St. Louis, Milwaukee stations may be spun off by Sinclair sale while John Oliver takes on the company Philadelphia radio station takes a shot a Taylor Swift; changes formats Chicago radio legend John “Records” Landecker is getting a tremendous honor: an induction into the National Radio Hall Of Fame – on the first ballot. Landecker is being inducted into the […]
The White Sox may not have the worst record in MLB for 2015, but earned an even-worse honor. According to Sports Business Journal, the South Siders again finished dead last among all 29 U.S. teams, with a 0.8 live-plus-same day household rating on CSN Chicago, down 29 percent from 2014, where they finished 27th out of 27 teams excluding Houston […]
For years, many in the radio industry here in Chicago were talking about the possibility of Jonathan Brandmier landing on WGN Radio. Ladies and gentlemen, the mission has been accomplished. In a move being considered a game changer in Chicago radio, former WLUP radio personality Jonathan Brandmeier signed a deal with Tribune Broadcasting’s WGN-AM to take over the coveted morning […]
In news that first broke Thursday afternoon by Robert Feder on Twitter, CBS radio has finally pulled the plug on WCFS-FM, or Fresh 105.9 after three-and-a-half years of underperforming ratings and is replacing the Adult Contemporary format with a simulcast of top-rated WBBM-AM beginning on August 1st. The move could be read as a preemptive strike against Merlin Media, which […]
THIS was the announcement fans of Steve Dahl have been waiting for weeks? Speculation on “the big news” to be announced Monday at 12 Noon ranged from Dahl heading to Merlin Media to host a talk show at WKQX, a return to WLUP, or even a gig at WGN Radio. And when noon hit, this was “the big announcement”: if […]
Yeah, but not for long…. The axe is waiting to swing on one of CBS Radio’s two struggling properties in Chicago. Industry website Radio Insight reported today that CBS Radio registered a domain under the name KHitsChicago.com, meaning a format flip for WJMK-FM (JACK FM, 104.3 FM) is imminent. Also mentioned as a possible target is WCFS-FM (Fresh 105.9 FM), […]
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 […]
(Editor’s note: I apologize for the lateness of this post, as I had Internet connection problems that knocked me offline for awhile this evening. – T.H.) The ax swung again at CBS Radio at a highly-paid radio personality – and this time – and to no one’s surprise – it was Steve Dahl. The venerable and legendary personality left WJMK-FM […]
More sad news: Chicago Tribune columnist and former WCKG co-host Terry Armour has died unexpectedly at the too-young age of 46. Armour was rushed to the hospital this afternoon after falling ill. He died a short time later. Armour worked at the Tribune, covering the Bulls’ championship run in the 1990’s and previously co-hosted a midday talk show with Stan […]
The second set of trends for the Arbitron fall book for Chicago radio stations are out, and there is some movement on the chart among several radio stations. Thoughts… – It looks like WGN is going to be #1 for the foreseeable future. – WGCI rebounded to third place this trend, perhaps silencing critics (such as yours truly) -WLS-AM rebounded […]
Former WBBM-TV anchors Bill Kurtis and Walter Jacobson are reuniting to teach a graduate level class at Columbia College on a lecture course regarding local journalism. Starting in January, both men will serve as professors. Click on this link to see Kurtis and Jacobson speaking together at the Chicago History Museum last March, as part of the “Chicago Treasures” series […]
Anyone who had WCKG become Fresh 105.9 in the format pool – you win! The new Adult Contemporary format launched at 5 p.m. today. The station’s target audience is women 25-54 (or somewhere in between), the same as crosstown competitor WLIT, who switched to Christmas music on Friday. According to yes.com, here are the first five songs played on the […]
WCKG planned to switch to Christmas music at 7 p.m. tonight. That is, until WLIT launched its all-Christmas format at 8:30 this morning. Speculation centered on two Christmas formats competing for listenership. But late this afternoon, WCKG abandoned that plan at the last minute. Instead, they are running Dahl clips, as they have been doing all week long, until at […]
As of 8:30 this morning, WLIT is now your Jingle Bells all the time station, ahead of WCKG, which is switching to all-Christmas tonight at 7 p.m.
Contradicting a earlier report that WCKG was going to flip to Adult Contemporary on Friday, Phil Rosenthal in the Chicago Tribune is reporting that WCKG will flip to an all-Christmas music format instead, beating WLIT to the punch. WLIT has aired the Jingle Bells format for years during the Christmas season. In fact, WLIT had a countdown clock on it […]