Chicago Radio: McKnight, DiCaro OUT At Entercom's WSCR

Julie DiCaro

WSCR 670 AM hosts Connor McKnight and Julie DiCaro were among those let go this week in a national cost-cutting initiative by parent Entercom Communications in response to advertising declines amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The full extent of the job cuts in Chicago, where Entercom has six other stations besides The Score — WXRT-FM 93.1, WBBM-FM 96.3, WBMX-FM 104.3, WUSN-FM 99.5 and WBBM-AM 780, which simulcasts on WCFS-FM 105.9 — was not immediately known.

Dan McNeil and Danny Parkins, who co-host weekday afternoons on The Score, noted on the air that reporter David Schuster was among those cut loose from the sports talk station and suggested more cuts were likely in time.

Rick Camp, a WSCR midday producer, said via Twitter he had been let go after more than eight years at the station.

Connor McKnight

“These are tough and uncertain times. More so for others than myself, that’s for sure,” McKnight, who was hired to partner mid-mornings with Dan Bernstein in a major WSCR shake-up two years ago.

“Today’s show was my last on The Score. As a result of the pandemic, plans had to be altered and my position was eliminated.”

McKnight first joined WSCR-AM in 2009 through the station’s “Score Search” talent contest, then left for Tribune Broadcasting’s short-lived FM outlet The Game (WGWG LP 87.7), which operated for nine months in 2014.

After a stint at WGN-AM 720, McKnight joined WLS-AM 890 and was for a time its White Sox pregame and postgame host, but the station tore up its multiyear contract with the team in early 2018 as part of parent Cumulus Media’s bankruptcy proceedings.

DiCaro, who practiced law for 15 years before segueing into media, hosted a weeknight program on The Score and co-hosted another on Saturdays.

“Obviously, there are bigger things in our world to worry about at the moment, but it bums me out that the number of women working in sports in Chicago just keeps dwindling,” DiCaro said via Twitter.

"Some very close friends are out of work right now, and it’s sad," McNeil said during his show Thursday. "It’s been tough on everybody, and I wish nothing but the best for our teammates who got launched today. ... This sucks, man. This is an absolute suckfest.”