WYSP fires DJ over racist parody song

Rock outlet WYSP-FM in Philadelphia fired on-air morning personality Kidd Chris after an in-studio guest performed a racist parody song on March 21. The song also was played throughout the day and again three days later, and posted all over the Internet, including YouTube and MySpace. Kidd Chris lasted just six months in morning drive. The move cost PD John […]

B96 morning show in peril?

There could be trouble brewing at WBBM-FM’s (B96) morning show after one of the co-hosts walked off the set after a bit she found lacking of taste. Erica Cobb stormed off the Eddie & JoBo & Erica show after Eddie Volkman did an impersonation of the controversial Rev. Jeremiah Wright during yesterday’s show. The incident happened during a discussion of […]

Radio’s Renaissance

It looks like the NBA, NHL, and the Chicago Blackhawks aren’t the only ones having a renaissance – According to Kurt Hanson, radio is having one, too (and the recent AOL-CBS Internet radio streaming deal cements that point.) Maybe radio isn’t dead after all – you know, unlike the Bulls’ current season.

AOL, CBS Radio team up

XM ends partnership with AOL, launches new online radio initiative CBS Radio and AOL struck a major deal Friday, which allows AOL to stream all CBS-owned radio stations on its Internet Radio service. The deal will mesh CBS-owned radio stations with AOL’s existing radio stations, and it also calls for CBS to create custom radio stations exclusively for the Internet. […]

WLS-AM slammed for coverage of NIU shootings

From the Sun-Times’ Robert Feder (and rightfully so.) But he also praised the coverage of WBBM-AM and WGN-AM – as well as NextMedia’s west suburban classic hits outlet WERV-FM (95.9 FM, a.k.a. “The River”) for their continuing coverage of the tragedy.

WXRT to leave longtime home

CBS-owned WXRT-FM is leaving its longtime home in the Belmont Cragin neighborhood on Chicago’s North Side and is moving to new digs at the NBC Tower, where sister station WSCR-AM is located. The legendary station has been located in a building at 4949 West Belmont since 1972, and the station’s Adult Album Alternative format is the longest-tenured in the market […]

More radio layoffs

With CBS Radio pink-slipping, on top of Emmis’ recent cutbacks, as well as those at Clear Channel, it looks like its going to be another tough year for the radio industry. Among the casualties locally – WXRT GM Michael Damsky, who is out after 24 years.

The Fall Arbitron books, Part II

Wondering how the recently-released Fall Arbs fared demographically? Well, here you go, courtesy of All Access (As a bonus, you get San Diego numbers in the article, too!): – Urban contemporary WGCI-FM swept the adults 18-34, 18-49, and 25-54 categories by finishing first. -Thanks to Christmas music, WLIT soared back into the top ten in key 18-49 and 25-54 demos. […]

Kurtis and Jacobson to teach course at Columbia College

Former WBBM-TV anchors Bill Kurtis and Walter Jacobson are reuniting to teach a graduate level class at Columbia College on a lecture course regarding local journalism. Starting in January, both men will serve as professors. Click on this link to see Kurtis and Jacobson speaking together at the Chicago History Museum last March, as part of the “Chicago Treasures” series […]

It’s Fresh

Anyone who had WCKG become Fresh 105.9 in the format pool – you win! The new Adult Contemporary format launched at 5 p.m. today. The station’s target audience is women 25-54 (or somewhere in between), the same as crosstown competitor WLIT, who switched to Christmas music on Friday. According to yes.com, here are the first five songs played on the […]

WCKG backs out of Christmas format

WCKG planned to switch to Christmas music at 7 p.m. tonight. That is, until WLIT launched its all-Christmas format at 8:30 this morning. Speculation centered on two Christmas formats competing for listenership. But late this afternoon, WCKG abandoned that plan at the last minute. Instead, they are running Dahl clips, as they have been doing all week long, until at […]

Rosenthal: WCKG to flip to Xmas msic

Contradicting a earlier report that WCKG was going to flip to Adult Contemporary on Friday, Phil Rosenthal in the Chicago Tribune is reporting that WCKG will flip to an all-Christmas music format instead, beating WLIT to the punch. WLIT has aired the Jingle Bells format for years during the Christmas season. In fact, WLIT had a countdown clock on it […]

A brave old world for Dahl

Phil Rosenthal in the Trib today explores Steve Dahl’s return to the morning airwaves for the first time in 11 years, and it’s not much different than it was the last time he left. Well, aside from WGCI not having a local radio morning show anymore, and Mancow being put out to pasture. Rosenthal also interviews individuals who explain how […]

The latest on WCKG

Two of the on-air personalities of the station, Stan Lawrence and Terry Armour, stated on their blog that they are now former on-air personalities of the station. To read their post, click here and scroll all the way to the end.