Also: local Atlanta station removes popular syndicated show to air more news; controversial political ad removed from local airwaves; the GOP looking to deregulate the media business even more; Ramsey Lewis dies [Editor’s Note: There is an update to the second story in this piece. See below.] Thursday Night Football may have left Fox, but its owned stations certainly haven’t […]
Josh Martinez becomes permanent night host iHeartMedia’s 103.5 Kiss FM (WKSC-FM) announced Tuesday the addition of two new contributors to The Fred Show, airing weekday mornings from 6-10. Coming aboard are KeKe Hampton, who was Digital Content Manager of iHeartMedia’s Chicago cluster and also weekend host at sister station WGCI-FM and Jason Brown, who moves up to permanent contributor after […]
Chicago Bears fans will have to tune in to a new radio station in 2023 to hear games The Chicago Sun-Times is reporting the radio rights for the Chicago Bears are up for grabs after this season after the team and WBBM-AM did not come to terms on a renewal. Courting the Bears are Good Karma Brands-owned ESPN 1000 […]
The Drive is tops for the third straight month; WOJO dominates demos Who needs Rudolph anyway? That’s the attitude iHeartMedia’s classic hits heavy-AC outlet WLIT has after scoring its highest non-Christmas ratings in years. According the July Nielsen Audio numbers released Monday, WLIT place second, up 13 percent from June, finishing behind Hubbard’s The Drive (WDRV-FM). Generally, WLIT dominates in […]
iHeartMedia’s news network targeting African-Americans get full-time signal on Peotone station The Black Information Network has landed its first, full-time outlet in the Chicago area. Birach Broadcasting’s WMFN-AM (640) has inked a deal to carry BIN on a full-time basis. The flip came last Thursday, replacing a Spanish-language Regional Mexican format. WMFN is licensed to south suburban Peotone, a city […]
WDRV-FM opens up a nearly two-point share lead on WBBM-AM/WCFS-FM In the May survey, Hubbard’s Classic Rock station The Drive (WDRV-FM) scored their first-ever ratings victory in their 21-year history, dislodging Adult R&B V103 (WVAZ-FM) as Chicago’s top-rated music station. Not only they repeated the feat again in June, they expanded their lead over their competitors. The Drive topped the […]
Also: The Lite launches Christmas format today; NBCSN closure date revealed; Biden nominates two to the FCC [Editors Note: The WLIT item was updated November 6.] Approximately four years ago, I wrote a headline here titled “Fueled by Ferguson” as his morning show propelled 101.9 The Mix/WTMX to ratings success throughout the day. But since the allegations of sexual misconduct […]
The country’s second-biggest radio owner rebrands It’s not exactly atrocious as Tegna or Tronc, but Entercom’s name change to Audacy is meant to reflect radio’s future. Or something like that. On Tuesday, Entercom disposed of its corporate name after 53 years and became Audacy, whatever it means. Also gone is the Radio.com name. “We have transformed into a fundamentally different […]
Pandemic, expiring contract forces end of show [Editor’s Note: This post was updated on November 21 as Muller’s replacement was named on Friday.] The last time Mancow Muller found himself out of a job was two and a half years ago when the station he worked for was sold and flipped to a Contemporary Christian music format. This time, it’s […]
Former Kiss FM Angi Taylor heads up mornings. Also Tamron Hall renewed for season three; sports ratings [Editor’s Note: This post was edited on 2020-10-26 to remove some information from a website I felt did not meet the quality standards of T Dog Media. – T.H.] iHeartMedia’s new Rock 95 Five – now known with the call letters WCHI-FM, announced […]
Sitting President gets his own country station in southwest Florida Over two weeks ago, Chicago lost a country radio station with the end of Big 95.5 (the former WEBG-FM, now rock outlet WCHI-FM) but a market in Florida gained one with a controversial concept whose future may depend on the election November 3. Last Wednesday, Sanibel, Fla.’s WXNX-FM – which […]
[Editor’s Note: This story has been updated Sept. 6 with more information.] In a surprise move Thursday morning, iHeartMedia-owned WEBG-FM – known as Big 95.5 pulled the plug on its country format after five underperforming years. The change came at 11 a.m., followed by hours of stunting, including numerous rock songs – which basically pointed to the next direction the […]
Move affects WGCI, V103 in Chicago – but not everyone’s on board With racism issues in the spotlight, it isn’t a surprise some changes were due in the way music and radio in general is targeted to African-Americans. As reported by All Access and Rolling Stone, changes are in the works by iHeartMedia and Mediabase to rebrand the format names […]
The iconic countdown show turns 50 this Saturday and a year-long celebration is planned One of America’s iconic radio shows is turning 50 this Saturday, and the party is going to be one year-long celebration. Premiere Networks announced Tuesday plans to celebrate American Top 40 as it marks its 50th year in radio. (although it did not air in 1996 […]
Replaces fifteen terrestrial radio stations including Atlanta conservative talk outlet In the aftermath of the George Floyd police murder and protests for racial justice nationwide under the Black Lives Matter movement, there have been calls for more diversity in every faucet of life – especially in the media business, particularly when it comes to news and information. On Tuesday, iHeartMedia […]