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For more than 30 years, John Kiesewetter has been the source for information about all things in local media — comings and goings, local people appearing on the big or small screen, special programs, and much more. Contact John at johnkiese@yahoo.com.

Details set for WEBN-FM fireworks

fireworks
Pixabay

For the seventh consecutive year. WKRC-TV will televise the Western & Southern/WEBN Riverfest fireworks.

The last blast of summer arrives 9:07 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 4, when the Western & Southern/WEBN-FM Rozzi's Famous Fireworks light up the Ohio River in downtown Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky.

WKRC-TV again will broadcast the fireworks live during a one-hour special at 9 p.m. hosted by news anchors Kyle Inskeep and Paul Toti.

WEBN-FM begins broadcasting from Sawyer Point Park and Yeatman's Cove when Riverfest opens at noon Sept. 4.

Those planning to reserve a spot on the Serpentine Wall may spread their tarps or blankets beginning 7 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 3. They can be secured only by "painter tape, gaffer tape or masking tape," according to the W&S/WEBN Fireworks website.

"You cannot secure your tarps with duct tape, rocks, bricks or sand. Please be considerate of others and only reserve a reasonable amount of space," the website says.

This is the 46th fireworks show for WEBN-FM, which began the tradition on Tuesday, Aug. 30, 1977 — yes, a Tuesday! — to celebrate the station's 10th birthday. The huge crowd prompted the city to create the end-of-summer Riverfest party culminating with Rozzi's Famous Fireworks.

The fireworks were not televised in 2015 — ending a 31-year Cincinnati television tradition dating back to 1984 — after WXIX-TV did not renew its contact with the radio station and its owner, iHeartMedia.

It's the seventh consecutive telecast for WKRC-TV, which acquired the rights in 2016 to resume the Labor Day weekend TV tradition. Although the WEBN-FM fireworks have always been one of the highest-rated local programs every year, it's also expensive to produce due to the multiple cameras on each side of the Ohio River to capture the pyrotechnics up close and from a distance.

More information and general policies about the event are posted on the W&S/WEBN Fireworks website.

John Kiesewetter, who has covered television and media for more than 35 years, has been working for Cincinnati Public Radio and WVXU-FM since 2015.