Churning Out One More Item

We missed this earlier in the week - but we're catching it now!

WSTR-TV 64/Cincinnati, which rebranded last week with the old/new moniker of "Star 64", just upped their power to 60 kW, and installed a new antenna custom built for the terrain of the Tri-State.

John Kiesewetter reported Monday that the new antenna is about 72 feet taller, at 902 feet vs. 830 feet. However, the antenna is still located on what's known in local media geek circles as "STAR Tower", aka WSTR's broadcast tower in College Hill on Winton Road. It was custom built for WSTR, so that it can cover the hilly terrain of the area, says John Lawhead, WSTR General Manager.

A note: We can't find the CP allowing WSTR to increase their power in the FCC database. Whether that's because it's another one of those Petitions for Rulemaking, or it's just not in the database, we don't know. But we can't imagine them doing this, without FCC approval. So we're assuming it's just not in the online database yet.

THIS JUST IN: WKRP-TV Picks Up KY Lotto + EXCLUSIVE: New Subchannel for OTA Digital 25!

We've just heard that WKRP-TV (which is a subchannel of WOTH-LP 25/Cincinnati) has picked up the Kentucky Lottery beginning tomorrow at 10:58 PM.

The low power station still has carriage in Northern Kentucky on Insight Cable digital channel 189, but is not on Time Warner Cable in Cincinnati. In the city, it's only available over the air at 25.2 on digital. We're told you can also get it via Cincinnati Bell channel 24 if you subscribe to that service.

Our standard reminder when talking about WKRP-TV: They never officially changed call letters. They were on analog at channel 38 as WBQC-CA, until moving to digital over the summer. The WKRP branding is just that - branding. (25.1 is branded as "The Other Channel".)

And we now have an exclusive scoop: We just spoke with Elliot Block, and he tells us that those viewers who receive the over-air signal can expect to see 25.5 light up next week. We'll have more on that Friday afternoon, but it's not clear what they'll do with the channel.

Currently, the station has 4 digital subchannels. 25.1 is WOTH-LP, 25.2 is WKRP, 25.3 is Retro Television Network, and 25.4 is Jewelry TV. (The last of these airs overnights also, on Insight cable channel 6.)

Battle of Ohio Sparks Rivalry Between Two Talk Powerhouses

You'd have to live under a rock to not know that the yearly Battle of Ohio's first act is this weekend. And now, the talk powerhouses in the two cities with NFL franchises involved are going at it.

News/talk 700 WLW-AM/Cincinnati and sister station 1100 WTAM/Cleveland are going at it online, after Bob Frantz of the Cleveland talker posted a video blasting Bengals fans.

Now, WLW has fired back, with this response posted on the station website lambasting Cleveland Browns fans.

Now, we're an impartial blog when it comes to media. But...not when it comes to our sports teams. Being Cincy-based and Your Tri-State Media Watcher being a Cincinnati-area native, we're Bengals/Reds/Bearcats/Wildcats fans. (Don't ask us to choose between UK and UC if they face off though - it gives us headaches. Heh.) We wonder if WTAM knew what they were in for when they decided to post that attack on the Bengals fans. One could argue they did, since WTAM and WLW are both Clear Channel stations. But WLW tends to be a machine when it comes to stirring up the pot.

I'll be at WKRC-TV 12/Cincinnati's Bengals Nation later tonight...and I for one will be interested in seeing who there has seen the video...and what their response is...

(Quick Note 1:15 PM: By the way, the ONLY reason we found out about it, is that 700 newsman Bill Rinehart started following us on our Twitter. We might not have seen it otherwise...)

LOCAL 12 In High-Definition - The Review

We said we would review Local 12 WKRC-TV/Cincinnati's HD launch - and so we are now with this post.

First off, it wasn't without its technical glitches - which we think will be fixed for tonight's 5 PM newscast in 35 minutes. Sometimes the picture broke up - but that's to be expected for the first broadcast. There weren't audio troubles which is good.

As for the look of the graphics... we like them - no wait, we LOVE them. They're sharper, clearer, and easier to see even on a Standard Definition television. Again - highly impressive.

The weather graphics they are now using (and we don't know the source, whether those are done in-house or are a package sent from somewhere else) are extremely well done as well. For a weather geek like yours truly, we imagine those are fun for the PD12 Weather team to play with.

Finally, we didn't get to see a newscast open last night - they went straight to a breaking news alert. We still wonder if they changed that at all. I guess we will see during the 5:00 news tonight...

WKRC's Local 12 News At 11 In HD Tonight!

UPDATE 2: And we wonder now if WKRC-DT2 is also joining in the HD newscasts? The official launch was to be at 11, but... the LOCAL12 News At 10 is going on now on WKRC 12.2 - from their normal studio. Are they using the new technology? And if so - the next question is can they even DO HD news on 12.2 while 12.1 is doing other programming in HD?

We've gotten word that it's going to officially happen today.

WKRC-TV 12/Cincinnati will officially go HD tonight for the news at 11.

We know why they chose today to do the conversion. Apparently, according to this update from Kiese, engineers need 12 hours to do the HD conversion. And with the Bengals facing down the Steelers this afternoon at 4:15 PM, today worked best since they're going to pre-empt the 6 PM newscast.

Look for the launch of the new logo as well. We've noticed it's already being rolled out in a few places on the website, such as Local 12's weather page. (UPDATE 10:00 PM: The new

logo has gone live on Local12.com site-wide now, and it looks exactly like our reader sent to us weeks ago. Look for the on-air launch for Local 12 at 11 tonight... we wonder how the newscast open will change.)

FOX19 Trying Something

FOX19 WXIX-TV/Newport has had the idea to copy something "Today" and "Good Morning America" do, by having a band play on Fountain Square.

And John Kiesewetter reports that they're going to test it tomorrow morning at 8 AM. If it works, a summer concert series on the square would start next year.

The band to test the idea? A band being featured as part of the Midpoint Music Festival, named Come On Go With Us.

There's a couple logistical issues however that might prohibit the idea.

For one, as Kiese notes...it'd be kind of difficult to get a satellite feed from the WXIX-TV studios (19 Broadcast Plaza at 635 W. 7th, just outside of the central business district) to Fountain Square and vice versa. That's because of Fountain Square's location downtown. So they'll need a fiber optic feed.

Another issue is that the city had to waive its limitation on amplified music so that Come On Go With Us could play there on the Square. FOX19 has obtained the waiver for this performance.

So we'll see how the logistics work. We'll be in Cincinnati tomorrow morning early, after a quick stop at Newport on the Levee to cover WKRQ-FM 101.9/Cincinnati's Bras Across The Bridge.

No HDTV for Local12...Yet

Well, it was to happen today...but that's not to be.

Local12 VP/GM Les Vann says they've been rehearsing for the last week, but have decided to postpone the launch of HD newscasts. (Maybe they want to be sure they get it right.) It now looks like next week will be the big launch.

Now, we know that we were the first to report it would be this week, last week. As such, we take responsibility for what we wrote.

Our source at the station told us last Wednesday that it would go this weekend. We wrote our post of that day, to report what we knew. We stand by what we wrote. Simple.

Normally, yours truly doesn't feel the need to defend what we wrote. But in this case, we are. Whatever reason WKRC found to delay the HD launch, and we don't necessarily believe it was us, it had to be significant...

Breast Cancer and Diabetes Fundraisers, and a Record Deal Note

As the week begins, we're basically stuck talking about WKRQ-FM 101.9/Cincinnati (not because they're not a good station - they are...) only because we're holding off on writing about the other big story of the day...We do have two other, slightly off-topic notes however...

Bosom Ball: Sunday night, while perusing the WKRQ website at http://www.wkrq.com, we noticed an announcement we hadn't yet seen. The station announced the annual Bosom Ball for Breast Cancer, to be held 10/15 at Madison Theater in Covington, KY. The show will feature three national acts (quoting from the announcement page here):

THE SCRIPT is an Irish trio that has opened for the legendary Paul McCartney and for U2 in their hometown of Dublin. The Script is 8 times platinum in the United Kingdom and has sold over 1.5 million albums worldwide!

PARACHUTE is a pop rock band from Charlottesville, Virginia. The members graduated from college in May 2008 and since then have been touring and promoting their debut album, Losing Sleep, full-time.

KRIS ALLEN is this year’s winner of American Idol! Kris’ path to victory included memorable performances of Bill Withers’ “Ain’t No Sunshine,” Michael Jackson’s “Man in the Mirror” and Kanye West’s “Heartless.”

Yes, this year's AI winner will be in town to perform. We're not sure Allen hasn't been touring yet.

Tickets are $25 apiece, and the event is a 21+ event... but, there will be a special soundcheck party for those under 21...with details still to be announced. The ticket price goes to Susan G. Komen for the Cure and the American Cancer Society.

Bras Across The Purple Bridge: Well, that's not exactly what they're calling it - but you will soon see why.

Q102's Jeff and Jenn Morning Show will be broadcasting live on Friday morning from Newport on the Levee, in an effort to string hundreds of bras...yes, bras...across the bridge known affectionately in Cincinnati as the Purple People Bridge, but which carries the official name of the L&N bridge.

In order to string Bras Across The Bridge, the morning duo needs...well, bras. And lots of them.

They're taking $5 donations, and your bras, at these locations this week:

-- Q102 Studios, 2060 Reading Road, Mount Auburn (known to TSMW readers as Bonneville Mountain)
-- 9/21 Daymar College in Bellevue (above Urban Active) 5-6 p.m.
-- 9/22 Newport on the Levee noon-1 p.m.
-- 9/23 Daymar College in Bellevue (above Urban Active) noon-1 p.m.
-- 9/24 Newport on the Levee noon-1 p.m.

Then, at the 6-10 AM broadcast, they'll put the bras together and raise them up on the Purple People Bridge beginning sometime after 7 AM.

Volunteers are needed for the effort, and you can help by meeting at the south end of the main span of the bridge at 7 AM.

As with the Bosom Ball, the donations will go to Susan G. Komen for the Cure, and will also help other local breast cancer-related efforts.

Fashion Rules on Air: Finally, another announcement, coming both from WKRQ's facebook and station website as well.

This time, it's a contest. Yes, a contest. Or a couple of them.

First, the station's Facebook fan page announced this earlier tonight:

We're going contest crazy this week on Q -- and our Facebook fans will have the inside track to winning. Suggest this page to your friends and leave a comment saying you did. Everyone who does will be entered to win a $50 gas card. Contest ends Wednesday.

Then, from the station website:

If you think Vogue is a text book And runways are for walking summon your inner-fashionista and play Q102’s Fashion Rules. Liststen each weekday at 7:40 am, 9:40 am, 11:40 am, 1:40 pm and 3:30 pm. Correctly answer a question about fashion-ology and you’ll win a $100 gift card to the new Nordstrom in Kenwood, the hottest store to open in years!

We do have one correction...apparently, someone mis-typed up there at Bonneville Mountain.

The page linked above says "Fashion Rukes". Oops...

WKRC-TV Feel Good Moment: We do have one TV note, not related to the day's other big story (we'll write that one later today, we promise...).

As you may or may not be aware, Saturday morning Your Tri-State Media Watcher had the privilege and pleasure to attend, and walk in, the 2009 JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes. The effort to raise money for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation's Cincinnati Chapter had WKRC-TV 12 "Local12"/Cincinnati and WKRC-AM 550 "55KRC"/Cincinnati as presenting sponsors.

The "Feel Good Moment" we reference has to do with someone we recently wrote about for her work doing sports for the news station.

Cammy Dierking was, what do we call her...the emcee for the morning's festivities.

Yours truly was walking as part of Lindsay Lou's Walking Crew, which is captained by a personal friend of mine, Lindsay Zeis.

We first saw Dierking as she arrived at the walk site. After briefly explaining why we were there, Dierking said she wanted to meet Zeis. Which we were happy to help facilitate.

The reason we call this a feel good moment? It reminded us of something we said when we wrote of Dierking's fill in stint as sports anchor (the job she was originally hired to do wayyyyy back when yours truly was 4 years old).

From our post of that day:

And an aside: We're glad to see local anchor people who have not lost touch with the people they are giving information to every day. Sometimes, people can become thick-headed and/or arrogant when they reach a position such as that Dierking holds. Not Dierking, and not several others for that matter. We don't want to name any specific examples, but we've heard of a few people who were just the opposite.

That was written 3 months ago. And the above moment from Saturday morning, was really proof of what we wrote above.

Don't get us wrong: We're sure people with similar attitudes as Dierking work at every TV and radio station in town. This is just one observation that we saw of someone going the extra mile to make a person feel like their story was important.

Fantom Records Looking To Get Word Out: We've gotten this one through a friend of ours, Christopher Tolbert of the Fantom Records Street Team.

Fantom is looking to get the word out about a big time party, featuring their artists - possibly to include another friend of yours truly.

There will be a Fantom Halloween Bash (we're not yet sure of the name) on October 24 starting at 5 PM, featuring several of the label's artists. It will be at 106 Conroy Street in Falmouth, KY. Tickets will be $5, and it includes a haunted farm and hayride along with music. It is for all ages, according to our friend Christopher.

For details, log onto their myspace, at www.myspace.com/fantomrecordz.

As a general rule, we haven't really promoted record labels or records, or even artists, on this blog.

But, we're posting this in hopes that maybe the local radio stations who read us, will go down to Falmouth on 10/24 to check the talent out... it sounds like it is going to be a decent evening of fun and some great music...

BREAKING NEWS: WCPO Petitions to Abandon Channel 10

UPDATE 10 PM 9/20: We were told yesterday of the reason we could not yet find an application in the database.

As it turns out, what WCPO filed was a PRM, or Petition for Rule Making...and as a general rule, you won't find these in the FCC's Station Application Database.

However, Trip did send us the petition (Warning: Fairly Large PDF Ahead!).

And that petition spells out, pretty clearly, why WCPO wants to move to channel 22...

The original item is below...

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This came via e-mail to us from Trip of the excellent site, Rabbitears.info!

Trip tells us today that WCPO has petitioned the FCC to abandon their channel 10 allocation for their digital signal, and make a move to RF 22 at 1000 feet (305 m) with 1000 kW of power.

That would tie them with WLWT-TV 5 (RF 35) for most powerful signal in the area, and definitely eliminate WCPO's ongoing VHF Problem.

More, as we can get it...

BREAKING: Inside Source CONFIRMS WKRC Going HD This Weekend!

We believe this is an EXCLUSIVE...if it's not, we're the latest ones to have this...

At Wednesday night's Bengals Nation taping, a source inside WKRC-TV 12/Cincinnati told TSMW that the station will launch their HD newscasts on Sunday night.

You might recall that Tuesday we alerted you that there were rumblings circulating that even Kiese heard about suggesting an HD launch next week. And now, based on our friends there, we can confirm it.

Weather Channel Out?

UPDATE 12:30 AM 9/17: We're hearing from one of our readers that it was a fire drill inside the Weather Channel studios in Atlanta. We didn't happen to catch any on-air explanations that happened around 4 PM, as we had just left to attend a WKRC-TV Bengals Nation taping.

While we can understand that it was a fire drill and of course in fire drills you do need to evacuate immediately, here's one thing we wonder: Why couldn't, or didn't, TWC automate their systems, so that the program, and associated commercials, could run without human intervention? We would assume they'd have that capability in their still-shiny new HD control room...

Just food for thought. Original item is below...

________________________________________

We wonder what just happened...

Here at the Tri-State Media Watch HQ in suburban Cincinnati, I was listening to the Weather Channel on Insight cable 30 while talking to my girlfriend. For whatever reason, they're now just doing a looping national forecast instead of "It Could Happen Tomorrow" which had been airing just before it went out...

We're tracking it down, but we think it's a problem on the NBC Universal-owned Weather Channel's end of things...

And just as we finished typing the item, it was fixed in time for the last two minutes of the program...

WKRC To Finally Launch HD News??

We had this one weeks ago...
No official word, but it looks more and more like WKRC-TV 12/Cincinnati will go HD next week. That would definitely be logical, as the new TV season begins next week. Of course, WKRC has been preparing for an HD launch for months, since their new set debuted late last year. Then there was the matter of that graphic that we spotted on the side of a Local12 news van a month ago, and that a TSMW reader helped confirm (below):
Another reason Local12's move to HD makes sense to happen next week: WXIX-TV 19/Newport goes to a 1 hour 6 PM newscast on Monday. That of course means 3 out of four news programs will be HD. (Still nothing from WLWT about them launching HD News.)

All of this means, watch next week... I would look for WKRC to launch HD Sunday night or Monday morning...

Some TV, But One Radio Note...

It looks like a mix for our Monday update...

"My" Star 64: Before it became "My 64" or even a WB affiliate as "WB 64", WSTR-TV 64/Cincinnati was known as "Star 64".

The Star is back.

John Kiesewetter has the details:

Explains GM Jon Lawhead: “After years of calling ourselves WB64 and My64, we are returning to our most popular and memorable brand, ”Star 64″. It’s kind of like re-introducing an old friend. People in Cincinnati still call us “Star64.” I’m still introduced at functions as being from “Star64.” It takes a long time to achieve brand equity and we already have it with “Star64.” It makes all the sense in the world to capitalize on a memorable brand and we’ll return to it effective Sept. 21…. We are not abandoning our network by any stretch. As you can see, the new logo has the MyNet background and colors.”

Kiese has one thing wrong, however. WWE Smackdown is original programming every week. There are no reruns of the World Wrestling Entertainment program at all...

WMUB Wins More Awards: John Hingsbergen, the former PD of WMUB-FM 88.5/Oxford, sent word that the Society of Professional Journalists awarded WMUB with these honors during their recent awards dinner.

28 – SHORT FEATURE, RADIO
1. “Fast Fungi”
Tana Weingartner, WMUB-FM
Judge: Downright lovely, and informative.

2. “Student Protest”
Gary Scott, WMUB-FM

29 – LONG FEATURE, RADIO
1. “Model-T Party”
Gary Scott, WMUB-FM
Judge: This entry just has form­and the nostalgia element doesn’t hurt either. Good work.

31 – SPORTS COVERAGE, RADIO
1. “Double Dutch Champions”
Cheri Lawson, WMUB-FM
Well done; love mix of audio. Hard to decide between 1st and

2. “Chi Running”
Cheri Lawson, WMUB-FM

32 – BUSINESS COVERAGE, RADIO
1. “EnterTrainment”
Cheri Lawson, WMUB-FM
Judge: I was fascinated by this feature. Excellent­what more can I say?

2. “Borrower Outreach”
Tana Weingartner, WMUB-FM

34 – PUBLIC AFFAIRS, RADIO
1. “Threshold Choirs”
Cheri Lawson, WMUB-FM
Judge: All entries were excellent, but as to subject matter, this one was unique. Splendid use of narrative with music, and vice versa. I was moved by this, and I imagine many WMUB listeners were as well.

2. “Sew Much Comfort”
Gary Scott, WMUB-FM

3. “Homeless Gateway Plan”
Tana Weingartner, WMUB-FM

And on a related note, John passes along word that one of the award winners, Cheri Lawson, is now doing some feature work and fill-ins at WNKU-FM 89.7/Highland Heights.

We congratulate WMUB on all of these awards. As we noted to John, we hope the talented staff of the now-repeater of WVXU 91.7/Cincinnati finds something steady...a talented group like this shouldn't be out of work...

WKRC's Bengals Nation: Last week, yours truly attended the 1st taping of "Bengals Nation with Coach Marvin Lewis" from Cadillac Ranch, 41 E. 6th Street, downtown.

Our thoughts on it? We had a couple:

-- The taping is definitely a more intimate atmosphere. At Gameworks on the Levee, you didn't have that.

-- They have some kinks to work out. Like, they taped a game on the patio. What happens in December when it snows? Where do they move it then?

-- Overall, the quality of the show didn't decrease all that much. We were pleased with it. But we wish they hadn't eliminated the screaming crowd opening...

UPDATE: Bengals WILL Air Locally Tomorrow!

The local NFL franchise WILL have their game shown in Cincinnati, Dayton and Lexington on Sunday.

WKRC-TV 12 and Kroger stepped up and bought most of the tickets for the game according to this report from the station.

The game will air at 1 PM on WKRC, WHIO-TV 7/Dayton and WKYT-TV 27/Lexington.

The streak of home sell-outs will extend to 46 at least, as the next home game in 2 weeks sold out awhile back. That's the first big Cincinnati/Pittsburgh rivalry game of the 2008/09 season. (Both teams are in the AFC North, which means they play each other two times a year.) The October 18 tilt against the Houston Texans is the next game in danger of being blacked out locally.

Couple NFL Notes

We got one tip from Friend of TSMW Mike Taylor, and got word of the other through various twitter updates...and they ARE connected...

Bengals Get One More Day: The local NFL franchise gets one more day to sell 5,000 tickets to sellout Paul Brown Stadium for this Sunday's opening week tilt against the Denver Broncos.

We had this earlier today from numerous sources, including all local TV stations, and the Bengals' Twitter.

If they can't sell the tickets, the game won't air locally on WKRC-TV 12/Cincinnati. Nor will it air on WHIO-TV 7/Dayton or WKYT-TV 27/Lexington. And that's a natural segue to our next item...

NFL.COM To Stream Games: For those who don't get to see their team, which could include the Bengals on Sunday, the NFL has some good news.

Beginning this week, NFL.com will have all of the day's games available for on-demand streaming - except on Monday nights between 9 PM and Midnight ET, when Monday Night Football airs on ESPN.

But there's a catch - you'll have to wait until after midnight on Sunday nights. And you'll only have a 72-hour window to watch - after which, you can't see the games.

The NFL says the economy played a role in the move.

Reviewing the WEBN Fireworks

As anyone who lives in Cincinnati knows, WLWT-TV 5/Cincinnati and WEBN-FM 102.7/Cincinnati presented the annual fireworks extravaganza on the Ohio River last night. And I thought they were very well done.

The only complaint yours truly has about it, was that the musical selection seemed like it wasn't quite right. Maybe that's just Your Tri-State Media Watcher talking, but...the selections didn't fit.

As for the telecast...it was very well done. I do think the 1 hour show was actually a lot better than the 2 hour shows of previous years. I actually, however, would have liked to see another 30 minutes of setup. WLWT aired the NBC Fall Preview last night from 8:30 to 9, but that time could have been used for the same stuff that usually filled the first hour of the 2 hour shows. But it still was done well.

The main camera angle was set up looking from the Newport riverfront it appears. That was well placed. No choppiness, like WLWT had in their first effort in 2007. No very far away camera shots from Devou Park or Mount Auburn this year, and NO HELICOPTER SHOTS...that made a HUGE difference!

Overall, this year was a solid B+ effort from WLWT. Rozzi's Fireworks did a great job, earning them an A- - but the WEBN music selection should have been a bit more on the upbeat side in our view...which earns the radio half of the show a B.

A Couple High School Notes

As Your Tri-State Media Watcher returns from his high school alma mater's football game, here's a couple notes about High School Football in Northern Kentucky:

Quickie 1 - Radio Broadcast: There is a radio broadcast of games this year.

We were at the Boone County/Scott County game tonight, and heard that the game would be broadcast on 1160 AM WQRT/Florence.

We couldn't tune in the game, but we do believe it.

But nowhere to be found right now? The station that had been the local broadcast partner for games, WNKR-FM 106.7/Dry Ridge.

We assume this was because the Florence Freedom are finishing up their Frontier Baseball League season this weekend, and that WNKR will do future games.

But if WQRT is along for the full season ride, then the Friday schedule should look something close to this:

Rusty Humphries (Continuation of Thursday's show) 12:00 AM - 1:00 AM
Phil Hendrie 1:00 AM - 4:00 AM
Jerry Doyle 4:00 AM - 6:00 AM
America's Morning News 6:00 AM - 9:00 AM
Laura Ingraham 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Neal Boortz 12:00 PM - 2:00 PM
Dave Ramsey 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Dr. Laura 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
High School Game of the Week 7:00 PM - 10:00 PM
Rusty Humphries 10:00 PM - 1:00 AM Saturday

We'll endeavor to get hold of someone at WQRT about it. But...suffice to say, we're not sure whether the game broadcast tonight, is not the only one they'll carry, or are they along for the full season...and specifically for Boone County Football when the Rebels are playing somewhere in town.

Quickie 2 - TV: Of course, Fox Sports Ohio will continue to broadcast their Game of the Week on Thursday nights.

But, ICN 6 (Insight Cable's local channel) joins the party next week. Their first game is Covington Catholic taking on Dixie Heights on Friday, Sept. 11...

JUST IN TO TSMW: WLWT Expanding Sat. 6 PM News on 9/12

We're just getting word of this, after doing some late afternoon running:

WLWT will expand their 6 PM newscast on Saturdays only to 1 hour, beginning a week from Saturday, September 12th, reports John Kiesewetter. The NBC Nightly News will bump back to 7 PM, with “American Health Journal” to follow in the 7:30 slot and lead into the Saturday prime-time lineup.

This will come after Stacy Owen begins her new job at WLWT as News Director on Monday... Owen of course still has to replace Derek Beasley, who left town late last month. She'll also be putting together the new evening newscasts which will feature Jack Atherton and Sheree Paolello beginning 10/5.

Bengals Once Again Tape-Delayed

The Bengals' contest against the Indianapolis Colts did NOT sell out.

Therefore the game will NOT air live either here on WKRC-TV 12/Cincinnati or on WKEF 22/Dayton. WKEF airs it at 11 PM tonight, while WKRC airs it at 11:35.

Something we did NOT see happen last week: WKRC's digital subchannel 12.2 (CW Cincinnati) will show the game here. That airing is Saturday at 12 Noon.

Affiliates in Louisville (WDRB-TV 41/WMYO-TV 58) and Columbus (WSYX-TV 6) can and will broadcast the game live.

And just outside of TSMW territory in Lima, WLIO-TV 35 also has it live.

Quick Update On Insight - Two ADDITIONAL channels off Basic Service

Over the last few days, we've reported about Insight's move to take C-SPAN 2 (Insight 12), Oxygen (Insight 37) and QVC (Insight 26) off the basic lineup.

Well, add two more, surprise, channels to that list!

We got home last night from our Tuesday of running, and found out that Insight had ALSO taken MPTV (Marketplace TV, Insight 5) and RETV (Real Estate TV, Insight 9) off air on the basic side ONLY.

That, to say the least, was a surprise.

However, Insight programs those two channels with cooperation from local businesses and, in the case of RETV, real estate agents. So it's their prerogative to take those off air...and we don't think they require the advanced notice that others do.

Still, this was a surprise even to Your Tri-State Media Watcher, who hadn't a clue this was planned...

Quick Follow Tuesday

It's Tuesday...Follow us, quick!

Quick Follow 1: We finally should see the full schedule revamp happen today on WKRQ-FM 101.9/Cincinnati's "Q102".

Brian Douglas is expected to return today to the 3-7 PM shift and re-join Laura Powell on the Bonneville Hot AC station, following surgery to do a tummy tuck, which he has made very public via commercial spots for Cincinnati surgery clinic Plastic Surgery Group.

That'll trigger the final move for Jon Isaac to the evening shift vacated by now-middayer Holly Morgan, who herself was a replacement for WUBE-FM 105.1/ Cincinnati and WYGY 97.3/Ft. Thomas, KY's recently installed PD Grover Collins.

Whew! That's a mouthful!

Anyway, Isaac should be making the move today, unless Douglas needs another day of recovery...

Quick Follow 2: And finally, as we sit up late on this Tuesday night, we're watching WKRC-TV 12...and noticing the picture slightly stuttering.

That reminded us... C-SPAN (which occupies Insight 12), Oxygen (Channel 37) and QVC (Channel 26) all disappear from Insight Cable's basic channel lineup today. This affects ONLY Northern Kentucky subscribers, and ONLY those using analog cable (1-99).

As we previously noted...if you have Insight Digital 4.0, these moves won't affect you. But they're sure affecting the analog side of things...