Ratings: 98.5 passes WEEI; TV: Pats games on record pace

[Pewsterbaby]

A few random comments-

I listen to both stations online and often jump when one is in commercial. What I couldn't believe is how much freaking politics I heard in October on EEI. Who do these guys think they are? They actually think they're gonna sway some listener's votes? Hey, if I shape my vote based on what a sports talk radio guy thinks, well, they ought to take my voting ability away.
And all the death penalty talk... on SPORTS talk radio?
That wouldn't happen here in New York. Nobody talks either topics on air. It's unprofessional.

Also, if I'm not mistaken, I'm not sure but I recall both Boston stations don't have live local hosts or shows between, at least, midnight until 6 a.m.
They switch over to some generic national ESPN or Westwood One total crap or something.
Hey, if I can't sleep or I work late at night, what am I gonna do? There's nothing for 25% of the 24 hour day? That's sooo bush league.
I wake up[ sometimes before 6 and I actually have to wait to hear Pats discussion?
Not down here in NYC. City never sleeps and neither does the local sports talk radio. All night, EVERY night. Live.

I get to hear Jets & Giants talk Sunday night all the way into Monday morning. What, Boston shuts down on Pats talk about 3 or 4 hours after a game and y'all have to wait until 6 on Monday morning? That's kinda comical.
What if you work during Sunday overnights?

Someone should set up a rogue pirate radio station midnight Sundays until 6 in the morning every Monday and actually discuss Patriots to the thousands of listeners who want it. They'd do big numbers. lol.

Paul Perillo is the oracle on Patriots anyway. I listen to PFW In Progress tues-thurs on Patriots.com

 

[jmt57]

A few random comments-

Yes and no.

I've travelled quite a bit and the things you mention about sports talk radio are not unique to Boston. In fact, that's pretty much the standard format in most every market other than yours that actually has its own shows: the drive time morning show is light on sports, mixed in with a lot of non-sports talk of local interest. Most stations nationwide switch to national syndicated shows at 6 or 7 pm, after the evening drive time is over; staying with a local live show as late as 11 or 12 is actually very unusual. There's a lot of sports talk radio stations around the country that are far more limited with the live local shows than the Boston market is.

As hardcore fans of course we'd all like to have live local talk shows 24/7, as well as none of the politics and talk nothing but sports. Unfortunately it's a numbers game; a casual fan counts just as much in ratings as a hardcore fan does. It's a business and they've discovered a format which maximizes their ratings, and therefore their profits. You and I and everyone else here may not like it but I do understand why they do that.



For Fred from Dartmouth and anyone else that keeps whining about the local media, I highly recommend your suggestion about Perillo and PFW. If you're not on a computer and are spending a lot of time driving in your car, download their broadcasts before you leave for work so you can listen to them rather than the shows you dislike so much.

 

[Pessimistic Pete]

A few random comments-
Not down here in NYC. City never sleeps and neither does the local sports talk radio. All night, EVERY night. Live.

Yeah, Boomer and Carton on WFAN are 4 straight hours of sports talk, like it should be. I don't mind sprinkling in other stories but it should be very brief, not a god damn hours worth.

Dennis & Callahan now are simulcasted on NESN so I caught some of them. They spent a good 20 min talking about whether they'd want their son to be Tom Brady or Justin Bieber then went on for like an hour about "criminal illegal aliens", changed the station...

 

[RIP#40]

I listen to both. He blew the article.


The main reason 98.5 has done well is that the Patriots have struggled more in the past 2 seasons than they had appeared to do for several years prior when 'viable' challengers were around. Since 98.5 focuses much more on negatives, it attracts the sort of people who rally around that.

Felger is a crap stirrer. When times are tough, people gravitate to that sort of message. If the Patriots were coming off of a great year and off to a dominating start, 98.5 would be a ghost station except when games were being played.

Yes, it helps that 98.5 is an FM station. Yes, it helps that some people are tired of the WEEI format (that's just fatigue, and it happens with every program. M*A*S*H eventually went off the air, after all). Yes, it helps that some people were pretty much captive to WEEI before, although their numbers were obviously small, given the failures of the earlier competition. Yes, it helps that they're talking a bit of hockey (of course, that's mostly because the Bruins are finally worth mentioning again, after over a decade of being nothing).

But let's not fool ourselves. 98.5 is doing well because Felger's negative positions are echoing the feelings of more Patriots and Red Sox fans. It's sure as hell not because the programming's of any quality. Felger is the worst daytime radio host on either station, after all, and Mazz is little more than his lapdog on that show.

Couldn't disagree more. I guess that's why we have choices.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Dennis & Callahan now are simulcasted on NESN so I caught some of them. They spent a good 20 min talking about whether they'd want their son to be Tom Brady or Justin Bieber then went on for like an hour about "criminal illegal aliens", changed the station...

D&C on NESN will not last till Easter. Fine for radio but...

 

[MOSS]

D&C on NESN will not last till Easter. Fine for radio but...

Or it gets moved to Fox News