It's only a small sample size, mind you, but it appears as if Audacy's decision to put 670 AM The SCORE's sports talk programming on 104.3 FM is indeed a hit in the Winter ratings book.
Now branded as 104.3 The SCORE, the Audacy-owned sports talk, Cubs & Bulls' flagship scored 1st among its target audience of men ages 25-54 in weekday prime between 6A-7P Monday-Friday.
How well did The SCORE do in its first ratings book on the FM side? Check out this link to learn even more:
I do not like BarrettMedia. Their articles are fluff and not very well written. They say they are #1 Men 25-54, but they do not state where they were before. Also, they fail to mention that the numbers are a combination of the AM & FM signals.
But ABRockNJock, moving them IS a big deal. There is no disputing it. It took longer than I thought.
Cumulus ratings shouldn't be public, so that probably shouldn't have been mentioned although they didn't mention specific numbers.
Jermey, you are correct. Furthermore, they are being fed numbers from someone internally in the industry. The person that wrote the article has ZERO clue about ratings. If they did they would have drawn contrasts how much they went up. Or are relating the increase to beating/being beat by Cumulus stations in the past months & books.
Say what you will about Barrett Media, but one of their writers happens to be one-time SCORE producer & part time host John "Rock" Mamola. The same "Rock" who programmed WDAE-AM & FM, the sports talk station in Tampa who was among recent corporate cutbacks at iHeart Media.
As for The SCORE on the FM side, I've always felt that sports talk would eventually find its way back to the FM side in Chicago, even after the demise of 87.7 FM The Game down the dial.
The issues with The Game had to do with a terrible location on the FM dial, plus a great deal of static and having a lot of trouble tuning in.
As I mentioned in my original post, it's only a small sample size now that The SCORE can be heard on 104.3 FM as well as on 670 AM, its home since 2000.
I didn't say it was a home run, but I think SCORE bosses have to be thrilled with the early feedback & the ratings since they added a clear sounding FM signal in February.
Say what you will about Barrett Media, but one of their writers happens to be one-time SCORE producer & part time host John "Rock" Mamola.
How does that lend to credibility of that article? People tend to be biased when they are personally invested in a topic. The Barrett articles about The Score always are rosy when I read them with no real meat (like proof about ratings). Backing up my statement, from the article:
Overall, 104.3 The Score tied for fifth place among men 25-54. It trailed music competitors Q101, 93.3 XRT, 94.7 WLS, and Throwback 100.3.
ABRockNJock, how can they be trailing WLS-FM and Q101 when there is an embargo on their numbers (not being listed) in the ratings due to a current lawsuit? How can an article make a claim and be taken credible when the numbers are currently 0.0 for those stations and these claims can not be verified by the public? Credible writers would not have listed that or explained it to the readers. This is why Barrett is not taken as seriously like the former CRM site, compared to other more influential sites such as Lance's RadioInsight, which is highly regarded among industry and radio aficionados.
The issues with The Game had to do with a terrible location on the FM dial, plus a great deal of static and having a lot of trouble tuning in.
Not true. The format before "The Game" had higher ratings. The format after "The Game" had higher ratings. Static and terrible location were not primary issues. It was well known the lack of procuring any major sponsorships of teams to be exclusive, was a major issue. Also, Tribune was not fully behind it. You build it the right way, they can't get it elsewhere, people will follow, even with static. History: WVVX Real Precious Metal In the late 80s, KISS, ENERGY, 80s Channel in the late 90s early 2K.
As I mentioned in my original post, it's only a small sample size now that The SCORE can be heard on 104.3 FM as well as on 670 AM, its home since 2000.
Not sure what you mean about small sample size?
I think SCORE bosses have to be thrilled with the early feedback & the ratings
Thrilled about what ratings? They are down overall and they are slightly up in some demos of certain programs.
You might have missed the post below. While the Score management might be "thrilled" (?), Audacy since blowing out Jams, has ceeded a major portion of their numbers overall in the market to competitors........
It was the right decision to offer WSCR on FM, I have been stating that for years. They should have done it sooner. But, it will take 6 - 12 months to find out if they gained numbers, lost numbers or are in the same spot. Ultimately, overall Audacy has handed away 1.8 share ratings to the competition, at this point. Not good currently, hope it pays off in the long run. That is provable, 2 months in a row, so far the numbers do back it up.
ABRockNJock, you are def a sports lover. Awesome. But from a radio standpoint, I am reading a bunch of word salad from that Barrett Media article you are defending. 🤷🏻♂️
Z perfect. Could not say it better. You will not get a reply the original poster can't defend what they said. Or admit they were wrong. You forgot WCBR on your list. Loyal listeners to the end.
TheGhostOfWCBR thank you. It is reality, not opinion. No offense to the OP, I have no issues with the OP, I like the OP posts, but I do not expect a reply nor do they have to. It is not personal. Like I stated, I had issue with the linked article. Also there are no thrills for The Score today, that will pan out in 6 -12 months after launch, so they can see trends and if Audacy really lost all the listeners from Jams to mostly iHeart.
It is amazing the fragile entitled attitudes that exist on a message board. The most lacking words on here are "Thank You" and "I am sorry, I am wrong". You address people directly they ignore and just post past you. Even when are helping or teaching them. The key to forums like this one anywhere on the internet, recognize people, tell them "thank you for teaching me", "I am sorry I was wrong", or "I learned". Those go a long way. Also, state it is opinion, if it is your opinion. If you state your opinion as fact, you set yourself up to be roached.
I appreciate all the people that engage me with good conversation on here and in Private Messages. Just because we don't agree don't mean I/we don't like each other. Jeremy and I don't always agree but we often do and bounce off each other like in this thread. Jeremy and I have had nice conversations via PM. I have learned from him and even defer off to him when I do not know. I enjoy JJSPC1372 they have some battle scars from the industry and I appreciate reading their viewpoints and real life experience. I miss Sal posting on here. Sitting down with him is opening a vault of history and good discussion about how sick radio is and its heyday. John and Phil and CADXer - geekiness of DX, thank you. Lol. If I have not mentioned you, it does not mean I do not like you. If you do not like me, Bless You too my child.
WCBR, I am sorry I left it off the list. Loyal fans indeed, but right before the sale to Odyssey/BCR, it was like your screenname, a Ghost of WCBR, almost all brokered programming.
"John and Phil and CADXer - geekiness of DX" What?
Going off topic a tad. They better enjoy the time now. Next year looks like NO BASEBALL due to a possible strike. THAT, might be interesting, and it'll take time to get the fans back as the last strike.
Not a sports fan, though I once was.
Re: The SCORE Is A Hit On The FM Side; geekiness of DX
Geekiness of DX? Well now I have to change my banking passphrase —
I am a fan of the DX hobby, but I know that “DXing” is not a profit center, with the exception of a scant few specialized antenna and equipment sales. Someday the big AM’s will cease to exist, the translators will have clogged up any FM allocation that might allow for DX, and we DXers will just move on to the next challenge.
Re: The SCORE Is A Hit On The FM Side; geekiness of DX
When DX comes in and a translator is strong enough to decimate a Class A, you will still have DX, it will just be different. There was tropo last few nights. Wednesday was so strong, the 102.3 translator in Elmhurst was decimated by WXLC.
The noise floor from all the HD (FM + TV) and translators on the FM band is the devil in the equation. For AM noise, all the IT stuff and especially all the dirty electronic gadgets + the LED lights from China are the cause of more noise.
Audacy is big on their FM Sports. Just a thing they have been doing lately.
Generally it is pretty successful. We will find out in Chicago.
In a market like Chicago, the product itself is what is successful, not what frequency it's on. The Score has decades of history. It's an established station. I figure most people within 104.3's coverage area will follow them over to FM. They probably already did. Most younger people are streaming and podcasting, which they do a good job at. They have live streams, live streams you can replay, podcasts and video/ I feel most new listeners will be those in the demo that either doesn't listen to AM, or their car radio can't get a clear signal from it anymore.
The ratings on 104.3 will likely grow even farther once the signal is downgraded when they diplex at the 1160 site eventually.
When they can no longer use the AM signals for profit by running alternative games and programming as spillover from the main FM signal, they will jettison them most likely via a sale.
It would be a sad waste of a historical signal, but I figure they will put their Sports betting "The Bet" brand on 670 at some point. They have been using a lot of their excess AMs for it. They get no ratings at all, mostly 0.1 or so but I guess its making them enough money to keep it going. It's on mostly in states where Sports betting is legal, like Illinois.
It's a sports wagering radio network that was originally called BetQL Network, which was started up by The SCORE's parent company Audacy along with Westwood One in 2021.
BetQL programming aired locally on WSCR 670 AM on many weekends in addition to national sports talk programming from CBS/Infinity Sports Radio from New York.
BetQL was rebranded as BetMGM Network last year around the Super Bowl, thanks to Audacy's partnership with the sports book.
BetMGM Network had quite a few shows with a sports wagering theme, but only one of them, "BetMGM Tonight", is still on the air to this day. It airs 6-9P (CT) weeknights on the Westwood One Sports Network, formerly known as CBS/Infinity Sports Radio.
I know that in Boston, just for the sake of this thread, WEEI moved its local sports talk programming from 850 AM to 93.5 FM there in 2012.
Back then, 850 AM was a full time outlet for ESPN Radio's national programming until 2021 when they became a full time sports gambling outlet simply branded as "The Bet". WEEI moved its local sports talk programming, including Red Sox games, to 93.5 on the FM side in Beantown.
Where I'm going with this is that I could picture a scenario where The SCORE possibly signs off at 670 AM and moves its own sports talk, including Cubs & Bulls' games, to 104.3 FM full time. Might a similar "Bet" or a full time national Westwood One Sports format take over the 670 AM frequency in due time?
Jeremy, I did a Google search and you are correct about "The Bet". It's one of those subchannels that can be heard via the Audacy app.
As I type this message, the team of Chris Bleck & Adam Abdalla are on right now on The Bet as well as Westwood One Sports on radio stations outside Chicago. The same "Bleck & Abdalla" that had been heard on ESPN 1000 AM before Westwood One Sports took over management & programming of what used to be called CBS Sports Radio and most recently, Infinity Sports Radio.
Basically, if I'm making any sense, "The Bet" simulcasts Westwood One Sports' national programming.
It's a hybrid of BetMGM (BetQL) programming and Westwood One Sports as a filler. Basically just clearing programming. Cheap to run. Gets very little ratings but for network purposes it's on the air in (Insert market) on low signal AM signals mostly, most of them do not have translators.
Chicago that was 105.9 HD2 for a long time until now.
Absolutely right about 670 and other AM's. It will continue to get downgraded, be sold or eventually go dark. As we have said many times here, memories and historical value don't generate revenue. Not to mention that radio as a whole is declining each year when it comes to making money. And it's not just the large corporations anymore that are having difficulties.
on April 21, 2026, 2:45 pm