Steve Dahl to his podcast listeners: pay up

THIS was the announcement fans of Steve Dahl have been waiting for weeks? Speculation on “the big news” to be announced Monday at 12 Noon ranged from Dahl heading to Merlin Media to host a talk show at WKQX, a return to WLUP, or even a gig at WGN Radio. And when noon hit, this was “the big announcement”: if […]

T Dog’s Six Pack: Winning and Losing

Harry Teinowitz: “I’m winning.”  Okay, so Charlie Sheen is “winning” – if your definition of winning is being fired off a hit show, having police raid your house, and jumping the shark on Twitter after only a week. But the winners and losers this week are for real: They’re really winning and losing, not some dopey sham job Sheen is […]

Jacked out: WJMK dumps Variety Hits format

Eddie & JoBo return to Chicago radio to new “K-Hits”, which replaces JACK-FM. WJMK will not be “jacking” their body any longer. In news that was circulating ferociously for the last 48 hours, it is now official: CBS Radio’s WJMK-FM – known for the last six years as rock-leaning Variety Hits (a.k.a. Adult Hits) JACK FM – is flipping to […]

Report: Axe to swing on one of CBS Radio’s Chicago FM properties

Yeah, but not for long….  The axe is waiting to swing on one of CBS Radio’s two struggling properties in Chicago. Industry website Radio Insight reported today that CBS Radio registered a domain under the name KHitsChicago.com, meaning a format flip for WJMK-FM (JACK FM, 104.3 FM) is imminent. Also mentioned as a possible target is WCFS-FM (Fresh 105.9 FM), […]

The Grab Bag: "Sex" has a new home, Hawks news, and more

– It appears CoCo has caused a casualty on TBS’ schedule, and its Comcastic! E! and the Style network have acquired all 94 (yes, count ’em – 94) episodes of Sex And the City, beginning in the fall of 2011. Both E! and Style are both owned by Comcast. The former HBO series currently runs on TBS at midnight, but […]

The Grab Bag: Bill Gamble out at CBS Radio

…and other local media items of note – Chicago radio veteran Bill Gamble is out of  another radio job. He was canned as program director of CBS’ WCFS-FM (Fresh FM) and country WUSN-FM (US 99) on Tuesday, lasting a little over eight months. While US 99 continued to chug along nicely at the station, it was the troubles of Adult […]

WBBM-AM tops 2008 revenue list

CBS-owned all-news outlet WBBM-AM was Chicago’s top billing radio station in 2008, according to BIA Financial Network. WBBM-AM earned $44.9 million in revenue for 2008, according to the report. Tribune’s WGN-AM came in a close second with $44.5 million, no doubt fueled by Cubs baseball. WGN’s huge haul comes despite an older-skewing audience. The top music station was Bonneville’s WTMX-FM, […]

The Clear Channel layoff

While Barack Obama was being sworn in as our 44th President, something else was going on. And it wasn’t good. Clear Channel made what is perhaps the biggest one-day layoff of any media company in history by axing around 1,850 jobs nationwide from Chicago to Atlanta, from Detroit to San Francisco, and everywhere in between. Clear Channel CEO Mark Mays […]

WFLD, WBBM-AM scores with Blago coverage

Score one for Chicago’s perennial news underdog: Fox-owned WFLD-TV’s coverage of the arrest of Governor Arrogant finished first in the ratings among adults 18-49 and second in adults 25-54 with its continuous coverage from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Moreover, they beat archrival WGN-TV at noon in adults 18-49. Also, all-news WBBM-AM’s website surged on Tuesday with page views jumping […]

Steve Dahl out at Jack FM

(Editor’s note: I apologize for the lateness of this post, as I had Internet connection problems that knocked me offline for awhile this evening. – T.H.) The ax swung again at CBS Radio at a highly-paid radio personality – and this time – and to no one’s surprise – it was Steve Dahl. The venerable and legendary personality left WJMK-FM […]

Eddie & JoBo out at B96

Note: This is a longer version of a story posted yesterday at 7:01 p.m. Not exactly a shocker (as some would claim), given how the radio business has changed since these two signed a multi-year deal in 2002, but with high-salaries becoming a thing of the past in radio – as well as TV – and so is Eddie & […]

Pat Cassidy leaves WBBM-AM

One thing yours truly has learned about this business in recent years: There’s no summer vacation when it comes to media news (particularly in July), especially when it pertains to comings and goings. Today, yet another big name has left a media outlet. Pat Cassidy, who was co-anchor at WBBM-AM with Felicia Middlebrooks for the last eight years, has left […]

Spring 2008 book is out

In between the end of TCA and start of Comic-Con, I’m squeezing in some news regarding Chicago radio! (I know you’re excited… yeah, right. But it’s nice to talk about something local for a change.) The Spring 2008 books are out for both Chicago and Milwaukee, are you can access them by clicking here (Chicago) and here (Milwaukee), with the […]

One day only – Six morning stars to join forces

It’s a CBS Radio celebration: Six of the markets’ morning personalities are getting together for a one time only forum titled Chicago Radio Free-For-All, which is being broadcast live from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on July 11 on the Score (WSCR-AM) from Smith & Wollinsky downtown. (And before you ask, no, Mike North is not going to be there.) […]

Mike North out at The Score

It looks like Mike North’s morning show… has headed south. WSCR (The Score) has canceled his show amid a contract dispute. As with any radio personality who gets terminated these days, you only get to say goodbye on your website…