Media Beat

Congratulations to Tana Weingartner, Ambriehl Crutchfield, News Director Maryanne Zeleznik and the rest of the WVXU news staff for their awards from the Ohio Associated Press Media Editors Broadcast Competition.

With schools closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, WCET-TV and WPTD-TV -- and public TV stations across Ohio -- will drop regular daytime programming to offer a learn-at-home lineup for children, parents and teachers.

"Out of respect for the health of the volunteers, employees and other community members," Public Media Connect of Southwestern Ohio will delay April's Action Auction joint fundraiser for WCET-TV and WPTD-TV until June 17-20.

I've been getting too much attention for reviving O'Toole From Moscow, Rod Serling's "lost" 1955 baseball comedy about the Cincinnati Reds for WVXU-FM.

The stars of the show are, well, the stars of the show: Eight very talented University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music students. The manager of our Team O'Toole is director Richard Hess, who teaches acting and directing at CCM. Our recording guru is WVXU engineer Josh Elstro.

Play ball! Fox Sports Ohio will repeat four 2019 Reds games to fill the void from Major League Baseball's shut-down due to the coronavirus pandemic.

On Thursday March 26 – which was supposed to be Opening Day – FSO will air a tripleheader, including the 2019 Opening Day game against the Pirates.

The Reds haven't been to the playoffs lately, but the team consistently leads Major League Baseball with the hippest ballpark organist.

You might not know John Schutte's name, but millions of people have enjoyed his music at Great American Ball Park since 2010 – or playing keyboard for the Rusty Griswolds 1980's cover band.

Kelly Clarkson loved Michael Williams' performance on NBC's The Voice, but fellow judge Nick Jonas was the one who hit the buzzer Monday night to add Williams to his team.

All 162 Reds games will be televised again this year – with 159 games on Fox Sports Ohio, and three national games on Fox Sports 1.

Former WKRC-TV anchor Brad Johansen starts today  as an anchor/reporter at WCMH-TV, the NBC affiliate (Channel 4) in Columbus.

Like father, like son: After thee years at ESPN, Jac Collinsworth is returning to NBC Sports, where his father does Sunday Night Football, television's No. 1 primetime show.

Kyle Inskeep and Paula Toti, who have co-anchored WKRC-TV newscasts for nearly two years, were named Channel 12's permanent primary anchors replacing Cammy Dierking and Rob Braun.

The announcement came five days after the Inskeep-Toti team won the household ratings at 6 and 11 p.m. in February ratings' "sweeps," which ended Wednesday, Feb. 26.

Judith Scheindlin tells Ellen DeGeneres today that she will end her top-rated Judge Judy daytime court show in 2021, after its 25th season.

Scheindlin, who turns 78 in October, says she wants to return to TV with a new series called Judy Justice, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

For the first time, the annual spring TV auctions for Cincinnati and Dayton will be completely simulcast on WCET-TV and WPTD-TV April 20-25.

Unlike last year, Channel 48's Action Auction and Channel 16's Great TV Auction will be combined into "one fully integrated regional event," says Kellie May, manager of communications and digital initiatives for CET and Dayton's ThinkTV.

Outspoken Reds pitcher Trevor Bauer, who blasted Commissioner Rob Manfred's playoff expansion proposal earlier this month, tells HBO's Real Sports Tuesday (10 p.m. HBO) that "probably like 70%" of all pitchers apply sticky pine tar to the ball.

Amy Wagner's consumer reports are back on WXIX-TV, where "Simply Money" co-founder Nathan Bachrach started them 15 years ago before they moved to WKRC-TV last August.

Rod Serling's 1955 comedy involving the Cincinnati Reds – broadcast only once on NBC Television – will premiere as a radio play on WVXU-FM 8 p.m. Wednesday, March 25.

Written during the Cold War, Serling's O'Toole From Moscow is about confusion between Russians and the Reds in which a Soviet Union embassy staffer ends up playing outfield for the Cincinnati Reds. 

Marty Brennaman says being grand marshal for the 101st Findlay Market Opening Day Parade March 26 "will be the official kick-off to my retirement."

The Hall of Fame Reds play-by-play announcer says he's been just as busy this winter as in past years, despite retiring in September after 46 seasons on radio.

It's not small ball, it's Thrall Ball!

Tommy Thrall takes over Cincinnati Reds radio play-by-play this spring from Marty Brennaman, who retired last fall after 46 seasons. Thrall will call all of the spring training games from Arizona, many of them with analyst Jeff Brantley. The Reds' spring opener is 3:05 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 22, in Goodyear, Ariz.

"I sold a million records, now I gotta way to pay. Got dollars in my wallet, and the rest is in the bank… Candy ain't free, I pay with this cheese. Give me cash money candy!" --Cash Credit Candy music video

Combine the talents of an America's Got Talent ventriloquist with the University of Cincinnati's Alpaugh Family Economics Center and Madcap puppets in the WCET-TV studio and you get $martPath videos teaching financial literacy to grade school students.