The Cubs and White Sox are "switching radio stations for the first time in the same year" since '44, with the Cubs moving from WBBM-AM to WSCR-AM and the White Sox from WSCR-AM to WLS-AM, according to Ed Sherman of the CHICAGO TRIBUNE. It is the Cubs' third station in three years, as the team was not "an ideal fit for WBBM," especially weekday games that "required the station to deviate from its successful all-news format." This will be the Cubs' "first taste of having their games on an all-sports station," as WSCR "won't give the same kind of boosterish treatment they mostly enjoyed from WGN during non-game hours." But sports-talk radio hosts "have a different agenda, and it could be open season at times on the Cubs." WSCR Operations Dir Mitch Rosen said of the Cubs, "We will respect them. But if there are critical plays or moves, of course, we're going to weigh in. We're in the opinion business." Meanwhile, WLS "airing baseball and the White Sox will be a completely new experience in the long history" of the station. WLS Dir of Operations & Programming Peter Bolger said, "There's a good match. WLS has had a tough couple years, and the Sox have had a rough couple years. I think we can help each other." Bolger noted that WLS has "created a sports staff," and he "expects more Sox talk throughout the day." Bolger said the station is counting on the White Sox and Bulls, which the station will cover beginning next season, "to broaden our appeal." Bolger: "We're in the business where success depends on how many people we have in our tent. The Sox (and Bulls) brings us a whole new group of people" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 4/4).
