Sinking teams fail to weigh down sports talk radio
The Bears rallied at the end of the season in December, but that's nothing compared to the charge WMVP 1000-AM put on.
The station rose from a 1.3 percent share of the overall audience 12 and older this summer to a 1.7 share in the quarterly fall Arbitron ratings book, moving past its all-sports competitor, WSCR 670-AM, which slumped slightly from 1.6 to 1.5.
True, WMVP benefited from its syndicated ESPN Radio baseball playoff coverage in October, but it really came on in December, after the Bears were all but done and as the Bulls were tanking.
It was an unlikely time for a local sports-talk station to thrive, but that's what WMVP did.
"I wish I could give you a logical answer, but I really believe it's just great radio," said WMVP program director Justin Craig. "People tune in for personalities, and we've got great personalities here."
As I wrote at the end of the year, the state of sports-talk radio is as strong as I've ever heard it in Chicago, and the numbers bear that out. In the target demographic of men age 25-54, WMVP pulled a 3.9 share this fall to the Score's 3.2, but both were up from the summer, when WMVP led 3.2 to 2.9.
I know it galls the Score's Mike North to be losing to a syndicated program in mornings, but the fact is ESPN Radio's Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic do a great show, and Greenberg makes sure to keep his Chicago ties fresh. What's more, Tom Waddle and Marc Silverman are beginning to gel from 9 a.m. to noon.
"Those guys are building chemistry," Craig said.
The way I hear it, Waddle is putting Silvy at ease, and they're having more fun chiding each other. I'm not sure if Silvy remembers or even ever heard Wally Phillips, but he's developed this droll little matter-of-fact response to Waddle's occasional inanities that reminds me of Phillips' deadpan replies to his own little sound bites he'd throw in.
WMVP was third in the market in the male demo with a 5.4 share from 6-10 a.m., while North pulled a 3.1. But Mike & Mike also did a 5.4 from 5-9 a.m., meaning Waddle and Silvy held up in the first hour of their show.
From 9 a.m. to noon, the Score shaved them, 3.0 to 2.9, but that's Mike Mulligan and Brian Hanley, who do a pretty great show themselves, following North.
The Score did best from noon to 2 p.m., when Mike Murphy trounced the syndicated Mike Tirico, 3.7 to 1.8. "This is the first book for Mike Tirico," Craig pointed out.
True, but it's also true that Tirico's show is so dull he makes the departed Dan Patrick sound excited. So Murph gets bragging rights over all the others hosts at the Score.
Both stations excelled in afternoon drive, but WMVP was well out in front. Benefiting from a revived Dan McNeil after back surgery and a more open field with the departure of Steve Dahl for mornings, Mac, John Jurkovic and Harry Teinowitz did a top-ranked 5.9 share in the demo to the second-place 4.9 posted by Dan Bernstein and Terry Boers at the Score -- two great shows doing great ratings.
Maybe Craig is right: It's as simple as that. But now comes the winter doldrums, so let's see if personality can weather the struggling Bulls and Blackhawks until pitchers and catchers report for spring training.
In the air
Remotely interesting: Some 54 million people watched Fox Sports' coverage of the NFC championship game Sunday, and 45 million watched the AFC championship on CBS, making them the top two TV programs of the season so far. The NFL had the top five shows -- three of them involving the Patriots -- before Fox's "American Idol" season premiere came in sixth with 33 million viewers. For the first time, Fox was the top-rated NFL network for the season.
The Blackhawks' Rocky Wirtz and John McDonough appear on Comcast SportsNet Chicago's daily sports-talk roundtable show with new host David Kaplan at 5:30 p.m. Monday. CSNC carries the boys basketball game between Loyola and Fenwick at 7 p.m. Wednesday. … Versus presents the NHL all-star SuperSkills competition at 6 p.m. Saturday and the All-Star Game at 5 p.m. Sunday.
End of the dial: Jesse Rogers is getting the full-time baseball beat at WSCR 670-AM. He'll continue as host of "Hit and Run" on Sundays and will still do the Blackhawks' studio pre- and postgame shows. … WMVP 1000-AM has extended its weekly collectibles show with Brian Marren and Tom Morgan for two more years, airing at 7 a.m. Saturday.
"The Outdoors Experience" with host Steve Sarley is beginning its fifth year and its third airing on WIND 560-AM at 8 a.m. Saturday.
-- Ted Cox