Editors’ note: Since the publication of this article the smooth jazz format has returned to the Chicago airwaves. Read this December 31, 2014 update for more details. In a move whose logic I honestly don’t understand, Randy Michael’s Merlin Media has entered into a local marketing agreement with Venture Technologies Group, which owns the low-power […]
Christian radio conglomerate Family Radio is in the process of selling off radio stations in 2 major markets. On the heels of its November sale of WFSI 107.9 FM in Annapolis, Maryland to CBS for $8.5 million (Family Radio programming left the station’s airwaves last Thursday, December 1), paperwork was accepted for filing by the […]
Yesterday, Camden, New Jersey radio station WKDN made a radical change in programming, switching from Family Radio to Hannity@106.9 FM Radio following the the station’s sale to Merlin Media for $22.5 million. Listeners to WKDN in the Philadelphia-area could hear Family Radio’s religious programming transitioning to a loop of the R.E.M. song “It’s the End […]
In LPFM news this week, most of the action is happening behind the scenes, with groups working to amend applications and work on potential settlement agreements. As Paul mentioned last week, REC Networks is monitoring the progress of various MX groups in the West. Only a few applications have been granted in the past few […]
Two of our most enduringly popular “long-tail” posts are about the demise of Smooth Jazz radio in Chicago. This April, 2012 report about the changeover from the format to alternative rock on the FM backdoor station 87.7 FM and my July, 2012 followup detailing where to find other jazz programming on the Chicago airwaves consistently […]
I had intended to post about this last week, but dealing with some website stability issues, and then moving our site to a new host, kept me from getting this up. But the article series is so good and well researched that it deserves a look. The Chicago Tribune practiced a bit of self-analysis last […]
Family Stations, which owns and operates a network of Christian radio stations under the branding Family Radio, is in the midst of completing another sale of a station in its network. Last week the FCC granted the assignment of WFTI 91.7 FM in St. Petersburg, Florida to another religious broadcaster, Radio Training Network. Family Radio […]
Chicago’s Q101 was one of the first commercial alternative rock stations, and the first one to bring that format to the Chicago radio starting in 1992. The format and Q101 branding went away on July 15, 2011, when Randy Michaels’ Merlin Media took over the station, flipping it to his FM News format, that was […]
After less than a year on the air, former Tribune and Clear Channel honcho Randy Michaels has thrown in the towel on his FM news experiments in Chicago and New York City. His Merlin Media company aimed the stations to appeal to young women, but instead ended up with watered-down, amateurish broadcasts that quickly sank […]
Editors’ note: Since the publication of this article the smooth jazz format has returned to the Chicago airwaves. Read this December 31, 2014 update for more details. My post about the demise of Chicago smooth jazz station Smooth 87.7 two weeks ago continues to gather comments lamenting the station’s passing. Many of the commenters express […]
