As anticipated, today Randy Michaels, CEO of Tribune Company, formerly of Clear Channel, one of the grand architects behind the current state of commercial radio, resigned from his post at Tribune. This is how his former company’s flagship paper put it: Having lost the support of many employees, his board and the creditors who will […]
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Smooth Jazz returns to Chicago airwaves via HD Radio 2
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 […]
The oral history of Chicago’s Q101 hits stores
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 […]
Rush Limbaugh apologizes for calling Georgetown student a “slut,” but that doesn’t mean his misogynistic approach will change
Last week conservative radio blow-hard Rush Limbaugh bit off a bit more than he could chew when he went on a couple of tirades over the course of his Wednesday and Thursday shows wherein he lambasted Georgetown University law student Sandra Fluke who was denied an opportunity to testify in front of Congress in support […]
Radio Survivor’s 2011 Year in Review
Happy 2012. Over the past few weeks, Matthew, Paul and I have written up our obligatory “year-end” pieces, summarizing some of the big radio trends from 2011. I covered college radio in my article, 2011: The Year that College Radio Fought Back, Paul wrote about some of the technological changes in music in his piece, […]
Ghosts of Clear Channel continue to haunt Tribune Company
New York Times media reporter David Carr dropped a bombshell on Tribune Company CEO Randy Michaels today, and paragraph number seven pretty much says it all: Based on interviews with more than 20 employees and former employees of Tribune, Mr. Michaels’s and his executives’ use of sexual innuendo, poisonous workplace banter and profane invective shocked […]
FCC To Host Media Cross-ownership Workshop in Tampa
In advance of its upcoming biannual review of media ownership rules, the Federal Communications Commission is holding a series of workshops on the issue. These workshops are less formal and expansive than hearings, and tend to be focused on a smaller array of topics. On April 20 the Commission’s Media Bureau will host a panel […]
Merlin Media killing smooth jazz 87.7 to bring alt rock to TV Ch. 6 in Chicago
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 […]
12 Days of Radio Station Signage: Day 9 – Seven Deadly Words
I’ve been to a few radio stations that have posted handy lists of all of the forbidden naughty words which can never be uttered over the air. I’m sure that program directors get a vicarious thrill out of putting these nasty words up on the wall. On this sign, posted in a station’s music review […]