Chicago sports radio is not supposed to feel disposable.
Not the stations.
Not the shows.
And certainly not the people who spend decades becoming part of the daily rhythm of one of America’s greatest sports cities.
Yet Audacy’s 104.3 The Score WSCR has parted ways with morning co-host Mike Mulligan and midday host Marshall Harris, immediately creating major changes across two of the station’s most important weekday programs. The cuts were communicated internally Friday, with The Score saying a new morning co-host will be announced Monday while Leila Rahimi and Mark Grote remain together from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
And while both departures matter, there’s simply no getting around it:
Twenty-three years makes the Mike Mulligan decision enormous.
Mike Mulligan Wasn’t Visiting The Score
He was part of the furniture.
And we mean that as one of the greatest compliments you can give a morning radio personality.
For more than 23 years, Mulligan was part of WSCR. For approximately 18 of those years, Chicago woke up with him in morning drive. His current partnership with David Haugh dated to 2018, following Mulligan’s earlier run alongside Brian Hanley.
Think about how much Chicago sports happened during that time.
Cubs heartbreak.
Cubs finally winning the World Series.
White Sox glory and subsequent misery.
Blackhawks championships.
Bulls rebuilds.
Bears quarterbacks.
More Bears quarterbacks.
Dear Lord, the Bears quarterbacks.
Coaches hired.
Coaches fired.
General managers hailed as geniuses and eventually chased out of town.
And through thousands upon thousands of mornings, Mulligan was there to talk about it.
That’s what heritage personality radio creates.
Eventually the host isn’t simply covering the history.
The host becomes part of the history.
And Mulligan Brought Something Increasingly Rare To Sports Radio
He was a journalist.
That matters.
Mulligan’s background included decades of sports journalism, including his work with the Chicago Sun-Times and appearances on The Sports Writers on TV. Haugh publicly described his longtime partner Friday as a Chicago sports-media icon and emphasized Mulligan’s journalistic versatility and influence on his own career.
That journalistic foundation gives sports talk a different texture.
You can scream about whether the Bears should go for it on fourth-and-two.
Wonderful.
Chicago is very good at that.
But great sports radio also needs people who understand reporting.
Sources.
Context.
History.
How organizations work.
How to interview somebody rather than simply wait for your next opportunity to talk.
Mulligan carried that into the studio.
Twenty Three Years Builds Something You Cannot Replace Monday Morning
And that’s the uncomfortable part.
The Score says it plans to announce Haugh’s new morning partner Monday.
Fine.
Someone will sit in the chair.
The microphones will turn on.
The imaging will play.
Traffic will happen.
Commercials will run.
The Bears will inevitably do something that consumes three hours of conversation.
Radio continues.
But replacing a person is not the same thing as replacing a relationship.
Twenty-three years of listener familiarity doesn’t transfer because somebody updates the show logo.
That relationship has to be rebuilt.
Marshall Harris Is A Very Different Story But Still A Significant Loss
Harris’ tenure was considerably shorter, but his role had been expanding.
After joining The Score and eventually becoming a full-time weekday presence in 2024, Harris became part of a midday lineup that went through substantial change. Following Dan Bernstein’s departure, Leila Rahimi joined Harris, and Mark Grote later became another part of the program.
Harris also arrived at WSCR with significant Chicago sports-media credibility from his previous role as Sports Director at WBBM-TV.
That’s not somebody learning Chicago sports on the job.
He already understood the market.
And that’s important because Chicago sports fans can detect an outsider trying to fake Chicago knowledge from approximately eleven miles away.
Now Rahimi and Grote Move Forward
Beginning Monday, Leila Rahimi and Mark Grote will continue in middays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
That’s at least some continuity.
And continuity matters when a station makes multiple changes simultaneously.
The midday show doesn’t have to be reconstructed completely from scratch.
Rahimi remains.
Grote remains.
The timeslot remains.
But the chemistry changes.
That’s unavoidable.
Three people produce a different conversation than two.
Harris brought his own perspective, rhythm and personality into that room.
Now Rahimi and Grote have to establish what the next version of that show sounds like.
But Let’s Talk About The Larger Picture At The Score
Because WSCR has undergone an extraordinary amount of change.
Earlier this year, Audacy gave The Score something broadcasters have dreamed about for decades:
A major-market FM signal.
The company moved the station’s sports programming onto 104.3 FM, simulcasting the heritage 670 AM signal and dramatically changing how the brand is positioned in Chicago. The Score remains the flagship radio home of the Cubs and Bulls and carries an enormous amount of Chicago sports identity.
That’s a major investment in the brand.
Which makes the personnel strategy even more fascinating.
You’re expanding the station’s terrestrial distribution while simultaneously changing some of the personalities listeners associate with it.
That’s a delicate balancing act.
Here’s The Alternative Perspective
If you’re going to put The Score on FM because you believe the brand has enormous value…
protect what created that value.
The frequency isn’t The Score.
104.3 isn’t The Score.
670 isn’t The Score.
The transmitter isn’t The Score.
The studio isn’t The Score.
The people and the conversations are The Score.
Obviously no personality remains forever.
Radio evolves.
Contracts end.
New voices emerge.
Great stations reinvent themselves.
But heritage brands have to understand that their competitive advantage isn’t simply possessing a recognizable name.
It’s the accumulated relationship between the audience and the people behind that name.
Chicago Does Not Need More Generic Sports Content
This is where the stakes become bigger.
Chicagoans can get sports information everywhere.
Scores?
Phone.
Highlights?
Phone.
Statistics?
Phone.
Breaking news?
Phone.
Press conferences?
Phone.
National hot takes delivered by somebody screaming into a $900 podcast microphone?
Sweet mercy, there are approximately 400 million of those.
What local sports radio possesses that those platforms cannot easily duplicate is Chicago talking to Chicago.
That’s the product.
Somebody who remembers 1985.
Somebody who understands why Steve Bartman remains a complicated subject.
Somebody who understands the emotional damage inflicted by generations of Bears quarterbacks.
Somebody who knows the neighborhoods.
The teams.
The rivalries.
The callers.
The language of Chicago sports.
That’s why personalities matter.
And Audacy Better Nail Monday
Because now everybody is watching.
Who’s joining David Haugh?
Promote from within?
Bring somebody across town?
Introduce a newer voice?
Make another existing Score personality part of mornings?
The possibilities are fascinating.
But whoever gets that chair isn’t simply accepting another hosting assignment.
They’re following Mike Mulligan.
That’s different.
Don’t try to make the new person Mulligan.
That’s impossible and unfair.
Build something new.
Let Haugh and the new co-host establish their own chemistry.
Give listeners time.
Don’t panic after three weeks because somebody on social media says they hate it.
Radio relationships take time.
Mulligan’s certainly did.
He had 23 years.
And Let’s Give Marshall Harris His Due Too
It would be easy for Harris’ departure to become the second paragraph in the Mulligan story.
It shouldn’t.
Harris successfully moved from television sports leadership into one of America’s most demanding sports-radio markets and earned a full-time position on one of Chicago’s signature sports stations.
That’s an accomplishment.
And given the amount of sports media being created across television, streaming, podcasting and digital platforms, we’d be surprised if Chicago has heard the last of him.
Talent travels now.
The transmitter doesn’t get the final vote.
The Score Will Survive
Of course it will.
This is one of America’s great sports-radio brands.
Chicago will wake up Monday.
The microphones will turn on.
Haugh will have a partner.
Rahimi and Grote will take over at 10.
The Cubs will play.
The Bears will provide material.
The phones will light up.
The Score will continue.
But continuing isn’t the same thing as remaining unchanged.
And Friday, August 21, 2026 is one of those days when a heritage radio station undeniably changed.
An On The Dial Perspective
Audacy has every right to evolve The Score, and great radio stations cannot preserve every lineup forever. But Mike Mulligan’s departure deserves to be understood for what it represents: the end of a relationship spanning more than two decades between a broadcaster, a station and one of America’s most passionate sports cities. Marshall Harris’ exit adds another significant change to a weekday schedule that has already evolved considerably. The next lineup may be excellent. We hope it is. But broadcasters should never confuse filling a chair with replacing what somebody built while sitting in it. Twenty-three years of mornings cannot be recreated with a new promo and a Monday launch.
To Marshall Harris:
Good luck with whatever comes next.
And to Mike Mulligan:
Twenty-three years.
Thousands of mornings.
Championships.
Disasters.
Trades.
Drafts.
Managers.
Coaches.
Owners.
Callers.
Arguments.
Laughs.
And enough Chicago Bears quarterback conversations to qualify for some form of emotional compensation.
That’s one hell of a run.
Chicago sports radio will wake up Monday morning without Mike Mulligan behind The Score microphone.
The station will continue.
Radio always does.
But it won’t sound quite the same.
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