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WNEO/WEAO, WKSU step up Akron presences by sharing building space with WKYC
By Rich Heldenfels
Beacon Journal popular culture writer
Published on Thursday, May 29, 2008
The end of the Akron-Canton TV newscast will let two local broadcasters increase their presence in Akron.
On July 1, WKSU (89.7-FM) and WNEO/WEAO (Channels 45/49) will begin sharing the space leased by WKYC (Channel 3) in the United Building on South Main Street. Channel 3 produced the Akron-Canton news, most recently for Time Warner Cable, in the building.
After the local news has its final telecast on Friday, Channel 3 will use roughly one-third of the space as an Akron bureau with reporter-anchor Eric Mansfield and one or two videographers. WKSU and Channels 45/49 will also each get a third.
Details of the agreement are still being worked out.
''We're like three college kids sharing a dorm room,'' said Trina Cutter, president of Channels 45/49.
So are timetables for downtown broadcasts. Channels 45/49 hope to begin telecasts as close to July 1 as possible. WKSU is looking at a late-summer/early fall start for its programming, Public Relations Director Bob Burford said.
WKSU will use the space mainly for an Akron news bureau, its third bureau following a one-person shop in Cleveland and a part-time operation in Canton, Burford said. The Akron staff will likely consist of one full-time reporter/producer and a second reporter/producer when needed, with those reporters to come from existing station staff.
Some sales and development ef
forts — raising funds for the station — will also take place from the Akron location. Music sessions for the station's Folk Alley programming could also be recorded in the building. Cutter, of Channels 45/49, said there had been discussions with WKSU of cooperatively produced folk-themed telecasts in the United Building.
Still, Burford said, ''The news is the priority.''
The station likes the potential for greater access to Akron newsmakers and greater visibility in the city, he said.
As for Channels 45/49, the move into Akron comes as they are preparing for a brand-name change from ''PBS 45/49'' to Western Reserve Public Media, coming later this year. Channels 45/49 also plan a more regional focus in their programming and presentation. (A merger of two stations, Channels 45/49 is part of a consortium of the University of Akron, Youngstown State University and Kent State University. WKSU is a service of Kent State.)
Channels 45/49's 9-year-old NewsNight Akron program will at some point begin production in the downtown Akron offices; Mansfield hosts the program. But NewsNight, too, is preparing for a name change and a wider range.
At the same time, Cutter said the Akron location will give the station a hub for news and other operations, which is more accessible and convenient than its Kent offices.
She envisioned live programming, including pledge drives, from downtown. She expects to have a three-person staff on site, including a sales associate.
The two new tenants each will spend $30,000-$40,000 a year for their share of the facility, their representatives said. That does not include staffing costs or any technical improvements that might have to be made.
For example, Cutter said that under current conditions, Channels 45/49 would have to hand-transport programs from the Akron office to their Kent headquarters for telecast, instead of sending them electronically. WKSU is also looking at how it will transmit from the facility, Burford said.
Still, Burford said, ''It's a pretty well-wired building.''
And the cost of operating from Akron is a fraction of the $1.5 million tab that Burford said WKSU was facing in a planned newsroom expansion. The station will be expanding some of its Kent facility, but the newsroom expansion was stopped in favor of the Akron deal.
Rich Heldenfels writes about popular culture for the Beacon Journal and in a blog at http://www.ohio.com. He can be reached at 330-996-3582 and rheldenfels@thebeaconjournal.com.
The end of the Akron-Canton TV newscast will let two local broadcasters increase their presence in Akron.
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