Spring 2008 book is out

In between the end of TCA and start of Comic-Con, I'm squeezing in some news regarding Chicago radio! (I know you're excited... yeah, right. But it's nice to talk about something local for a change.)

The Spring 2008 books are out for both Chicago and Milwaukee, are you can access them by clicking here (Chicago) and here (Milwaukee), with the daypart breakdowns provided by the Sun-Times' Robert Feder and demo breakdowns by Patrick Rempert of the Tribune.

Keep in mind the Chicago market has switched to PPM (Portable People Meter) from diaries, so radio exces in Chicago are pretty much treating this spring book like this month's TV ratings book - unimportant.

Chicago

Winners:

- WGN remains on top (thanks to Cubs baseball), while Urban WGCI continues its winning ways, finishing second and dominating the adults 18-34 and 25-54, with sister station (WVAZ-FM aka V103) finished a strong third. Steve Harvey dominated the ratings among adults 18-34.

- A strong book for Spanish WOJO-FM, finishing a strong fourth.

- The Rhythmic/Top 40 race is a dead heat with WBBM-FM (B96) and WKSC-FM (Kiss) both tied for seventh, with both stations tied among the teen demo, only behind WGCI.

- Jonathan Brandmeier had a nice rebound from the Winter book, climbing to second place from tenth in men 25-54, and new afternoon personality Eddie Webb also finished second in the same demo.

- Bonneville's The Drive (WDRV-FM) cracked the top ten for the first time at No. 10, while sister station WTMX-FM also had a good book, with an increase to twelfth WTMX's Eric & Kathy continues to dominate mornings in key female demos and finishing first in adults 25-54.

- Another urban outlet (WPWX-FM aka Power 92) did surprisingly well, scoring an increase to finish in sixteenth place.

Losers

- Goin' down: WLEY-FM had a bad book, sliding to fifteenth place, and WFMT plummeting to... wait for it... 27th place! (sorry for the long wait...)

- WILV-FM (Love FM) scored a slight increase, but still finished low tied for 21st with WXOX (Q 101.1)

- Waiting for the axe to swing: Jack FM (WJMK-FM) tied for 23rd with CBS Radio's Fresh FM (WCFS-FM.), and Steve Dahl's morning show, which dropped two full share points.

Milwaukee

News/Talk WTMJ-AM continues to be on top, with Entercom's Top 40 outlet WXSS-FM surging to second over (when was the last time a Top 40 station came that close to number one in Chicago?) News/Talk WISN-AM also did well, jumping to third overall. Another big winner was locally-owned Alternative outlet WLUM-FM which jumped a full point to land in tenth place.

The biggest loser? How about Saga's Smooth Jazz outlet WJZX-FM, which slid to eighteenth place. This is a troubling trend for Smooth Jazz outlets as the format has been dropped in a few markets, mostly recently in Denver and Washington, D.C. Could Milwaukee be next? Heck, could Chicago?

And one more note... Can someone please do something about Radio & Records' website? The last thing I need is some portly guy popping up on the screen telling me how great the site is every time I visit...

Updated at 9:26 p.m. Here's a tip... Always finish your WFMT sentences.