Also: Bible thumpers strike again – this time in Raleigh; CBS 2 news director resigns; Sun-Times has a new look. Again. After seeing how much ABC cashed in on reboot fever with the return of Roseanne, now B96 is trying to do the same with their morning show – but it’s not Eddie & JoBo. Instead, it’s former rival Kevin […]
Premiere is highest-rated of the season A few weeks ago, a writer from Mediapost said the return of American Idol on ABC “saved” the television industry. He might want to revise his article. In stunning news, the revival of Roseanne won big time in the ratings for ABC – averaging a 5.2 rating in the adults 18-49 demo for ABC […]
Eliminates beat coverage in cost-cutting move This is something you’d expect in a much smaller market. But not in sports-crazy Chicago. But this is what we have here, and as first reported by Robert Feder Thursday, the Chicago Tribune announced it has cut beat reporters for the Chicago White Sox and Chicago Blackhawks, despite the recent success of the latter […]
Bible thumpers strike again as 99.9 FM sold The former home of both WBUS and Nine FM was sold Tuesday to a non-profit educational foundation specializing in religious programming – the second deal made by such an entity in the Chicago market this year. Newsweb announced Tuesday it sold WCPQ-FM (99.9) in south suburban Park Forest to Bible Broadcasting, Inc. […]
Marty Wilke steps down; remains in Chicago to do philanthropic work Also: Deal or No Deal returns; iHeartMedia files for bankruptcy; local stations roll in election cash General manager Marty Wilke of CBS-owned WBBM-TV announced last week she was retiring from her position after six years with the station. Her last day is Friday. Wilke arrived at CBS 2 in […]
He “retires” shortly before Fortune publishes a story about him sexually harassing two women In news shocking everyone, tronc chairman Michael Ferro resigned Monday morning and ceded control of the company to CEO Justin Dearborn. But later in the day, Fortune published an expose of Ferro – with two women accusing him of sexual harassment. The moves comes as tronc […]
Dan McNeil returns; Jason Goff , Matt Speigel on the outside looking in In an effort to boost sagging ratings, Entercom-owned WSCR-AM – known as The Score – announced numerous lineup changes today. As first tipped by Robert Feder on Tuesday, WSCR is bringing back Dan McNeil to the station in afternoons, pairing him with Dan Perkins from 1 to […]
Three-year pact means no linear TV – for now If you want to watch Chicago Fire, you can still watch it on NBC. But if you want to watch the soccer team of the same name…well, you are out of luck – for now. The Major League Soccer team announced Friday it has struck a deal with the new over-the-top […]
Classic rocker WLUP-FM (The Loop) signed off Friday evening at approximately 11:59 p.m. and went out with a blast. As you know by now, WLUP was sold on Tuesday to the Educational Media Foundation, who are buying up stations across the country to air their Christian Contemporary music format known as K-Love with a switch set for Saturday. On Friday, […]
Also: Oscars notch record-low audience; Home Improvement has a new “home” A few more notes on WLUP’s demise: Not only The Loop is headed to the great radio graveyard in the sky, but so are the call letters (at least in Chicago.) According to Radio Insight, new owner Educational Media Foundation is changing the calls to WCKL-FM, currently at EMF’s […]
Sale to the Educational Media Foundation ends 41 years of Rockin’ fun In a stunning development, Merlin Media has sold Classic Rock WLUP-FM to the Educational Media Foundation (EMF) for $21.5 million, a company specializing in Christian music with two automated formats: K-Love and Air 1. The sale means the end of one of Chicago’s most iconic radio station brands, […]
Also: iHeartMedia likely to go bankrupt; Fox wants more stations – and it could effect longtime Miami affiliate. As first reported by Robert Feder Friday, Cara Carriveau has exited Hubbard-owned adult contemporary station WSHE-FM after approximately three years. Her replacement is Jenny Milkowski, who was recently the morning traffic reporter at Fox-owned WFLD-TV. She takes over starting Monday. “I am […]
The games average falls behind the Bears but beats Chicago’s other teams NBC 5 late news does benefit Despite a decent number of hometown faces (Hillary Knight, Shani Davis, etc.), the Winter Olympics wasn’t the bonanza NBC-owned WMAQ-TV hoped it would be. But it did provide a boost to the station’s late newscasts in the key 25-54 demo. As reported […]
ABC ABC-Owned Stations ABC 7 Chicago American Idol CBS CBS 2 Chicago CBS Media Ventures CBS News And Stations Chicago Bears Chicago Blackhawks Chicago Bulls Chicago Cubs Chicago White Sox ESPN Family Guy FCC Fox Fox 32 Fox Television Stations Los Angeles Milwaukee NBC NBC 5 NBC Owned Television Stations NBCUniversal Syndication Studios New York City Nexstar Media Group Radio Ratings Sinclair Inc. Syndication The Big Bang Theory The CW The Simpsons Tribune Media Warner Bros. WBBM-TV Chicago WCIU Chicago WFLD Chicago WGN-TV Chicago WGN Radio WLS-AM Chicago WLS-TV Chicago WMAQ Chicago WPWR Chicago