JoAnn Larsen

JoAnn Larsen began her broadcasting career as a radio engineer for WWWE/WWWM in 1977, after completing courses at Ohio School of Broadcast Technique and acquiring her FCC First Class license.  Her duties at 3WE included board op for Pete Franklin in the studio, and remote engineer for Cleveland Indians broadcasts with Joe Tait & Herb Score, while at M105 she was a production engineer and part of the Morning drive show with David Spero’s “Not Ready for Drive Time Players”.

After a short stint in radio, JoAnn’s career then entered the video world when she was hired at WUAB TV/ UAB Productions. During her 42 years at the station she wore many hats – from running Master Control, film chains, & editing on  2” tape, to nonlinear editing, Producing & Directing commercial shoots & infomercials, and managing Public Affairs for the station.  She stayed employed with WUAB through 5 ownership changes, the addition of News, the forming of one of the first duopolies in the country with the merging with WOIO TV, a total station build downtown Cleveland, and the addition of the NABET union.  There also was additional freelancing for Cleveland Barons Hockey, Cleveland Indians, and various other production companies.

Since leaving WOIO/WUAB in 2020, JoAnn & Cheryl Shaver formed SLA Video Productions & are producing digital content for those over the age of 55, with an intergenerational twist.  Duke Antczak is the young tech portion of the SLA team, and they work closely with interns from Ohio Media School, Kent State, and other colleges.

JoAnn is currently on staff at Kent State, overseeing the student driven TV2 broadcasts, and loves the enthusiasm & professionalism of these future media stars.