back in the studio decided to cut it off because I wasn’t yelling back, but not before Bob/Bill threatened to beat me up. Twice. And he told me I’d better hide. And finally I dropped the poker face and started laughing.

“Yeah,” I said, “I’m hiding from you.”

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We're taking this about as seriously as both Bill Martin and Mark Bradley, which is to say, not at all.

Oh, and by the way, Mr. Bradley, we've been to your fair city more than once...and we're not sure it has much more to offer than the hot dogs at the world-famous "Varsity".

And regular readers of your Mighty Blog of Fun(tm) can tell you that your Primary Editorial Voice(tm) can find tasty chili cheese dogs much closer than Georgia...and that doesn't even count the two Northeast Ohio Sonic locations...

RUMORS OF HER RADIO DEMISE: OMW dutifully passed on word that Clear Channel Toledo news chief Cassie Wilson is stepping down from her post on Superior Street, citing, among other things, the company's recently re-energized "news hub" plans that have put news anchors from sister Cincinnati talk WLW/700 on her station in middays.

The Toledo Blade had a brief item on Wilson's exit, saying she was "pursuing opportunities outside radio" in her exit from the building which contains talk WSPD/1370, where she's anchored afternoon drive along with her cluster news oversight duties.

Not-so-fast...that's not the whole story, according to this in Tom Taylor's popular "Taylor on Radio-Info" column this morning:

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Cassie Wilson says contrary to the Toledo Blade article that T-R-I mentioned yesterday, she’s not done with the radio business, even if she’s resigning from Clear Channel-Toledo as its director of news operations and on-air anchor. So she’s open to another job in radio, as well as possibly outside the business (where she could use her PR and media relations experience).

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The Blade article did note something AllAccess had already reported - that Wilson's exit does not affect the status of her husband, WSPD program director/afternoon drive host Brian Wilson...who will stick around at the Toledo talker as usual...

ZANESVILLE CLOSE: TRI's Tom Taylor also passes along word of a radio sale closure in Southeast Ohio...the sale of WCVZ/92.7 "Z92" South Zanesville:

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Buyer Southeastern Ohio Broadcasting Systems (Hank Littick) had begun LMAing the station in November, and now the $2.2 million deal has been consummated.

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And Taylor makes a link between the WCVZ sale and another station purchase in a larger Ohio market:

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Seller Christian Voice of Central Ohio needed the proceeds to go forward with its own acquisition plans – to buy Columbus-market WRFD (880) from Salem for the fairly serious price of $4 million.

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So, is that all there is that's "holding up" the closure of the sale of Columbus' "The Word"? It would appear so. (By the way, wanna buy a radio station or three, cheap? From what we're hearing, we're surprised Salem hasn't started putting stations on eBay...)

Taylor also noted the end of the former WCVZ CCM format ("92.7 the River") and the start of hot AC as "Z92" under Littick's watch.

But readers here know that "Z92" is actually a move of the format once heard on Littick's WHIZ-FM/102.5 Zanesville, which is now running automated country as "Highway 102" while it awaits an eventual COL move to the Columbus ex-urb of Baltimore (not Maryland). And, we presume, it's also awaiting a buyer that would operate the station in Columbus after that move.

CVCO decamped in the area to WZNP/89.3 Newark, running non-commercial CCM and Christian talk/teaching from its "Promise Radio Network".

Littick's Southeastern Ohio Broadcasting Systems continues to own WHIZ/1240, and NBC affiliate WHIZ-TV/18...

LIMA EXIT: Radio programmer and OMW reader Dan Baisden passes along word of his own exit from Ohio.

Baisden has been programming Maverick Media's WWSR-FM, WDOH-FM and WZOQ-AM in Lima, but now heads west, young man...very far west, handling operations for a cluster in Flagstaff AZ. He writes:

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"I am thankful and excited to be joining Stan Pierce and Greg Dinetz (in) Flagstaff-Prescott, Arizona, in one of America's fastest growing markets. The city is really looks like the post cards. We have tremendous stations that we will continue to grow, and a great company with Grenax."

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Grenax isn't one of those medications you see on TV ads ("Talk to your doctor about Grenax!") - it's apparently the name of the company that owns the Arizona stations.

Best of luck, Dan, and feel free to keep reading to get a bead on what's going on back here in the Buckeye State!

LIMA TV: While we're out in West Central Ohio, electronically, another OMW reader tells us we should be aware of changes in the local TV market there.

Since we don't write a lot about Lima, we haven't mentioned a fairly recent change linked to the sale of the market's low-power Fox, CBS and ABC affiliates to Block Broadcasting, which owns the only full-power Lima secular network affiliate station (NBC affiliate WLIO/35).

The integration of the four stations appears well underway.

OMW hears that a plan first unveiled by WLIO/Block Lima VP/engineering Frederick Vobbe on his station engineering blog has started to take shape, as now-co-owned Fox affiliate WOHL-CA 25 now appears on the 8.2 digital subchannel of WLIO-DT.

The "Fox Lima" programming on 8.2 replaces an SD simulcast of WLIO's main feed, which was preceded on the subchannel by the market's CW network affiliate. (That feed is now only found on Time Warner Cable channel 3.)

And yes, WLIO is using its RF channel, 8, to identify the station in its PSIP digital information.

So, with WLIO-DT 8.2 being the new home of "Fox Lima" in the digital world, what happens to the Fox programming now found on the other new WLIO sister station? Or for that matter, the programming on the other new sister stations?

From Vobbe's blog item last month:

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What we plan to do, once WLIO analog is cleaned out and gone, is to move WOHL to channel 35, then flip it to digital. This new station will have the call sign of WOHL-CA Channel 35, and will be 9,000 watts E.R.P.

(snip)

The new channel 35 will then become the home of ABC and CBS in HD. As soon as WOHL channel 35 digital comes on the air, we will then start to phase out WLQP-18 and WLMO-38 as analog stations. What will happen with them? Well, that a story for another day.

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It sounds to us like WLIO is going to try what's already being done in Youngstown, where New Vision's WKBN/27 has planted HD feeds for both CBS (from WKBN) and Fox (from sister "Fox Youngstown") on WKBN-DT 27.2.

OMW hears from our reader in the region that Block is now using generic "Your News Now" branding for newscasts on all four stations, which we're told are being produced out of the WLIO operation.

The newscasts now air in a pattern - a new 5 PM broadcast joins the 10 PM broadcast on Fox affiliate WOHL-CA, and newscasts that used to only air on "NBC Lima" are simulcast now - the 6 PM show on WLQP-LP "ABC Lima", and the 11 PM show on WLMO-LP "CBS Lima". The morning newscast apparently continues to air solely on WLIO.

We haven't heard what happened to the staff that produced newscasts for the three Lima LPTVers owned until recently by local businessman Gregg Phipps' Metro Video Productions...

Regrouping On Monday

We're back for a Monday morning update, with some new stuff, and not one direct mention of Something Else that's been kicking around the local media world recently. But this update appears to be All About Clear Channel...like most of last week...

A CLEVELAND VALENTINE: OMW reported last week that Los Angeles-based Sean Valentine, he of the one-named "Valentine in the Morning", would be once again expanding his empire to Cleveland.

The hot AC KBIG/104.3 "My 104.3" host's syndicated offering was once heard on Clear Channel top 40 WAKS/96.5 "Kiss FM" in the market...a long run that wrapped up recently when WAKS became one of the earliest affiliates of New York-based Elvis Duran's morning show - now syndicated by CC's Premiere Radio.

It's official: Valentine starts his return to Cleveland radio this morning at hot AC WMVX/106.5 "Mix 106.5", taking the place occupied for many years by now-deposed local morning drivers "Brian and Joe".

Quoting a Clear Channel press release:

“Kicking mornings off with an amazing talent like Valentine gives this station a strong foundation for success,” said Chris Miller, Program Director for Mix 106.5. He continued, “I guarantee listeners are going to love what they hear on Cleveland’s Best Mix, Mix 106.5.”

“I know every song they play on Mix 106.5 and you're going to sing along with me…even though you're probably a better singer,” said Valentine. He continued, “It is great to back on the air in Cleveland!”

Of course, when Valentine's voicetracked show was on WAKS, "every song they play" was different. But, nevermind on that...with the Valentine show, it's not about the music they play around all the "Hollywood interviews" and other such content.

The station release confirmed who's left, locally, at "Mix":

Cleveland’s Best Mix, Mix 106.5 continues to be home for Cleveland broadcasting veterans Daune Robinson and Jay Hudson.

Now, it can be told. During the heat of the Clear Channel layoff crunch on Tuesday, there were very loud, very strong rumors that Jay Hudson was on the Involuntary Exit list.

If you go back and read our items from that day, you'll note that we talked about two unconfirmed names being rumored as being out at Oak Tree, that we were not ready to report.

Our reliable sources in the building indicated that the on-air cut list ended at four - WMVX's "Brian and Joe", along with WTAM producer/co-hosts Marty Allen and Paul Rado...information which turned out to be accurate.

Unlike some who post online, we don't just throw up stuff here to see if it sticks. We're not perfect, we don't know everything, but there IS a filter here...

WRAPPING UP CC DEPARTURES, WE THINK: We're still missing some names from Clear Channel's Purge of People last week, but someone did pass along some names we haven't printed.

This blog deals mostly with on-air or programming employees at radio stations, and we don't usually talk about office staff...but one of our sources passed along the off-air casualties of Clear Channel's 590 employee layoff a week ago. (Or is that 900 employees? Some trade reports suggest that's close to the final staff reduction numbers...)

One of our sources at the Clear Channel World Domination HQ on Oak Tree in suburban Cleveland gives us a list of the off-air exits there last week:

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Suzanne Holley, long-time human resources director

Adria Dudzinski (Redmon), administrative assistant (and former producer of classic hits WMJI/105.7's "Lanigan and Malone", though we suspect former co-host John Webster was still in the mix at that time as well...and the station didn't shy away from the "o" word back then, either)

Jim Brusse, traffic director

Two others, including a full-time IT assistant and a part-time assistant in national sales

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In Clear Channel's Ashland/Mansfield cluster, an Alert OMW Reader passes along this story from the Mansfield News Journal over the weekend:

Veteran reporter and news anchor Dave Pennell of WMAN-1400 AM is a victim of Clear Channel Communications Inc.'s recent round of job cuts.

Clear Channel, the largest owner of U.S. radio stations, announced almost 600 job cuts Tuesday that included some on-air personalities. It was the company's second round of layoffs this year

Market Manager Dan Lankford wouldn't release the positions or names of Mansfield and Ashland station employees who lost their jobs, but said he doesn't foresee further cuts.

We don't know who is left, if anyone, in the newsroom at talk WMAN/1400.

You might recall from our earlier report on the expanding Clear Channel "news hub" system that Ashland/Mansfield was a market tabbed to receive remote-anchored reports from the company's Columbus newsroom at talk WTVN/610.

In some areas, so far at least, the remote reports haven't fully taken over - even if they've forced other news employees into job changes. For now, talk WIMA/1150 Lima still has two news employees, and newscasts out of WTVN occupy middays there - along with FM morning drive casts.

We heard talk WKBN/570 Youngstown's Jim Michaels last week in a role he filled last time the station's news anchoring came from Oak Tree - doing a report from the field. How long will that last? We don't know.

But it would appear that WTAM/1100's Darren Toms, Ken Robinson and others are doing the regular anchor work on WKBN now...after the exit of veteran WKBN news director John Nagy in the Clear Channel cuts last week...

SPEAKING OF CLEAR CHANNEL NEWS EXITS: The wave of Clear Channel-related news this past week has been so strong and furious, even your Mighty Blog of Fun(tm) can't directly track news items from the company in Ohio.

So, we quote this item from Friday's AllAccess Net News scroll - a Clear Channel departure not caused directly by last's weeks round of job cuts, but affected by it:

CLEAR CHANNEL TOLEDO Director of News Operations CASSIE WILSON has announced her resignation, effective MAY 19th. WILSON tells ALL ACCESS that she is "really proud of my work here, and that I was able to use my major-market experience from BALTIMORE, WASHINGTON, DC and ATLANTA and create an award-winning news department at WSPD" and is looking for new opportunities in light of CLEAR CHANNEL's news "hub" outsourcing.

OMW reported earlier that Toledo was on the receiving end of that "news hub" list, with non-drivetime newscasts being fed out of the company's Cincinnati newsroom at talk WLW/700.

It's actually the second time around for WSPD/1370 as far as being a receiver of remote anchoring from another Clear Channel station...when the "news hub" system first started here in Ohio, WSPD received newscasts from Columbus' WTVN.

As far as we know, Cassie Wilson's departure doesn't affect her husband's presence at the Toledo news/talker....he's WSPD program director and afternoon drive host Brian Wilson, who continues both as PD and 3-6 PM host on the station.

As far as the "news hub" story is concerned, the same AllAccess scroll links to an article out of Denver-based weekly newspaper Westword, with more on the process from Colorado...

SPEAKING FRENCH: We thought it was a joke at first.

An OMW reader told us last week that WTAM Saturday afternoon host Simon Badinter and his "Simon Rendezvous" were coming to Chicago, where the French advertising executive would be heard on Tribune talk powerhouse WGN/720.

Ummm...it's no joke.

Quoting Lewis Lazare in the Chicago Sun-Times last week:

Perhaps the most intriguing hire is Simon Badinter, a native Parisian and the son of French Sen. Robert Badinter and Elisabeth Badinter, a feminist writer. Described as a highly opinionated advertising executive who loves life, Badinter will host a show called "Simon Rendezvous," which (WGN program director Kevin) Metheny indicated would be unlike any other WGN program or anything on Chicago radio.

Yeah, no kidding.

Sure enough, "Simon Rendezvous" now airs 6-9 PM Sunday on the Chicago talker. (And Badinter must be rich enough to live in both Cleveland and Chicago, as his WGN bio says he's been "proudly living and working in Chicago, IL for many years", much like his WTAM bio said for Cleveland.)

When Badinter's show began its run on WTAM in late 2007, we briefly mentioned it, but declined to spend a lot of time talking about it. It was our impression that the heavily-accented ad executive broke out the checkbook and paid for the two hour weekly show as a vanity project in Cleveland.

(We don't know the actual financial status of "Simon Rendezvous". They could well be paying him the standard going rate for non-employee weekend hosts.)

But, who knows this time around?

The connection, of course, is obvious. WGN programmer Metheny is the former programming vice president at Clear Channel's Cleveland cluster on Oak Tree, before heading into the Land of Former Jacor People at Tribune under the company's COO - ex-Jacor/Clear Channel Radio head Randy Michaels.

We're pretty sure there's at least one former Jacor employee who hasn't followed suburban Cincinnati resident Michaels to Tribune. Maybe two.

We're not sure if Badinter's show is technically still on the WTAM schedule. It's effectively pre-empted for much of the next few months due to Cleveland Indians baseball. Simon still shows up on the master WTAM Saturday schedule on non-Indians game days, but isn't found on the "Other Personalities" page at WTAM.com.

Neither the Sun-Times article, nor a brief item by Radio-Info.com columnist Tom Taylor in his E-mail newsletter this morning, mention Simon's run at WTAM.

Maybe "Simon Rendezvous" is more fit for Chicago, a "world city", than for Cleveland, a "desparately wants to be a world city"...and maybe we're missing a trend here. We never claimed to be news/talk programmers...

Local News And Premium Choice

Isn't branding a wonderful thing?

"Local news" is a brand, really. Radio stations that still offer news on a local basis hammer that into listeners' brains. "DEPEND on us for LOCAL news!" "We're your LOCAL NEWS SOURCE!"

The reality is somewhat different in 2009.

For many stations which once had a, well, "local" newsroom...the "source" is often an anchor in a newsroom anywhere from 25 to a few hundred miles away, trying to sound like they know the area they're serving via computer file upload.

None of this is new to Clear Channel, which has been "remote anchoring" stations as far away as Milwaukee from a certain newsroom on Oak Tree Boulevard in the Cleveland suburb of Independence for years.

But...it's back with a vengeance.

Clear Channel's latest operations plan will, in effect, accelerate the feeding of news from one market to another.

Here's a list of Ohio markets that will be feeding other markets in Ohio and beyond. Much of this was already being done before this week, and some of it is new:

CLEVELAND:
--------------
Milwaukee
Pittsburgh
Akron
Youngstown

CINCINNATI:
---------------
Boston
Toledo
Memphis
Nashville

COLUMBUS:
--------------
Lima
Defiance
Marion
Ashland/Mansfield
Chillicothe

We already have evidence of some of the new arrangements taking place today.

For example, Clear Channel Cleveland has officially returned to providing remote anchoring to its Youngstown sister cluster.

We heard WTAM/1100 news director Darren Toms this morning on talk WKBN/570...filling the news hole once filled by now-former WKBN news director John Nagy.

We heard WKBN news anchor Jim Michaels doing traffic, though we don't know if that was recorded (it's construction information and the like).

We assume Jim is still at South Avenue, and don't know what role he'll play in the new Clear Channel News Universe. When the anchors in Cleveland fed Youngstown before, he contributed and voiced reports for them, and occasionally did some afternoon anchoring himself.

Eerily, we heard a pre-recorded news feature voiced by Nagy, during the fill on the WKBN streaming audio feed.

Over in Lima, we hear that the cluster's FM stations are now getting the newscasts fed out of Columbus' WTVN/610, which are also being heard in middays on talk WIMA/1150. WIMA still has local news staffers, but it appears it and other markets being fed from elsewhere that still have news staff will get midday newscasts from the remote newsroom. Again, for now.

Here's what Clear Channel lays out for its staffers about remote news anchoring... and we're guessing that they're writing it just as much for federal lawmakers and regulators as much as they are for their own staff:

-----

Improved Commitment to Local Communities

* Our goal is to utilize technology along with our very best and experienced news reporters to enhance our local commitment to news

* We will match up these regional resources with our local teams in the market to deliver superior local news coverage

* We will train and redirect local staff members to help give us more depth when it comes to the number of people in a local market assisting with news coverage and community connection

------

No, that last line doesn't read "we will train and redirect FM program directors, disc jockeys, sales people, and anyone who can speak into a phone clearly to help us try to resemble a real local news operation". That's just our own interpretation.

In the "we're pretty sure they wrote this for the FCC and Congress" department, the plan gives examples of the company using remote news anchors and resources to serve markets otherwise without local news operations.

Among the situations specifically noted was the effort by the company's Syracuse newsroom to cover the recent multiple fatal shooting incident in Binghamton NY, where Clear Channel has no newsroom. It also highlighted the Binghamton cluster's role, which was basically providing studio space and "local hits" for Syracuse from the Binghamton program director.

The plan also highlights the company's recently announced expanded commitment to localized PSAs.

When a Clear Channel station without a dedicated, local newsroom - or a decimated one - runs liners saying "DEPEND on us for local news" or "Your LOCAL NEWS SOURCE", are they lying?

We don't at all fault the existing Clear Channel news anchors and reporters, in places like Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati or the other markets that will feed "local newscasts" out to other stations.

This isn't something they begged for, it's not their choice, and we presume they aren't getting any significant extra money for this...if they're getting any extra money at all. (Our guess: they aren't getting an extra dime, or even penny.)

We don't at all fault managers like CC/Youngstown veteran market manager Bill Kelly. We have absolutely no evidence that Mr. Kelly wanted to send 40-plus year WKBN veteran newsman John Nagy packing on Tuesday.

In fact, we have evidence of Mr. Kelly's commitment to a locally-staffed newsroom just months ago, when he originally nudged aside the Cleveland-fed newscasts. We presume he hasn't changed his mind in that short time.

Our guess - and it's only a guess, since we haven't heard from Kelly, who's written us before - is that he actively lobbied to hold off as many of Tuesday's changes as he could.

And WKBN has managed to hold onto three local weekday full-time hosts - morning driver Robert Mangino, program director Dan Rivers (middays), and afternoon driver Ron Verb - despite presumed pressure from corporate masters we imagine are just itching to put Glenn Beck into middays and Sean Hannity into afternoons.

But...it's a different world at Clear Channel, even from before when it was owned by two large private equity funds.

Yes, we know other newsrooms have shrunken, even those not owned by Clear Channel. The once-full newsroom at NextMedia's WHBC/1480 Canton is now basically news/program director Pam Cook and anchor Geoff Mears.

But at least Pam and Geoff are still there, physically, on Market Avenue South on the southern edge of downtown Canton. Who'll be left if Clear Channel corporate decides that it doesn't need Jim Michaels in Youngstown? How can a company claim a devotion to local news if you force your local cluster to dump a 40 year veteran newsman still at the top of his game?

In 2009, you can count fully-staffed local radio newsrooms in Ohio concentrating only on their home market (i.e. Akron's Rubber City Radio, Cox's WHIO in Dayton) on one hand and still have room to twiddle a few fingers around.

The second part of our discourse is about "Premium Choice", Clear Channel's clever name for its canned music programming.

The names that first surfaced included existing syndicated hosts Ryan Seacrest and Cleveland's Steve Harvey.

Now, thanks to AllAccess, here's Clear Channel's list of (some) local hosts that will contribute to the "Premium Choice" menu for stations needing inexpensive, national fill on-air personalities:

WAXQ/NEW YORK middayer MARIA MILTO
WBBG/MIAMI afternooner DOC RENO
WXTB/TAMPA middayer BIG RIG
WFBQ/INDIANAPOLIS afternooner LAURA STEELE
WTUE/DAYTON afternooner JOHN "THE B-MAN" BEAULIEU
WHTZ/NEW YORK night dude BILLY THE KIDD
KIIS/LOS ANGELES middayer SISANIE
WDCG/RALEIGH PD/afternooner RANDI WEST

From what we're hearing, all of these personalities are currently voicetracking non-local-specific generic national shows for their format. And we hear that at least one Clear Channel Cleveland personality is also involved in this effort...and we suspect a couple of others at Oak Tree will join that personality.

Randi West is a name familiar to many in Ohio. She once voicetracked a number of stations during her live shift at a Cincinnati Clear Channel outlet, an effort described in a newspaper article.

But these "shows" will be different. We don't believe any of the personalities will provide ANY specific, local content in this effort. Ms. West will sound the same in one market as she will in her other markets outside Raleigh, for example. If Clear Channel wants to add local content, they'll apparently rely on those expanded local PSAs and other community announcements.

Doesn't it just excite the heck out of you? Aren't you just dying to hear this programming?

Uh, OK.

Our final comment in this very long item: To us, "Premium Choice" sounds like the name for the house brand at Wal-Mart.

Oh, wait, that's "President's Choice". Target, maybe?

CC Cuts: Lima

OMW has now confirmed Clear Channel's job cuts in its Lima cluster:

"DJ OL SKOOL", program director, rhythmic top 40 WLWD/93.9 "Wild 93-9"
Eric Michaels, program director, rock WZRX/107.5 "X-107.5"
John Bell, business manager
Ed Douglas, operations manager
Russ Ryder, imaging director/music director, country WIMT/102.1-rhythmic top 40 WLWD/93.9-country WCKY/103.7, nights, WCKY
Frank Barber, news anchor, talk WIMA/1150

The CC Ohio Cut List, As We Know It

UPDATE: This list will be updated as new names come in...

-----------

The following is a list of all the Clear Channel employees we know to have been cut this week in Ohio.

There are some new names on the list, that we haven't yet reported, and still some unconfirmed names.

For the most part, this list contains names on-air or programming department employees laid off at the company's stations starting Monday.

It's our belief that each cluster lost at least one or two off-air employees. If we know that information, we'll pass it along. If we don't, assume there are others not listed.

There are some markets here where we're hearing rumblings (Lima, Ashland/Mansfield, etc.) that haven't been confirmed yet.

And as such, rather unfortunately, even late at night, we can't guarantee that this approaches a final list. Last time Clear Channel went on a Mad Layoff Spree in January, we were getting updates well into the next day...

CLEVELAND:

Marty Allen, producer/co-host, talk WTAM/1100's "Mike Trivisonno Show"
Paul Rado, producer/co-host, talk WTAM/1100's "Mike Trivisonno Show"
Brian Fowler, co-host, hot AC WMVX/106.5 "Mix 106-5"'s "Brian and Joe"
Joe Cronauer, co-host, hot AC WMVX/106.5 "Mix 106-5"'s "Brian and Joe"

AKRON/CANTON:

Amy Malone, co-host, AC WHOF/101.7 "My 101.7"' morning show
Megan, nights, rock WRQK/106.9 "Rock 106-9"/afternoon traffic reporter
Chad Jensen, production
Bruce Rogers, engineering

YOUNGSTOWN:

Dan Gonder, afternoon drive, hot AC WMXY/98.9 "Mix 98-9"/morning drive, standards WNIO/1390
Sean Stevens, program director, top 40 WAKZ/95.9 "Kiss FM"
John Nagy, news director, news/talk WKBN/570
Lorraine Hall, news, news/talk WKBN/570

COLUMBUS:

Chuck Gillespie, afternoon drive, AC WLZT/93.3
Maxwell, nights/music director, top 40 WNCI/97.9
Marty Scott, part-time, top 40 WNCI/97.9
Dan Van Duesen, promotions director, talk WTVN/610
Two other WNCI part-time staff, two business office staffers
(WNCI's Maxwell, of course, is no relation to WMMS/100.7 Cleveland afternoon host Maxwell, who is not on the cut list)

TOLEDO:

Nathan Reed, program director, top 40 WVKS/92.5 "Kiss FM"
Mookie, assistant program director/afternoon drive, top 40 WVKS/92.5 "Kiss FM"
K.C. Palmer, afternoon drive, AC WRVF/101.5 "The River"
Two part-time news/programming staffers, one full-time office staffer

CINCINNATI:

Paul Daugherty, "Sportsline" host, talk WLW/700
Alan Cutler, sports talk host, talk WLW/700 and Bengals Radio Network
C. Trent Rosencrans, blogger, sports talk WCKY/1530
Travis Holmes, producer, sports talk WCKY/1530
Mark Chalifoux, producer, sports talk WCKY/1530
Matt Steinmann, producer (Bill Cunningham, Mike McConnell shows), talk WLW/700
(Our thanks to the updated item by Cincinnati Enquirer radio/TV writer John Kiesewetter for these names.)

LIMA/FINDLAY:

"DJ OL SKOOL", program director, rhythmic top 40 WLWD/93.9 "Wild 93-9"
Eric Michaels, program director, rock WZRX/107.5 "X-107.5"
John Bell, business manager
Ed Douglas, operations manager
Russ Ryder, imaging director/music director, country WIMT/102.1-rhythmic top 40 WLWD/93.9-country WCKY/103.7, nights, WCKY
Frank Barber, news anchor, talk WIMA/1150
(Note: Though WCKY/103.7 is now licensed to the Wood County town of Pemberville, in the Toledo market, it still falls under the oversight of Clear Channel's Lima cluster.)

Tuesday's Mixed Bag

This time, we promise we're not going to inadvertently insert ourselves into contract negotiations...

DAVE AND JIMMY MINUS DAYTON: We don't spend a lot of time watching the Dayton radio market these days, particularly with the attention now paid to Southwest Ohio by Jeremy Moses' Tri-State Media Watch out of Cincinnati.

But this one affects Columbus, one of our secondary markets.

Radio-Info.com columnist Tom Taylor picks up word that Clear Channel Dayton top 40 outlet WDKF/94.5 is apparently moving forward without syndicated morning team "Dave & Jimmy", based out of Columbus sister station WNCI/97.9.

(With WNCI's powerhouse signal, we imagine at least some Dayton market listeners will able to pick them up directly on the Dave & Jimmy Mothership.)

Sure enough, a brief digital walk to the "Channel 945" website shows the station telling listeners to "Embrace the change in Morning Drive", and asking them to text "change" to the messaging short code 62582 for more details. And, presumably, that enables WDKF to text message listeners with more station promotion in the future.

There's no word as to what "change" listeners to WDKF may be asked to "embrace", or if it'll be Change They Can Believe In.

In addition to WNCI, "Dave & Jimmy" are also heard up here in Northeast Ohio, on Clear Channel top 40 sister station WAKZ/95.9 "Kiss FM" in the Youngstown market...and the pair has affiliates in Lima, Louisville and Lexington KY, and Albany NY, among other cities...

FROM PRISON TO TALK: Well, he certainly isn't the first former political type to go from serving prison time to talk radio.

We're talking about former southeast Ohio congressman Bob Ney, who has started a new career as a talk radio host not that far from his former district.

Ney started Monday as the 1-3 PM host at Monroe Communications talk WVLY/1370 Moundsville WV, near Wheeling.

In case you need a refresher as to why Ney is just coming out of prison, here's a refresher courtesy of an article on the website of Steubenville NBC affiliate WTOV/9:

Ney pleaded guilty to a felony bribery charge and was linked to the Jack Abramoff scandal in 2006. Ney was sentenced to 30 months in prison but was released after 17 months.

Wheeling CBS/ABC/Fox affiliate WTRF/7 chimes in, with a quote from Howard Monroe, WVLY morning host and station owner:

"The buzz? It's been quite frankly surprising. I expected a lot of negative feedback. Let's face it, the man was the poster child for corruption. While I've gotten some of that it's no where near the amount I expected. So, we'll get the show going and see what happens when the calls start coming in." Monroe told 7News.

Ney became a free man after being released from prison in August. (And it's not often that a boss calls his new employee a "poster child for corruption"!)

Again, as we noted, Ney would hardly be the first former political type to turn to talk radio not long after his release from prison. That distinction would likely go to former White House figure G. Gordon Liddy, who became a very successful syndicated talk show host after landing in the lineup of Washington DC talk superstation WJFK/106.7.

(WJFK is still in the format, and Liddy is long gone from that station...his syndication effort continues, with a much smaller affiliate base than in the WJFK-based days, and with a different syndicator than Westwood One.)

As for Ney's new radio home, it's a rimshot into Wheeling from the south, and pretty much the third-ranked talk station in that crowded field (WWVA/1170 and WKKX/1600 are number one and two).

WVLY's listenable, static-free signal basically does not reach the bulk of the former congressman's Southeast Ohio district, though we note from the station's website that it's offering Ney to other stations. For now, Monroe's own morning show is only on one other station, a small Fairmont WV talk outlet...

OH, DINO: We once had a hobby here...tracking the moves of bombastic former local sports radio host Dino Costa.

You could almost put an asterisk next to "local" there.

Costa was in the Cleveland market for roughly a cup of coffee on a short-lived sports talk station that barely reached out of Geauga County - the now-silent daytimer WATJ/1560 Chardon ("SportsRadio 1560"). In its brief attempt at local sports talk, the tiny rimshot outlet also had Time Warner Cable host Les Levine ("More Sports and Les Levine") on board.

WATJ went dark after station owner Music Express decided to concentrate on its main station, country WKKY/104.7 Geneva.

After WATJ, Costa headed for places like Jacksonville FL, where he was noted for posting breathless help wanted ads for a talk station which got pulled out from under him by ownership. ("Our 50,000 watt transmitter just arrived!!")

But for the bulk of his career, Dino Costa has been a sports talk radio host with a flair for self-promotion, usually on second-tier and third-tier stations. WATJ would probably have been "fourth-tier" or "fifth-tier" by those standards.

Costa landed in Denver, where he held forth on something called the "Radio Colorado Network" - until that operation flipped to a business radio format under new owners. He started in the market on Crawford sports talk KLZ/560 "ESPN 560".

Dino's back, and he's promoting again.

He's launching Internet sports outlet "DenverSportsRadio.com" next week, and at least if you believe his self-publicity, the station has actually picked up some known hosts...and some new names. (Of course, Costa himself will host a show. You think you could keep him away from a microphone on an outlet he runs?)

From here, it looks like Costa is basically duplicating Cleveland's own SportsTalkCleveland.com (aka SportsTalkNetwork.com), Paul Belfi's long-time online sports "talk station".

We don't know if Costa is even aware of the Cleveland operation, though. And "STC" started out as the Internet arm of then-Salem sports talk WKNR/850 before striking out on its own. Costa's new site has no connection to a radio outlet.

But some of the same elements are there, including a promise to do various remotes, and a similar mix of known and unknown hosts.

"DenverSportsRadio.com" is set to launch on April 20. If you'd like to hear Costa talking about the future online sports station, the website features audio of him...

Tuesday's Full Basket

It's a pretty random, but important, collection of items in our basket on Tuesday morning...

OH, AND BY THE WAY, THE PD: The news of the impending end of another American newspaper had everyone buzzing Monday, including your Mighty Blog of Fun(tm).

Oh, by the way, employees of the Northeast Ohio sister paper of the Ann Arbor News took a budget hit Monday as well.

Shortly after we took ourselves out of the media news stream to attend to Real Life, the Cleveland Plain Dealer announced its own latest moves designed to save parent Advance Publications some money. Quoting the item posted by the PD's Michelle Jarboe:

The Plain Dealer will require non-union employees to take pay cuts and 10-day furloughs, in an attempt to cut costs but preserve jobs and continue to print seven days a week.

During meetings with employees Monday, Publisher and President Terrance C. Z. Egger announced that full-time, non-union employees must take 10 days of unpaid leave between April 20 and Oct. 4.

Full-time and part-time non-union employees will see their first $50,000 of pay cut by 8 percent and any additional pay reduced by 10 percent as of June 1.

The Monday article says about 370 employees will be affected by the furlough order, and 450 will be hit by the pay cuts. It also details other budget-related moves by Advance-owned papers elsewhere.

The pay cuts and furloughs mirror a trend that other big media companies have started. Cleveland NBC affiliate WKYC/3 owner Gannett (a big newspaper owner) is one such company, as we've reported before.

We'll assume that at some point, the companies realize that you can't run a newspaper with a handful of people...so the only remaining choice is giving workers less money one way or the other. Or....well, you have to join the Rocky Mountain News, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and now the Ann Arbor News in basically throwing in the towel on daily newspapering.

And PD publisher Terrance Egger tells his paper that the Cleveland paper isn't headed in that direction:

Egger said The Plain Dealer is committed to protecting as many jobs as possible while curbing expenses. The company will continue to print a newspaper seven days a week, even as some other large newspapers reduce their printing schedules or switch to a Web-only product, he said.

"We want to be in it for the long haul," Egger told employees. "I don't see a way for all of us to get there without making some sacrifices."

But the short haul is looking awful for all newspapers, including the PD - which says it saw ad revenues fall "twice as much as expected" as it nears the end of 2009's first quarter.

The Plain Dealer may "want to be in it for the long haul", but is printing a newspaper seven days a week a viable model for anyone in 2009? The PD made money in 2008, Egger said, and hoped to make money in 2009...but that last piece of news makes that seem like a far off target.

We also got some comments on our "off the cuff" analysis of the Ann Arbor and Michigan situation vs. Cleveland and Northeast Ohio. One reader points out that Cleveland's most recent unemployment rate is more than Ann Arbor, which is traditionally more insulated economically due to the presence of the University of That Team Which Can't Beat Ohio State...er...Michigan.

Point well taken. It's also one reason Columbus hangs in there vs. Cleveland.

But the overall Michigan economy is awful. And those other Booth/Advance papers named are in that state's hardest hit markets - such as Flint, which has basically been falling apart economically since the 1980's.

What brought in "AnnArbor.com" as an option for Advance is likely that "college city" atmosphere...with the U of M influence making it a more connected, more intelligent city that would be a good laboratory for the Website Which Replaces Newspaper experiment...

IT'S BACK: A note in Monday's Inside Radio sent us scurrying to FCC records, and sure enough, Cleveland market top 40 outlet WAKS/96.5 "Kiss FM" is officially back in the Clear Channel fold again.

And all of this, without a single piece of equipment moving anywhere.

Of course, Clear Channel tabbed WAKS to the Aloha Station Trust in the process of its sale to two private equity firms. The sale triggered FCC local ownership guidelines, and at least technically revoked Clear Channel's grandfathered ability to operate stations like WAKS - which put the company over the ownership cap in the Cleveland market.

Ah, but since it's WAKS/*Akron*, Clear Channel was able to trigger a simple bit of shuffling that attributed 96.5, ownership limit wise, into the Akron Arbitron market. That allows the company to keep the station, and even allows it to continue operating it out of the Clear Channel Cleveland cluster on Oak Tree.

Again, without moving a single piece of equipment or changing studios...as "Kiss FM" never moved from Oak Tree, and was operated by Clear Channel even under the Aloha Trust ownership.

FCC records show the "reassignment" of WAKS to Clear Channel was approved a week ago, on March 17...

COX RADIO GOING PRIVATE: We hadn't mentioned that Atlanta-based Cox Enterprises is making a nearly $70 million bid to absorb its own Cox Radio division to make it private.

Cox, of course, was founded in Dayton, where it owns four radio stations - including the WHIO/1290-WHIO-FM/95.7 simulcast - and the Dayton Daily News...the first link in the Cox empire...

LOOKING FOR A MARKET MANAGER JOB?: We stumbled onto an ad placed in that same Monday edition of Inside Radio, with two Ohio Clear Channel clusters looking for a new leader:

Ashland/Mansfield dual market cluster - 6 FM-1 triplecast/2 AM
Lima/Marion dual market of 7FM/2 AM

Clear Channel Radio seeks experienced management professionals to assume the role of VP/Market Manager for each dual market. The ideal candidate should have previous market manager experience and a proven track record of ratings and revenue success. DOS’s and Operation Managers wanting career growth are encouraged to apply. Candidates should have a minimum of 5-7 years radio experience with a minimum of 2 years in management. College degree preferred.

We'll save her from spambots, but you can apply for this one by E-mailing one Melissa Burns at a standard Clear Channel address with a cover letter and resume. And, yes, "no phone calls, please!"...

Back To Digital TV

We return to the world of the Up In The Air Digital TV Transition on a key day.

The deadline was late last night for local TV stations to file notifications that they intend to shut down their analog signals on the original transition date of February 17, 2009 - which, looking at the calendar, is exactly one week from today.

A bill passed by Congress and awaiting President Barack Obama's expected signature (today?) moves the date to June 12.

Even if stations had already filed such notifications, new FCC rules released last Thursday required them to do so again. And since Thursday, a number of stations have backed away from those "early transition" plans, most notably Local TV Fox affiliate WJW/8 "Fox 8" in Cleveland.

Though we aren't 100% sure that all applications to "go early" have been processed yet, we do have more information of note. We're told that as early as today, the FCC could release a nationwide list of stations that have filed to transition early.

We'll "hit the highlights" here, market by market, without much detail for now...

CLEVELAND/AKRON: It looks like Northeast Ohio's largest market will basically keep analog going until the new June 12th transition date - save for one very minor station.

None of the major Cleveland network affiliates have filed to transition on February 17th under the new FCC rules. Local TV's WJW did not re-file this time around, as required, which makes sense considering the station's recently announced decision to stay in analog on channel 8 until June.

The market's two public broadcasters are obviously staying on in analog. WVIZ/25 has no suitable full-power facility until that WKYC tower is completed in Parma. WEAO/49 announced (first through OMW, thank you, Campus Center Drive!) that they're staying with analog until June - despite sister station WNEO/45 being digital-only since November.

And if you want an excellent example of what a TV station SHOULD do on its website in this confusing time, check out this notice from Western Reserve PBS, linked from a graphic prominently placed on the station's main web page:

Because the government has proposed a delay of the national DTV transition date, Western Reserve PBS will convert its WEAO analog signal to digital on June 12, 2009.

Other local stations: How hard was that?

How hard is it do to something like WKYC/3 senior director Frank Macek did, on his "Director's Cut" blog, informing viewers of the station's decision to stay on analog 3 until June 12th?

That one minor station filing to go early in the Cleveland/Akron (Canton) market? Canton-licensed WOAC/67, the infomercial paradise now in a trust due to owner Multicultural Broadcasting's financial situation, has put in the required electronic paperwork to shut down analog channel 67. When you're forced to put your stations in a trust due to finances, it's hard to justify paying for four more months of analog broadcasting.

WOAC-DT has been operating for some time on digital channel 47 (67-1), and the station's programming means not many will miss analog 67 no matter what. Both facilities operate from Portage County's Brimfield Township at I-76 and Ohio 43, just across that state highway from Media-Com's WAOH-LP 29 "The Cat", and sister talk WNIR/100.1 "The Talk of Akron".

One note here: The FCC database shows WJW/8's earlier request to flash cut to digital 8 early as being granted. We don't know what that means at this point, or if WJW could "hang onto that" if it later decides to switch before June...

YOUNGSTOWN: There's big news here, as it appears the Mahoning Valley's three full-power commercial stations will stay analog until the new June 12th date after all.

New Vision CBS affiliate WKBN/27 and its LMA partner, Parkin Broadcasting ABC affiliate WYTV/33, had been among the early analog shutoff filers.

The stations, according to numerous viewers who've written to OMW, have repeatedly told viewers that yes - their digital transition would go on as scheduled February 17, despite action to move the date in Washington DC.

OMW is getting late word that WKBN has just announced that it has changed its mind, and that analog 27 will continue to broadcast until June 12. We're told that announcement came on last night's 11 PM edition of "27 First News", and no surprise, we can't find it yet on the station's website.

We haven't heard about similar announcements on WYTV/33, but since the stations are joined-at-the-LMA hip, we'd be surprised if WYTV didn't follow WKBN's lead - unless nominal owner Todd Parkin feels the need to shut off the analog 33 transmitter separately to save money.

As of this writing, WKBN and WYTV have NOT filed the appropriate FCC form to transition on February 17th, so it follows with last night's announcement.

Vindicator NBC affiliate WFMJ/21 has already announced that it will keep the analog signal on until the new June transition date, so that'd be a clean sweep of the market's commercial outlets.

Of course, Western Reserve PBS Youngstown market affiliate WNEO/45 Alliance has already sent its analog transmitter to the Retired Transmitter Home, and has been all-digital since mid-November...as reported here frequently....

WHEELING/STEUBENVILLE: The Ohio Valley will go digital.

Both full-power stations serving that region - Cox NBC affiliate WTOV/9 Steubenville and West Virginia Media CBS(/ABC/Fox) affiliate WTRF/7 Wheeling WV - did file the appropriate paperwork, along with STA requests to move their digital operations to the current analog channels on February 17th.

Oddly enough, it looks like WTOV's STA request to go digital on channel 9 on the 17th has already been granted. WTRF's hasn't yet, though there is a typo in the request - it says the station wants to go digital on channel 12. That'd appear to be accidentally copied over from the application filed by West Virginia Media's sister station in Clarksburg WV, WBOY/12.

We're wondering if the "full market" early digital transition will catch scrutiny from the FCC, though as stated, WTOV's early digital channel 9 request is already in the hopper...

COLUMBUS: Media General NBC affiliate WCMH/4 was one of the stations which filed earlier to shut off analog 4 on February 17th, the original digital transition date.

As of this writing, the station has not filed the required electronic form to affirm that wish.

And Sinclair, which owns two stations in the Columbus market and was expected to flip both ABC affiliate WSYX/6 and Fox affiliate WTTE/28 to all-digital a week from today, has only filed the required electronic form for one of the two stations - WTTE.

That move actually mirrors what they've done up until now. In earlier filings, Sinclair didn't file for early digital transition for WSYX at the same time they did so for WTTE.

Dispatch CBS affiliate WBNS/10 already announced that it would stay on in analog until June, as did Ohio State University-owned PBS affiliate WOSU/34.

LIN CW affiliate WWHO/53 has filed the new early termination forms, and says it will shut off analog channel 53 on February 17th...

LIMA: The only Lima market station that needs to make a decision hasn't yet announced its call, at least online.

But Block NBC affiliate WLIO/35 has been very open in the process, with VP/chief engineer Frederick Vobbe noting on his WLIO Engineering blog Friday that the station was still considering their options after the FCC adopted those new rules on Thursday.

A check of the FCC database this morning shows that WLIO did not file the newly required February 17th transition form, though as we've noted in this item repeatedly, we don't know if all of the forms filed until the 11:59 PM deadline last night have been processed on the FCC's public database.

Engineer Vobbe has a nice roundup of what he's heard about other markets at this Monday blog entry.

About his own market:

In Lima, WLIO-35 remains the only high-power analog on the air. WTLW transitioned back on December 1st, 2008. WBGU-27 transitioned on December 31st, 2008.

Vobbe notes that since the low-power network affiliates in Lima are now owned by WLIO's parent company, they'll "likely" go digital, though no plan has been put into place yet. As low-power or Class A outlets, the stations are not affected by the full-power digital transition, and any switch will be voluntary...

TOLEDO: From the linked item by WLIO's Frederick Vobbe:

Toledo stations are going to wait till June 12th.

We already wrote that one decision was made far from Toledo, as the ABC network owns Toledo affiliate WTVG/13 "13abc", and had pledged to the FCC that it would keep all its owned-and-operated stations going in analog until June.

A check of the FCC database this morning shows no Toledo market full-power station has filed the required new form to end analog service on February 17th - again, assuming all the forms filed until late last night have been processed and put in the FCC's CDBS database, which we believe is the case.

Bowling Green State University PBS affiliate WBGU/27 is in the Toledo market (Wood County), though it also serves Lima, and as mentioned before, it has already become digital-only...

DAYTON: It appears Dayton will be an early digital market, pending FCC approval.

The FCC database this morning shows that all of Dayton's full-power commercial stations, along with ThinkTV PBS affiliate WPTD/16, have filed the new forms to transition on the original February 17th date.

Numerous earlier news reports, as recent as Monday, said the Dayton broadcasters would shut off analog as a group a week from today, and that appears to be holding.

Of course, as mentioned, the FCC says it'll give special scrutiny to situations where all stations in a market file to shut off analog broadcasts, so we'll see if Dayton comes to their attention. We also don't know what the DTV coupon redemption rates are in Dayton, another factor the FCC says it'll look into...

CINCINNATI: And just down I-71 from Dayton, it appears that Cincinnati will be mostly an analog market.

Only Sinclair MyNetwork TV affiliate WSTR/64 and ThinkTV's Cincinnati outlet, WPTO/14 Oxford, have filed the new form saying that they'll shut off their analog channels on February 17th.

The Cincinnati market's other major full-power broadcasters are, according to numerous reports, staying on in analog as a group.

But in one of those reports by Cincinnati Enquirer radio/TV guru John Kiesewetter:

Cincinnati's five other stations -- Channels 5, 9, 12, 19 and 48 -- plus Oxford's Channel 14 (operated by Ch. 16) -- will continue broadcasting both analog and digital signals into spring.

The early termination forms filed by WPTO and WPTD appear to be the "new" forms set forth by the Thursday FCC public notice, and are time stamped as being filed late Thursday afternoon. We'll see if ThinkTV keeps the analog going in Cincinnati while it shuts off analog in Dayton.

Trinity Broadcasting's WKOI/43 Richmond IN is also not filing to transition next Tuesday. We're not sure if the station is considered to be in the Cincinnati market or the Dayton market. We believe it operates as a Cincinnati station, though it can be seen in both markets...

ZANESVILLE: We weren't aware of this, but WHIZ Media Group NBC affiliate WHIZ/18 has apparently been off the air on the analog side dating back to June 25, 2008, due to an equipment failure...

IN CLOSING: Again, the FCC is expected to provide a full list of the February 17/early analog shutoff stations. We'll link it to the top of this item when we get it, or separately if it's not released sometime today.

The above list is based on our own research of the FCC's public database, with the assumption that all the pre-deadline early transition/analog shutoff findings have been processed there...

Digital TV Date Frustration, Part Two

Here's the promised second update in our "When Will Ohio Stations Dump Analog?" series, covering markets outside Cleveland/Akron. This one is also getting too big, so we'll cover the remaining markets in Southern Ohio and Southwest Ohio later.

Just as we cautioned Saturday, remember that stations will have to re-file their intentions to hold to the original February 17th digital transition date. The FCC will accept those filings through the end of Monday (just before midnight Tuesday).

From what we've heard, previous February 17th STA and notice of silent operations filings are no longer considered valid under the new rules. So, those filings provide only a rough guide to which stations originally wanted to shut off analog a week from Tuesday...not that they'll still do so. (The case of Cleveland Local TV-owned Fox affiliate WJW/8 is a prime example of that.)

We can always use some more viewer input from markets outside our home area, if you see announcements from affected stations. We appreciate those who have provided extensive help, much of which you'll see in comments to our Saturday item.

Here we go...

YOUNGSTOWN/WARREN: One regular OMW reader is telling us that New Vision's combo of CBS affiliate WKBN/27 and the LMA of Parkin Broadcasting ABC affiliate WYTV/33 is telling viewers that it's holding to the February 17th shutoff of analog channels 27 and 33.

New Vision was among those originally filing to make that now-early date official. But we'd appreciate additional confirmation from those in the market that the stations are specifically pointing out that they're shutting off analog on February 17th despite the action in Washington.

The WKBN DTV Transition page does still say February 17th, but we don't know if that's just because it has been left in its previous-to-this-past-week state.

WYTV's web presence, of course, has been basically identical to WKBN's - since not long after New Vision took over the station's operations in an LMA.

Our reader in the Mahoning Valley tells us that WKBN-TV is also talking up a studio remodeling. Perhaps that'll also been when they unveil a new graphic look for the station - mirroring what's already up on WKBN.com.

As for WFMJ/21, we haven't heard anything about the transition date change out of the Vindicator-owned NBC affiliate. There's also no word that we can find either on the WFMJ website, or any news stories on the Vindicator's own site...that lack of information is part of what led us to put "frustration" in the title of this update...

On the station's DTV Transition web page, there's only a generic Associated Press story on the congressional date change approval...and a standard countdown clock that's heading for February 17th. We're mostly not reading anything into these pages, as many may just not have been updated with the new date or a new countdown clock...

COLUMBUS: Some February 17th analog shutoffs continue to look likely in Central Ohio.

But let's start with one station that has done what every other station should do in prominent notices on its web site: inform viewers of its decision...in this case, to adhere to the new June 12th date.

That station would be Dispatch CBS affiliate WBNS/10, which is now officially notifying viewers that it will keep the dual analog/digital broadcasts on the air through that changed date. Quoting the "10TVNews HD" story:

"Our number one concern is for the viewers," said Tom Griesdorn, WBNS-10TV president and general manager. "This move will cost us some expenses we hadn't planned for, but it's an investment that is worth making."

"Severe weather and emergency notification is the number one responsibility of any television station," said John Cardenas, 10TV's news director. "Last March, one of the biggest winter storms to ever hit central Ohio blanketed the region and crippled our community. Our obligation is to provide those with all televisions the information they need to stay safe."

We'll delve into that whole emergency/power loss thing later, but to answer reader emery_r's question, there are very limited battery-operated options right now.

In our visit to a local Radio Shack, we note that its portable Accurian-brand digital TV was on sale at $179 - still, a pretty steep price (and we're betting the battery life isn't all that great). We've seen portable digital sets on Amazon.com for as low as $120, but we can't vouch for any of them.

There is one battery operated digital TV converter box made by the Winegard folks (battery pack sold separately), which got some notice when Wilmington NC made its early digital transition in September. If you already have a portable TV, this might work. It is apparently only available online.

And then, there's that old fashioned medium called radio. Remember it? Even stations that play a fully automated music format are members of the Emergency Alert System network, and presumably, those notifications should air.

As far as the rest, a Columbus Dispatch article from earlier in the week noted that there was a conference call scheduled Friday between Central Ohio stations and the Ohio Association of Broadcasters.

It appears Sinclair is sticking to its February 17th guns - even with the new FCC rules tied to the date change. The company owns ABC affiliate WSYX/6 and Fox affiliate WTTE/28 in Columbus.

The WSYX DTV Transition page still carries the February 17th countdown - but like others, we don't know if that is just a leftover from before.

(WSYX also has an extensive collection of videos and local reports on DTV in Columbus by its "On Your Side" reporter, and provides antenna advice to local viewers. Kudos to the Sinclair outlet for providing actual local information, and not just regurgitating the usual national pages.)

We can't definitively say that WSYX/WTTE will stick with February 17th, but it appears likely...we'll be watching the filings. From reports from Sinclair stations in other markets, it appears the company is intent on sticking with the February date.

Media General NBC affiliate WCMH/4 was an early filer in the February 17th shutoff sweepstakes...and had affirmed its intentions in that Dispatch article before the DTV Delay Bill passed Congress.

In an item posted Friday afternoon on the station's "You Question, We Get Answers" web page, WCMH did once again affirm the station's original wishes:

As of today, February 6, 2009, WCMH-NBC 4 intends on ending analog broadcasting on February 17.

Doesn't sound complicated, does it? Well, on its own. But check out the wording BEFORE that "as of now" statement:

While Congress has passed a bill postponing that analog shut off date until June, we are still working to understand all of the bill provisions and the rule-making that the FCC will put in place.

We will be learning more over the next several days, and we will be making decisions on our shut off date which we certainly will communicate with our viewers. We will be working closely with the Ohio Association of Broadcasters to make sure that our viewer’s interests and needs are met.

Translation? Like many stations, WCMH (and parent Media General) will spend a large chunk of Monday hammering out all of the above considerations, but they still want to go early.

The question here may be the "multiple stations in a market going dark" guideline the FCC will use. Would the presence of one major network affiliate - the aforementioned WBNS/10 - in analog be enough for the agenty to allow the shutdown? And competitive considerations are certainly in place as well...now that WBNS is staying in analog until June.

The Dispatch article says Ohio State University-owned PBS affiiate WOSU/34 will not shut off analog a week from Tuesday, but the station isn't saying it'll wait until June 12th. From the Dispatch:

"We will be staying on at least through the month of March," (GM Tom) Rieland said, despite a cost of $11,000 a month to continue using analog transmitters.

If LIN TV CW affiliate WWHO/53 in the Columbus market has announced anything, we haven't heard. The station's "About Us" web page conveniently provides a link to the June 12th date change story under "DTV Transition Info", but the link leads to a TVWeek story with not a single piece of local information in it. (Spot a trend?) The link could well have been added automatically...

TOLEDO: We can be fairly confident about plans for one Toledo station.

ABC affiliate WTVG/13 is not just an affiliate - it's owned by the ABC network. ABC was among the networks pledging to the FCC to keep its owned-and-operated analog signals going until June 12th. (By the way, with Fox's sale of WJW/8 in Cleveland, and NBC's sale of WCMH/4 in Columbus, WTVG is now the only "O&O" in Ohio.)

Not only that, "13abc" has updated its web countdown clock to head for June 12th. Unlike the clocks mentioned earlier, this one appears specific to the station (or at very least, to ABC-owned stations).

The picture elsewhere is murky, be it analog murky or digital murky.

We have no clear indication of the transition plans by all the other Toledo market stations, including CBS affiliate WTOL/11, NBC affiliate WNWO/24, Fox affiliate WUPW/36 or PBS affiliate WGTE/30. (Northwest Ohio's other PBS affiliate, Bowling Green State University's WBGU/27, has been digital-only since mid-December.)

The websites of all those stations have not at all been helpful, and we haven't found anything in the Toledo Blade about those plans, so we'll just have to wait until after Monday night to see if any station files to go early...

LIMA: Further down I-75, Lima's only full-power network affiliated station has kept viewers in the loop via the Internet.

In specific, Block NBC affiliate WLIO/35 "NBC Lima" VP/chief engineer Frederick Vobbe posted this note on his extensive WLIO Engineering sub-site on Friday, which we reprint in full:

To answer the question from many people.... we don't know yet.

WLIO has filed with the F.C.C. to turn off our analog on February 17th.

We have considered staying on later, even till June 12th.

The only thing I can tell you is that you should plan for WLIO Analog to go away on February 17th. If it stays on later, consider it a bonus.

We presume Vobbe and other WLIO management will be among those immersed in this all day on Monday, before the filing deadline to go on the 17th.

A brief side stop while we're electronically in Lima: WLIO has announced that the Block Communications purchase of Greg Phipps' Metro Video low-power group has been finalized...bringing Lima's Fox, CBS and ABC affiliates under WLIO's control.

And that affects this item a little, with this quote from station VP/GM Bruce Opperman in this Thursday story on the "NBC Lima" website:

"One of the first tasks at hand will be to broadcast the Fox network in high definition."

WOHL-CA already had, under Phipps' ownership, filed to flash cut its channel 25 operation to digital.

That August filing has yet to be approved, but we're wondering if the WLIO folks will move to send a high-definition "Fox Lima" feed to cable. Block is certainly familiar with sending cable-only feeds, as it operates Toledo CW affiliate "WT05", and even feeds it to Time Warner Cable systems in the region.

Of course, as a low-power/Class A station, WOHL-CA is not directly affected by the full-power digital transition.

Independent/religious WTLW/44 in Lima doesn't have to worry about filing. It took analog 44 off the air on December 1st. And for our friend Scott Fybush's Shutting Off The Analog Transmitter Picture Collection, there's a picture of former WTLW chief engineer Rick Corcoran doing just that on the front page of the station's website...

AND MORE: Having spent most of our Sunday morning fishing through this information (corrections/updates are welcome!), we're going to eat lunch and push away from the keyboard.

We hope to cover the rest of Ohio's markets either today or tomorrow, and have a regular non-DTV update which will be ready on Monday morning...

Northeast Ohio's Digital TV Picture

We don't have all the information yet, but we think we can take a look at the "picture" of the upcoming digital TV transition in Northeast Ohio...just two weeks before the originally scheduled mandated date for full-power TV stations to take their old analog signals dark.

And yes, that phrase "originally scheduled" is becoming quite important.

After fits and starts in Washington, it looks like the U.S. House of Representatives is about ready to approve a shift of the national digital transition date from February 17th to June 12th.

TV Week reports that due to various House rules and scheduling, that vote is now expected to come Wednesday.

The House already turned aside an earlier Senate bill delaying the transition, but only because it didn't reach a two-thirds majority needed for passage under the rules. The current bill passed the Senate as well, but will only need a majority for passage.

With that considered likely, and the support of the Obama administration already assured, the date move is expected to be signed into law.

Oh, did we mention that over 500 stations - roughly 30 percent of all TV stations in the country - have told the FCC that they're going to switch anyway on or near Feburary 17th?

Yep, that's right, the new date is voluntary, and is basically etched in water for many areas, as station owners and groups line up to turn off their analog transmitters.

For the Cleveland-Akron TV market, that might be a problem - and that early analog shutoff line may not form here.

The rumblings we're hearing from local TV sources are pretty much identical. No one expects the bulk of Cleveland market TV stations to stick with the February 17th date, assuming a move to June 12th becomes law.

The biggest problem is technical, as two large stations - NBC affiliate WKYC/3 and PBS affiliate WVIZ/25 - aren't able to go to their post transition facilities...since their shared tower at the WKYC transmitter site is not anywhere near completion...for that matter, it's not even going up yet.

We took a ride up Broadview Road on Monday, and were going to take pictures to show any progress we could find...but we found no progress, so we're rerunning this picture we took in January.

Add in a little more snow cover, and that's what it looks like now, with those tower pieces still sitting on the lawn in front of the WKYC transmitter building.

WKYC senior director Frank Macek has more in a Monday "Director's Cut" blog item:

WKYC's Director of Technology Mike Szabo tells us and the Plain Dealer construction on our new television tower continues to be delayed thanks to problems with our tower contractors working on another tower that hasn't been completed due to weather delays.

Thus, WKYC will continue broadcasting on digital channel 2 until the tower is complete and on analog Channel 3 until the FCC chooses it's final shutdown date.

More on that Plain Dealer article in a bit.

Though we haven't heard out of all stations yet, it would appear that WKYC staying on analog 3 until the tower completion will preclude other stations from pulling the analog plug on February 17th - assuming a date change is enacted by Congress and signed by President Obama.

Basically, it would seem likely that no other station wants to abandon its analog signal with one major commercial outlet still up and running.

If there's no date change, WKYC would have to sign off analog 3 on the originally scheduled February 17th date two weeks from today, leaving the problem-plagued digital channel 2 as the station's temporary home.

We can't blame the folks on Lakeside if they're not looking forward to that. For many over-air viewers, digital channel 2 as the only signal would mean the station would basically disappear without cable or satellite.

And WKYC has one other problem, alluded to by House Republicans quoted in that TV Week article...even if it magically finished the not-yet-rising tower on Broadview Road soon, it can't move to digital channel 17 until Trinity Broadcasting Network O&O WDLI/17 Canton vacates its analog channel.

With a transition date move to June apparently possible, we have seen no indication that TBN is leaving its analog channels early anywhere. That could well change, as everything has in this Mess of a Transition - much of the mess being caused by Congress at this point.

And about that PD article on the local digital transition by business writer Shaheen Samavati: It's not perfect, but Samavati hit the highlights pretty well.

It's no surprise to any regular reader here that problems receiving three local channels dominate the article - the aforementioned WKYC and WVIZ, along with Raycom Media CBS affiliate WOIO/19, are mentioned frequently.

As for "Cleveland's CBS 19", quoting the article:

Jim Stunek, director of operations for WOIO Channel 19, said the station is operating at the maximum level allowed by the FCC, but is requesting permission to expand its coverage. He didn't know when that would happen.

"It's a time consuming process," Stunek said.

Mr. Stunek is technically correct.

But the article doesn't mention one big problem for WOIO - the powerful currently-analog signal of Canada's CFPL/10 in London, Ontario. Even if the Canadians stick with a 2011 digital transition, we believe CFPL is also sticking with channel 10 - the same channel WOIO uses for its digital channel.

Propogation over Lake Erie makes that channel selection difficult for WOIO-DT viewers, especially in areas near the lake itself. Residents in those areas historically had little trouble picking up CFPL (it showed up on local cable systems many years ago), before the digital side of WOIO hit the airwaves...just as London residents have little problem picking up many Cleveland TV and FM stations.

These are words we've written before.

But we do expect the situation to improve for WOIO viewers to some degree, whenever the station's maximization application turns to reality. And Dispatch CBS affiliate WBNS/10 in Columbus will also vacate analog 10 at the transition, so that should help WOIO viewers to the south.

Reality is pretty stable for stations like Scripps ABC affiliate WEWS/5, which is already camped out with a full-power signal on post-transition digital channel 15. But station engineer Barry Pinney tells the Plain Dealer that even he's getting some viewer calls about reception:

"It's almost always an individual deal, and we try to walk people through that," he said. Most commonly, it's those who were getting by watching a poor, static-filled analog version before making the switch to digital.

That's probably one of the biggest truths about the digital TV transition...if you're eeking along watching through a lot of analog snow, you may not be able to get a station's digital signal at all.

This is not 100% accurate, as the station's digital facility may end up reaching you for whatever reason. But marginal signals in digital don't translate to snow...they translate into dropped or non-decodable signals, and blank or unwatchable screens.

Both WEWS and Local TV Fox affiliate WJW/8 do have a little work to do after the transition.

But for Channel 5, that work will basically be invisible to viewers - with power maximization and a move of the current digital antenna to the top of the tower, the station will mount an auxiliary antenna at the current digital power level to ensure continued service in the work period. It'll turn into a backup after the work is complete.

Channel 8 will move its digital signal from channel 31 to its former analog channel 8 - whenever that switch is made, either by federal deadline or by an early move by the station. The post-transition digital 8 will be a fully-maximized facility (30KW, the highest power for VHF), and looks to be robust from here.

As we said, we haven't heard from everyone yet...but the prevailing thought so far is that February 17th in Cleveland TV will only see a digital transition if the federal date doesn't move to June.

Youngstown, though, is a different story.

New Vision CBS affiliate WKBN/27 and LMA partner Parkin Broadcasting ABC affiliate WYTV/33 have already filed to shut down their analog signals on February 17th - two of the over 500 stations we noted earlier. (If you'd like a complete list, visit Trip Ericson's RabbitEars.info, or Doug Smith's W9WI.com...Doug's list includes stations which have already dumped analog, including WNEO/45 and WMFD/68 in our region.)

In addition to WKBN and WYTV, a few other stations in Ohio are listed as readying for a February 17th analog shutoff date at this writing, including the NBC and Fox affiliates in Columbus, Dayton's CBS, ABC and Fox outlets, Lima's NBC affiliate WLIO/35, Toledo PBS affiliate WGTE/30 and Steubenville NBC affiliate WTOV/9.

Two stations in West Virginia which serve Ohio viewers are also there - including WTOV competitor WTRF/7 in Wheeling, and Parkersburg's NBC affiliate, WTAP/15.

No stations are listed in the Cleveland or Cincinnati market, at least yet.

A common thread? It appears some station groups - like Sinclair - are filing for these as a group, though we don't know why Sinclair's WSTR/64 in Cincinnati isn't up yet. The lists are sure to grow by the day, however.

In our recent travels, the message has been coming quite clear from those who work in television engineering - Congress can make whatever laws it wants to make, but it can't stop analog transmitters from falling into disrepair and shutting off.

(Remember, engineers have paid very little attention to those units, as they were expected to be taken out of service for good in two weeks.)

Stations also have very little appetite, even with transmitters still working, to pay tens of thousands of dollars to keep those little-viewed power-sucking boxes going for another four months. That money is just not in the station budgets, and most TV stations are sending employees packing even WITH the previous assumption that analog TV would go away in February, along with those second power bills.

It's this cost that is likely prompting most of the movement by cost-conscious groups like Sinclair.

Again, a mess caused by Congress, in our humble opinion.

Whatever problems will show up after the digital transition will show up in February, or June, or whatever date it finally happens...and post-transition work to improve things (even previously scheduled work like maximizing digital signals) needs to happen anyway.

No "magic wand" of moving the long-publicized date to June 12th will ensure a problem-free transition after that date...in Northeast Ohio or anywhere else in the country...