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98.5 The Sports Hub Dominates Boston Ratings

“Although sporting events were put on hiatus by COVID-19, Tom Brady offered a lot of content early in the spring ratings book, as the quarterback announced he was leaving the Patriots and soon after signed with Tampa Bay.”

Brandon Contes

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Boston’s sports radio ratings are out, and the results are again very one sided with 98.5 The Sports Hub continuing to dominate the market. Former WEEI morning personality and current host of a daily podcast with Barstool, Kirk Minihane was the first to report the numbers Wednesday afternoon.

During the spring book, which spanned March 26 through June 17, The Sports Hub topped the market, posting a strong 11.5, while WEEI 93.7 was eighth with a 4.5 in the target demo of men 25-54. According to Chad Finn of The Boston Globe, both numbers include the stream and WEEI’s rating also accounts for their Providence-based simulcast WVEI. 

With a global pandemic forcing the spring book to take place without the support of live sports, The Sports Hub saw a small decline from their winter number of 11.9. WEEI’s dip was more significant, dropping nearly two points from a 6.4.

Beginning with morning drive, The Sports Hub’s Toucher and Rich was first with a 12.7 and a significant lead over WEEI’s strongest performing show hosted by Greg Hill, which did a 7.3. Both shows saw declines of almost two full points from the winter book. 

In middays, Zolak & Bertrand also finished first with an impressive 13.8, while WEEI’s Dale and Keefe garnered a 4.2 share for the spring book.  The Sports Hub again maintained their dominance in afternoon drive as Mike Felger and Tony Massarotti were first, showing no signs of slowing despite the global pandemic with a monstrous 16.9, an increase of more than two points from their top-rated winter performance. Felger & Mazz’s Boston sports radio counterpart, OMF (Ordway, Merloni and Fauria) finished the spring book with a 4.3 for WEEI, good for fifth place.  

The evening timeslot was the lone weekday window that didn’t see The Sports Hub finish first overall. The Adam Jones Show, which airs from 6 – 11p, finished third with a 6.4. WEEI’s Mut at Night with Mike Mutnansky earned a 2.9 share, tied for 13th.

Although sporting events were put on hiatus by COVID-19, Tom Brady offered a lot of content early in the spring ratings book, as the quarterback announced he was leaving the Patriots and soon after signed with Tampa Bay. When I spoke to Mike Felger for a BSM feature last month, he called creating content during the sports shutdown “challenging.” But after seeing the ratings, The Sports Hub was clearly up to the challenge and the Boston audience responded.

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Sports Radio News

Kirk Minihane: WEEI is “Going to be Andy Gresh and Rich Shertenlieb in Afternoons”

“Maybe the two most sensitive c***s in the history of radio. That’s a show we are going to ruin.”

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Photos of Kirk Minihane and Rich Shertenlieb

As the speculation continues on where Boston sports talker Rich Shertenlieb will end up, one former WEEI host said he has the scoop on what is going to happen. Kirk Minihane, now with Barstool Sports, said, “What I heard was, initially, was they were moving Rich Keefe from nights to middays, moving Adam Jones from afternoons to middays and keeping Fauria there, and moving Andy Gresh to afternoons…But now it appears Rich Shertenlieb is going to do afternoons with Andy Gresh.”

On Wednesday, Boston Globe sports and sports media columnist Chad Finn had put out a post on X, saying, “Didn’t think Rich Shertenlieb would end up at WEEI after leaving Sports Hub. I do now, most likely in afternoon drive. Audacy management has been telling people to expect changes.”

Minihane continued commenting on the matter, saying, “It’s going to be Andy Gresh and Rich Shertenlieb in the afternoons, which is going to be so awful. Maybe the two most sensitive c***s in the history of radio. That’s a show we are going to ruin…we haven’t done that in a while, we are going to take that show down…Once that show starts, we are just going to blitz them with phone calls because Gresh can’t handle that.

“What they don’t understand, because they are so dumb, is that…Rich Shertenlieb has no fan base…no fan of [Toucher and Hardy] in the morning is going to be like ‘I’m not going to listen to Felger in the afternoons, I’ll now listen to Andy Gresh and Rich Shertenlieb.’ It’s going to be dreadful.”

Recapping what he has heard the rest of the WEEI lineup will be, Minihane said, “…And then in middays you have Adam Jones, failed afternoons. Rich Keefe who has now failed middays, drivetime, nights and is now going to fail again in middays… and Christian Fauria who has never drawn a rating in his life.”

WEEI has not commented on any of the speculation. BSM will have more as the story unfolds.

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Former 670 The Score Host Tommy Williams Has Died

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Photo of Tommy Williams
Courtesy: Lakeshore Public Media

Tommy Williams, who was heard for a decade on 670 The Score, died on Wednesday at the age of 66.

Williams began his broadcasting career in his hometown of Gary, Indiana in 1982 at WLTH before moving on to The Score. In 2003, Williams became the PA Announcer for the Gary Southshore RailCats of the American Association where he had his signature call to get the attention of the fans, “People, People, People.”

A story in The Times of Northwest Indiana said, “The longtime RailCats public address announcer and Lakeshore Public Media sports journalist was known for broadcasting countless games, interviewing countless athletes and covering Region sports at all levels. The Gary native and co-host of “Prep Sports Report,” “Prep Football Report,” and “Lakeshore PBS Scoreboard” often signed off shows saying, “Gary, Indiana, you know I love you.”

“The cadence he had in his voice echoed across the Region in a way we may never see again. He was widely known and widely loved,” Tom Maloney, vice president of radio operations at Lakeshore Public Media told the paper.

“He’d want to be remembered as the voice of Lakeshore sports,” his Regionally Speaking co-host and producer Dee Dotson told The Times. “Most people will remember him for covering prep sports all the way up to semi-pros. He’ll be remembered for treating each of his subjects like they were world champions. His depth of knowledge of sports at all levels is commendable. He was a walking encyclopedia of stats.” 

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Compass Media Networks Promotes Three Members to Oversee Play-by-Play Sports Platform

“It is our pleasure to give these three talented executives their day in the sun, knowing that they will continue to work incredibly hard to carry on this tradition of excellence.”

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Compass Media Networks has announced the promotions of three long-standing executives, Robert Blum, Tyler Brewer, and Chris Kleiber, who will collectively oversee the content creation, production, and distribution of the company’s play-by-play sports platform.

“For over 16 years, Compass Media Networks has set a standard of excellence for national play-by-play sports with Chris, Rob, and Tyler playing a vital part in our success,” said Peter Kosann, CEO/Founder of Compass Media Networks. “It is our pleasure to give these three talented executives their day in the sun, knowing that they will continue to work incredibly hard to carry on this tradition of excellence.”

Robet Blum has been appointed Vice President & General Manager of Sports and will also continue to serve as Vice President of Affiliate Sales for News-Talk and Sports. Tyler Brewer has been appointed Executive Producer – Sports Programming. And Chris Kleiber has been appointed Senior Producer – Sports Programming.

Compass Media Networks broadcasts annually over 100 play-by-play sporting events involving college men’s basketball and football (including the Big Ten Tournament and the Big Ten Championship Game), NFL 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. Sunday Doubleheaders, and complete coverage of the Dallas Cowboys and Las Vegas Raiders. The broadcasts are distributed across hundreds of terrestrial sports, news-talk and music stations as well as digital distribution platforms such as SiriusXM, Verizon Mobile, and the Varsity App.

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