Chicago radio ratings: The Drive, 93.9 Lite FM share lead

WOJO takes home crown in demos; sports talkers grow The August PPM ratings for Chicago radio stations were released Tuesday and it showed a tie at the top. Hubbard’s The Drive (WDRV-FM) and iHeartMedia’s 93.9 The Lite (WLIT-FM) each finished in a tie for first place, both ahead of their competitors by nearly one ratings point. However for classic rocker […]

Report: Bears games leaving WBBM-AM after this season

  Chicago Bears fans will have to tune in to a new radio station in 2023 to hear games The Chicago Sun-Times is reporting the radio rights for the Chicago Bears are up for grabs after this season after the team and WBBM-AM did not come to terms on a renewal. Courting the Bears are Good Karma Brands-owned ESPN 1000 […]

Chicago Radio Ratings: WLIT finishes second overall

The Drive is tops for the third straight month; WOJO dominates demos Who needs Rudolph anyway?  That’s the attitude iHeartMedia’s classic hits heavy-AC outlet WLIT has after scoring its highest non-Christmas ratings in years.  According the July Nielsen Audio numbers released Monday, WLIT place second, up 13 percent from June, finishing behind Hubbard’s The Drive (WDRV-FM). Generally, WLIT dominates in […]

Chicago radio ratings: The Drive motors up to record high ratings

WDRV-FM opens up a nearly two-point share lead on WBBM-AM/WCFS-FM In the May survey, Hubbard’s Classic Rock station The Drive (WDRV-FM) scored their first-ever ratings victory in their 21-year history, dislodging Adult R&B V103 (WVAZ-FM) as Chicago’s top-rated music station. Not only they repeated the feat again in June, they expanded their lead over their competitors.  The Drive topped the […]

NBC Sports Chicago to debut new “Unfiltered With David Kaplan” Monday

Live, daily sports talk programming returns to NBC Sports Chicago For the first time since the cancellation of Sports Talk Live, NBC Sports Chicago is launching new local half-hour nightly sports program Unfiltered With David Kaplan beginning Monday, coinciding with the start of baseball season later in the week. According to a press release, Kaplan “will bring the entertainment to […]

ESPN Bears beat reporter Jeff Dickerson dies

Covered Bears for ESPN, former ABC 7 sports reporter Condolences are pouring in from all over as ESPN 1000 (WMVP-AM) Chicago Bears beat reporter Jeff Dickerson died Tuesday at the age of 44 from colon cancer. Our hearts ache as we share that our teammate & friend, Jeff Dickerson, has passed away. JD was an amazing son, husband, father & […]

Rewinding media in 2021: You just can’t explain it

  Popularity isn’t exactly overrated as 2021 ends a wild year in media Like mystery of the sphinx or crop circles, you just can’t explain the continued popularity of certain things despite questionable changes. After the firing of Mark Giangreco and seemingly public disdain for one of her former co-anchors, ABC 7 remains on top of local Chicago news ratings, […]

Good Karma acquires ESPN 1000 and fellow New York and Los Angeles stations

Had been operating ESPN 1000 under local marketing agreement Good Karma Brands announced Monday it has exercised its option to buy ESPN 1000 (WMVP-AM) from Disney.  The company is also acquiring ESPN’s New York (WEPN/98.7 ESPN) and Los Angeles (KSPN-AM/ESPN 710), giving the Wisconsin-based company inroads in the nation’s three top radio markets. The amount of money Good Karma paid […]

The Media Notepad: Leila Rahimi heads to NBC 5 as sports anchor and reporter

Also: ESPN 1000 gets new GM; Packers have new Milwaukee radio home; Sinclair still have trouble from ransomware attacks  Leila Rahimi, who joined WSCR-AM/The Score earlier this year as Dan Bernstein’s co-host, is now returning to television as a part-time sports reporter and anchor. The Denton, Tex. native has joined NBC-owned WMAQ-TV/NBC 5’s sports department as part of a rotation […]

Chicago Bulls ink multi-year extension with The Score

Future prospects for young team look good With the rest of Chicago men’s sports teams swimming in a dumpster fire right now (the Blackhawks have yet to win a game and the Bears are…well, the Bears), it’s the Chicago Bulls who’ve stepped up and played like a real professional sports team, instead of a bunch of junior varsity rejects on […]

The Media Notepad: Few are partying with “Chicago Party Aunt”

Bad reviews, viewer feedback sink show as show falls off radar. Also: ESPN 1000’s Mike Thomas exits; ex-B96 jock Roxanne Steele leaves Detroit radio job; Peanuts specials back on PBS Remember a month ago when this space crowed about Chicago Party Aunt, telling her to party on? Well, the party may be soon over as not too many viewers are […]

The Media Notepad: Journalists and columnists exit Chicago Tribune en masse

Also: The Score’s Danny Parkins raises money for a neighborhood grocery; ESPN 1000 comes to HD Radio; Lauren Lake signs on with Entertainment Studios for new show   As the website was under construction for the last two weeks, here were some stories that made news, and as you can imagine, this first item was the biggest. With Alden Global Capital […]

Mark Giangreco out at ABC 7 after on-air comment about Cheryl Burton

Out after 27 years at ABC-owned station As expected, ABC-owned WLS-TV fired top sports anchor Mark Giangreco was fired late Friday after his on-air comment about co-anchor Cheryl Burton. As first reported by Robert Feder, Giangreco was officially released from his contract, settling financial terms with the station, which were not disclosed. Giangreco arrived at ABC 7 in 1994, after […]

Cubs PBP voice Len Kasper joins White Sox in radio role

Kasper shifts from the North Side to the South Side in a new role  In a stunning move first reported by The Athletic late Thursday evening, Cubs play-by-play man Len Kasper signed a deal with the crosstown Chicago White Sox, leaving the North Siders after sixteen seasons. The move was officially announced Friday morning by the White Sox and their […]

Chicago White Sox return to ESPN 1000

Team returns to WMVP in new three-year deal After a turbulent last few weeks after the team announced the return of 76-year old Tony LaRussa as manager, the Chicago White Sox announced another retro signing – a return to WMVP-AM, branded as ESPN 1000. The last time you heard them on ESPN 1000, they became World Series Champs. The next […]