Posted by Teddy Greenstein on February 24, 2008 at 17:00:43:
The other day Mike North and his WSCR-AM 670 morning crew batted around names such as Keith Van Horn, Cliff Robinson and Bryant "Big Country" Reeves.
They all are NBA legends, because they parlayed modest talent into hilarious sums of money.
"Remember Cliff Robinson? Get me how much he made in his career!" North barked. "How about Keith Van Horn? He made $112 million? That is unbelievable!"
Equally unbelievable to some in Chicago sports radio is that North, whose contract expires at the end of July, would return to the Score for anything close to the $1.5 million a year he currently commands.
They point to his lackluster ratings and the trend of Chicago radio personalities (Mancow Muller, "Crazy" Howard McGee) breaking up with their suddenly cost-conscious stations.
Two officials guessed that if North were to return to mornings at the Score, he would be paid no more than $400,000.
"Are these the same dopes who thought I could never get $1.5 [million] a year -- and $700,000 a year before that?" North said by telephone. "They don't know how I negotiate or the dynamics between me and the station.
"Here's what I know: I'm an earner, I make money for the company I work for. There are no complaints from their side."
To that end, North said he has been offered a contract to return as the Score's morning host.
North wouldn't divulge details of the offer, but a source close to the negotiations estimated it at between $850,000 and $1 million per year plus ratings bonuses.
"They've made me a generous offer, a nice offer," North said. "I'm also checking out any other options I may have. That's what a good businessman does."
The offer came after North met Rod Zimmerman, senior vice president for CBS Radio Chicago, three weeks ago at Lucky Strike Lanes, near the Score's downtown studios.
"He beat me once, I beat him once," North reported. "We sat down afterward and did some talking. I believe I'm OK as a talk-show host, but I think I'm a better businessman."
Zimmerman wouldn't discuss the offer but said: "There have been proposals back and forth. ... We are talking with Mike privately and hope this relationship will continue."
North, a Score original who began with the station in 1992, might rate well with his bosses, but the fall ratings book was unkind to him. Among men 25-54, WMVP-AM 1000's "Mike and Mike in the Morning" earned a 5.4, compared with North's 3.1.
Though the gap closed from 8-9 a.m. (4.7-3.6), WMVP's late-morning "Waddle and Silvy" show poured it on from 9-10 a.m. Tom Waddle and Mark Silverman earned a 3.9 to North's 2.2.
"People get hung up on ratings," North said. "It is a scoreboard, but it's also not a level playing field, so they don't matter to me."
North has complained that it's difficult to compete with the behemoth that is ESPN and its nationally syndicated "Mike and Mike" show. While Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic are simulcast on ESPN2, North doesn't get much marketing help.
Others take the opposite view, wondering how a Chicago-based show can lose in Chicago -- even during a crummy Bears season.
North, 55, compared himself to the Cubs, historically a loser that crushes competitors at the gate. But the better analogy might be Alex Rodriguez, who's as well-known for his contracts as he is for his stats.
If Rodriguez were traded to Tampa Bay and hit .265, fans would laugh at him. But if his presence sold another 500,000 tickets, owners would love him.
North's advocates say he generates great publicity for the Score -- remember the "Shut the ... up" Ozzie Guillen interview last May? -- and has developed a cadre of loyal sponsors.
North knows the Score reported revenues of nearly $22 million in 2007 to rank a solid eighth among 29 stations in the market.
"You hear people say: 'Radio's changing,'" he said. "In what way? The [advertising] rates aren't changing."
Still, North knows he might have to take a pay cut and dip below seven figures. It's not Van Horn money, but it'll be enough to pay for the mustard on his hot dog.
"I come from a blue-collar family, and my dad worked 80 hours a week as an elechicagomedia.orgician," he said. "On his deathbed [in 1995] he asked me how much I made and I couldn't tell him, I was too embarrassed. I just told him: 'The family will be taken care of.'"