The Score distanced itself from ESPN 1000 in the Nielsen winter ratings book (Jan. 5 to March 29), but without Bears games to dissect, the sports-talk stations’ listenership dipped in the key demographic of men ages 25-54.
During prime listening hours, from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, The Score tied for fourth in the market with a 4.4 share, and ESPN 1000 tied for 16th at 2.5. In the fall book, The Score ranked third at 5.0 and ESPN 1000 fifth at 4.2.
The Score’s “Bernstein & Holmes” show – with recurring co-host Leila Rahimi – remained the most-listened-to sports show in the market with a 4.6 share, ranking sixth in the 10 a.m.-2 p.m. time slot. But that was down from a second-place 5.6 in the fall. ESPN 1000’s combination of Mike Greenberg’s national show, “Bleck and Abdalla” and “Carmen and Jurko” drew a 2.1 share, ranking 17th.
The hotly contested afternoon time slot saw The Score’s “Parkins & Spiegel” take the lead over ESPN 1000’s “Waddle & Silvy” 4.2-2.7, which ranked sixth and 16th. ESPN 1000 held a 4.8-4.7 lead in the fall after the shows tied in the summer at 4.1.
From 5:30 to 10 a.m., The Score’s “Mully & Haugh” ranked fifth with a 4.4 share. ESPN 1000’s combination of national programming and “Kap & J.Hood” ranked 13th at 2.9.
Remote patrol
ESPN 1000 has a megacast planned Thursday to cover its first NFL Draft as the Bears’ radio home. While the White Sox game airs on 1000-AM, the station will present three shows from the Bears’ draft party at Soldier Field.
Bears radio voices Jeff Joniak and Tom Thayer will host the primary show on the ESPN Chicago app and Twitch, “Bleck and Abdalla” will appear on ESPN 1000’s YouTube channel and morning co-host David Kaplan will appear on his YouTube channel.
The Score’s draft show Thursday will begin after the Cubs game on “Parkins & Spiegel” and include former Bears coach Dave Wannstedt and longsnapper Patrick Mannelly. At 9 p.m., Bulls radio voice Chuck Swirsky takes over until midnight.
The Cubs’ Marquee Sports Network was named regional sports network of the year in Cynopsis Sports Media’s annual awards. It also won best new show (“Road to Wrigley”) and best seasonal coverage.
Blackhawks analyst Patrick Sharp will make his TBS debut Saturday as the analyst for Game 3 of the Avalanche-Kraken playoff series. He’ll join Alex Faust and reporter Kathryn Tappen.
Jason Benetti and analyst Tom Verducci will call the White Sox-Rays game Saturday for Fox.
