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More On The New WBZ-FM

July 15, 2009 By

Yesterday’s announcement by CBS that WBCN would be no more and that a new sports radio station would be coming on-line certainly caused quite a buzz in Boston. We enjoyed one of our biggest traffic days of the year yesterday, and the new Fang’s Bites at BSMW blog had the best day in its short history as well. So now that the dust is settling here, let’s take a closer look at things:

What We Know For Sure

WBCN is going off the air, MIX 98.5 is moving to the 104.1 frequency and the new WBZ-FM will start at 98.5 on August 13th.

The new all-sports station will be called “98.5 The Sports Hub.”

It will be a sister station of prestigious CBS sports radio stations WFAN in New York, WIP in Philadelphia, “The Score” in Chicago and “The Ticket” in Detroit.

The new WBZ-FM will be the broadcast home of the New England Patriots and the Boston Bruins.

What We’re Pretty Sure About

Current WBCN morning team Toucher and Rich will move over to WBZ-FM (6:00-10:00 am).

Gary Tanguay will host a 10:00am to 2:00pm mid-day show.

Michael Felger will host the afternoon drive, likely 2:00pm – 6:00pm.

Both of those shows will likely have one rotating co-host each day.

The relationships with the above sports radio stations could mean plenty of guests from those stations/cities, especially when Boston teams are taking on teams from those cities.

A good signal at 98.5 FM automatically puts this station miles ahead of previous WEEI competitors 1510 the Zone and 890ESPN.

Stealing from Peter King -  Things We Think We Think

The CBS connection could naturally mean broadcasts from the CBS Scene at Patriot Place. Does WEEI get the boot? What relationship is WEEI going to have with the Patriots going forward? They will still have Patriots Monday and Patriots Friday,  as well as the Sunday morning football show, but beyond that, does their relationship shrink a bit?

The WBZ connection with WBZ-TV means plenty of tie-ins with the Patriots. WBZ-TV has the Patriots preseason games, many of the regular season games broadcast nationally on CBS, the pre game show and Patriots Fifth Quarter, plus Patriots All-Access. (I foresee plenty of Steve Burton on the WBZ-FM airwaves. Wow.)

I’m unsure of the local status of the Westwood One rights. WWO used to be owned by CBS before it was spun off, but still maintains strong ties with its former parent. WEEI had the local rights, and used them to broadcast Monday Night Football and other events. If WBZ-FM can get these if will give them plenty of top-notch national sports programming.

The above station websites give you a fair idea of what the new WBZ-FM website should look like, and it should have on-line streaming available. Expect content integration with CBS Sportsline for stories, and some local blogs. Could this be Felger’s writing outlet?

Speaking of Felger, this puts him at a station that has his two strengths – football and hockey. Good fit. Hopefully he can go away from the screaming banchee contrarian that he has been of late and can go back to how he was in the early halcyon days of ESPN890.

Some figures I’d like to see/hear on the station as rotating co-hosts/guests: Bob Ryan, Sean McAdam, Steve Bulpett, Mike Reiss, Chad Finn (he’s done a segment on WGAM in NH which I always found to be good radio), Chris Gasper, Jon Couture, (How about the Cooch and Chad show – the new Clif and Claf?) Ryen Russillo (Just got a new ESPN show, though) Charlie Pierce and Bob Neumeier.

With the Bruins broadcasts on board, they’ll be able to tap into Dave Goucher and Bob Beers for hockey talk.

Please, in the name of all that is holy, refrain from poaching such WEEI “talent” as Steve DeOssie, Larry Johnson, Butch Stearns, Jon Meterparel, or Fred Smerlas. If August 13th comes and at 10:00am I hear Gary Tanguay with Butch Stearns, I know the station is doomed to failure. We don’t need Andelman involvement, either.

Other Items Indirectly Related To This

Felger is immediately off the WEEI/CSN weekend baseball show. Also this morning when a caller to Dale & Holley mentioned Felger, Holley said “I guarantee you you won’t be hearing Felger this summer on these airwaves.” So it would seem that he’s already out. His last mailbag on WEEI.com mentioned he was taking time off….convenient.

Who replaces Felger on The Baseball Show? Does Mike Mutnansky get another shift? Or does Greg Dickerson get the role? Someone else? Mike Adams?

Update: Felger’s name has already been removed from WEEI.com’s list of columnists. That didn’t take long. Several of his recent columns/mailbags, which as of this morning were listed under the “Most Popular” section, no longer appear there.

Filed Under: WBZ-FM
  • Felger

    What does this do to Felger’s writing career? Will another website pick him up or is his writing career over?

    • Bruce

      They may make a place for him on the new station’s website, or perhaps he could go back to freelancing columns for the Herald.

  • http://passpatterns.blogspot.com KF

    Spark up the Hallelujah chorus! I’m ecstatic about a second sports station in town – particularly one that has a signal. The signals on 1510 and 890 are an embarrassment. To me, Felger is the most compelling media voice right now. I’ll certainly tune in to him in the afternoons.

    Plus as mentioned above, there will be some Grade A talent available to join as guests.

    Any chance of Sean McDonough making a return to the airwaves? I always enjoyed his show (when the signal came in) on 1510.

  • Dlycious

    “Please, in the name of all that is holy, refrain from poaching such WEEI “talent” as Steve DeOssie, Larry Johnson, Butch Stearns, Jon Meterparel, or Fred Smerlas. If August 13th comes and at 10:00am I hear Gary Tanguay with Butch Stearns, I know the station is doomed to failure. We don’t need Andelman involvement, either.”

    Amen and Double Amen.

    Bruce, do you really see McAdam bolting from his buddy Glen and joining the new station in some capacity? One would have to assume that neither station would want/allow guest hosts to double dip. Agree?

    • Bruce

      McAdam’s a smart guy. He’s not going to leave ‘EEI unless he thinks the new station has a good shot at succeeding. I think he wouldn’t mind if they gave him a regular shift, especially during the hockey season.

    • Nick

      What about Jeff Hickman and Patrick Gilroy, they were talking Celtics way back when 1510 had the broadcast, and seem to always find a way to stay on the air. I think those two deserve a shot. Just my opinion

    • Mitch

      I’ve posted previously that Sean McAdam would perform extremely well as host of his own baseball show. If I were the new station, I would offer Sean a Saturday morning baseball show of his own, and partner him with Tony Masserotti.

      Since the new station is scheduled to debut in mid-August, this show would premier right in the heat of the pennant race, and offer baseball fans a chance to enjoy a personality that hasn’t been heard on radio for far too long: Tony Mazz.

      Mazz’s baseball columnss are comprehensive, informative and very well thought out. “McAdam and Mazz” has a nice ring to it, and would make for excellent baseball radio.

      My third man would be Gordon Edes. He is the best national baseball writer in the business, in my opinion, and would lend a nice, national balance to the local presence of Sean and Tony.

  • Rick Mc

    Bruce,

    A few points.

    1) Shouldn’t the new DC sports station be mentioned as a sister station, although not a prestigious one?

    2) You can be sure about T&R. They mentioned their move repeatedly and what the show would be like.

    3) About CBS Scene and Patriots place: Won’t Felger have to broadcast at Comcast Sports New England? When he left 890 he mentioned something about having to be at or get to CSNE studios for his television gig, which limited the attention he could give to 890.

    4) What is the station going to do about weekends and overnight? I know I am one of the few who care, but they are important to me.

    • Bruce

      1) Well, if you want the entire list of sister stations, here it is:

      New York (WFAN-AM)
      Chicago (WSCR-AM)
      Dallas (KRLD-FM)
      Houston (KILT-AM)
      Philadelphia (WIP-AM)
      Washington, D.C. (WJFK-FM)
      Detroit (WXYT-AM/FM)
      Tampa (WQYK-AM)
      Baltimore (WJZ-FM/WJZ-AM)
      Charlotte (WFNZ-AM/WFNA-AM)
      Sacramento (KHTK-AM)

      2) OK, thanks.

      3) That’s got to be figured out. Perhaps he just does the 10:00pm show along with his other CSN show on Sunday night.

      4) Still up in the air. I’ll be trying to find out more on this.

      • Rick Mc

        I hope they follow your suggestion with the sister stations. You have almost the whole AL EAST, cities with good hockey teams, and great football towns. WEEI never tries to get an outside voice unless it is to have some shouting contest with another station.

  • Wonder

    What about Dan Roche? Wouldn’t the connection with Channel 4 give him the edge in having a show on the new station?

    • Bruce

      Makes sense, yes.

      • Wonder

        And, please, please, please, no Frank from Gloucester on WBZ-FM! The station will succeed if Frank is ignored.

  • Guntfather of Sports Radio

    Mike Adams on TV doing a 3 hour show? Oh, the hijinks and hilarity that would ensue!!! C

  • RM

    Bruce,

    Would CBS restrict Boomer Esiason (or other CBS employees) as a guest on D&C during the football season? The only time I listen to D&C is the segment with Boomer Esiason during the football season. Since WBZ-FM is CBS owned, why allow CBS employees to be on any competitor stations to help boost their ratings(i.e. ESPN).

    • Bruce

      That’s a great question. I don’t know the answer, but I could see CBS doing what ESPN has done in only allowing their talent to appear on other ESPN outlets.

      • Jon

        And with Boomer at the FAN in New York and CBS you’d think they would want him on this new station. I don’t see him on D&C this fall. That would be a big coup for WBZ.

      • Kevin

        Boomer could have his own football show on this station and I would listen. He’s already on in NY I know, but I can dream can’t I?

  • Dick

    Felger is off the Baseball Show??? If so, hallelujah!!!!! I was disgusted when they put an insipid ass with no baseball knowledge on that show.

    This time when Felger has ratings of 0.0 and he falls on his face, ‘EEI better not take him back.

    • Jimbo

      And Mike Adams was a baseball genius????

    • Jason

      Just because Steve Buckley can spout off inane trivia about 70s baseball doesn’t mean he knows anything about the sport. Felger was the only reason to watch/listen to that show. Merloni is the master of the obvious and McAdam, while a step up from Buckley, still talks about things like Win-Loss record for pitchers.

  • Kevin

    Supposedly, Tanguay was supposed to be filling in for the Baseball Show this weekend. I can only assume he’s also out of there now?

  • Jason Coyote

    Having thought about it some more, I’m beginning to wonder if just because CSNers Felger and Tanguay are each getting their own shows on WBZ-FM, it automatically means that the two stations are going to form an exclusive partnership? Will the Saturday Baseball Show simulcast continue only through the end of this baseball season? Will there continue to be any crossover between CSN and EEI (Merloni, Metaparel, etc)?

    Bruce, do you happen to know how long EEI’s agreement is with the Krafts regarding Patriots Monday/Friday?

    • Bruce

      I don’t, but I believe the did a multi-year agreement prior to last season.

  • E

    Tanguay was saying he would be subbing for Felger on his Sunday Night show on CSN, not the Baseball Show.

    I hate Mike Adams, the guy is a total clown. If you complain Felger doesn’t know anything, then there’s no way you can like Adams. not to mention, the guy won’t take a shift at this new station, he seems to not like working as he’s frequently absent at his current gig.

  • Gayle Kneif

    I’m truly excited about this new station. I think Felger is a throwback to when SportsRadio emphasized the “sports” (I agree that he’s reverted a bit since moving back to Ego Ego I), and any station that emphasizes SPORTS (and not what the host are doing or where they went or playing “who can holler the loudest” is worthwhile.

    I second the suggestion of Sean McDonough. Like Felger, he brought a true sports approach to radio when he was on. I count on the hosts of the show for insight and analysis, and there’s very little of that at the soon-to-be former sports leader.

    I reset my car presets this morning. C’mon August 13!

  • patsfan11

    Reiss, yes, and Fluto yes. Anyone else who works at the Globe heck no. Putting Gasper on the radio, what to ask more questions about bike helmets? I’d rather listen to the windbags on AM

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  • Chris

    What about bringin in some of the younger talent from a smaller radio station? For starters, the kid Danny Picard is a South Boston product. He’s pretty young and has already been a Bruins writer for the Globe and he has proved he can run a great show on his own with big time guests. Tony Massarotti is on with him today and the kid has connections with some of best writers in town. Extremely talented, knowledgable, and entertaining, just is on a tough signal.

    • Bruce

      If they’re smart, they’ll look at all possibilities. I’m much rather hear some new voices than just have the same old recycled ones.

      • Angry Old Bastard

        could not agree more….but I have a sinking feeling they are going to go with the, “usual suspects”……hell, they’ve already hired 2 in Gary Tanguay and Felger…..gotta give em’ a chance, of course…..we’ll see

  • yuppiescum

    When I’m looking for sports news I’ll probably listen to D&H over Tanguay in the midday, felger in the afternoon and T&R in the morning.

  • Dave

    Bruce. Does Dickerson have any opening here to get a better deal than his near full-time gig with the Celts? Thanks

    • Bruce

      My sense is that Dickerson is happy with what he’s doing with the Celtics. I could be wrong, but that is how is appears. He might show up on the new station, as his WEEI appearances have really dwindled.

  • Aaron

    I was a big fan of the providence am station 790-the score — well, not the station itself which was moronically run and poorly programmed, but Andy Gresh / Scott Zolak show. Any chance that Gresh and Zo might get another chance here?

    • Bruce

      Gresh has his own show on Sirius/XM, not sure he’d want to leave that and come back to local (The Gresh Show)

      Zolak could have a role here.

      • joe

        if i were gresh i’d be looking into this new station. don’t know if you’ve heard or read anything but chris russo had fallen off the deep end and threatening to fire all of his talent. the audio can be found on deadspin

        • GuntfatherofSportsRadio

          That was a radio stunt. The PD wasn’t fired he just had a day off.

  • Siggy

    Ordway won’t care, he just signed a $5M deal..I can’t really come up with any recent criticism of his show because I don’t listen to it anymore. Anybody else who just signed a contract over there must be pissed. But to add to the above, no Whiner Line clone please, no ‘fat guys sitting around the mike’ jokes, no interminable breaks at the top of the hour that get the show live at 20 past the hour, no intense parochialism that mocks anything outside of Rte 128, no Phantom Goumet tie-ins, no 4-hour shows centered around ‘will the fans cheer Nomar or boo him?’. Did I forget anything?

  • Jason Coyote

    Not surprisingly, Felger’s name is off the EEI.com masthead, which also means the end of his e-mailbag archive.

    I think what’s confusing me about who will wind up where is the relationship/contract situation of each media member. Because Felger and Tanguay are both headed to WBZ-FM but will remain at CSN, it looks like there would be an exclusive marriage between the two media outlets.

    But then take the Saturday Baseball Show, a CSN/EEI simulcast. I would have to assume that the terms of this deal stipulate that the show must air through the entire baseball season, so that’s why Felger can no longer be involved with it. But what about guys like Merloni and McAdam, who not only appear on this show but also on EEI and CSN’s nightly sports shows. Do they now have to choose one or the other? Are they paid as freelancers, meaning they could technically continue appearing on both outlets?

    Then you have the Globe/NESN partnership, but that’s not exclusive because some of the Globe folks occasionally pop up on the CSN shows.

    How about Michael Holley? He’s under contract at EEI but I assume he must’ve signed some type of deal to host the Celtics show on CSN (in addition to all his other CSN apperances)?

    Depending on the exclusivity of the WBZ-FM/CSN partnership (assuming there is one), EEI’s on-air (and maybe even off-air staff) is going to take a legitimate hit. This may have happened to a degree in the early days of 1510 and 890, but with the Boston media market continuing to consolidate, there are fewer placers for the talent to go (and I haven’t even factored in Comcast’s recent buyout of NECN and what happens to the sports staff there).

    It’s really going to be fascinating how this all plays out and what the final Boston sports media ‘alliances’ (for lack of a better word) will be.

  • Tmoney63

    I swear it was a sad day when Felger left 890. That show was so much more informative and entertaining than the Big Show and the conceited attitude of everyone over at EEI. EEI puts out noone but fanboys and anyone who may call out any of the boston teams except for the Bruins get railed on. Any network that employs that slob Sheppard for so long is just arrogant.

    You can be sure that EEI told Felger to play up his contrarian role more to add some balance and they get more ratings from ripping him. Now he can go back to the early 890 days.

    • hjf774

      I agree with you on Sheppard. When he is on with others, everyone else continuously cuts him off (because he can’t finish a coherent sentence on the first try or quickly) and when he is the host he just ahh’s and stutters. Who found this guy? They even run a “Pete’s Bits” on it and how he has a 30 second question that goes NOWHERE.

  • ROBERT

    WHAT ABOUT JIMMY MEYERS. A NATURAL WITH JIMMY YOUNG.

    • Jason Coyote

      The brothers from different mothers!

    • Oliver

      I really liked the Jimmy Meyers show.

  • Sean

    If the CSN/WBZ partnership is as tight as it appears it’s going to be, I have to wonder if The Baseball Show was a dry run for a simulcast of Felger’s afternoon drive show.

  • http://lyflines.blogspot.com Lyford

    I’ve long wanted some legitimate competition for WEEI. If this is true, they’re giving the afternoon show to one of the three people that essentially guarantees that I continue listening to The Big Show (which is, IMO, the 3rd worst on WEEI’s daily lineup, besting Planet Mikey, but nowhere near as good as the morning and midday shows…)

  • Brian

    Just listened to Picard on 1120. Massarotti needs to be back on the radio full-time during baseball season. And not gonna lie, Danny is pretty good too. If I didn’t know any better I would have thought that was an EEI show. Good to see a local kid in this business!!

    • Brendan

      Picard was an interesting listen but I’m not sure if that BAAWWSTON accent is going to help him much. but this area could use a new voice for sure

      • Chris

        You’re right about the new voice. It doesn’t have to be Picard. Could be one of several others out there, but who cares about his accent. To me it’s different, and if differnt is what we’re looking for than this kid runs a show that’s entertaining, knowledgable and does not have a million people yelling over each other and oh yea, he has Boston Globe writers for guests. That’s something we’re all looking for, right?!?! I’m sold on him.

  • cakes_are_cooking

    I’ll tell you one thing; if Dick Lutsk isn’t part of this lineup, there is no justice in this world. None. And the listening audience will pay the price.

    • Jason Coyote

      If you bring Lutskie back you’ve got to pair him up with Roachie and reunite the former RKO Sox talk hosts.

  • Jake

    I have been listening to 1120 as of late, and they have some interesting programming. It’s mostly a financial talk station, but there are a few local sports shows. I often listen to Picard in the afternoons and would agree that he runs a solid program.

    There’s also a kid there who hosts a show on Saturdays and they run his promos during Picard’s show. I haven’t listened to it, but I may if I get the chance.

    The point is, as others have said, there are definitely new voices in the Boston market and it would be a shame if WBZ-FM didn’t try some of them out, or at least explore all of their options.

    • Jason Coyote

      While I totally agree with the sentiment, I find it hard to imagine a media group as large as CBS Radio wouldn’t go outside the Boston market to bring in an established name before hiring a complete unknown, even at the cost of having to pay out a higher salary.

      I suppose the possibility exists they could try newer voices on the weekends, assuming they want to air live local shows all weekend. Has anyone noticed that even EEI has cut back on their local Sat/Sun shows? I’m sure it’ll pick up again during football season, but I don’t ever remember EEI running ‘best of instant replay’ on weekend afternoons before this summer.

  • http://Bruce jeffrey maciejowski

    I’m a big college football and basketball fan. Also a season ticket holder to BC football. I’ve always been very displeased with WEEI comments regarding their broadcasting of BC games. Any chance that BC would leave WEEI to get a better signal and more positive feedback. Also , how about a Ted Sarandis comeback??

  • Jim Ed

    I agree with the Felger/890 sentiments. He was TERRIFIC over there when he had his own show (And I’ll be the first to admit I was hugely skeptical when 890 hired him initially), and I think he’ll be great again if he runs things at WBZ FM the way he did at ESPN 890.

    I’d love to see McDonough get a shot at a show, be it weekends or evenings. I bet his ratings would be pretty high, too, especially if he’s up against Mike Adams. They’d attract two different audiences, and those that are tired of Adams’ act would quickly switch.

    WBZ will fail if they use the same retread schtick from ‘EEI (I understand having to use Burton because he already works there, but please no Butch Stearns). Also, if Tanguay tries to just stir the pot, it won’t work. Right now, I’d still choose D&H over him in a heartbeat. They’ll succeed if they do some innovative things, such as having crossover guests from other CBS stations (imagine Felger interviewing Joe Beningo from WFAN) and if they emulate how Felger ran his 890 show early on.

    Bruce, I’m wondering if you have any insight or information on how the other CBS stations handle night and weekend programming, and if there would be a requirement that they not use Fox Sports Radio or Sporting News Radio, etc. I know that WFAN has 24 hours of their own programming (other than the Westwood One games and the pro teams games). I’m almost certain WIP is the same way. Wondering if WBZ would have the financial resources to do the same thing…

  • cakes_are_cooking

    Is it possible Steve Leveille will play a role in the programming?

    • Jason Coyote

      Only if his show is simulcast on the new ‘BZ.

  • mandb97

    I smell a return of calling all sports with Tanguay, Burton and Resha, well maybe not Resha. I guess we will have to go with Upton Bell. Danny from Quincy your on.

  • http://twitter.com/stgardner/statuses/2663206035 stgardner (stgardner)

    Twitter Comment


    Fellow Pats and B’s fans more on the new WBZ-FM Boston Sport Radio station [link to post]

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  • Edward

    I would hope that Greg Dickerson becomes the new host of the Baseball Show.

    Why has Dickerson’s role been decreasing at WEEI? He used to rule the weekends at WEEI! Saturdays and Sundays! I miss the good old days of him running the weekends on EEI…

    • Jason Coyote

      That’s a pretty good bet to happen, Edward. At the very least he’s probably hosting this week since there are few other options on short notice.

      To answer your other question, I think like Bruce said it was Dickerson’s choice to cut back. I’m sure EEI was still offering him weekend shifts but after he got the C’s sideline gig he decided to stick to TV fulltime. That being said, I could see him getting the occasional radio shift on the Sports Hub, especially in the short term while CBS Radio decides how they want to fill out their schedule.

      • E

        I heard Felger say on the 10pm Gary Tanguay show that Meter was hosting the Baseball Show this Saturday. This doesn’t mean he’ll get it full time, but Dickerson already had that show once, and he couldn’t do it & his Celtics job. So, I’d bet on Meter keeping that slot for at least a while.

        However, when the BC football schedule starts, Meter does the radio call, so they may start looking at other in house possibilities.

  • kevin

    and does ben maller fit into the equation somewhere? he’d be great in boston.

    • HamLah

      agreed….ben maller in boston would be awesome!

  • mandb97

    One person who would fit would be Rick Ballou. He is a huge Boston fan. He was based out of Jacksonville in the late 90′s. He was terminated because he punched out the morning drive host who was a miserable human being. He then was doing a great job at Sporting News when for some reason he was replaced by Todd Wright who is awful. Wright along with Tim Brando and David Stein is one of the many reasons SNR is abysmal.

    Update: it looks like Ballou is back on in Jacksonville with Frank Frangie

  • Div

    I always enjoyed Sean McDonough’s show when he hosted, but I don’t think he enjoyed the radio gig. My impression at the end was that he couldn’t wait to get out of there. I’d be stunned if he got back into radio while he still has a relatively healthy schedule at ESPN. I think Jon Rish is pretty good even though he’s never going to dazzle the audience with a series of one liners. I doubt he’d leave though (even if his contract allowed it) because he has to recognize he’s just one relapse away from hosting his own nightly show over there.

    • Jason Coyote

      Or even better for a play-by-play man like himself (he’s also called BC hockey), he’s one Joe Castiglione retirement away from calling Red Sox games with Dave O’Brien.

      The fact that Rish no longer hosts the Sox postgame talk shows and barely tolerates taking calls during rain delays, I couldn’t imagine him ever hosting a 4-hour call-in program.

  • http://www.jonvssports.blogspot.com Jon

    I’m just worried about the fact that the Chili Guy will now have no idea of what station to find Kadolfo on.
    Oh yeah, and as much as I dislike WEEI, I don’t see this working.

    • Jason Coyote

      If by ‘working’ you mean that WBZ-FM overtakes EEI in the ratings then I agree, but they don’t need to do that in order to be successful. All they really need to do is register something higher than what BCN is currently getting (or something higher than 1510 or 890 were able to do) to be able to at least put a significant dent in EEI’s dominance.

      I think what will work for the new ‘BZ is that they’ll be broadcasting the Patriots and Bruins (think they’ll be hyping that New Year’s Day Fenway game, maybe even broadcasting live shows onsite that day?) and that they’ll be heard in greater Boston on a strong FM signal.

      That being said, I’ve tried listening to a little of T&R this week to see what they’re all about. IMO if that show is going to be any kind of viable alternative to D&C, they will have to add a flash/update guy who is very knowledgeable in sports, otherwise they’ll talk even less sports than D&C already do. While D&C can be uber-obnoxious at times (particularly on non-sports subjects), they look like Rhodes scholars compared to T&R when it comes to what they know about sports. Short of that the only other option for revamping T&R’s show would be to hire new producers who can at least prep them on sports subjects. If that happens I wonder how many of their loyal listeners will follow them to 98.5?

      I also wonder where the SportsHub’s main studios will be? With Tanguay and Felger accounting for eight hours of progamming M-F, I assume they would do their shows from CSN’s studios in Burlington, but if the TV sports department of ‘BZ gets utilized (and I can already envision a Dan Roche-hosted Sunday morning baseball show next year) would they have studios in the same Soldiers Field Road building that already houses Ch. 4 and 1030AM?

      • Rick Mc

        The Sportshub will be out of the current Brighton studios that host WBCN. T&R were talking about other stations moving in.

        The T&R question is interesting. It sounds like Kadolfo may not make the shift. T&R are looking forward to the new matchup as they were hinting that they do well against D&C in the important listener groups.

        Whatever you think of T&R and their plans to stay the same, their contracts are up next June. It seems like CBS figures they have nothing to lose trying out them in the morning for 10 months or so.

        • Jason Coyote

          Those studios used to be the home of Channel 38 before they got taken over by CBS/Ch. 4. Funny part is if you look out some of the windows there you get a great view of EEI’s studios in the New Balance Building.

          Not only are the two stations going to be on-air rivals, but their studios are going to be a stone’s throw from one another, further adding to just how surreal these changes to the Boston sports media are going to be.

        • Rick Mc

          To add to what I said, it is not clear that Crash is making the shift to 98.5.

      • http://www.jonvssports.blogspot.com Jon

        I think they know more about sports than they let on, it’s just not the focus of the show. The producer – B-Real (not his real name I’m guessing)- does know about Boston sports. But since Fred, Rich and Crash are from GA or FL and Adolfo is from TX, Boston sports is not their “thing”. They do like Bruins and they claim they’ll keep doing the Red Sox Drunken Re-Caps, but the main reason people keep listening to show is the Dating on Demand segments, the parts where the make fun of Adolfo, and the run ins with the Chili Guy. I’m interested to see how they acclimate to being more sports focused, but I think they can pull it off.
        It wouldn’t take much to surpass the Putt Putt Twins and their whiny soccer mom attitudes. I’d rather listen to Crash yodel than Meterperel do anything.

    • curly howard

      better not have eddie andelman at that station.chili guy states that the saturday before wrestling eddie andelman robbed him and kadolfo of a million dollars.

      • Jon

        I heard it was 13 million federal buildings or half a quarter ton of eights. But I agree…

  • Kevin

    What about Mike Giardi? We don’t hear nearly enough from that guy. Anybody who has to put up with Chris Collins should get a show just on that, and that alone.

    • Jason Coyote

      Totally agree on all fronts, Kevin. And from your lips to CSN management’s ears, there’s Giardi filling in as co-host on the Tanguay/Felger show. He’d be a good fit on WBZ-FM, as part of the co-host rotation with Tanguay and/or Felger (along with the Globe sportswriters) or maybe he’s a fill-in host when those guys are on vacation.

      Given his love for football (former player at D-3 Trinity College), Giardi would also be a welcome addition to any Patriots coverage, although his current weekend schedule at NECN makes that problematic.

  • E

    Just heard Merloni would be hosting Saturday’s Baseball Show on EEI. However, the interesting part is that Dan Shaughnessy will be joining the group, essentially replacing Felger.

    Dunno who had what ban on who, but EEI allowing a Globe writer on their airwaves…perhaps they are already feeling the heat and buckling?? This could be wishful thinking on my part.

    • Jason Coyote

      I’d consider it wishful thinking, E. It was the Globe who banned their writers from appearing on EEI, not the other way around. The only reason the exception can be made here with Shaughnessy is because The Baseball Show is really a CSN program (it originates from their TV studios and they use their phone # to take calls) that just happens to be simulcast on EEI (I bet if the show continues next year it’ll be simulcast on the new station with someone like Dan Roche as host). EEI probably has a commitment to air the show for the full season, unless they want to run ‘instant replay’ from 9-12 on a Saturday morning, and I’m guessing they’d take some heat for that. So they put up with Shaughnessy joining the panel.

      I thought I heard earlier this week that Metaparel was hosting, now I wonder if this is a sign that the WBZ/CSN partnership has already begun and fulltime EEI talent are barred from appearing?

      • Wonder

        Does that mean that Lou Merloni won’t be allowed on the Big Show?

      • mandb97

        Jason, I thought the Globe ban was originally for D&C only. It was EEI who decided to ban the globe staff from the rest of their shows. I do not think it is entirely impossible that EEI would lift their ban.

  • Brian from ManchVegas

    Regarding not needing any Andelman involvement, don’t count him out because there’s always a chance he’ll be looking to try to get on this new station and use it as a bully pulpit to take some shots at ‘EEI, and if he does come on the station full-time(last I saw he was still on ‘TKK doing the “Sports Huddle”)perhaps they’d have to have someone co-host to keep him from launching away on rants.

    • Jason Coyote

      Can’t imagine at this stage of Eddie’s career that anyone would want to hire him fulltime. Absolute best-case scenario for EGA would be that he could move his weekly Sunday night “Huddle” over to the new station. Otherwise, no dice unless he wants to pay for his own air time.

  • http://twitter.com/EppingNews/statuses/2691933894 EppingNews (Epping News)

    Twitter Comment


    @jlbruno Here’s all you need to know about the new FM sports station: [link to post]

    – Posted using Chat Catcher

    • http://twitter.com/jlbruno/statuses/2693900364 jlbruno (Jeff L)

      Twitter Comment


      @EppingNews thanks. just hope the signal reaches us in Epping and southern NH so I can listen in the car!

      – Posted using Chat Catcher

      • http://twitter.com/EppingNews/statuses/2695283575 EppingNews (Epping News)

        Twitter Comment


        @jlbruno – Just tune into 98.5 FM and see if you get reception. We do!

        – Posted using Chat Catcher

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