Radio news you can use Kenzie Kramer, who goes by the on-air name of Kenzie K, has departed Audacy’s B96, or WBBM-FM after four years as midday personality. In addition, she is no longer providing voice services for Audacy’s other Top 40 stations. “Kenzie K is no longer with Audacy,” said Audacy regional president Rachael Williamson in an internal memo. […]
While others collapse with WGCI posting all-time low Chicago’s radio PPM ratings returned to normal after the holidays with a familiar name on top: iHeartMedia’s adult contemporary WLIT finishing on top for the third straight ratings period – even without Christmas music, which propelled them to the top for the last two months. WLIT also maintained their top rating in […]
Also: Ali Matta departs Q101 A touch of Christmas has led iHeartMedia’s 93.9 The Lite (WLIT-FM) to tie Hubbard’s The Drive (WDRV-FM) for first place in the overall ratings for the second time this year. The last time the two tied for first in the overall ratings was in September. Both stations came up with even 6 shares in the […]
The Drive wins overall; WLS-FM finishes first in 18-34s At the start of the year, no one would ever guess Hubbard’s The Drive (WDRV-FM) would top the ratings, let alone dominate them. And as it turns out, the classic rocker is performing a clinic on how to dominate. In September, The Drive’s ratings topped all Chicago radio stations, speeding up […]
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 […]
Also: Black Chicagoans (still) not happy with media outlets; Syndicated ‘Dateline’ shifts to new local outlet; Rock 95.5 surges in ratings After just four weeks, CNN Plus is getting… subtracted. The Warner Bros. Discovery-owned service announced Thursday it was closing April 30 after launching on March 28, debuting to poor reviews and a cumbersome price of $5.99 monthly or […]
B96 unveils new Morning Mess show; Amazon’s purchase of MGM finalized The news was tipped by Broadcasting & Cable in January 2021 and mentioned here in July 2021, but the best-kept secret in television is now out of the bag: Maury Povich and his “who’s the father” show Maury is finally ending after 31 years on the air […]
Low ratings cited as factor; Eric Ferguson off the air until end of month Get ready for changes at two local radio stations in morning drive, and one of them involves Chicago’s highest-paid radio personality. For starters, there are big changes in store for Audacy’s WBBM-FM/B96 in the morning. The incumbent show on the contemporary-hit radio station is expected to […]
The country’s second-biggest radio owner rebrands It’s not exactly atrocious as Tegna or Tronc, but Entercom’s name change to Audacy is meant to reflect radio’s future. Or something like that. On Tuesday, Entercom disposed of its corporate name after 53 years and became Audacy, whatever it means. Also gone is the Radio.com name. “We have transformed into a fundamentally different […]
Thanks to coronavirus pandemic, tough times for radio just got together Two of radio’s biggest chains announce layoffs and furloughs as the economy continues to collapse amid the coronavirus epidemic infecting the globe with Entercom and iHeartMedia announcing a reduction of their workforce, suspension of 401k contributions and pay cuts. Entercom announced Thursday morning numerous layoffs across its clusters nationwide, […]
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 […]
Plus: WGN replaces This with Court; Bears slide in the ratings; PlaystationVue to close Hubbard-owned WTMX-FM (101.9 The Mix) bounce back from sixth place back into first place is certain to raise more question than answers. After falling out of the top five last month, the hot AC station “miraculously” surged back to the top spot in the last survey, […]
Hubbard Hot AC station puts on a clinic The May Chicago radio book showed perhaps for the first time since WGN’s glory days as a local radio station totally dominated, completely bulldozing the competition. As reported by Robert Feeder Tuesday morning, Hubbard’s WTMX-FM (101.9 The Mix) put on a clinic during the just-completed May PPM survey – not only finishing first […]
Co-hosts Gabe Ramirez and Nina Hajian take over as of Monday After ten months, DreX is out at B96. As first reported by Robert Feder Friday, Entercom-owned WBBM-FM pulled the plug on the low-rated morning program. However, two of DreX’s co-hosts remain: Gabe Ramirez and Nina Hajian take over the morning slot effective on Monday. Ramirez was a holdover from […]
Howard hopes to take cluster to new level There isn’t much going on in D.C. these days with the government shutdown, but one radio programmer is hoping to inject some excitement in the Chicago radio scene. As first reported by Radio Insight last week, iHeartMedia Chicago has hired James Howard to become Senior Vice President of Programming for the six-station […]