Big, But Not Diverse
Chicago is the nation’s third largest media market with about seven million people in the metropolitan area. But despite being a large market, Chicago is dominated by a handful of media companies. Past the Tribune, Chicago media outlets are mainly owned by other large conglomerates like News Corp, GE, CBS, Clear Channel and Bonneville International.
The number of women and minorities that own broadcast radio and television stations in Chicago is dismal. Recent reports from Free Press entitled Off the Dial(1) and Out of the Picture(2) provide a nationwide analysis of minority and female ownership of full-power commercial broadcast radio stations and broadcast television stations operating in the United States. Free Press has further analyzed that data for the Chicago market to find:
- "Racial and ethnic minorities are 41 percent of the population in the Chicago TV market; 42 percent of population in the Chicago radio market; and nearly two-thirds of the population in the city of Chicago. However, racial and ethnic minorities own only 5 percent of Chicago’s full-power commercial radio and television stations."
- "Chicago has one of the lowest levels of minority ownership among markets of its size and diversity. Among the nation’s 22 largest radio markets, Chicago has the lowest level of minority ownership. Among the 10 largest radio markets, Chicago is the only market with single digit levels of minority ownership."
- "Women own just 6 percent of Chicago’s full-power commercial radio and television stations, despite comprising over half the population."
VIII. Chicago Television Station Ownership
The Television Bureau of Advertising estimates that there are over 3,455,000 TV households in the Chicago metropolitan area representing approximately 3% of the total TV households in the US. Nearly 85% of the households receive TV signals via a pay service; approximately 61% subscribe to cable TV service. Comcast is the major cable provider in the area. Chicago is the 2nd largest African-American/Black TV market in the country, the 5th largest Hispanic TV market and the 5th largest Asian TV market.
Chicago commercial television station ownership includes CBS, NBC/Universal (both the local NBC affiliate and Spanish-language WSNS), ABC/Disney, the Tribune Company, the Weigel Broadcasting Company, News Corp (both the FOX affiliate and WPWR), Ion, Univision (two stations), and Jovon Broadcasting. Minority-owned Jovon is headquartered in Tinley Park (IL), while Weigel and Tribune are based in Chicago.
IX. Chicago Radio Station Ownership
Arbitron Radio Ratings tracks 12 AM and 31 FM commercial radio stations in the Chicago market. Chicago is the nation’s 2nd largest African-American/Black radio market and 4th largest Hispanic radio market.
The Center for Public Integrity reports that CBS owns seven radio stations that reach the Chicago market, Clear Channel six, Disney and Univision 4 and Polnet Communications three. Tribune’s WGN is the most-listened to radio station, followed by Clear Channel’s WGCI, CBS’ WBBM, Clear Channel’s WNUA, CBS’ WUSN, and Clear Channel’s WVAZ. WVON is still controlled by Midway Broadcasting, but now uses a frequency licensed to Clear Channel.
X. Chicago Newspaper Ownership
There are 12 daily newspapers in the Chicago market owned by just five companies.(4) The city of Chicago is one of the few local markets in the country with two major daily newspapers. The dominant player, again, is the Tribune Company’s Chicago Tribune. The combined daily circulation of the second-largest (Chicago Sun-Times) and third-largest (Arlington Heights/Daily Herald) area newspapers are less than the Chicago Tribune’s. The Chicago Tribune has a daily circulation over 565,000 and a Sunday circulation approaching 1 million copies. Tribune also owns Hoy, the area’s largest Spanish-language daily newspaper, and RedEye, a free daily targeting Chicago’s 18-34 year-old population. Tribune recently announced plans to more aggressively expand circulation of Hoy in Chicagoland suburbs where 52% of Chicago-area Hispanics now live.(5)
As of 2006, the Chicago Sun-Times had a daily circulation over 368,000. It is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city and is owned by the Chicago-based Sun-Times Media Group (formally Hollinger International). The company also owns various suburban and neighborhood newspapers in the Chicago area, including the Post-Tribune of Northwest Indiana, the Pioneer Press group, the Daily Southtown, the Beacon News-Sun Publications group in the Aurora-Naperville area, The Star (Tinley Park), The Herald News (Joliet) and the Lake County News Sun. The Sun Times recently announced a distribution agreement with its archrival the Tribune in the Chicago suburbs. This move has some financial analysts asking "Why do we need two newspapers in Chicago?" and proposing a Tribune purchase of the Sun Times.
The Chicago Defender has been the voice of the African-American Community in Chicago for over 100 years. The Defender is owned by Real Times Inc., a media company that also includes among its holdings the Michigan Chronicle, the Michigan Front Page, the New Pittsburgh Courier, and the Tri-State Defender.
The Chicago Reader is Chicago’s alternative newsweekly. As of June 2006, the average weekly circulation was 120,204, down from more than 138,000 just five years before. In July 2007, the Reader was sold to Florida-based Creative Loafing.
1. Turner, S. Derek. “Off The Dial: Female and Minority Radio Station Ownership in the United States” Free Press. June 2007. http://www.freepress.net/docs/off_the_dial.pdf
2. Turner, S. Derek and Mark Cooper. “Out of The Picture: Minority & Female TV Station Ownership in the United States” Free Press. October 2006. http://www.stopbigmedia.com/files/out_of_the_picture.pdf
3. Nationwide, Clear Channel owns nearly 1,000 radio stations, CBS owns 140, and Bonneville owns 32.
4. See In the Matter of Applications for Consent to the Transfer of Control of Tribune Company from Shareholders of Tribune Company to Samuel Zell (MB Docket 07-119) Petition to Deny at page 29. June 11, 2007. http://www.mediaaccess.org/filings/Tribune%20Petition%20to%20Deny.pdf
5. Fitzgerald, Mark. “Chicago 'Hoy' Ramping Up Circ, Moving To 'Burbs” Editor& Publisher. September 13, 2007. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_con...
6. See Rosenthal, Phil. “Chicago Sun-Times chief dismisses talk of merger.” Chicago Tribune. August 10, 2007. http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/columnists/chi-fri_phil_0810aug10...
