I saw something similar to this posted by Dallas sports media writer Barry Horn, and thought it would be an interesting topic for Boston, as well.
Let’s say you’ve just bought up a radio station in the Boston area. You’ve got a great reach with your signal and money for talent isn’t an issue. You can sign anyone, even someone already working somewhere else.
What’s your schedule? Who do you sign to fill the following slots:
- 6:00 am to 10:00 am
- 10:00 am to 2:00 pm
- 2:00 pm to 6:00 pm
- 6:00pm to 9:00 pm
- 9:00 pm to midnight
- Overnight?
Everything is up to you. You can have solo hosts, or teams of hosts. You can hire people who are already working at various outlets. (Let’s try to keep it to Boston media figures, though)
What other features would you incorporate into the programming? What wouldn’t you do?
Discuss.
Popularity: 9% [?]
6:00 am to 10:00 am – Joe Haggerty
10:00 am to 2:00 pm – Joe Haggerty
2:00 pm to 6:00 pm – Joe Haggerty
6:00pm to 9:00 pm – Joe Haggerty
9:00 pm to midnight – Joe Haggerty
Overnight – Joe Haggerty
6:00 am to 10:00 am – Howie Carr
10:00 am to 2:00 pm – Dale and Holly
2:00 pm to 6:00 pm – Micheal Felger with Josh Miller
6:00pm to 9:00 pm – Michael Graham
9:00 pm to midnight – Don Cherry
Overnight – Mike Adams w/ the former Sports World support staff
It doesn’t get any easier than this:
6AM – 10AM – Dan Andelman
10AM – 2PM – Michael Andelman
2PM – 6PM – David Andelman
6PM – 10 PM – Eddie from Lynnfield assisted by Sid Diamond, Burt Sugar, Nick Cafardo, Ron Borges among others
10PM – 12PM – Craig Mustard & Larry Johnson
12pm – 6AM – Audio Highlights from Hotdog Safari, Phantom Gourmet BBQ Beach Party, etc. You get the idea
Who said great radio programming was difficult?
6:00 am to 10:00 am: Dennis & Callahan
10:00 am to 2:00 pm: Russillo & Holley
2:00 pm to 6:00 pm: The Big Show with Michael Felger
6:00pm to 9:00 pm: Meterparel & Sheppard
9:00 pm to midnight: Jerry Trupiano
Overnight? Ozzy
Assuming we have Globe talent available:
6-10 a.m.: The LOOGY/ROOGY Show (Left-winger Outrageous Opinion Guy/Right-winger Outrageous Opinion Guy) with Bill Lee and Curt Schilling
10-2 p.m.: Brothers Two, with Michael Holley and Cedric Maxwell
2-6 p.m.: The Bigger Show with Ryen Russillo (rotating guests include McAdam)
6-10 p.m.: Bob Ryan on Everything (Nick C. barred from guesting)
10 p.m. – midnight: Touching All the Bases, with Chad Finn
12-6 a.m.: Barstool Sports on the Air (give the bloggers their due)
Barstool Sports is still around?
OK, then hire Ken Tremendous of the former FJM site.
6:00-10:00 Mustard & Johnson
10:00-2:00 Holley and Haggerty
2:00-6:00 Felger and Meterparel
6:00-12:00 Butch Sterns and Fred Smerlas
Overnight Jermaine, Everett, and Iggy
I’d never listen to this station, but it clears a lot of deadwood from WEEI.
Also, they could have Frank from Gloucester, Steve from Fall River, Scheechy from Quincy, Ray from Lynn, and Jack from Lynn as regular callers.
6-10a Howard Stern or ESPN Mike and Mike feed
10-2p Felger and Noomie
2-6p Chris Russo with Sean McDonough
6p-10p Russillo
6am-10am Felger and Sean McDonough
10am-2pm Merloni and McAdam
2pm-6pm Holley and Bob Ryan
6pm-12am Big Ben Maller
Midnight-5am Fred Smerlas, Pete Sheppard, DeOssie, Ordway, Dennis, Callahan, Mustard, Johnson, Butch Sterns rotation…with a break at 3:23am-3:25am for the Best of Mike Adams aka Nails against a Chalkboard Special
6-10 Toucher and Rich with Dale Arnold on Sports
10-1 Mike Holly and Joe Haggerty
1-4 Newmie and Dickerson
4-7 Felger and Friends
7-midnight Teddy Sarandis
overnight syndicated show.
6-10: Vin Scully Reads The Collected Works of Dickens
10-2: The Dale, Holley & Tito Show
2-6: Eck, Wells, and Canseco
6-9: Vin Scully Reads Today’s News And Tells Stories
9-Midnight: Felger, Newmie, and Denis Leary
Overnight: Steve Burton’s Dance Party
6 AM – 10 AM would be John Dennis & Gerry Callahan. The very best radio show in America, in my opinion. They bring their “A Game” every single day. John Dennis conducts the best interview I have ever heard, and Gerry Callahan is passion, personified.
10 AM – 2 PM would be Ryan Russillo and Joe Haggerty. Russillo has a greater breadth of sports knowledge than anyone in the electronic media. It never ceases to amaze me how skillfully he can discuss each and every sport with statistical knowledge and keen insight. Boasting a great voice as well, Russillo is the most credible radio personality in the ESPN lineup. Haggerty brings a lot of factual information to his discussions, is always prepared and knows baseball extremey well. He and Russillo would make a very good team.
2 PM – 6 PM would be Michael Felger and guests. Felger is the rising star of Boston sports media. He is completely objective in his approach to all of the city’s teams, and he backs every opinion with relevant evidence. He is everything that sports radio used to be: Brutally honest, totally unfiltered and deeply passionate. Felger is the first man that I heard use the words “Brady” and “Montana” in the same sentence, as he was way ahead of the curve in projecting Brady’s eventual greatness. Felger’s football knowledge is impeccable, and his hockey and baseball knowledge is very, very strong. He’ll take on anybody…player, coach, owner. I particularly respect the way he stood up to Corey Dillon in the Pat’s locker room.
6-10 PM would be Howie Carr. The man is peerless when it comes to performing a one-man show, and discussing local, national and global current events. He does have a good colleague in Sandy, but it really is Howie’s program start to finish. He keeps a show moving like no one else I have heard, and rarely talks down to anyone, which is no small task. He would be able to discuss all of the day’s events in this time slot, and serve as a nice adjunct/alternative to sports programming on television.
Parenthetically, my Saturday morning baseball show would feature Sean McAdam, Lou Merloni and Gordon Edes. McAdam can perform hosting duties very, very well. Merloni brings a nice player perspective while being respectful to callers, and Edes would lend a terrific, national presence to the program while being easy on the ears. His blog on Yahoo is the best on the net, in my judgment.
Mitch, you are correct and “Felger is the first man that I heard use the words “Brady” and “Montana” ”
However the sentence was “I like to dress like Marsha Brady while watching Hannah Montana”
Felger does get a rise in the lockerroom. But I’m not sure he’s a rising star.
Anyone who says Felger is objective simply doesn’t have a clue. He says things to be different not because he believes them. At the end of the day I want to know the guys I’m listening to are rooting for my team, he pulls for Wisconson teams, not for Boston teams.
6am to 10am – Sadiki and Callahan
10am to 2pm – Hard Cheese with Eck and DiNunzio
2pm to 6pm – Big Show with Eddie Andleman
6pm to 10pm – Butch n’ Burton
note: Steve’s bedtime is 7:30 and Butch’s is 8:30
so the show ends early
overnight – Neumaier after dark
Any show that pairs Butchie with anybody is sure to be special, but making the Vapid One his partner is programming genius.
6:00am-10:00am, Callahan and Charlie Pierce
10:00am-2:00pm, Holley and Michael Smith
2:00pm- 6:00pm, Felger and Russillo with Joe Hagerty on the flash
7:00-midnight, Sheppard working the bar at Fred & Steve’s steakhouse. Burton picking out clip-on tie for 11pm news. Stearns enjoying a chocolate fountain. Larry Johnson wondering why his analog TV set doesn’t work. Ted Sarandis defending our homeland. On WEEI, a crossover show with Mike Adams and Michelle McPhee produces the worst radio in human history.
“Ted Nation” from 6-11 AM
“Phantom Gourmet” from 11-3
“Track Whales Grazing” 3-7
“Guntfather after dark” 7-12
Best of overnight.
Weekend Programming
Saturday
Horse Racing play by play from 8-4
Boxing show with Pepe 4-8
Tapioca Hockey Show 8-12
Sunday
Sid Diamond Oatmeal Hour 6-9
Steve Sweeney Football Pregame show 9-12
Dave Jageler Poetry Slam 12-4
Sean McDonough Dance Party 4-12
6AM – 10AM “Tingle my Sweeney Heaney”
Two local comedy legends matched with a Nobel laureate make for cant miss radio! Steve Sweeney has proven morning drive experience and an endless array of Boston characters he has perfected performing locally for several decades. Add in former 60 minutes regular and political satirist Jimmy Tingle along with prize winning poet Seamus Heany and you had better make room for the Marconi awards.
10AM-2PM “Who let the codgers out”
Award winning columnists Kevin Mannix and Clark Booth are both wildly entertaining and have their fingers to the pulse of the local sports scene. These two have seen it all and can relate the current sporting events to things that happened 50 or even 60 years ago. Lots of remotes from Foxboro to Fenway sponsored by the MBTA’s “Ride” program.
2PM-6PM “No, I’m the biggest womanizer ”
Pairing local radio legend Mark Parenteau with sportsfan Dave Andleman and Conservative talkmaster Jay Severin is a cant miss drive time formula. Guy talk at its best.
7PM-2AM “Terry and Ted”
NPR’s Terry Gross and Ted Sarandis do 8 action packed hours of sports, political and military talk. Wow! I mean Wow! These two are rockin and reelin’ and hanging from the ceiling!
2AM-6AM “Cheesey and Dana ”
Former NHL and NBA greats Gerry Cheevers and Dana Barros do the overnight taking calls on a wide variety of topics from sports to entrepreneurship.
Shouldn’t Hobbie be added to the Mannix and Booth show? Is Leo Egan still alive? He could host the show.
6:00-9:00 D&C
9:00-1:00 Felger – w/rotating guest co-hosts
1:00-6:00 Neumi – w/rotating guests
6:00-8:00 Howie Carr
8:00-12:00 college sports guys…maybe Colin Cowherd/Doug Gottlieb
Overnight – Mike Adams and Lenny Megs
Frankly I’m a mite surprised and chargrined that no one has suggested bringing back The “A” Team.
6:00 – 10:100 John Dennis & Gerry Callahan w/Mike Adams
10:00 – 2:00 Bob Neumier & Company rotating co-host
Steve DeOssie (Football Season)
Dale Arnold (Bruins Season)
Jackie McMullin (Celtics Season)
Lou Merloni (Sox Season)
and Jon Meterperrall on the Flash
2:00 -6:00 Mike Felger w/ Kevin Winter and Ryan Russillo
6:00 – Midnight The Big Show w/ Glen Ordway
Overnight – Pete Shepard & John Wallach
Holley and Max are really the only ones on WEEI worth listening to plus perhaps Mutt.
I’d make sure the signal worked well in all of NH unlike WEEI.
I also ban all the Manny penis envy on the station.
I’d also like at least one show with local people discussing national sports stories from more than just the Boston angle (interesting stories without the Mike and Mike suckups) That would be a good morning show followed by the Max and Holley show.
Afternoons would be an all football or basketball show depending on the season.
I’d also ban all political talk of any stripe. Someone mentioned giving Barstool Sports a show. I like the concept, though I don’t know if they could make it work. That would be my overnight show.
Fill in: “Mr. Right an Mr. Ron”
Listeners love all around good guy Lenny Megs..Right? Pairing him with Mr. Ron, Ron Borges is truly appointment radio. Ron’s anger, instability and pointless grudges are a perfect foil to the delightful amateur thespian Lenny Megs.
6:00-10:00AM: Dickerson and Russillo
10-2: Holley and Michael Smith
2-6: Felger, Bob Ryan and Cedric Maxwell
6-9: Pete Sheppard
9-Midnight – Mike Adams
Does anyone remember Cliff Keane and Larry Clafton at I believe AM1510 at your Wits end?
Get your checkbooks out Entercom…
6:00 am to 10:00 am – Ordway + Callahan, with Mutt on updates/3rd host
10:00 am to 2:00 pm – Holley + Michael Smith
2:00 pm to 6:00 pm – Felger, Rusillo, John Dennis (just kidding), rotating 3rd host, Ryan, Lobel, Dickerson, Tanguay, Stearns, Burton)
6:00pm to 9:00 pm – Meter + Sheppard
9:00 pm to midnight – Teddy + Macdonough
Overnight? – Easy one…Mike Adams and Hazel Mae
6:00-10:00am Callahan and Craig Mustard – (J.Dennis as flashboy)
10:00am-2:00pm Mike Holley and Michael Smith -(D. Arnold as flashboy)
2:00pm-6:00pm Felger with Ron Borges, Sheppard, Smerlas and DeOssie (Ordway as Flashboy)
6:00pm to midnight Andy Gresh and Larry Johnson (Mike Adams flashboy)
Overnight- Scott Cordischi with the Ladies of the night and REAL Flashers
wow that cracked me up…i don’t even think mike adams could handle flashboy duties though, the guy is always on the maryjane..
6-10 Dennis, Callahan, Dale, Smerlas, Deoissie, Ordway, Andy (big show producer) Idiot Pete, and Larry Johnson. Have Burton and Stearns as producers because they are really smart. They get all their rightwing hate outta the way in the first hour. Callahan can tell us how George Bush is a better speaker than Barack Obama.(that was an actually quote by the way). Dale will be on 24 hour Tito watch but he’ll throw in his annoying fake laugh every few minutes.
10-1130.. the only time i listen to EEI (Thank you Toucher and Rich,,,and the Stern replay on Sirius) Felger and Holley…guest McAdam…Mike Gorman…Mike Reiss..Bob Beers
1130-2 Meter, Tanguay, They talk but someone cuts the signal so knowone hears it.
2-6. Ordway comes back and says the same thing over and over again. Pete does the flashes yells at a few callers .Dale does the flashes but talks about his family instead and tries to act cool.
6-10 Callahan comes back but leaves at 8 to catch O’reilly/hannnity… from 8 to 10 we run replays of the best of pete sheppard
6 am – 10 am. Dale and Neumy. A great team when they were together. Don’t know if Neumy would want to get up at 4 am everyday though.
10 am – 2 pm. Holley and Russillo. The ironic thing is that WEEI completely missed the boat on getting Russillo when everyone else who had a brain could see that he was a complete rising star and wanted ‘EEI to hire him. How do you like him now, John Dennis?!
2 pm – 6 pm Felger, ESPN 890 style, with Kevin Winter on the updates and Ross producing. Notice how NOBODY has mentioned Ordway?
6 pm – 9 pm. I love the idea that someone had of Sheppard and Meter. It would not be informative at all, but it would be entertaining beyond belief.
9 pm – midnight. Ted Nation. He was run out of EEI because he actually wanted to do a quality show, God forbid, and he didn’t want to play the politics at Entercom!
midnight – 6 am. Gresh!!!
6-9 Neumy, Bob Ryan, & Jackie Mac
9-12 Mike Reies & Sean McAdam
12-3 Dale & Holley
3-6 Bill Simmons
6-9 Sheppard & Haggarty
9-12 Marc Spears & Lou Merloni
12-6 Mikey Adams
Felger gets no air time because he stinks and Ordway gets the boot because he’s turning into Eddy.
Just get rid of Dale Arnold, PLEASE….
6am – 10am: Bill Simmons (who also replaces Shank at the Globe) & Ryan Russilo
10am – 2pm: Colin Cowherd
2pm – 6pm: Mike Felger (host), Mark Linehan (flash), 2 co-hosts from this group: Mike Reiss, Marc Spears, Bob Ryan, Lou Merloni, Ian Thomsen, Leigh Montville
6pm – 10pm: Mike Adams
Overnight: Mark Linehan
Bill,
I really like that one with Simmons.
I will disagree till I am blue in the face with Adams, I am sure he is a nice guy, however, I think he is a buffoon on the radio.
I’m with you Mark…I have some friends that work at EEI and everyone there thinks Dale is a jackass, they tell me he’s very pompous and he thinks he is above everyone else…get rid of dale and bring sean mcdonough in!
6:00 am to 10:00 am – Mike & Mike ESPN
10:00 am to 2:00 pm – Tony Kornheiser
2:00 pm to 6:00 pm – Dale & Holley
6:00pm to 9:00 pm – Red Sox Baseball (off nights-Tony K’s day show)
9:00 pm to midnight – Todd Wright
Overnight – David Stein
As long as the station makes a committment to talking about SPORTS (none of this water cooler crap that D & C pawn off in the morning) AND if they have callers (not sure that’s needed) the callers can’t be the same tired acts as currently heard on EEI (say goodbye to Frank from Gloucester, Mike from Canton and the rest of the get a lifers), then I’m ok with almost anyone they bring aboard.
I don’t know if they could get Sean McAdams to host a show on a daily basis, but I’d tune in for that. Ryan Russillo would also be a major asset, as would Kevin Winter from ESPN890.
To those who think that Felger is an informed, objective host, I’d like to know how often you fly to California to obtain your medically approved smoked medication. I’m tired of him responding to other people with the phrase “yah, but” when they point out the massive flaw in his theory or arguement. If you’re ok with a host who only wants to inflame the listeners, he is your man.
So to sum up- McAdam, Winter and Russillo: YES
Callahan, Felger, insufferable callers: NO
6 AM – 6:02 AM Dennis & Rusillo
6:02 AM – 10 AM Dennis
If the rumor is true, I hope they dump Felger immediately. WEEI could improve vastly if they banned about a dozen of their regular callers. Frank from Gloucester, Steve from Fall River, Danny from Quincy, Tony from Bridgewater, Angelo from Everett, Jack from Lynn, Ray from Lynn, Nanabulla, Jermaine and Everett all make me hit the button as fast as my finger can get there.
If this new station offers any competition, they have to rid themselves of the likes of Larry Johnson, Smerlas, Butch Sterns, Haggerty, Lenny Meglioala, and a couple of others. Even though they are part-timers, they drag the station down.
Guess the New Station will look more like this:
6:00 – 10:00 Toucher and Rich
10:00 -2:00 Ryan Russillo & Joe Haggerty
2:00 -6:00 Felger & Tanguay
6:00 – Midnight Ted Sarandis
Overnight: Westwood 1 Syndication
Expect Dan Roache & Steve Burton to be featured on the Station along with Tony Mazz – Bob Ryan – Ron Borges -
Yeah, expect the WBZTVers to be banned from ‘EEI and show up on the new station frequently.
Sign me up! I’d even clear out 850 from my pre-sets if that’s the case. Would likely never tune in again.
The Great Gamere needs a show. It should be called “The Children’s Hour”.
6-10 Dennis and Mikey Adams
10-2 Holley and Neumie
2-6 Felger Sheppard and Meter w guests
6-12 Steve Lyons and guests
No more Callahan or other non sports zealots. Guest hosts should be Maz,Larry Ridley,Merloni, McAdams and D’Ossie
6-10 AM: John Dennis and Mike Holley
10-2 PM: Bob Ryan and Gary Tanguay and/or other guests (writers)
2-6: Big O and Mike Felger
6-9: Gerry Callahan and Pete Sheppard
9-12: Mike Adams and John Ryder
Overnight: Mike Mutnansky and John Rish
Only sports talk allowed.
6-10 Has to be your best talent, it is easily the most winnable slot because D&C don’t talk sports. As for who? I like Kevin Winter from 890, Felger if his contract is up, Mazz if the globe will release there talent to work
howard stern