Two TV Notes

And from the world of local TV on this Tuesday…

MORNING GLITCH: The world of morning TV news has quickly become a hotly competitive landscape.

From the days where congenial “Today in Cleveland” hosts Tom Haley and Del Donahoo held forth on a folksy kitchen set on Gannett NBC affiliate WKYC/3, the playing field has turned morning news into a multi-hour, multi-anchor extravaganza at all four local TV news operations.

To say “the stakes are high” in local TV morning news would be an understatement. Two local stations are in the process of retooling those shows, which we reported below.

Today, Local TV LLC Fox affiliate WJW/8 came to that battle…with the syndicated gossip show “TMZ”?

No, the substitution of “TMZ” for the last part of the highly-rated 8 AM hour of “Fox 8 News in the Morning” – an act that’s pretty much the definition of TV station insanity – was not deliberate.

The “Fox 8″ computer systems that run the production of “Fox 8 News in the Morning” failed, and in 2012, you can’t run a complex TV news show without computers in most cases.

While rebooting the ailing system, WJW kept viewers informed about the tech glitch with a prominent, red-colored crawl over “TMZ”, and via Facebook and Twitter from the station’s account and from its morning anchors, notably weather anchor Scott Sabol and news reporter Todd Meany.

That’s a far cry from “WKRP in Cincinnati” news director Les Nessman confidently informing program director Andy Travis that he’d made the station’s off-air status the top story on a newscast no one heard.

We imagine the decision to keep the station on the air with “TMZ” was made at the very last minute, though we’d have gone with a less controversial choice like repeats of “New Day Cleveland” (with co-host Kristi Capel from “Fox 8 News in the Morning”), if possible.

Assured that the computer systems would likely behave, “Fox 8 News in the Morning” resumed at 9 AM. After a glitch or two…the rest of the show went off without a hitch.

Why is this worthy of such treatment here on the Mighty Blog(tm) this morning?

See our opening lines here.

There is a LOT of money attached to morning TV news these days. There’s a reason shows extend from 4:30 AM to as late as 10 AM (for “Fox 8 News”) these days.

As a noted bank robber supposedly said when asked why he robbed banks…”that’s where the money is”.

And while the folks at Dick Goddard Way were crossing their fingers and hoping the computer systems would return to normal, they were hoping that folks wouldn’t find the other morning news options on the TV dial…though channels 3, 5 and 19 were limited in local news updates due to the presence of the network morning shows…

NEOTROPOLIS: Western Reserve PBS’ business-oriented show, “NEOtropolis”, is getting another overhaul.

The show is getting the third host in its three year history, Luke Frazier, and a new time slot, Tuesday nights at 9 PM on the main Western Reserve PBS stations, WNEO/45.1 Alliance and WEAO/49.1 Akron. It’s generally been seen in some combination with the local public affairs roundtable “NewsNite” (nee’ “NewsNight Akron”) on Friday evenings.

According to a Western Reserve PBS press release helpfully provided to us by station OMW Handler Diane Steinert (we’re sure she has a better title than that):

The third season of NEOtropolis has been re-envisioned with a broader content scope, focused on helping Northeast Ohioans make sense of the forces of change that impact our lives. The series will continue to explore the region, but the net is widened.

The show’s focus will be on changes including technology, globalization and diversity.

Host Luke Frazier is, according to the station release, “an award-winning public radio reporter and producer who currently produces and co-hosts Civic Commons Radio, a weekly public affairs program.”

Social media expert Kathleen Colan, who we’re pretty sure is a follower of the OMW Twitter presence, will report on “social media feedback and trends” as part of an expanded social media presence on “NEOtropolis”, which will stream live at not only the show’s website, but on Facebook.

“NEOtropolis” will get an early Saturday repeat at 3:30 PM on 45.1/49.1, and will also air on the Western Reserve Public Media “Fusion” subchannel 45.2/49.2 Thursdays at 10:30 PM. and Saturdays at 5 PM….

The Other Stuff

As promised, a few hours late…let’s go through the other stuff not connected (mostly) with the rebranding of CBS Radio AC (we think it still is) WDOK/102.1, now known to the world as “New 102″. For now…

THAT OTHER CONTRACT: The renewal of the contract of WDOK..er…”New 102″‘s morning man Trapper Jack Elliot became a public item, when Elliot told the Plain Dealer’s Chuck Yarborough late last week that the 2 year deal was sitting there, unsigned.

When he came back to the 102.1 airwaves on Monday, Trapper Jack informed listeners that the contract in question was signed.

The contract negotiation process for Clear Channel rock/talk WMMS/100.7 morning man Shane “Rover” French wasn’t quite as public, though the host of “Rover’s Morning Glory” was stoking the fire with hints like this on his Twitter account:

Bad news. Just got call from Clear Channel. They won’t let us back on air until contract is resolved. Hopefully soon. #AnyPartiesNextWeek?

Despite a following tweet. in which Rover said he believed “it will get done”, that sent the Rover Army into overdrive, and launched them into our E-mail box and our own Twitter account, looking for answers.

And, looking for them now. And, not happy when we said we didn’t know. (We didn’t know, honest.)

We brought a lot of this on ourselves, as we’ve said before.

When Rover and his merry band of morning yakkers left CBS Radio (then-alt-rock WKRK/92.3) and eventually landed at Clear Channel’s WMMS, we had everything but their lunch menus.

The folks at Oak Tree have learned since then…this time, contract negotiations between the Rover camp and Clear Channel were locked tighter than, well, any drum that’s locked tight.

In the end, it’s a win for Mr. French and the sub-Rovers, if you believe the host himself on Tuesday’s show…where he was touting a new 5 year deal that will keep him in the Land of Oak Trees until 2017.

Whew. Maybe we won’t have to hear plaintive cries of “IS ROVER LEAVING??!!? WHERE IS HE?!” for 5 years. (And yes, that’s a near exact reproduction of one E-mail we received.)

And no, we have no idea who “Jeffrey” is, or where he went. We took a quick look at the Rover Radio website, and saw no reference to him anywhere, including in the show’s cast list menu.

We have nothing against Rover, Duji and the gang. We quite frankly admire the fact that they’ve been able to whip the show’s fanbase into a frenzy, worried that the show is about to end/move/change. “Rover’s Morning Glory” has a large, and devoted, following.

It is the kind of connection between show and fan base that every radio effort dreams of. (And WDOK’s Trapper Jack got a taste of that over the past week as well.)

But we wouldn’t mind if if that fanbase developed a little patience, particularly when the host himself said at the outset that he believed a deal would get done, and told listeners/Twitter followers not to panic…

EXIT TO MONTREAL: CBS Radio hot AC WQAL/104.1 “Q104″ afternoon personality “Heather B” is headed back to Montreal.

Heather Backman came to Q104 from Montreal’s “Virgin Radio”, and her return will be to that city’s CHOM as morning co-host, according to an article in the city’s English language daily, the Montreal Gazette…

MORNING TV PARADE: Up first in the Parade of Revamped Morning TV News Shows in Cleveland…NewsChannel 5.

The “Good Morning Cleveland” float at Scripps ABC affiliate WEWS/5 early Monday was handled by new co-anchors Mike Dunston – in from Orlando’s Fox affiliate WOFL/35 “Fox 35″ – and Macie (McInnis) Jepson – former “Fox 8 News”ie from the 1990s.

The duo joined existing “GMC” players Christine Ferrera (weather) and Alicia Roberts (traffic) for their first show.

Outgoing at 3001 Euclid is reporter Dan Haggarty, and incoming is new MMJ Shay Harris, who’s anchoring the new Saturday “Good Morning Cleveland” and joining MMJ Josh Boose other mornings during the week (presumably with one day off to account for Saturdays).

Shay shares Orlando Fox affiliate WOFL/35 on her resume with new “GMC” anchor Mike Dunston, though we don’t know if they worked alongside each other.

The new TV News Morning Parade continues next Monday, when WKYC/3 anchor Chris Tye moves from 7 PM to mornings to replace outgoing anchor and Channel 3 News veteran Mark Nolan.

Who is going to…not anywhere we know of, yet, radio or TV. (Sorry again, Mark!)

PIECING A STATION BACK TOGETHER: When you move a radio station, sometimes the complexity of a move isn’t obvious to the public.

That’s what’s been happening at Rubber City Radio smooth AC WNWV/107.3 Elyria “The Wave”, with studios that left that city of license last week when Rubber City bought the station from previous owner Elyria-Lorain Broadcasting.

Rubber City plans new studios for “The Wave” in the heart of the Independence Media Gulch – we’ve heard on Rockside Road not far from I-77, making 107.3 neighbors with other Cleveland broadcasters including Clear Channel and Salem.

But until that’s all set up, WNWV has to live somewhere…since the sales agreement with ELB specified that it couldn’t stay in that company’s Elyria facility. (We don’t blame the ELB folks…they continue to run talk WEOL/930 there.)

Thus, the temporary home for “107.3 The Wave”‘s reincarnation is a studio at the Akron Radio Center on West Market Street, just across the hall from country powerhouse WQMX/94.9…and therein lies the rest of this item.

After all, in the modern age of radio, it wasn’t just a broadcast signal that had to be moved…and will be moved again, when 107.3 scoots north to Independence.

The move of analog 107.3 meant the temporary end of not only the station’s HD signal, but its streaming audio feed…but at this writing, both have returned.

Now, we’re not quite in the range of 107.3′s digital HD Radio signal, so we don’t know if its HD3 carrier is still sending out the all-classical HD channel from Kent State University’s WKSU/89.7 to the western reaches of the Cleveland market.

The deal was struck with previous owner Elyria-Lorain Broadcasting. WNWV’s HD2 feed is “Wave Classics”, a smooth jazz-only feed also found online…

Until the move to Independence, “The Wave” continues to maintain Cleveland sales offices on Center Ridge Road in Rocky River…

RADIO CHANGES IN THE VALLEY: OMW already told you that Whiplash Radio standards WHTX/1570 Warren “Fabulous 1570″ LMA operator Jim Davison was bringing aboard partner Laurel Taylor to run the station, and the pair has added daytime sister station WYCL/1540 Niles to their oversight.

After launching a simulcast with WHTX’s standards format, WYCL has moved back in a talk direction.

“Fabulous 1570″ morning man Gary Rhamy will continue simulcasting his program on both stations, now 7-11 AM weekdays.

After 11 AM when standards continue on WHTX, WYCL will be all talk, dubbing itself “Valley Talk 1540″.

King of Youngstown Brokered Talk Radio Louie b. Free nudges his program an hour later, and will talk on “Valley Talk 1540″ from 11 AM to 3 PM. He’ll be followed by a new, local afternoon talk show hosted by Ralph Bellamy.

Free is now also listed as Public Affairs Director of both Whiplash stations, hosting a one-hour “Valley Talk Public Affairs” show simulcast on both WYCL and WHTX Saturdays at 8 AM.

And what do you know…local political figure Don Hanni III makes his return to talk radio on WYCL. For the outset, he’ll be heard Saturdays from noon to 4 PM, but Hanni’s “The New Talk of the Town” will also air weekday evenings in the summer…when WYCL’s daytime broadcast hours allow.

And it’s really not all that “New”, Hanni’s show, that is. (Well, we’re sure he’ll have new topics.) It’s not even his first shot at talk radio in the above-1500 range on the Mahoning Valley AM dial, or even his first usage of that show name.

From sister station WHTX’s history page, in a passage also seen on Wikipedia:

In 2005, WANR picked up a liberal talk format, becoming the Youngstown/Warren area affiliate of the Air America Radio network. It also broadcast a local talk radio program called The New Talk of the Town, hosted by local political figure Don Hanni III. The liberal talk format was operated by Hanni and associates under a local marketing agreement, but would be cancelled weeks after its’ launch after a dispute between WANR owner Beacon Broadcasting and Hanni.

(Conflict of interest alert, sort of: OMW Secondary Editorial Voice[tm] Nathan Obral is the webmaster for the Whiplash stations, including WYCL, WHTX and Corry PA-based WHYP. He didn’t write or contribute to this item, tho.)

WYCL is adding “Smooth Central Jazz” with Dennis Vaughn weekend afternoons, and we assume those “To Be Announced” slots on the 1540 schedule will bounce back to a WHTX simulcast until filled.

And the Whiplash stations have signed another one year deal to carry broadcasts of both the Mahoning Valley Scrappers minor league baseball team based in Niles, and the Pittsburgh Pirates.

WHTX is the primary home for both teams, but game conflicts would result in the overflow game on WYCL when possible…

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…

Back Together Again In The Valley

There’s a change at the Whiplash Radio operation in the Youngstown market, that reunites programming on the cluster’s two stations.

Whiplash’s WYCL/1540 Niles had been LMAed by Philip Cato with a talk format. Well, it had a talk format most of the time, anyway, give or take syndicated smooth jazz and other musical programming.

Whiplash owner and OMW reader Chris Lash has taken over programming WYCL again, and has flipped it to a simulcast of co-owned standards outlet WHTX/1570 Warren “Fabulous 1570″. That outlet is leased by Cleveland radio historian and fellow OMW reader Jim Davison.

The 1570-to-1540 simulcast will be broken up four hours a day, as Louie B. Free has survived a station format change.

The King of Youngstown Brokered Talk Radio (our title for him, of course) will continue to be heard on WYCL/1540 only, but will move, starting Monday, to a new time slot of 10 AM-2 PM weekdays. He has been heard from 9 AM to noon.

The move allows Gary Rhamy’s local morning drive show to be heard on both stations in his existing 7 AM-10 AM time slot, and WHTX will continue in its music format while Free holds forth on WYCL.

Outside of Free’s show, dubbed “Brainfood from the Heartland”, WYCL will simulcast all WHTX programming…at least during its daytime hours of operation.

It’s the second time recently that the stations have simulcast…Beacon Broadcasting aired 1570′s former Fox Sports Radio format on 1540 until the sale to Whiplash Radio. And back in the early 1990s, the stations were paired in an urban format as “Network 15 – The City”.

And as for Mr. Lash himself, he’s quite busy…and he’s going home.

A Tom Lavery item we missed in Pittsburgh’s PBRTV last month has more explanation:

Whiplash Radio, owners of 1570 WHTX and 1540 WYCL in the Warren-Youngstown, OH market announce a new LMA/Purchase with Vilkie Communications, operator of 1370 WHYP in Corry, PA effective December 1st. Its a homecoming for Whiplash’s Chris Lash, as he worked at the former WWCB in high school, and in the Erie, PA market until 1988. Lash is also from Union City, PA located ten miles away from Corry. His Whiplash Radio corporate headquarters will also move to the new station.

Of course, Joe Vilkie’s company recently filed to buy the two former Beacon AM stations on the Pennsylvania border – WLOA/1470 Farrell PA and WGRP/940 Greenville PA – from EMF Broadcasting, which only wanted to hang onto Beacon’s former FM station…the former WEXC/107.1 Greenville PA, now running EMF’s ubitquous Christian contemporary “K-Love” format as a Youngstown market rimshot under new calls WLVX.

Vilkie’s home base is classic hits WMVL/101.7 Linesville PA “Cool 101.7″ in the Meadville PA market, a short hop over the Ohio border (they call it “Linesville” for a reason).

Long-time OMW readers might remember that Vilkie LMA’ed WGRP in the past, from former owner Beacon, in an earlier attempt to buy it…

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”…

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.

The Monday Followup

As usual when big news comes out, there’s a followup that comes a little later…

BIG SHOES: To say that the next afternoon driver at Clear Channel Cleveland country WGAR/99.5 has “big shoes to fill” is probably our understatement of the year.

But the station has begun the daunting process of filling the afternoon drive time slot left open by one of the biggest tragedies in local radio history – the passing of Chuck Collier.

All Access reports that Clear Channel Cleveland OM Keith Abrams (Hi, Keith!) is starting the process of looking for WGAR’s next afternoon driver/music director. Collier, a 40 year WGAR vet going back to its days as an AM adult contemporary outlet at 1220, passed away in late September.

Quoting the All Access item:

The station is looking for a candidate who “must have strong SELECTOR skills and 3-5 years on-air experience (Country preferred but not necessary).” Candidates who, in the station’s words, “take great pride in creating extraordinary content,” can send their materials to WGAR PD CHARLEY CONNOLLY at charleyconnolly (at) clearchannel.com.

Now, that’s a tough job…picking who follows a legend like Chuck Collier…

107.3′S PRICE: FCC documents that showed up today put a $6.5 million price tag on the sale of WNWV/107.3 Elyria – from Elyria-Lorain Broadcasting to Akron’s Rubber City Radio Group.

Upon approval, the station now known as AAA-formatted “V107.3″ will become the fourth station in the RCRG Northeast Ohio cluster, joining oldies/news/sports WAKR/1590 Akron, rock WONE/97.5 Akron, and country WQMX/94.9 Medina.

All three of those stations are operated out of the Akron Radio Center, on West Market Street between two Akron landmarks, the West Point Market and Acme #1.

But 107.3 will not be operated out of Akron, aside from any temporary operation needed for a short time after the sale’s closure. (Rubber City is not entering an LMA with Elyria-Lorain, so that company will continue to operate 107.3 from its Elyria studios until the sale is final. When the sale is final, Rubber City will have to find a new home for 107.3.)

And despite the fact that the location is mentioned in the agreement now found in the FCC database, Rubber City will not operate 107.3 from ELB’s existing Cleveland-area sales offices in Rocky River.

One good reason? There isn’t a studio there, or room to build the necessary studios. We don’t know if the Akron-based company will keep West Side sales offices in Rocky River, but they won’t be operating WNWV from there.

We have also heard every rumor you could imagine about future format plans for 107.3. We don’t trust ANY of these rumors enough to even hint about them, and there well could be no format change in the short term.

Our best guess? That decision has yet to be made.

While we’re talking about Rubber City, congratulations to long-time promotions guru Joyce Lagios, who has been promoted to VP/Marketing and Promotions for the Akron stations. Her time goes back to the common ownership of WAKR, WONE and then-WAKR-TV at Copley Road…if the stations have been out in the community, Joyce has been there.

The company also announced that Jody Wheatley has been named promotions and music director for WQMX…

NEW TRAFFIC: Scripps Cleveland ABC affiliate WEWS/5 has a new traffic reporter, as of today.

From a memo sent last week about the hiring of Alicia Roberts from Florida:

Alicia will assume the role of Traffic/Transportation Multi-Media journalist.

Alicia comes to Cleveland via Tampa where she was the morning traffic reporter and a fill-in anchor at WFLA-TV in Tampa. While in Tampa, Alicia built an extensive on-line and social media community around Tampa traffic to extend her brand and the station’s.

Alicia has also worked at WFXT and WYBE in Philadelphia. She has a Master of Science degree in Communications from Drexel University and a B.A. from Temple University.

Alicia’s first day on the job will be Monday, October 17th.

We weren’t watching whatever WEWS calls the Program Formerly Known As “Good Morning Cleveland” this morning, and did not see Alicia – no relation, by the way, to former 5′ers Alicia Booth or Stephanie Roberts (yes, that’s a joke).

We also don’t know what this means for “GMC” traffic reporter Patty Harken…

LASH DOINGS: Whiplash Radio’s Chris Lash is checking in with the Mighty Blog of Fun(tm) on some changes at one of his two Youngstown market stations.

Lash is again taking a more active role at his standards WHTX/1570 Warren, he tells us:

WHTX Program Director Ray LaShure has left the building, and (Lash is) assisting operator Jim Davison with day-to-day programming responsibilities. WHTX has a new redesigned website at www.fabulous1570whtx.com and will now be the new hourly news affiliate of CBS Radio News in Warren/Youngstown.

OMW hears that one of our own, Secondary Editorial Voice(tm) Nathan Obral, helped in the website redesign.

Lash also still owns talk WYCL/1540 Niles, which is still operated by Philip Cato…

AND AS USUAL: If we missed something, we’ll get a Round Tuit(tm) as soon as possible…

Early Week Pileup

Some items have been piling up here at OMW World Headquarters, so it’s time to clear the traffic lanes…

QUICK EXIT: Scripps ABC affiliate WEWS/5 “NewsChannel 5″ has parted ways with reporter/anchor Justin Michaels, rather suddenly.

From a brief station memo about his exit from news director Jill Manuel:

I want to share the news that Justin Michaels is no longer with NewsChannel 5. Please join me in wishing Justin luck in his future endeavors.

From what we’re hearing out of 3001 Euclid, Manuel could well have added “…but don’t let him back in the building.”

OMW hears that Michaels’ exit happened after he had more than one open confrontation in the newsroom, and that it’s probably not likely that many NewsChannel 5 staffers will meet him for coffee any time soon…

IT’S SD INSTEAD: For some time, over-air viewers of New Vision CBS affiliate WKBN/27 Youngstown got a bonus – a full high definition simulcast of “Fox Youngstown” on WKBN’s 27.2 subchannel.

This especially served its purpose when the true home of “Fox Youngstown” was WYFX-LP/62, an analog station that was once paired with now-dark WFXI-CA/17 Mercer PA as “Fox 17/62″.

Of course, New Vision recently converted WYFX-LP to digital low power status, and is broadcasting (in HD) on the new WYFX-LD 19.

At some point, observers expected New Vision to downgrade the HD simulcast on 27.2 to standard definition, and that, they have finally done.

Viewers in the market say it appears to be deliberate…27.2′s PSIP information has changed to “WYFX-SD”…so now, the only over-air HD source for “Fox Youngstown” ls WYFX-LD 19. (Of course, “Fox Youngstown” is also available in HD on local cable systems.)

That has some over-air viewers with HDTV sets outside the immediate Youngstown/Warren/Niles area upset (not to mention some on the eastern edge of the Cleveland/Akron market), because WYFX is a low-power station.

We don’t know why WKBN decided to flip 27.2 to SD, though there are some advantages…for one, the move returns WKBN’s main CBS and local HD programming to full 1080i resolution. now that 27.2 is back to 480i.

When the “Fox Youngstown” HD signal was added (at 720p, Fox’s standard), the 27.1 CBS/WKBN side was downconverted to 720p, and some noticed occasional picture glitches.

We have also heard speculation that Fox forced the move, now that WYFX has an HD signal of its own, but we can’t at all confirm that..

ANN’S CORNER: OK, so we only call it that because this item involves Kent State University public outlet WKSU/89.7′s “Folk Alley” programming service… and because it came from Good Friend of OMW Ann VerWiebe, WKSU’s marketing type and official OMW Handler.

(Again, we’re pretty sure WKSU doesn’t pay her any extra to deal with us, much like public media counterpart Western Reserve PBS doesn’t pay Diane Steinert extra for that additional, unofficial title.)

Ann tells us that Folk Alley will be teaming up with NPR Music to webcast an important awards event:

Join Folk Alley and NPR Music for a live webcast of the 2011 AMA Awards and Honors show, Thursday, Oct. 13 beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET. The webcast is hosted by veteran Americana music radio DJ Jessie Scott and music critic Ann Powers and it will be streamed at FolkAlley.com and NPRMusic.org. Performances will be archived for on-demand listening. Leading up to the event, both websites will host a sidestream of music by this year’s AMA nominees and past winners.

Presented by the Americana Music Association, the annual Awards and Honors ceremony returns to the historic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville and features performances by roots music stars and emerging acts. Grammy Award-winner Jim Lauderdale acts as the on-stage emcee – inviting the best in Americana to the stage.

WKSU is pretty much a typical NPR local affiliate on the radio side, but Folk Alley continues to operate on the national stage…

JIM’S BACK: Our best “get well” thoughts to nationality/standards WKTX/830 Cortland operations manager/chief engineer James “Jimmy” Georgiades.

His fiancee, a regular OMW reader, tells us that Georgiades has been at home recovering from a heart attack late last month.

With the WKTX staff holding the place together and keeping it on the air while he recuperates, Georgiades will still do his regular radio show, “Dimitri’s Greek Radio Show,” on Sunday afternoons from 3-4 PM (in the Greek language).

We’re told that he thanks everyone (his family, friends, co-workers, and colleagues) for prayers, thoughts, and support he has received…

Changes Afoot

There are lots of changes coming in local radio and TV, and it’s time to bring them to light.

We’ll start on the TV side, first…but sports radio is in the on-deck circle…

NEW ANCHOR: Scripps ABC affiliate WEWS/5 has been taking its time and shuffling around its schedule after the departure of market icon Ted Henry.

But it appears it’s filled at least one of Ted’s roles – 11 PM co-anchor.

MediaBistro’s TVSpy, the entity once known as “ShopTalk”, has confirmed earlier rumors about “NewsChannel 5″‘s latest hire.

Chris Flanagan, who was most recently an anchor at WFAA in Dallas, is joining WEWS in Cleveland.

Flanagan comes to 3001 Euclid a few months removed from Dallas ABC affiliate WFAA/8′s morning show “Good Morning Texas” – his bio says he joined the station in 2009.

When he left WFAA, we don’t know, but based on the activity on his WFAA Twitter account, late June would be a good guess.

We also don’t know the extent of his duties at “NewsChannel 5″ here.

We have heard from our sources in the building that the station has been auditioning a wide variety of potential 11 PM co-anchors to sit alongside Danita Harris… so many that it’s been hard to track the individual auditioners…

THE WKNR SHOE DROPS: Not that we didn’t expect this, because the competitive landscape has certainly changed in Cleveland sports radio recently, but footwear is hitting the ground at the Galleria.

Faced with direct, in-format competition for the first time ever – CBS Radio sports WKRK/92.3 “The Fan” – Good Karma’s WKNR/850 “ESPN 850 WKNR” has hit the reset button on much of its schedule, again.

And the biggest change affects one of the most competitive time slots for male-targeted spoken word radio in Cleveland, afternoon drive.

OMW hears that starting Monday, veteran reporter Bruce Hooley, and existing WKNR staffers Greg Brinda and Chris Fedor team up for a new three person afternoon drive program.

Hooley has been a frequent WKNR voice talking about Ohio State Buckeyes sports, participating in various Buckeyes shows surrounding the team’s play-by-play on WKNR.

He covered the Buckeyes for the Plain Dealer, and worked at Buckeyes flagship WBNS-FM 97.1/AM 1460 “The Fan” in Columbus…where his aggressive take on now-former Buckeyes football coach Jim Tressel and his recent travails may not have won him some friends. (Yes, it is Columbus we’re talking about.)

We hear that Hooley, Brinda and Fedor will all be billed as co-hosts on the new WKNR afternoon drive show, with Fedor also handling “SportsCenter Updates”.

The new hosts will have to deal with the very competitive afternoon drive landscape for talk shows aimed at male audiences.

That list starts with long-time ratings champ Mike Trivisonno at Clear Channel talk WTAM/1100, and popular younger demo host Alan Cox down the hall at Oak Tree on rock/talk WMMS/100.7, and what quickly has become the strongest show on “92.3 The Fan”, “The Bull and The Fox” with Adam “The Bull” Gerstenhaber and ex-Buckeye Dustin Fox.

And that’s not even counting shows like Michael Baisden’s syndicated talk show on Radio One’s urban AC WZAK/93.1, which is a ratings powerhouse.

What happens to WKNR’s “Afternoon R&R”, the afternoon drive show which featured long-time sportscaster Michael Reghi paired with WKNR veteran Kenny Roda?

It’s moving, mostly intact.

From Roda’s own Twitter account:

4 those of U already asking,No I didn’t get fired(sorry haters),moving shifts with Reghi from 3p-6p to 9p-12a & covering Cavs,Indians & OSU.

That’s why we say “mostly intact”, as Roda won’t be co-hosting with Reghi when he is covering games for one of the teams.

That won’t happen much in the next few months in the 9-midnight shift, unless the NBA and its players actually get their collective acts together and end the NBA lockout.

The Indians have done their part…ending their season before “R&R” makes the move to late nights. And tOSU rarely plays on weeknights.

We haven’t actually heard it, but we understand that midday host Tony Rizzo has been doing double duty this week, as “The Really Big Show”s ringleader from 9 AM-1 PM, then in afternoon drive filling in for the moving-to-nights “R&R”.

When Hooley, Brinda and Fedor take over afternoon drive, back at 9 AM-1 PM, Rizzo will be without Fedor (aka “Negative Ned”) on “The Really Big Show”. But no, we haven’t confirmed (on this end) any role change for the remaining co-host on the midday show, Aaron Goldhammer.

Unaffected on the WKNR schedule: “Munch in the Morning” (local, Mark “Munch” Bishop, 5-6 AM), “Mike & Mike in the Morning” (ESPN, 6-9 AM), “Cleveland Browns Daily” (Cleveland Browns-produced, 6-7 PM) and “Xs and Os with the Pros” (local, LeCharles Bentley and Je’rod Cherry, 7-9 PM).

Though it could easily be said that the Galleria is directly responding to its new in-format competitor, “change” is very much the buzzword for the station’s afternoon drive show.

Just in the time since Craig Karmazin’s Good Karma Broadcasting bought WKNR (late 2006/early 2007), the station has gone through a parade of afternoon hosts…including Roda (as a solo host), Bishop (now early mornings on WKNR and mid-mornings on WWGK/1540 “KNR2″), Reghi (as a solo host) and the most recent configuration of Reghi and Roda as co-hosts.

As for Brinda, he’s been all over the WKNR schedule. About the only time slot he hasn’t hosted is Bishop’s current time slot.

A big thanks to our Secondary Editorial Voice(tm), Nathan Obral, who’s been tracking this minute by minute on his own Twitter account…

BOUNCED LATER: We have been tracking the debut of “Bounce TV”, the African-American-themed subchannel set to launch on Monday.

“Bounce TV” launched, alright…just not with Cleveland aboard.

The channel will still come to a subchannel of one of the local Raycom Media stations, but not until January.

That’s according to the “Find Us” section of “Bounce TV”‘s website, which says the new network will launch in January 2012 on WUAB/43.3.

(You have to mouse over the dot representing Cleveland on the map to get that information.)

WUAB’s Raycom sister station in Cincinnati, Fox affiliate WXIX/19, also lists a January launch.

Why? We don’t know…but “Bounce TV” will apparently still be seen here…just not now…

DON’T KNOW, YET: But…we’re tracking it.

OMW hears that Melodynamic gospel WCER/900 Canton “Joy 900″ hasn’t been pumping out the gospel music, or anything else, the past few days.

The station has been operated under an LMA by Curtis A. Perry III’s “CAP III Productions”, which formerly had a deal with WINW/1520 – and moved its programming to WCER after 1520 had been silent for some time.

Perry, on behalf of owner Pinebrook Corporation, had filed a petition for reconsideration for the deletion of WINW’s license at the FCC.

The FCC has finally responded to that petition – dropping it, but reinstating WINW’s license anyway (link corrected 9/29).

(The petition has disappeared from WINW’s application records on the FCC site.)

There is probably some story connecting all this, but we don’t know it yet.

We do know that an OMW reader recently drove by Perry’s studios on Tuscarawas Street in downtown Canton, and found no lights on….

TWO YOUNGSTOWN NOTES: A couple of notes from the Mahoning Valley, one TV-related, one radio-related.

* OMW hears that Vindicator NBC affiliate WFMJ/21 “WFMJ Today” morning co-anchor Scott Schneider has announced, on the air, that he’s leaving at the end of the year. We don’t know where he’s going…

* OMW hears that Clear Channel classic hits WBBG/106.1 is already promoting the fact that they’ll air Christmas music – yes, we said “Christmas music” – but thankfully, they’re not starting the Yule Tunes here in September. The start date will be the Wednesday before Thanksgiving…