Also: Don’t Bet Your Life; Bids made for Tegna; Johnny B to host RHOF ceremony The NFL continues to rack up impressive numbers at a time when viewers are abandoning linear TV in droves. Case in point: The Bears game on Sunday against the Bengals drew a household 22.9 rating and 60 share for Fox-owned WFLD-TV Chicago Sunday, easily making […]
Also: Jonathan Brandmeier returns with a podcast; daytime talkers perform from home; changes at Tamron Hall. Even though iHeartMedia and other radio companies are either furloughing or laying off employees due to the loss of advertising revenue caused by COVID-19, one station did manage to announce a promotion: iHeart’s WGCI announced last Tuesday that Zach Boog is the new evening […]
But here’s the rub: it’s only going to air monthly Hulu becomes latest operator to sign deal with Marquee In an odd move, the Cubs’ new Marquee network is planning to launch a new talk show featuring former Cubs pitcher Ryan Dempster. Speaking to reporters at Sloan Park in Mesa, Ariz. on Saturday, Dempster said his new show would not […]
No one expected CNN’s Chicagoland to be a love letter to the city – but no one expected it to be a Rahm infomercial either. A critical and ratings flop, Chicagoland is the one of TV’s lowlights in 2014. Recently, the prime-time portion of The Simpsons marathon on FXX attracted more viewers than Chicagoland did. (As of May 2018, the […]
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, […]
Iconic actress passes away at 80, was a trailblazer for women in Hollywood The television community is mourning the loss of Mary Tyler Moore who died Wednesday at the age of 80. She was known for playing two iconic characters: Lauria Petrie on The Dick Van Dyke Show and Mary Richards on The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Born in Brooklyn’s […]
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 […]
Once again, Cumulus is clueless on customer service Usually on this blog, yours truly often laments the state of Chicago radio, with some of the stations run by clueless idiots who make managers at your local Arby’s more competent by comparison. But when it involves Cumulus… no market – large or small – is safe. Take what happened last week at […]
The state of the Chicago market: population loss may effect media properties If last week’s bad census news is any indication, Chicago may be in for a rough few years. And the local media scene could be affected. Figures released by the Census Bureau last week showed the Chicago market losing more residents over the last decade than any other […]
(Editor’s Note: Strong language in this piece. Reader discretion is advised. – T.H.) As you know by now, Cumulus Media made a major executive shakeup this week by tossing longtime CEOs John and Lew Dickey out the door, and replacing them with former Reader Digest exec Mary Berner. The exits took place before the start of the National Association of […]
On 87.7 FM, MeTV FM drastically pulls better numbers than predecessor Usually, PPM radio ratings reports are about as dull as sucking on an ice cube – hardly any changes or movement happens month-to-month. But not this time as there has been some significant shifts in local radio listening. According to PPM numbers released by Nielsen Audio Tuesday, Weigel Broadcasting-programmed […]
Could set up scenario for the Cubs to shift to the White Sox’s old home. As first reported by Robert Feder Tuesday, the Chicago White Sox is expected to land at Cumulus-owned WLS-AM beginning in 2016, moving from its current home from CBS-owned WSCR-AM, The Score (670). A move to another station was expected, after the rival Chicago Cubs landed a […]
Renewed through 2017; seasons 27 and 28 on tap In a move certain to stir debate, Fox has given a huge vote of confidence to long-running animated comedy The Simpsons, which renewed the series through 2017, taking it through its 28th season. By the time the deal is up, The Simpsons would have produced 625 episodes – only ten short […]
SportsCenter’s package on Wrestlemania XXXI shows us even the WWE is now gaining legitimate sports’ respect SportsCenter, the news of record when it comes to sports highlights, showed some of WrestleMania XXXI, the biggest WWE event of the year. The move took a lot of people by surprise – even die-hard wrestling fans who later praised ESPN for showing […]
WLUP contest a scam? Nah. That’s the way things are done in the C-H-I. Only in Chicago where someone achieves a zero rating on a TV show and gets a radio deal. Yours truly is talking about human repellent Mancow Mueller, whose recent WPWR show failed to find an audience and somehow managed to snare a deal with Cumulus-run WLUP-FM […]