{"id":2084,"date":"2014-01-16T21:00:03","date_gmt":"2014-01-17T03:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.robertfeder.com\/?p=2084"},"modified":"2014-01-16T21:02:45","modified_gmt":"2014-01-17T03:02:45","slug":"inside-chicago-radios-cash-register","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/2014\/01\/16\/inside-chicago-radios-cash-register\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside Chicago radio\u2019s cash register"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Cash<\/a><\/a>In another year of declining revenue for Chicago radio, CBS Radio\u2019s all-news simulcast of WBBM AM 780 and WCFS FM 105.9 retained its crown as Chicago\u2019s top-billing station.<\/p>\n

Though down more than 8 percent from last year, the Newsradio combo produced $41.9 million in advertising income \u2014 leading the way for CBS Radio, which had four of the top seven revenue-generating stations in the market.<\/p>\n

Overall Chicago radio revenue dropped about 2.5 percent from $430,911,000 in 2012 to $419,715,000 in 2013, according to figures compiled by the accounting firm of Miller, Kaplan, Arase & Co. (based on revenue reports submitted by station groups). The only year-to-year growth was in digital advertising \u2014 up 10 percent to $28,175,000 in 2013.<\/p>\n

\"Rod<\/a>

Rod Zimmerman<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cRadio continues to grow and radio continues to be an effective, results-driven marketing tool for many companies,\u201d Rod Zimmerman, senior vice president and market manager of CBS Radio Chicago, told me in an email Thursday.\u00a0\u201cAt CBS Radio we pride ourselves in getting a great return on investment for our advertisers with our multi-dimensional platforms. \u00a0When you do that, the revenue follows.\u201d<\/p>\n

Among the market\u2019s biggest winners was WTMX FM 101.9, which substantially narrowed the gap for second place behind WBBM\/WCFS. The Hubbard Radio modern adult-contemporary station boosted its revenue 10 percent to $37.4 million.<\/p>\n

\"Jerry<\/a>

Jerry Schnacke<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cWe work really hard to deliver brands that resonate with listeners and ultimately deliver great results for our advertisers,\u201d said Jerry Schnacke, vice president and market manager of Hubbard Radio Chicago. \u201cThe increased advertising investment with Hubbard Chicago is gratifying.\u201d<\/p>\n

Again finishing third overall, Tribune Broadcasting news\/talk WGN AM 720 declined 3 percent to $29.2 million. The station spent most of the year rebuilding its programming and image under new president and general manager Jimmy deCastro.<\/p>\n

Among the year\u2019s biggest losers were the two Cumulus Media stations, with news\/talk WLS AM 890 dropping 12 percent to $13.0 million and classic hits WLS FM 94.7 dropping 25 percent to $7.9 million. The company just doubled down<\/a> on its investment in Chicago with the takeover of classic rock WLUP FM 97.9 and modern rock WIQI FM 101.1.<\/p>\n

Figures for regional Mexican WLEY FM 107.9 are estimates, according to Miller Kaplan, since owner Spanish Broadcasting System did not submit reports. Midway Broadcasting urban news\/talk WVON AM 1690 also did not participate, according to Miller Kaplan.<\/p>\n

Here is a ranking of Chicago radio stations based on total revenue for 2013 (with 2012 revenue figures in parentheses):<\/em><\/p>\n

WBBM\/WCFS<\/strong> CBS $41,969,000<\/strong> ($45,725,000)<\/p>\n

WTMX<\/strong> Hubbard $37,459,000<\/strong> ($34,053,000)<\/p>\n

WGN<\/strong> Tribune\u00a0$29,212,000<\/strong> ($30,176,000)<\/p>\n

WBBM-FM<\/strong> CBS $25,269,000<\/strong> ($25,830,000)<\/p>\n

WSCR<\/strong> CBS\u00a0$24,823,000<\/strong> ($22,900,000)<\/p>\n

WKSC<\/strong> Clear Channel $23,275,000<\/strong> ($21,114,000)<\/p>\n

WUSN<\/strong> CBS $23,188,000<\/strong> ($23,078,000)<\/p>\n

WVAZ<\/strong> Clear Channel $22,030,000<\/strong> ($20,827,000)<\/p>\n

WOJO<\/strong> Univision $21,220,000<\/strong> ($21,050,000)<\/p>\n

WGCI<\/strong> Clear Channel\u00a0$18,965,000<\/strong> ($18,144,000)<\/p>\n

WDRV<\/strong> Hubbard\u00a0$17,541,000<\/strong> ($21,011,000)<\/p>\n

WXRT<\/strong> CBS $16,566,000<\/strong> ($18,406,000)<\/p>\n

WMVP<\/strong> Disney $13,435,000<\/strong> ($14,917,000)<\/p>\n

WLS-AM<\/strong> Cumulus $13,095,000<\/strong> ($14,963,000)<\/p>\n

WLIT<\/strong> Clear Channel $12,923,000<\/strong> ($17,377,000)<\/p>\n

WILV<\/strong> Hubbard $10,455,000<\/strong> ($10,156,000)<\/p>\n

WNUA-FM<\/strong> Clear Channel\u00a0$9,162,000<\/strong> ($6,948,000)<\/p>\n

WLUP<\/strong> Merlin $8,950,000<\/strong> ($10,591,000)<\/p>\n

WLEY<\/strong> SBS $8,306,000<\/strong> ($10,323,000)<\/p>\n

WJMK<\/strong> CBS $8,040,000<\/strong> ($7,753,000)<\/p>\n

WLS-FM<\/strong> Cumulus\u00a0$7,900,00<\/strong>0 ($10,571,000)<\/p>\n

WPPN<\/strong> Univision $6,956,000<\/strong> ($6,232,000)<\/p>\n

WKQX<\/strong> Merlin $5,527,000<\/strong> ($2,283,000)<\/p>\n

WIND<\/strong> Salem\u00a0$3,629,000<\/strong> ($4,237,000)<\/p>\n

WVIV\/WVIX<\/strong> Univision $3,145,000<\/strong> ($3,564,000)<\/p>\n

WGRB<\/strong> Clear Channel $2,690,000<\/strong> ($3,227,000)<\/p>\n

WIQI<\/strong> Merlin $2,455,000<\/strong> ($1,013,000)<\/p>\n

WRTO<\/strong> Univision $929,000<\/strong> ($1,646,000)<\/p>\n

WNUA-HD2<\/strong> Clear Channel $601,000<\/strong> (no figure available)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In another year of declining revenue for Chicago radio, CBS Radio\u2019s all-news simulcast of WBBM AM 780 and WCFS FM 105.9 retained its crown as Chicago\u2019s top-billing station. Though down more than 8 percent from last year, the Newsradio combo produced $41.9 million in advertising income \u2014 leading the way for CBS Radio, which had... Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2084"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2084"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2084\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2092,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2084\/revisions\/2092"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2084"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2084"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2084"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}