Pour one on the curb for Merlin Media. As first reported by Radio Insight, Cumulus Media announced Tuesday they have exercised their option to purchase Merlin Media’s classic rock WLUP-FM and alternative WKQX-FM. The duo had been run by Cumulus in a local marketing agreement since January 2014, regulating Merlin to strictly ownership status. Cumulus already owns and operates all talk […]
It’s a done deal: after a successful six-week test run at a few Fox-owned stations this summer, Bethenny Frankel’s new talk show from Warner Bros. has been cleared on the rest of the group in seventeen markets, including WFLD-TV in Chicago and is now going forward with a national launch in 2013. The former Real Housewives star was tested in […]
It’s safe to say this now: FM News 101.1 is the biggest bomb in the history of Chicago radio. But you knew that already, right? Merlin Media pulled the plug on its all-news stations Tuesday at WIQI-FM (101.1) here in Chicago and WEMP-FM (101.9) in New York City, nearly a year after their underwhelming debuts, which saw them still stalled […]
Former WGN-AM radio personality Greg Jarrett has landed a morning time slot gig on troubled news station WIQI-FM (101.1, FM News) beginning on Monday. Jarrett will anchor morning newscasts alongside Monica DeSantis from 5:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. News of this hire was first reported Friday afternoon by Chicagoland Radio & Media. The hire of Jarrett – who was dropped […]
For the second time in a week, a high profile local marketing agreement (LMA) has shaken up the radio landscape in a major market. This time, its ESPN 1050 programming in New York – or more specifically, WEPN-AM (1050) – is replacing the Urban Adult Contemporary format at WRKS-FM (aka Kiss 98.7 FM) effective at 12:01 a.m. on April 30. […]
I guess this is what happens when you use winning call letters without Charlie Sheen? The first full Arbitron PPM survey for September is out for Merlin Media all-news station WWWN shows the station is clearly not “winning”. In fact – it’s losing. Big. According to the PPM report, WWWN finished an astonishing low 48th place with […]
The Court Jester rides again. In a move that took everyone by surprise, Emmis Communications sold controlling interest in WLUP-FM (The Loop) and WKQX-FM (Q101) and a New York City station (WRXP-FM) to a constroium headed by former Tribune Co. CEO Randy Michaels and Chicago-based equity group investement group GTCR, Inc. The news was first reported yesterday as a tip […]