People that are listening to WSCR 670-AM The Score in Chicago this week have heard a new show with familiar voices as Dan Bernstein and Laurence Holmes now jointly host a show from 10 AM to 2 PM CT. It’s a change for both of them. They were doing solo shows in different time slots before the partnership.
Holmes talked about the move on the House of L podcast and how he and Bernstein ended up hosting a show together. It was something that Holmes had to think about long and hard during the negotiation because of the commitment.
“This is a multi-year deal. It’s honestly the longest deal I have signed year-wise at The Score since I’ve been on-air,” he said. “I had to sit and think about what a partnership means. This is going to be one of the hardest parts for me and I am asking The Score listener for an early grace until I figure some of this stuff out and Dan too.”
Holmes says he made it a point to never bring the frustration of the negotiations to the air because he knew his listeners on his solo show weren’t interested.
Now that the partnership is official, Holmes is looking forward to not having to drive every segment. He said that he recognizes that he brought an “alphaness” to the air with his solo show. Instead, he can now act as a counter on some occasions.
“I am a scoring point guard. I can get points if I need to, I can share the ball, whatever it takes to win. What working with Dan did on his show was it allowed me to play off the ball and I liked it a lot. I liked that I didn’t have to drive every single segment. I liked that I could be a counterbalance. I could amplify the way Dan feels about something or I can disagree about something or there can be nuance in the conversation.”
That alphaness Laurence Holmes talked about shows itself in his prep process too. He said that he is trying to let go a little bit and trust that he and his partner can create something entertaining organically.
“What I’m doing is trying desperately to not overdo this. My inclination is to put together a spreadsheet and plan out all of this stuff that’s going to happen on the show. My approach to this over the next few weeks is going to be to let go. I am going to see how long I can read and react, how long I can just kind of not micro-manage. That’s one of my goals for this is to not micromanage the show, just to let the show be. That’s extremely hard for me.”
