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, […]
It looks like WGN Radio has finally gotten its wish to land on an FM outlet – even if its temporary. As first reported by Robert Feder Friday afternoon, Tribune Broadcasting has struck a deal to lease the 87.7 FM frequency from Venture Technologies Group, effective Monday (Feb. 17) at 1:02 p.m. – one minute after its deal with WKQX […]
The reign and terror of Randy “Court Jester” Michaels in radio has finally come to an end. In a blockbuster move, Cumulus announced Friday morning it was taking over operations of Merlin Media’s two remaining stations immediately: classic rocker WLUP-FM (97.9) and Variety Hits WIQI-FM (101.1), which was once home to the failed “FM News” experiment. The deal also gives […]
FCC approves purchases; deals close It’s a Holiday Week edition of the Grab Bag – will it be presents or several lumps of coal? Let’s find out: Both Gannett and Tribune received presents in their stockings thanks to the FCC approving their deals on December 20. Gannett purchased Belo last summer, while Tribune announced their takeover of Local TV, LLC […]
Content targeting Black, Hispanic audiences come under scrutiny after FCC fines Spanish broadcaster for indecent content Believe it or not, the next indecency battleground could be in Chicago’s African-American community. A group of activists calling themselves The Clear The Airwaves Project are targeting Crawford’s WPWX-FM (Power 92) and Clear Channel’s WGCI-FM for playing salacious hip-hop and rap music targeting children […]
It’s safe to say this now: FM News 101.1 is the biggest bomb in the history of Chicago radio. But you knew that already, right? Merlin Media pulled the plug on its all-news stations Tuesday at WIQI-FM (101.1) here in Chicago and WEMP-FM (101.9) in New York City, nearly a year after their underwhelming debuts, which saw them still stalled […]
Notes and news – in this mostly local edition of the Grab Bag: – As mentioned briefly in the Tribune bankruptcy post on Saturday, the Chicago Tribune was recently caught using fake bylines and plagiarizing and fabricating stories in TribLocal, the paper’s hyperlocal network of websites and print properties serving Chicago’s suburbs. On Friday, the Tribune announced it was parting […]
On the old PI Feedback forums at the former Mediaweek.com, a poster named “Twins12” often referred to the hit reality TV series Dancing With The Stars as Dancing With The Has-Beens, noting the program’s inability to land A-list celebrities, but those whose best days were behind them. In Chicago media, being a has-been can be beneficial – even if no […]
CBS’ “press release” sounds awfully familiar to letter Merlin Media sent to them last year It appears CBS has borrowed a trick from Randy Michaels’ playbook. On the heels of CBS unsuccessfully trying to stop ABC from airing Big Brother rip-off Glass House, The Church Of Tisch sent out a mock press release on Wednesday, unveiling the “upcoming launch of […]
A lot of stuff in this grab bag this week: – What’s this? A historic low for WGN Radio? The Tribune-owned talker . Even with Cubs baseball (and the you know the team sucks this year), WGN finished behind WVAZ (V103) and WTMX (The Mix) and also behind WBBM-AM and WDRV (The Drive). Other May PPM highlights include WGCI’s return […]
For the last few months, Chicago-area radio listeners had no alternative rock station. As of Sunday night, Chicago-area radio listeners have… two? In a surprise move, Elmhurst-based WJJG-AM (1530) flipped from talk to Alternative Rock Sunday night – a day before Merlin Media was supposed to launch its new Alternative format on WKOX-LP (formerly Smooth Jazz outlet WLFM-LP, on 87.7 […]
If you’re been driving around Chicagoland for the last few weeks, you probably have noticed former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich unintentionally shilling for WIQI-FM, Merlin Media’s all-news station on 101.1 FM. The ads come months after Merlin purchased controlling interest in the former WKQX-FM from Emmis and launched on all-news format August 1 and basically took their sweet time […]
For the second time in a week, a high profile local marketing agreement (LMA) has shaken up the radio landscape in a major market. This time, its ESPN 1050 programming in New York – or more specifically, WEPN-AM (1050) – is replacing the Urban Adult Contemporary format at WRKS-FM (aka Kiss 98.7 FM) effective at 12:01 a.m. on April 30. […]
Format change takes place this Monday Merlin Media announced today it was taking over operations of low-power frequency WLFM (87.7 FM) and is flipping the Smooth Jazz format to Alternative Rock on Monday. WLFM’s owner (Venture Technologies, LLC), will continue to own the station and the station’s license. Merlin already owns classic rock WLUP-FM and all-news WIQI-FM, which replaced former […]
There is a lot of mediocrity that abounded in the media business this year. But in this post, T Dog Media is honoring the standouts of 2011 – the year’s ten best shows and the best media items. Let’s countdown the best shows of the year first… Best shows of 2011 10. Bob’s Burgers (Fox). What could’ve been the next […]
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