weei and 98.5 under 1 roof - UPDATE!

[WinstonSmith]

The man literally got his career started by talking about masturbating in the family auto whilst the family was in it. That explains a lot about him and a

FYI: I'm listening to Danny Pickard right now. Dude is hot ****. That's what sports radio should sound like.

Love his passion...hate his accent.

 

[Tony2046]

Love his passion...hate his accent.

The accent doesn't bother me. Love when he rips a trolling steeler fan calling in.

 

[jefmblrd]

I don't know what this merger will do to the state of local sports radio, but I'm not sure it can get any worse. I can take Dale & Holley for a while and I like Mike Flynn, Chris Price & Tom E. Curran.

 

[sambam94]

Funny how so many hate so many of these guys, yet continue to listen

 

[DarrylS]

Mike Holley is vanilla ice cream. Hasn't had a hot take in years although he would drive Felger crazy because with every observation Felger would make on every mundane topic i.e. "this coffee is good" or "the sky is so blue today", Mike Holley would disagree and you'd get 4 hours of .... "No I don't think so, I've had better coffee than that" and 'I don't agree, I thought the sky was much more blue yesterday than today". THAT is Mike Holley. I'm amazed Dale hasn't shouted "just shut the fu%# up" to Holley on the air. Can't listen to him drone on without EVER saying anything.

Holley has spent more time "inside" the Pats organization than just about any sports caster, talk show radio host or author... so he usually has more insight.

Felger otoh is another contrarian, who realizes that if he pisses listeners off they will like him more more facebook and twitter followers.. see Shaughnessy or Borges.

 

[RhodyPatriot]

Holley has spent more time "inside" the Pats organization than just about any sports caster, talk show radio host or author... so he usually has more insight.

Felger otoh is another contrarian, who realizes that if he pisses listeners off they will like him more more facebook and twitter followers.. see Shaughnessy or Borges.

So Holley has "inside" access to the Patriots. So what?? He doesn't break any news because of that access. He's not a must listen because of his knowledge. He kisses Patriot arse so he can write books. Problem for Holley is he has no hot takes on the Red Sox, Bruins or Celtics either. He's boring yet annoying vanilla ice cream.

 

[IcyPatriot]

Toucher & Rich ... Felger & Mazz out for now.
It will be like bottle toss - they will end up somewhere - horrible media people are the norm for the area.

Shattuck: Radio shakeup hits Boston listeners

Last night, the big news finally hit: the mega combined company, which will be known as Entercom, is shedding 1030 WBZ, 98.5 The Sports Hub, 100.7 WZLX, 97.7 WKAF and 680 WRKO. It could leave the entire local radio landscape unrecognizable.

What happens to Howie Carr? Dan Rea? Toucher and Rich? Felger and Mazz?

Let’s start with sports talk. The yakkers at 98.5 the Sports Hub will be in fine shape wherever they land. And if you talk to many of the people gloomily roaming the halls at Entercom, they should be thankful they’re going elsewhere.

Meanwhile, their rivals including Kirk Minihane and Gerry Callahan at 93.7 WEEI will further thrive on torching the Hub — especially during morning drive.

 

[Hammer of Thor]

Toucher & Rich ... Felger & Mazz out for now.
It will be like bottle toss - they will end up somewhere - horrible media people are the norm for the area.

Shattuck: Radio shakeup hits Boston listeners

I'm not reading them to be out (yet). Basically Entercom can't keep all the radio stations they acquired as part of the merger, so they are selling some, including 98.5. Whether they're out depends on what the buyer wants to do with them. No buyer details yet.

 

[Oswlek]

FYI: I'm listening to Danny Pickard right now. Dude is hot ****. That's what sports radio should sound like.

I agree with virtually all of your posts, but holy hell do we diverge on this one. I have never heard Danny Picard speak without thinking he is an imbecile of the highest order. He has reached the "turn off the second you hear his voice" echelon for me.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

If it results in some on-air staff from WEEI or 98.5 losing their jobs, all the better. The world will be better off without pretty much any of them.

Of course, we'll get the worst of both worlds along the way. Minehan et al in the morning and Felcher in the afternoon.

The rise of the computers can't come soon enough.

Ah, the sucking up to be the first to welcome your new robotic overlords tactic.

 

[PatsDeb]

I don't get it. If all those stations are out or to be sold or whatever, why buy them in the first place? Just to shut them down? If someone comes in and buys them and rehires all the "talent," haven't you just spent a lot of time and money to buy out the competition and then just sell them to someone else? Also, why you would keep WEEI over 98.5 the Sports Hub is a real mystery to me. Between the 2, 98.5 is infinitely more listenable. This whole thing is a real head scratcher...

Edit - they think they are going to put Christian/religious content on in NE and be successful? Good luck with that...

 

[Raymond]

I don't get it.......................Edit - they think they are going to put Christian/religious content on in NE and be successful? Good luck with that...

Sadly, they did that with my favorite music station, WBRU. ( when I'm not listening to my own stuff)

 

[BlacknGold77]

I don't get it. If all those stations are out or to be sold or whatever, why buy them in the first place? Just to shut them down? If someone comes in and buys them and rehires all the "talent," haven't you just spent a lot of time and money to buy out the competition and then just sell them to someone else? Also, why you would keep WEEI over 98.5 the Sports Hub is a real mystery to me. Between the 2, 98.5 is infinitely more listenable. This whole thing is a real head scratcher...

Edit - they think they are going to put Christian/religious content on in NE and be successful? Good luck with that...

tell that to the money grubbers that just screwed over 95.5 WBRU and sold the frequency to a christian rock station.

nevermind that WBRU is consistently voted one of the top stations in the country by Rolling Stone, and was easily the top and one of the most influential alternative music stations.

 

[FCB02062]

Radio in Boston died in August 2009 when 'BCN went off the air...

"Shine on you crazy diamond"

 

[VectorPrime]

I hate monopolies and consolidations so I'm hoping that most of these stations are divested successfuly.

 

[Hammer of Thor]

I don't get it. If all those stations are out or to be sold or whatever, why buy them in the first place? Just to shut them down? If someone comes in and buys them and rehires all the "talent," haven't you just spent a lot of time and money to buy out the competition and then just sell them to someone else? Also, why you would keep WEEI over 98.5 the Sports Hub is a real mystery to me. Between the 2, 98.5 is infinitely more listenable. This whole thing is a real head scratcher...

Edit - they think they are going to put Christian/religious content on in NE and be successful? Good luck with that...

There's a certain limit to the number of stations one entity can own in a particular market. It's generally anti-trust law type of stuff. Entercom didn't just buy Boston's stations; they bought all of CBS radio. It just so happens that Boston had more overlap than other markets, so they need to dump a lot of them. They're choosing to dump many of the CBS radio stations they bought rather than their existing stations.

Sort of like years ago in Boston when Fleet bought Bank Boston (before they themselves were bought by Bank of America). The merger as it was caused anti-trust issues, so they needed to sell of many of the branches as a condition of the merger. That's how Sovereign Bank (now Santander) got its foothold here, as they were the buyers.

What's ultimately going to happen to each of those stations will depend on what the eventual buyer wants to do. In the specific case of 98.5, the ratings release in the next few weeks will be a key determiner -- there's no way the buyer would want to change the format of the #1 rated sports station (unlikely WEEI passed them last quarter) but they could make adjustments to individual shows that aren't performing well.

 

[PatsDeb]

There's a certain limit to the number of stations one entity can own in a particular market. It's generally anti-trust law type of stuff. Entercom didn't just buy Boston's stations; they bought all of CBS radio. It just so happens that Boston had more overlap than other markets, so they need to dump a lot of them. They're choosing to dump many of the CBS radio stations they bought rather than their existing stations.

Sort of like years ago in Boston when Fleet bought Bank Boston (before they themselves were bought by Bank of America). The merger as it was caused anti-trust issues, so they needed to sell of many of the branches as a condition of the merger. That's how Sovereign Bank (now Santander) got its foothold here, as they were the buyers.

What's ultimately going to happen to each of those stations will depend on what the eventual buyer wants to do. In the specific case of 98.5, the ratings release in the next few weeks will be a key determiner -- there's no way the buyer would want to change the format of the #1 rated sports station (unlikely WEEI passed them last quarter) but they could make adjustments to individual shows that aren't performing well.

Thanks for the explanation, but I am still scratching my head as they must have to dump a lot of stations in big markets then. I wonder what specific target markets they were trying to acquire...

 

[IcyPatriot]

I don't get it. If all those stations are out or to be sold or whatever, why buy them in the first place? Just to shut them down? If someone comes in and buys them and rehires all the "talent," haven't you just spent a lot of time and money to buy out the competition and then just sell them to someone else? Also, why you would keep WEEI over 98.5 the Sports Hub is a real mystery to me. Between the 2, 98.5 is infinitely more listenable. This whole thing is a real head scratcher...

Edit - they think they are going to put Christian/religious content on in NE and be successful? Good luck with that...

WEEI has more advertisers and generates more revenue due to their wider network in New England.

 

[Joker]

Thanks for the explanation, but I am still scratching my head as they must have to dump a lot of stations in big markets then. I wonder what specific target markets they were trying to acquire...

These scumbags aren't trying to target specific markets, Deb, they're trying to establish THEIR own narratives and insinuate them into our daily lives.

 

[skspikex2]

Minihane and Felger please. I’m a masochist.