Bears talk boosts Score in morning ratings

Interest in the fortunes of the Bears helped propel Chicago’s leading sports/talk station into the top 10 among morning radio shows in the latest monthly ratings released Monday.

Nielsen Audio figures for September 11 to October 8 showed Mike Mulligan and Brian Hanley, the morning team on CBS Radio WSCR AM 670, in seventh place among all listeners — up from 14th the previous month. It was the Score's first top-10 showing since May.

Mitch Rosen, program director of the Score, attributed the increase to audience interest in Bears talk and to the enduring popularity of the “Mully & Hanley” brand.

Among men between 25 and 54, the Score finished second in mornings, behind only Raul Molinar, Sylvia del Valle and Andres Maldonado of Univision Radio Spanish-language WOJO FM 105.1, which also posted considerable gains.

Again No. 1 in mornings overall were Felicia Middlebrooks and Pat Cassidy of CBS Radio all-news WBBM AM 780/WCFS FM 105.9, radio flagship of the Bears. October 1 marked Middlebrooks’ 30th anniversary as morning co-anchor at WBBM Newsradio.

Here’s a look at Chicago’s top 10 morning shows as measured by Nielsen Audio among all listeners age 6 and older from 6 to 10 a.m. Monday through Friday, followed by average share of audience (with previous month’s share in parentheses).

Click on the arrows to advance the photos: