Allen Gregory: Worst. Sitcom. Ever. Welcome to the 6th annual T Dog Media Turkey Awards! Every year around Thanksgiving, yours truly hashes out the worst in the media business – in television, radio, and sports. So bring out the stale stuffing and expired cranberry sauce! It’s time to go gobbling! And the “winners” are… […]
If you tuned in to WMAQ-TV’s digital 5.2 Chicago Non-stop channel this past Friday night, you were in for a pleasant surprise (or maybe not, depending on your point of view.) Former WLUP-FM (The Loop) morning personality Jonathan Brandmeier quietly returned to television Friday night with the soft launch of Brandmeier, a new weekly half-hour series featuring Johnny B taking […]
Remember when Merlin Media purchased a majority stake in WLUP-FM, WKQX-FM (Q101), and New York’s WRXP-FM from Emmis Communications and said it would take weeks for them to take over all three outlets, perhaps as soon as mid-August. Well, scrap that: those changes now take place this week. Merlin announced today it will take over the operations of all three […]
The Bears didn’t win. And they went home. (Photo: Scott Strazzante/Chicago Tribune.) The Packers went to the Super Bowl and the Bears went home with a quarterback who has an iffy knee who gets blasted on Twitter while Chicago’s long-time rocker thinks you’re not getting enough Steve Miller Band in your listening diet. Yep, this week that was in the […]
Emmis-owned WLUP-FM (The Loop, 97.9) announced Saturday it was making a format adjustment to its playlist, dropping all current and most recent rock titles and playing classic rock from the 1970’s and 1980’s exclusively. The adjustment puts the station in direct competition with Bonneville-owned WDRV/WWDV-FM (The Drive, 97.1), which it and two other stations were sold this week to Minneapolis-based […]
It’s been two weeks, so a T Dog Media Blog Four Pack is long overdue… with a little bit of a Flintstones twist… Hanging out with Fred and Barney. Yabba Dabba Doo! -V103. The most (and only) surprising item in the recently concluded Arbitron PPM November survey is the strong performance of Urban AC WVAZ-FM, who ranked second in 12+ […]
For the second time in as many years, Jonathan Brandmeier is no longer calling The Loop home. The eclectic morning radio personality and his show was canceled by Emmis-owned WLUP-FM on Monday after four years, with Friday being the last show (Pete McMurray filled in today.) Brandmeier recently signed a one-year contract extension with the Classic Rock outlet, with Emmis […]
WGN wins July PPM survey overall; WTMX dominated 25-54s; Rock stations and WKSC gains; WLS-AM declines. The second time isn’t so great after all. Clear Channel’s WLIT-FM has dropped Melissa Forman and her show from the morning time slot at the station after two years. The move was due to declining ratings. Forman was one of only two live personalities […]
Here we downsize again: Emmis made another round of staff cuts at its two Chicago rock stations today. From WKQX-FM (Q101), the cuts included Alex Quigley (who did weeknights 7-10), and Kevin Manno who did afternoons with his brother Ryan. Instead, Q101 hired Tim Virgin to do afternoons from 3-7 p.m. with Ryan Manno moving into Quigley’s 7-10 p.m. slot. […]
After long negotiations, WLUP-FM morning man Jonathan Brandmeier signed a one-year contract to stay with the classic rock outlet. Brandmeier, a young-adult audience sensation in the 1980’s and early 1990’s on WLUP, returned to “The Loop” four years ago from the now-defunct KLSX-FM in Los Angeles, and has enjoyed resecptable ratings success among key adult demos (though not as big […]
From the world of deaths, we go into… layoffs. Indianapolis-based Emmis Communications cut staffers nationwide today, reducing 7.5 percent of its workforce, including seven employees at its two Chicago outlets: alternative WKQX-FM (Q101) and classic rocker The Loop (WLUP-FM). The layoffs were due to the deteriorating economy and the soft ad market, according to company officials. Emmis is also merging […]
Chicago radio personality and frequent house husband Garry Meier will be getting out of the crib more in the next week – and hoping it leads to a full-time radio job. Meier has signed on to do the 1 to 4 p.m. shift on WGN-AM next week, in a “test drive”. If the stint is successful, Meier could land the […]
WBBM-AM big winner These are based on Persons 6+ numbers. Winners: WBBM-AM, WLS-AM and FM, Love FM (WILV-FM), WGRB-AM, The Drive (WDRV-FM), US99 (WUSN-FM) Honorable Mention: The Mix (WTMX-FM), WOJO-FM, The Loop (WLUP-FM), JACK FM (WJMK-FM) Down, but potent: Lite FM (WLIT-FM), V103 (WVAZ-FM) Losers: B96 (WBBM-FM), WGCI-FM, Q101 (WKQX-FM), Fresh (WCFS-FM) Analysis: All news WBBM-AM – with its coverage […]
Since this survey is an anomaly because of the Holidays (a.k.a. skewed because of Christmas music), we’ll refrain from the listing the winners and losers. But that doesn’t stop yours truly from making a few observations… Remember, this is based on overall 6+ numbers: – WLIT (Lite FM) did gangbusters with Xmas music in December, as it finished first. The […]
Click here to see the PPM numbers for 6+ and here for adults 25-54 for the month of October. Winners: The Drive (WDRV-FM), WBBM-AM, WLS-AM, V103 (WVAZ-FM), Kiss FM (WKSC-FM), WOJO-FM Honorable Mention: The Mix (WTMX), WLS-FM, WLUP-FM (The Loop), US 99 (WUSN-FM) Losers: Fresh 105.9 FM (WCFS-FM), Love FM (WILV-FM), WNUA-FM, Power 92 (WPWX), Jack FM (WJMK), Nine FM […]
ABC ABC-Owned Stations ABC 7 Chicago American Idol CBS CBS Chicago CBS Media Ventures CBS News And Stations Chicago Bears Chicago Blackhawks Chicago Bulls Chicago Cubs Chicago White Sox ESPN Family Guy FCC Fox Fox 32 Fox Television Stations Los Angeles Milwaukee NBC NBC 5 NBC Owned Television Stations NBCUniversal Syndication Studios New York City Nexstar Media Group Radio Ratings Sinclair Inc. Syndication The Big Bang Theory The CW The Simpsons Tribune Media Warner Bros. WBBM-TV Chicago WCIU Chicago WFLD Chicago WGN-TV Chicago WGN Radio WLS-AM Chicago WLS-TV Chicago WMAQ Chicago WPWR Chicago