ESPN 1000 announces on-air talent for Bears games

Good Karma-owned station takes over radio broadcasts this fall

With the all-important NFL Draft approaching, ESPN 1000 (WMVP) announced its game day lineup for Bears games this upcoming season. 

Gameday starts with the Network Pre-Game Show (assuming the word “network” is a placeholder for a yet-to-be named corporate sponsor) with Marc Silverman (known on-air as Silvy), Dionne Miller (of ABC 7), and former Bear Lance Briggs. Calling the contest is the team of Jeff Joniak and Tom Thayer, who moved over to ESPN 1000 with the team from Audacy’s WBBM Newsradio. Silverman handles the halftime show, while the two-hour Network Post Game Show is hosted by John “Jurko” Jurkovic and Peggy Kusinski. 

Of note, the halftime show will feature a celebrity guest with ties to the Chicago area. For example, one week could feature Jim Belushi and another week could feature Bill Murray, and so on. 

Jason Mckie, who continues in his role as varsity football head coach for Caramel High School in north suburban Mundelein, is the sideline reporter for all seventeen games. Mckie was a Bears fullback from 2003 to 2009, including the Super Bowl season of 2006. 

ESPN 1000 is also launching a new weekday Bears podcast hosted by local YouTube personality Pat The Designer (yes, that’s his name) beginning this Monday and is running year-around with a rotating host every day. Briggs will be on Mondays to recap the game (or previewing it if the Bears are on Monday Night Football that week), Courtney Cronin appearing Tuesdays and Thursdays, McKie appearing Wednesdays and Fridays will feature Jurko. 

“I am ecstatic for ESPN Chicago to enter a new era for exclusive Bears content 365 days a year while bringing together a diverse, energetic, and passionate group of talent with a deep knowledge of Chicago sports”, said Danny Zederman, who is director of content for ESPN 1000. “Our talent has a real understanding of the importance of the Chicago Bears and what the team means to the fans because our team is made up of fans. We are counting down the days until kickoff!” 

Give the state of the other Chicago sports teams lately, believe me, we are too.

Last year, ESPN 1000 won the rights to broadcast Bears football, replacing longtime rightsholder WBBM as parent company Audacy opted not to renew its contract. ESPN 1000 can also be heard on WSHE’s 100.3 HD-2 signal. 

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