Former Q101 radio personality sues Cumulus over harassment

Accusations include rude sexually charged comments and discrimination  As first reported by Radio Insight Friday evening, former Q101 (WKQX-FM) radio personality and producer Justin Nettlebeck has filed a lawsuit against the station’s owner Cumulus Media for sexual and other kinds of harassment. The lawsuit states Nettlebeck was “subjected to harassment and discriminatory treatment based on his gender, including sexual harassment, […]

T Dog’s Think Tank: No class fans ruin special night at United Center

Booing of Bulls GM Jerry Krause is yet another embarrassment to our city What happened Friday night at the United Center during the Ring Of Honor ceremony honoring the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls season was as vile as anything I have seen in the nearly 52 years I’ve lived in Chicago. And I’ve been through the racially-tinged Council Wars when our […]

Elon Musk looks to “X” out the block feature

Latest anti-consumer measure being floated, but Google, Apple, and the EU may have final say  The latest nonsense coming from Elon Musk made news Friday, when he announced he was removing the “block” feature from X, or Twitter, or whatever name he is calling the platform this week he foolishly wasted billions to ruin. “Block is going to be deleted […]

It’s Mike…and Mayim? “Jeopardy” names new hosts

Primetime specials also coming to ABC With the worst kept secret in Hollywood, Jeopardy! producers named Mike Richards as host of the long-running game show as expected. But in a bit of a curveball, actress Mayim Bialik was named host of several prime-time special editions starting next year, with the Jeopardy! National College Tournament first on tap.  The news was […]

“Jeopardy” close to picking its new host: It’s Mike?

Comes after months of guest hosts News leaked Wednesday on who would be the successor of the late Alex Trebek as host of one of television’s most popular and iconic game shows. Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune executive producer Mike Richards (not the Kramer guy from Seinfeld) is now the front runner to take over the long-running game show starting […]

Melissa McGurren exits WTMX’s morning show

Second woman to exit Eric Ferguson’s show in last three years  There’s more to the story than The Mix is telling listeners [Editor’s Note: This story was updated.] After being AWOL for the last several weeks from Eric Ferguson’s morning show, Melissa McGurren has decided to exit Hubbard-owned 101.9 The Mix (WTMX) after a 22-year run at the hot adult […]

Mancow Muller exits WLS-AM; Bruce St. James to replace him

Pandemic, expiring contract forces end of show [Editor’s Note: This post was updated on November 21 as Muller’s replacement was named on Friday.]  The last time Mancow Muller found himself out of a job was two and a half years ago when the station he worked for was sold and flipped to a Contemporary Christian music format. This time, it’s […]

WIND-AM’s Amy Jacobson lands in hot water with Governor

Barred from daily press briefings, but can still submit questions Another embarrassing moment for Chicago radio  In a move many are criticizing, WIND-AM talk show co-host Amy Jacobson was removed from the press pool of the Governor’s daily coronavirus press briefings on Tuesday after she spoke at a “Reopen Illinois” rally in front of the Thompson Center in downtown Chicago […]

The fridge pack (plus one): The unlucky 13 of the decade

There are flops, and then there are….flops. For every success in the most recent decade, there were products coming off so badly, you don’t know how the hell they were even conceived in the first place – you basically had to see it to believe it! If you thought the 2000s version of “The Dirty Dozen” were bad, they have […]

The tough landscape of weekend programming

Man of the People latest to strike out as viewers head to streaming services on weekends (Editor’s Note: This post has been updated to reflect recent changes in programming schedules.) Funny thing as this person was watching the final Man Of The People Monday night via DVR as in the next-to-last segment, Bill Kurtis said “Tonight we look back at […]

Media Notepad: The Score’s Laurence Holmes heads to middays

Also: WLS-AM announces new PD; WBBM reigns supreme; New York’s WPIX sold One of Chicago’s prominent sports radio hosts has a new contract – and a new weekday slot. Longtime WSCR-AM (The Score) veteran Laurence Holmes is getting his own midday slot weekdays from noon to 2 p.m., beginning March 28 – coinciding with the start of the baseball season. […]

Rewinding 2018 in media

Year marked by scandals, futility, and other things 2018 wasn’t exactly a repeat of the last two horrendous years in the media world, but scandals and deceit still ruled the roost. Though not topping 2017’s Disney-Fox deal, 2018 had some mega transactions – though the second-biggest merger of 2017 went bust as Sinclair Broadcasting’s $4 billion deal to buy Tribune […]

Mancow returns to Chicago radio…again

What’s traditional media’s response to a changing market? Hire the same people over and over again. Currently, broadcast network television is relying on reboots of shows no one wants to see, junk reality competition programming, paint-by-numbers procedurals (mainly on CBS) and long-running programs that never seem to end to sustain their declining ratings. But apparently, broadcast network execs must’ve gotten […]

Media Notepad: WLS-AM’s “Big John” shifts to afternoons

Plus… big day for Bears as they beat rival; Channing Dungey heads to Netflix; Extra adds Fox stations in large markets With Steve Dahl set to depart Cumulus-owned WLS-AM this Friday, the station announced last week it was shifting Big John Howell to afternoons from mornings starting January 3, from 5 to 7 p.m. weekdays. In a statement, the thirty-year […]

The Media Notepad: Ben Shapiro joins WLS-AM’s afternoon lineup

Plus: Classic Hip-Hop loses ground as Soft AC makes a comeback; Tribune Media bidding heats up; another cable channel is in the works In a move widely anticipated, conservative talk show host and podcaster Ben Shapiro is joining WLS-AM’s weekday afternoon lineup. Beginning January 7, Shapiro has been slotted in the 2 to 5 p.m. slot replacing Steve Dahl, who […]