WOIO Cleveland will launch the market’s first Telemundo affiliate Jan. 1, on sister station WTCL’s channel 6.1. Sharing resources with WOIO’s 19 News, the Telemundo station will offer 6 and 11 p.m. weekday news. 

WOIO and WTCL are owned by Gray Television.

“We are excited that Telemundo Cleveland will fill the void for Spanish-language viewers in our market with Telemundo’s great programming as well as two live and locally produced weekday newscasts,” said WOIO VP/GM Erik Schrader. “We are honored to provide this important service to the fast-growing Hispanic community in Northeast Ohio.”

WOIO is a CBS affiliate in DMA No. 19. Gray Television also owns The CW outlet WUAB, with MyNetworkTV airing on a subchannel.

WKYC has rebranded its newscasts, with the morning program called Go!, the 5 p.m. What’s New, the 6 p.m. What Matters Most, and the 11 p.m. program bearing the name What’s Next. 

The rebrand happened late in 2019. At the time, Adam Miller, director of content, said the shift was focused on delivering viewers “more solutions, more perspective, more hope and even more fun.”

Micki Byrnes, president and general manager, said 3News did it as much for newsroom staffers as for viewers. “It’s a filter in terms of our editorial decisions as much as it’s a branding effort that explains to viewers what we hope to give them,” she said. 

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Byrnes said the rebranded newscasts remind viewers what they’re tuning in for. “It gives each show its own kind of personality and emphasis,” she said. 

Cleveland residents have long seen their city as bigger than others perceive it to be, and outsiders are finally seeing it on a bigger stage. The city hosted the NFL draft this past spring, and offers the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction in October. 

Micki Byrnes, president and general manager of WKYC, calls Cleveland “a big city with a small-town heart.”

Cleveland-Akron, Ohio, is DMA No. 19. Nexstar has Fox affiliate WJW. Tegna holds NBC outlet WKYC. Scripps owns ABC station WEWS and Gray Television has CBS affiliate WOIO and The CW-aligned WUAB. Spectrum is the primary pay TV operator. 

With a “Cleveland’s Own” brand, WJW is a ratings beast. In April, the station took the 6-7 a.m. races in households and 25-54 easily, and won the tighter 5 p.m. contests too. WEWS won 6 p.m. in both categories. In late news, WJW won 25-54 easily, while WEWS posted a 3.83 in households, virtually level with WJW’s 3.80. WKYC had a 3.53 and WOIO a 2.31. 

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“Our anchors and meteorologists have developed strong bonds with our viewers, almost like an extension of the family,” said Paul Perozeni, WJW VP/general manager. “We know this market because most of our staff, both on air and behind the scenes, were born and raised here.”

WJW’s rivals are upping their game. WEWS won three regional Edward R. Murrow Awards. Steve Weinstein, WEWS VP/general manager, said News 5 is focused on enterprise journalism. “We’ve made a really big push in this market, a huge journalism push with support from our company,” said Weinstein. 

WEWS is the Browns station. Residents talk about the football team all year round. “We were the partner when they were not doing so great,” said Weinstein. “Now we’re the partner when they are doing great.”

Jodie Heisner became WEWS news director last year after Sean McGarvy moved up to Scripps corporate. 

WKYC has covered the eventful past year-plus with signature programming such as The Turning Point, a monthly special on race with regular updates, and weekly public affairs show We the People.  

“Everyone has taken a deeper look at themselves and their organization in terms of how we were covering certain stories and dealing with certain issues,” Byrnes said. “It has allowed us as a station to dive a little deeper.”

WKYC added 5 p.m. news in January 2020. A “triad” oversees news: Adam Miller is director of content, John Adkins is director of broadcast news and Denise Polverine oversees digital news. 

WJW offers 12½ hours of local programming daily, including morning staple New Day Cleveland. “The show has developed a very strong connection with loyal viewers,” said Perozeni, “that value local content over national syndicated shows.”

WOIO-WUAB airs MyNetworkTV and Me TV on subchannels. WOIO added 3 p.m. newscasts and WUAB debuted an 11 a.m. edition. Reaching mobile users is a focus. “We definitely understand where the viewers are going,” said Erik Schrader, VP and general manager. “We’re focused on providing as much local content on our OTT station as possible.”

WOIO local shows include Cribbs in the CLE, hosted by former Browns player Josh Cribbs. 

The Cleveland economy is moving forward. Byrnes said it traditionally hits neither the high highs nor the low lows.  

General managers describe a lively foodie town full of diverse neighborhoods and upbeat people. “Cleveland is so completely underrated,” Schrader said. “There are lots of advantages of a really big city without the drawbacks.” 

Daryl Parks, the attorney representing "Cleveland Broadband Consumers" in claiming AT&T is "redlining" service in Cleveland and elsewhere, is pledging to open a multi-front legal attack on the company, including raising questions about its fitness for the multi-billion-dollar contract to manage FirstNet, the government's first-responder network project.

AT&T has said it does not redline and continues to invest in wired and wireless broadband in Cleveland and elsewhere, but Parks is not persuaded.

Parks has sent a letter to AT&T and its board warning that "in the near future," he plans to certify a class for a class-action suit, bring a formal redlining complaint at the FCC, and "raise with the nation’s governors the issue of AT&T’s suitability to manage the emergency communications service FirstNet, given the urgency of providing service to low-income communities by first responders in disasters such as Hurricanes Andrew, Katrina and Sandy."

AT&T has been awarded the multibillion dollar, 25-year contract to build and maintain FirstNet, the interoperable first responder public safety network.

Parks also said he plans to talk with "civil rights leaders, unions, public interest and consumer organizations, and African-American law enforcement organizations."

James Meza, AT&T senior vice president and assistant general counsel, said in a letter to Parks, a copy of which was supplied to Multichannel News, that the company takes the complaint seriously, has invested $135 billion over the past five years to ensure "Americans of all income levels" can get internet service, will continue to expand its Ohio networks, and is promoting broadband adoption by low-income customers.

As to the redlining charge, Meza said AT&T doesn't do it, period.

Parks, who gained national prominence as the attorney for the families of Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown, was denied a request to speak at the AT&T board meeting last month about his clients allegations. He had earlier signaled he would be suing AT&T.

Parks is representing families in Cleveland who allege they have been "severely impacted" by a lack of connectivity. Broadband access advocates the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA) in March alleged that AT&T discriminated against low-income Cleveland neighborhoods in deployment of home Internet and video over a decade. Parks cites NDIA maps in signaling he was not persuaded by Meza's letter, which includes the assertion that the NDIA study is flawed and its conclusions "specious."

"AT&T's investment decisions are based on cost and demand forecast modeling to determine where we can serve potential customers and, at the same time, recover the costs of deployment," Meza said. Factors include topology, aerial vs. more expensive buried cable, the competition, the customer base size, the density of households, "civic cooperation," and more. "They do not [emphasis his] include household income, race or ethnicity."

Meza said the study also does not factor in the ubiquitous availability of LTE mobile broadband.