Heading Into A Grab Bag

As we head into June, which has the potential to be a very busy month for us (both good and bad), let’s let out some more items.

We may be a bit scarce for a while, again, due to Life Intervening(tm), but we’ll be around from time to time…

WHAT COMES UP, EVENTUALLY COMES DOWN: We spent a lot of time with the digital TV transition back in 2009, both here and on our other blog, Ohio Digital TV.

One major change on the TV landscape in Northeast Ohio was the occupant of RF channel 17.

Channel 17 had long been occupied, analog style, by the Canton-licensed facility that ended up becoming religious outlet WDLI, owned and operated by religious broadcasting giant Trinity Broadcasting Network out of Santa Ana CA…and operating out of a large studio building along U.S. Route 62 in the eastern Canton suburb of Louisville.

But WDLI built its digital facility closer to the center of the market, in the Akron FM/TV antenna farm near Rolling Acres Mall. First, a pre-transition facility on RF channel 39, then taking over RF channel 49 when Western Reserve PBS’ WEAO/49 (just down the road) stayed on pre-transition 50 and took analog 49 dark.

Since the 2009 digital transition, that old WDLI analog tower has been sitting out there on U.S. 62…until recently.

OMW readers were there when the former WDLI tower met the ground in a controlled drop last week.

Friend of OMW Geoff Mears, afternoon news anchor at D.A. Peterson soft AC WDPN/1310 Alliance, sent along this picture, and tells us the former WDLI/WJAN studios next to the felled tower in Louisville are tabbed for a major remodel as an expanded audio/TV production house.

Those who grew up within range of the analog 17 signal remember it first as local independent station WJAN-TV aimed at Canton, before its time as a religious outlet under PTL’s Jim Bakker, David Livingstone (where the current calls come from), and the current ownership of TBN.

Digital TV being what it is, the station still appears on digital tuners as channel 17. The original RF channel 17 gave Gannett NBC affiliate WKYC/3 in Cleveland an opening for a much more robust digital signal…and of course, digital tuners still show WKYC as channel 3, WEAO as channel 49, etc., but you know the drill if you read OMW at all…

STUDIO 0: We’ve been getting tips that it looks like Local TV LLC Fox affiliate WJW/8′s “Fox 8 News” has abandoned its “Studio 8″ Akron bureau space in the food court of Fairlawn’s Summit Mall.

We don’t know why yet, but OMW hears that “Studio 8″ is indeed being abandoned by the folks on Dick Goddard Way.

“Fox 8 News” will obviously continue to cover Akron/Canton news, but we don’t know yet if they’re looking for new space in the Akron area, or if they’ll do the I-77 Shuffle between Cleveland and Akron/Canton.

Of the four local news operations in the Cleveland TV market, only Raycom CBS affiliate WOIO/19-MyNet affiliate WUAB/43′s “19 Action News” doesn’t have Akron area space. WKYC/3 is based out of the United Building on the corner of Main and Market in Akron (former home of “Akron/Canton News”, now shared with Western Reserve PBS and Kent State University’s WKSU/89.7), and WEWS/5 has its Akron bureau in the Akron Beacon Journal building…

99X THOUGHTS: Radio listeners are discovering that if you’re far from Parma, especially to the east or west, picking up Clear Channel alt-rock “99X” on 250 watt translator W256BT/99.1 Cleveland is quite a challenge.

We surely expected complaints from folks in Westlake, Mentor and Fairlawn, where the signal disappeared for us in the heart of the Montrose commercial area. And one listener has trouble picking up “99X” in Strongsville.

To the west, especially, perhaps its tropospheric propagation (“trop”) carrying on-channel BAS Broadcasting AC WFRO/99.1 Fremont “Eagle 99″ a bit further afield to the east.

But it looks like those 250 watts are also having some trouble getting into downtown Cleveland, perhaps due to those big buildings.

It reminds us of the signal problems Clear Channel sister hot AC WKDD had in the 2001 frequency swap, when it moved from its long-time home at 96.5/Akron to the former WTOF-FM/98.1 Canton stick in eastern Stark County.

At the time, WKDD promoted 98.1 as “the most powerful signal in Ohio!” or something like that.

But the former WTOF-FM’s reach was primarily due to its antenna height, not its base power, and anyone who knows FM signals will tell you that the signal for such a station is “a mile wide, but a foot deep”.

That prompted Clear Channel to quickly move 98.1 to Hartville – closer to Akron. It eventually landed at the former tower site of its original frequency, 96.5, in the former Northampton Township, after a city of license change to the Akron suburb of Munroe Falls.

For the record, long-time personal and professional friend Scott Fybush of NorthEast Radio Watch (go, subscribe, it’s worth every penny!) caught a recent Cleveland Indians game at Progressive Field, and reports that he had mixed “99X” reception results in section 555 with two radios – one, a CCrane “Witness”, showed no sign of picking up 99.1, and the other, an Insignia HD Radio portable, picked it up with a listenable signal. (Of course, that second receiver can also get the “99X” feed on WMMS/100.7′s HD2 sidechannel.)

It should be noted that section 555 is actually blocked from Parma by…the structure of Progressive Field.

It is no surprise that the signal “is what it is”, as a station rep has said on Facebook, and that the station heavily promotes 99X’s feed on iHeartRadio.

But smartphone-wise, at least in the Android version of iHeartRadio, “99X” is buried at the bottom of the listings, well under all of its on-air siblings, and all of the other “Featured” iHeartRadio feeds, including “The Alternative Project”…with an identical playlist to the local alt-rock outlet.

We assume it’s the same on the iOS/iPhone/etc. version of iHeartRadio, as we believe the platforms have feature parity now…

RATINGS TALK: Long-time OMW readers know that we basically don’t report either radio or TV ratings.

The reasons are many: among them, there are only certain numbers we can even report, and they may or may not reflect reality – like the Arbitron “beauty pageant” radio numbers of all listeners 6-plus (12-plus in diary markets).

Thanks to a change at the leading radio ratings service, even that “beauty pageant” is now missing some contestants.

Beginning with the most recent ratings released to the media and the public, Arbitron is only listing stations that subscribe to its service. The stations that aren’t subscribers? They’ve vanished from the reports like they were not even on the air.

Perhaps the best example of the vagaries of the new system comes with the recent Akron ratings. We’ll quote the excellent “Taylor on Radio-Info” E-mail newsletter put out by Radio-Info.com columnist Tom Taylor:

Of the two major local owners, Rubber City Radio is subscribing to the trends, and Media-Com’s not. Rubber City Radio’s country WQMX goes 8.3-7.7. Its rock WONE-FM dips 4.3-3.8. But we’re not able to see Media-Com’s talk WNIR, a 5.6 share in the Winter book. Clear Channel’s hot AC WKDD is a consistent 3.8-3.6. But we’re not seeing any of the normally high-scoring Clear Channel stations from Cleveland like classic hits WMJI (a 6.5 last Fall).

It could be worse…Taylor reports that the entire Knoxville market has no public ratings.

This makes figuring out ratings winners and losers, at least in the “beauty contest”, difficult. And yes, we’ve been given private numbers by various people in the industry, but won’t publish those.

We can’t afford the legal bill from Dewey, Cheatum and Howe, after all. Frankly, we’re not even sure we’re allowed to reprint the numbers we did here. And generally, sources will give us a slice of the numbers that make their own station or cluster look good.

We CAN determine something that is also evident – Arbiton’s “subscriber only” policy means that only stations that subscribe to THAT MARKET’S REPORT are listed.

For example, the stations based at Oak Tree, in Clear Channel’s big Cleveland cluster, have no need to separately subscribe to Arbitron’s Akron market report…since the numbers are already available within the company at Freedom Avenue’s Akron/Canton operation.

Ditto, if Freedom Avenue wants to see how their stations are doing in Cleveland.

But…the clusters generally only sell based on local numbers, anyway. Ask talk WTAM/1100 afternoon mouth Mike Trivisonno about “not getting credit” for his Akron market numbers…he’ll go on about it for an hour.

We also don’t know if some stations are subscribing only to certain Arbitron reports, or if they’ll show up in the reports where they subscribe.

We’re also not surprised to see that the thrifty Media-Com doesn’t subscribe in the Akron market.

TV-wise, at least one station has sent us an official release on improved ratings, but we’re not sure we’ll print it unless we get similar releases from the other three major local stations with news operations…

The Local Media Scorecard

Yes, as a reader asked, this has indeed been one of the busiest periods of change in Northeast Ohio media…and we’ve been covering that particular topic for some six years and change.

“You can’t tell the players without a scorecard,” so the saying goes, so let’s update the Local Media Scorecard as we write this late on Sunday night…

YES, THERE IS A RUSS: Heading off our scorecard is the debut of Gannett NBC affiliate WKYC/3′s new evening anchor and managing editor Russ Mitchell, whom you might recognize, possibly, from his 20 year tenure at a little operation known as CBS News.

And it was hard for us not to make the direct comparison between Mitchell’s most recent role – as anchor of the weekend editions of “The CBS Evening News” – to his Sunday night debut on “Channel 3 News”.

As we’ve noted before, Sunday nights are important to local TV stations, and you’ll often see the “weekday” anchor team…especially after ratings grabbing events like NBC’s “Golden Globes” coverage this weekend.

There was some national and international news in Russ Mitchell’s Sunday night mix.

After news of a local apartment building fire, the newscast turned to an update on that grounded Italian cruise ship, and late word that Republican presidential candidate Jon Huntsman is expected to announce his departure from the race on Monday.

That provided the perfect segue to a live, on set exchange between Mitchell, a veteran of covering national political news, and WKYC’s Tom Beres, a veteran of covering local political news.

What could be the greater role for Mitchell at 13th and Lakeside is that of managing editor, with direct input at very least into the shape of his own newscasts (6 and 11 PM weeknights), and providing journalistic direction to the entire operation.

With that in mind, here’s audio of an interview with Mitchell – conducted last week by Ed Esposito, VP/information media for Akron’s Rubber City Radio Group…home of oldies/news WAKR/1590, rock WONE/97.5, country WQMX/94.9, and recent Cleveland market addition smooth AC WNWV/107.3 “The Wave”.

Oh, and of course, Ed is a long time reader of your Mighty Blog of Fun(tm).

Esposito’s interview with Mitchell was conducted immediately following his appearance on the WAKR “Ray Horner Morning Show”.

And yes, as seen in this picture provided by Esposito, the newly minted WKYC anchor knows the way to Akron now, as he was there in person.

Here’s Mitchell in WAKR’s West Market Street studio, with “Ray Horner Morning Show” news anchor Lindsay McCoy, and Ed…

OTHER CHANGES: It’s hard to escape some of the other changes in Cleveland TV news this coming week. Some of them were even referenced during Mitchell’s first WKYC newscast on Sunday night.

Take, for example, a story by Erin Kennedy, the station’s new morning co-anchor.

Noting that she’d have more Monday on “Channel 3 News Today”, a promo for the newly revamped morning show appeared not long after…featuring Kennedy, new morning co-anchor Chris Tye, and the rest of the morning show crew.

And then, when WKYC sports director Jim Donovan was finished with his sportscast, it was noted that he begins his new tour of duty as “Channel 3 News at 7″ news co-anchor on Monday. Donovan joked that “I’ll change my first name to James” as a news anchor. As noted earlier, Donovan will also remain as WKYC’s sports director.

With all the changes in January alone, is it any wonder viewers may actually be looking for a Cleveland TV news scorecard?

In addition to all the noted changes at WKYC, Scripps ABC affiliate WEWS/5′s “NewsChannel 5″ has brought on two new morning co-anchors and an 11 PM co-anchor.

Local TV LLC’s Fox affiliate, WJW/8 “Fox 8 News”, lost its long-time evening co-anchor to a family move, replacing her with its long-time morning co-anchor, and replacing her with the morning show’s traffic reporter/midday show co-host.

And stations have brought on new reporters…er…multimedia journalists.

Isn’t it amazing that Raycom Media’s “19 Action News” (CBS affiliate WOIO/19-MyNetwork TV affiliate WUAB/43) is the model of on-air stability in 2012?

And even Reserve Square has added a new morning traffic reporter.

Ashley Johncola’s the former “Face of Fox Toledo” at WUPW/36 in that market, and her old Toledo station is undergoing changes itself, as LIN TV announced its sale to American Spirit Media recently…an operator that is, according to FCC filings, mounting a “Shared Services Agreement” that will end up turning over news operations to Raycom CBS affiliate WTOL/11.

The Toledo Blade has more.

We generally don’t cover Toledo these days, but it sounds a lot to us like what Youngstown ABC affiliate WYTV/33 went through when it was sold to Parkin Broadcasting, with operations ending up at the Sunset Boulevard studios of New Vision CBS affiliate WKBN/27-Fox affiliate WYFX-now-LD/now-19.

If we have readers at “Fox Toledo”, a quick search on “Parkin” in our archives will give you an idea of the likely future. It’s not a pretty picture, and shows a lot of job losses and consolidation…

YOUNGSTOWN DISH DEAL REACHED: Speaking of the New Vision stations, a last minute deal avoided the removal of WKBN, WYTV and WYFX from Dish Network late Sunday night.

Quoting a story on WKBN.com:

New Vision Television (NVT) and the Dish Network have reached an agreement in principle, averting the removal of WKBN-TV, WYTV, and FOX Youngstown, from the satellite provider’s channel lineup starting Monday.

The item says it’ll be a three year deal.

Of course, with New Vision owning or controlling three out of Youngstown’s four commercial TV stations, the only commercial station left on Dish Network without a deal would have been Vindicator NBC affiliate WFMJ/21… alongside Western Reserve PBS’ Youngstown market outlet, WNEO/45…

AND ONE RADIO NOTE: In Sunday night’s news mix at WKYC was a story by anchor and Akron bureau chief Eric Mansfield.

It’s a story we really should have noted earlier, but it ends up with a happy ending for one Akron radio personality who has literally been unable to do her job after a battle with bronchitis.

That’s because Clear Channel hot AC WKDD/98.1 morning co-host Jenn Ryan has basically had no voice the past few weeks…certainly no voice suited for someone who makes her living talking in front of a microphone.

Eric Mansfield’s story notes that Ryan got vocal cord treatment at the Cleveland Clinic…in effect, literally moving her vocal cords back into place. Coughing during Ryan’s bout with bronchitis apparently dislodged what is very vital for a radio personality.

Mansfield – who recently guest co-hosted on the WKDD morning show with Keith Kennedy – notes that Ryan is expected to be back on the air later this week, assuming she gets the OK from her doctor.

And a note to the headline writer on WKYC.com – we’re pretty sure the Clear Channel facilities on Freedom Avenue aren’t in “Cleveland”…and we know that Eric Mansfield himself very much knows the difference.

In the interview with Ed Esposito, Mitchell notes Mansfield as a good example of the kind of anchor who brings reporting skills to the TV news anchor desk…

Technical And Non-Technical

UPDATE 12/6/11 6:23 PM: If you’re just seeing this notice, we’ve added one more update we forgot…at the end of this item…

——–

We have some “facilities” items up front, and a nice mix of non-technical stuff after that. Scroll down for the latter…

THE WBNX FLY IN WJW’S OINTMENT: We breathlessly reported here recently that the Federal Communications Commission had issued an “NPRM” (Notice of Proposed Rulemaking) that would clear the way for Local TV LLC Fox affiliate WJW/8 in Cleveland to return to the promised land they once occupied on the TV spectrum – UHF channel 31.

Viewers all over the immediate Cleveland/Akron area, including right here at OMW World Headquarters, have been struggling with WJW’s post-transition signal on VHF channel 8, particularly with modest indoor antennas that can pick up pretty much every other station in the market with little difficulty. Before the transition, WJW’s UHF 31 signal “just worked”, as the saying goes.

We expected a speedy timeline for WJW’s return to RF channel 31, if there were no roadblocks.

Cross-town Winston Broadcasting CW affiliate WBNX/55 has just put one of those potential roadblocks up.

In a response to the NPRM (PDF download) filed November 23rd, WBNX notes, among other things, that WJW hasn’t turned to solutions it has already pursued with the FCC:

WJW is licensed to operate on Channel 8 at 11 kW ERP….WJW holds a valid construction permit to increase its ERP to 30 kW. There is no indication that WJW has attempted to operate at the authorized power increase, an increase which, logically, may resolve some or all of WJW’s concerns.

Moreover, WJW has pending at the Commission two applications for digital replacement translators, which the station apparently intended to use to resolve precisely the reception issues for which it now seeks a more dramatic and deleterious solution.

And further:

It is unclear precisely why WJW has (apparently) decided to abandon its earlier well conceived plans to increase power, directionalize its signal, and fill-in with digital replacement translators.

The Petition and Supplement are virtually silent on this issue, observing only that WJW already has the equipment necessary to begin operations on Channel 31. This sounds like little more than a cost-saving measure, which is either ironic or entirely predictable given the fact that WJW is ultimately owned by a private equity firm and is commonly held with attributable interests in approximately 20 other full power television stations across the country.

In the filing with the FCC, WBNX’s engineers believe the station will lose a few thousand viewers (just under 3,000 households) with WJW back at RF 30, even though the two stations co-existed as adjacent channel neighbors pre-transition.

The response notes that any pre-transition viewers who may have lost WBNX-DT reception on RF 30 had analog 55 as a backup.

WBNX also tries to throw water on WJW’s claims that the digital move to 8 lost it ratings, even going so far as to cite an article by the Plain Dealer’s Julie Washington blaming the loss on Cleveland’s move to live people meter technology.

Oh, and our favorite part of the WBNX filing is at the end of this quote:

“The petitioner’s arguments are unpersuasive and its data unreliable. Moreover, WJW has not attempted to resolve its coverage issues by alternative solutions-for which it already has the authority-that would not interfere with WBNX’s signal. WJW’s proposal should be denied, or, at a minimum, the Commission should defer consideration of the proposal until after a reasonable time to determine more definite data about the impact of the proposed substitution.

Or, perhaps it is an effort to jockey for position for prime UHF real estate in the event of a spectrum auction and repacking.”

As far as we can tell, Local TV LLC (indeed, owned by equity firm Oak Hill Capital Partners) is an operating concern, and is not one of the players trying to acquire UHF spectrum for future sell-off.

Engineers we’ve talked with tell us there’s a problem with WJW increasing to 30 kW on VHF 8, as specified in their construction permit – it could present problems with Lima NBC affiliate WLIO, now on 8, and much of the signal increase would bathe the fishes in Lake Erie, not viewers south of the station’s Parma transmitter site.

Furthermore, the applied-for UHF fill-in translators, licensed to Canton and Austintown but mostly serving eastern Portage County, would do absolutely nothing for in-market Akron and Canton viewers. Unless you’re east of, say, Ravenna, they’d do nothing for you.

Raycom CBS affiliate WOIO/19 has mostly solved that problem, at least in Summit County and parts of northern Stark County, with its RF 24 digital fill-in translator in the Akron antenna farm…but the proposed WJW facilities would be far from the population center of the market. And WOIO could use a marketwide change/upgrade as well…particularly for those suffering from on-channel signal CFPL/10 London, Ontario, Canada booming across Lake Erie.

In its filing, WBNX appears to realize that the WJW application could well be approved, and offers an alternative:

In the event the Commission is inclined to grant WJW’s Petition, WBNX respectfully requests any such grant be conditioned on the results of an extended test period during which WJW would have authority to operate Channel 31 on a test basis. (The Petition and Supplement suggest that WJW already has the Channel 31 equipment on-site and installed, as a remnant of the station’s dual-channel operations during the digital transition period. Thus, as a practical matter, testing should be feasible.)

By doing so, the stations would be positioned to work together (and with the Commission Staff as warranted) to measure, evaluate, ascertain, and resolve interference instances of interference caused by WJW to WBNX viewers or, in the alternative, to demonstrate that the public interest harms are too great to permit WJW to make a permanent channel change.

We’re also wondering, for example, why WBNX did not object to WJW being granted pre-transition space on RF 31 oh-so-many years ago.

This filing could well mean that WJW won’t be able to light up on the UHF band by the end of the year, but we suspect it’ll only be a delay, not a deal breaker…

IT’S BACK?: An OMW reader in the Canton area says he has (apparently) heard the return of Pinebrook Corporation gospel WINW/1520 Canton, which has been silent for much of the year.

Oh, but don’t try to get the station if you’re straying far from Martindale Road or Canton’s northeast side.

Our reader tells us that as he was driving by WINW’s site, he heard a very weak signal playing gospel music, which disappeared less than two miles away.

There was no ID, he says, within that brief time. He says the signal was very weak directly in front of the Martindale Road transmitter site.

We noted earlier that WINW obtained a Special Temporary Authorization to return to the air, pending approval of its very, very late renewal application.

But we’re pretty sure that return would have to be at 1000 watts, not at a power enough to be lost past the convenience store down the street from WINW’s facility…

AND WHILE WE’RE ON THE UPPER END OF THE AM BAND: Two stations that are very much operating, to the east of Canton, have hired a new news voice.

Whiplash Radio standards WHTX/1570 Warren “Fabulous 1570″ and its simulcaster, WYCL/1540 Niles, have added Alan Courtright as morning news anchor. Alan joined the stations on Monday morning.

The move is the latest to be made by LMA operators Jim Davison and Laurel Taylor, and we hear they’ve signed a renewal with Whiplash owner and OMW reader Chris Lash to run both of Lash’s Mahoning Valley stations, starting January 1st.

1570 and 1540 now simulcast for the duration of 1540′s daytime hours of operation, with 1540 splitting off from 10 AM to 2 PM weekdays for the talk show hosted by Louie B. Free…the only holdover from previous WYCL LMA operator Philip Cato’s “Talk of the Town” format.

Courtright, of course, is no stranger to radio news…and that’s not just because of his late father, veteran Cleveland radio news voice Ken Courtright, and sister Julie Courtright, now in the newsroom of Clear Channel talk WTAM/1100 (a former radio home of her father).

Alan himself was doing radio news fairly recently, in a stint with Rubber City Radio’s WAKR/1590 Akron and its “AkronNewsNow” newsroom…

ANN’S CORNER: No, Kent State University NPR outlet WKSU/89.7 Kent-and-its-simulcasters marketing and public relations guru Ann VerWiebe doesn’t pay us for “Ann’s Corner”…though she is very much a Friend of OMW.

But the local public radio outlet is busy again, so here’s a summary of stuff Ann has passed along to us:

* Detroit radio veteran Matt Watroba, who joined WKSU-based FolkAlley.com as a producer and part-time host, is now a daily host on the folk music stream (5-7 AM and noon-2 PM). Watroba came to Folk Alley after a 22 year-stint on WDET in Detroit hosting the show “Folks Like Us”, displaced by a format change. He’ll also do the “AlleyCast” podcast, and like most radio folks in 2011, encourages interaction via social media…

* WKSU guest contributor, poet/author/educator George Bilgere will be a guest on Garrison Keillor’s “A Prairie Home Companion” this Saturday (12/10). The show airs on WKSU Saturday evenings live from 6-8 PM, and repeats Sundays at 10 AM. It also airs in its Saturday live time slot on Ideastream’s WCPN/90.3 in Cleveland, and other “PHC” affiliates nationwide…

* Public radio isn’t immune to marking the holidays, and WKSU is no exception. The station is streaming classical and folk all-seasonal music at WKSU.org. And beginning Monday, December 12th, the holiday streams will migrate to HD Radio – on WKSU HD2′s Folk Alley and WKSU HD3′s Classical HD sidechannels. A complete list of holiday programming on the main WKSU signals can be found here…

BROWNS LOCATOR: Given the way the NFL’s Cleveland Browns are playing this year, the team might prefer hiding from local TV viewers.

But there’s a prime time game scheduled for this week – the team’s traditional clash with the Pittsburgh Steelers. And since it’s a Thursday night contest, it’ll air on the NFL Network – itself doing a pretty good job of hiding from local cable TV viewers.

Regular readers know that the NFL requires cable/satellite networks to sell those games to local TV outlets in the two cities involved, and thus, Thursday’s NFL Network Browns/Steelers game will also air on WJW/8 “Fox 8″.

The station plans what appears to be an hour-long pregame show as well…

A Snowy Mix Piling Up

As we write this item, the first snow of the season can be seen outside the OMW World Headquarters.

Meanwhile, our items are piling more than the snow in this short-lived event…

THIS JUST IN, FROM THE FCC: Monday, the Federal Communications Commission officially approved the $6.5 million sale of Elyria-Lorain Broadcasting AAA WNWV/107.3 “V107.3″ to Akron’s Rubber City Radio Group.

There’s no word on a timetable for the deal to close, or on what the new owners plan to do with the station…

STAFFING UP: For some time, Gannett NBC affiliate WKYC/3′s morning newscast has featured former chief meteorologist Mark Nolan as its only news anchor…usually sitting alongside morning meteorologist Hollie Strano.

That’ll change soon.

WKYC has hired Erin Kennedy, evening anchor at Providence RI combo WPRI/WNAC, as its new morning co-anchor. In Providence, she was a co-worker of Local TV Fox affiliate WJW/8 “Fox 8 News” reporter/weekend anchor and OMW reader Mark Zinni.

From fellow blogger and WKYC Senior Director Frank Macek’s “Director’s Cut” blog:

“I’m looking forward to becoming part of such a terrific morning show,” said Ms. Kennedy. “And I’m excited to work with such a strong and enterprising news team. More than anything, I value Channel 3′s commitment to making a difference in the Northeast Ohio community. My husband and I can’t wait to put down roots in this dynamic and progressive city.”

Hollie Strano will remain as the show’s weather anchor, and reporters Amanda Barren and Stephanie Coueignoux, and “Ways To Save” segment host/producer Matt Granite, also remain in place.

One part of her resume is unusual for the Cleveland market:

Erin is fluent in Spanish, and a member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. She has reported from Mexico; covering stories on immigration and the drug trade. While in Providence, Erin was the creator, producer and anchor of “Webcast en Espanol.”

We don’t know if Northeast Ohio’s Spanish-speaking population is large enough to garner attention from its big English-language-only network affiliates, but if WKYC believes so, it has its anchor.

Note, of course, that Univision O&O WQHS/61 has no news presence at all…it’s only in Univision’s hands because the Spanish-language network bought the former Home Shopping Network stations in bulk. “Univision 61″ only airs one local program – a Sunday public affairs show that looks for all the world like it’s taped in the WQHS lobby.

Macek’s item says Erin Kennedy starts in early January, after she and her musician husband move here…

AND SHE USED TO BE HERE: “Fox 8 News” had quite a sendoff for long-time evening co-anchor Stacey Bell, who moved to New Jersey to be with her husband, New York Jets running back coach Anthony Lynn.

Could she be back behind the TV anchor desk in New Jersey soon, as well?

OMW hears that Bell has taken an anchor position with Cablevision-owned local news channel News 12, which has operations in areas all around New York City and its suburbs (including New Jersey).

We hear she’s expected to start at News 12 in February, giving Stacey a long time to catch up with her husband without having to work. The pair has had a commuter marriage for years.

We don’t know which arm of the News 12 empire will feature Bell, but even Connecticut or Long Island is a much shorter commute than Cleveland…

DANIELLE, NOT SHARON, FOR A FEW: A tidbit from the Facebook presence of Raycom Media CBS affiliate WOIO/19 “19 Action News” 4:30 PM co-anchor Danielle Serino:

In addition to my role on the 4:30 broadcast with Paul Joncich, I will be filing in during the 5:30 news, as well as anchoring the 10pm news on our sister station WUAB. My new role begins today and should last for the next 6-8 weeks.

As we commented to someone else, “that would basically be Sharon Reed’s anchor schedule, right?” That it is, but we have no idea what Sharon will be doing for the next 6 to 8 weeks…

PROMOTION FOR OMW READER: We’ve often joked that Clear Channel Akron/Canton operations director Keith Kennedy, who programs hot AC WKDD/98.1 and co-hosts that station’s morning show with Jenn Ryan, currently voicetracks middays on AC WHOF/101.7 “My 101.7″, and also oversees programming for Clear Channel’s Ashland/Mansfield cluster on top of his local duties, does everything but sweep the snow off the microwave dishes at Freedom Avenue.

He’s got quite a few more dishes under his programming oversight now.

That’s because Keith has been named Regional Programming Manager for Clear Channel in Northern Ohio, with a number of markets in his portfolio now: Akron/Canton, Toledo, Youngstown, Ashland/Mansfield, and Defiance.

That’s nearly every Ohio Clear Channel market north of Columbus, with the obvious exception of the Cleveland market…larger markets are under a different structure in Clear Channel’s recent restructuring.

So, Keith Kennedy is obviously a long-time OMW reader, and upon finding this news in another trade report, we reached out and asked him about it:

“I can confirm I’ve become the RPM for Northern Ohio. I’m thrilled to work with great stations, strong brands and excellent people.”

Keith will retain all of his current duties at Freedom Avenue, and won’t be coming off the air there at all…

ANN’S CORNER: It’s been a while since we gave space to long-time Friend of OMW Ann VerWiebe…marketing and public relations guru for Kent State University-owned NPR outlet WKSU/89.7 Kent and its myriad of simulcasters and translators.

But there’s more WKSU-related news, so here we go.

* The station has successfully completed its “Sound of the Future” capital fundraiser. From a release helpfully provided by Ann:

The station raised a total of more than $5 million in the largest fund raising effort in WKSU’s 61-year history. The four-year campaign focused on raising funds to upgrade WKSU’s broadcasting infrastructure in a move towards digital technology.

We are grateful to everyone who donated to or worked on the Sound of the Future campaign,” (WKSU executive director/general manager Al) Bartholet says. “Its success means better sounding radio for Northeast Ohio as WKSU moves through our next half century. Digital technology makes the station more efficient and effective as we continue to provide quality public radio to the region.”

Gifts to the Sound of the Future campaign were divided between cash and pledges, documented planned gifts and in-kind donations. The largest percentage of the total went to WKSU’s digital conversion, the station’s News & Information Fund and Folk Alley.

In addition to the full HD/digital conversion of all the station’s full-power repeaters, WKSU’s on-air studio was reequipped and dubbed “The J.M. Smucker Company Studio”.

No word on if the gift includes free jams and jellies…

* The Ohio Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) named WKSU reporter/producer Vivian Goodman as Best Reporter in Ohio for the year 2010 (in 2011 awards). The list of Best of Show, First Place and Second Place winners includes pretty much the entire WKSU staff.

The complete Ohio SPJ 2011 winners list – including for TV, print and other categories – is at the awards’ site here.

A quick look at the radio list shows a number of awards for both WKSU and its main public radio competitor, Ideastream’s WCPN/90.3 Cleveland (among them, Best Public Affairs Program for WCPN midday talk show “Sound of Ideas”), among others.

And there’s that Best Anchor award to Clear Channel talk WTAM/1100 Cleveland anchor and OMW reader Tom Moore…well deserved for the Oak Tree veteran.

* Speaking of OMW readers getting awards, WKSU got five national awards in the Communication Contest produced by National Federation of Press Women (NFPW), including awards to Goodman and reporter/producer Amanda Rabinowitz.

And look! This is “Ann’s Corner” for another reason:

2nd Place: Online Newsletters, Interim Director of Public Relations and Marketing Ann VerWiebe for “Folk Alley Chat.”

Hey, we know her from somewhere. At least we didn’t miss it this time! Congratulations, Ann…

SPEAKING OF FRIENDS OF OMW: Former Clear Channel Youngstown programmer Matt Spatz is still an OMW reader.

Matt was programming rock WNCD/93.3 “The Wolf” and top 40 WAKZ/95.9 “Kiss FM” at South Avenue, until falling victim to the most recent round of Clear Channel budget cuts.

Matt checks in, and tells us: “I’m doing fine. I’ve had numerous inquiries from stations from around the country about PD, OM and morning show openings. Just waiting for the right one.”

If you’re hiring, and want to add Matt to your team, he can be reached via E-mail at matthewspatz (at) msn.com, or via phone at (330) 502-1254. (A reminder: upon request, we run both Help Wanted and Situation Wanted ads free of charge for anyone in the radio and TV industries.)

Despite being involuntarily thrown “on the beach” in the Clear Channel cuts, Matt has a positive attitude. “I’m blessed to have some great people around me,” Matt tells us…

The Crowded Christmas Music Parade

Just one day after we noted Northeast Ohio’s first Christmas music station of the season (Canton market Clear Channel otherwise AC WHOF/101.7 “My 101.7″), and hours after Local TV LLC Fox affiliate WJW/8′s “Fox 8 News in the Morning” picked up on our speculation…the Christmas Music Parade has become a mini-stampede.

Well, almost.

As widely expected, CBS Radio AC WDOK/102.1 Cleveland has officially jumped onto Santa’s Musical Sleigh…complete with an on-air name change to “Christmas 102.1″.

But WDOK wasn’t alone in its flip.

This morning at 10, it was Clear Channel Cleveland classic hits WMJI/105.7 “Majic 105.7″ moving to holiday tunes, calling itself the home of “Cleveland’s Greatest Holiday Hits”.

WMJI reportedly got a just under an hour jump on WDOK, which has been promoting its eventual switch to Christmas music for some time now…we hear WDOK’s flip happened at just before 11 AM.

What in the name of Kris Kringle is going on here?

Last year’s entrant in the Clear Channel Christmas sweepstakes was then-WMVX/106.5 “Mix 106.5″, which launched out of Christmas music in late December to stunt an all-over-the-road music format on the way to its current variety hits format as “106.5 The Lake”. (Note to “Fox 8 News in the Morning” – 106.5′s call letters changed from WMVX to WHLK in that flip.)

With clustermate WMJI taking the Christmas Music Banner for Oak Tree this year, we assume that Clear Channel expects “The Lake” to pick up some disgruntled classic hits listeners by sticking with its variety hits format this season…giving both 105.7 and 106.5 a ratings bump, in theory.

Meanwhile, a quick check of the stream of close WMJI cousin WBBG/106.1 in the Youngstown market shows it is still running its regular classic hits format…odd, since it has been promising Christmas tunes in its future for longer than any of the other stations above.

As it turns out, WBBG is announcing on air that Christmas music will start “the Wednesday before Thanksgiving”…

The All Ones Update

That’s because today is November 1, 2011, otherwise known as “11/1/11″. Some TV changes are up first, with radio not far behind…

WHERE’S AMANDA? WHERE’S AJ?: The big movement among local TV newsrooms this week involves weekend weather forecasters.

First, we’ll start with brand new forecaster Amanda Jahn, who moved to Cleveland from Phoenix to join OMW reader Mark Zinni on the recently launched weekend morning editions of Local TV LLC Fox affiliate WJW/8′s “Fox 8 News”. You might recall the YouTube video we featured here a while back.

Maybe Jahn saw the long-range winter weather forecasts when she got to Dick Goddard Way, and high-tailed it back to Phoenix.

That’s because just a few weeks after her Cleveland TV debut, Amanda Jahn is now the former weekend morning weather anchor at “Fox 8 News”.

OMW hears that it was a mutual agreement between the station and Jahn that it “wasn’t working out”, and so, Amanda gets out of Cleveland before the first snowflake falls. (And no, we have no idea if Cleveland’s winter weather played any part in her end of the decision.)

Who takes the slot alongside Mark Zinni starting this weekend?

A hint: He’s been doing his old job at another Cleveland TV station on a freelance basis for months, after his departure was publicly announced earlier this year.

Yes, it’s now-former Gannett NBC affiliate WKYC/3 forecaster AJ Colby making his return to “Fox 8 News”.

Colby was filling in for, well, himself at 13th and Lakeside, for such a long period that we got plenty of “Why is AJ still there?” E-mails…many hoping that WKYC had changed its mind.

The folks at Channel 3 News will bring on Colby’s replacement, though we don’t have that person’s name yet.

We did catch new WKYC MMJ (reporter for us old school types) Stephanie Coueginoux on air the other day, and yes, we had to copy that name from online. And OMW hears that reporter Darrielle Snipes is no longer with Channel 3 News.

The station also has a new iPhone app, and there’s no word on whether an Android app will follow (hint! hint!)…

NEW 5 WEEKEND FORECASTER: Scripps ABC affiliate WEWS/5 has been on something of a hiring spree as of late, and a new weather forecaster is also about to appear at 3001 Euclid.

And the hiring is an addition to the staff, not a replacement.

From a memo by news director Jill Manuel:

Trent Magill has signed on to be our 4th Meteorologist & Multimedia Journalist. Trent comes from Midland Texas KMID.

He has an impressive pedigree: having graduated from University of Missouri, Columbia. He has the Certified Broadcast Meteorology Seal of Approval from the American Meteorological Society. This Missouri native specializes in severe weather and was an integral part of the school’s Severe Storm Chase Team and was primarily responsible forecasting where the storms were likely to form.

Trent will be featured prominently on our new weekend morning show. He is also very excited about expanding his skills into the new media as well.

YES, YOU READ THAT RIGHT: The memo about Magill mentions NewsChannel 5′s “new weekend morning show”, and yes, the station is about to become the third local station doing weekend morning newscasts…and the second to return news to that time slot, as WKYC/3′s “Channel 3 News” never left weekend mornings.

OMW hears that the weekend morning edition of “NewsChannel 5″ will air only on Saturdays, at least for now. Both WKYC and WJW air their weekend morning casts on both Saturdays and Sundays.

There’s no word at this time who will fill the news anchor role(s?) on the new show.

When will the Saturday morning “NewsChannel 5″ newscast start?

Well, Magill is scheduled to show up at 3001 Euclid on December 5th, and our best guess is that he may do some holiday vacation fill-in…with the usual state of newsrooms around the holiday, we’d expect the Saturday show to begin sometime shortly after the first of the year.

And a quick note: new WEWS traffic and transportation reporter Alicia Roberts has begun her work at the station. Former “Good Morning Cleveland” traffic anchor Patty Harken had her last day on Euclid Avenue on October 21st…

SLATS TO WNCX: It’s time to let one of the worst kept Cleveland radio secrets out for some air.

OMW hears that former Cleveland radio personality Tim Slats will return to the market soon, and take the open morning drive slot at CBS Radio classic rock WNCX/98.5.

The time slot became open, of course, when the company set “The Maxwell Show” adrift.

We’ve known about this so long, we’ve had an item sitting backstage for weeks written by our Secondary Editorial Voice(tm)…who revisits Slats’ history in the Cleveland market:

(Slats was) the former afternoon host on Clear Channel rock WMMS/100.7 from 1998 until 2004 (when, oddly enough, he was replaced with the aforementioned Maxwell). Later on, Slats held like duties on then-”Xtreme Radio” WXTM/92.3, leaving the station as it was preparing to flip to WXRK “K-Rock.”

Tim has been on the golf course in Florida – literally, working at one, that is.

But he returned to radio in Orlando on Cox rocker WHTQ/96.5 “96 Rock” – actually a return to the frequency for him.

“96 Rock” went away this past August, when the 96.5 frequency became the FM simulcast of long-time Cox talker WDBO/580…it’s now WDBO-FM.

As “The Maxwell Show” – fans might want to check its Facebook presence, recently returned from CBS Radio control.

From the postings there, it sounds like they plan some sort of Internet-based show when the show’s CBS Radio contract expires (reportedly in March)…

AND THAT MEANS NO DANNY: One of the odder rumors bouncing around the Cleveland market recently also involved the WNCX morning drive slot.

Morning radio veteran Danny Bonaduce – yes, the grown up “Danny Partridge” from the 1970′s sitcom “The Partridge Family” – was displaced from his slot on CBS Radio rock WYSP/94.1 Philadelphia…when sports talker WIP/610 made the move to FM.

Industry buzz had CBS Radio trying to find a new home for Danny, and yes, at the time, the WNCX morning slot was open.

Now that we know that WNCX has gone a Non-Danny Direction for morning drive, his landing spot has been made official, according to numerous trade reports: Seattle classic rocker KZOK/102.5, where he’ll be paired in morning drive with a cast member from his old Philadelphia show.

So, if you’ve got a burning need for a Danny Bonaduce fix in Cleveland, you’ll have to turn to Antenna TV on WJW/8.2…which airs “The Partridge Family” each day…

HUNTING AND FISHING: Local TV viewers may have run into the “Hunting and Fishing Show” in the past on Media-Com low-power TV combo WAOH-LP/29 Akron – W35AX/Cleveland, now the Cleveland market’s northernmost RTV affiliates.

OMW hears that the show has returned to the stations, hosted by long-time host Steve Jones. A release provided by someone associated with the show has the rest of the story:

Jones was forced to abandon the popular outdoors related program in 2003 after being diagnosed with lymphoma cancer.

Now cancer free, Jones is joined on the live call-in format program with award winning outdoor columnist Jack Kiser of the Record Courier Newspapers. Kiser hosted the “Buckeye Angler” television program which aired on PBS affiliate 45/49 in 2005-06, and the program was awarded the Best TV Show in 2010 by the Outdoor Writers of Ohio at their annual banquet and awards ceremony.

AND A QUICK NEWSPAPER NOTE: OMW doesn’t cover much when it comes to the newspaper industry – we’re mostly broadcast-related.

But there is a bit of a broadcast hook to this one.

The suburban Akron weekly newspaper “The Suburbanite” has tapped a veteran journalist as its new editor.

She’s Kymberli Hagelberg, who is familiar to print readers from a decade at the Akron Beacon Journal, and to online readers as the Fairlawn-Bath editor of the AOL/Huffington Post “Patch.com” network of local news websites.

But we’d forgotten that Hagelberg has broadcast news history as well – according to The Suburbanite article on her hiring:

Hagelberg worked as a radio reporter and producer for WCPN, the public radio station in Cleveland. She was the station’s main political reporter during the 2008 presidential campaign.

The Suburbanite, owned by Canton Repository parent GateHouse Media, serves southern Summit County and parts of northern Stark County, with a separate edition for Stark County’s Jackson Township…

Clear Channel Layoffs Post

Those watching the trade sites aren’t surprised: An estimated 150 to “many hundreds” of Clear Channel employees nationwide are being told today that their services aren’t necessary.

This post, affecting Northeast Ohio’s Clear Channel stations, will be a running list as we update it. All Access and other sites have been tracking those laid off in some other Ohio markets, like Dayton.

The so-called “Reduction in Force” is affecting mainly Clear Channel’s medium and smaller markets.

———-

UPDATE 1:00 PM 10/28/11:

AKRON/CANTON
————
Rock WRQK/106.9 afternoon driver Todd “Fishhead” Fisher

ASHLAND/MANSFIELD
—————–
Country WNCO-FM/101.3 midday host-Talk WNCO/1340 program director Gene Davis
Production director Bryan Moore
Utility/sports/news staffer Josh Bowman

UPDATE 5:10 PM 10/26/11:

YOUNGSTOWN
———-
Rock WNCD/93.3 and Top 40 WAKZ/95.9 program director Matt Spatz
Board operator Todd Heston
- Classic hits WBBG/106.1 program director Jeff Kelly adds duties as WNCD program director, and Hot AC WMXY/98.9 program director Steve Granato adds WAKZ duties to his plate.

Just Us Folks

What has become a major music festival in the Northeast Ohio region has long had the backing of an area public broadcaster.

The 45th Kent State Folk Festival turns the Akron suburb of Kent into Folk Music Headquarters…and given that Kent State NPR outlet WKSU/89.7 dedicates a programming stream to its “Folk Alley” service, it’s no surprise that the station is heavily involved.

We brought WKSU’s OMW Handler Ann VerWiebe – who honestly has a more impressive marketing-related title than that – up for some air a bit.

And in this edition of “Ann’s Corner”, she delves into the history of WKSU’s involvement with the Folk Festival:

WKSU has been involved with the Kent State Folk Festival since the beginning in 1968 (there were two festivals each year for the first two years).

After long offering support, doing live broadcasts and artist interviews, the station took over managing the festival in Dec. 2000 (soon after celebrating the station’s 50th anniversary) when the student-run All Campus Programming Board decided to no longer fund the event.

We added Folk Alley ‘Round Town a few years later.

We joke that we brought our friend Ann “up for air” because she is very, very involved in making the Kent State Folk Festival a successful event.

Anyway, here’s (nearly) the full release on the 45th Kent Folk Festival.

We are putting this up kinda late, so we’re sorry we missed the Grammy winning “Carolina Chocolate Drops” (tonight)…but they’re probably as tasty as their name would indicate.

The rest of the release Ann sent us some time ago:

—————-

With anticipation mounting, this year’s line-up has been made even more exciting with the addition of three notable opening acts: David Wax Museum and Sleepy Sun on Saturday, Sept. 24 in support of rising stars the Low Anthem, and Seth Glier on Sunday, Sept. 25 before folk legend Peter Yarrow – both at the Kent Stage. Local favorites Mo’ Mojo get the crowd warmed up for the hot sounds of the Dirty Dozen Brass Band at the Kent Stage on Thursday, Sept. 22.

David Wax Museum caused an unexpected stir at the 2010 Newport Folk Festival. Taking the smallest stage as the result of a contest win, the band brought down the house and was invited to the mainstage for this year’s event in Newport. A mix of Americana, folk and rhythms from Mexico (where leader David Wax spent summers working), the band features an intriguing blend of harmonies and instrumentation – including Suz Slezak adding percussion with an authentic donkey jawbone.

In Ohio, California seems like a single destination – the freewheeling left-coast state, home to Hollywood and San Francisco. But Sleepy Sun, like the state itself, is also about the mountains and ocean and quiet moments between the glitz and glamour. Welcomed to South by Southwest (SxSW) and as openers for Arctic Monkeys and the Low Anthem, Bret Constantino; Matt Holliman, Even Reiss, Brian Tice and Jack Allen blend vocal harmonies and a folky psychedelic sound that could be the memory of Donovan – or the sound of the future.

Like the songs of Peter, Paul & Mary, Seth Glier uses his music to tell stories and inspire the audience to consider its relationship with the world we live in. His performances build a conscious connection between the artist and the listener. A Berklee-educated singer/songwriter/pianist, Glier has played the mainstage at the prestigious Falcon Ridge and Kerrville folk festivals and appeared with his idol, James Taylor.

Tickets are now on sale for all Kent State Folk Festival concerts and are available at the Kent Stage, by phone at 330-677-5005 or online at www.KentStateFolkFestival.org. The festival website has been updated with artist bios and video, along with the complete list of free Folk Alley ‘Round Town performances throughout Kent on Friday, Sept. 23 and community workshops at the Kent State Student Center on Saturday, Sept. 24 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Kent State University students may buy discount tickets for all shows by presenting a valid KSU ID at time of purchase.

The line-up for the 45th Kent State Folk Festival (all concerts at The Kent Stage unless otherwise noted):
Wednesday, Sept. 21 at 8 p.m.: The Carolina Chocolate Drops (KSU Auditorium in Cartwright Hall) – $25 reserved, $15 KSU Students.*

Thursday, Sept. 22 at 8 p.m.: The Dirty Dozen Brass Band with Mo’ Mojo – $25 reserved, $15 KSU Students.*

Friday, Sept. 23 (various times): Folk Alley ‘Round Town (36 venues throughout Kent) – FREE.

Saturday, Sept. 24, 11 a.m.-5 p.m.: Workshops (KSU Student Center) – FREE.

Saturday, Sept. 24 at 8 p.m.: The Low Anthem with Sleepy Sun and David Wax Museum – IN ADVANCE: $20 reserved, $15 Students*, $10 KSU Students. AT THE DOOR: $23 reserved, $18 Students*, $13 KSU Students.

Sunday, Sept. 25 at 7:30 p.m.: Peter Yarrow with Seth Glier – $35 gold circle, $25 reserved, $15 KSU Students.*
*With valid ID

Festival support is provided by Kent State University, the City of Kent, Marc’s and Kashi, Cascade Auto Group, Dominion East Ohio, Audio-Technica, Seagram’s Smooth, Lehman’s, PARTA, Fifth Third Bank and Great Lakes Brewing Company.

Rolling Through The Month

Things are piling up again here at the Always In Flux OMW World Headquarters, but we also have a couple of separate items to put up later…

HEGAN RETIRES: A familiar voice along the Cleveland Indians Radio Network won’t be heard next year.

That’s because veteran broadcaster Mike Hegan, who has spent the past 23 years as a Tribe broadcaster, is stepping away from the booth after this season is over.

He’s spent most of those 23 years with Indians play-by-play voice Tom Hamilton on the team’s radio network, based at flagship Clear Channel talk WTAM/1100. He’s also spent time in the Indians’ TV booth.

But we didn’t realize, as the Plain Dealer’s Paul Hoynes reports, that his health affected his travel schedule this year:

This season, Hegan cut back his schedule because of health concerns. He did home games on WTAM AM/1100 with play-by-play man Tom Hamilton and Jim Rosenhaus, but limited his travel to Detroit and Chicago.

The 69 year-old Hegan gets honored by the Cleveland Sports Hall of Fame on Thursday, and by the team itself in a ceremony before Saturday night’s second game.

But after 50 years associated with professional baseball, as a player and a broadcaster, Hegan isn’t going into retirement entirely.

In a news release, the team says he’ll become “an alumni ambassador”:

He will continue to impact the Indians organization by joining the Indians Alumni Ambassador program, serving as a resource for Indians broadcasting, community and business initiatives.

There’s no word yet on any specific role Hegan will fill for the team, but they’re likely happy to have him around in any capacity…

EVERYTHING THAT, UH, MOVES AROUND: Under new program director Tim Daugherty, Rubber City Radio rock WONE/97.5 has made a few changes. Now, they’re making a few more at West Market Street.

After adopting the slogan “Everything That Rocks”, and becoming the full-time Akron market home of the NFL’s Cleveland Browns (oldies/news/sports WAKR/1590 still simulcasts the Browns after the Indians pack it up for the year), WONE has shuffled its schedule.

Don’t worry…if you have a favorite weekday WONE air personality, they’re all still there…they’ve just moved around the checkerboard.

* Morning drive, with Daugherty and co-host Christi Nichols as “Tim and Christi”, remains unchanged.

* Middays: Former evening personality Sandra Miller makes it “Miller Time” on WONE in the middle of the day.

* Afternoon Drive: Now-assistant program director T.K. O’Grady slides into afternoons.

* Nights: And that means Steve Hammond moves from afternoon drive to nights.

You might need to double-check the WONE website in case you’re lost and looking for your favorite air personality at the Akron rock station, and maybe adjust your lighting accordingly depending on what time of day it is, but they’re all still there.

One casualty of the changes on West Market Street is Tim Daugherty’s voicetracked afternoon drive oldies show on WAKR.

Newcomer Brad Shupe has been handling those duties, “for now”, said WAKR program director and Rubber City Radio operations director (and OMW Reader) Chuck Collins on his Monday WAKR show.

Shupe comes to Rubber City Radio from country WTUZ/99.9 Uhrichsville, where he was operations director and morning drive host at the Dover/New Philadelphia-area station.

Of course, long-time OMW reader Steve Kelly has the WTUZ job these days, returning home to the Tuscarawas Valley after a stint at Saga’s Columbus cluster…

WHERE’S WILLIE: We’ve noted that due to the connection between Tribune and WJW/8 “Fox 8″ owner Local TV LLC, we expected Clear Channel talk WLW/700 Cincinnati star Bill Cunningham’s new syndicated talk TV show to appear on Cleveland’s “Fox 8″ at some point.

Due to a management agreement between the two TV firms, Local TV is often considered “Tribune Jr.”. Tribune does a lot of things for the Local TV stations, including running the stations’ websites under the Tribune Interactive banner.

But the mainly in-house syndication of the drastically changed “Bill Cunningham Show” is not bringing it to Cleveland.

Cunningham’s TV affiiate list contains nearly all Tribune stations.

OMW reader Jeremy Moses, former editor of Tri-State Media Watch, pointed out one Local TV station on the list – KAUT/43 “The Spot” in Oklahoma City – and we found one other, WGNT/27 “CW 27″ in the Norfolk/Portsmouth/Virginia Beach market in Virginia.

But the other Local TV stations are missing, including WJW, and sister stations with no Tribune LMA, including WGHP/8 “Fox 8″ in the Greensboro NC market.

Local TV is based in the Northern Kentucky suburbs of Cincinnati. The show is getting clearance there, in Cunningham’s home market, via a deal with Raycom Media’s WXIX/19 “Fox 19″.

Tribune has said that this initial rollout could be a “test run” for wider national syndication in 2012.

Cincinnati Enquirer TV/radio guru John Kiesewetter, as expected, has been following developments in “Willie World” closely.

Sunday, he noted that Cunningham has undergone quite a transformation, in looks and in topics, for the TV show.

Viewers won’t see any trace of “Bill Cunningham, the Great American” or “Willie” ranting about “Barack Hussein Obama,” as he did at a John McCain’s 2008 rally in Cincinnati.

Instead of talking about the Tea Party or debt ceiling, the new TV Bill does shows about pot parties and dysfunctional families, among many other topics.

He said the show is aimed at a 35-year-old single mother of two, with a high school education, who is unemployed or working second shift – not his male-oriented radio audience.

“Guys who look like me aren’t watching TV at 1 p.m., so I’m doing topics I would never do on radio,” he said.

You get the idea that Bill is uncomfortable with the TV transformation, looks wise:

“They spent $30,000 on suits and shirts. Every Tuesday a guy spray tans me. I come out looking like a burnt French fry. I make John Boehner look pale,” he said.

But Tribune TV exec Sean Compton, who worked with Cunningham years ago at WLW, tells Kiese that the migration to the TV side may give viewers a look at the “real” Bill Cunningham:

“What you see on TV is the real Bill Cunningham. Radio for him is theater.”

If you want a preview of what you’re missing in Cleveland, Kiesewetter has his own review of the opening “Bill Cunningham Show” on TV here…

WCER OFF?: We haven’t been near a car radio that can pick up Melodynamic Broadcasting gospel WCER/900 Canton “Joy 900″, but we hear it’s been off the air for a few days.

We also hear that LMA operator Curtis A. Perry III had been on the air previously, asking listeners to send donations, presumably to help “keep the station on the air”.

We don’t know if the two events are at all connected.

Small stations with small staffs often go off the air…at least until they can contact a contract engineer making a living providing “on call” services to a laundry list of stations, to check out what went wrong…

LANDING HARD: The 747 plane belonging to a well-known local television personality made a “hard landing” at Akron-Canton Airport on Tuesday.

But there’s still no word if televangelist Ernest Angley of Cuyahoga Falls’ Grace Cathedral was actually on board when the jumbo jet blew a whole bunch of tires on the CAK runway.

The always media and social media savvy airport actually notified its Twitter followers of the event, and even provided an attached picture of the jet on the runway.

AkronNewsNow’s Larry States has more…noting that the jet may have been undergoing a semi-annual qualification procedure.

And we’ll note that of course, Angley’s ministry also owns local CW affiliate WBNX/55 Akron…

WOIO: Hello Akron, Canton

UPDATE 8/13/11 4:45 PM: Here’s a good coverage map link for WOIO’s new fill-in translator, courtesy of RabbitEars.Info’s Trip Ericson.

Use the standard Google map tools to zoom in and out, with solid green being the strongest coverage area…

———-

For many of those in the southern part of the Cleveland TV market, particularly in the Akron/Canton area, Raycom Media CBS affiliate WOIO/19 has largely been a cable/satellite-only channel since the digital transition.

That, of course, is because WOIO’s transmitter has pumped out a rather anemic power level (currently 9.5 kW) on a band known for poor reception on indoor antennas (VHF, RF channel 10, co-channel with CFPL/10 London, Ontario, Canada across Lake Erie).

That changed yesterday for many viewers who still rely on OTA reception.

WOIO launched its digital fill-in translator on RF channel 24 during the day on Friday.

The translator is located in the Akron antenna farm, with Rubber City Radio’s WONE-FM/97.5 and ION Television O&O WVPX/23, just north of what remains of Rolling Acres Mall.

Early reports show the facility is at least covering a large part of Summit and northern Stark Counties. It pumps out 11 kW, which is actually more power than WOIO’s main facility…but it’s not exactly equivalent, since power levels used on UHF make it a low-power facility.

For example, WVPX/23 at the very same site pumps out 1000 kW after a recent power upgrade. The 11 kW WOIO translator is not meant to replace the main WOIO RF 10 transmitter in the Parma antenna farm.

Here at the OMW World Headquarters(tm), we’re getting WOIO’s new fill-in translator with a clear signal using our existing indoor antenna. We’d appreciate reports from all over the market…we’re curious how far this signal makes it into Cuyahoga County, and how far south it penetrates into Stark County (we hear it at least hits North Canton with a good signal).

As always in the world of digital TV, you’ll need to rescan your digital tuner (either on a TV or a converter box) to pick up the new signal.

Note that WOIO has yet to file to cover the construction permit on the fill-in translator, so it’s quite possible they may need to take it down briefly to work on it…but the signal has been uninterrupted here since last night.

As with the main RF 10 signal, WOIO’s new fill-in does also carry Me-TV on 19.2.

And if your tuner can get both facilities, you’ll have two sets of 19.1 and 19.2, so go into your tuner’s menu if you’d prefer one over the other…