Chicago Radio Ratings

From this morning's Tom Taylor column...

Chicago – Lousy weather and a solid news image keep CBS Radio’s all-news WBBM (780 AM and 105.9 FM) at the top with its largest PPM ever, 5.7-7.2-7.4. Second is iHeart urban AC “V103” WVAZ (6.7-6.2-6.3) and third is Hubbard’s hot AC “Mix” WTMX (4.1-5.2-5.2). The next grouping starts a full share down at 4.2, with iHeart CHR “Kiss” WKSC (3.8-4.0-4.2). Fifth is hot AC/former all-Christmas sister WLIT (14.2-4.5-4.1). Cumulus classic hits WLS-FM shakes off a Blue Christmas and improves with at-work listening (2.6-3.3-3.7). Tribune talker WGN endures another fluctuation as it adjusts personalities in middays and PM drive (2.8-3.5-3.1). Chicago Public Media’s news/talk non-com WBEZ finds new energy with its best topline since December 2008, 1.5-2.3-2.6. But it’s status quo for Cumulus talker WLS (1.2-1.1-1.2). The country story is CBS Radio’s incumbent “US 99.5” WUSN (2.6-3.3-2.8), iHeart’s upstart “Big” WEBG (1.6-1.0-1.7) and Digity’s suburban WCCQ (0.5-0.6-0.5). CHR Kiss owns the cume crown at 2,340,400.

An even more in-depth analysis is here at Chicagoland Radio and Media. According to this, WGN has fallen out of the top ten completely.

Justin Kaufmann

WGN made an "out-of-the-box" hire yesterday, naming WBEZ producer Justin Kaufmann as their new evening show host (7-11pm). I'm a big fan. I interviewed Justin a few years ago for Chicago Radio Spotlight. He's more than just a producer*, and I give WGN lots of credit for trying something new like this. I hope Justin takes the opportunity and runs with it.

*When I say "just a producer" remember that's coming from someone who also used to be thought of the same way. I mean no offense to other producers at all. I'm the guy who wrote The Radio Producer's Handbook, remember? Head producer cheerleader, here. There's a whole chapter about people like Justin who have used the position as a springboard for bigger and better things.

Danny Mac and Pete

I've been listening to Dan & Pete this morning on the Drive. Their producer Scott Miller posted this video of their first break ever on the Drive...

He's Baaaaack

Robert Feder reported it yesterday.

The Loop has hired Mancow as their new morning man.

I hear he'll be working in the studio right next to Brandmeier (also with Cumulus--on WLS). Those two have a long seated dislike of each other, brought on by Mancow's constant ripping of Johnny when he arrived in town. What could go wrong?

Is WLS about to drop Rush?

Robert Feder had an interesting day yesterday. First he reported that WLS was about to drop Rush Limbaugh. Then, WLS made statements that said it was completely inaccurate. My guess is that Feder didn't make that up out of thin air. Where there's smoke, there's fire. This is Tom Taylor's take on it...

If Limbaugh leaves the schedule at talk WLS (890), that would let it carry the full three hours of “Johnny B.,” in the market where he’s best-known, Chicago. He’d air 9am to noon, instead of the originally-announced 9am-11am. That would leave WLS with a hole from noon-2pm. One scenario has Cumulus and Premiere negotiating to transfer Rush to Salem’s conservative talk WIND (560). After all, Premiere’s parent iHeart set some precedents by moving Rush off his longtime L.A. affiliate (talk KFI/640) to a sister station, the new avowedly-conservative “Patriot 1150” KEIB. But – Salem has previously displayed little interest in Rush, and this would break that pattern. There was friction between Cumulus and Rush a couple of years ago, when CEO Lew Dickey mentioned a revenue issue at some talk stations. He didn’t name-check Limbaugh, but Rush took it personally. The backdrop here is the three-year-old advertising boycott against Limbaugh whose match was lit by Media Matters, then kept alive by watchdog sites like StopRush.net (February 5, 2014 NOW). What's next? If WLS really does offload Limbaugh, this will look like a Major League Baseball or NBA team trading away a player with a really large contract. Sure sounds like something’s up.

I have a funny feeling they might be thinking of putting Bruce Wolf in that timeslot. Everyone else who was taken off the air at WLS has officially been released. Unless I missed it, Bruce has not said his goodbyes yet, even though he's not on the air anymore. Putting his show between two shows he used to be a part of (Brandmeier & Dahl) makes a lot of sense to me.

Steve Dahl

I think this is a very good article in Chicago Magazine about my old boss, Steve Dahl. Steve gave full access to the writer, and the writer presented Steve fairly but compassionately.

Peter Bowen

News came out yesterday that Peter Bowen has been named the new market manager for Cumulus in Chicago. Here's the blurb from Radio Online...

Cumulus announces that 20-year Chicago radio veteran Peter Bowen has been named Vice President/Market Manager for Cumulus Chicago. Bowen moves into the role previously held by Donna Baker, who was promoted to Regional Vice President for Cumulus. Bowen joins Cumulus from CBS Radio, where he was Senior Vice President/Director of Sales for CBS Radio's six radio stations in Los Angeles. Prior to that, Bowen worked for CBS Radio Chicago for 16 years, serving as Senior Vice President/General Manager of WBBM-FM and WJMK-FM, and as Vice President/Director of Sales for CBS Radio's Chicago stations.

I worked with Peter at WJMK when he was a salesman there. Nice guy. I wish him the best.

WSHE

When you're going after women listeners, why not name yourself WSHE? That's what WILV is doing, beginning today.

Robert Feder has the details.

KSHE, by the way, is a legendary rock and roll station in St. Louis that doesn't target women at all.

WLS Drops Bruce Dumont

His show "Beyond the Beltway" has been on the air in Chicago for 35 years. WLS told him that this weekend's show will be his last on that station. They are going all-paid programming on the weekends. The show will still air in other markets via syndication--just not in Chicago.

Robert Feder has the details.

A few years ago I interviewed Bruce for Chicago Radio Spotlight. At the time he was still running the Radio Hall of Fame. He passed the baton on that project last year.

Opie & Anthony Are No Longer Friends

Sometimes radio teams aren't friends at all--just colleagues put together by a programmer, hoping they develop an on-air chemistry. Sometimes they become friends, and that's what creates the chemistry. And sometimes those friendships end over time, and they return to being professional relationships. That last example appears to be what happened to Opie & Anthony. From this morning's Tom Taylor column...

Separately, Anthony Cumia and Gregg “Opie” Hughes talk about how they drifted apart after 20 years together as a radio team. In separate interviews this week, they both say the distancing had happened long before SiriusXM dumped Anthony last year. That was a result of his encounter with a tourist in New York’s Times Square and subsequent comments on social media. TheBlaze.com reports its interview with Anthony, who appeared at the studio with the.40-caliber concealed handgun he usually travels with (and has a license for). Anthony is now fronting his own subscription podcast. On his SiriusXM show Tuesday, Gregg said “I lost my friend a long time ago, and I’m not blaming him. We changed as people.”

I saw this happen up close with another famous radio team. It happens. But after reading this interview in the Blaze with Anthony, it sounds like Anthony has gone off the deep end a bit, and that's probably part of the cause...

Cumia told TheBlaze why he “always” carries a gun on him — including during his interview at TheBlaze’s NYC studios.

“I always carry. Always,” he said. “It’s not paranoia or anything. It’s like not buckling your seatbelt once or twice, and all of a sudden, that’s when you get in an accident. I’d just rather know I am on equal footing to whatever threat might present himself.”

“To me, it’s like putting my shoes on in the morning,” Cumia added.

During the interview, which aired on TheBlaze TV at 10 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Cumia was carrying an H&K .40-cal handgun.

The Drive and the Loop

The Drive made the Dan McNeil/Pete McMurray move official yesterday. They'll start sometime in March. Producer Scott Miller is following Pete to the Drive too. My old pal Kathy Voltmer stays on as the morning news anchor. (Kathy was my news anchor on WPGU in Champaign a thousand years ago). There's a lot of talent in that room--the questions will be--How do they mesh those very different personalities? and How do they gently abandon the more-music focus without driving away the more-music fans? I'll be following that one closely. John and I faced a similar challenge when we started up the John Landecker show on WJMK. It was a very bumpy ride those first few months as listeners left in droves, and management completely freaked out. It took a while to find our audience. Hopefully Drive management allows that to happen with this show.

As for the Loop, they've been trying out new personalities every week. So far I've heard a little bit of the Abe Kanan show, Shadow Stevens, and Liz Wilde. It's supposedly an on-air audition, and they are taking votes from listeners to decide who the new morning host will be. Right now, I don't think anyone has an edge. According to this morning's RAMP Newsletter, the Loop will keep on auditioning until they get someone who really connects with the audience. It's a novel approach. The Loop, by the way, faces a similar crisis when it comes to incorporating the fans of the more-music approach they've been following for quite some time now. I personally think the one guy who could pull it off is Johnny B. He and that station just seem to go together.

Chicago Radio Ratings

The ratings came out yesterday. The Cliff Notes version is that everything returned to more or less normal after the weird Christmas ratings book. Tom Taylor summed it up this way...

Chicago – iHeart’s all-Christmas hot AC WLIT slips 7.7-14.2-4.5 – better than last year’s Christmas-hangover 4.1. It’s in fourth place, behind an all-newser, an urban AC and another hot AC. On top is CBS’ all-news WBBM and its FM simulcast, 6.2-5.7-7.2. That ties their all-time PPM mark, set in January 2009. Second is iHeart’s urban AC “V103” WVAZ (4.9-4.1-5.2). Third is Hubbard’s hot AC “Mix” WTMX (4.9-4.1-5.2). Then you’ve got “93.9 My FM” WLIT at its 4.5, and in fifth place, iHeart top 40 “Kiss” WKSC (4.3-3.8-4.0). This may be at least partially the bounceback that WGN boss Jimmy de Castro wanted for Tribune’s talk station (3.5-2.8-3.5). Red-letter month (best since a record-setting January 2013) for CBS all-sports “Score” WSCR (2.5-2.7-3.4). It’s tied with adult alternative sister WXRT (3.1-2.5-3.4). Also a bounceback for Cumulus classic hits WLS-FM (3.1-2.6-3.3). Too early to make any calls about the country war that began on January 5 when iHeart converted regional Mexican WNUA to “Big Country.” But here’s the number for CBS Radio’s established “US 99.5” WUSN (3.5-2.6-3.3) and then Big Country WNUA/now-WEBG (1.9-1.6-1.0). Highest PPM in nearly three years for SBS-owned regional Mexican “La Ley” WLEY-FM (1.8-1.8-2.3). Cumulus talker WLS dips, 1.4-1.2-1.1. The Windy City’s average weekly cume lead is held by CHR “Kiss” WKSC at 2,261,100

Robert Feder has the top ten for both mornings (HERE) and afternoons (HERE)

NPR cracked the top ten in mornings for the first time ever. Just as a footnote, I'll be appearing on that morning show, The Morning Shift, on Monday during the 9am hour to discuss my book "Father Knows Nothing".

Paris Sues Fox News

Not Paris Hilton. The city of Paris.

The city council voted to proceed with the lawsuit yesterday.

They are suing because of the erroneous report on Fox News about "no go zones" in Paris.

Brian Williams

After reading this article about the whole Brian Williams saga, I no longer have ambivalent views.

NBC got it right. Brian Williams had to go.

This is how Brian's replacement, Lester Holt, reported the news. (VIDEO)

Brian Williams Steps Aside

I haven't commented on the Brian Williams saga because I've been processing how I feel about it. Did he do something wrong? Yes. And yet, I feel a tremendous amount of sympathy for him. If his career ends this way everything he has done in his life is washed away. That doesn't seem to be a fair penalty for this crime.

TV Newser posted the e-mail he sent to the staff...

"In the midst of a career spent covering and consuming news, it has become painfully apparent to me that I am presently too much a part of the news, due to my actions. As Managing Editor of NBC Nightly News, I have decided to take myself off of my daily broadcast for the next several days, and Lester Holt has kindly agreed to sit in for me to allow us to adequately deal with this issue. Upon my return, I will continue my career-long effort to be worthy of the trust of those who place their trust in us."

I hope he can come back. His reputation will remain tarnished, but at least he'll have a chance at redemption.

FCC Proposes Net Neutrality

If this really passes, it's a great day for consumers, innovators, and entrepeneurs.

The FCC Chairman proposed declaring the internet a utility (which it is). That will give the FCC power to institute complete Net Neutrality. No fast lanes or slow lanes. No blocking or throttling content. A completely equal playing field for all. The way the internet should be. The way the internet has always been.

I'm still worried that something will go wrong here, but I'm blown away that he actually agreed to do this. The president should be given the credit for applying pressure. The FCC Chairman came from the very cable industry that was rubbing its hands, preparing to gouge you. He had to be dragged into this, kicking and screaming.

The telecom giants are already threatening to sue.

Fox News is #1 for 13th year

Fox News has revolutionized the news business, created an entire new genre (activist journalism, or talk-show-host journalism), super-served their audience by telling them exactly what they want to hear in exactly the angry tone of voice they want to hear it, and transformed your formerly civil family gatherings into tense powder kegs. And you've got to hand it to them--they've done it very well. Fox News has been #1 now for 13 years. Conservative talk-radio (which inspired the creation of Fox News) may be in trouble, but Fox News just keeps rolling. Granted, my generation is the last generation watching, but that's true of television in general, not just Fox News.

A New Morning Show in Chicago

WGCI has a new morning show. The RAMP newsletter has the details...

The station just announced that Kyle Santillian and Kendra G will join existing wake-up host Leon Rogers, starting tomorrow, January 29. "We've signed Chicago's next big morning show," said Derrick Brown, Director of Urban Programming for iHeartMedia Chicago. "Listeners can expect non-stop fun, comedy, entertainment features and the best hip-hop & R&B to get you moving in the morning. Kyle, Kendra and Leon are one-of-a-kind entertainers, but most importantly, they have a heart for the community. They won't hesitate to tackle tough issues our listeners confront or step in to lend a helping hand." Santillian most recently did mornings on Entercom Urban WJMH (102 Jamz)/Greensboro; Kendra G formerly co-hosted mornings across the street at Urban rival WPWX (Power 92) and WVEE (V103)/Atlanta. Rogers (left) has been flying solo since early December, when the station parted ways with the other 2/3 of the former Morning Riot -- Tony Sculfield and Nina Chantele. "I'm excited to have Kyle and Kendra G join the team," said Rogers. "Time to dominate!"

Public Radio Contributions Up

For all the talk about ending funding to NPR (remember that hubub?), public radio is doing quite well thanks to contributions from their listeners. From this morning's Tom Taylor column...

Not only are some prominent public radio stations regularly scoring the #1, #2 or #3 positions in some very large Nielsen markets – they’re also scoring with the pocketbooks of their P1 fans. A new Corporation for Public Broadcasting study finds that while the number of individual financial contributors to public TV dropped from 3.9 million to 3,030,000 between 2003 and 2013 – the comparable category for public radio shows growth, from 2,520,000 to 2,850,000. And the average amount per contributor is now slightly higher for radio than for TV. Public TV’s getting $134 per person in response to those late-night pledge-a-thons and oldies concerts. Public radio’s harvesting $137. Total support for public radio in 2013 was $1.08 billion, with public TV at $1.69 billion.

New Back Door Plan Regarding Net Neutrality

I've got to hand it to the Republicans in Congress. They are drafting a bill regarding Net Neutrality, and as always, they have included just enough language to make it appear they are on the side of the people. From this morning's Variety...

The bill would ban Internet providers from blocking or throttling traffic, or from charging for speedier delivery of content to their subscribers. But at a series of hearings this week, Democrats who have called for robust net neutrality rules criticized the legislation because it would place limits on the FCC’s authority over Internet providers, making it more difficult for the agency to respond to consumer complaints.

Sneaky eh? Give the people what they want now, but change the rules so that they are powerless from stopping the next move--and there's always a next move. They say it's to ensure that regulators don't stifle innovation...but the only innovation it has any chance of impeding are the innovative new ways the two or three corporate telecom giants can reach their hands into your pocketbooks. I guarantee they already have a plan for what to do next.