from the Chicago Sun-Times
January 9, 2003
--snips--
MORNING DRIVE
1. WBBM-AM, Felicia Middlebrooks and Pat Cassidy 7.9 [7.9]
2. WGN, Spike O’Dell 7.5 [8.6]
3. WLS, Don Wade and Roma 5.0 [4.0]
WGCI-FM, "Crazy" Howard McGee 5.0 [3.9]
5. WNUA, Ramsey Lewis and Karen Williams 4.2 [3.5]
6. WBBM-FM, Ed Volkman and Joe Bohannon 3.7 [3.4]
7. WVAZ, Tom Joyner 3.6 [3.7]
WTMX, Eric Ferguson and Kathy Hart 3.6 [4.1]
9. WKQX, Mancow Muller 3.4 [2.7]
10. WLIT, Melissa Forman and Bill Leff 3.3 [2.4]
from the NY Daily News
November 13, 2002
Ever wondered how many other people in America are actually listening to, say, Howard Stern at the same time you are?
Tony Sanders, who crunches national numbers for the trade publication Inside Radio, says it's around 1,490,000.
Standard radio ratings, designed for advertisers, use a figure called "cume," which is the cumulative number of persons who tune to a given show or station at some time during an average week.
That's obviously a much higher figure. The national weekly "cume" for Stern has been estimated by the trade mag Talkers at "8 million-plus."
By comparison, Rush Limbaugh is rated at 14.5 million-plus per week, Sean Hannity at 10 million-plus and Dr. Joy Browne and Imus at 5 million-plus.
The numbers of people listening to those hosts at any one time presumably are proportionate to Stern's numbers.
Stern's numbers also mean more than 10 times as many people are listening to him at any given time than are, say, watching cable news channels on television.
Sanders has also tracked Stern's ranking in all of his markets for summer 2002 - though this is just based on his share of the total audience. Like most hosts, Stern scores higher among his specific target audiences, which for him includes younger men.
Overall, Stern is No. 1 in New York, Orlando, Phoenix, Syracuse and York, Pa.
In other cities, it goes like this: Philadelphia, second; Washington, D.C., fourth; Los Angeles, seventh; Baltimore, 16th; Cleveland, second; Buffalo, fourth; Chicago, 10th; Dallas, 11th; Detroit, ninth; Hartford, sixth; Las Vegas, second; Boston, second; San Diego, third; Pittsburgh, third; Seattle, fourth; Rochester, seventh; Miami, fourth; San Francisco, fifth.
--snips--
from the Chicago Sun-Times
BY ROBERT FEDER
SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST
Summer in the city brought good news--and high ratings--to radio stations that compete for Chicago's African-American listeners.
Arbitron ratings released Monday for the summer survey period showed substantial growth for both urban-contemporary stations--Clear Channel Communications' WGCI-FM and Crawford Broadcasting's WPWX. Also up was Clear Channel's urban adult-contemporary WVAZ, which led the market among listeners between the ages of 25 and 54--the group most coveted by advertisers.
Although WGN remained the top-rated station overall, the Tribune Co.-owned news talker was down from both the previous quarter and last summer. WGN morning host Spike O'Dell's margin over the anchor duo of Felicia Middlebrooks and Pat Cassidy at Infinity Broadcasting's all-news WBBM-AM was cut by nearly two-thirds.
The Arbitron report also underscored the continued strength of the two leading Spanish-language outlets--Spanish Broadcasting System's WLEY and Hispanic Broadcasting's WOJO.
Solid performances by the black-oriented and Spanish-language stations reflect ongoing demographic trends and the ratings service's diligence in reaching out to ethnic households. Arbitron estimates that African Americans make up 18.3 percent of the market's total population, while Hispanics make up 15.9 percent.
In one of Arbitron's little ironies, DaVante Stone was fired as afternoon personality at WGCI-FM just before the end of the summer ratings period. Although he wound up finishing in first place, "The Stone Pony" was put out to pasture with seven months left on his contract and replaced by former weekend host Sam Sylk.
Missing in action were two of Chicago's highest paid and highest profile personalities. Mancow Muller's decline from fourth place to 14th in mornings underscored the worst overall ratings for Emmis Communications' WKQX ever in the alternative rock format. Steve Dahl, afternoon icon on Infinity's "talk that rocks" outlet WCKG, also fell out of the top 10, but remained first among men between 25 and 54.
While most of the market's rock and adult-contemporary stations declined during the summer, one notable exception was Bonneville International's WTMX. The modern adult-contemporary outlet jumped to third in mornings with Eric Ferguson and Kathy Hart.
Two other big winners, both owned by Infinity, were WUSN, which relaunched itself as "America's Country Station" (including a new marketing strategy, revised playlist and revamped talent lineup under new operations manager Eric Logan), and oldies WJMK, which has recaptured its old magic under new program director Jim Smith.
ABC's news/talk WLS declined sharply from its spring peak, just in time for the arrival of new operations director Michael Packer.
In the ridiculously over- analyzed ratings rivalry between sports talkers, Infinity's WSCR moved back on top of ABC's WMVP, which lost about one-fourth of its audience share. But both stations' numbers remain pitifully low.
Following WVAZ in the 25-to-54 age category overall were WGCI-FM, WTMX, WUSN, WNUA, WJMK, WBBM-AM, WXRT, WLEY and WDRV.
As a group, Infinity's seven stations led the market wtih a combined audience share of 22.4, while Clear Channel's six stations had a combined share of 20.8.
Arbitron's summer survey ran from June 27 to Sept. 18. Ratings are used to determine advertising rates.
CHICAGO RADIO RATINGS
Here is Arbitron's ranking of the top 30 stations for summer, followed by average share of listeners age 12 and older from 6 a.m. to midnight Monday through Sunday (with spring share in brackets):
1. WGN-AM (720) 6.0 [6.4]
2. WGCI-FM (107.5) 5.2 [4.7]
3. WBBM-AM (780) 4.8 [4.9]
4. WBBM-FM (96.3) 4.3 [4.0]
5. WVAZ-FM (102.7) 4.2 [3.5]
WNUA-FM (95.5) 4.2 [4.8]
7. WUSN-FM (99.5) 3.8 [3.4]
8. WLS-AM (890) 3.7 [5.0]
9. WJMK-FM (104.3) 3.6 [2.7]
10. WPWX-FM (92.3) 3.5 [3.0]
--snips--
18. WKQX-FM (101.1) 2.3 [3.1]
--snips--
22. WCKG-FM (105.9) 1.9 [2.1]
--snips--MORNING DRIVE
1. WGN, Spike O'Dell 8.6 [9.4]
2. WBBM-AM, Felicia Middlebrooks and Pat Cassidy 7.9 [7.5]
3. WTMX, Eric Ferguson and Kathy Hart 4.1 [3.8]
4. WLS, Don Wade and Roma 4.0 [5.6]
5. WGCI-FM, "Crazy" Howard McGee 3.9 [3.9]
6. WUSN, Big John Howell, Trish Biondo and Ray Stevens 3.8 [3.2]
7. WVAZ, Tom Joyner 3.7 [3.0]
8. WNUA, Ramsey Lewis and Karen Williams 3.5 [3.8]
9. WBBM-FM, Ed Volkman and Joe Bohannon 3.4 [3.5]
10. WCKG, Howard Stern 3.2 [2.9]
WJMK, John Landecker 3.2 [2.5]
--snips--
from the Chicago Sun-Times
July 18, 2002
Nine years after Chicago radio's most celebrated duo broke up and went their separate ways, Garry Meier and Steve Dahl find themselves riding high in afternoon drive again.
Arbitron ratings released Wednesday for the spring survey period show Meier and his current partner, Roe Conn, solidly in first place overall for their afternoon show on ABC-owned all-talk WLS. They also finished first among all listeners between the ages of 25 and 54--the group most coveted by advertisers--and second among men between 25 and 54.
Dahl's afternoon show on Infinity Broadcasting's comedy/talk WCKG, although tied for 10th place overall, finished first among men between 25 and 54 and tied for second (along with smooth jazz WNUA) among all listeners in the 25-to-54 category.
The last time WLS was No. 1 in afternoons was in 1985 when Dahl and Meier topped out at a 9.4 share. For Meier, that's an unprecedented 17-year span between first-place finishes on the same station.
While WLS jumped to second place overall and posted its highest ratings ever as a talk station, Arbitron's big winner in spring again was Tribune Co.-owned news/talk WGN, led by top-rated morning personality Spike O'Dell.
WNUA, which supplanted urban-contemporary WGCI-FM as the crown jewel of Clear Channel Communications' Chicago stations, finished first among all stations in the 25-to-54 category. WNUA's star performer was midday personality Rick O'Dell, who finished first overall and first in the 25-to-54 lineup.
(Incidental info: Spike O'Dell and Rick O'Dell, the market's leaders in mornings and middays, respectively, are not related.)
They were breaking out the hats and horns at ESPN Radio outlet WMVP, which beat Infinity Broadcasting's rival WSCR for the first time ever--albeit by the narrowest possible margin. White Sox baseball broadcasts undoubtedly were a factor in helping WMVP overcome the Score's eight-year head start in the sports-talk format.
While ABC bosses celebrated their good news at WLS and WMVP, they couldn't ignore the continued failure of their alternative rocker, WZZN, to chip away at Emmis Communications' rival WKQX. Demonstrating again why he's worth all the money he makes (and all the trouble he causes), Q-101 millionaire morning star Mancow Muller finished first among listeners between the ages of 18 and 34--the target audience of both Q-101 and "The Zone."
As expected, the decision by the bosses of WBBM-FM to pull morning hosts Ed Volkman and Joe Bohannon off the air at the end of May resulted in a downturn for the Infinity Broadcasting contemporary-hit station. After signing a seven-year renewal this week, the duo will return to B-96 on Monday.
Bonneville International's classic rock combo of WDRV ("The Drive") and WLUP ("The Loop") delivered another one-two punch in their target demographic, again finishing first and second among men between the ages of 25 and 54.
As a group, Infinity Broadcasting's seven stations led the market with a combined audience share of 20.6, followed closely by Clear Channel Communications' six stations with a 19.9 share.
Arbitron's spring survey ran from March 28 to June 19.
CHICAGO RADIO RATINGS
Here is Arbitron’s ranking of the top 30 stations for spring, followed by average share of listeners age 12 and older from 6 a.m. to midnight Monday through Sunday (with winter share in brackets):
--snips--
MORNING DRIVE
1 WGN, Spike O’Dell 9.4 [8.4] 2 WBBM-AM, Felicia Middlebrooks and Pat Cassidy 7.5 [8.1] 3 WLS, Don Wade and Roma 5.6 [4.9] 4 WKQX, Mancow Muller 3.9 [3.8] WGCI-FM, "Crazy" Howard McGee 3.9 [4.3] 6 WTMX, Eric Ferguson and Kathy Hart 3.8 [4.2] WNUA, Ramsey Lewis and Karen Williams 3.8 [2.9] 8 WBBM-FM, Ed Volkman and Joe Bohannon 3.5 [4.2] 9 WUSN, Big John Howell and Trish Biondo 3.2 [2.9] 10 WLEY, Nacho Zepeda and Beto Carretto 3.1 [2.7]
--snips--
from the Chicago Sun-Times
April 23, 2002
Of course, only a cynic would suggest that WBBM-AM ask morning drive news anchor Felicia Middlebrooks for a rebate on her salary now that she and partner Pat Cassidy have dropped out of first place in the Arbitron ratings.
In publicizing her demands for big bucks last month, you'll recall, Middlebrooks appeared to take credit for the Infinity Broadcasting all-news station's rise to the top of the ratings. In so doing, she and her agent seemed to overlook a few more obvious factors, such as the Sept. 11 attacks, the war in Afghanistan and the popularity of Bears football broadcasts.
But Arbitron figures released Monday for the winter survey period showed news/talk WGN back on top, with morning personality Spike O'Dell reclaiming the crown held by the Tribune Co.-owned station since the legendary Wally Phillips knocked off Howard Miller in 1968. For WBBM-AM, it was a return to second place.
At least from a ratings standpoint, the market pretty much returned to normal after a highly abnormal fall quarter.
All eyes Monday were on WKQX ("Q-101"), where morning shock jock Mancow Muller shot up to his highest share since the summer of 2000 while the Emmis Communications alternative rocker remained flat overall.
It only added to the strange drama playing out at the station, where Muller has been off the air since the middle of last week when a bitter dispute erupted with management. While outsiders wondered whether the station's otherwise anemic format could survive without Muller, insiders braced for the worst.
Most other music stations were up across the board, with the notable exception of Clear Channel Communications' smooth jazz WNUA, which declined significantly. Clear Channel's adult contemporary WLIT ("Lite FM"), though down from fall, wound up higher than expected after its monthlong Christmas music stunt ended.
Bonneville International's classic rock combo of WDRV ("The Drive") and WLUP ("The Loop") dominated adult male listenership, finishing first and second, respectively, in that target demographic group.
Clear Channel's urban contemporary WGCI-FM re-emerged as the dominant station in its target young-adult demographic over Crawford Broadcasting's new WPWX ("Power 92").
Two stations posting record-high shares were Spanish Broadcasting System's regional Mexican WLEY ("La Ley") and Window to the World Communications' classical WFMT.
NextMedia Group's WAIT had a rather inauspicious debut for its new all-talk format, falling from its previous incarnation as an adult standards music station.
Radio's two biggest corporate owners still dominated listenership in the market, with audience shares for Infinity's seven stations totaling 21.4 percent, while those for Clear Channel's six stations total 20 percent.
Among listeners between the ages of 25 and 54--the group most coveted by advertisers--WVAZ finished first, followed in order by: WGCI-FM, WDRV, WXRT, WBBM-AM, WTMX, WNUA, WLEY, WLUP, WLIT and WJMK.
Arbitron's winter survey ran from Jan. 3 to March 27. Ratings are used to set advertising rates.
CHICAGO RADIO RATINGS
Here is Arbitron’s ranking of the top 36 stations for winter, followed by average share of listeners age 12 and older from 6 a.m. to midnight Monday through Sunday (with fall share in brackets):
1. WGN-AM (720) 5.6 [5.5]
2. WBBM-AM (780) 5.1 [6.2]
3. WGCI-FM (107.5) 4.9 [4.8]
4. WBBM-FM (96.3) 4.5 [4.5]
5. WVAZ-FM (102.7) 4.2 [4.4]
WLS-AM (890) 4.2 [4.8]
7. WNUA-FM (95.5) 3.8 [4.5]
8. WLEY-FM (107.9) 3.3 [2.6]
WPWX-FM (92.3) 3.3 [3.5]
10. WLIT-FM (93.9) 3.1 [3.8]
WTMX (101.9) 3.1 [2.8]
--snips--
22. WCKG-FM (105.9) 1.7 [1.4]
WZZN-FM (94.7) 1.7 [1.4]--snips--
MORNING DRIVE
1. WGN, Spike O’Dell 8.4 [8.4]
2. WBBM-AM, Felicia Middlebrooks and Pat Cassidy 8.1 [8.8]
3. WLS, Don Wade and Roma 4.9 [4.7]
4. WGCI-FM, "Crazy" Howard McGee 4.3 [4.1]
5. WTMX, Eric Ferguson and Kathy Hart 4.2 [3.8]
WBBM-FM, Ed Volkman and Joe Bohannon 4.2 [3.9]
7. WVAZ, Tom Joyner 3.8 [3.8]
WKQX, Mancow Muller 3.8 [3.0]
9. WNUA, Ramsey Lewis and Karen Williams 2.9 [3.6]
WLIT, Melissa Forman and Bill Leff 2.9 [2.9]
WUSN, Big John Howell, Trish Biondo, Gavin Todd 2.9 [2.9]
from the Chicago Sun-Times
October 16, 2001
Although only one week of Arbitron's summer survey period ran past Sept. 11, ratings released Monday foreshadow huge audience growth for news and news/talk radio stations in the fall.
A combination of riveting reports in the aftermath of terrorist attacks and interest in Bears football gave the biggest boost toward the end of the survey to all-news WBBM-AM, owned by Infinity Broadcasting.
Felicia Middlebrooks and Pat Cassidy, morning anchors on "Newsradio 780," finished first among adults between the ages of 25 and 54--the group most highly valued by advertisers.
Also poised for significant growth in the fall survey are news/talk outlets WGN, owned by Tribune Co., and WLS, owned by ABC/Walt Disney Co.
In summer, WGN again ranked first overall.
Arbitron's survey sample seemed to favor stations with big African-American audiences. Clear Channel's WGCI-FM, WVAZ and WNUA as well as Crawford Broadcasting's new urban WPWX all rose.
Substantial gains also were posted by WDRV, Bonneville International's instantly successful classic/oldies rocker known as "The Drive," and Infinity's super-patriotic country WUSN.
In what might have been a delayed reaction to the demise of its only classical music competitor (the ex-WNIB), Window to the World's WFMT scored its highest share.
Notable losers included two of Infinity's male-oriented outlets, comedy/talk WCKG and adult rocker WXRT.
In the 25-to-54 age category overall, WVAZ finished first, followed in order by: WNUA, WGCI-FM, WUSN, WDRV, WBBM-AM, WTMX, WGN, WLUP and WLEY.
For the first time ever, the market's two biggest owners, Clear Channel and Infinity, tied with 20.9 percent shares of listenership for their respective station groups.
Arbitron's spring survey ran from June 28 to Sept. 19.
Morning drive
1. WGN, Spike O’Dell, 9.2 [10.0]
2. WBBM-AM, Felicia Middlebrooks and Pat Cassidy, 8.2 [7.0]
3. WLS, Don Wade and Roma, 4.7 [4.6]
4. WVAZ, Tom Joyner, 4.3 [4.2]
5. WTMX, Eric Ferguson and Kathy Hart, 4.1 [4.4]
6. WUSN, Big John Howell, Trish Biondo and Gavin Todd, 3.9 [2.4]
WNUA, Ramsey Lewis and Karen Williams, 3.9 [3.5]
8. WGCI-FM, "Crazy" Howard McGee, 3.7 [3.6]
9. WBBM-FM, Ed Volkman and Joe Bohannon, 3.4 [4.1]
10. WKQX, Mancow Muller, 3.1 [3.6]
from the Chicago Sun-Times
July 18, 2001
Chicago's two newest radio stations--"Power 92" and "The Drive"--proved wildly successful in their first ratings report cards out of the box.
Arbitron Co. data released Tuesday for the spring survey gave WPWX, Crawford Broadcasting's new urban-contemporary outlet, an eye-popping welcome in its debut against longtime urban leader WGCI-FM, owned by Clear Channel Communications.
Billed as "Power 92," WPWX went from nowhere to a tie for 10th place overall. Its strongest demographic showing was among women between the ages of 18 and 34. In that group, the station exploded from a tie for 36th place (in its previous format as a brokered religious outlet) to fourth place.
Crawford executives, whose most optimistic projections had them debuting in 15th place, were ecstatic over their top 10 appearance. "God does answer prayers," declared Taft Harris, Crawford's Chicago market manager. "Power 92" is Crawford's first foray into secular radio here.
Hoping to translate its early ratings into advertising revenue, Crawford this week opened a Chicago sales office at 440 N. Wells. Headquarters and studios remain in Hammond, Ind.
Bonneville International Corp., the broadcasting division of the Mormon Church, had its own prayers answered when the first full ratings book for WDRV, the classic/oldies rocker known as "The Drive," pulled into 11th place among men between 25 and 54.
"The Drive" managed to pull off its strong debut without cannibalizing the audience of classic rock sister station WLUP, as competitors had predicted. Remarkably, the Loop regained its first-place rank among men 25-to-54.
As WGCI-FM officials had expected with the launch of their first full-fledged competitor in more than a decade, the former No. 1 station took it on the chin in every major category and during every time of day.
Boosted by a return to double-digit shares by morning personality Spike O'Dell and the popularity of Cubs baseball broadcasts, Tribune Co. news/talk WGN was back in first place for the first time in seven quarters.
Bonneville's modern rock WTMX held steady, with "Mix" morning hosts Eric Ferguson and Kathy Hart back on top among adults between 25 and 54, the group most coveted by advertisers.
Spanish Broadcasting's WLEY, known as "La Ley," had its best performance among its Spanish-language competitors.
Clear Channel's best news locally came at "smooth jazz" WNUA, where midday personality Rick O'Dell led the way by finishing first overall and first among listeners between 25 and 54.
Syndicated hosts Rush Limbaugh and Laura Schlessinger fell from first to third in middays on ABC-owned talker WLS. But Limbaugh's overwhelming popularity nationally was backed up this week by the eight-year, $250 million contract renewal (along with a $35 million signing bonus) he signed with Premiere Radio Networks, a subsidiary of Clear Channel.
WZZN, ABC's "Best of the '80s and Beyond" station known as "The Zone," continued its free fall into oblivion as it played out its musical identity crisis. The station's latest decline prompted some to call it "The Disaster Zone."
While morning shock jock Mancow Muller rebounded from two consecutive declines on alternative rock WKQX, the Emmis Communications station continued its overall descent as well. Q-101 bosses are working overtime to renew Muller's contract, which expires later this month. Without him as the franchise, the station's prospects are even more dismal.
In the 25-to-54 age category overall, WVAZ finished first, followed in order by: WGCI-FM, WNUA, WTMX, WXRT, WLEY, WLUP, WGN, WJMK and WBBM-AM.
Arbitron's spring survey ran from March 29 to June 20.
--snips--
Morning Drive 1. WGN, Spike O'Dell, 10.0 [9.2] 2. WBBM-AM, Felicia Middlebrooks and Pat Cassidy, 7.0 [7.3] 3. WLS, Don Wade and Roma, 4.6 [5.5] 4. WTMX, Eric Ferguson and Kathy Hart, 4.4 [4.3] 5. WVAZ, Tom Joyner, 4.2 [4.1] 6. WBBM-FM, Ed Volkman and Joe Bohannon, 4.1 [4.5] 7. WKQX, Mancow Muller, 3.6 [3.3] ; WGCI-FM, "Crazy" Howard McGee, 3.6 [4.7] 9. WNUA, Ramsey Lewis and Karen Williams, 3.5 [2.9] 10. WLEY, Nacho Zepeda and Beto Carreto, 2.8 [2.2]
--snips--
from the Chicago Daily Herald
April 26, 2001
--snips--
No. 3, B96, is fighting to fend off competition from Big City's Top 40 WKIE 92.7-FM and Spanish-pop WXXY 103.1-FM, as well as the new Top 40 WKSC 103.5-FM. Modern-rock WKQX 101.1-FM has fallen out of the top 10 as it suffers from a vacuum in the current music scene between head-banging rock and wimpy folk-pop. (Oh for a hit record as harshly melodic as Nine Inch Nails' "Closer," or as quirkily tuneful as Pavement's "Cut Your Hair" - or even some new Beck.) Q101's "Mancow's Morning Madhouse" leveled off at No. 8 in the competitive morning race, while 'CKG's Howard Stern dropped from the top 10. (Stern also lost his top slot in New York City for the first time in years, a sign that even on his home turf his act is growing stale.) Steve Dahl in afternoon drive suffered the same fate, and the no-longer-temporary Buzz Kilman amateur hours sandwiched in the middle didn't make the top 10 either. How long can new general manager Harvey Wells stand pat with that lineup and those trends, especially with Dahl's contract up for renewal this summer (as is Mancow's).
--snips--
from the Chicago Sun-Times
April 24, 2001
While much of the market was in flux, urban-contemporary WGCI-FM proved an oasis of stability atop Chicago's radio ratings.
Arbitron Co. figures released Monday for the winter quarter served up the Clear Channel Communications outlet its sixth straight victory over Tribune Co. news/talk WGN and the rest of the pack.
Resting on its laurels is no option for WGCI-FM, however, with its first serious challenge in more than a decade coming from Crawford Broadcasting's urban-contemporary WVJM.
Perennial favorite (and WGCI-FM alum) Doug Banks returns to town next week as syndicated morning host on Crawford's "Power 92."
One of the biggest losers was alternative rocker WKQX, which had its second bad book in a row.
The continued downturn for Q-101 comes just as morning host Mancow Muller is up for renewal of his $3-million-a-year contract with Emmis Communications. The syndicated shock jock was slapped earlier in the month with a $14,000 fine from the Federal Communications Commission for broadcast indecency. Emmis bosses have kept strangely silent on the matter.
Among adult-contemporary stations, Clear Channel's WLIT was the market's other ratings disaster area, falling well behind Bonneville International's WNND.
Now on its third morning show, third nighttime show and third program director in little more than a year, "Lite FM" seems to have an ongoing identity crisis.
The debut of WDRV, Bonneville's classic/oldies rocker known as "The Drive," came too late in the ratings period to have any discernible impact. But the demise of the station it replaced, classical music WNIB, gave a clear boost to the market's sole classical survivor, Window to the World Communications' WFMT.
The demise of WUBT, Clear Channel's "Jammin' Oldies" outlet, had even more of an effect on two former competitors, with Infinity Broadcasting's oldies WJMK and Clear Channel's adult-urban WVAZ enjoying significant increases.
As for the contemporary-hit format that supplanted WUBT--newcomer WKSC (also known as "Kiss FM")--the station debuted with a healthy cumulative audience of more than 777,000.
But that audience of mostly teens and young women tuned in for such short periods of time that "Kiss FM" opened with a lower ranking and share than the bankrupt format it replaced.
Perhaps the biggest sigh of relief came from Infinity's contemporary-hit WBBM-FM, which looked to have little to worry about from "Kiss FM." In several key adult demographic groups, in fact, B-96 saw its shares grow.
Mirroring the fortunes of Chicago's teams, sports talk stations remained in the doldrums. The Score, Infinity's WSCR, hardly justified supplanting the 50,000-watt frequency of the late, lamented WMAQ, while ABC's ESPN Radio flagship, WMVP, fell further into oblivion.
Hard times also hit Infinity's comedy/talk WCKG, with syndicated morning host Howard Stern and afternoon host Steve Dahl missing from the top 10.
Among listeners between the ages of 25 and 54--the group coveted by advertisers--Stern was sixth in mornings and Dahl tied for fourth in afternoons.
Consolidation was still the name of the game, with the two biggest radio companies splitting nearly half of listenership in the market. Infinity's seven stations here had a combined share of 22.4 percent, while Clear Channel's six outlets had a combined share of 21 percent.
In the 25-to-54 age category overall, WGCI-FM again finished first, followed in order by: WVAZ, WTMX, WXRT, WNUA, WJMK, WNND, WLUP, WBBM-AM, WUSN and WBBM-FM.
Arbitron's winter survey period ran from Jan. 4 to March 28. Ratings are used to determine advertising rates.
from the Chicago Sun-Times
The Florida presidential ballot battle helped turn Chicago's news and talk radio stations into big winners.
Arbitron ratings released Wednesday for the fall survey showed significant gains for all-news WBBM-AM as well as news/talkers WGN and WLS. All of them finished in the top five.
Interest in the protracted election controversy also seemed to boost WVON, the African-American talk station. It doubled its audience share.
While all of that political hot air helped lift WGN back into second place overall, the top spot in the ratings again was held by WGCI-FM, the urban-contemporary powerhouse.
The biggest losers in fall were the male-oriented rock stations, notably WKQX and WLUP. Of the pack, only WXRT held steady.
Modern adult-contemporary WTMX, the top rock choice among women, improved.
Leading the way for "The Mix" was the morning duo of Eric Ferguson and Kathy Hart, who again finished first among listeners between the ages of 25 and 54--the group coveted by advertisers.
The other demographic eye popper was at comedy talker WCKG, where all three top stars, Howard Stern, Jonathon Brandmeier and Steve Dahl, were No. 1 with men between 25 and 54 in mornings, middays and afternoons, respectively.
The irony of the Infinity Broadcasting station's spectacular showing in its target audience was not lost among insiders, who noted the firing just two days earlier of Mike Disney after eight-plus years as vice president and general manager of WCKG. So much for questions of Disney's performance on the job.
At least three stations were given what amounted to the final report cards in their respective formats from Arbitron.
WXCD, which dropped its classic rock format in favor of all-'80s music, left its old identity flat in 18th place overall.
WUBT, which will pull the plug this week on its rhythmic "Jammin' Oldies" format and switch to contemporary hit music, also exits flat in 15th place.
And WXXY, which is preparing to switch from all-'80s (as "The Eighties Channel") to a Spanish-language mix of Latin pop music next month, remained hopelessly out of the money with a meager 0.9 percent share.
Closing out more than four illustrious decades as an oasis of classical music, WNIB boosted its share and held the lead over rival WFMT.
The $165 million sale of WNIB to Bonneville International Corp. (owners of WTMX, WLUP and WNND) is expected to close in a matter of weeks, with classical music certain to vanish from its frequency.
Despite a complete overhaul of its Spanish-language format, former front-runner WOJO fell further behind upstart competitor WLEY. Both stations specialize in Mexican regional music.
Infinity Broadcasting's seven stations had a combined share of 23.2 percent. Clear Channel Communications' six-station group followed with 21.2 percent.
Among listeners between 25 and 54, WGCI-FM finished first, followed in order by: WVAZ, WTMX, WNUA, WBBM-AM, WUSN, WLS, WNND, WXRT and WLIT.
Arbitron's fall survey period ran from Sept. 21 to Dec. 13.
--snips--
MORNING DRIVE
1. WGN, Spike O'Dell, 9.1 [8.7]
2. WBBM-AM, Felicia Middlebrooks and Pat Cassidy, 7.5 [7.5]
3. WGCI-FM, "Crazy" Howard McGee, 5.7 [5.1]
4. WLS, Don Wade and Roma, 5.2 [4.7]
5. WBBM-FM, Ed Volkman and Joe Bohannon, 4.9 [4.7]
6. WTMX, Eric Ferguson and Kathy Hart, 4.3 [4.0]
7. WVAZ, Tom Joyner, 3.8 [3.5]
8. WKQX, Mancow Muller, 3.4 [4.7]
9. WCKG, Howard Stern, 3.3 [3.5]
10. WUSN, Ramblin' Ray Stevens and Trish Biondo, 3.2 [3.3]
from the Chicago Tribune
October 16, 2000
It was a great summer for music stations in Chicago. A bad one for a venerable news/talk station. And thanks to the White Sox, even sports talk saw signs of life.
The summer Arbitron ratings will go down as the first time in years that news/talk station WGN-AM 720 didn't finish in either first or second place among all listeners 12 and older. The station saw its numbers drop dramatically, to a 5.6 share of the audience from 6.2 in the spring ratings, good only for third place.
The showing certainly raises questions about the new lineup put in place following the death of morning star Bob Collins in February.
Hot top-40 station WBBM-FM 96.3 cracked the No. 2 spot for the first time behind top-rated urban powerhouse WGCI-FM 107.5. WBBM garnered a 5.7 share of the audience, while WGCI gained in all three major time periods (mornings, middays and afternoons) to improve to a 6.8 share from 6.4 in the spring.
It was good news for many of the city's other popular music stations, with classic rocker WLUP-FM 97.9, alternative rocker WKQX-FM 101.1 and smooth jazz station WNUA-FM 95.5 all making major ratings leaps.
Most troubling to WGN was the erosion in its profitable lock on morning radio. In what's sure to raise some nervous eyebrows at the Tribune Co.-owned station, Spike O'Dell, who replaced Collins, saw his ratings plummet to an 8.7 share from 9.6 in the spring, although he remained No. 1 overall in the mornings.
Who's smiling? Certainly Rod Zimmerman, general manager of WBBM-AM 780. After overseeing the controversial demise of WBBM's sister news station WMAQ-AM 670, WBBM had one of its best showings of late--improving to 4.4 share of the audience, good for fifth place.
Its morning duo of Felicia Middlebrooks and former WMAQ co-host Pat Cassidy jumped to an eye-popping 7.5 share in the summer from 5.6 in the spring. With the WMAQ format leaving the air Aug. 1, WBBM's ratings in the fall period could go even higher.
Also smiling are the executives at WLUP. Its straight-ahead music format jumped three spots in the ratings, to 11th, with a 3.3 share. Even more dramatic, the Bonneville International Corp.-owned station leapt into the No. 3 spot among listeners in the key 25-54 advertising demographic.
Other major jumps in that key demographic were made by WNUA, to fourth from fifth; WJMK-FM 104.3, to sixth from ninth; WNND-FM 100.3, to a tie for seventh from 13th; WKQX, to ninth from 18th, and WCKG-FM 105.9, to 12th from 16th.
Others personalities making big jumps among all listeners: WKQX shock jock Mancow Miller jumping to fourth from eighth; WNUA morning host Ramsey Lewis, to eighth from a tie for 11th, and WCKG syndicated morning jock Howard Stern, to ninth from an 11th-place tie.
On the all-sports scene, competitors WSCR-AM 670 and WMVP-AM 1000 both saw some improvement. The Score, which took the WMAQ signal, rose to a 1.5 share from a 1.1 overall; ESPN Radio's WMVP climbed to a 1.2 share from 0.9 in the spring.
from the Chicago Sun-Times
Still recovering from the death of top-rated morning personality Bob Collins earlier this year, WGN-AM (720) dropped to third place in the audience ratings for the first time ever.
Arbitron Co. figures released Friday for the summer quarter show the news/talk station attracting its lowest share of listeners since 1997 and trailing both urban-contemporary WGCI-FM (107.5) and contemporary-hit WBBM-FM (96.3).
It marked WGCI-FM's fourth consecutive finish as Chicago's most popular radio station, topped by afternoon host Rick Party.
Steve Carver, vice president and general manager of WGN, was at a loss to explain the setback but said it was "way too early" to consider changing the Tribune-owned station's programming lineup.
WGN's afternoon veteran Spike O'Dell, who stepped in as morning host after Collins was killed in a plane crash in February, held on to first place in the critical drive-time slot despite the decline. The station derives an estimated 40 percent of its commercial revenue from the morning show alone.
Surprisingly, neither WGN nor all-talk WLS-AM (890) seemed to benefit immediately from the disappearance of all-news WMAQ-AM (670), which lost its frequency to sports talker WSCR on Aug. 1. Only all-news WBBM-AM (780) appeared to move up in the aftermath of WMAQ's demise.
Though WBBM-FM's overall share declined from spring, station officials were jubilant over their unprecedented second-place finish. Until now, WGCI-FM was the only station to have overtaken WGN since the current ratings system was instituted three decades ago.
Other big winners in the Arbitron derby were two rock stations catering to men, WLUP-FM (97.9) and WKQX-FM (101.1), and "smooth jazz" WNUA-FM (95.5), with midday personality Rick O'Dell leading the way.
Results were mixed for some of radio's highest paid and most prominent voices, with syndicated shock jocks Mancow Muller and Howard Stern moving up in mornings, and WLS talk hosts Roe Conn and Garry Meier down slightly in afternoons.
Among listeners between the ages of 25 and 54--the group most desirable to advertisers--WGCI-FM also finished first, followed in order by: WVAZ-FM (102.7), WLUP, WNUA, WTMX-FM (101.9), WJMK-FM (104.3), WNND-FM (100.3), WUSN-FM (99.5), WKQX and WBBM-FM.
Arbitron's summer survey period ran from June 29 to Sept. 20. Ratings are used to determine advertising rates.
--snips--
Morning Drive, 12+, last rating period in []
1. WGN, Spike O'Dell, 8.7 [9.6]
2. WBBM-AM, Felicia Middlebrooks, Ken Herrera and Pat Cassidy, 7.5 [5.6]
3. WGCI-FM, "Crazy" Howard McGee, 5.1 [4.9]
4. Tie: WLS, Don Wade and Roma, 4.7 [4.6]; WBBM-FM, Ed Volkman and Joe Bohannon, 4.7 [4.9]; WKQX, Mancow Muller, 4.7 [3.9]
7. WTMX, Eric Ferguson and Kathy Hart, 4.0 [4.2]
8. WNUA, Ramsey Lewis and Karen Williams, 3.7 [2.7]
9. Tie: WVAZ, Tom Joyner, 3.5 [3.6]; WCKG, Howard Stern, 3.5 [2.7]
--snips--
from RAIN (Radio and Internet Newsletter)
October 3, 2000
In an environment in which consumers are being offered more media choices than ever before -- including thousands of Internet radio stations today and 200 channels of satellite-delivered radio soon -- Chicago's Infinity-owned WCKG/Chicago is running commercial breaks on "The Howard Stern Show" that can run over 15 minutes in length and last week sometimes contained more than 35 commercials in a row!
There may, of course, be a correlation between this phenomenon and recent news reports that listening to Stern's program this year is down several percentage points -- and perhaps the fact that overall radio listening in the U.S. has been declining somewhat as well.
To be fair to WCKG, I don't think this issue is particularly unique to Chicago. This tabulation confirms our previous non-statistical observation that spot breaks we've heard on Infinity-owned Stern affiliates in other major markets (e.g., KLSX/Los Angeles) also seemed surprisingly long.
And to be totally fair, I should note the fact that many of those 35 commercials in a single break were merely 10-second spots which were apparently sold in a co-op deal with a local beeper company's "#333" service. (It connects cellular phone users with the advertiser in a toll-free call.) (Note: This week, that schedule of :10s seems to be over.)
Nonetheless, I believe that a consumer heard every unit, no matter what its length, as a spot. (When McDonald's buys a :60 and splits it into two 30-second spots, I'm convinced a listener perceives that as the station playing two commercials.)
The following table documents just one of several long breaks that RAIN's crack team of interns monitored on Stern's program last week. (To get the full effect, I'd suggest that you try scrolling slowly down this list, actually reading each line of the table.)
Time - Advertiser - Length 10:08:55 Recorded Howard Stern promo :30 10:09:35 Bill Jacobs Chevy / #333 :10 10:09:45 Davis Street Fishmarket / #333 :10 10:09:55 Scott's Pure Premium Seeds :60 10:10:55 Illinois Vehicle Insurance / #333 :10 10:11:05 Village Ford / #333 :10 10:11:15 Chicago First Impressions :35 10:11:50 ComputerJobs.com / #333 :20 10:12:10 Glendale Nissan / #333 :20 10:12:30 Catabolic Diet / #333 :30 10:13:00 Orchard Valley Apartments / #333 :20 10:13:20 Haines Oldsmobile / #333 :20 10:13:40 CBS / "Everybody Loves Raymond" :10 10:13:50 Headhunter.net :50 10:14:40 Country Daewoo :15 10:14:55 The Shack nightclub :60 10:15:55 Dontee Heating and A/C :60 10:16:55 Curry Motors Ford / #333 :50 10:17:45 Bankers Nationwide Mortgage :60 10:18:45 Cigars Around the World / #333 :10 10:18:55 Woodstock Harley-Davidson / #333 :10 10:19:05 Worldwide Wireless Wheels / #333 :10 10:19:15 Bob Walk dog walking service / #333 :50 10:19:12 Hassel Buick :10 10:20:22 CBS Television / "That's Life" :10 10:20:32 Cruise Car Company / #333 :10 10:20:42 Greeters Motors / #333 :10 10:20:52 E-Realty.com :60 10:21:52 Scotts Super Winterizer / Frank's Nursery :60 10:22:52 Northwest Valley Honda / #333 :20 10:23:02 AAMCO Transmissions :60 10:24:02 Merle's Steak House / #333 :10 10:24:12 Williams Kia :30 10:24:42 WorldwideWheels.com :10 10:24:52 Irritable Bowel Syndrome research study :60 10:25:52 Bill Jacobs Mazda / #333 :10 10:26:02 WCKG ID (Note: Not counted as a spot) :05 10:26:07 MTV / "Sunday Night Heat" (Stern read) :66 10:27:13 Recorded Stern promo :30
10:27:43 Total length of stopset (38 units) 18:48
Long spot breaks, of course, are just one of several issues affecting the potential vulnerability of broadcast radio.
Another vulnerability-related issue, for example, is the phenomenon of smaller-market stations attempting to give the impression that a contest is local when, in reality, the station's listeners have to compete with listeners in dozens of other markets. (I assume this would alienate any listener who realizes what's going on and concludes they were scammed.)
Of course, this development seems like a positive one for Internet radio: If broadcast radio is overloading its spot breaks, that spells opportunity for new entrants in the field!
Your comments -- including your view on the implications of this phenomenon and, if you've got them, examples from stations in other markets and owned by other broadcasters -- are invited.
from the Chicago Media Rumor Mill
July 18, 2000
A huge surprise was WLUP-FM which is on fire especially during the day knocking down first place in middays. Another surprise was WUSN-FM which dropped out of the top ten only to surge back into 4th place.
Mancow Muller (WKQX-FM) continues to fade while Howard Stern (WCKG-FM) improved to 6th place. WGN-AM must be feeling good about sliding Spike at the mike into mornings replacing the late Bob Collins and coming in 2nd place.
Here's Chicago's Hot Five 25-54 money makers!
MORNINGS 1. Eric Ferguson & Kathy Hart WTMX-FM 2. Spike O'Dell WGN-AM 2t Tom Joyner WVAZ-FM 4. "Crazy" Howard McGee WGCI-FM 5. Ray Stevens & Trish Biondo WUSN-FM
--snips--
from Chicago Media Rumor Mill
June 22, 2000
Okay already! Stop with the emails!!! Here! The latest Arbitron trends arrived for March-April-May. It's the second leg of a three book report due in early July. This trend is important for programmers and staff since it gives a good indication of where their shows and stations are headed. The big story is WUBT-FM, WUSN-FM, WCKG-FM and WNND-FM. Both WUBT-FM and WUSN-FM showed resilience and appear well entrenched in the top ten. WNND-FM was showing strong numbers but has dropped to 15th place. Even though Howard Stern and Steve Dahl both had strong top ten ratings WCKG-FM is lagging behind in 16th place primarily because of very weak Midday, Evenings and Weekends numbers dragging the station's overall average down. Jonathan Brandmeier (WCKG-FM) in Middays is 14th. Pete McMurray (WCKG-FM) evenings is 29th. WCKG's Weekend Tradio is ranked 27th.
Here's the Top Ten Money Demo Stations (25-54)
1. WGCI-FM 2. WVAZ-FM 3. WUSN-FM 4. WTMX-FM 5. WNUA-FM 6. WXRT-FM 7. WUBT-FM 8. WLIT-FM 9. WGN-AM 9t WJMK-FM
Where's Mancow? The latest Arbitron ratings trend have not been very kind to Chicago's highest paid $3 million DJ Mancow Muller (WKQX-FM) who dropped out of the top ten ranked an unlucky 13th. WGN-AM appears to be doing well with pike at the mike. WCKG-FM's Steve Dahl and Howard Stern continue to hold their audience even through those long tedious commercial breaks. Meanwhile Dahl's arch nemesis Garry Meier and Roe Conn are back in the top ten again.
Here's Chicago's Top Jocks!
MORNING DRIVE
1. Spike O'Dell WGN-AM 2. Eric Ferguson & Kathy Hart WTMX-Fm 3. Tom Joyner WVAZ-FM 4. "Crazy" Howard McGee WGCI-FM 5. Felicia Middlebrooks & Ken Herrera WBBM-AM 6. Howard Stern WCKG-FM 7. Ray Stevens & Trish Biondo WUSN-FM 8. Lin Brehmer & Terri Hemmert WXRT-FM 9. Ramsey Lewis & Rick O'Dell WNUA-FM 10. Don and Roma Wade WLS-AM 10t Eddie & JoBo WBBM-FM
from Chicago Media Rumor Mill
May 25, 2000
Howard Stern (WCKG-FM) improves to 6th.
John Landecker (WJMK-FM) enters the top ten. WUBT-FM may have done the right thing in snatching Superjock Larry Lujack as Doug James (WUBT-FM) is mired in 15th place. Eddie & JoBo (WBBM-FM) drop out of the top ten to 13th. "Crazy" Howard McGee (WGCI-FM), Eric & Kathy (WTMX-FM) and Spike at the mike (WGN-AM) all have first, second and third place respectively. In Afternoons Steve Dahl (WCKG-FM) slips to 3rd. Meanwhile arch-rivals Roe Conn & Garry Meier (WLS-AM) are back in the hunt moving up to 7th place. Many of you have requested the Top Ten Jocks in each daypart.
MORNING DRIVE 1. "Crazy" Howard McGee WGCI-FM 2. Eric & Kathy WTMX-FM 3. Spike O'Dell/Kathy & JulyWGN-AM 4. Felicia Middlebrooks /Ken Herrera WBBM-AM 5. Tom Joyner WVAZ-FM 6. Howard Stern WCKG-FM 7. Lin Brehmer/Terri Hemmert WXRT-FM 8. Ray Stevens/Trish Biondo WUSN-FM 9. Mancow Muller WKQX-FM 10. John Landecker WJMK-FM
from the Chicago Sun-Times
April 26, 2000
The untimely death of Bob Collins continues to take a toll on WGN-AM (720).
Arbitron ratings released Tuesday show the news/talk station declining in mornings during the winter survey period. Although Collins' successor, Spike O'Dell, upheld his first-place legacy, WGN dropped nearly one full share point.
Collins, who died in a plane crash Feb. 8, had been Chicago's undefeated champion of morning-drive radio since 1986.
Urban-contemporary WGCI-FM again finished first overall, widening its lead over WGN and registering its highest share since 1993. Morning host "Crazy" Howard McGee, who jettisoned co-host Adele Givens in the middle of the ratings period, moved up to second.
All-news WBBM-AM survived a one-week contract impasse involving morning star Felicia Middlebrooks to finish in third place with co-anchor Ken Herrera.
Among the biggest winners were Ed Volkman and Joe Bohannon, the morning goofballs on contemporary-hit WBBM-FM. Delivering their highest ranking and share since the duo returned to B-96 in early 1997, "Eddie and Jo Bo" moved up to fourth place.
Overall, B-96 had the highest cumulative radio audience in Chicago, drawing nearly 1.3 million listeners each week.
A reversal of fortunes marked the closely watched battle among oldies stations, coinciding with the defection of the vice president and general manager of "Jammin' Oldies" WUBT to rock oldies powerhouse WJMK.
With Mike Fowler at the helm, WJMK not only widened its lead over "The Beat" among all listeners but overtook the upstart competitor among listeners between the ages of 25 and 54--the group considered most desirable to advertisers.
The adult-contemporary war raged on between WLIT and WNND, with none of WLIT's format adjustments or copycat television commercials having any impact during the winter quarter.
Country music fell further out of favor with listeners, dramatized by the decline of lone player WUSN across the board.
Spanish-language stations also were down overall, with WLEY dropping from its record high in fall. At WOJO, the shift of popular afternoon hosts Alberto Augusto and Carlos Rojas (known as "Batman and Robin") to mornings coincided with lower numbers for both drive times.
By popular demand, the return of sidekicks Bonnie DeShong and George Willborn to John Monds' afternoon show brought immediate results to WVAZ. The urban-adult station jumped from 18th place to a tie for seventh in afternoons.
Of the big stars on personality talker WCKG, only morning host Howard Stern cracked the top 10 charts. But afternoon host Steve Dahl held steady in second place among listeners between 25 and 54.
Mancow Muller moved up in mornings on alternative rocker WKQX, while Kevin Matthews declined in mornings on classic rocker WXCD.
Roe Conn and Garry Meier, the afternoon team on all-talk WLS, jumped from fifth to third overall and from 16th to eighth in the 25-to-54 derby.
Among sports talkers, WSCR slid despite a realignment of hosts and a deliberate move away from locker room chat to more generic topics. Although it declined in other areas, ESPN's WMVP managed to beat the Score among listeners between the ages of 18 and 34.
Group ownership remained the name of the game, with two giant companies commanding the market. The six stations owned by AMFM Inc. totaled a 22.3 percent share of listenership, while the eight stations owned by CBS/Infinity Broadcasting added up to a 22.2 percent share.
Among listeners in the 25-to-54 age category, WGCI-FM finished first, followed in order by WVAZ, WNUA, WTMX, WJMK, WLIT, WUBT, WLUP, WXRT and WNND.
Arbitron's winter survey period ran from Jan. 6 to March 29. Ratings are used to set advertising rates.
Morning Drive - 12+
Current (Fall 1999)
1. WGN 9.5 (10.4)
2. WGCI-FM 6.3 (5.1)
3. WBBM-AM 5.8 (5.4)
4. WBBM-FM 4.8 (4.1)
5. WLS 4.6 (4.5)
6. WKQX 4.2 (3.9) - Mancow
7. WTMX 3.9 (4.1)
8. WVAZ 3.5 (3.7)
9. WCKG 3.0 (3.2) - Howard
WNUA 3.0 (2.9)
Robert Feder's column appears Tuesday through Friday.
from the Chicago Tribune
April 26, 2000
Marv Dyson, longtime chief of WGCI-FM 107.5, appears to have things well in focus at the city's top-rated urban giant.
Of course it helps when you run a promotion to give away a Lincoln Navigator, too.
On Tuesday, station executives were crediting everything from their marketing efforts to a more focused music platform for helping WGCI blow past every other station in the winter Arbitron ratings released to stations. Its 7.5 share of the listening audience widened the gap with the No. 2 station-Tribune Co.-owned WGN-AM 720-which also saw an increase in audience share.
With major increases in every major time slot, including a giant leap in the mornings with host "Crazy" Howard McGee, WGCI was hands down the big winner in the most recent rating period.
Most in the industry had expected another big story-some kind of major movement in the ratings for WGN after the city's top morning personality, Bob Collins, died in a plane crash in February.
WGN was off slightly in the mornings-down to 9.5 from Collins' huge fall rating of 10.4. But with former afternoon host Spike O'Dell replacing Collins in the middle of the period, most radio executives said it was too early to reach a meaningful conclusion about the changes at WGN.
"One thing I can definitely conclude is that there is absolutely no way to read anything into that book," said Steve Carver, general manager at WGN.
Surprises at the other end of the spectrum included a significant loss of share at country station WUSN-FM 99.5. The CBS/Infinity Broadcasting-owned station saw its audience share fall from 3.8 and sixth place to 2.9 and a tie for 12th place among all listeners.
Meanwhile, news/talk station WLS-AM 890 saw a little bit of a turnaround after an inexplicable downturn in the fall rating period. The turnaround was driven by a major rebound in its afternoon show of Roe Conn and Garry Meier, who jumped from fifth to a tie for third in the period.
The winter also proved to be a good quarter for all-news station WBBM-AM 780, which rebounded from a sluggish fall into a tie for seventh among all listeners.
And it was a strong period for shock jock Mancow Muller. The morning personality at WKQX-FM 101.1 saw his share among all listeners jump to 4.2 from 3.9.
In the key advertising demographic of 25- to 54-year-olds, AMFM Inc.'s two urban stations, WGCI-FM and WVAZ-FM 102.7, continue to hold on to the top two spots. WGCI increased its share of the listening audience to 6.7 from 6.0 in the fall, while WVAZ improved to a 5.2 from a 4.9.
Other stations in the top 10 seeing a stark improvement were oldies station WJMK-FM 104.3, which saw a strong movement from No. 8 to No. 5 among listeners ages 25-54. The station, which has re-marketed itself in recent weeks, re-entered the top 10 among all listeners with a 3.3 share. Soft rock station WLIT-FM 93.9, which is embarking on a turnaround, improved from 12th place to sixth among listeners 25-54.
Both classic rock stations WLUP-FM 97.9 and WXCD-FM 94.7 saw jumps in the demo. The Loop jumped to a tie for eighth place from 14th, while WXCD's share grew to a tie for 16th place from 19th.
While Muller's share of the audience increased in the winter, WCKG-FM syndicated host Howard Stern saw his share of 25- to 54-year-old listeners fall to 4.0 from 4.7.
Only one bright spot emerged in the battle of the all-sports talkers, and that was out of ESPN Radio's WMVP-AM 1000. Its afternoon show of Bill Simonson and Lou Canellis improved from a 0.7 in the fall to its best showing yet, with a 1.2 share of the 25-54 audience.
from the Chicago Media Rumor Mill
March 27, 2000
Meanwhile, Steve Dahl, Mancow Muller, and Howard Stern remain virtually the same. WGN-AM who had the late Bob Collins postings #1 ratings are seeing their numbers tumble with "Spike at the mike". WGN-AM has dropped to 6th in the money demo (25-54). In other news, WJMK-FM (Oldies 104.3) has picked up listeners from other stations including WUBT-FM and is on fire. While WUBT-FM misses lots of beats, WJMK-FM is "jammin" in the ratings at 4th place!
Where's Ma Money Rankings? Here's the listings for the elite Top Five Stations in the latest Arbitron trends.
1. WGCI-FM
2. WVAZ-FM
3. WNUA-FM
4. WJMK-FM
5. WNND-FM
from the Chicago Media Rumor Mill
March 5, 2000
WGCI-FM's Tom Joyner about to be inducted into NAB's Broadcasting Hall of Fame came in first place. Eric & Kathy (WTMX-FM) moved to 2nd place. In the shock jock battle Howard Stern (WCKG-FM) zoomed up to third place over Mancow Muller (WKQX-FM) who came in 6th. Doug Banks (WVAZ-FM) settled in 4th place. The late Bob Collins (WGN-AM) came in 5th. In the afternoons WGCI-FM reined supreme in 1st place. Steve Dahl (WCKG-FM) remains strong in 2nd place. Meanwhile, Roe Conn and Garry Meier who were in 1st place this past summer got more bad news as they are mired in 15th place in the money demo.
from the Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago's favorite uncle is dead.
Bob Collins, "Uncle Bobby" to hundreds of thousands of listeners, the most popular morning radio host in Chicago for more than a decade, died Tuesday afternoon in a plane crash in north suburban Zion.
The big, bearish, bearded Mr. Collins, 57, hosted a show on WGN-AM (720) from 5 to 9 a.m. Monday through Friday. Listened to by more than 600,000 people each week, the program was a gentle, folksy blend of news, humor, trivia, contests and weather.
His colleagues, such as farm reporter Orion Samuelson, were shocked at the news of Collins' death.
"I've lost one of my best friends," said Samuelson, explaining how Mr. Collins' warmth and humanity could succeed in an era dominated by foul-mouthed shock jocks.
"He cared," Samuelson said. "He felt. He just communicated with his audience so well because everyone in the audience was his friend. He could be a clown one minute and get into a serious conversation the next and he still had credibility. He communicated, not with a million people, but with one person a million times over."
Just last September, Mr. Collins signed another five-year contract.
"Mine is as honest an act as can possibly be," he once said, noting the difference between his true self and his on-air persona. "People assume things about me that I've never said. They assume that I'm a live wire, that I scarf up ladies. But the truth is, I don't want people to know what a surly hermit I am in real life."
He insisted he was "not a newsman," but he won an Illinois News Broadcasters award for his reporting of a CTA train crash in 1984.
With his seven-figure salary and his large audience, Mr. Collins was politically influential. He was proudly Republican--he spent last election eve holed up with George Ryan in his suite at the Palmer House Hilton. He also was friends with former Gov. Jim Edgar and emceed both of Edgar's inaugural ceremonies.
But the mourning Tuesday was bipartisan.
"Bob was an ordinary guy who did an extraordinary job," Gov. Ryan said.
Mayor Daley said: "Bob Collins epitomized Chicago."
The broadcaster traveled with Ryan to Cuba last fall and last week sat near first lady Lura Lynn Ryan as a guest of the Ryans during the governor's budget address to the General Assembly.
"Lura Lynn and I are shocked and deeply saddened," Ryan said in a statement. "Bob was not only our good friend, he was a good friend to millions of people . . . who looked to him daily for comfort, a good laugh and straight talk."
Mr. Collins' tenure at WGN was not entirely without controversy. He routinely criticized WGN television, which also is owned by Tribune Co., over such practices as airing Geraldo Rivera syndicated specials.
In 1987, he was fired as host of WGN-TV's Chicago Auto Show specials after he used his show to blast both the TV station and the auto dealers sponsoring the event.
Mr. Collins attempted to break into television, as many radio hosts do, and he bombed. His first TV special in 1984 was a "fiasco" and several others were even described by WGN promotional material as "forgettable."
"Bob Collins' America," wrote a critic in the Sun-Times, "is the most excruciating half-hour of local television of the year."
He rode motorcycles and in the summertime enjoyed making the commute from his Lake County home.
Mr. Collins also was an experienced pilot. "I love airplanes," he once said.
On his last show, Collins talked about the Alaska Airlines crash, arguing about the safety of the MD-83 aircraft involved.
"He always said there wasn't a plane he wouldn't get on," said Tom Petersen, news director at WGN-AM.
Mr. Collins came to WGN in 1974, when the station hired him out of Milwaukee to fill the 2 to 4 p.m. shift. He reached No. 1 in the ratings and, in 1986, WGN bet its lucrative morning franchise when it tapped him to replace the popular Wally Phillips.
Mr. Collins was married three times and divorced twice. Survivors include his third wife, Christine. Services are pending.
Contributing: David McKinney, Lorraine Forte
from the Chicago Media Rumor Mill
February 4, 2000
MORNINGS
1. Bob Collins WGN-AM 2. "Crazy" Howard McGee and Adele Givens WGCI-FM 2t Eric Ferguson and Kathy Hart WTMX-FM 4. Tom Joyner WVAZ-FM 5. Howard Stern WCKG-FM *Ray Stevens & Trish Biondo WUSN-FM drops 5th-6th.
from the Chicago Sun-Times
February 3, 2000
Buoyed by the addition of Adele Givens as "Crazy" Howard McGee's morning co-host, WGCI-FM has re-emerged as Chicago's top-rated radio station.
Arbitron figures released Wednesday for the fall quarter put the urban-contemporary powerhouse ahead of news/talk WGN for the first time since last winter.
Givens, a stand-up comic and veteran of several television comedy and variety shows, signed on as McGee's partner in November--midway through the ratings period. While WGN kingpin Bob Collins remained first in mornings overall, WGCI-FM jumped one full share point to finish third behind Collins and WBBM-AM morning news anchors Felicia Middlebrooks and Ken Herrera.
Although news/talk WLS declined overall from its spectacular showing in summer, the combination of syndicated hosts Dr. Laura Schlessinger and Rush Limbaugh moved up from a three-way tie for first place in middays (with WGN and "smooth jazz" WNUA) to occupy the top spot alone.
To some radio insiders, release of the fall ratings book proved anticlimactic, thanks to an unprecedented screwup by Arbitron. Citing "unforeseen complications" with a new diary processing system, the company postponed release of the survey data by three weeks.
The delay wreaked havoc with sales departments geared up to pitch advertisers with the fall numbers. Programming and marketing executives who were forced to put strategic plans on hold were apoplectic.
On the other hand, for those personalities whose ratings declined--including Don and Roma Wade, Roe Conn and Garry Meier of WLS, Tom Joyner and John Monds of adult urban-contemporary WVAZ, and Doug James of "Jammin' Oldies" WUBT--Arbitron's delay conveniently held off the bad news.
Despite a lineup of three of radio's biggest stars--Howard Stern, Jonathon Brandmeier and Steve Dahl--personality talker WCKG continued to lag in the ratings.
Mancow Muller of alternative rocker WKQX, Kevin Matthews of classic rocker WXCD and the morning duo of John Landecker and Catherine Johns at oldies WJMK were relatively flat.
Amid rumors of a format switch in the offing, all-'80s music outlet WXXY finally registered its first respectable share, tying with contemporary-hit sibling WKIE.
Among listeners between the ages of 25 and 54--considered most desirable among advertisers--two of the most significant winners were modern adult-contemporary WTMX, which racked up the highest cumulative audience, and Spanish-language WLEY, which led the demographic group in the category of time spent listening.
Radio listenership across the board continued to be dominated by two giant companies. The eight stations owned by CBS/Infinity Broadcasting (soon to merge with Viacom) totaled a 23.4 percent share of the market. The six stations owned by AMFM (soon to merge with Clear Channel Communications) added up to a 21.5 percent share.
Among listeners in the 25-to-54 category, WGCI-FM again finished first in audience share, followed in order by WVAZ, WNUA, WTMX, WUSN, WUBT, WXRT, WLEY, WJMK, WNND and WGN.
Arbitron's fall survey period ran from Sept. 23 to Dec. 15. Ratings are used to set advertising rates.
Robert Feder's column appears Tuesday through Friday.
from the Chicago Tribune
February 3, 2000
Jim Kirk column
Meanwhile, the fall rating period was rather flat for many of the city's other big personalities. In the morning, shock jock Mancow Muller at WKQX-FM 101.1 tied his summer showing, coming in seventh with a 3.9 share. But among listeners ages 25-54, Muller improved to a 3.9 share from a 3.4.
WCKG-FM 105.9 syndicated morning jock Howard Stern was fifth among 25- to 54-year-olds with a 4.7 share. He was 10th overall, with a 3.2 share.
--snips--
from the Chicago Media Rumor Mill
February 3, 2000
Who's hot, Who's not! The '99 Fall Arbitron ratings finally came in three weeks late due to a "glitch" and managers and programmers have been crunching numbers all day today (2/2). The top list remained the same with the exception of "The Mix" who moved into the elite top five category. Here's the Elite Top Five list of winners (25-54) WGCI-FM, WVAZ-FM, WNUA-FM, WTMX-FM and WUSN-FM. WUBT-FM was the only station to drop 4th to 6th and also suffered a loss in cume. Other notables: WXRT-FM moved up 9th to 7th. WLEY-FM skyrocketed into the top ten 17th to 8th. WNND-FM moved up 13th to 10th. WLUP-FM tumbled hard out of the top ten 9th to 14th . Another big loser was WLS-AM spiraling downward 7th to 18th in the 25-54 category.
Stern face. Howard Stern (WCKG-FM) who scored big in New York and was #1 in Chicago last spring came in 5th (25-54). Mancow Muller (WKQX-FM) bounced back from 12th to 6th right behind Stern. Meanwhile, Steve Dahl (WCKG-FM) who appeared to be struggling to remain in top ten bounced back up in afternoons 8th to 2nd. The big loser was Roe Conn & Garry Meier (WLS-AM) who dropped from 1st to 16th place (25-54) the worst showing since they were teamed up.
from the Chicago Media Rumor Mill
November 16, 1999
Dahl, Mancow dethroned? The latest Arbitron trends rolled out today (11/15) and the story remains the same. Shock radio seems to be waning. Mancow Muller (WKQX-FM) dropped out of the 25-54 Top Five and is struggling to remain in the Top Ten. Mancow Muller (WKQX-FM) hangs in at #10. Howard Stern fared better at #5. The other story was Afternoon Drive (25-54) and it appears that Roe Conn & Garry Meier (WLS-AM) may be the new Kings of the Afternoon remaining in 1st place along with newcomer Big John Howell (WUSN-FM), while Steve Dahl drops out of the Top Five.
from the Chicago Daily Herald
Oct. 17, 1999
After tying with urban-contemporary WGCI 107.5-FM in the spring, variety-talk WGN moved into first place on the strength of Collins' double-digit audience share in mornings.
WGN actually slipped slightly in percentage share of the overall audience 12 and older, from 6.7 to 6.4, but Collins gathered a 10.1 share.
WGCI slid from 6.7 to 6.2 as "Crazy" Howard McGee's morning ratings dropped from a tied-for-second 5.1 to 4.1, tied for fourth.
It was a generally rough ratings book for the big-name morning hosts in the ratings released Friday.
Mancow Muller of modern-rock WKQX 101.1-FM went from a tie for second with McGee to a seventh-place 3.9 share.
Howard Stern and personality-talk WCKG 105.9-FM dropped from a 4.1 to a 10th-place 3.4.
Radio stations use quarterly Arbitron ratings books to set ad rates.
The overall 12-and-older rankings are a popularity contest. What really counts are the figures from the 25-54 age demographic desired by most advertisers. There, WGCI reclaimed first place from adult-urban WVAZ 102.7-FM. Although WGCI's 25-54 share slipped from 5.8 to 5.5, V103 dropped from 5.9 to 5.4.
Smooth-jazz WNUA 95.5-FM, dusties WUBT 103.5-FM and hard-charging country WUSN 99.5-FM rounded out the top five.
It was a big book for US99, which rose from a 3.4 share overall to 4.0, climbing from a tie for ninth to seventh. Otherwise, the top stations were unchanged.
After WGN and WGCI, Top 40-dance WBBM 96.3-FM, WLS 890-AM, WNUA and V103 all held their same positions from second through sixth.
Adult-contemporary WTMX 101.9-FM, all-news WBBM 780-AM and the Beat, WUBT, rounded out the overall top 10.
WBBM-AM was the only newcomer to the top 10, rising from a 3.2 share in the spring to 3.7, replacing adult-contemporary WLIT 93.9-FM, which dropped from 3.9 to 3.2.
Hurt by the bad book for "Mancow's Morning Madhouse," Q101 dropped from a 4.0 share to a 12th-place 3.2. WCKG slipped from a 2.5 to a 2.3, tied for 17th, as Stern only narrowly made the top 10 in mornings and Steve Dahl failed to crack the overall top 10 in afternoons.
from the Chicago Sun-Times
October 16, 1999
Two drive-time duos--Don Wade and Roma in mornings and Roe Conn and Garry Meier in afternoons--talked themselves into their highest audience ratings ever at all-talk WLS.
Arbitron quarterly figures released Friday belied the usual "summer curse" associated with such adult-oriented talk stations as WLS.
Among listeners between the ages of 25 and 54--the target demographic most sought by advertisers--Conn and Meier finished in first place.
Reflecting tough times at personality talker WCKG, afternoon host Steve Dahl dropped from a tie for ninth place to 14th overall. In the 25-to-54 age category, Dahl fell from first to eighth.
News-talk WGN, which had tied with urban-contemporary WGCI-FM for first place in spring, held the top spot alone in summer--although both stations' shares declined slightly. Bob Collins, who signed a new five-year contract with WGN, ratified his bosses' vote of confidence with another runaway victory in mornings.
WGCI-FM remained first in afternoons with Rick Party. Tied with Conn and Meier for second place in afternoons was Terry Foxx in his swan song at contemporary-hit WBBM-FM.
In the 25-to-54 race, WGN's Collins managed a nifty three-way tie for first place with the increasingly popular duo of Eric Ferguson and Kathy Hart at adult-contemporary WTMX and syndicated host Tom Joyner at adult-urban WVAZ. Another star in syndication, WCKG's Howard Stern, fell from first to fourth among adult listeners.
--snips--
With ownership changes looming for the top two radio operators, both CBS/Infinity Broadcasting and AMFM continue to split half of all listenership in the market. The eight stations owned by CBS (soon to merge with Viacom) totaled a 23.2 percent share. The six stations owned by AMFM (targeted by Clear Channel Communications) accounted for a 22.9 percent share.
Among listeners in the 25-to-54 category, WGCI-FM finished first, followed in order by: WVAZ, WNUA, WUBT, WUSN, WTMX, WLS, WJMK, WLUP and WXRT.
Arbitron's summer survey ran from July 1 to Sept. 22. Ratings are used to set advertising rates.
--snips--
Morning drive
1. WGN, Bob Collins, 10.1 [10.3] 2. WLS, Don Wade and Roma, 5.8 [4.7] 3. WBBM-AM, Felicia Middlebrooks and Ken Herrera, 5.6 [5.0] 4. Tie: WVAZ, Tom Joyner, 4.1 [3.8]; WGCI-FM, "Crazy" Howard McGee, 4.1 [5.1] 6. WTMX, Eric Ferguson and Kathy Hart, 4.0 [4.0] 7. WKQX, Mancow Muller, 3.9 [5.1] 8. WBBM-FM, Ed Volkman and Joe Bohannon, 3.6 [4.1] 9. WUSN, Ray Stevens and Trish Biondo, 3.5 [3.2] 10. WCKG, Howard Stern, 3.4 [4.1]
--snips--
Thanks to Roger for sending this in...
I thought these numbers would be of interest to folks since Howard has talked about kicking Mancow's ass for so long. Howard is really taking the fist to the Cow!!! Here is the arbitrend ratings for Chicago (Jun-Jul-Aug) covering the second part of the summer book, which will be released in a month or so. These are the money demo numbers, 24-54. I grabbed this from Chicago Media:
King of the Mornings! Howard Stern (WCKG-FM) continues his reign as top dog of Chicago mornings. Meanwhile, Mancow Muller (WKQX-FM) took a hard tumble almost falling out of the top ten dropping to 7th. In the Afternoons Steve Dahl (WCKG-FM) struggles to stay in top five at 5th place. Meanwhile, Dahl's ex-partner Garry Meier and Roe Conn are flying high at WLS-AM zooming up to 2nd place.
Here's the Top Performers in the latest Arbitron ratings for Chicago Radio (25-54)
Mornings:
1. Howard Stern WCKG-FM
2. Tom Joyner WVAZ-FM
3. Eric & Kathy WTMX-FM
4. Bob Collins WGN-AM
5. "Crazy" Howard McGee WGCI-FM
Dropping out of top five Mancow Muller (WCKG-FM) from 3rd to 7th.
from the: Chicago Sun Times
Mornings 12+ 1. WGN, Bob Collins, 10.3 [9.0] 2. WKQX, Mancow Muller, 5.1 [4.0]; WGCI-FM, "Crazy" Howard McGee, 5.1 [5.3] 4. WBBM-AM, Felicia Middlebrooks and Ken Herrera, 5.0 [5.7] 5. WLS, Don Wade and Roma, 4.7 [5.3] 6. WBBM-FM, Ed Volkman/Joe Bohannon, 4.1 [4.6]; WCKG, Howard Stern, 4.1 [3.7] 8. WTMX, Eric Ferguson and Kathy Hart, 4.0 [4.1] 9. WNUA, Ramsey Lewis and Karen Williams, 3.9 [3.3] 10. WVAZ, Tom Joyner, 3.8 [4.1]
Thanks to Roger...
from the: Chicago Media Rumormill
King of Chicago Mornings! The latest Spring Arbitron ratings are in and Howard Stern (WCKG-FM) zoomed up to the #1 spot in the money demo (25-54). Looming closely behind Mancow Muller (WKQX-FM) also climbed to the #2 spot in a tie with Tom Joyner (WVAZ-FM). Slipping to 4th place was "Crazy" Howard McGee (WGCI-FM). Without heavy television advertising and the big contest promotion that ran in Winter Eric & Kathy (WTMX-FM) slipped to 5th place.
from the: Chicago Sun-Times
Urban-contemporary WGCI-FM and news-talk WGN shared top honors in radio's spring ratings.
Arbitron quarterly figures released Thursday showed the two stations tied for first place for the first time since 1988.
WGN's improved audience share was bolstered by morning superstar Bob Collins. The upturn couldn't come at a better time for Collins, who is in the midst of contract renewal talks.
But perhaps the biggest winner in spring was Howard Stern, self-proclaimed "King of All Media," whose syndicated morning show on personality talker WCKG finished first among listeners between the ages of 25 and 54--the group most prized by advertisers.
By capturing the adult ratings crown, Stern spoiled an otherwise perfect comeback for rival shock jock Mancow Muller, who rebounded from eighth place in winter to a tie for second among all listeners.
Muller's station, alternative rocker WKQX, posted record-high numbers in all of its target demographic groups.
Stern's showing was mirrored by Steve Dahl, whose afternoon show on WCKG also regained the 25-to-54 top spot.
Despite Chicago's reputation for not welcoming imported radio programming, Stern wasn't the only out-of-towner to score in Arbitron. Tom Joyner's Dallas-based syndicated morning show on adult-urban WVAZ tied for second place in the 25-to-54 category with "Mancow's Morning Madhouse."
And syndicated midday hosts Laura Schlessinger and Rush Limbaugh--neither of whom would ever be mistaken for a Chicagoan--again led in their time period for all-talk WLS.
Closer to home, the afternoon duo of Roe Conn and Garry Meier topped their previous all-time high for WLS.
While the momentum of WUBT's new "Jammin' Oldies" format has slowed, rock oldies WJMK also lost ground. Although WJMK bosses fully expected to take a hit, they noted with optimism an upturn in the final weeks of the survey period.
Sports talkers also fared poorly, with WSCR turning in its worst performance since the summer of 1995, and WMVP serving as the ESPN Radio equivalent of the proverbial tree falling in the forest.
Another disastrous ratings book for WXXY/WYXX has all but sealed the fate of the Motown/disco combo. The only remaining question is whether Big City Radio will attempt a new format compatible with personalities Robert Murphy and Fred Winston or simply sell the whole rotten mess lock, stock and barrel.
Sources said Big City Radio officials have been actively engaged in talks with possible buyers.
The impact of ownership consolidation was underscored by the dominance of the top two radio companies, whose stations' combined shares accounted for nearly half of all listenership. The six stations owned by AMFM Inc. (formerly Chancellor Media Corp.) totaled 23.6 percent, while the eight Infinity Broadcasting stations totaled 23.1 percent.
Following them were the Bonneville International three-station group with an 8.9 share and ABC's three Arbitron-rated stations (excluding the two Radio Disney outlets) with a 7.3 share.
Among listeners in the 25-to-54 age category, WVAZ finished first, followed in order by: WGCI-FM, WNUA, WUBT, WXRT, WTMX, WCKG, WKQX, WUSN, WLUP and WLIT.
Arbitron's spring survey period ran from April 1 to June 23. Ratings are used to determine advertising rates.
from the: Chicago Media Rumor Mill
And the leaders are...
The second leg of the Arbitron ratings arrived this weekend and some interesting results occurred. This provides a clue as to how the final Spring ratings are shaping up. Here's the money demo (25-54) results.
Howard Stern (WCKG-FM) is closing fast on the #1 spot in mornings zooming up from 4th place to 2nd place just (.02) two-tenths of a point behind #1 WGCI-FM "Crazy" Howard McGee.
Meanwhile, Mancow (WKQX-FM) is mired in 5th place. Eric & Kathy (WTMX-FM) slipped from 1st to 3rd place. In the Afternoons Steve Dahl (WCKG-FM) remained a solid 2nd place (.05) five-tenth's of a point behind 1st place Rick Party (WGCI-FM). Meanwhile, ex-partner Garry Meier and Roe Conn (WLS-AM) moved up to 3rd place. More to come!
How's it hanging? Here's the top leaders in the money demographic Adults 25-54.
1. WGCI-FM
2. WVAZ-FM
3t WUBT-FM
3t WNUA-FM
5. WTMX-FM
from the: Chicago Media Rumor Mill
The latest Chicago Arbitrends show WTMX-FM Eric & Kathy are for real. In the gab fest race Howard Stern (4th) still leads but Mancow has climbed back into the top five. Here's the top five performers in morning in the highly touted 25-54 age group that advertisers love so much. The rest of the dayparts still to come.
1. Eric & Kathy WTMX-FM
1t Tom Joyner WVAZ-FM
3. "Crazy" Howard McGee WGCI-FM
4. Howard Stern WCKG-FM
5. Bob Collins WGN-AM
5t Mancow Muller WKQX-FM
from the: Chicago Sun-Times
For some of Chicago's best-known radio stars, it was a winter to forget.
Arbitron figures released Thursday for the winter survey period brought chilling news to such high-profile personalities as Mancow Muller, Kevin Matthews, Steve Dahl, Jonathon Brandmeier, John Landecker and Robert Murphy.
All of them posted declines in audience share, mirroring the fortunes of their respective stations.
Chancellor Media regained the top spot, with urban contemporary WGCI-FM overtaking WGN, the Tribune-owned news talker. But WGN morning king Bob Collins remained Chicago's most popular radio host by a mile.
With five of its stations in the top 10, Chancellor Media had a big hit with WUBT, the "Jammin' Oldies" outlet known as "The Beat." Thanks to a music adjustment after its launch last October, the station managed to draw listeners away from WJMK, the CBS/Infinity oldies stronghold and Landecker's morning home.
"The Beat" also appears to have dashed any hope for WXXY/WYXX, the Big City Radio Motown/disco combo plagued with poor signal problems. Morning host Murphy's combined share declined from a 0.5 to a 0.3.
Bonneville International's rejuvenated album-rock WLUP surged to the top of adult male listenership, benefitting from the demise of the old Rock 103.5 and taking a toll on ABC's classic rocker, WXCD. While the Loop emerged with a solid music franchise, 'XCD and Matthews' morning show seem to have talked listeners away.
Officials of Emmis Communications' alternative rocker WKQX were at a loss to explain their downturn, which hit shock jock Muller with a vengeance. Odd as it may seem, more than a few of Muller's female listeners may have jumped to Eric Ferguson and Kathy Hart, the heavily promoted morning duo on Bonneville International's adult-contemporary WTMX.
Also besting Muller were Joe "Jobo" Bohannon and Eddie Volkman, prodigal sons on CBS/Infinity's contemporary-hit WBBM-FM.
In time to kick off its 75th anniversary celebration, ABC-owned talker WLS posted big gains, with syndicated midday hosts Laura Schlessinger and Rush Limbaugh finishing in first place overall.
The WLS afternoon duo of Roe Conn and Garry Meier, who came close to splitting up when Meier hit a contract snag, ranked third overall, overtaking WGN's Spike O'Dell for the first time.
At CBS/Infinity's WCKG, Brandmeier in middays and Dahl in afternoons wound up out of the top 10.
WMVP, ABC's sports-talk flagship for ESPN Radio, could only be described as an unmitigated disaster in 34th place.
Among listeners between the ages of 25 and 54, WGCI-FM finished first, followed in order by: WVAZ, WUBT, WTMX, WNUA, WLUP, WLIT, WCKG, WXRT, WNND and WJMK.
Arbitron's winter survey period ran from Jan. 7 to March 31.
--local tv stuff snipped--
Chicago radio ratings
Here is Arbitron's ranking of the top 44 commercial radio stations for winter, followed by average share of listeners age 12 and older from 6 a.m. to midnight Monday through Sunday (with fall share in brackets):
1. WGCI-FM (107.5), 6.7 [6.4]
2. WGN-AM (720), 5.8 [6.6]
3. WBBM-FM (96.3), 5.4 [4.8]
4. WLS-AM (890), 5.0 [4.0]
5. Tie: WVAZ-FM (102.7), 4.1 [4.0];
WNUA-FM (95.5), 4.1 [4.2]
7. Tie: WTMX-FM (101.9), 3.8 [3.2];
WBBM-AM (780), 3.8 [3.7]
9. WUBT-FM (103.5), 3.6 [2.4]
10. Tie: WLIT-FM (93.9), 3.4 [3.5];
WKQX-FM (101.1), 3.4 [3.9]
12. Tie: WUSN-FM (99.5), 2.9 [3.5];
WJMK-FM (104.3), 2.9 [3.6]
14. WNND-FM (100.3), 2.7 [3.1]
15. Tie: WLEY-FM (107.9), 2.6 [2.3];
WLUP-FM (97.9), 2.6 [2.0]
17. Tie: WOJO-FM (105.1), 2.4 [2.0];
WCKG-FM (105.9), 2.4 [2.5]
19. WXRT-FM (93.1), 2.3 [2.6]
20. Tie: WXCD-FM (94.7), 2.0 [2.6];
WMAQ-AM (670), 2.0 [2.2]
MORNING DRIVE
1. WGN, Bob Collins, 9.0 [11.2]
2. WBBM-AM, Felicia Middlebrooks and Ken Herrera, 5.7 [5.8]
3. Tie: WLS, Don Wade and Roma, 5.3 [4.2];
WGCI-FM, "Crazy" Howard McGee, 5.3 [5.1]
5. WBBM-FM, Ed Volkman and Joe Bohannon, 4.6 [4.3]
6. Tie: WVAZ, Tom Joyner, 4.1 [3.8];
WTMX, Eric Ferguson and Kathy Hart, 4.1 [3.3]
8. WKQX, Mancow Muller, 4.0 [5.3]
9. WCKG, Howard Stern, 3.7 [3.4]
10. WNUA, Ramsey Lewis and Karen Williams, 3.3 [3.1]
from the: Chicago Media Rumor MillHere's the Top Five Performers, 25-54 age group, Morning Drive 6-10am
1. Tom Joyner WVAZ-FM
2. Eric & Kathy WTMX-FM
3. "Crazy" Howard McGee WGCI-FM
4. Howard Stern WCKG-FM
5. Bob Collins WGN-AM
*Mancow drops from 1st to 6th. Lin Brehmer & Terri Hemmert drop from 5th to 11th. Free Speech fallin on deaf ears? Mancow (WKQX-FM) continued his downtrend dropping out of the Top Five from 1st to 6th place (25-54). Eric & Kathy (WTMX-FM) had a monster book zooming up to 2nd place. Tom Joyner (WVAZ-FM) took 1st. Howard Stern fared better than Mancow remaining in the Top Five at 4th place (25-54). In afternoons, Steve Dahl slipped from 1st to 3rd place (25-54) meanwhile Garry Meier & Roe Conn (WLS-AM) remained in the Top Five nipping at Dahl's heels in 4th place.
from: Chicago Media Rumor Mill
March 26, 1999
Blue choppers?
Mancow the bad boy of radio may have turned off his audience with his wild antics and shock radio bits. From a radio bit with a mom who allows dogs to lick her children's genitals to callers who at times sound staged with other shocking gross revelations. Did he gross out his audience?
Whatever the case may be. Mancow seems to be downtrending. The winner? Eric & Kathy from WTMX who are now sitting on top wearing the (25-54) adult ratings crown that Mancow once wore. Even Howard Stern slipped but not as badly as Mancow. Stern is 4th. Mancow has now dropped to 6th.
from: Chicago Media Rumor Mill
February 27, 1999
Stern #1!, Mancow slips to 3rd!
The Arbitron trends were released yesterday and it appears that Stern has picked up some of Mancow's audience and has overtaken the number one spot. Howard Stern (WCKG-FM) came in first place in the highly touted adult demographic (25-54). Mancow (WKQX-FM) slipped to 3rd.
1. WCKG-FM 5.3 Howard
2. WGCI-FM 4.9
3. WKQX-FM 4.8 Mancow
3. WVAZ-FM 4.8
5. WGN-AM 4.4
The other big news was Chancellor who said that 103.1 would not be a factor appears to be right. WUBT-FM zoomed to #3 overall in the adult demos. Meanwhile, Big City's 103.1 "Heart n' Soul" is struggling to reach top twenty. WGCI-FM remained the overall #1 station in 25-54 followed by WVAZ, WUBT-FM, WNUA-FM and WJMK-FM.
from: Chicago Media Rumor Mill
Mancow #1 Steve Dahl #1 can you believe it!! The ratings are in and both Mancow and Steve Dahl pulled in number one ratings in the highly prized adult (25-54) age group. WGCI-FM was the overall number one 25-54 station but bowed to Mancow in the morning to take the top spot, and Steve Dahl in the afternoon to take the number one afternoon spot. Here's the top jocks in each daypart. Mornings: WKQX Mancow. Middays: WNUA Rick O'Dell/Loni Taylor Afternoons: Steve Dahl.
The Top O' Heap! Here's the top ten radio stations in the prized 25-54 age group:
1. WGCI-FM 2. WVAZ-FM 3. WNUA-FM 4. WJMK-FM 5. WXRT-FM 6. WUSN-FM 6t WCKG-FM 6t WNND-FM 9. WTMX-FM 9t WXCD-FM
What about Stern? Where's WGCI-FM? The battle between Howard Stern and Mancow didn't pan out as well as WCKG had hoped. Stern came in 3rd place in the adult demo (25-54). Both the Urban stations WGCI-FM and WVAZ-FM took a back seat to the incredible number one numbers Mancow pulled in for 1st place. WGCI-FM however managed to come in number one overall in the 25-54 age group since all their dayparts fared well.
How's it going? It appears that Dave Richards the new WKQX program director has his work cut out for him. After the #1 ratings that Mancow brings in Q-101 plummets to 15th place in Middays and 18th in the afternoons. On the other hand WCKG fares a little better with a #3 ranking in the morning with Howard Stern, dropping to 8th in Middays with Jonathan Brandmeier before Steve Dahl skyrockets to #1 in the afternoons. However, after Dahl's show it plummets down to 25th place.
from: http://www.suntimes.com/output/feder/feder11.htm
MORNING DRIVE 12+ 1. WGN, Bob Collins, 11.2 [10.3] 2. WBBM-AM, Felicia Middlebrooks and Ken Herrera, 5.8 [5.6] 3. WKQX, Mancow Muller, 5.3 [4.8] 4. WGCI-FM, "Crazy" Howard McGee, 5.1 [6.1] 5. WBBM-FM, Ed Volkman and Joe Bohannon, 4.3 [4.0] 6. WLS, Don Wade and Roma, 4.2 [4.6] 7. WVAZ, Tom Joyner, 3.8 [4.5] 8. WCKG, Howard Stern, 3.4 [3.4] 9. WTMX, Eric Ferguson and Kathy Hart, 3.3 [2.9] 10. WJMK, John Landecker and Catherine Johns, 3.2 [2.7]
Thanks to Roger...
from: Chicago Media Rumor Mill
December 14, 1998
Stever does it again! The latest Arbitron ratings are out and Steve Dahl held on to his number one crown in the highly prized adult demo (25-54). Dahl came in at #1 with a 6.9. The highest share of all WCKG dayparts.
Even Howard Stern improved his number to move up to 4th place with a 5.2. WCKG overall was up except for their evenings and weekends. But the other dayparts were so strong that it kept WCKG up to a 4th place ranking in 25-54. The final results will be out early next month. This is considered to the the second leg of the Arbitron book.
from: http://www.maxpages.com/cybermedia/Home
Chicago Media Rumor Mill
November 15, 1998
Mancow and Stern tied? In the morning race for the prized adult listeners (25-54) WVAZ took first place and WGCI came in second. But, the race that industry watchers are keeping tabs on was between Mancow and Howard Stern and the outcome was a tie for third place. In the afternoon Dahl not only rose above the line but increased his ratings even higher to keep the #1 adult crown.
And the winner is? WGCI-FM remained not only the Urban leader but the overall winner in Chicago. The latest arbitrends arrived and showed some interesting results. Bob Collins was the winner in 12+ category in morning drive. Mancow edged up slightly 4.8-5.3 for fourth place.
Here's the Top Thirteen 12+ (Aug/Sept/Oct)
1. WGCI-FM (Urban) 7.7 2. WGN-AM (News/Talk) 7.1 3. WBBM-FM (CHR/Rhy) 5.3 4. WVAZ-FM (Urban AC) 4.5 5. WLS-AM (Talk) 4.2 6. WNUA-FM (NAC/SJ) 4.1 7. WUSN-FM (Country) 3.9 8. WBBM-AM (News) 3.6 8. WKQX-FM (Alternative) 3.6 8. WLIT-FM (AC) 3.6 11. WJMK-FM (Oldies) 3.4 12. WTMX-FM (Hot AC) 3.2 13. WCKG-FM (Talk) 2.9
These are 12+ ratings from the latest Arbitrend.
1. Bob Collins WGN-AM 10.9 2. Felicia Middlebrook & WBBM-AM 6.2 3. "Crazy" Howard McGee WGCI-FM 6.0 4. Mancow WKQX-FM 5.3 5. Don & Roma WLS-AM 4.4 6. Eddie & JoBo WBBM-FM 4.3 6.(tie) Tom Joyner WVAZ 4.3 8. Howard Stern WCKG 3.7 9. Ramblin Ray & Trish Biondo WUSN 3.6 10. Eric & Kathy WTMX 3.2
from: http://www.suntimes.com/output/feder/2feder.html
The Cow is Not? But Stern is! The long awaited summer Arbitron ratings are in and besides WCKG being listed below the line because Steve Dahl was criticizing the Arbitron methodology of gathering information.
The big story was WCKG. Stern shot past Mancow in the morning big mouth battle in the 25-54 age group.
And not so good news for $3 million dollar WKQX investment Mancow who slipped in the ratings.
Here are the rankings for the 25-54 age group (for morning drive). Which is what advertisers care the most about.
1. Tom Joyner WVAZ-FM 2. "Crazy" Howard McGee 3. Howard Stern WCKG Bob Collins WGN-AM (tie) 5. Mancow WKQX 6. Ray Stevens & Trish Biondo WUSN-FM 7. Felicia Middlebrook WBBM-AM 8. Lin Brehmer WXRT-FM 9. Eric & Kathy WTMX-FM 10. Ramsey Lewis WNUA-FM
Chicago radio ratings
October 14, 1998
Here is Arbitron's ranking of the top commercial radio stations for summer, followed by average share of listeners age 12 and older from 6 a.m. to midnight Monday through Sunday (with spring share in brackets):
1. WGCI-FM (107.5), 8.0 [7.7]
2. WGN-AM (720), 6.6 [5.8]
3. WBBM-FM (96.3), 5.3 [4.8]
4. WVAZ-FM (102.7), 4.9 [4.7]
5. Tie: WLS-AM (890), 4.3 [4.3]; WNUA-FM (95.5), 4.3 [4.1]
7. WUSN-FM (99.5), 4.2 [3.9]
8. WLIT-FM (93.9), 3.8 [4.6]
9. Tie: WJMK-FM (104.3), 3.4 [3.9]; WKQX-FM (101.1), 3.4 [2.8]; WBBM-AM (780), 3.4 [3.6]
12. WTMX-FM (101.9), 2.9 [3.3]
13. Tie: WNND-FM (100.3), 2.6 [2.6]; WCKG-FM (105.9), 2.6 [2.2]
MORNING DRIVE
1. WGN, Bob Collins, 10.3 [9.0]
2. WGCI-FM, "Crazy" Howard McGee, 6.1 [6.0]
3. WBBM-AM, Felicia Middlebrooks and Ken Herrera, 5.6 [5.7]
4. WKQX, Mancow Muller, 4.8 [2.0]
5. WLS, Don Wade and Roma, 4.6 [4.6]
6. WVAZ, Tom Joyner, 4.5 [4.3]
7. Tie: WBBM-FM, Ed Volkman and Joe Bohannon, 4.0 [3.8]; WUSN, Ray Stevens and Trish Biondo, 4.0 [3.5]
9. WCKG, Howard Stern, 3.4 [3.5]
10. Tie: WNUA, Ramsey Lewis and Karen Williams, 3.3 [3.3]; WLIT, Bob Brynteson, 3.3 [4.0]
September 17, 1998
by Robert Feder
Chicago Sun-Times columnist
In the end, the prospect of a courtroom battle between shock jock Howard Stern and the bosses of the Chicago radio station that fired him was too good to be true.
Stern, self-proclaimed "King of All Media," won't be going to trial on the $45 million lawsuit he filed against Evergreen Media Corp. (now Chancellor Media Corp.) for dropping his syndicated morning show from the former WLUP-AM in 1993.
Court documents filed Wednesday in New York revealed that both sides have agreed to a settlement. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
"The case is settled, and we are satisfied with the result," said Stephen Huff, lead trial counsel for the law firm representing Stern. Chancellor Media Corp. officials, attending management meetings in Arizona, could not be reached for comment.
The settlement ends one of the loudest and longest-running legal battles in Chicago radio history.
In dropping Stern's show after only 10 months on the air, the Loop cited Stern's problems with the Federal Communications Commission.
"There is no doubt that 'The Howard Stern Show' has continued to violate the FCC's present and ongoing conception of indecency," Evergreen Media said in August, 1993. "We could not afford to be exposed to serious FCC violations in the future."
Stern claimed that slow growth in the ratings and other corporate concerns were the real reasons for his cancellation. He sued Evergreen Media for fraud and breach of contract, and he publicly cursed station officials.
His show, which was off the air in Chicago for more than a year, later bounced around various stations before landing at WCKG-FM (105.9), its outlet since July, 1996.
The dispute provided a rare glimpse inside Stern's business dealings. Documents filed in conjunction with the suit included a copy of Evergreen Media's contract with Stern and extensive correspondence between Don Buchwald, Stern's agent, and Larry Wert, former president and general manager of the Loop.
In addition to payments of $750,000 the first year, $850,000 the second and $1 million the third, the three-year deal was to have given Stern 5 percent of all advertising revenue. During his 10 months on the station, Stern received $680,000.
Well fans it's the first leg of the summer book and batting lineup has changed a little. We'll be right back with more of the league standings right after these...many commercial messages. Since all advertisers care about is 25-54 here are the rankings. In parenthesis is their previous position.
Mornings 1. Tom Joyner WVAZ (1) 2. "Crazy" Howard McGee WGCI (1) 3. Ramsey Lewis WNUA (10) 4. Howard Stern WCKG (4) 4(tie) Bob Brynteson WLIT (6) 4(tie) John Landecker & Catherine Johns WJMK (4) 4(tie) Bob Collins WGN (9) 8. Bob & Tom WRCX (4) *Mancow left station 9. Ray Stevens & Trish Biondo WUSN (12) 10. John Hultman & Felicia Middlebrook WBBM-AM (8)DROPPING OUT OF TOP TEN = Eric & Kathy WTMX 11th (7)
from new radio star and robk...
The big story in the Chicago spring book that just hit yesterday has Mancow zooming from a 4.4 to a 5.4 in 12 plus morning show numbers while Stern at WCKG dropped 4.0 to 3.5 in total persons. In fact it was an overall down book for the famous personalities at WCKG...with Brandmeier dropping 3.0 to 2.1 and Dahl down 4.6 to 2.7. Overall, WGCI was the #1 station with a jump to 7.7 from 6.3 while WGN fell 6.6 to 5.8. B96 was third with a 4.8 from a 4.4 while WVAZ 4.3 to 4.7 and WLIT 4.8 to 4.6 rounded out the overall top five.
from the Chicago Sun-Times and robk...
While Chicago's two leading black-oriented radio stations were among the winners during the spring ratings period, the local outlet for Howard Stern, Jonathon Brandmeier and Steve Dahl appeared to be the biggest loser.
In Arbitron Co. figures released Wednesday, urban-contemporary WGCI-FM posted its highest audience share since the summer of 1993 to overtake news/talk/sports WGN for first place overall.
WGCI and adult urban-contemporary WVAZ topped the charts among listeners between the ages of 25 and 54--the category most coveted by advertisers--and tied for first place in mornings in that age group.
But the spring ratings brought a package of trouble to personality talker WCKG, where Stern in mornings, Brandmeier in middays and Dahl in afternoons all dropped. Stunned station officials blamed the major setback on "Arbitron's flawed nature."
Far more enamored with their ratings report cards were oldies WJMK, where the morning team of John Landecker and Catherine Johns surged, and adult alternative WTMX, which moved up across the board.
Mancow Muller's swan song from WRCX boosted the rocker in mornings and set the stage for a fierce battle with Muller's new home at archrival WKQX.
Also signing off from mornings was John Hultman, who retired after 30 years at all-news WBBM-AM in solid third place, and Wendy Snyder and Bill Leff, who fell to 18th place at WKQX before they were bumped by Muller.
In the closely watched war between classic rockers, WXCD still enjoyed a wide margin over WLUP.
With its likely sale looming, sports and personality talker WMVP finally showed signs of life, moving up to a three-way tie with all-news WMAQ and the Loop.
Making its first showing in Arbitron was WXXY, which signed on in February as "Chicago's Heart and Soul" with a format of classic soul and rhythm-and-blues hits.
Making its last appearance as a Spanish-language station was WTAQ, which premieres today as the local outlet for the Radio Disney kids network.
Despite much promotion, WIDB, home of the One-on-One Sports Radio Network, was still a ratings no-show.
Among listeners in the 25-to-54 age group, WGCI was followed (in order) by WVAZ, WLIT, WJMK, WNUA, WXRT, WTMX, WUSN, WXCD and WNND.
Arbitron's spring survey period ran from April 2 to June 24. Ratings are used to determine advertising rates.
1. WGCI-FM (107.5), 7.7 [6.3]
2. WGN-AM (720), 5.8 [6.6]
3. WBBM-FM (96.3), 4.8 [4.4]
4. WVAZ-FM (102.7), 4.7 [4.3]
5. WLIT-FM (93.9), 4.6 [4.8]
6. WLS-AM (890), 4.3 [4.0]
7. WNUA-FM (95.5), 4.1 [4.6]
8. Tie: WJMK-FM (104.3), 3.9 [3.3]; WUSN-FM (99.5), 3.9 [3.4]
10. WBBM-AM (780), 3.6 [4.0]
11. WTMX-FM (101.9), 3.3 [2.6]
12. WRCX-FM (103.5), 3.2 [3.0]
13. WKQX-FM (101.1), 2.8 [3.0]
14. WXCD-FM (94.7), 2.7 [2.6]
15. WNND-FM (100.3), 2.6 [2.7]
16. WXRT-FM (93.1), 2.5 [2.6]
17. Tie: WLEY-FM (107.9), 2.2 [2.3]; WCKG-FM (105.9), 2.2 [2.9] <- Howard
19. Tie: WAIT-AM (850), 2.0 [2.8]; WOJO-FM (105.1), 2.0 [2.2]
from zecom.com and AnonGuy...
--snips--
The biggest loser in the Spring was CBS's WCKG.
While the station had a stronger June, it suffered falls in each trend and saw their 12+ fall from 2.9 to 2.2 (18th place overall) and over a point and out of the Top 10 in 25-54. It's hard to find anything good since the drop was across the board on this Personality/Talk station.
The best showing was Howard Stern in the morning who finished in a tie for 10th place in 12+ but fell out of first place in 25-54.
The news was not good for Jonathon Brandmeier in Middays whose L.A.-based show lost over 1 point in both 12+ and 25-54.
The biggest slide was in Afternoon Drive where Steve Dahl saw another bad trend...losing over 2 points (and out of the Top 10 in 12+) and a 3 point dip in the key 25-54 demo; barely hanging in the Top 10 after winning this demo in the Winter.
It doesn't appear his former partner, Garry Meier, gained from this dip as WLS's afternoon-drive numbers also took a slight dip.
However those who did gain, slightly, were Kevin Matthews on WMVP and Dan McNeil and Terry Boers on WSCR. Critics of the station are quick to point to the drop in the quality of the shows and the heavy male-oriented content of the station which is driving away women, but it can also be said that the market is saturated with Personality and Talk shows and the audience for this format is not growing. Also, it appears with the strong city reporting (that benefitted WGCI-FM and WVAZ) it works against the white and suburban-oriented stations such as WCKG.
--snips--
Chicago Radio Watch
6/22/98
The second phase that will be compiled for Arbitron's Spring '98 report was released last week.
Signs of trouble are showing at the Talk/Personality stations. The most notable decline is at WCKG which declined in the past 2 trends with drops in all key day parts. Howard Stern, while still staying in the Top 10 in 12+, fell to third place in 25-54 and Jonathon Brandmeier in Middays slipped again; falling out of the Top 10 in 25-54. The real decay is in Afternoon Drive, where Steve Dahl's numbers declined by more than a point in the critical 25-54 demo from the last trend and to 7th place and over 2.5 points from his first place Winter numbers. He also dropped out of the Top 10 in 12+ for the first time since Dahl debuted on the station in '96. CKG has had down trends and rebounded in the final trend to shore-up its position, but the drops this Spring will mean the station will have to have a great June to pull that off. Needless to say, the station is far from reaching the top of the 25-54 mountain management had publicly stated they would do by the end of this year.
http://www.zecom.com/zecom/crow/6cr2ow2.htm
The first Chicago Spring '98 Arbitrends are in! Thanks to Roger for this...
More great Chicago news as the first view of the Spring numbers comes in! Fisting very soon!
(snipped for Howard info)
Also taking a hit is CBS's WCKG...that lost .2 in 12+, and a half point slide in the station's target demo: 25-54. The only good news was the continued good showings of Howard Stern in the morning; hanging on to the top slot in 25-54 and up two ticks in 12+ (still behind Mancow in that demo).
Traditionally the first trend is a "pacesetter" for the book, but surprises can be expected before the final report comes out in July. Thus we'll keep an eye out for those changes and keep you up-to-date as the ratings period continues.
According to Robert Feder's 4-22-98 article, Howard Stern surges! "Howard Stern and Steve Dahl finished first in their respected time slots among listeners between 25 and 54. That demographic is the most highly prized by advertisers."
Howard Stern is now in 6th place with a 4.0 ratings share. Mancow is in 4th place with a 4.4 share.
Here are the ratings:
1. WGN, Bob Collins, 10.6 2. WBBM-AM, John Hultman and Felicia Middlebrooks, 6.0 3. WGCI-FM, Howard McGee, 5.2 4. WRCX, Mancow Muller, 4.4 5. WLS, Don Wade-Roma, 4.2 6. WCKG, Howard Stern, 4.0 7. tie: WVAZ, Tom Joyner, 3.8; WLIT, Bob Brynteson, 3.8 9. WBBM-FM Ed Volkman and Joe Bohannon; Karen Hand and Dr. Kelly Johnson, 3.6 10. WMAQ, Pat Cassidy, John Dempsey and Pam Riesmeyer, 3.4
from the Chicago Sun-Times
April 22, 1998
Led by indomitable morning kingpin Bob Collins, WGN bounced back into the top spot during Chicago radio's winter survey period.
Arbitron figures released Tuesday showed the news/talk/sports station recapturing first place after trailing urban-contemporary WGCI-FM during summer and fall.
The setback for WGCI came despite a huge margin of victory last week in the AccuRatings survey for winter. The disparity between the Arbitron and AccuRatings reflects differences in the two companies' sample groups and methodologies.
Among industry observers, all eyes (and ears) Tuesday were on WCKG, where syndicated morning host Howard Stern, self-proclaimed "King of All Media," and afternoon host Steve Dahl finished first in their respective time slots among adult listeners between the ages of 25 and 54. That demographic group is the most highly prized by advertisers.
Jonathon Brandmeier, whose midday show bridges Stern and Dahl on the hybrid classic rock/talker, tied for 14th place overall and tied for fifth in the 25-to-54 age group.
Leading adult listenership in middays--as well as adult listenership overall--was WLIT. The adult-contemporary outlet delivered its second best performance ever despite being challenged by a new direct competitor, WNND.
Chicago radio's rock arena remained overcrowded, with none of the six significant players cracking the top 10. WKQX, WRCX, WTMX, WXCD and WLUP were flat. Only WXRT showed substantial growth--from what had been its lowest share since 1982.
Oldies WJMK continued to slump despite the welcome addition of Catherine Johns to John "Records" Landecker's morning show.
WBBM-AM, marking its 30th year as an all-news leader, continued to dominate the format. But slight modifications at WMAQ--including a more prominent role for morning news anchor Pat Cassidy--appeared to pay off in higher ratings.
WAIT, the suburban daytime outlet for pop-standards music, continued to rise.
Former Spanish-language front-runner WOJO began closing the gap with successful newcomer WLEY.
WXXY and WYXX, the new suburban rhythm-and-blues stations sharing the 103.1 FM frequency, were no-shows in the ratings.
Other disappointments were posted by sports talker WSCR, which dropped to 24th place, and comedy talk/sports outlet WMVP, which tied for 25th place.
Contemporary-hit WBBM-FM again boasted the highest cumulative audience in the market, with 1.2 million listeners a week.
Among listeners in the 25-to-54 age group, WLIT was followed (in order) by WNUA, WGCI-FM, WVAZ, WCKG, WXRT, WUSN, WXCD, WJMK, WNND and WTMX.
Chancellor Media Corp. owns the top four stations in that group. CBS Radio owns four of the others--WCKG, WXRT, WUSN and WJMK. Bonneville International Corp. owns WNND and WTMX. ABC owns WXCD.
Arbitron's winter survey period ran from Jan. 8 to April 1.
Thanks to Roger for sending this:
March 30, 1998 - Mancow climbs back ahead of Howard in 25-54 in the lastest Winter Phase 2 arbitrends (December/January/February). Of course, Howard took a 3 week vacation during this periods, so no surpise that the Cow came up. The full winter book will be out in a couple of weeks.
--snip--
Chancellor's only Rocker, WRCX stayed rock ready in the trend, yet the big news was that Mancow beat Howard in 25-54. While Mancow lost other markets, the real battle is on his home turf. Mancow won in all major demos...18-24, 18-34, 25-54. Mancow is a cash cow...what is made after 10am is pocket money.
In the day parts, one syndicated morning show replaced another as the top rated 25-54 morning show. WVAZ's Tom Joyner leapfrogged a tight pack to take the top spot. He replaced WCKG's Howard Stern who gained a tick in 12+ but lost enough in 25-54 to fall back, and to be passed in both 12+ and 25-54 by WRCX's Mancow Muller. In 12+, WGN's Bob Collins still enjoys a commanding lead, a perennial mantle that the station has held for nearly 4 decades now. Other top 10 morning finishers included WBBM-AM (John Hultman and Felicia Middlebrooks), WGCI-FM (Howard McGee), WLS (Don Wade & Roma), WBBM-FM (Eddie & Jobo), WLIT (Bob Brynteson) and WNUA (Ramsey Lewis). 25-54 leaders included WUSN (Ramblin' Ray & Trish), WJMK (John "Records" Landecker) and WXRT (Lin Brehmer).
February 25, 1998 - One day after celebrating his 20th anniversary on Chicago radio, Steve Dahl got a belated kiss in the ratings. Arbitrends released Tuesday showed Dahl's WCKG-FM (105.9) afternoon show tied with Jeanne Sparrow and DaVante Stone of WGCI-FM (107.5) for first place among listeners between the ages of 25 and 54. Both stations had a 5.8 percent share in the key demographic group.
In other good news for WCKG, Howard Stern's New York-based syndicated morning show moved up to first place in the 25-to-54 category with a 5.3 share.
January 12, 1998
Morning drive
Thanks to Roger
1. WGN, Bob Collins, 10.5 [9.7]
2. WGCI-FM, George Wallace and Jeanne Sparrow, 5.9 [5.5]
3. WBBM-AM, John Hultman and Felicia Middlebrooks, 5.6 [6.5]
4. WLS, Don Wade and Roma, 4.5 [4.3]
5. WRCX, Mancow Muller, 4.4 [5.0]
6. WBBM-FM, Ed Volkman and Joe Bohannon; Karen Hand and Dr. Kelly Johnson, 4.2 [3.7]
7. WNUA, Ramsey Lewis and Karen Williams, 3.9 [3.5]
8. WLIT, Bob Brynteson, 3.6 [4.1]; WVAZ, Tom Joyner, 3.6 [4.3]
10. WCKG, Howard Stern, 3.4 [2.7]; WUSN, Ray Stevens and Trish Biondo, 3.4 [4.0]
January 9, 1998
by Robert Feder
Chicago Sun-Times Television/Radio Columnist
Jonathon Brandmeier's four-month absence from the morning radio scene turned out to be a godsend for Howard Stern.
In Arbitron ratings released Thursday, Stern's New York-based syndicated morning show posted its highest ratings ever for WCKG-FM (105.9) during the fall survey period.
Stern tied for 10th place with a 3.4 percent audience share overall. Significantly, he jumped from ninth place to second (with a 5.2 share) among listeners in the advertiser-coveted 25-to-54 age category.
Brandmeier long dominated the morning radio listenership of young adults here before he left WLUP-FM (97.9) and WMVP-AM (1000) in a contract dispute last summer. Starting Monday, Johnny B. returns to Chicago radio via WCKG. His new midday show will follow Stern from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. weekdays.
Mancow Muller of WRCX-FM (103.5), another longtime Stern rival, ranked fifth with a 4.4 share among all listeners and a 4.5 share in the 25-to-54 group. Muller finished second in the 18-to-34 group with a 9.8 share.
Despite his self-proclaimed status as "King of All Media," Stern has had a rocky history in Chicago, having bounced around four stations since October, 1992. His show has been airing on WCKG since July, 1996.
In an ironic footnote, George Wallace of top-rated WGCI-FM (107.5) finished first in both the 25-to-54 and 18-to-34 age groups. Wallace was fired last week.
Arbitron's fall survey period ran from Sept. 18 to Dec. 10.
Here is Arbitron's ranking of the top morning shows for summer, followed by average share of listeners age 12 and older (with spring share in brackets):
Morning drive
1. WGN, Bob Collins, 9.7 [9.5]
2. WBBM-AM, John Hultman and Felicia Middlebrooks, 6.5 [6.4]
3. WGCI-FM, George Wallace and Jeanne Sparrow, 5.5 [5.0]
4. WRCX, Mancow Muller, 5.0 [4.9]
5. Tie: WVAZ, Tom Joyner, 4.3 [3.8]
WLS, Don Wade and Roma, 4.3 [4.7]
7. Tie: WLIT, Bob Brynteson, 4.1 [3.9]
WLUP/WMVP (simulcast), Jonathon Brandmeier, 4.1 [3.9]
9. WUSN, Ray Stevens and Trish Biondo, 4.0 [3.3]
10. WBBM-FM, Ed Volkman and Joe Bohannon; Karen Hand and Dr. Kelly Johnson, 3.7 [3.5]
In the top 10 for the 25-54 group, Howard was tied for 9th with Bob Collins, Mancow is #3, with #1 being Tom Joyner (of all people!)
Some more Summer Arbitrends from Chicago. Thanks again to Roger...
WLUP 12+ dipped only slightly despite losing popular morning personality Jonathon Brandmeier (his numbers on WMVP(AM) did jump into the 2's; helping that station). One big hit Rock 103.5 took was in Morning Drive where Erich "Mancow" Muller fell from a 4.9 to 4.1 (and 6th place). With Brandmeier slipping out of the Top 10, this enabled Howard Stern on WCKG to slip into 10th place; moving up slightly from 3.3 to 3.4.
Another person who should be a wee bit concerned is Mancow, whose ratings have been eroding away. Not a lot of Johnny B. listeners on the loose are heading his way. The latest trend showed a drop that puts him at striking distance of rival Howard Stern on WCKG in 12 plus and falling further behind in 25-54. His syndication efforts seems to have slowed down...we're not hearing about more stations hopping on the Morning Madness bandwagon lately and the results are "fair to midland (as in Kansas)" as how well he's doing in other places. We've heard he's doing best in Des Moines but not blowing the market apart. Overall, WRCX took a big hit during the time of the year one would think this hard-rocker would do well. Again, a poor book by Mancow didn't help and the station seems to be stuck in a musical rut (how many times does one need to hear Pink Floyd's "Hey You"?).
For WCKG, the numbers were a mixed bag; which might not be a good thing at this point. Stern's numbers are improving and Dahl is the Chicago radio comeback story of the 90's (like him or not, give him his due). Dahl's show will move soon to 1pm; cutting into the time of Patty Haze and Mary Pat Larue. Someone noted recently, that if Stern runs late (which is not uncommon), the Catholic Girls could be on for shorter lunches.
Thanks to Roger for this story.
Here are the new numbers just in for the first part of the Summer ratings book in Chicago. This from the Chicago Radio Watch:
In the highly watched morning wars between Erich "Mancow" Muller and Howard Stern, there was good news for both camps. Stern held his ground while Mancow dropped in 25-54. The numbers that count...Mancow brought in a 4.9 flat in 12+ (5th place overall) with Stern at 3.3 (11th). In 25-54 Stern sagged from 4.9 to 4.8; good enough for 5th place while Mancow slid from 4.9 to 4.6 (6th). The biggest drop went to Jonothan Brandmeier who fell from a 3.4 to 3.2 overall and 5.2 to 4.7 25-54 in his last month on WLUP(FM). For those keeping further score, note that Johnny B's WMVP numbers went from a .5 to .9 in 25-54. More on that next trend. We'll have a further look at the demos and dayparts on Friday.
Thanks to Roger for this story.
Old Loop hands Brandmeier, Dahl come full circle
July 14, 1997
BY ROBERT FEDER SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST
Jonathon Brandmeier and Steve Dahl, two of Chicago's most durable radio funnymen, emerged as the big winners in the latest Arbitron survey.
Among listeners between the ages of 25 and 54--the group most heavily favored by advertisers--Brandmeier held first place for his WLUP/WMVP morning show, while Dahl moved up to first place for his WCKG afternoon show.
Brandmeier's ratings triumph marked his swan song after 14 years as WLUP's top star. Since the sale of the Loop to Bonneville International Corp. excluded Brandmeier's contract, his show now airs only on WMVP.
Radio bosses up and down the dial see Brandmeier's departure from the FM band as a unique opportunity to grab larger shares of the young-adult audience he long has dominated in the market.
Dahl's showing is expected to enhance his chances for national syndication later this year.
Despite WGN's rapidly aging audience base, morning kingpin Bob Collins again topped the charts among all listeners and led his station to first place over all.
Another stellar performance was delivered by John "Records" Landecker, who racked up the highest morning numbers for WJMK in more than a decade.
The return of prodigal sons Ed Volkman and Joe Bohannon to WBBM-FM coincided with the second consecutive decline in the station's morning numbers.
Barely edged out of the top 10 again was Howard Stern, whose syndicated morning show on WCKG remained flat in 11th place. In the 25-to-54 age group, Stern tied for fourth place along with WRCX's Mancow Muller and WLIT's Bob Brynteson.
--snips--
Arbitron's spring survey ran from March 27 to June 18.
MORNING DRIVE
1. WGN, Bob Collins, 9.5
2. WBBM-AM, John Hultman and Felicia Middlebrooks, 6.4
3. WGCI-FM, George Wallace and Jeanne Sparrow, 5.0
4. WRCX, Mancow Muller, 4.9
5. WLS, Don Wade and Roma, 4.7
6. Tie: WLIT, Bob Brynteson, 3.9; WLUP/WMVP (simulcast), Jonathon Brandmeier, 3.9
8. WVAZ, Tom Joyner, 3.8
9. WJMK, John Landecker, 3.6
10. WBBM-FM, Ed Volkman and Joe Bohannon; Karen Hand and Dr. Kelly Johnson, 3.5
11. WCKG-FM, Howard Stern, 3.3
Thanks to Hector for sending this in.
The final Winter Arbitron ratings for Chicago's Morning Drive:
1. WGN - Bob Collins 10.0
2. WBBM-am - John Hultman & Felicia Middlebrooks 6.1
3. WGCI-fm - Steve Harvey & Jeanne Sparrow 4.9
4. WRCX - Mancow Muller 4.7
5. WLS - Don Wade & Roma 4.4
6. WLIT - Bob Bryntenson 4.2
7. WUSN - J.D. Spangler 4.0
8. WLUP/WMVP - Jonathon Branmeier 3.9
9. WBBM-fm - Ed Volkman, Joe Bohannon, Karen Hand, & Dr. Kelly Johnson 3.8
10. WVAZ - Tom Joyner 3.6
11. ?
12. WCKG - Howard Stern 3.3
Thanks to Michael for sending this in.
In the coveted wars to be king of the AM the battleground 25-54 demo showed some interesting results:
Hold the dancing in Grant Park another 3 months. Rock 103.5's Mancow held his ground during the Winter to finish at a steady 5.0 while Stern, on WCKG, dropped from 4.2 to 4.1. Still Stern remains in the market's Top 10 and within' striking distance. Beating both Stern and Mancow was Johnny B who dropped from a 5.2 to 5.1 but is the best thing left on WLUP, just not the dominator of the demo he used to be. Should Brandmeier move on, as many expect later this year, it will be interesting to see where his numbers go. Our bets are a party in the park.
3/18/97: Howard Stern, riding a wave of popularity over his "Private Parts" movie, is moving up in the Chicago radio ratings. Stern's syndicated morning show on WCKG-FM (105.9) jumped into the top 10 with a 3.3 audience share in Arbitrends released Tuesday.
Here are the latest Chicago Arbitrons. Howard isn't doing so badly, despite what others may lead you to believe. Each age group is followed by their respective rating shares.
Teens 0.9 Adult 18-34 5.3 Adult 18-49 4.5 Adult 25-54 4.2 Adult 35-64 2.5 Men 18-34 7.7
Well, Howard is sitting in 17th place with a 2.3 rating for the 12+ demographic. Not great, but a whole lot better than the last book. Watch out, Manqueer, here comes Howard!
On second thought, maybe Howard Stern didn't do so badly after all.
Arbitron ratings released last week showed Stern's New York-based syndicated morning show tied for 17th place overall with a 2.3 percent audience share on WCKG-FM (105.9).
Even in the big-money group of listeners between the ages of 25 and 54, the shock jock ranked 10th with only a 3.6 share.
No great shakes.
But on closer inspection, the Arbitron figures add up to much better news for Stern: Among men between 18 and 34, the self-proclaimed ``King of All Media'' lifted WCKG from 11th place with a 2.7 share during spring to a tie for third place with a 6.7 share in summer.
What's more, among men between 25 and 34, he boosted the classic rock station from a tie for 11th with a 3.0 share to second place with an 8.4 share.
Considering that Stern has been bounced around four stations in Chicago since 1993--and that he didn't even sign on at WCKG until four weeks into the 12-week summer survey period--his initial showing is all the more remarkable.
Although Stern has targeted Mancow Muller of WRCX-FM (103.5) as his principal adversary, Muller continued to rank first in young male demographics--by wider margins than ever.
(Courtesy: the Chicago Sun-Times & Robert Feder. Thanks to Roger for sending it in.)
Courtesy of: JackScoop
Sigh. Girlcow is rising in the ratings and Stern is languishing. Where else but Chicago?
This story came from the 7/15/96 Chicago Sun-Times
Sometimes you don't know whether to laugh or cry.
That was the case last week when Arbitron radio ratings for the spring quarter delivered mixed results to oldies WJMK and its all-talk sister station, WJJD, as the accompanying chart shows.
WJMK posted its highest audience share since the fall of 1988 and drew the market's largest cumulative weekly audience among listeners between the ages of 25 and 54--the group most coveted by advertisers.
Harvey Pearlman, vice president/general manager of WJMK and WJJD, attributed the oldies station's increase to improved selection and rotation of music.
"We used to play everything that was a hit," he said. "Now we have eliminated all the 'downer' music and taken out everything that isn't fun to listen to. We put a smile on your face."
On the other hand, Pearlman acknowledged, the latest numbers have sealed the fate of WJJD, home of syndicated hosts Howard Stern in mornings and G. Gordon Liddy in middays and local hosts Ed Vrdolyak and Ty Wansley in afternoons.
"It's obvious that it's just not working," Pearlman said. "For a while, I've been hoping against hope that Ed and Ty's numbers would improve and that the whole station would be able to go up. What I found is that you can't force-feed a young format on the AM band."
"This book drives home the fact that there's going to be some big changes in the future for 'JJD. How quickly they'll come I can't say."
Stern, who tied for 23rd place with a 1.2 share in mornings, is expected to shift to WCKG in the next few weeks. Vrdolyak, who ranked 25th with a 1.6 share in afternoons, gave notice to his bosses last week that he wants out.
Here's how some other high-profile radio personalities fared in the Arbitron survey:
WLUP's Jonathon Brandmeier came on strong to tie Don Wade and Roma of WLS for sixth place in mornings with a 4.1 share. More importantly, Johnny B. finished first in the 25-to-54 age category.
Steve Harvey, who just signed a new multimillion-dollar contract to continue as WGCI's morning star, proved that his spectacular debut last quarter was no fluke. He tied WRCX's Mancow Muller for third place with a 5.4 share and finished just behind Brandmeier in the 25-to-54 group.
Roe Conn and Garry Meier, the afternoon duo on WLS, moved up to a 2.8 share and a four-way tie for 13th place with the Loop's Danny Bonaduce, WTMX's Peter Dean (who since left the station) and all-news WBBM-AM.
WBBM-FM's George McFly and Frankie "Hollywood" Rodriguez dropped out of the top 10 to finish 12th in the mornings with a 2.8 share. Anticipating the decline, B-96 shortened their shift and added "Private Lives," a sex talk show.
In today's Chicago Sun-Times (May 16, 1996),
It's deja vu for Howard Stern, who soon will find his syndicated morning show back on WCKG-FM (105.9).
Infinity Broadcasting Corp., the New York-based radio giant and syndicator of Stern's show, will announce today that it is acquiring WCKG and WYSY-FM(107.9) from Atlanta-based Cox Broadcasting. Cox, in turn, is acquiring three of Infinity's stations in Orlando, Florida, and an undisclosed amount of money.
Infinity, which already owns WJJD-AM(1160), WJMK-FM(104.3), and WUSN-FM(99.5) here, is expected to shift Stern to WCKG as soon as the deal is completed. Stern has been languishing on WJJD - a weaker AM station - since last October, when Cox bounced him from WCKG because of pressure from advertisers.
The move also paves the way for Infinity to pick up Steve Dahl as afternoon host on WCKG. Dahl has been off the air since March, when he quit WMVP-AM(1000) as morning host in a contract dispute. Infinity has not yet made Dahl a formal offer.
No word yet on whether Infinity plans to make any changes in WCKG's classic rock format or WYSY's all '70's oldies format.
Stern's expected return to WCKG could open the morning slot at WJJD to Don Imus, whose New York-based talk show is also syndicated by Infinity.
While today's announcement will give Infinity a combined 11.8 percent share of listenership and a 17.4 share of all radio revenue in Chicago, it also will signal the end for Cox after 12 years as a radio operator in the market.
Mike Disney, vice president and general manager of WCKG and WYSY, broke the news unofficially to his staff late Wednesday.
"These stations are being sold to a company that is not only huge, but also enormously successful," Disney said. "Our success and their success will continue. No one at this time -- I repeat, no one -- is being thrown out....We have an excellent staff, and Infinity wants good people."
In Arbitrends survey figures released Wednesday, WCKG ranked 19th in the market with a 2.3 percent audience share and a cumulative weekly listenership of 643,400. WYSY, also known as Y-107.9, ranked 21st with a 1.8 share and a cume of 460,000.
Thanks to Leo for this story.
Thanks to Leo for this story.
There seems to be no end to the embarrassment Howard suffers in the Chicago market. Ratings in the Sun-Times today show Mancow holding at #3, while Stern is tied for 20th with Steve Dahl (who isn't even on the radio any more!) and WCKG (the station that he was on until last fall, playing classic rock in the morning, just about the deadest of formats).
Three stations in three years, getting booted every time he starts to do well, constant lambasted in the papers and on TV...all of it has taken it's toll here in Chicago.
1. bob collins, wgn, 10.0 [up from 9.9]
2. john hultman and felicia middlebrooks, wbbm-am, 6.0 [6.1]
3. steve harvey, wgci-fm, 5.5 [up from tom joyner's 5.3]
4. mancow muller, wrcx, 5.2 [4.7]
5. bob brynteson, wlit, 3.9 [3.6]
(tie) pat cassidy and jay congdon, wmaq, 3.9 [4.2]
7. tom joyner, wvaz, 3.7
8. j.d. spangler and ray stevens, wusn, 3.4 [4.4]
9. don wade and roma, wls, 3.3 [3.0]
10. jonathon brandmeier, wlup, 3.2 [3.6]
(tie) george mcfly and frankie rodriguez 3.2 [3.4]
20. howard stern, wjjd, 1.7 [1.2]
Arbitron Co. figures released Tuesday showed the New York-based syndicated shock jock jumped from 18th place with a 2.2 percent audience last spring to a tie for 8th place with a 3.4 share in summer.
Even more significant, among all listeners between the ages of 25 and 54, Stern rose from a tie for 14th place with a 3.0 share to 5th place with a 4.6 share. His main rival, Mancow Mueller of WRCX-FM (103.5), finished fourth with a 4.7 share.
In their specific demographic target of men between 25 and 54, Stern ranked second with a 6.7 share---again behind Mueller, who was first with a 7.4 share.
WCKG dropped Stern last week after only six months on the air, citing philosophical problems with the content of his morning show. Cox Enterprises, owner of WCKG, bought out the remaining 2 1/2 years of Stern's multimillion-dollar contract because advertisers reportedly were reluctant to be associated with some of his on-air tirades and personal attacks. Had Cox waited for the latest Arbitron numbers, however, many of those advertisers undoubtly would have had second thoughts.
One day after his firing from WCKG was announced, Stern turned up on WJJD-AM (1160), owned by Infinity Broadcasting, which also syndicates his show through a subsidiary.
© Chicago Reader - October 6, 1995
Howard Stern is now the vampire of Chicago radio: the host who will not die. Booted off his second station in two years Monday, he reappeared on another Chicago outlet 24 hours later. From WJJD (1160 AM), as a lead-in to fellow psycho G. Gordon Liddy, he'll continue his quixotic three-year range war to break into the Chicago market. He'll also use the station as a base to continue his total-war campaign against Loop big guy Larry Wert, who fired him two years ago, and his new nemesis, Rock 103.5's Mancow Muller.
The decision by WCKG general manager Mike Disney to take Stern off the air, after less than seven months in the classic-rock station's morning-drive slot, was unexpected. Just two months ago Stern was in hot water for some tough words against Wert. "I hope you're in a men's room in a gas station," said Stern in part, "and some guy comes in, a very effeminate guy, but powerful, pushes you over the sink, pulls your pants down, gives you the hot beef injection, and delivers the deadly AIDS into your system." Stern wished that Wert would then bleed into his kids' food. But Disney stood by him, even intemperately defending the broadside in a long letter to local advertisers. Now he concedes that the show's "on-air content" made him pull the plug, but won't comment further, apparently as part of an "amicable" agreement to split with Stern.
Harvey Pearlman, general manager of 'JJD, likewise refuses to comment on Stern's bellicose aural porn, but he does gush that Stern is the "biggest single individual talent in radio, period." Chicago radio listeners at this point don't seem to agree. Stern was never more than a minor force in his two previous sallies here. Why that is is anybody's guess, but it certainly isn't that the audience is too refined. They love Muller, a Stern manque who lacks only the master's brains and perniciousness. Now he's looking like a giant killer as well.
In the latest jolt to America's most famous 'shock jock', Howard Stern has been fired from a Chicago radio station for the second time in two years. WCKG-FM (105.9) which has carried Stern's New York-based syndicated morning show since last March, cited unspecified problems with 'on-air content' for pulling the plug, effective immediately. His last show here aired Friday. Stern, 41, previously aired in Chicago on the former WLUP-AM--now known as WMVP-AM (1000)--for 10 months before he was fired in August, 1993. "Over the past couple of months, we here at WCKG have become philosophically uncomfortable with some of Howard's on-air content," said a statement released by Mike Disney, vice president and general manager of WCKG. "After discussing these issues with Howard, we have mutually decided to terminate our agreement and go our separate ways amicably. We respect Howard's need to be Howard. We wish him only the best," the statement said.
Although Disney wouldn't comment further, his statement suggests that WCKG's parent company, Atlanta-based Cox enterprises, reached a financial settlement on the remaining 2 1/2 years of Stern's three-year contract with WCKG. Stern and his agent could not be reached for comment. The remarks that led to Stern's downfall this time are believed to have been triggered by his animosity toward WLUP's parent company, Evergreen Media Corp., for firing him in 1993. At the time, Evergreen officials said his show was 'not compatible' with the station and expressed fear that he posed an 'unacceptable risk' of fines for indecency by the Federal Communications Commission.
Stern responded by filing a $45 million breach-of-contract lawsuit against Evergreen and vowing to settle the score for allegedly damaging his reputation in Chicago. A scaled-back version of the lawsuit is still pending. Once he returned to Chicago via WCKG, Stern savaged Evergreen from top to bottom, directing his harshest words at Larry Wert, president and general manager of WLUP-FM (97.9).
In his most vicious attack, Stern used graphic language to describe how he hoped Wert would contract AIDS and spread the disease to his family. Tapes and transcripts of those remarks were widely circulated by WCKG's competitors and Stern's detractors, prompting calls for an advertiser boycott and intense pressure on Cox Enterprises to drop his show.
Stern also had targeted another Evergreen employee, WRCX-FM (103.5) morning man Mancow Muller, with whom he waged a bitterly personal feud. On the day Muller attended his father's funeral, Stern delivered a long on-air tirade about defiling the corpse. For Muller, Stern's cancellation may bring more than mere vindication. It likely will elevate the 28-year-old broadcaster to nationwide status as a radio giant-killer for running Stern out of the No. 3 market after only six months.
"This may be the happiest day of my life," Muller said Sunday, claiming to be popping champagne. "Howard Stern didn't know what he was getting himself into here. I really think he was shocked that I fought back." Unlike his previous ratings track record in Chicago, Stern was showing signs of listener acceptance this time. When Arbitron releases its quarterly survey for summer next week, WCKG is expected to hit a 3.0 percent audience share during mornings, up markedly from its pre-Stern 1.8 share last winter. No decision has been made on a replacement for Stern. Disney said WCKG will air 'wall-to-wall music' without any on-air morning host for a week or so.
Well, that's the article. All I can say is that I hope y'all on the newsgroup will keep us Stern-less listeners here in Chicago apprised of everything that Howard says, especially regarding the whole fiasco with CKG, what he's still gonna do to that no-talent fuckface Mancow, etc. etc.
Thanks to EVAN for this story.
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