In my Chicago Tribune column today, I write about the sports talk radio battle in Chicago. Here’s the link for Tribune subscribers. For those who can’t access directly, you can get the link here via my Twitter feed.
From the column:
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With the baseball teams floundering, the most interesting crosstown rivalry might be between the town’s two sports talk radio stations.
The Arbitron spring ratings were released Tuesday and, on one level, WSCR-AM 670 would appear to be as dominant over WMVP-AM 1000 as the Cubs were over the White Sox this year. However, unlike baseball, there are various ways to spin radio numbers to make them look more favorable.
In men ages 25-54, the prime advertising demographic for sports talk radio, WSCR ranked fourth in the market with a 4.7 share (percentage of Chicago listeners tuned into the station); WMVP was 16th at 2.4. WSCR ruled in morning drive, as “Mully & Hanley” were third at 6.8; “Mike & Mike” were 10th at 2.9 on MVP. In the afternoon, “Boers & Bernstein” were second at 5.2, while “Waddle & Silvy” were 16th at 2.6 in the first three months of their new time slot for WMVP.
The wide gap is a sharp departure from a long period when the stations ran neck-and-neck in the ratings, with WMVP occasionally coming out ahead. WSCR program director Mitch Rosen says his station was able to surge ahead in the last 18 months thanks to continuity in its lineup and a larger focus on Chicago sports compared to WMVP, which airs ESPN national programming from 5-10 a.m.
“We’ve stuck with the same lineup for several years,” Rosen said. “People get into habits when it comes to listening to stations. Continuity makes a big difference in radio.”
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Full disclosure department: I am the co-host of “The Scorecard,” a Saturday morning golf talk show on WSCR, and station personalities Mike Mulligan and Dan McNeil also are special contributors to the Tribune. Several Tribune reporters also regularly appear on WSCR as guests or as substitute hosts.
Enjoy receiving your daily columns, Ed. I’m in Milwaukee and at one time was a regular subscriber to the Chicago Tribune. After all their “early retirements,” I decided not to renew. Today I read your story on the WSCR-WMVP ratings, yet wanted more so I clicked the link. In order to read any article, I now have to subscribe to their Digital Access package? Really? That’s a lot of cash to fork over to read articles on a smartphone or tablet. And why should I pay for reading a newspaper which could be owned in the future by The Koch Brothers or Ruppert Murdoch. I’m 60 and from the old school of journalism. I will not accept stories being slanted to fit one’s political agenda. This is democracy at it’s worst. Thanks for your time. Jeff Ostach-Milwaukee