Director's Cut Blog with Frank Macek

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...

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.

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 hou...

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 pur...

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 "Brown...

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"

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 ...