WKYC's Jim Donovan Winner of Akron Aeros Media Madness Television Bobblehead Election

The Akron Aeros announced today WKYC-TV’s Jim Donovan is the winner in the television category of its first Media Madness Bobblehead Election.

Donovan is scheduled to make a special appearance at Canal Park on Saturday, June 8 when his bobblehead, sponsored by Distillata, will be given out to the first 1,000 fans before the Aeros host the Portland Sea Dogs at 7:05 p.m.

Donovan has been with WKYC since 1985 and is the station’s nightly news and sports anchor. He has been the play-by-play voice of the Cleveland Browns since 1999 and has covered a variety of sporting events over the years, including the World Cup and the Olympics.

 Donovan also served one season as the play-by-play announcer for the Vermont Reds, the original franchise team that would eventually become Canton-Akron Indians in 1989 and the Akron Aeros in 1997.

“We are very excited Jim Donovan won the television bobblehead election and we can’t wait to have him and his giveaway at Canal Park next Saturday,” said Christina Shisler, Aeros’ director of promotions. “It was a very close vote to the end, but we can only have one winner. It will be fun to see who the fans select in the print and radio categories for the other June Saturday giveaways.” The Media Madness Bobblehead Election started in March when fans were asked to nominate their favorite Northeast Ohio media personality in the categories of print, radio, and television.

In April, fans voted from the list of nominees to determine a final top three in each category. The final round of voting started May 1 to determine winners. The radio winner will be given out Saturday, June 22 and the print winner will be given out Saturday, June 29.

Winners will be announced on Friday the week before the scheduled giveaway date. Fans are encouraged to vote for the radio and print finalists by emailing medianoms@akronaeros.com until noon on the Friday announcement days. To date, fans have voted close to 1,000 times in the final round and almost 1,500 times overall with the election still running in the radio and print categories.

WKYC Senior Political Correspondent Honored by Society of Professional Journalists

Tom Beres, WKYC Senior Political Correspondent

Our congratulations to WKYC Senior Political Correspondent Tom Beres who was honored Tuesday by the Society of Professional Journalists.

Tom was given the Distinguished Service Award, for his contributions to journalism, at a luncheon held at the City Club of Cleveland.

Tom has been with WKYC for 34 years and is the longest-tenured reporter at a Cleveland station.

The best news is Tom has just signed on for more with Channel 3 News, which means you will continue to see on the air for some time to come.

Also honored Tuesday include WTAM-AM/1100's Tom Moore with the Distinguished Service Awared and Tom Hamzik of Padua who won the Philip Porter Scholarship.

Channel 3 Re-Airs “Heroin: Old Drug, New Killer Epidemic” May 26th

WKYC will re-air our much talked about special "Heroin: Old Drug, New Killer Epidemic" on Sunday, May 26th from 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. on Channel 3.

“We were approached by a group of concerned citizens in Geauga County who are alarmed at the rate by which young people are dying from this epidemic, said Rita Andolsen, WKYC’s Director of Advocacy & Community Initiatives.

 “After looking into the issue, we learned heroin use and subsequent deaths are a problem across our entire region. We decided to put the resources of our station behind the issue and do something about it”.

Anchored by medical reporter Monica Robins, the special takes an in-depth look at what’s causing the epidemic and the cost, literally and figuratively, of addiction to the families whose loved ones fall victim to this drug.

In Cuyahoga County alone, the number of heroin deaths has increased by 177% from 2007-2012. The statistics in surrounding counties are equally alarming. During this hour long special, medical and mental health professionals weigh in on what’s causing this epidemic and what it’s going to take to stem the tide. Families and recovering users share their stories in the hope they can help saves lives.

A web chat will immediately follow the documentary with a panel of medical professionals that includes: Dr. Ted Parrran, St. Vincent Medical Center, Orlando Howard, Clinical Manager, St. Vincent Medical Center, Christina Delos Reyes, M.D. ADAMHS Board, Dennis Michelson, Drug Treatment Counselor, Lake and Geauga Recovery Centers, and Geauga County Safety Center, Carla and Rob Brandt, founders of “Robby’s Voice”

Channel 3 is working with numerous county drug task forces, law enforcement agencies, hospitals, addicts and their families to provide an in-depth look at the problem. From our documentary, WKYC will create a 15 minute DVD for use in schools, PTA meetings and other educational outreach.

We are asking area schools to partner with WKYC and agree to show this DVD in assemblies or health classes in middle and high schools before the end of the school year or at the start of the next school year.

Call to Courage Benefit To Honor and Assist Gina, Amanda and Michelle

Channel 3 is partnering with LaVilla Event Center and Clear Channel Media & Entertainment to host a community benefit "Call to Courage" on Thursday May 23rd from 5:30 to 9 pm to assist Gina DeJesus, Amanda Berry and Michelle Knight. Money raised will go to the Cleveland Courage Fund thru The Cleveland Foundation.

LaVilla Event Center at 11500 Brookpark Road is graciously donating their facility and services for the benefit and Party 411 Events is helping to plan the evening’s events. Music will be provided by singer and pianist Mike Petrone and Monica Robins and the Ninja Cowboys, playing a mix of rock, 80's and country. Local singer/songwriter Ashley Nemeh will also perform a song written specifically to honor these three young women.

Area restaurants will be donating their time and talents cooking up some of Cleveland's favorites. Get a taste of the best Cleveland has to offer from Johnny's, Georgetown, Triv's, and numerous others. Tickets can be purchased at the door. General admission is $20 and includes heavy appetizers and soft drinks.  A cash bar with wine and beer will also be available and general and valet parking is free.
 
Dozens of area businesses are donating items for a silent auction and raffle with numerous prizes including concert tickets and meet and greets for Kenny Chesney, Tim McGraw, Blake Shelton, Miranda Lambert, Keith Urban, Jason Aldean, Toby Keith, Luke Bryan and Rascal Flats. Autographed guitars by Blake Shelton, Keith Urban, Little Big Town and STAIND will be up for grabs. Kyrie Irving is also donating a signed basketball, jersey and hat. Dozens of donations are still coming in for both the silent auction and the raffle.

"Call to Courage" will be hosted by WKYC's Robin Swoboda and WTAM's Bill Wills and guests will also have the chance to meet some of their favorite radio and television personalities including WKYC’s Russ Mitchell, Betsy Kling and Jim Donovan, WGAR’s Brian & LeeAnn, Rover and Duji from WMMS and WMJI’s Mark Nolan.

"People across the community and the nation have been touched by this story, this miracle", said Rita Andolsen, WKYC Director of Advocacy & Community Initiatives. "We decided to host this event to give the community a chance to celebrate the courage of Amanda, Gina and Michelle and to give people a way to show their support".

For more information call 216 514-8411 or email Rita Andolsen at randolsen@wkyc.com.

Channel 3 Announces Browns Preseason Programming Times

Once again, WKYC-TV will be your official television home of Cleveland Browns preseason football with a total of four games to be aired during the month of August.

Here is the schedule of times you will see the Browns "Pregame Huddle" and games on Channel 3.

Thursday, August 8th
    7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. - Browns Pregame Huddle
    8:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. - Browns vs. St. Louis

Thursday, August 15th
   6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. - Browns Pregame Huddle
   7:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. - Browns vs. Detroit

Saturday, August 24th
   6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. - Browns Pregame Huddle
   7:00 p.m. to 10 p.m. - Browns at Indianapolis

Thursday, August 29th
   7:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. - Browns Pregame Huddle
   8:00 p.m. to 11 p.m. - Browns at Chicago

During the regular season, WKYC will also air the "Browns Pregame Huddle" on Sunday mornings at 11:30 a.m. and "Browns Tonight" each Sunday night immediately following "Sunday Night Football" on NBC and Channel 3 News at 11 p.m.

NBC Announces Fall 2013 Prime Time Schedule

NBC has announced its prime-time schedule for the fall of 2013:

 Monday
   8 p.m. - "The Voice"
   10 p.m. - "The Blacklist"

 Tuesday
  8 p.m. - "The Biggest Loser"
  9 p.m. - "The Voice"
  10 p.m. - "Chicago Fire"

 Wednesday
   8 p.m. - "Revolution"
   9 p.m. - "Law & Order: SVU"
   10 p.m. - "Ironside"

 Thursday
   8 p.m. - "Parks and Recreation"
   8:30 p.m. - "Welcome to the Family"
   9 p.m. - "Sean Saves the World"
   9:30 p.m. - "The Michael J. Fox Show"
   10 p.m. - "Parenthood"

 Friday
   8 p.m. - "Dateline NBC"
   9 p.m. - "Grimm"
   10 p.m. - "Dracula"

 Saturday
   - assorted reruns.

 Sunday
   7 p.m. - "Football Night in America"

WKYC News & Notes: 5/10/13

By Frank Macek

It's time for another "behind the scenes" look at what's happening inside the WKYC Digital Broadcast Center.

We are just wrapping up a week of one of the busiest news stories of recent memory with the "Miracle in Cleveland." For four days, WKYC brought viewers expanded coverage of this story since it broke Monday night. Our reporters and entire Channel 3 News devoted all of our resources to cover every angle of the story.

Many of our stories went national and several of our reporters appeared on national broadcasts with updates and web stories. WKYC also tapped the vast resources of Gannett Broadcasting and welcomed several journalists to help us cover the story from our stations in Knoxville; Buffalo; Columbia; South Carolina and Washington D.C. who brought their own perspectives on how Clevelanders reacted to this story. And while a large part of this story has played out, we'll continue to follow developments in the coming weeks and months.


Evelyn Theiss

WKYC welcomes two new team members. Evelyn Theiss is joining Channel 3 News from the Cleveland Plain Dealer where she will join our investigative unit, led by "The Investigator" Tom Meyer. Evelyn has worked as a reporter for the PD for the past twenty-three years. During that time, Evelyn has enterprised hundreds of stories on beats ranging from City Hall to healthcare to investigative reporting and has a unique understanding of our city and our region. Also, Ryan Maloney is the newest addition to our WKYC engineering staff. Ryan joins Channel 3 from Industrial Video (now iVideo Technologies) where he spent over 7 years.


Jim Donovan

Our own Jim Donovan was honored with the "Dino Lucarelli Lifetime Achievement Award" Tuesday night at the 25th annual scholar athlete awards banquet. Longtime friend and Browns radio partner Doug Dieken presented Jim the award for being the best at his craft. As most of you know, Jim is a leukemia survivor and awed the attendees with his outstanding speech.

As we mentioned in an earlier post, WKYC was nominated for a number of Emmy Awards this year to be presented on June 1st. In addition, two outstanding people from Channel 3 will be awarded with Golden Circle Awards. Fred Griffith will be honored for 26 years as host of the  “Morning Exchange” on WEWS-TV, creating a warm and friendly start to the day while updating viewers on what had happened while they slept. In 2000, Fred moved to WKYC-TV, lending his skills to the station’s “Good Company” program before retiring in 2012.

Dennis Goulden                               Fred Griffith 

Also, Dennis Golden will be honored this year. Since 1959, Dennis has had hands-on experience in all phases of documentary, public affairs and news production that includes expertise in cinematography, videography, research, writing and both on-line and off-line editing. At Channel 3, Dennis is well know for his "Montage" series. Congratulations to both of these outstanding colleagues.

And finally, be sure to watch our newscasts on your iPhone or iPad. Channel 3 just launched an update of our WKYC News app for iPhone users that enables live video streaming. Look for the app in the iTunes store. We'll have a version for Android users coming soon.