Today we’ll get a chance to opine on someone who isn’t actually a sports media member, but who has a huge influence on the sports media scene here in Boston.
We’re talking about the VP of Programming & Operations for Entercom Boston, Jason Wolfe. He also serves as Vice President AM Programming at SportsRadio 850 WEEI. (That’s all according to his LinkedIn profile.)
As I mentioned, Wolfe isn’t on the air on WEEI, but he determines who is. He took over programming duties of WEEI from Glenn Ordway a few years back. His goals for the WEEI programming as stated to Boston Magazine are as follows:
“Our goal across the board is to push the envelope,” he says. “If we didn’t do it that way, we would be going back to what we used to be, which was reading the box scores.” The station is long past needing the credibility that came with having reporters from New England’s most prestigious newspaper take part in its shows. “We’re much more successful than we were when we had them on,” Wolfe says. It’s also long past needing to say it’s sorry; being number one means not having to even care who you offend.
Wolfe now oversees talk station WRKO as well, which hasn’t yet enjoyed the phenomenal ratings success that sister station WEEI has seen.
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Popularity: 22% [?]
He’s a guy who acts like he invented sports radio. It’s guy radio folks. We need more horse racing and boxing talk.
Brilliant…horse racing and boxing. What are folks going to say about those sports that won’t put 90% of the audience to sleep? Really. I’m not putting down those sports…but how many people are qualified to discuss either? Boxing in particular is a dying sport.
BTW…my wife likes the horses more than I, and will watch a “good” boxing match with me…they are few and far between unfortunately. You would find more folks willing to discuss pro-wrestling…would you be for that too?
He’s responsible for everything the people on his station do.
He ruined the weekend baseball and football shows. Somehow managed to find someone worse than Ted Sarandis for the night show.
Glad to see someone else thinks he ruined those weekend shows. The football show is just awful and the baseball show, first Mike Adams hosting and now alternating between Buckley and McAdam, what the hell is he doing!
Hmmm…gee…I don’t know…programming one of the most popular, successful radio stations in Boston?
Went to the Ordway school of management – i.e. – surround myself with morons and i’ll come out of this looking well.
Directly responsible for the following media personality atrocities.
Craig Mustard
Larry Johnson
John Meterperel
Mike Adams
Had the good fortune of having Howard Stern leave broadcast radio for satellite and than installed Tom Finneran as his morning show’s competition.
Have I mentioned that he is responsible for
Craig Mustard, Larry Johnson, John Meterperel and Mike Adams?
A tool’s tool.
“media atrocities” made me laugh pretty hard. If Meterperel can work in radio, I can.
Which station are YOU heard on? I’ll be glad to judge for myself.
Gee, thought we might pitch a shutout on this one. Who could approve a guy with an endless list of “D Level” talent like DeAwful, LJ, Mustard, (and on and on) that he just won’t upgrade? Let’s not even talk about the morning guys. It’s gone from “can’t miss radio” to “got to miss” radio.
Bottom of the barrel. This arrogant dwarf has taken a once enjoyable concept, informed host taking calls about sports from fans, and flushed it entirely into the crapper. Now it’s about “stoooooory-lines”, celebrity callers, and screaming, know-it-all hosts. It’s unlistenable, and the reason radio listeners are heading to satellite in droves.
On the plus side, he hands down his “gently used” children sized suits to Chris Collins, Bob Halloran, and Ed Harding, so he must have a soft spot somewhere in that black heart.
I hate how he’s made it ok for sportswriters to be qualified as radio hosts. It is NOT the same thing.
a wise man once told me “I don’t think its worth hoping for conventional radio to improve. Any industry that has Jason Wolfe as one of its most accomplished practitioners is not worth saving.”
i think that is how you have to look at it.
Who was that “wise man”? Eddie Andelman maybe?
Wolfie’s biggest mistake was becoming producer for WRKO.
They’ve been telling us for years that the ratings at WEEI aren’t the result of the local team’s success, they’re the results of the talent and producers … so why does RKO do so poorly, except when a Sox game is on. The same people are behind RKO.
Likes to have contrived arguments on the air (D & C “arguments” come to mind). Creates fake situations i.e., the Mike Adams sit-in.
Responsible for two heinous Crimes Against Humanity in Jon Meterperel and The Big Show.
Disapprove.
Classic example of “Little Man Syndrome”. My favorite Wolfie story has to be when Howie Carr announced his new deal with the other station and Wolfie boy was throwing objects across his office having a tantrum.
My favorite part of that story is the fact that the Pink Hamster is stuck there. HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAH!
Even the fat oafs on the Big Show think this is hilarious.
With no viable compitition Napolean Wolfe can get away with the putting the Mike Adams of the worlds on the air and still get great ratings.
The saying the One Eyed man is king in the land of the blind.
To quote Lisa Simpson, “You’ll never go broke appealing to the least common denominator.”
Ruined the Sunday Baseball show by splitting up Buck and McAdam!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I’m off today but I’m heading into work just so I can vote “Disapprove” again. Hats off to Wofie, though, for being better lucky than good. Right place at the right time, folks.
I do not approve of Jason Wolfe…
With no other real competition on the dial Wolfe has not taken adantage and made WEEI better. WEEI in fact has gone down hill and gotten worse over the past few years.
The talent on the radio is subpar…with the exception of a few people.
- Michael Felger’s show on 890 is better than anything on WEEI.
-Larry Johnson, Michael Holley, Dale Arnold, Craig Mustard, Mike Adams shouldn’t be employed.
-The weekend ‘mustard and johnson’ show is unlistenable. The who show consists of the same celebrity caller friends calling the show every week. It’s an atrocity.
-Wolfe has screwed up the weekend Baseball Show.
- All the hosts are ‘know it all’ hosts. You can’t discuss a subject with them…they tell you if you are right or wrong…they seem to think that they are experts on everything when in fact they don’t know any more than the rest of us do.
- WEEI is not well rounded and diverse. The only things talked about are the Red Sox, Patriots, and occasionally the Celtics. College football and basketball, tennis, and golf (except with D&C) are never discussed. It gets old talking about the Red Sox and Patriots 24/7/365…especially if the NCAA tourney is going on or bowl games are being played. Mike and the Maddog on WFAN talk about everything..their show if far more professional and diverse than any show on WEEI. They have better interviews and guests and talk about just about anything and everything that’s going on in sports.
- The celebrity callers on this station are ridiculous…
Frank from Gloucestor, Danny from Quincy, Mike from Canton, Angry Bill, Jermaine, Dakota, etc. Pathetic.
Anyone who still has Pete the Meathead on the payroll certainly deserves my disapproval!! The guy is a tool!
Thank god for the Phantom Gourmet Radio show with 3 top quality hosts who earned their stripes in this business throught hard work and determination.
Guntfather approved!!!!
A bow-tie means ‘haughty & elite.’ We don’t like ‘haughty & elite.’ I’m quite happy to be contributing to the declining ratings at both stations run by ‘The Boy Who Cried Wolfe!’ I listen to neither WEEI nor WRKO any more. The former is too full of sports media hacks trying to earn their stripes by out-shouting callers and hosts alike. The latter is an outright joke, and deserves all the slings & arrows aimed at it. Both stations bludgeon listeners with commercials and have chased listeners away because of it.
As for Jason Wolfe himself, he just LOOKS like a toolbag.
THUMBS DOWN.
The product on WEEI is beyond putrid. I keep hoping for a sharp decline in the ratings book, so Wolfie will pay with his job and his no-talent minions will be replaced. But somehow they prevail, thanks to “The Smahhhhhhhhhtest Spotts Fans in America.” They should thank their lucky stars for Belichick, Pioli, and the Red Sox. If we were going through the Bad of Old Days of the early to mid-1990s, no one would listen.
Wolfe is about as smart as a box of rocks. He is nothing more than a mid-level sales schyter who attached his sail in a full breeze of sports mania in Boston. He had few innovative ideas and is basically the Barry Switzer of radio. Forced to turn something around, WRKO, he’s only made it worse. He’s an idiot, pure and simple. Take it from someone who has worked with him. And with a Napoleon complex to boot. In two years, he’ll probably be cold calling car washes trying to get them to advertise at 2AM for some weak signal end of the dial station while the bank forecloses on the home he overextended on along with his all-flash, no substance overextended lifestyle.
Dissaprove. He of the storyline ridden, professional wrestling, male soap opera, frathouse style of sports coverage.
Disapprove. Meterparel, Sheppard, most of the Big Show co-hosts, Adams, Mustard/Johnson, the list goes on and on….He’s all about catering to the baffoon regular callers. Anyone who calls with a logical point, especially regarding any team not Red Sox or Patriots, is completely shut down. As much as I dislike the NY teams, WFAN is much better SPORTS radio talk, they actually have a little versatility and variety during their programming, yes even Mike & Maddog…..
I only wish there was a category titled: “disapprove so strongly that I would rather listen to 1000 fingernails on 1000 chalkboards than tune in to EEI”. And this from a guy who had been listening almost exclusively to sports radio for the last 20 years. I stopped listening after the disastrous events of Feb 3 and will not go back. Turns out, the FM button in the car does work after all.
made his bones selling replacement windshields and coffee with a side order of race baiting.
i dont find the programming appealing in any way.
the three hairs swept forward in front arent fooling anyone little guy.
Fails to provide entertainment for anyone with even marginal intelligence. Evidently has a poster of P.T. Barnum above his bed. A dog’s dog.
….I too think WEEI has gone DOWNHILL the last few years and agree with what alot of people have posted. HOWEVER, the bottomline is: PEOPLE ARE TUNING IN. As a matter of fact, I bet alot of the people who just posted here bitching and moaning about WEEI are regular listeners…….people who just ignore WEEI wouldn’t write posts about WEEI….TUNE TO ANOTHER STATION, you people are just feeding the monster no matter how much you say you “disapprove”.
If you think these posters are “regular” WEEI listeners you are wrong. I know a lot of sports fans and practically zero regular listeners. I think most – like me, tune in from time to time just to see if an insightful guest is on. 99% of the time I’m reminded of why I listen to 890 (thank God!) or FM.
One more point, picking your spot to tune in is easy. If its between 20 past the hour and before 20 before, you can count on programming. The rest of the time is devoted to earning revenue to pay all that fabulous talent that grinds out 30 minutes for every hour on the air.
Jason, Baseball show stinks. What about Dan Roche and Sean McAdam? They will fix your horrible baseball show. The best TV baseball guy and the best baseball writer. What’s better than that?
Cloven-hooved small man in search of a balcony.
Does anyone know why Buck & McAdam were split up on the Weekend Baseball Show? It used to be “must listen radio” for me. I like McAdam but only when he’s part of a “panel” otherwise if he’s the lone “rational” voice he’s too condescending to take for long…
Advertising revenues are down so they can’t afford both at the same time. That’s probably why we’re getting the third string cohosts in the afternoon. Insightful guests cost more.
Want to improve ‘EEI? Stop listening. They might get the message.
Agreed. Buck & McAdam can be difficult to take alone but worked very well together, and even Adams was tolerable. Now it’s just another time filler. I’m assuming they were split to save a few pennies in the budget.
WEEI has the potential to be entertaining… it’s not a difficult formula. Hire reasonably intelligent hosts who get reasonably intelligent guests (i.e. people that are more insightful than the average listener) that talk about the sporting issues of the day, with an emphasis on the local scene. Limit the reliance on listener call-in segements, as those tend to be the least informative and entertaining.
Unfortunately, Wolfe has taken the opposite approach in nearly every manner. D & C I do find bearable in doses, Dale & Holley less so, and the once-decent Big Show is simply unlistenable. This is a market starving for competition with a strong enough signal to be competitive.
I agree with Bill Bleak. Stop listening! I gave it up 4 years ago, you are not missing anything. WEEI is not giving you information that they didn’t get from one of the better blogs.
EEI has definitely taken a downturn. D and C can still bring it, however, it gets real sketchy from there. The baseball show with Adams is an abortion. Can’t comment on his show in the last year since I don’t listen to it anymore.
I actually like listening to RKO. Rush in the afternoon and Howie during the drive home are both entertaining, although all Wolfe does with Rush is pay the syndicate bill.
Behind BA, he’s probably the second most important contributor to the success of BSMW just ahead of the CHB.
100+ approvals!!! Who knew Wolfee had such a large family???
I know that I am late to this party but I just wanted to mention 2 of JW’s quilt by omission things, that is, by leaving them as they are, he is guilty…
1.the 20-20 news flash that og so rarely happens anywhere near 20 min.top/bottom of the hour.
2.The use of FSN 40 forty sounding puke radio as overnight filler. I’d rather hear replays of stuff during that day that these cheerling clowns.