The Score promotes Laurence Holmes to early afternoons

Laurence Holmes

Laurence Holmes, the veteran Chicago sportscaster and evening host at Entercom sports/talk WSCR 670-AM, is moving up to a new afternoon shift at The Score.

Starting March 28, Holmes will host solo from noon to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday. He’ll also host a daily podcast for Radio.com to be posted after 2 p.m. Holmes’s current shift — from 6 to 10 p.m. weeknights — is subject to frequent preemptions due to play-by-play sports and other programming commitments.

The Score 670

To accommodate the new daytime show, middays with Dan Bernstein and Connor McKnight will be reduced one hour (airing from 9 a.m. to noon), and afternoons with Dan McNeil and Danny Parkins will be reduced one hour (airing from 2 to 6 p.m.).

“This really expands our Score brand and highlights Laurence’s tremendous strength of interviewing different personalities,” said Mitch Rosen, operations director of The Score. “I really feel what the expansion does is make The Score brand bigger and better, while giving our consumers more options over the air and through all digital platforms.”

Joe Ostrowski, weekday morning update anchor and host of “Early Odds” Saturday mornings on The Score, will turn up from 6 to 10 p.m. when play-by-play doesn't interfere. Julie DiCaro will continue from 10 p.m. to midnight, and Les Grobstein will continue overnights.

Holmes, 43, has been on the radio since he started a talk show at Homewood-Flossmoor High School at age 16. He joined The Score as a part-time producer for Grobstein's show in 1998 and has held a variety of roles since then while also pursuing television work and teaching at his alma mater, DePaul University.

The Score’s new weekday program schedule — including the two-hour shift Holmes will occupy — matches that of ESPN Radio rival sports/talk WMVP 1000-AM. Rosen said that’s purely coincidental.

In the latest Nielsen Audio survey The Score tied for 13th place with a 3.0 percent audience share. ESPN 1000 tied for 27th with a 1.0 share.