Very few programmers in this business garner the respect that 670 The Score’s VP and Brand Manager Mitch Rosen does. He was a guest this week on Barstool’s The Dog Walk podcast. Host Eddie Farrar spent an hour with Rosen, asking him about his career history and radio philosophy.
One question Farrar asked was who would be on Rosen’s Chicago radio Mt. Rushmore. That prompted Rosen to reflect on the misconceptions so many have about his business.
“You know, sports radio, people don’t know, don’t really realize. They think they put on the mic and go,” Rosen said to Farrar. “You know this too, in sports radio, you watch games, you have to formulate opinions. Sports radio today, you’re in the opinion business. There’s perceptions that ‘I just turn on the mic and talk for 4 hours.’ You have to do homework.”
He compared being a host now to writing for a newspaper. It isn’t good enough to just say what happened. You need to have something interesting to say about what happened. Radio requires a unique element of performance.
“It’s improv. There’s no scripts in sports radio.”
For the record, the first three slots on Rosen’s Mt. Rushmore went to Eddie Schwartz, Kevin Matthews and Mike North. He highlighted them as improv performers.
He tried to put the entire Score brand in his fourth slot, which Farrar would not allow. He settled on one of the station’s founders, Terry Boers for the final honor.
