Inward Dial

Inward Dial

 

Merlin Media's Plans To Roll Out A FullTime Stories Format On FM Keep Having Repercussions Up And Down The Dial Regardless Of If Rival Station Bosses Would Like Us To Believe They 're Not Reacting.

Robservations on the media beat :

Truthfully, I've heard varsity radio stations deliver smoother newscasts than the ones they've been airing on Merlin Media's new 101.1 FM. Since last week, the station (which officially modified call letters from WKQX to WWWN) has been supplementing its music stunting with hourly, six-minute newscasts testing various combinations of anchors and contributors. Granted, they're still in walkthrough / test mode, and they're struggling without the right gear in place . But you'd think they'd work out their choreography down before subjecting listeners to samples of a format that's obviously not up to par. A couple of the blundering trial runs I heard only made me appreciate the polished professionalism of all-news WBBM-AM (780) that much more .

Merlin Media's plans to roll out a full-time stories format on FM continue to have side effects up and back down the dial whether or not rival station bosses would like us to believe they're not reacting. CBS Radio execs attempted to pretend the upcoming competition was not behind their call to simulcast Newsradio 780 on WCFS-FM (105.9), starting the week after next. And now WGN-AM (720) chiefs are unrelenting that nothing should be read into the sudden return of "The Voice of Chicago" as the Tribune-owned reports / talk station's on-air slogan. Let's hope CBS doesn't attempt to deny the simple now that it's touting WXRT-FM (93.1) as "Chicago's Original Alternative" on the heels of Q101's demise.

While all attention so far has been targeted on the AM stations that'll be influenced by 101.1 FM, a big impact also could be felt by WBEZ-FM (91.5), the noncommercial public radio outlet operated by Chicago Public Media. The home of Morning Edition, All Things Considered and Eight Forty-eight will no longer be the only choice for news-and-talk listeners on FM when Newsradio's simulcast and 101.1 FM start going at it. In the latest Arbitron survey, WBEZ ranked 26th with a 1.7 % audience share and 25th among listeners between 25 and 54 with a 2.0 share. (Full declaration : I worked for Chicago Public Media as a blogger in 2010.)

Do not look for Monica DeSantis to anchor evening newscasts on Castle Broadcasting reports / talk WLS-AM (890) after all. Notwithstanding a brief here last week that she was losing her noon anchor slot to Dave Stewart and shifting to evenings, DeSantis made a decision to quit the station and jump to you got it 101.1 FM. She'd been heard on WLS (through Metro Networks) since 2008. Filling in as WLS evening news anchor for now will be Ed Smaron.

They've turned a corner at Window to the World Communications or so they say. The non-profitable holding company of public television WTTW-Channel 11 and classical music WFMT-FM (98.7) is forecasting a "break-even budget" for this year and next, thanks partly to increases in company and foundation support. "This reports is especially gratifying after an economically challenging Financial 2010 during which losses in state funding and reduced support from alternative sources resulted in a serious shortfall and one or two job eliminations," the company said in a statement last week. "We still face many challenges in this recovering economy," warned Chairperson Dan Schmidt. "But we feel strongly that we're on the correct path and are highly hopeful about our future."

Add Art Barnum, who was DuPage County courts reporter for the Chicago Tribune, and Debra Bade, who was editor of reports research and archives, to the list of editorial workers whose jobs were eliminated last week. "It's been a great ride, and I've had so much fun working with all of you and with my fantastic staff here at the Tribune," Bade wrote in an e-mail to associates and pals. "I'm unsure yet what the following journey will be, but anticipate a new challenge and opportunity to grow." Tribune business section staffers took up a collection to buy flowers for secretary Rose Sukowski, whose job also was cut after more than thirty years, writes tagza.com.