WLIT becomes “My 93.9 FM”

Clear Channel-owned WLIT-FM didn’t need the late “Dandy” Don Meredith to turn off “The Lite”: they practically took the bulb out of the socket and smashed it to the ground.

After 24 years as The Lite, WLIT rebranded itself as My 93.9 FM, in line with a few other Clear Channel-owned AC formatted stations around the country. WLIT’s new slogan is “More Variety From The ’80′s til Now”, and its new website domain name is 939myfm.com.

Ryan Seacrest, who is morning personality at Clear Channel’s KIIS in Los Angeles, and whose show is syndicated nationally on a delayed basis (including sis station WKSC in Chicago), introduced the new format to WLIT listeners at 9 a.m. Monday.

The entire airstaff (or what little of it) was released, including morning jocks Jeff Corder and Karen Williams, whose final show was Friday. Also out is Robin Rock (who will remain with Clear Channel in some capacity) and Delilah’s syndicated evening show. WLIT however, does plan to hire on-air personalities. [Editor's Note: Delilah's syndicated show actually ended its Chicago run in March 2012. -T.H. ]

WLIT also plans to retain its highly popular – and highly rated – Christmas format in November and December.

The format adjustment puts WLIT in direct competition with Hubbard WILV-FM (Rewind 100.3), who has a similar format. WLIT also competes with WTMX and Merlin’s WIQI-FM. In the latest Arbitron survey, WLIT tied for eighth among women 25-54.

For now, WLIT is still reporting as an Adult Contemporary station; though the format has evolved from artists such as Barry Manilow, Barbara Streisand, and Air Supply back in the day to somewhat harder-edged acts such as Pink, Rihanna, Bruno Mars, Kelly Clarkson and Taylor Swift.

A sampling of artists in the 2:30 p.m.-3:30 p.m. time frame on Monday included songs from Lady Gaga, Men At Work, Fun., Carrie Underwood, Katy Perry, Tom Petty, Bruno Mars, Heart, One Republic, and Rihanna.

Copied straight from the press release, here’s Clear Channel VP of Programming Tommy Austin: “We received feedback from thousands of listeners who want a station that is as diverse as Chicago, with commercial free commutes so their drives are full of music. 93.9 MY FM will play the best songs from the 80′s until now with all different styles and textures, reflecting what our listeners want to hear. MY 93.9 will also continue the Holiday music tradition later in the year.”

Given how segregated the Chicago DMA is, I wonder how many of those “listeners” WLIT actually talked to – not sure if this change is because they wanted a playlist “just as diverse as Chicago”. And are listeners clamoring for more ’80′s music at this point? So far at least, we’re not hearing the same six ’80′s artists ten times a day (are you listening, WLUP?)

And the “My” branding has its shortcomings: it reminds some listeners of two entities with similar monikers: MySpace and My Network TV, given both have faded from the pop culture scene, though the latter was never there to begin with. On the other hand, KBIG in Los Angeles has used the My branding (as My 104.3) for five years and regularly ranks in the top five, often in first.

And speaking of KBIG… taking over the evening shift is former Saved By The Bell star and current Extra co-host Mario Lopez beginning July 1. Lopez holds down a similar evening shift at My 104.3.

But Mario Lopez? While a former sitcom star in radio is nothing new (Jay Thomas and Danny Bonaduce both created new careers from it), you wonder what other has-been 1980′s or 1990′s sitcom stars My 93.9 is considering…

Coming up next: My 93.9 FM hires Screech and Urkel for morning drive.

— T Dog Media (@tdogmedia) June 18, 2013

Oh boy. I certainly can’t wait for The Alfonso Ribeiro Midday Experience.

The Stanley Cup Final began Wednesday night between the Chicago Blackhawks and the Boston Bruins. This marks both teams’ second appearance in the last four years with the Blackhawks last appearing in 2010 and the Bruins in 2011.

The Blackhawks not only won Game 1 in a triple-overtime thriller against the Boston Bruins, they also won the Nielsens as well. The Blackhawks won 4-3 with the game-winning goal being scored at 11:59 p.m.

Without further ado, here’s the ratings results for game one of the Stanley Cup Final:

• Initially, the Bruins-Blackhawks game earned a 4.8 household overnight rating for NBC, up 100 percent from last year’s Los Angeles Kings-New Jersey Devils earned for game one. It is the highest-rated game one since 1997′s Detroit Red Wings-Philadelphia Flyers Stanley Cup Final on Fox (glowing puck and all.)
• Preliminary 18-49 numbers showed game one earning a 2.4 rating, up 140 percent from last year’s SCF final. The prelims only measure time period data, (and only measures shows within primetime) not the show itself. Thus, the data did not include the overtime periods.
• In final ratings released on Thursday, the Bruins-Blackhawks game drew 6.4 million viewers and a 3.9 overall rating, making this the most watched SCF game one since ’97. Viewership peaked at 10:15 with 7.7 million viewers. Among adults 18-49, the game drew a 2.5 rating (up 127 percent from last year’s game one) and drew a 3.5 in men 25-54.
• In Chicago, NBC-owned WMAQ-TV averaged a 25.1 household rating for game one, hitting a peak of 29.9/52 at 10:30 p.m., a 22.9/56 in adults 25-54, and a 19.4/55 in adults 18-49, during the first OT. The HH rating was up tremendously from the 16.8 game one earned in 2010, when the Blackhawks played the Flyers, but that game aired on low HUT-level Saturday night.
• Chicago was ranked second overall in household ratings in the nation’s 56 overnight metered markets, sandwiched between Boston’s WHDH (28.1) and nearby Providence’s WJAR (18.5). Buffalo’s WGRZ (8.5) and Milwaukee’s WTMJ (6.1) rounded out the top five.

The next two games of the Stanley Cup Final is on the NBC Sports Network both Saturday and Monday night. After that, the rest of the series airs on NBC.

Ratings info courtesy of Chicagoland Radio and Media, Sports Media Watch, and NBC Sports Group Box. And yes, that’s indeed the same headline yours truly used three years ago. 

The sale increased Gannett’s station count to 43; outside of network owned-and-operated stations, Gannett now has the fourth-largest ABC affiliate group, and the most CBS and NBC stations.

When the transaction closes, Gannett will own the largest ABC affiliate not owned by the network in market size with WFAA-TV in Dallas (DMA #5), in addition to the largest non-O&O CBS affiliate in market size, WUSA-TV in Washington D.C. (DMA #8).

Gannett also plans to “restructure” its ownership in five markets where there is overlap due to FCC rules. Former KTVK/Phoenix GM Jack Sander will run the new “sidecar company” where he will own stations in five markets while Gannett continues to provide things through joint or shared services agreements.

One of those markets is St. Louis, which serves much of southwestern Illinois. Since two of the market’s top-rated stations overlap (Belo’s KMOV and Gannett’s KSDK), Gannett is expected to transfer KMOV to the third-party company Sander plans to form. Belo bought KMOV from Viacom in 1997 (which in turn bought it from CBS in 1986); Gannett bought KSDK with its purchase of Multimedia, Inc. in 1995.

The mega-merger frenzy currently taking place in TV is reminiscent of the era shortly after the FCC legalized duopolies and what happened to radio at the dawn of the 21st century. Last week, Media General and Young announced a merger; and a few weeks ago, Sinclair announced its purchase of Fisher Communications, owners of KOMO in Seattle, KATU Portland, OR, and eighteen other stations, mainly in the Pacific Northwest. Sinclair and Nexstar Broadcasting have been buying up stations in smaller markets, particularly in downstate Illinois.

So why is this happening? Simple: Broadcasters need to increase their clout against cable MSOs (multiple system operators) and satellite providers to extract their fair share of retransmission revenue, i.e. receive money from the MSOs to retransmit their signal over their systems. Another is the major networks are demanding more revenue from their affiliates (i.e. “reverse compensation”.) Also, as viewers are increasingly time-shifting network programming on their DVRs – and watching on alternative platforms (Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, YouTube, etc.), local stations want more resources to beef up their local news operations, seeing what happened when Comcast merged with NBC and did just that (of course, it doesn’t mean an increase in quality.) Ratings for local news remain strong (particularly in Chicago) despite audience erosion elsewhere.

The consolidation wave is also giving the station groups more clout with syndicators, too. Large groups – especially in bigger markets – can make or break a show.

Meanwhile, media watchdog groups have criticized these deals because it would lead to lackluster local news coverage (that ship has already sailed) and less coverage of local community issues. And while not criticizing this particular deal directly, local ad agencies and media buyers are also expressing concern about media consolidation as this article from an Eugene, Ore. attests, since the new owners of a local station fired almost all the staff in a merger.

But Wall Street is cheering – Gannett stock hit a five-year high on Thursday based on the news and analysts praised the deal. Of course, these guys could care less about local communities being served.

All of this while the FCC and the Obama Administration have showed indifference to the matter, despite a campaign promise made in 2007 to look into media mergers.

So what station group is next? Keep in mind Local TV LLC and Allbritton are on the block. And others (Gray, Schurz, McKinnon, and even Chicago-based Weigel) could become targets.

Look for more of these deals to continue, where viewers, ad buyers, and those who work in the industry like it or not.

In a project announced late Friday, Telepictures productions, a unit of TimeWarner, announced a new daytime talk show featuring five young females of ethnic backgrounds in a format resembling The View and The Talk. Titled The Real, the series is getting a trial run on several Fox-owned stations with a tentative start date of July 8 – one week before Kris Jenner’s talk show trial run starts on the Fox O&Os (excluding Chicago. )

Members of the panel are: Tamera Mowery (of Sister, Sister fame where she co-starred with her twin sister Tia), Tamar Braxton (from WeTv’s Braxton Family Values, who is sister of Toni Braxton); Adrienne Brailon, who appeared in The Cheetah Girls; Jeanne Mai from Style’s How Do I Look? and comedian Loni Love.

So far, Fox has not nailed down the number of markets the show would air in or how long the project would run.

If one were to guess, look for the series to air its trial run in some of Fox’s urban markets with large African-American populations (i.e. Detroit, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Memphis), in addition to New York and Los Angeles. Chicago is typically not used for test-runs of syndicated programming.

Last summer, Telepictures used Bethenny Frankel as a test run in some Fox-owned markets and was a success. The show debuts in syndication this fall.

UPDATED: Fox announced Wednesday (6/12) the markets The Real would be tested for four weeks: New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., and Houston. Two more markets were picked, but it wasn’t those with large African-American audiences such as Detroit, Atlanta, and Memphis – Phoenix and Tampa-St. Petersburg were selected  instead.

As expected, Chicago was not selected. The Real begins its test run on the same day (July 15) as Kris Jenner’s trial run in some of the same markets.

While the Blackhawks are grabbing the Windy City’s attention, the same cannot be said for the sorry Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox. Ratings for both Major League Baseball teams are in the toilet, as is their records. According to an article from Danny Eckerd in Crain’s, the Cubs are averging a 1.7 household rating this season on CSN Chicago, down 15 percent from last year (though among adults 25-54, ratings are up 31 percent.) The White Sox are faring worse, averaging a 1.3 HH rating, down 24 percent from last year. Both teams are in last place in their respective divisions. WGN-TV, who carries over-the-air and superstation airings of both teams, refused to release their ratings to Crain’s (translation: the numbers are probably even worse.)

The public’s apathy for both teams – and baseball in general – were on display in the comments section. But since both teams are total jokes on the field, the above photo is pretty much an accurate description of Chicago baseball in 2013. At this point, even Charlie Brown’s team can beat the Cubs and White Sox!

- When rebranding goes wrong: a plan by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation to rebrand Radio-Canada blew up in its face last week when it renamed the French broadcaster “Ici”, meaning “here” in French. “We want to remake Radio-Canada because more than ever it must be a living space, an open organization, flexible, and agile”, CBC executive vice-president of French services Louis Lalande told the Canadian Press. As for the meaning? “Ici is rooted in our history and in people’s memories, and is true to the personality of the public broadcaster. This term fits naturally with the platforms and reflects on the scope of the services we have to offer,” said CBC execs in a statement.

But the move angered francophone residents, since Radio-Canada (often referred to as SRC) had been a name most have associated the CBC’s french-language radio and TV services for generations.

The move also angered politicians, since CBC is a publicly funded broadcaster – accusing them of spending $400,000 on an unnecessary rebranding campaign as the CBC undergoes budget cuts, as Steve Faguy of the Montreal Gazette put it. Worse, the branding would take “Canada” out of the name, and to top it all off, the CBC is suing a start-up Montreal broadcaster, ordering it to cease using the “Ici” name – despite registering the name first.

Now the plan has been slightly scaled back, as CBC president Hubert Lacroix said the branding would be a mix of both names, as the broadcast TV network would be branded Ici Radio-CanadaTèlè and the radio network Ici Radio-Canada Première. CBC also apologized to viewers for the confusion. Ici Radio-CanadaTèlè trails archrival French-language private broadcaster TVA in the ratings in Quebec, though the once-wide gap between the two have noticeably narrowed in recent years.

But blowing away public money on a botched rebranding campaign that’s still going forward? Needless to say, Le cul de quelqu’un à la SRC devrait être mis en conserve. (Somebody’s ass at the CBC needs to be canned.)

- Guess who’s coming back to run Community… none other than Dan Harmon, who was ousted from the show in the late hours of May 17, 2012. Sony made it official Monday, meaning the Milwaukee native will return to the showrunner role for the fifth season, no doubt to the delight of Community fans everywhere. Harmon mentioned he was returning to the show last week on Twitter. For the second straight season, Community has been renewed for only thirteen episodes – those will air on NBC sometime next season. Community enters off-network syndication this fall with a total of eighty episodes.

- I guess you can say they’re rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic: Katie is about
to have its third exec producer since began: ABC has brought on Rachel Miskowiec as
the new EP for the struggling daytime talk show replacing Michael Morrison, who left
to join Jeff Zucker at CNN. Zucker was EP of Katie until January, when he left to run
CNN. In fact, don’t be surprised if Ms. Couric herself winds up at CNN when her
contract to her talk show ends next year, as speculation surfaced this weekend. Three
other staff members have departed the show since Morrison announced his departure.
Whatever personnel moves taking place is nothing but resume-padding at this
point, as Katie is unlikely to last beyond September 2014.

New retro TV/lifestyle diginet Cozi has picked up several new markets, airing on the
digital subchannels of WMFP/Boston, KUBE/Houston, and KSHB/Kansas City. With the NBC-owned stations on board and other broadcasters such as WTHR in Indianapolis, the
clearence rate for Cozi now stands at 42 percent, though still far behind rivals MeTV and
Antenna TV.

- For those who can’t get to TV set (or don’t have cable for games two and three), WGN-
AM (720) is airing all Stanley Cup Final games between the Chicago Blackhawks and
Boston Bruins, pushing any conflicting Cubs telecasts to WLUP-FM (97.9), according to
CRM. John Wiedeman and Troy Murray will have the call.

It’s the Chicago Blackhawks, who are looking to win their second championship in the last four years. They’ll face another “Original Six” foe in the Boston Bruins, who are looking for their second Stanley Cup in three years.

Both teams face off Wednesday, with game one scheduled here in Chicago at 7 p.m. NBC has rights to games one, and four through seven, while NBC Sports Network (NBC SN) has rights to games two and three. In Canada, all games are airing on CBC and Rèseau de Sports (RDS), the French-language equivalent of TSN in Quebec.

The series is expected to be a ratings bonanza for NBC, whose parent (Comcast) has benefited from the Hawks all season, thanks to their record winning start to the season with record ratings for Comcast SportsNet and NBC SN.

Saturday night’s Western Conference Final game five between the Blackhawks and the defending champion Los Angeles Kings (where the Hawks won in an OT thriller, sending them to the Cup Final) drew locally a 19.6 rating/37 share in households, translating to nearly 700,000 homes tuning in. Nationally, the game drew a 2.9 overnight rating for NBC, and a 1.1 preliminary rating among adults 18-49 (this measurement did not cover overtime; final ratings won’t be released until Tuesday.)

In Los Angeles, the game only did a 3.8 overnight household rating.

But despite the good ratings news, it seems both the game of hockey and Chicago in particular have a long way to go in obtaining respect from the biased national press. Early Sunday morning, ESPN sports business guru Darren Rovell – who used to work for CNBC (whose parent company also owns rival NBC SN), send out a tweet stating 4 out of 5 people in the Chicagoland area did not watch the Blackhawks on TV [Saturday] night.

In the world of measuring who watches television or listening to radio, anyone with a brain can tell you this is NOT how ratings are interpreted. You measure how many people are watching or listening to a program – not how many are NOT watching or listening. His logic would’ve worked in an era of only three TV stations, but certainly not applicable in today’s era of media fragmentation.

Since The Worldwide Leader In BS is biased against Chicago teams and hockey so much (take a look at how far ESPN 1000 is behind WSCR/The Score in the sports radio ratings race), this doesn’t come as a surprise. Since Rovell loves spinning things so much, maybe he should work for Fox. Maybe he can tweet if The Cleveland Show is still not “not canceled”.

Darren Rovell. He reports. You decide.

Another report has surfaced over the increasingly iffy future of Katie Couric’s daytime talk show, which airs in predominantly early fringe time slots on most ABC affiliates. Fox News is reporting that ABC Syndication is looking for a replacement when Couric’s talk show contract comes up in 2014.

Last week, Broadcasting & Cable reported several names were being floated to replace Couric, including Good Morning America co-anchor Robin Roberts.

The assessment of Katie’s future from industry execs have been indeed harsh. One studio exec told Fox News this: “It’s an unmitigated disaster -one of the biggest failures ever in syndication. Terrible ratings, no growth, shouldn’t be on the air. Where did it miss the mark? Let’s start with her, she is dreadfully boring. The show offers nothing new to the audience, nothing to say.”

Ouch. This would put Katie in the same league as Thicke of the Night, America, and USA Today on TV: three big-budget syndicated bombs from the ’80′s (and residents of The T Dog Media TV Hall Of Shame, where Katie will soon be a member.) In recent years, Katie would be comparable to Dr. Laura (2000-01) and The Jane Pauley Show (2004-05).

While the Fox News article notes that Katie had been renewed for a second season in 95 percent of the country, keep in mind Katie was originally sold to stations in two-year deals, which expire in September 2014. Approximately two years ago, yours truly called Couric’s talk show deal one of the worst in history, made through vertical integration and the most ambitious one yet in the post-financial interest and syndication rules era. I said this about Couric’s hire in 2011: “No point investing in fresh new talent when you can grab today’s has-beens, thrust them in front of and behind the camera, and call this bullshit a success with a 1.0 rating.”

Well, I was only off by .6 of a ratings point.

During the May 2013 sweeps, Katie earned a 1.6 rating/5 share in households, down 30 percent from last year’s time periods. Airing at 3 p.m. in Chicago on WLS-TV, Katie has drawn lower ratings than Inside Edition and Jeopardy, two shows who were in those time slots for more than two decades.

Perhaps Katie’s questionable future is one of the reasons why WLS has yet to make a decision on where to place local talk show Windy City Live next season, which currently airs at 9 a.m. During the May sweeps, WCL drew a 3.1/11 in households, easily winning its timeslot, obviously higher than what Katie had been earning at 3 p.m.

In September, ABC Syndication’s Live With Kelly & Michael moves into the 9 a.m. time slot from WGN-TV, which means WCL would have to move – either to 11 a.m., replacing a midday newscast – or to 3 p.m. replacing Katie, which would regulate it to midnight (a same-day repeat currently runs at 1:06 a.m.) With Katie entering what looks to be more and more like a lame-duck second season, this scenario isn’t too far fetched.

Given this, yours truly is repeating what he said last week – look for the curtain to come down on Katie after next season. It’s pretty much a given at this point. But no matter what happens with her show, Couric is expected to stay with ABC through the end of her contract.

For a change, let’s talk about the best TV has to offer – that’s right, the best.

On Sunday, the Writers Guild of America (West), released a list of the 101 best written television shows of all time during a special event in Los Angeles, featuring many well-known producers and writers, including James L. Brooks, Carl Reiner, Norman Lear, and Steven Bochco, along with new school writers Ronald Moore (Star Trek: The Next Generation, Battlestar Galactica), Matthew Weiner (Mad Men), and Chicago native Steven Levitan (Modern Family).

When one of these “best” or “worst” lists come out, it usually features shows from the past 25 years or so, put together by some Gen-Y pop culture “expert” who basically looked up these shows in a few books and slapped something together. You know something is wrong when you come across these inferior pieces (usually found on some obscure website) and lists The Cleveland Show or Heroes as the best show of all time. But what makes this list different is it comes directly from those who manufacture the sausage: WGA members with decades of experience and behind many of these shows.

The WGA honored both old school shows and new classics. While the bulk of the list contains scripted sitcoms and dramas, non-traditional programs were also well represented: both The Daily Show (#17) and Colbert Report (tie, #50th) each made the list, as did Sesame Street (#56). Great Britain was also well-repped, with classic series (Faulty Towers, tie #58, Monty Python, tie #79, Upstairs Downstairs, also a tie at #79) and newer favorites (Downton Abbey, tie #43, The Office, tie #50)

The list also yield a few surprises: Mad Men ranking high as it did (#7); South Park ranking rather low (#63); The Simpsons failing to make the top ten (#11); and Family Guy, Sanford and Son, and Ally McBeal missing the cut.

Of course, you can’t please everybody: one columnist from Deadline decried the lack of 1950′s and 1960′s shows (hopefully, he didn’t mean The Beverly Hillbillies and Gilligan’s Island). Personally speaking, yours truly thought The Odd Couple ranked too low (#76), while Roc, Maude, and Leave It To Beaver were left off altogether and The Good Wife (tie, #50) never should have been on the list to begin with. And there many shows I couldn’t care less about but deserve their props (i.e. Friends, #24 and The Sopranos, #1.)

While not perfect (these lists never are), the WGA’s list should be used as a good measuring stick on how the best shows in television history stack up.

Highlights of The WGA’s 101 Best Written TV Shows:

Top drama: The Sopranos (#1)
Top sitcom: Seinfeld (#2)
Top program currently on the air: Mad Men (#7)
Top animated program: The Simpsons (#11)
Top late-night program: The Daily Show (#17)
Top 1970′s series: All in the Family (#4)
Top 1980′s series: Cheers (#8)
Top 1990′s series: Seinfeld (#2)
Top 2000′s series: The Sopranos (#1)

To download or read the entire list, click here.

Also: Jim Laski ends radio comeback

Monday was an active day in Chicago radio as two big personnel moves took place.

Hubbard Broadcasting’s WILV-FM (aka Rewind 100.3) hired Marty Bender as the station’s new program director (PD), effective soon. Bender ran WFBQ (Q95) in Indianapolis for over two decades and also oversaw “The Bob And Tom Show”, a station staple which now airs in over 50 markets nationwide. Bender also oversaw the launch of  WLFM (87.7) in Cleveland, which runs an Adult Alternative format, similar to WXRT’s. The 87.7 FM frequency in Chicago was home to the WLFM call letters before the station was taken over by Merlin Media and renamed WKQX.

Bender replaces longtime PD Barry James, who retired last month after twenty years with Hubbard/Bonneville.

After years of numerous format and call letter changes, WILV has stabilized with its current Adult Contemporary format, which features music from the 1980′s, 1990′s, and today.

Later in the day, Tribune’s WGN Radio made a personnel move of its own – with the departure of PD Bill White after just 30 months.

The announcement came on the same day Jimmy de Castro took the reigns as general manager of WGN-AM.

While no decision has been made on his replacement, speculation has centered on current WSCR-AM PD Mitch Rosen to succeed White.

During his tenure at WGN Radio, White never could get the station back on track after the disaster known as the Randy Michaels-Kevin Metheny era. WGN-AM typically finished outside the top 20 overall in the key adult 25-54 demo.

- And speaking of the Court Jester-Pig Virus era, former WGN evening host Jim Laski’s attempt at a talk radio comeback has come to an end. According to an item in CRM, the disgraced politician and convicted felon pulled the plug on his WCPT-AM Saturday afternoon show after just four weeks because of a lack of advertiser support (imagine what the ratings were like.) Laski’s show was time-brokered, meaning he had to pay WCPT for airtime.

If Laski thought he would get sponsors after his disastrous performance at WGN (and not to mention his status as a convicted felon) he’s clearly delusional. But if it’s a job he’s looking for, I hear American Idol is hiring judges. After all, they possibly can’t do any worse than the bunch they brought aboard last year.

Updated 12:21 p.m. on 2012-06-04 (misidentified WLFM’s format)

-

The Sun-Times did retain three photographers, according to CRM.

The Chicago Newspaper Guild plans to fight Wrapports on this decision, one of many that has infuriated the union since Michael Ferro & Co. took over the Sun-Times.

The news made national headlines (there’s those words involving Chicago again) as the Sun-Times’ decision was mentioned in USA Today, on CBS News and ABC News’ websites, and quite frequently on social media. With this move, you have to question the Sun-Times’ commitment to hard-hitting journalism in a city drowning in a sea of problems.  After all, the continued employment of Jenny McCarthy at the paper makes you wonder…

- The Chicago Blackhawks’ playoff run continue to rack up ratings for NBC and NBC Sports Network: Game seven of the team’s epic playoff series against the Detroit Red Wings drew 3.35 million viewers nationally – peaking at 4.6 million during OT, the highest rating ever for the network once  known as OLN and Versus. In Chicago, the game scored a 17.2 household rating – the highest ever for anything on NBC SN, peaking at a 21 rating in overtime (around 10:00 p.m.) In Detroit, the game drew a 15.0 rating, but those numbers do not include those who tuned in to CBC’s coverage over CBET in nearby Windsor, Ont.

With the Hawks’ thrilling overtime victory in Game 7, the team advanced to the Western Conference Finals against the defending Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings, which began Saturday.

- More local ratings news: according to a tweet SitcomsOnline.com posted Friday, Rookie Blue is a hit in Chicago – the CTV cop drama from Canada drew a 2.6 adults 18-49 Thursday night over ABC-owned WLS-TV, well above the national average of 1.2. Blue’s numbers were up a whopping 117 percent from the previous week, when the show was up against a Hawks-Wings playoff game.

- Is Katie on the chopping block? An article on Broadcasting & Cable’s website Friday suggested if Ms. Couric’s ratings don’t improve, her syndicated show could get replaced by one featuring Good Morning America co-anchor Robin Roberts, as hers is one of many names being floated around if ABC doesn’t renew Katie past 2014 (Roberts denied any discussions on the matter has taken place and remains committed to GMA.) Many station executives are not happy with Katie’s ratings performance, which airs at 3 p.m. on WLS and other ABC-owned stations, and on most ABC affiliates. During one week in May 2013, Katie underperformed her time period rating and share from a year ago.

In October 2012, Katie was ranked #1 locally, but was down significantly from what Inside Edition and Jeopardy earned in October 2011. While Katie hasn’t had a negligible affect on WLS’ dominant newscasts, the same cannot be said of other stations carrying the show. As for Katie, it seems more like an Oprah clone than anything else – with Couric’s awful talk-hosting skills the only difference. While Ellen DeGeneres has fun with her show (and the ratings prove it), Couric just sucks the life out of hers.

If ratings for Katie drop in her second season, look for her to be replaced in September 2014.

- Either leave or be fired: Mariah Carey and Nicki Manaj are out as judges on American Idol as both resigned from the show Thursday. But you knew that already, right?