"Newspaper guys" hit it big on WSCR
Posted by Ed S.
at 11/9/2009 2:33 AM CST on Chicago Business

The biggest story in local sportstalk radio is being perpetrated by a couple of hosts who still think of themselves as "newspaper guys."

Sun-Times veterans Mike Mulligan and Brian Hanley, aka "Mully and Hanley," are riding high these days at WSCR-AM 670. Their 5-9 a.m. show beat the Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic ("Mike and Mike") morning show on WMVP-AM 1000 in the summer ratings, a first for SCR.

The Arbitron data showed Mully and Hanley with a 6.4 audience share in the all-important men 25-54 demographic compared to a 6.2 for "Mike and Mike." The SCR show ranked second in the category, trailing only WBBM-AM 780.

That's a huge jump from the summer of 2008 when Mully and Hanley did a 4.3 rating in men 25-54 after being inserted into the morning drive slot. WSCR is ecstatic considering the previous morning show hosted by Mike North, who made considerably more money ($1.6 million in the end), struggled against the ESPN national show.

"It's tremendous growth," said program director Mitch Rosen. "These guys are really clicking with the audience."

Even though Mr. Mulligan is in the analysis business, he admits to being at a loss to explain their success.

There are several forces at work. Both Mr. Mulligan and Mr. Hanley credit the addition of Dustin Rhoades as producer. Mr. Hanley said Mancow's former producer has "a great ear for what the topics are and what they could be."