Entercom’s Jimmy deCastro calls it a career

Exiting Entercom after just two years on job The Deacon has left the building. As first reported by Robert Feder Friday, Entercom Chicago senior vice president and market manager Jimmy deCastro is retiring after a little over two years being appointed to the position.  A replacement will be named next week, with deCastro exiting December 13. The longtime Chicago radio […]

Media Notepad: David Haugh joins Mike Mulligan at The Score

Also: WLUP to return? While Arrested Development might not. Plus, WGN-TV’s newscasts does well in July sweeps It’s official: Robert Feder is reporting Chicago Tribune sports columnist David Haugh has joined Entercom’s The Score (WSCR) as Mike Mulligan’s new morning drive co-host. As speculated during the last few weeks, Haugh joined Mulligan on Monday morning’s show, replacing longtime Score veteran […]

Brandmeier’s syndicated radio show to end

Cumulus pulls plug Sometimes, you can’t relieve your former glory. Ask Arsenio Hall, who saw his late-night revival effort go down in flames after a year on the air. Now Jonathon Brandmeier, who rode to success as a morning personality for WLUP-FM in the 1980’s and 1990’s, is seeing his radio comeback once again cut short. Cumulus Radio canceled his […]

MeTVFM surges in June PPM book

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 […]

WGCI halts “Morning Riot”

As first reported by Robert Feder Monday morning, WGCI has pulled the plug on The Morning Riot after nearly six years on the air. Out are hosts Tony Sculfield and Nina Chantele, and program director Kenard Kanter, the latter after just nine months on the job. Leon Rogers is staying on in the interim and is being teamed with various […]

Game Over

Tribune Media pulls plug on The Game; retains Jonathon Brandmeier and cuts Garry Meier Robert Feder reported Thursday that Tribune Media has swung the ax of the sports talk format known as The Game (WGWG-LP), the sports station on 87.7 FM after nine months on the air. The move comes as the station was losing busloads of money on the venture. […]

T Dog’s Grab Bag: Bears fall again, hit another season ratings low (what else is new?)

Let’s get this over with: the Bears hit another season-low on Sunday with yet another blowout loss –  a 22.6 Nielsen household rating according to Chicago Business Journal, down 16 percent from last week’s game against Miami. The Bears lost to the New England Patriots 51-23, with the team trailing by 38 at halftime. Ratings have plunged 28 percent since their last […]

Let’s go over the top

HBO, CBS bypass middlemen to provide content to you, the customer If there was a turning point in the cord-cutting movement, remember this week. HBO announced it was launching a streaming service on Wednesday, attempting to attract those “cord-nevers”, the term thrown around for those who refuse or can’t afford to subscribe to cable or satellite. It was followed by […]

T Dog’s Grab Bag: Sunday belonged to Cutler, “Walking Dead”

– Also: other Sunday, weekend rating results – The Game to stick around, while another The Game ends – Goodbye, Everybody Loves Mancow Jay Cutler and the Chicago Bears’ winning performance Sunday also translated to a ratings victory – the game against the Atlanta Falcons drew a 31.5 Nielsen household rating according to Lewis Lazare at Chicago Business Journal – […]

Dahl: WGN Radio “the worst”

Dahl calls out Tribune Media station in a rant. Too bad its something Chicago radio listeners already know. A T Dog Media Think Tank [Editor’s Note: contains strong language. Reader discretion is advised.] Last week, viewers flocked back to their television sets as the new fall season began, with new high-profile programs and a strong lineup of above-quality shows which […]

Playing media catch-up

Man, how long has it been since yours truly has written a post around here? Well, this is what happens when you get sick and have Writer’s Block at the same time (or, yours truly has just been lazy.) Anyway, yours truly is revved up (or more like riled up) and ready to go – here are some thoughts on […]

T Dog’s Grab Bag: Sports-talk war escalates with Finfer defection

* The first shot has been fired in the Chicago’s new sports-talk wars: Robert Feder reports that Tribune’s new Game has stolen Ben Finfer away from CBS’ The Score (WSCR), where he’ll serve as producer – but also as show host, being paired with David Kaplan at Noon and then joins Alex Quigley and Howard Griffith from 1-3 p.m. Finfer […]

“Game On” for 87.7 FM, Tribune Broadcasting

  After several weeks and a lot of research, Tribune Broadcasting’s WGWG-LP decided to name their new station on 87.7 FM, “The Game”. The new lineup consists of morning duo Tia Mowry and Hill Harper who’ll try not to get on each other’s nerves before 7:00 a.m. (of course, they would likely skip town after only six months.) For middays, […]