Posted by The Vanecko on June 03, 2009 at 18:07:01:
June 3, 2009
BY LEWIS LAZARE Media and Marketing Columnist
Dan McNeil, considered by many observers to be one of Chicago?s ? and the nation?s ? best radio sports talkers, is returning to CBS Radio?s sports/talk WSCR-AM (670). Starting June 15, McNeil will be the solo host of the new ?Danny Mac Show? from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday through Friday. ?I?ve been in ?training camp? for this for more than four months,? said McNeil in a statement, adding ?this is a chance to win in a brand new day part for me and in a slot that has become more meaningful.?
McNeil previously was at WSCR, familiarly known as ?The Score,? for some nine years until he jumped to sports talk competitor ESPN Radio?s WMVP-AM (1000) in the year 2000. But WMVP opted not to pick up the last year of his latest contract, which reportedly paid him in excess of $600,000 a year, and McNeil departed WMVP in January. Sources said that, per the terms of McNeil?s contract with WMVP, the sports talker was only permitted to begin talking to competing stations about a new radio gig within the past 30 days. Terms of McNeil?s new contract with WSCR were not disclosed, but sources say he has signed with the station for somewhat less than he was making at WMVP.
McNeil?s return to WSCR means there will be considerable upheaval in the station?s current program lineup. The ?Hamp and Holmes Show? from 10 a.m. to noon, featuring Dan Hampton and Lawrence Holmes, is being dropped, as is the noon to 2 p.m. ?Mike Murphy Show.? All three hosts, sources say, will be offered other jobs at the station, possibly including night or weekend host duties. The ?Mully and Hanley Show,? with Sun-Times writers Mike Mulligan and Brian Hanley, which now airs from 5 a.m. to 10 a.m., will lose an hour, and the ?Boers and Bernstein? show will add an hour, beginning at 1 p.m. instead of 2 p.m. McNeil also will contribute to the first half-hour of ?Boers and Bernstein? under the new arrangement.
That WSCR executives were willing to make so many major adjustments in the lineup to accommodate McNeil suggests station management is fairly confident the radio host, who also contributes to the Sun-Times, will be a big hit once again with the sports talk station?s listener base. ?It?s awesome to have Mac back on the Score team,? said WSCR Program Director Mitch Rosen in a statement, adding ?Mac returns to where it all began for sports radio in Chicago ? the Score.?