Over and out: Tom Joyner calls it a career after five decades

Radio Hall Of Famer spent 16 years in Chicago radio A T Dog Media Think Tank When Tom Joyner signed off on December 13th, one of radio’s legendary personalities departed the medium. But his departure – announced two years ago – leaves a deep void that won’t be easy to fill. For one, Joyner did something many radio stars did […]

Clubsteppin’ becomes first local station to drop R. Kelly’s music

Move comes as controversies surrounding singer heats up The first local shoe to drop in the ongoing R. Kelly saga is a “rimshot” radio station. Clubsteppin’ 95.1 – a new Urban Adult Contemporary station launched last August, announced Thursday it is removing R. Kelly’s music from their playlist in light of allegations surrounding the singer’s alleged abuse against women, raised […]

K-Hits gets KO’d by Entercom; flips to Classic-Hip-Hop

Move comes as Entercom takes over CBS Radio In a surprise major shift rocking the Chicago radio landscape, WJMK-FM flipped to Classic Hip-Hop on Friday as 104.3 Jams, replacing the Classic Hits format known as “K-Hits”. The format change happened as Entercom closed on its purchase of CBS Radio, who officially took over the company Friday. As a result, the […]

Herb Kent dies

A Chicago radio legend passes at 88 Chicagoans and radio fans everywhere are mourning the loss of radio personality Herb Kent, who passed away Saturday evening at the age of 88. His death marks the end of an long  career – 72 years working in radio, a Guinness World Record. Most recently, he was handling daytime weekend shifts for iHeart […]

Remembering Doug Banks

The legendary Chicago and nationally syndicated radio personality dies at 57 Radio lost one of its most popular personalities Monday with the sudden death of Doug Banks, stunning fans and radio industry insiders alike. Banks was found dead in his Miami home Monday morning due to complications from diabetes and kidney failure. Banks was absent from his syndicated radio program […]

Remembering Ty Wansley

Ty Wansley, a St. Louis native who rose through the ranks of Chicago urban radio, died Wednesday at the age of 63 due to congestive heart failure. Wansley was a fixture in Chicago radio for decades, most recently serving as Information Director for iHeart Media’s three African-American targeted radio stations: WGCI, WVAZ (V103) and WGRB. Wansley started out as a […]

V103 celebrates 20th anniversary

Back in 1988, a black radio station targeting adult demos was practically unheard of – but it took a radio consultant named Barry Mayo to change all that. He took an under-performing WBMX-FM – a station languishing behind its arch-rival WGCI-FM – and flipped it to Urban Adult Contemporary WVAZ-FM, or V103 -and turned it into a adult demo powerhouse. […]

Doug Banks returns to Chicago

A Chicago radio icon in coming home – well, at least on the air. Chicago radio veteran Doug Banks is back on the airwaves thanks to a deal with Urban Adult Contemporary WVAZ-FM (V103), which will see it become the first station to carry his new syndicated radio show, which is being distributed by ABC Radio Networks (which is actually […]