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Cubs, Sox Still Grab Ears On The Air

Rickhouse — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 22:00:00 +0000

The Cubs’ radio team of Ron Santo (left) and Pat Hughes (right) pulls in a healthy audience (image via ) Obviously it’s far too early in the season to discuss who will reign victorious in the yearly battle between Your Favorite North Side Team and Your Favorite South Side Team (as the advertisers have to call them). But, thanks to Arbitron, it’s obvious who’s going to win one of the most important races of all: the battle for radio revenues. The Cubs handily defeat the White Sox when it comes to ears on the games, according to a new report from radio ratings mavens Arbitron released earlier this week . Across the big leagues, the Yankees reign supreme when it comes to its games being broadcast over WCBS with over 400k listeners per game. And the nation’s largest media market also owns the #3 spot with the Mets gathering 227,000. Right behind the Yanks at #2 is the Cubs, who garner an average of 227,100 listeners (just edging out the Mets) per WGN broadcast. The Sox have a spot in the top ten, with just over half the listeners that the Cubs grab. On average, just over 122,000 people tune into hear the Southsiders play on WSCR, which puts them at #9 across the nation. Who really dominates their market, though? That would be the legions of downstate Cardinals fans, who grab a whopping 20.0 share in St. Louis. For comparison, the aforementioned Cubs games, whose dominant broadcasts were a major point in the Ricketts acquisition of the team, only grab a (still respectable) 9.9. Consolation: When it comes to football, the Bears brutalize everyone else nationwide , with 626,000 listeners per game on WBBM, and football isn’t even any good on the radio. As for the quality of the broadcasts themselves, well, we’ll let you hash out the Farmer/DJ vs. Pat/Ron argument yourselves. [h/t to Chicagolandradioandmedia.com ]

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Cubs, Sox Still Grab Ears On The Air

Good Read: Sex Trafficking In Chicago

Rickhouse — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 20:00:00 +0000

Gapers Block has recently an excellent series of features funded by a grant from the Community News Matters fund. The latest is a story on sex trafficking in the city , along with accounts of girls who have been entered in to prostitution at ages as young as 14. It’s a heavy read, but a compelling one.

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Good Read: Sex Trafficking In Chicago

Monday Diversion

Rickhouse — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 21:00:00 +0000

Four years ago, professional wrestler Simon Diamond learned the hard way you don’t mess with the White Sox. In honor of today’s home opener and Ozzie’s insistence he wants his team to be hated , we revisit that fun moment.

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Monday Diversion

Big Day For Obama, Still Represents For The Sox

The Huffington Post News Team — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 20:30:00 +0000

Be it rolling Easter eggs, holding a summit with the Easter Bunny, or throwing out the first pitch of the baseball season, it’s been a busy day for the POTUS. Though Benjy didn’t get his wish: Obama kept to Washington Nationals gear for his baseball appearance… or did he ? That’s right, Obama still represented the South Side with a Sox hat on the mound in DC.

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Big Day For Obama, Still Represents For The Sox

Monday Evening Diversion: Kids Reenact Scarface

The Huffington Post News Team — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 23:10:00 +0000

Because it’s Monday: kids reenacting Scarface as a school play. We don’t care if it’s real or not. Thanks, Dan!

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Monday Evening Diversion: Kids Reenact Scarface

Today’s Weather: Princely

admin — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 14:30:00 +0000

Photo by lauren*o Dawn’s broken a bit cloudy, but the sun will come out and we’ll have a pleasant, sunny, seasonable March day. Highs will reach the upper 40s and into the 50s in some spots but lake breezes may keep it feeling a bit cooler. Still, that sun is going to feel nice today. But all eyes in our office are on later this week when we’ll not only see temps crack 70 degrees, but well into the mid-70s. In fact, Skilling says we could see 80 on Thursday to open up April (no fooling). Huzzah! Spring is here.

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Today’s Weather: Princely

New Hope for Bronzeville

Rickhouse — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 20:00:00 +0000

Photo by Josh Mogerman /Chicagoist The late January fire that crisped up the 47th Street Marketplace was a shot in the gut for Bronzeville residents. For many, the building at 47th and Martin Luther King Drive had come to symbolize the slow rebirth of Chicago’s oldest and most prominent black neighborhood. The blaze was not only a symbolic hit, but it also robbed the area of its only upscale restaurant in Blu 47, a burgeoning art gallery, and the oddly oft-closed Spoken Word Café (not to mention a double hit to Jamaicans with the loss of that country’s consulate and the prospect of another Uncle Joe’s Jerk Chicken restaurant that was due to open soon after the fire). Though the building remains boarded up and looks untouched from the street, there is hope of a quick return for many of the businesses inside. According to building owners East Lake Management, repair work has been progressing quickly outside of public view. The roof, which was destroyed in the fire, has been repaired. Flooring and interior design efforts have also been moving quickly. Tenants are expected back in three-to-four months and Joe’s should be up and running before the end of the summer. A recent Tribune article detailed nervous reactions from nearby residents concerned about the slowdown of neighborhood redevelopment, which had been moving at a steady clip until the housing collapse. For Bronzeville residents stepping off the 47th Street L platform, it will surely be a relief to see one of the area’s iconic developments bustling once again. Hopefully the rest of the area can follow. Post by: Josh Mogerman

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New Hope for Bronzeville

White House Party Crashers Make TV Show After All

The Huffington Post News Team — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 20:00:00 +0000

Official White House photo by Samanth Appleton Remember the Salahis, the infamous alleged White House party crashers? The couple had been finalists for a D.C.-based edition of Bravo’s love letter to why the terrorist hate us, the “Real Housewives of…” series and many saw their gate-crashing at a White House state dinner in November as a publicity stunt, something the Salahis denied . Today, The Daily Beast reports that the Salahis wound up landing that tv gig and have already taped 12 episodes. After the state dinner incident, the White House grilled the Secret Service over the lapse in security and held hearings on the matter . And while White House officials denied the gate-crashing incident had anything to do with Desirée Rogers stepping down as the White House Social Secretary , Rogers was still heavily criticized for the incident and speculation remains as to how large a role it really did play in her leaving. [ via ]

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White House Party Crashers Make TV Show After All

Same Hill, Different Day

The Huffington Post News Team — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 16:40:00 +0000

Today’s windy weather has us thinking of kites and the tumultuous change of seasons. As if by fate, this showed up in our inbox: a photo project by local photographer Paul Octavious called, ” Same Hill, Different Day ,” a beautiful collection of photos taken over the span of two years at Cricket Hill by Montrose Harbor. [ via , h/t Anthonia]

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Same Hill, Different Day

Google Helping Track Census Responses

Rickhouse — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 20:40:00 +0000

The U.S. Census Bureau is making a big push for folks to fill out those Census forms sent out recently. Ads with celebrities, multiple mentions during the television broadcasts of the NCAA basketball tournament, etc. Anything they can do to boost the 72 percent participation rate of the 2000 Census. Now they’ve enlisted the help of Google to produce interactive maps that help keep track of participation rates. Overall, national participation is currently at 16 percent with Montana being the highest participating state so far at 33 percent. Where do both our city and state come in? So far, Illinois holds a 21 percent participation rate while the city of Chicago’s participation rate is low at 12 percent. Using the map tool, users can zoom in even further to get detailed neighborhood participation information.

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Google Helping Track Census Responses