Chicago Radio: Cubs Power WSCR 670 AM Ratings

Tens of thousands of Cubs fans sought out hometown voices Pat Hughes and Ron Coomer on Chicago flagship radio station WSCR 670 AM when their team won their first World Series championship since 1908.

Pat Hughes and Ron Coomer

According to The Chicago Tribune, the Cubs' 10-inning Game 7 victory on Nov. 2 averaged around 145,600 listeners, at least double what a regular-season broadcast averaged this year, according to Nielsen Audio data obtained Tuesday and industry sources.

It's estimated close to 643,000 people in the Chicago area listened to at least some of Game 7 on The Score, despite the fact an average of more than 3.2 million television viewers in the Chicago market were reportedly watching the game on television in any given quarter-hour.

It was not clear in these numbers how many fans synced up the audio and video to enjoy both simultaneously, swapping Hughes and Coomer for Fox Sports announcer Joe Buck and analyst John Smoltz.

Mitch Rosen, WSCR's operations director, stated:  "What made (the Cubs) even more impactful was the halo effect for the entire station," Rosen said. "All of our shows showed tremendous growth throughout the season and throughout the postseason."

WSCR in fact rose to second place in the Chicago market for the survey period. Its 6.1 percent share of the audience age 6 and older trailed only the all-news simulcast WBBM 780 AM WCFS 105.9 FM (6.5 percent share). WVAZ 102.7 FM was third (5.7) and WTMX 101.9 FM fourth (5.3).

In the corresponding period a year earlier — with the Cubs airing on WBBM-AM and having their postseason end in the National League Championship Series — WSCR finished tied for No. 20 with a 2.2 share.