The Hub's New Sports Hub

On August 13th, CBS introduced the new WBZ-FM as '98.5 The Sports Hub', Boston's newest all-sports radio station and a direct competitor to sports radio giants WEEI and ESPN Radio. The station will broadcast Bruins and Patriots games as well as daily sports talk shows featuring some familiar voices. The 'Toucher and Rich' show airs during weekday morning-drive time, 'Tanguay and Zolak' cover weekday middays, 'Felger and Massarotti' broadcast weekday afternoon-drive time, and Hub newcomer Damon Amendolara hosts 'The D.A. Show' weeknights. How will the new station compete against the self-proclaimed 'number one rated sports radio station in the country', and the self-proclaimed 'world-wide leader in sports'? Early indications say they will fare well.

Ironically, CBS owned 590 WEEI from 1937 to 1982 before selling the station to Helen Broadcasting who in turn sold the station to the Boston Celtics in 1991, at which time it became a full-time sports station. Meanwhile, Boston sports pioneer 850 WHDH folded and sold its dial position and transmitting facilities to American Radio Systems in 1994. Subsequently, WEEI was sold to Back Bay Broadcasting, which then sold the call letters and programming of WEEI to American Radio Systems, who then moved WEEI to 850 to replace defunct WHDH. American Radio Systems merged with CBS in 1998, but WEEI, 680 WRKO, and other stations were immediately sold to Entercom Communications Corporation. Why all the movement? The Red Sox, of course!

The Red Sox games were broadcast on 850 WHDH from 1947-1975 and featured legendary announcers Jim Britt, Curt Gowdy, Ned Martin, and Ken Coleman. From 1976 to 1982, the Red Sox games were found on 1510 WMEX , which was renamed WITS and now known as WWZN which recently tried unsuccessfully to compete in the sports radio market. 680 WRKO broadcasted Red Sox games from 1983 to 1994, followed by 850 WEEI from 1995 to the present. In 2006, Entercom signed a ten year deal to make WRKO the flagship station for the Red Sox night games, while WEEI would carry Wednesday games as well as day games. On August 26th of this year, Entercom changed the deal and WEEI became the sole flagship station for the Red Sox. Why the sudden change back to WEEI? The emergence of WBZ-FM!

With their first real competition in the Boston sports radio market, WEEI has made some noticeable changes this month. They brought the Red Sox games back from WRKO to keep listeners from changing the station before and after the games, shortened breaks between segments, answered callers quicker, and welcomed back Boston Globe writers who had been banned from WEEI since Ron Borges used a racial slur in 1999. But, it's too little, too late. The problem with WEEI has less to do with breaks, callers, and Globe writers and more to do with being a stale, stubborn, noisy mess.

The 'Dennis and Callahan' show on WEEI is a platform for the hosts' political stances, favorite shows on cable, and golf countryclubs they belong to. They typically spend less than half their time talking about sports, even though John Dennis is a former sports anchor for WHDH-TV and Gerry Callahan is a sports writer for the Boston Herald. They have an entire segment of the show about world news, and in fact, this program is better suited for FOX News than sports radio. Dennis and Callahan are right-wing bigots with a liberal audience that they frequently argue with because only their opinions matter. The program can become unlistenable unless you are a white male Republican who golfs and watches '24' or 'The Sopranos'. WBZ-FM will counter with 'Toucher and Rich', a holdover from the defunct WBCN. While a more juvenile show compared to D & C, Toucher and Rich (Fred Toucher and Rich Shertenlieb) may appeal to a broader audience who are tired of the 'Soccer Mom' duo's act.

The 'Dale and Holley' show on WEEI is the best program on the network. Dale Arnold is the former play-by-play announcer of the Patriots and Bruins, and is the only person to announce games for all five major sports franchises in New England. He is a two-time Regional Emmy Award winner. Michael Holley is a former sports writer for the Boston Globe, and wrote best-selling books about Terry Francona, Tedy Bruschi, and Bill Belichick. Dale and Holley discuss topics rather than argue them, offer professional insights and opinions, and are well-versed in many sports. WBZ-FM will counter with 'Tanguay and Zolak', also from WBCN as part of the Patriots pre-game and post-game shows. Gary Tanguay is the host of the popular 'Sports Tonight' on Comcast SportsNet, and a former sports anchor for WBZ-TV. He is a self-proclaimed 'homer' which can be endearing to some fans and not to others. Scott Zolak was a Quarterback for the Patriots, and was the former co-host of the 'Gresh and Zo' show in Providence. Tanguay and Zolak will co-host the Patriots pre-game and post-game shows on WBZ-FM and their weekday show will give 'Dale and Holley' competition only on Fridays and Mondays during football season.

'The Big Show' on WEEI is like a bunch of guys sitting around talking about sports... while getting drunk (it seems). The show has a great concept: a host with a sports announcing background and rotating co-hosts who are sportswriters and former athletes. Glenn Ordway was a former announcer for the Celtics, a radio program director, and one of the first sports talk stars. He is an admitted flip-flopper who focuses too much on the 'topic of the day' and often contradicts himself throughout the program. Joining Ordway as a quasi co-host is Flashboy Pete Shepard. The cavalcade of stars that join Glen and Pete include respected writers Steve Buckley and Sean McAdam of the Boston Herald, and former Red Sox player and sudden sports talk star Lou Merloni. The three co-host 'The Baseball Show' with Greg Dickerson on Saturdays, which is also broadcast on NESN. Other 'Big Show' co-hosts include former Patriots players Fred Smerlas and Steve DeOssie, who co-host TV shows with both Ordway and Shepard, and shamelessly plug their restaurant on the shows.

The problems with the show and its co-hosts are that they talk about the same subject for longer than necessary, and they argue amongst themselves and with callers. Four hours a day for five days a week for four weeks is truly too long to talk about whether Victor Martinez or Jason Varitek should be the starting Catcher for the Red Sox. But, because Ordway and the boys constantly talk over each other and the callers, and no one can suggest a topic beyond the three presented at the beginning of the show, no real progress in the 'conversation' gets made. Many of the callers are plants, usually friends of the host or co-hosts who offer up a question or statement without any knowledge of the topic (or even how to pronounce a player's name) to get the 'conversation' going. Throughout the show someone, usually Shepard, will say something silly and listeners are encouraged to call the wildly popular 'Whiner Line' and leave a funny comment that may be broadcast at the end of the show. Most of the low-brow comments for the 'Whiner Line' are provided by frequent callers, some of whom are professional comedy writers. The entire show is sophomoric.

WBZ-FM will counter with 'Felger and Massarotti', two former co-hosts of 'The Big Show'. Michael Felger is the co-host of 'Sports Tonight' with Gary Tanguay, the host of 'Sports Sunday' on Comcast SportsNet, a former sports writer for the Boston Herald, and previously hosted his own show on ESPN Radio. Tony Massarotti is a sports writer for the Boston Globe, and a former writer for the Boston Herald. He was the 2001 winner of the Sportswriter of the Year Award, and both he and Felger have authored popular books. The outspoken Felger is known for his criticism of everything, whether he knows the details or not, and is a contrarian simply because he wants to create controversy. Remember McAdam calling Felger 'Mr Baseball'? Classic! Massarotti is a good foil for Felger because he is not afraid to take him to task, and can be a calm voice in the of reason in the 'Sea of Felger'. On 'The Big Show', both Felger and Massarotti grew tired of the inane banter and constant teasing, while on their own show they should be able to talk about many different topics respectfully, with a little bit of friendly banter, much like 'Dale and Holley'. Look for 'Felger and Massarotti' to give 'The Big Show' a run for its money.

'Planet Mikey' on WEEI is hosted by funnyman Mike Adams whose shows are more like Howard Stern than Howard Bryant. 'The D.A. Show' on WBZ-FM is hosted by Damon Amendolara who seems to be knowledgeable (even though he's a Yankees guy). The decision here is do you want to hear a comic routine or a sports program?

For the first time, WEEI has some real competition that they are afraid of. With the defections of Felger, Massarotti, John Wallach, and Marc Bertrand, will more WEEI talent leave for WBZ-FM? Lou Merloni was reportedly offered a deal to defect, but WEEI found a way to keep him on their roster. With the Patriots and Bruins on an all-sports station, will their fans stay tuned for other WBZ-FM programs? To have the Patriots radio host with his own weekday show on the same station is a good way to create loyalty. How will the cable networks be affected? WEEI partners with NESN because of the Red Sox, and WBZ-FM will likely partner with Comcast SportsNet because of Tanguay and Felger, however many WEEI personalities will continue to appear on Comcast SportsNet simply because NESN does not have a decent sports news program. Whatever the case, it is nice to be able to change the station during a commercial on one station and hear (clearly) more sports talk on another.