WEEI will once again deliver some of the best football programming in the format thanks to a new agreement between the station’s parent company Audacy, and the New England Patriots. The two sides have struck a multi-year deal to continue their broadcast partnership, which calls for an exclusive continuation of “Patriots Monday” and “Patriots Friday” programming.
The content partnership treats WEEI to weekly conversations with New England Patriots six-time Super Bowl champion head coach Bill Belichick and Patriots players on WEEI in Boston. In recent years, weekly player appearances have included Tom Brady, Julian Edelman and Cam Newton. The partnership between WEEI and the Patriots started in 1995.
“We’re delighted to extend our longstanding partnership with the New England Patriots and continue giving Patriots fans exclusive access to their favorite team every week,” said Tim Clarke, Senior Vice President and Market Manager, Audacy Boston. “We look forward to Coach Belichick and multiple veteran leaders providing perspective and game analysis that only they can share every week on WEEI.”
“For more than a quarter century, Boston sports fans have followed the Patriots on WEEI,” said Murray Kohl, Vice President of Sales, New England Patriots. “We are happy to extend our partnership and continue to provide exclusive access to interviews with Coach Belichick and many of our star players. The conversations that our coach and players have with the WEEI hosts each week provide a much different dialogue and insight into the personality than any other sports platform and has become appointment listening for many Patriots fans.”
One change this year from prior years, Bill Belichick will move his Monday appearances from afternoons to mornings. The Patriots head coach will now join WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show,” featuring Greg Hill and former Patriot Jermaine Wiggins weekdays from 6a-10 ET. The midday show “Gresh and Keefe” with Andy Gresh and Rich Keefe will continue welcoming a rotation of players from 10a-2p ET, including an offensive player, defensive player and a weekly special guest. The afternoon show, “Ordway, Merloni and Fauria,” hosted by Glenn Ordway, Lou Merloni, and two-time Super Bowl champion and former Patriots tight end Christian Fauria, will feature a weekly chat with the Patriots starting quarterback between 2p-6p ET. “Patriots Friday” will also return with additional team-focused programming throughout the season each Friday.
In addition to creating Patriots-focused on-air content, WEEI has also struck deals with a number of NFL contributors. The station this fall will feature weekly discussions with Michael Irvin, Michael Lombardi, WFAN morning host and CBS NFL analyst Boomer Esiason, ESPN analysts Tedy Bruschi and Keyshawn Johnson, and NBC Sports’ Peter King.