Multi-year deal shifts broadcasts away from WLS-AM Entercom-owned sports station WSCR-AM (The Score) announced Wednesday it has acquired the rights to air Chicago Bulls games for the rest of this season and future seasons. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, but the pact runs though the end of the 2020-21 season. No changes are being made to the broadcasts, […]
Chapter 11 forces company to dump pricey agreements. At last, I can sum up the sorry state of Chicago sports AND Chicago radio all in one post. In news breaking Friday and first reported by Robert Feder, Cumulus announced it was seeking to get out of money-losing contracts of the Chicago Bulls and Chicago White Sox in a filing with […]
Also, The Real renewed through 2020; Anamainics returns; Fox at TCA Our long national nightmare is over: the Mancow-Marv Nyren feud is buried – for now. As first reported by Robert Feder Thursday, WLUP-FM’s Mancow Mueller dropped his “lawsuit” against Marv Nyren, who became his boss again after being named vice president and market manager of Cumulus last fall, who […]
Dropping homegrown talent for syndicated fare; enables Rush Limbaugh to be live again in Chicago As first reported by Robert Feder Wednesday, longtime Chicago media personalities Bob Sirott and Marianne Murciano were shown the door (again), this time at Cumulus Media’s WLS-AM as the station canceled their 10 to noon morning show after only one year. WLS had high hopes […]
Also: WYCC and Chiller sign-off; Cumulus files for Chapter 11 The Lite is back: on Friday, iHeartMedia-owned WLIT-FM returned to its “Lite” branding, effective immediately, effectively ending the “My” branding it has used for the last few years. iHeartMedia rebranded several of its Adult Contemporary stations “My FM”, including KBIG-FM in Los Angeles (My 104.3), which unlike WLIT, is a […]
Move comes as Entercom takes over CBS Radio In a surprise major shift rocking the Chicago radio landscape, WJMK-FM flipped to Classic Hip-Hop on Friday as 104.3 Jams, replacing the Classic Hits format known as “K-Hits”. The format change happened as Entercom closed on its purchase of CBS Radio, who officially took over the company Friday. As a result, the […]
Also: DeCastro, Nyren return to management roles; Comic-Con HQ closes and shifts to Amazon; Mavs bottom in ratings before Bulls do Chicago’s violence epidemic is once again on the international stage – this time in Canada. Public broadcaster CBC recently aired an Chicago installment of Interrupt This Program, a series about “underground art scenes in cities under pressure and cities […]
Renewal of low-rated ABC action drama would not be possible if the network’s parent company didn’t own the show – and it may be a harbinger for things to come regarding network television On the surface, the weak ratings for ABC’s Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD should have earned the series its cancellation stripes – but didn’t. Why? A few weeks ago, […]
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 […]
And… other news of note To the surprise of absolutely nobody, Fox has pulled the plug on 24: Legacy after one season. The series was left off the fall schedule when it was announced last month, increasing speculation its days would be numbered. In addition, Fox said it was putting the brakes on more episodes of its Prison Break revival after […]
Also: The End for Sacramento’s KDND; ‘The Insider’ canceled; WIND-AM’s Joe Walsh goes national The latest crime procedural based (and filmed) in Chicago debuted Monday night with Fox’s APB, starring Justin Kirk. The premise: after losing a friend to an armed robbery at a liquor store, millionaire Gideon Reeves (Kirk) decides to take over the high-crime 13th police district using high-tech […]
“Jessica Jones” tops odd year in media – and life When you look back at 2016, there isn’t much to rave about – way too many celebrity and industry deaths (Prince, Garry Shandling, Carrie Fisher, Grant Tinker, Doug Banks, Herb Kent, etc.), the election of Donald Trump, the rise (again) of Rahm Emanuel, continuing media consolidation, and other awful things. But […]
It’s a homecoming for Sirott, who was at the Big 89 in the ’70’s Chicago radio and TV personalities Bob Sirott and Marianne Murciano are on the move once again, this time being added to WLS-AM’s morning lineup. Beginning January 2, the husband-and-wife duo surfaces in the 10:00 a.m. to noon time slot on the Cumulus Media-owned station. The news […]
Also: CBS/Viacom merger dead; Hairspray Live! earns decent reviews and ratings; Alan Thicke dies Remember the message Jonathon Brandmeier put up on his website back two months ago when he said ” [We’ll] continue on the air until it’s officially over – or until they literally pull the plug?” Well, they just did. Cumulus and Westwood One abruptly pulled the plug on Brandmeier’s […]
Half-hour roadblock on 47 radio stations unimpresses listeners It looked like a good idea on paper: get together 47 Chicago radio stations – including suburban sticks – and Rahm Emanuel was going to address the city on major issues. At the same time, local radio stations were demonstrating their commitment to their communities. The result was anything but. Chicago Mayor […]
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