Director's Cut Blog with Frank Macek

If you're new to the Director's Cut Blog, welcome—I'm glad you're here! I'm Frank Macek, and if you've spent any time in Cleveland broadcasting, there's a good chance my name or voice rings a bell. Whether you've caught it in the credits or over the airwaves, I've been part of the Cleveland and northeast Ohio TV and radio scene since 1988. But truthfully, the spark was lit long before that—ever since I was a kid captivated by the magic of radio dials and television screens. Frank Macek at WKYC Studios Right after graduating at the top of my class from James A. Garfield High School in Garrettsville, Ohio, I landed my first job at WLND-AM/830 in Cortland. It was a tiny country station with just 1,000 watts, but it gave me my first taste of live broadcasting as the morning news anchor. Not long after, I handled my first on-air shifts and hosted a Saturday morning favorite called “The Treasure Chest of Bargains.” It was local radio at its best. That fall...

As we head into August, I have decided to bring back the Director's Cut Blog that features a behind the scenes look at the WKYC Studios. Since our last post March in 2018, I have gotten near weekly requests urging me to consider bringing back the blog. Many of my readers have said they found it useful in not only learning more about the current happenings of Channel 3, but also the history behind the station. Even though idled for more than a year, the blog continues to receive a significant number of views per day. Our alums have enjoyed finding out what's new since they left the station. Our viewers like to hear what's happening inside the station and behind the scenes. And, I like to give some opinion on topics that matter to me as a broadcaster and for our industry. Today is a very exciting time for our business, our local television market and most importantly -  our television station. One of my main focuses moving forward will b...

Please don't forget to follow your blogger and Director of Channel 3 News @7 and 11 p.m. weeknights on Facebook, Twitter, RSS and Linkedin for even more updates and daily doses of wit. On Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/frankmacek On Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/frankmacekwkyc On Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in/frankmacek On Mobile Devices: http://wkycdirectorscut.blogspot.com/?m=1 I need friends! Lots and lots of friends!

By Frank Macek It's time for another behind the scenes look at what's happening inside the WKYC Digital Broadcast Center. We'll keep this edition brief, but wanted to take a moment and note our return from a very "brief" and indefinite hiatus. Your blogger received so many notes from those on Facebook and our regular readers that I decided to reconsider the move to end the blog. If nothing else, I wanted to show that I was truthful about saying no one at WKYC "forced" me to end the blog. It was my decision then and my decision to start the blog back up today. WKYC management has been very supportive of my efforts in the past and I fully expect that to continue. Sweeps end next Wednesday, May 23rd, and we'll all be glad when that moment comes. May and November sweeps months seem like the longest months of the year for some reason. This May is very competitive in the Cleveland market and the final results will be interesting. The WKYC staff i...

A reminder for our new blog readers that we are available on "Twitter" with real time updates posted as soon as we write them. You get breaking news and weather from the Director's Cut Blog, the Fair Weather Fans Blog, and wkyc.com as it happens. Plus, we occasionally jump in with other fun updates live from the WKYC Digital Broadcast Center about the local television industry and entertaining newsbits from the wonderful world of television. Just click on the picture to find our Twitter page where you can sign up to follow us at absolutely no cost. Knowledge is power, so be the first to know. You'll also find us on Facebook and MySpace. Those links are posted in the hand column of the blog.

The Director's Cut Blog has returned from a brief vacation after a stretch of time off. While vacation is nice, it's always nice to come back to work (yeah, right?!) since your work routine gets broken when you are off and at times, life seems boring. You get to sleep in late, do nothing - and still get paid for it. I had hoped to be a little further along in planning new features for the blog. But the reality is, I'm not. Several things over the last few weeks have become a distraction - some personal, some professional. So, we just plug away and we'll take it day by day. To be honest, the summer doldrums are here and not a lot of anything is really happening at the WKYC Digital Broadcast Center. All is quiet on Lakeside Avenue - for the moment. I was able to think back to this vacation and to compile a brief list of things that a director SHOULD NEVER DO while on vacation: NUMBER 5 ..... NEVER watch your own newscasts to see if the fill-in guy is doing better with you...