A Rare Weekend post...

In a move that will shock most of my readers, Your Tri-State Media Watcher decided to do a quickie Sunday morning post to highlight one or two things:

Cleveland Area Woman Reviews Brian Williams'...Ties???: Thanks to our friends at Ohio Media Watch for this general tidbit...

Seems a Cleveland woman (Nance Donnelly, a schoolteacher) decided she would start reviewing the ties (and by this we mean neckwear) of NBC News anchor Brian Williams. Her reports can be found nightly, after...well, "Nightly News", at this link. Nightly News With Brian Williams can be seen at 6:30pm on WLWT-TV/DT(Channel 5, Cincinnati) and WDTN-TV/DT(Channel 2, Dayton).

One More Switchover to Report: We have confirmed as of this past Friday that K-LOVE stations across the nation are doing some Christmas-themed music...we had forgotten about this in the original update earlier tonight. Those stations are as follows in Cincinnati and Dayton, as well as others in the southern part of the state:

-- WNLT-FM 104.3/102.3(Depending which side of town you are on, excluding areas around Wilmington)
-- WKLN-FM 102.3(Wilmington and surrounding area ONLY)
-- WEKV-FM 94.9(Portsmouth, Ohio area ONLY)
-- WOKL-FM 96.9(Dayton area)
-- WQRP-FM 89.5(Dayton area)
-- 106.3FM via Translator (aka W292CO, Middletown area of NE Butler/NW Warren Counties)

If you have a station to report that airs Christmas tunes, email us here. After Tuesday, we probably won't note too many more of the switchovers. By the way we are still looking for any reports out of Indianapolis, for our readers in Southeast Indiana that might receive those stations.

Friday Blog Cleanup

Just clearing a couple of items off the TSMW plate before the weekend...so here we go:

97.3 All 90's Weekend: WSWD-FM (97.3 The Sound) is doing an all-1990's music weekend. Throughout the next 72 hours they will play everything from 311 to White Zombie...if you're into 90s music check that out.

Q102 Doing Live All-Day Remote from Tri-County: WKRQ-FM (101.9) meanwhile is doing an all day remote from the Tri-County Mall. From 7am to 7pm, the entire Q102 Weekday Air Team will broadcast LIVE near Barnyard Bookstore. You can donate an unwrapped new toy to St. Joseph's Orphanage and register to win tickets to the Trans-Siberian Orchestra or a Twilight movie poster.

Still No One Else Doing Christmas Tunes: In what comes as a surprise to Your Tri-State Media Watcher, the list of stations doing Christmas Music in ANY capacity in Cincinnati OR Dayton...hasn't shrunk, but hasn't grown either yet. So yours truly is taking a look into Kentucky and part of Indiana on this go around to see what surrounding markets are doing.

First stop is over to Columbus, going up I-71. Sunny 95 (WSNY-FM @ 94.7) is billing itself as "Columbus' Continuous Christmas Music Station".

We dipped down into Lexington, and whaddya know - WMXL-FM (Mix 94.5) is doing all-Christmas! They're branding themselves as MixMas.

West of there, on I-64 at the I-71/65 interchange in Louisville, WVEZ-FM Lite 106.9 is also All Christmas.

In Indianapolis, where we'll round out our tour for this morning, we can't yet find a station there that is all Christmas, but 104.5 WJJK-FM does have an all-Christmas Channel, similar to what WKRQ-FM does here.

Do you think any other stations will do Christmas in Cincinnati besides WAKW-FM (93.3 Star) and WRRM-FM (Warm 98 @ 98.5FM)? What about Radio 94.1 (WNNF-FM), which in past years has had all Christmas music? We here at TSMW will be scanning the dial and will let you know on Monday.

EDIT AT 6AM: I would also look for Dayton's Mix 107.7 (WMMX-FM) to go All-Christmas sometime soon, although not before Monday - they're doing an all 80s weekend. Any Dayton, OH readers willing to confirm if they do or any other station does, please shoot me a comment or email.

Also, for those who are normal WRRM-FM listeners, they have now conveniently added a player on their webpage so that you can hear their normal Non-Christmas songs. If you get tired of the 28 days of Christmas, and I know some of you will, just look on warm98.com for the link that says "Need a Break from Christmas Music? Click here to listen to all your WARM 98 favorites".

An offbeat post...

"As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly."
- WKRP In Cincinnati "The Turkey Drop" episode

A little something offbeat for my readers before I go to eat turkey. Enjoy! See you on Friday!

WLWT Sports Anchor In Hospital

WLWT-TV Sports Anchor/executive sports producer George Vogel was to make his anchoring debut tomorrow to cover for Sandra Ali and Sheree Paolello...but now, he'll be spending the holiday in a hospital bed...joining Lance McAlister as the most recent personalities in town to get heart problems checked, according to John Kiesewetter's blog.

Vogel, who is 51 and has been at WLWT for 26 years, says he was inspired by Enquirer Reds beat writer John Fay's September column about his own heart trouble to get checked out...he had an angioplasty last week, and when the result came back...he had a partially blocked artery. He won't be on the air this weekend, and will be off for a week.

We here at TSMW wish Vogel the best in his recovery. What's the coincidence that two major sports personalities in town would have heart problems within a week of each other?

TSMW Taking Thanksgiving Break: We won't be posting tomorrow, because of the holiday. Our next post, unless other news breaks between now and then, will be Friday morning. Enjoy your Thanksgiving, and be careful if you're traveling or otherwise going to be out.

November Sweeps - Same as May?

With November sweeps ending on Wednesday, here's how it looks for each station, according to John Kiesewetter of the Enquirer:

WCPO(ABC 9) - Wins 5-6:30pm, may win noon
WKRC(CBS 12) - Wins 6-7am, may win noon
WLWT(NBC 5) - Third at 5-6:30, 11 p.m. and noon; Last 6-7am. (Editor's Note: Doesn't look like their shuffling mornings or evenings worked...no surprise there...)
WXIX(FOX 19) - Wins 7-9am(they are the only all local morning show from 8-9am, but split 7-8 with CW Cincinnati) and 10pm; second 6-7am

And then there were two...

You may recall last week's item regarding WKFS-FM's "Caroling with the TV News Stars". Well they are down to two contestants...WLWT-TV/DT (NBC 5) and WCPO-TV/DT(ABC 9). The winner will be announced tomorrow morning at 7am on "Tim and George". As it stands right now, 9 is RUNNING away with this contest, 65-35%. Vote here.

Hamilton County planning a TV Recycling Event for Spring

As previously noted here at TSMW, television broadcasting has to be digital by February 17, 2009. And most people are buying new digital TV's.

What does that mean for all those analog TV's? They'd all wind up in the landfill, aka Mount Rumpke(so named because the landfill near I-275 and US 27 in Colerain Twp. is owned by the trash company, and is about as tall as the 7 hills of Cincinnati).

That is, unless Hamilton County Commission President Todd Portune has a say in the matter.

WCPO-TV Channel 9 reports that Portune wants to have a TV recycling drive of some kind in Spring, after the transition is completed.

Portune noted that the old analog TV's have parts inside that can be recycled and put to good use.

We here at TSMW think this is a good idea in theory. How it plays out when it's actually done, remains to be seen.

We'll keep you updated.

Something VERY interesting...

EDIT 2:16AM: Hold on a minute here...something interesting. It seems that at last report, WKRP IS a licensed TV station already...as WKRP-LP is apparently licensed in Alexandria, Tennessee! If I am right, I don't believe you can use call letters that are already being used. Unless the rules are different with it being -LP vs. -CA, one of the two will have to drop those calls...we here at TSMW will continue to follow this story...


EDIT 1:52AM: Upon watching the station on what will henceforth be called the TSMW-HDTV (meaning the Tri-State Media Watch High Definition Television), which gets Insight Digital 3.0 cable (on which the channel in question is Channel 189), the station IS indeed broadcasting as WKRP Cincinnati (even while being id'ed in the Insight-powered program guide as still being WBQC). Original item below...

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It seems the former home of UPN in Cincinnati has new, or are they old, call letters...for now.

Formerly WBQC-CA Channel 38 is now...WKRP-TV? Seems Elliot Block, owner of Block Broadcasting, now is using the call letters made famous by the TV show "WKRP In Cincinnati" for that station. And, www.wbqc.com now re-directs to a splash screen, which if you click on that, re-directs to...wkrp.tv.

It's unclear as to whether or not this is a copyright/trademark violation. My guess would be on "no", seeing as, if I am correct, the people responsible for the TV show will fight it - but then again, they ARE actual, legal call letters (that have been used on radio in the past). So they can't exactly tell people NOT to use them...the FCC has the final say.

Also, it remains to be seen if WKRC-TV or its owners at Newport Television will object, with the call letters being just one away from THAT. THAT alone may cause the FCC to pull the license unless a change is made.

NEW BLOG - Thoughts and Observations from N KY

Starting this morning, I branched out to a new blogosphere, if you will.

The new blog will cover personal observations and thoughts that have 100 percent NOTHING to do with Tri-State media, so as to keep this space strictly business from this point on. So, I hereby introduce to you:

Personal Thoughts and Observations from N KY

Contest Blog :)

Our friend, WIXY's Gone Bananas, just informed us of a contest one of his friends is having. It's run by someone by the name of shellmo, who runs a blog called Building a Log Cabin. Winner gets the prize of a loaf of Cranberry-Pecan Bread from a bakery in Ann Arbor, Michigan...that sounds good at 10:00 on a winter morning!

Click here to check it out...HURRY you MUST enter by 11 tonight!

More confirmation on WRRM's Christmas Rotation...How to hear DJ JMos23 (aka yours truly)...WKRC-TV DPF named Best In City...

An alert reader sent me confirmation that indeed WRRM-FM (98.5 Warm 98) does have some Christmas stuff in the rotation, and is adding more every day it seems...he sent the word at 4:35pm yesterday. Thanks Jonathan Goolsby for that...

And Jonathan brought up something that I should address regarding the station I am a DJ on (with another shift coming at 9am this morning, it's timely).

Some places DO block shoutcast servers...apparently, a lot of offices are such places. There IS a fix to get around that (Disclaimer: I don't necessarily endorse this at your workplace, do so at your own risk, but it IS a way to hear my station [and by extension, me] playing music).

Simply open Windows Media Player or Winamp. Go to File, then click Open URL. In the drop down box that should appear, you will want to type in http://208.53.158.48:9044. Then click OK. Simple as that.

Again, I am NOT putting a gun to your head and forcing you to use the tip. Do so at your own risk.

WKRC-TV's Dance Party Friday Named One of Cincy's Best: The popular Dance Party Friday segment hosted by the station's morning traffic reporter, Bob Herzog, received accolades from Cincinnati Magazine in it's new "Best Of the City" issue.

Seems the segment where Herzog dances in front of the traffic wall at 5:48am on Friday mornings when there are no major traffic problems (and dances, by his own admission, badly) is the Best Morning Show Trend in Cincinnati. Or something of that sort anyway.

If you didn't catch yesterday morning's segment where Herzog not only discussed the Cincinnati Magazine nod, but danced (and did really well at that) with the Radio City Rockettes, hit up Local12.com and look under Special Section on the front page.

Bob is a good friend of Your Tri-State Media Watcher...I get a kick out of seeing his moves every Friday. It manages to put a smile on my face, even when I haven't had the best morning.

McAlister Update...

Here's the latest update on WCKY 1530 (Homer) PM drive-time host Lance McAlister, as of half an hour ago, per his Lot D blog, as Your Tri-State Media Watcher prepares to do at least one, and possibly 2 on-air shifts between now and noon tomorrow, then spend time with the girlfriend...

McAlister says the procedure to implant a pacemaker for his heart was a success, and lasted about 45 minutes. He notes (in typical, everyday guy fashion) that the doctors couldn't honor his request for "Alive and Kicking" by Simple Minds to be played over the OR speakers.(NOTE TO LANCE: All you need to do is drop me a line, I'll play it for ya sometime soon on my online radio show) He says that he had to take two Percocet for pain, but other than that he is doing just fine and anticipates going home tomorrow, allowing him to attend that Cheetah Girls concert with his daughter. We here at TSMW wish Lance the best of luck in his recovery.

Flub-up at WLWT last night?...ABC to cancel 3 shows...

ABC Cancellations: It appears "Pushing Daisies" is, well, pushing daisies...and so are two other ABC dramas.

The show, along with "Dirty Sexy Money" and "Eli Stone" was cancelled today. No new episodes will air after the current supply runs out next month. "Daisies" and "Money" were axed because they could not re-capture an audience, while "Stone" never really could hang on to an audience to begin with. The shows aren't doing more than about 8 million viewers (and only "Stone" is even pulling THAT number nationally). From what I heard though, "Daisies" was doing fairly well here(as local band Seabird played a song on the show earlier in the season), as was "Money".

Wonder if fans will send daisy seeds or money to ABC to lobby them to bring the shows back...a la "Jericho" fans sending peanuts to CBS when that was cancelled the first time...

WLWT Doesn't Do Ads: WLWT-TV had coverage of the Bengals/Steelers game last night, as previously reported. Also as reported, they moved the NBC Thursday schedule over to the Weather Plus Channel.

There's just one problem.

Seems the station forgot to put in its own ads. That left viewers staring at the NBC logo during breaks. Whoops.

Headed into the Weekend Thoughts...

Just gonna put out a couple quick thoughts about local media stuff before the weekend...as yours truly will be scarce Saturday AND Sunday (see why I say Sunday at the end of this entry)...

Christmas Music and Giveaways: I am still looking for other radio stations that have started playing ANY Christmas tunes whatsoever. They don't have to be doing it 24/7, but any Christmas stuff you hear at all, let me know about it by emailing me. (ALREADY NOTED as of 11/22: WRRM-FM, WKRQ-FM and WOXY.com along with the two others below) (E-mail link is above at right)

UPDATE 5AM 11/21: I have now heard of two additional stations. Star 93.3 (WAKW-FM Cincinnati) and Lite 99.9 (Dayton's WLQT-FM), with the latter playing the music 24/7 until Christmas, and Star 93.3 doing it only on weekends until Thanksgiving. That word coming off of John Kiesewetter's blog entry about Christmas tunes.

WKRQ-FM (101.9, Q102) is in the midst of their "Q102 Christmas Beach Bonus" giveaway. You can win a 4 day/3 night stay at the Henderson Park Inn, a beachside bed and breakfast in Destin, Florida, which is on Northwest Florida's Emerald Coast courtesy of the station, Cincinnati Tan Company, and that area's Convention and Visitor's Bureau. Details are on the station's website. The next chance to qualify, if I am correct, is TODAY at 9am, with additional chances after that until 5:00pm with Jeff & Fritsch, Grover, and Brian & Laura, then they will award the second of 3 trips at 5pm tonight...

Bengals Nation: Your Tri-State Media Watcher made a cameo appearance at the "Bengals Nation with Coach Marvin Lewis" taping on Wednesday night. Watch for me on the show Saturday night at 11:35pm on WKRC-TV (Local 12 CBS), or Sunday morning at 11:00am on The CW Cincinnati (Local 12.2, named such for its DTV location; it can be found on Time-Warner cable channel 20 in Cincy, or on Insight Cable [N KY] or DirectTV [throughout the Tri-State] channel 25). I go every week because I support my team...but, next week because of Thanksgiving, and the possibility that the festivities may be here, I won't be at that taping.

Happy 1 Month Anniversary This Weekend: On a personal note this is going out to my real-life girlfriend, Doris. We're celebrating one month of dating this Sunday...I love you babe...

This does not have much to do with media...per se...

But, I do want to put out a weather update for anybody reading from the Cleveland/Akron/Canton areas(or for anybody from the Cincy/Dayton areas headed that direction).

A Lake Effect Snow WARNING remains in effect for Cleveland and Akron.

Generally, 6-10 inches of snow is forecast for those cities with 1-3" forecast for Canton. However...if you're going to Chardon, Ohio, that area could be especially hard-hit with 1 to 2 FEET of snowfall tonight through tomorrow in the highest elevations!

Take the emergency kit if you MUST travel...if you do not have to though, stay at home! Do not take chances...

In lake effect snow, visibility can go from 5 miles to near zero in a matter of miles or even minutes. If you must travel...please use extreme caution and carry the emergency kit, to include battery powered flashlights, a NOAA weather radio (battery powered), non-perishable food, a cell phone, and blankets.

THIS JUST IN: Lance McAlister Hospitalized

1530 WCKY (AKA 1530 Homer) PM drive-time host Lance McAlister is in the hospital tonight. He posted about it in his blog, which you can read here. (Note From Editor: To comment, you will have to register for the site. But, the good news is, it's FREE.)

He says he will have a pacemaker inserted tomorrow morning, and hopes to be out of the hospital Sunday (in time to take his daughter to the Cheetah Girls concert at US Bank Arena).

What a class act. If you like, you may leave him an email here

And On a Related Note: Your Tri-State Media Watcher has been down all day with a MASSIVE migraine. So, if there's an item I have missed in the Cincy OR Dayton area, PLEASE email me! Link is at the above right.

How many migraines does it take to knock out one Media Watcher?

Only one. Cincinnati media will do that to you. ;-)

People, Let Me Tell Ya About My (New) Best Friend(s)

Went all lyrical on y'all but, it's how Your Tri-State Media Watcher is sometimes...and considering I have my 3 hour on-air DJ shift at 9am, it's a good mood to be in.

Anyway, on to the reason for the title of this blog...I have two new friends to introduce you to tonight, and who have been linked at the top right of the page:

WIXY's Gone Bananas: This one is by a man in the town of Rittman, Ohio(Near Cleveland somewhere, I believe). He found me courtesy of the entry about the Blog-O-Fun by the people who originally inspired this blog, my friends at Ohio Media Watch. He can be found here.

Cleveland Classical Media: Here's a friend of the above. He focuses on Cleveland, but the difference between him and OMW is, he focuses on the history of the market. He introduces me here. And the rest of his blog can be found here.

And Finally: Seeing as how I dropped the hint about needing to be on air at 9am, here's the link. Generally, I play music from the 90s and today...the only thing we (as a station) don't play is country music. If it's rockin', we play it(or more specifically, I play it). We have the name Baby Dolls. (Don't ask where that came from, I am just a DJ, albeit the Assistant Head DJ Manager). I currently do Thursday-Saturday mornings, 9 to noon Cincinnati Time, and fill-in at other times during the week as well where I am needed.

WNKU-FM Flips Switch on New Transmitter...Bengals Bounce WLWT Programming - But Not to Tape Delay

New Transmitter: WNKU-FM (89.7) turned on a brand new transmitter today. Most Northern Kentuckians won't notice much of a difference, but there's improvements on reception in Newport and a few areas where in the past the signal was very weak. The signal will also be able now to bounce between buildings and behind hills.

The new transmitter is also capable of multicasting, or broadcasting more than one channel simultaneously, according to WNKU engineers. The station will decide what format their second channel will be, and it will launch by next summer. The station will be able to broadcast in digital and analog, and anyone with an HD radio will be able to hear WNKU in clear, crisp digital sound.

NBC Lineup gets a Bengal Bounce: The Cincinnati Bengals vs. Pittsburgh Steelers game bounces Channel 5(WLWT)'s programming tomorrow night.

"The Office," "30 Rock," "ER, "My Name Is Earl" and "Kath & Kim" all get bounced from their normal spot tomorrow as NFL rules require an over-the-air station in both teams' home markets to broadcast the game. Channel 5 has decided to move the programs onto their digital channel 5-2, which normally carries their Weather Plus channel. You'll have to watch on a digital TV, OR use cable. On Time Warner, that's channel 906, on Insight in Northern Kentucky, it's channel 431. OR you can catch them online late Thursday night, on NBC.com or Hulu.com, presumably after 11pm. If you're on satellite...you're out of luck unless you use one of the other options. Neither DirectTV nor Dish Network carry 5-2. None of this, however, affects Dayton. So if you're in the northern suburbs, you ALSO have the option to try and tune in WDTN-TV (Channel 2).

Nielsen to do radio ratings in some markets...but NOT Cincinnati!

The good folks with both our friends @ Ohio Media Watch, and Radio-info.com, report that Nielsen, more widely known for doing TV ratings, is going to branch out into radio ratings as well.

The word is that Cumulus is asking Nielsen to do radio ratings in 50 small and midsize markets. In 17 markets, according to the New York Times, Clear Channel will also take part in this service.

As of 2:15am, Radio-Info had identified these markets...but only one is represented in Ohio...Youngstown. This of course means in Cincinnati, both companies will still use Arbitron, which is the standard for radio ratings (even though CC and Cumulus DO compete here). We also note, however, that included in the list of new markets for Nielsen is...Lexington-Fayette, Kentucky, about one hour south of Cincinnati (making that about 45 minutes south of the headquarters for TSMW in the Cincy southern suburb of Florence, Kentucky...some Lexington signals can be heard as far north as Grant County, KY). So, there is one market within the normal traveling sphere of influence of this blog.

Quick post before I depart for the evening...

...as real life interferes again, with a wrapup of a couple stories making news in our market (one of which is actually a national story affecting every Fox affiliate in the country):

ESPN Gets Deal for BCS: It's just been announced that ESPN has secured a deal to broadcast the Bowl Championship Series beginning in 2011, according to the network in a press release sent out this afternoon. That removes the bowls from free TV, meaning you have to get cable to see the games starting in 2011. However, until then, Fox Sports continues to broadcast the games on WXIX-TV 19 and, in Dayton, on WRGT-TV 45.

KISS 107 Caroling With the TV Stars: WKFS-FM (107.1 Kiss FM) has started another competition between news anchors at the TV stations in Cincinnati.

KISS-FM's morning show duo of Tim and George (at least, they are for now, until the sale of Clear Channel is complete) is hosting the "Caroling with the News Stars" contest, where the winners will have $1000 donated in their name(half to the Dave Thomas Foundation, with the other half going to the charity of the winners' choice). You can vote here until Monday. The field of four will be cut to 2 at 7am Monday, and the winners will be announced the day before Thanksgiving.

WRRM-FM Gets "Sonrise"..."Sound" flip post-Christmas?

In slightly old news:

Radio-info.com reported Thursday that WRRM-FM became the newest affiliate of United Stations Radio Networks’ syndicated Sunday morning Christian “Sonrise” program. If I recall correctly, the program was heard on WKRQ before now. So, unless I am wrong/off-base, Sonrise is now exclusive to WRRM as of this past weekend.

"Sound" to Flip to Talk?: There are new rumors regarding 97.3 FM WSWD/WYGY "The Sound".

Seems there are unconfirmed rumors being circulated on radio-info.com's message boards that a) "The Sound" will flip to all Christmas music soon and then b) change formats sometime after the first of the year. None of that is confirmed...but it is possible. If the station's format does not get good numbers at the new frequency, then a change is totally possible. You'll recall that one of the first items reported here on the Blog-O-Fun was the swap of frequencies between "The Sound" and what is now 94.9FM "The Wolf".

Happy Birthday...

Happy birthday to WKRQ-FM's Jeff Thomas. He's 41 today.

Jeff will be hosting the Jeff and Jenn Morning Show this week with their producer Fritch while his partner Jenn is on vacation. We've already heard several surprises on the show this morning.

By the way, the show currently is number 4 in votes in Local12's contest (see previous entry). They're down by over 10,000 votes! Ouch...

LOCAL 12 Asking Viewers to Pick Best Radio Morning Show

WKRC-TV (Channel 12 CBS) is asking its viewers to pick their favorite morning show. You can vote here. Here are your choices and the station they're affiliated with (common name of station is in parentheses, since not everyone goes by the station ID):

Amanda & Chris-WUBE 105.1FM (B105)
Brian Thomas-WKRC 550AM (55KRC)
Chris & Janeen-WGRR 103.5FM (Cincinnati's Greatest Hits WGRR 103.5)
The Dawn Patrol-WEBN 102.7FM (WEBN)
Dean & Randi-WRRM 98.5FM (WARM 98)
Jeff & Jenn-WKRQ 101.9FM (Q102)
Jim Scott-WLW 700AM (700WLW)
Tim & George-WKFS 107.1FM (KISS 107)

And Speaking of Amanda Orlando: WLWT-TV (Channel 5 NBC) has just announced that tonight at 6pm they are running a story about the B105 Morning Show host, and her personal struggle to have a second child.

Stations Beginning Christmas Tunes

The Blog-O-Fun is back from its 3 day break (which came because real life, aka housesitting, interfered)...with a holiday-themed, lighthearted item to start a new week! And boy, do us media-blogging types need it!

Several stations have begun airing Christmas music as of tonight.

WRRM-FM(98.5, WARM 98): The station began playing Christmas music this weekend, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer's John Kiesewetter. They also have an online music stream at warm98.com.

WKRQ-FM(101.9, Q102): Your Tri-State Media Watcher heard an advertisement last week on the station for it's "Commercial-Free Christmas" stream, which can be heard on its website at www.wkrq.com.

WOXY.com(net only stream far as I am aware): According to a volunteer at that station, they have also begun THEIR Christmas music stream.

WNNF-FM(Radio 94.1): In the past, when it was known as Mix94.1, this station also would go to all Christmas tunes in November. However, it is currently unclear whether or not they will have Christmas music this year, and if they are going to, Your Tri-State Media Watcher has yet to hear it. If they do, and I happen to hear it, I'll post about it.

OK so, here's a hypothetical question for you: Is November 16 too early to start hearing Christmas tunes on radio? If so, why, and if not, explain. :)

With Nothing Going On...

...The Blog-O-Fun will be taking a short 3-day hiatus as Real Life interferes with this little thing we call blogging. If anything major happens in the Cincy market between now and Sunday night, I'll post it. Otherwise, I will blog again Monday, November 17.

WLWT-TV Chief Met missing from 5pm broadcasts?

Apparently, WLWT-TV chief meteorologist Derek Beasley may be having a tougher time with his split shift than expected.

According to a reader of John Kiesewetter's blog (and confirmed by TSMW), Beasley has not been on the 5 or 5:30pm newscasts all week. It's unclear whether he is on the 5-7am News 5 Today program or not. I will be checking on this story later this morning and will update this story...If he's not on the News 5 Today program, he may just be taking a well-deserved vacation...but if he is, look for a change at the Power of 5...Valerie Abati may possibly be moving into the Chief Met's slot, and Beasley back to morning/noon, which could leave either Eric Green, Randi Rico or John Bateman seeking employment...There's also the possibility that Green may actually be off this week, which means Beasley is having to cover the morning and noon news, which would be why Abati is doing all of the evening news.

UPDATE: Beasley DID indeed do News 5 Today on Tuesday morning. So either Green is on vacation, OR my thinking about a change at WLWT is correct.

UPDATE 12:10pm 11/12: Eric Green was on News 5 at Noon today. Beasley is working on a project for the morning news, according to John Kiesewetter. He won't be on 5-6pm this week, but is expected to return next week.

DTV - A look at what Cincinnati Stations are doing

As we count down to the transition to Digital TV on February 17, 2009, I thought we should look at what Cincinnati stations are doing to prepare viewers.

Which is to say, not much.

All I have seen on Cincinnati TV is the federally mandated public service announcements, although Fox19 (WXIX-TV/DT) HAS put its own talent in one of them. And they also give little factoids about the big switch during their 10pm newscasts. I have also seen features about the transition on that newscast.

But 19 seems to be going it alone in this market.

Nothing more than the PSA's has been seen on channels 5 (WLWT-TV/DT), 9(WCPO-TV/DT), OR 12(WKRC-TV/DT). Or heck, even though they don't have a news department, on WSTR-TV/DT 64. Or at least, Your Tri-State Media Watcher hasn't seen it.

These stations need to do a LOT more. Here's some ideas for the 5 stations in our market.

1) Hold open houses in the area! Two stations in the Cleveland/Youngstown TV market already are doing it. (Hat Tip: OMW)
2) Conduct some kind of testing. Tell the viewers what will happen, but also show them. Don't do it during prime time, but do something!
3) BLITZ, BLITZ, BLITZ! We aren't talking about the kind of blitz the Cincinnati Bengals have trouble with. No, we mean a MAJOR public information campaign. Don't stop at the minimum! Do stories every week on your newscasts! WXIX is already doing it on a semi-regular basis. Why can't 5, 9, or 12?
4) Maybe you should also consider putting together a program, and simulcast it on all the stations at 7 on a week night. That's one program I would likely watch.

Right now, 19 is going it alone. I believe 5, 9, and 12 all need to step in and help. Not everyone in town watches Fox19. If we did, yes it'd be easier. But come on...your viewers need to know!

Update on the "Two Angry Guys" show on 96.5

This morning, WFTK-FM 96.5 (96 Rock) program director Michael Walter joined Tom Gamble on the "Two Angry Guys" show. Walter does afternoon drive for the station, and was formerly a DJ on WEBN-FM (102.7) which is based out of the Kenwood Tower. According to Walter, this is a permanent move for him to replace Richard Skinner, let go 11/7 in a budget move. This means their evening guy, known as JD, will be moving to afternoons. That of course leaves 7pm-6am vacant. And most likely, they may not find anyone to fill the slot for a while.

As an internet radio DJ myself, Your Tri-State Media Watcher (tm) knows how shifting shifts works. As a matter of fact, recently yours truly had to shift for a few nights to cover prime-time.

Welcome To Tri-State Media Watch!

Hello everyone, and welcome to the first Tri-State Media Watch blog. I will tell you a little about myself, and give you a few tidbits of information about some phrases I will use frequently throughout this blog.

I am a 23 year old internet radio disc jockey from Florence, Kentucky. I am squarely in the Cincinnati, Ohio radio and TV markets. I do listen to a bunch of the stations around here, such as 101.9 WKRQ-FM (Q102), WYGY-FM 97.3 (97.3 The Sound, more on that in a moment), 700 WLW-AM, and others.

Frequently Used Phrases: Here's a few things you'll need to know when perusing this blog:

Kenwood Tower: The Clear Channel Cincinnati Radio headquarters, in the Kenwood, Ohio area of Cincinnati, just off Montgomery Road.
Bonneville Mountain: The HQ of Bonneville Broadcasting's Cincinnati cluster, on Reading Road on Mount Auburn, just north of Downtown Cincinnati.
Cumulus Central: HQ of Cumulus Media, on Central Avenue downtown.
OMW: Ohio Media Watch, which inspired me to write specifically about the Cincinnati area. Thanks guys - you can catch them at ohiomedia.blogspot.com :)

A couple news items to begin the new TSMW Blog-O-Fun:

Skinner Out Again: Cumulus announced it had let Richard Skinner, formerly of the Two Angry Guys Morning Show on rock station 96.5 WFTK-FM, go on 11/7 (Friday) after that show's airing. He had just signed a new contract in October, and was surprised but not, well, angry about the decision, according to John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer. TSMW wishes Mr. Skinner the best of luck in the future. (NOTE FROM THE EDITOR: I was not in town, I thought the change had taken place today. It was not, see next entry for details)

WSWD/WYGY Frequency Swap: I mentioned a moment ago about the fact I listen to 97.3 The Sound, which is WYGY-FM. Well that wasn't always its location before Friday.

WYGY and WSWD-FM 94.9FM (former location of The Sound) swapped frequencies Friday morning, while yours truly was on his way to Louisville, Kentucky. WSWD is now 94.9 The Wolf (formerly located on 97.3). The Wolf is a country station, sister to WUBE-FM 105.1 (B105). All are owned by Bonneville, together with WKRQ-FM. (Hat Tip: OMW for alerting yours truly to the switch, as I did not have a radio handy and was traveling with the MP3 player at the time)

One problem for faithful 94.9 The Sound listeners, especially in Northern Kentucky: The new frequency only has 6,000 watts of power, whereas 94.9 had 50,000 watts. That means that at BEST, the signal might reach down into parts of Florence. But when yours truly checked on the signal last night about 3am, it was staticky at best and at worst, downright unlistenable.

We've heard that apparently, Bonneville made the move to protect B105, in case any eventual new owner of 94.1 or 92.5 decides to flip either to country. We aren't sure whether the latter will happen, but it's a smart move made by the folks over at Bonneville Mountain.

And, just to bring things full circle, 97.3 WAS WAQZ-FM, which played...ready for this...Alternative Rock! So, after about 2 years or so, 97.3 is again an Alternative Rock station.
That's all for the first edition. Keep it locked, and when new media news breaks, I'll cover it here at the Blog-O-Fun!