CC Update...

We're a day late, but it is due to circumstances beyond our control that we couldn't update yesterday...mainly, a rush to get out the door to our scheduled commitment yesterday afternoon.

But we've got the update, courtesy AllAccess and our friends at OMW:

Talk WLW-A morning news anchor SCOTT SPRINGER and reporter PERRY SCHIABLE, production staffer ADAM CAMPBELL, and Rock WEBN morning co-host JENNI HUSS are out at the company's CINCINNATI cluster.

And that's in addition to what we reported Tuesday afternoon about Tommy Leugers being cut from WLW and WCKY-AM.

We also hear that an additional 14 or 15 sales staffers were cut, according to John Kiesewetter at the Enquirer. We're told the list included 3 at WEBN-FM 102.7 (including the general sales manager), two from WLW-AM, three from WKRC-AM, three from WCKY-AM, the national sales manager and a national sales person.

This does not count several who left when Cumulus took over WOFX-FM 92.5 and WNNF-FM 94.1, which included PD Tony Toliver, DJ Gary Jeff Walker and some sales people. We haven't got exact numbers.

If this is the first round...imagine what later rounds might look like?

CC Cuts

As expected Clear Channel brought out the axe today. So far only one person has been let go at Kenwood Tower that we know of...and that's Tommy Leugers, who had been a producer at WLW/WCKY-AM for 14 years, until today according to our friends at Ohio Media Watch via AllAccess.

CC wanted to bury the cuts amidst the Barack Obama inauguration today.

More as we know it...

UPDATE 3:20PM: I will have more on the CC cuts tomorrow morning. A 4:30pm meeting has been called at Kenwood Tower for all staff. It also appears Scott Springer is among the cuts.

Let the bloodletting begin...

"This TV Cincy"...DTV Update After Second Test...CC Update...

A quickie update on a couple items, and a brand new station...And some technical difficulties here.

"This TV Cincinnati": That's right...there's a new subchannel in town...and it's run by Fox19.

WXIX FINALLY got rid of that message that apologized for the loss of "The Tube" network when it shut down over a year ago. And it's been replaced with...a 24-hour movie channel!

This TV was launched in November by MGM, as an outlet for its movie library. So we may see the James Bond and Pink Panther films, or "The Burning Bed", says John Kiesewetter of the Enquirer in a blog earlier this week.

DTV Update: Looks like the second test of DTV went well at the home of Your Tri-State Media Watcher. All the channels came in, except, of course, for WCPO-DT 9's second subchannel which was taken off basic cable (1-99) by Insight on Jan. 8.

And now it looks like Univision is going to suffer the same fate by the end of the month. We can't read much Spanish but we saw enough to know that that's the case, by next weekend or the weekend after that.

Clear Channel Cuts on Inauguration Day?: That's how it's looking, say our friends at Ohio Media Watch, citing this New York Post article.

We're interested in seeing if they DO try to do this, but it won't be a surprise. Expect some personalities to not be at work on Wednesday.

The CC moves (or so far, lack thereof) have been the big pink elephant in the room...so it should be interesting.

Finally, a quick note: Due to technical troubles at home, this blog may not be updated as frequently as usual until Jan. 30..wireless internet is not working at my home right now. It's not good for blogging, but it can't be avoided. We'll update of course if there's big breaking news.

WLW host may have had last show?...AI Local...

A couple quickies:

American Idol Local Contestant: We learned today from Fox that a local is an American Idol singer, but may not appear on the show itself, which premieres tomorrow night (8pm, WXIX 19/WRGT 45).

Fairfield native Ryan PA (Paul August) Johnson made the Hollywood Round during July auditions in Louisville. Fox19 had a contest which guaranteed the winner a spot auditioning for producers; Johnson won.

Getting into the Hollywood Round doesn't mean, however, he will appear on the show.

Gary Jeff Walker's Last WLW Show?: Gary Jeff Walker has been a mainstay at Clear Channel's Kenwood Tower for the last 14 and a half years, as a DJ for 92.5FM WOFX (FOX) as well as a host on Saturdays on 700WLW-AM.

However, the recent sale of FOX to Cumulus may end the WLW show.

Walker told the Cincinnati Enquirer's John Kiesewetter that he met with Cumulus' TJ Holland last week. If they make him a good faith offer, Walker says he'll jump.

But he'd like to stay at 700WLW as well as his passion is talk radio. Which, if he goes to Cumulus' FOX, would likely not be an easy sell for Cumulus. Cumulus, however, doesn't do talk radio, after 96Rock was flipped from Supertalk last year.

More on this one, as we get it...

A couple quick notes

Here's a couple fast notes, as Your Tri-State Media Watcher is trying to fix his computer's wireless net access, and recover from a pectoral injury:

WCPO Weather Tracker Pulled on Insight: As expected and reported last week here, WCPO has indeed pulled their Weather Tracker off Insight's basic cable service (which only includes channels 1-99).

As we reported, the service went to a digital signal, which means Insight subscribers will need a digital converter to receive channel 71.

It's unclear when, or even IF, Insight will make any effort to return the channel.

WXIX-TV Update: It looks like Dan Carroll is indeed settling in as 19's new news anchor.

Carroll moved to the post on January 1, following Jack Atherton's departure.

For now, there's no word on his replacement, OR his plans going forward.

Remember, if Atherton wishes to remain in town, he has to sit out for 9 months due to a non-compete clause.

Meanwhile, it looks like they have locked up the services of Tricia Macke for 5 1/2 more years, according to John Kiesewetter of the Enquirer.

LaBarbara Cut...More on Atherton

These items courtesy of John Kiesewetter and his media blog, with our own thoughts at the end of each:

Music Professor Dismissed Again: Jim LaBarbara's no longer the Country Music Professor.

LaBarbara did his last show on Dry Ridge country station WNKR-FM (106.5) last Tuesday, Dec. 30. He had done afternoon drive (2-6 p.m.) since September 2007.

"We didn't see the revenue influx for his show, and had to make a cut," explains GM Jeff Ziesmann.

WNKR-FM has reverted to the lineup from before LaBarbara's arrival -- voice-tracking mid-days, with Jay Anthony back to the 2-6pm slot.

We can certainly empathize with WNKR in this case. But, this is the second time LaBarbara has been cut, so we can feel bad for him, too.

Atherton to WLWT, Part Deux?: There is now a little more truth to speculation that former WXIX-TV 19 anchor Jack Atherton will head to Channel 5 when his non-compete clause is over.

You'll recall that the same kind of clause was on Steve Horstmeyer's contract when he left WKRC-TV to head to WXIX.

That clause expires in September.

WLWT bosses wouldn't confirm the speculation...but, they didn't deny it either, unlike their colleagues at 9, 12, 19, 64, and 48.

And Atherton is tight-lipped about it too.

That could mean nothing...or it could mean what we heard, which was Atherton would head to 5.

If he does, then we can basically assume that Sheree Paolello and Sandra Ali's days as a team are numbered. One of them is likely to be cut if Atherton is going to do evenings.

The only reason we can think that the announcement is being delayed, is due to WLWT bosses wanting to decide who to keep and who to let go.

Regardless, we still wish Atherton the best of luck...

Another DTV Test Next Week

We have learned that Local12 WKRC-TV/DT and other stations will conduct a second DTV test next Thursday.

The test will run at 7:30pm on Thursday, January 15th.