Do the time, land a radio show It seems there’s a common thing in Chicago radio where if you go to prison, you wind up with a job in radio. The perception was never truer than on Thursday when Cumulus Media – owner of conservative-talk WLS-AM, classic hits WLS-FM, and alternative WKQX-FM in Chicago, announced they signed former Illinois governor […]
Legendary radio personality dies of cancer Longtime Chicago radio personality Clark Weber passed away Sunday morning from complications due to cancer at an Evanston hospice. He was 89. Weber was a legendary showman, getting his start in Chicago radio at ABC’s WLS-AM in 1961, at the Top 40 powerhouse known as “The Big 89”. In August 1965, Weber and evening […]
Also: Extra doubles up on name and gets a new host; New York’s WPLJ ends run May 31; and more In a bizarre incident captured on live TV Tuesday night during a Miami Marlins-Chicago Cubs game at Wrigley Field, a fan displayed what is known as a “white supremacist hand sign” during a live shot. It occurred while Doug Glanville […]
Also: WLS-AM announces new PD; WBBM reigns supreme; New York’s WPIX sold One of Chicago’s prominent sports radio hosts has a new contract – and a new weekday slot. Longtime WSCR-AM (The Score) veteran Laurence Holmes is getting his own midday slot weekdays from noon to 2 p.m., beginning March 28 – coinciding with the start of the baseball season. […]
What’s traditional media’s response to a changing market? Hire the same people over and over again. Currently, broadcast network television is relying on reboots of shows no one wants to see, junk reality competition programming, paint-by-numbers procedurals (mainly on CBS) and long-running programs that never seem to end to sustain their declining ratings. But apparently, broadcast network execs must’ve gotten […]
Plus… big day for Bears as they beat rival; Channing Dungey heads to Netflix; Extra adds Fox stations in large markets With Steve Dahl set to depart Cumulus-owned WLS-AM this Friday, the station announced last week it was shifting Big John Howell to afternoons from mornings starting January 3, from 5 to 7 p.m. weekdays. In a statement, the thirty-year […]
Plus: Classic Hip-Hop loses ground as Soft AC makes a comeback; Tribune Media bidding heats up; another cable channel is in the works In a move widely anticipated, conservative talk show host and podcaster Ben Shapiro is joining WLS-AM’s weekday afternoon lineup. Beginning January 7, Shapiro has been slotted in the 2 to 5 p.m. slot replacing Steve Dahl, who […]
Hot-button issues drives viewers to the polls – and election coverage Election night on Tuesday is going to be like Christmas morning for news organizations as viewers are expected to tune in enmasse for the results. In the past, viewers barely tuned into election night as races weren’t exciting or the outcome was expected (re: the 1984 and 1996 Presidential […]
Longtime Chicago radio host steps down as station changes direction In a move that comes as no surprise, WLS-AM afternoon host Steve Dahl has decided to leave the Cumulus-owned station after four years amid low ratings. As first reported by Robert Feder Tuesday, WLS is looking to revamp its talk schedule, targeting sometime in January for the changes. While the […]
Rebuilding team has trouble drawing viewers; Cubs’ ratings grow; Cardinals top MLB In a signal the “rebuild” isn’t chugging along as it should, the Chicago White Sox’s season ratings fell into a ravine this season. According to Nielsen and Forbes, the White Sox fell into last place among Major League Baseball’s 29 teams, averaging a 0.68 household rating on NBC […]
Classic rocker WLUP-FM (The Loop) signed off Friday evening at approximately 11:59 p.m. and went out with a blast. As you know by now, WLUP was sold on Tuesday to the Educational Media Foundation, who are buying up stations across the country to air their Christian Contemporary music format known as K-Love with a switch set for Saturday. On Friday, […]
Chapter 11 forces company to dump pricey agreements. At last, I can sum up the sorry state of Chicago sports AND Chicago radio all in one post. In news breaking Friday and first reported by Robert Feder, Cumulus announced it was seeking to get out of money-losing contracts of the Chicago Bulls and Chicago White Sox in a filing with […]
Back a year ago, yours truly did a look ahead into 2017. So how did everything turn out? I have the answers right here! 1. The FCC under a Trump administration. With a 3-2 FCC majority, issues the FCC championed under Tom Wheeler: net neutrality, preserving the cross-ownership rule, and other issues are going to get a hard look at […]
Dropping homegrown talent for syndicated fare; enables Rush Limbaugh to be live again in Chicago As first reported by Robert Feder Wednesday, longtime Chicago media personalities Bob Sirott and Marianne Murciano were shown the door (again), this time at Cumulus Media’s WLS-AM as the station canceled their 10 to noon morning show after only one year. WLS had high hopes […]
Also: WYCC and Chiller sign-off; Cumulus files for Chapter 11 The Lite is back: on Friday, iHeartMedia-owned WLIT-FM returned to its “Lite” branding, effective immediately, effectively ending the “My” branding it has used for the last few years. iHeartMedia rebranded several of its Adult Contemporary stations “My FM”, including KBIG-FM in Los Angeles (My 104.3), which unlike WLIT, is a […]
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