The Big One's Big Plan

Big crowd expected at WLW-AM’s “Big One Talk Radio Idol” contest 6-8 p.m. at Rick’s Tavern, 5955 Boymel Drive, Fairfield. Contestants will have 90 seconds to impress judges Bill Cunningham, Scott Sloan and Jim Scott with their take on a topic. But WLW not just looking for a talk host – it’s also looking for a TV commercial. Cameras will be rolling, and don’t be surprised if come January – when “American Idol” returns with more bad singers – to see a TV commercial showcasing the worst talk show auditions (“So you think it’s easy to host a talk show?”) for the Big One….

UCTV on the air
UCTV begins broadasting at noon today from the Electronic Media Communications department at UC’s Raymond Walters campus in Blue Ash. UCTV – or WLX805 – broadcasts on the Educational Broadband Service portion of the spectrum not available on VHF or UHF TVs. But you can watch the programs on public access services like the Intercommunity Cable Regulatory Commission (ICRC), Waycross Community Media, Media Bridges, UC College Cable and Northern Kentucky University. Or you can buy a converter box and antenna to get the signal, which has a 20-30 mile radius from Blue Ash.

Kiese-watching
“Without A Trace,” which has been beating “ER” all year at 10 p.m. Thursday, experiments with a new storytelling format tonight (Chs 12, 7). Instead of focusing on the police, we see the emotional trauma of parents (Laurie Metcalf from “Roseanne,” Matt Craven, “Crimson Tide’) when their 15-yr-old boy is missing...
Over on “ER” (Chs 5, 2) John Stamos guest stars in a plane-crash episode. His “Jake in Progress” returns to ABC at 9:30 p.m. Monday Jan. 9, after ABC’s Monday Night Football ends. “The Bachelor” will air at 10 p.m. Mondays in January...
And “Run’s House” ends its first season on MTV (10:30 p.m.), but it will be back next year with more episodes. Catch repeats at 8 & 8:30 today on MTV...

Late news
Jerry Seinfeld goes on Jay Leno tonight (11:35 p.m., Chs 5, 2) to plug the new DVD release, while Howard Stern visits David Letterman tonight (11:35 p.m., Chs 12, 7) to plug his move to Sirius Satellite Radio in January. Stern leaves WAQZ-FM and other stations Dec. 16.