Kevin Martin, the chairman of the FCC, this week has proposed easing a 35-year-old rule that has prohibited newspapers in large markets from owning broadcast stations.

The proposal, which is expected to come up for a vote on December 18, would allow newspapers in the top 20 media markets to buy one television or radio station, provided that the station is not one of the four most-watched stations in the market.

The cross-ownership ban went into effect in 1972, …

The Chicago Blackhawks’ first home telecast failed to attract much of an audience, but Comcast SportsNet President Jim Corino isn’t concerned:

“This is a marathon, not a sprint,” Corno said. “For the first game, I was pleased we had all the pieces in place. Would we have liked to have seen more of a rating? Yes. But it was double our average. It’s a start.”

The game on CSN did a 0.8 rating, which was beneath the stated expectations …

There’s a very interesting article in the NY Times that details some of the growing concern around the effect PPMs will have on listenership to stations that target black and Hispanic listeners:

The results of the so-called personal people meter in New York followed
the pattern set by two earlier tests, in Houston and Philadelphia, in
which stations appealing to minorities also fell.

The article deals mainly with the effect this trend will have on those stations who will be …

Former CBS head honcho and current boss at Sirius Satellite Radio Mel Karmazin was in town last week. If you haven’t kept up with Mel recently, his current role has him pitching the virtues of satellite radio to anyone who will listen. Our fair city provided a fitting backdrop for him last week, as he assessed the fall out from the recent format changes at WCKG-FM and WJMK-FM:

“WCKG … we made a boatload of money, and it is

…

On the Monday after Thanksgiving, Newsweb’s progressive talker WCPT-AM 850 will slide down the dial to 820AM, giving the station a boost in power and better coverage throughout Chicagoland:

“With the 2008 elections approaching, we’re thrilled to give progressive talk radio an even stronger voice in Chicago,” said Harvey Wells, Newsweb Radio group station manager.

At 850AM, WCPT has operated at 2500 watts with a directional array out of Crystal Lake, which has meant that large portions of the …

It was a noble effort on the part of Emmis Communications’ Q101. Their attempt to replace Mancow with a local, ensemble comedy morning show never really got off the ground. After 14 months, Q101′s “The Morning Fix” has been pulled.

When the show launched in later 2006, most people felt like the show was a great of example of radio being done by improv actors. Some of the bits were incredibly witty and sharp, but the whole show lacked the …

Former ESPN talker Dan Patrick will be arriving on Chicago’s WSCR-AM 670 “The Score” starting next week. The show will air from 10pm-1am on a tape delayed basis.

Patrick had been a part of ESPN for 18 years before leaving the company earlier this year. He joined the Chicago-based Content Factory, led by Jimmy deCastro.…

We’re working on an in-depth piece for the site about Portable People Meters in the next few days, but in the meantime, the Trib’s Phil Rosenthal writes about the possible role of TV in the impending PPM Era:

But how smart would it be for a radio station to get extra exposure for its top personalities by providing a TV outlet a live video feed of its programs for the digital subchannels?

It’s one of many ideas that GMs and …