In the latest ratings numbers for the month of May, WEEI enjoyed a strong bounce-back month, fueled by the playoff run of the Boston Celtics. Chad Finn has the breakdowns per show, but the essence is that while Toucher and Rich defeated Dennis and Callahan yet again, Mutt and Merloni came out ahead of Gresh and Zo and Ordway and Holley defeated Felger and Mazz as well.
There’s no doubt that Felger’s incessant bashing and ridicule of the Celtics is directly responsible for his show losing this month’s ratings, just as WEEI’s total dismissal of the Bruins led to their own downfall last year.
Now, I have little doubt that as the summer goes on, the 98.5 shows will regain the top spots, as the Red Sox stumble around in last place and the Patriots start up training camp at the end of next month, but it’s interesting that Felger was essentially willing to take a ratings loss in one month of ratings to simply satisfy his own predilections, and didn’t care about the possible repercussions to his station and sponsors. That’s an Ordway-like ego at work there.
I found myself listening to Ordway and Holley much more in the last month, not so much because they were offering great insight (Though Michael Holley seems to have finally hit his stride on that show.) but to escape the constant barrage of Celtics hatred in that timeslot up the dial. I clearly wasn’t alone.
The Mutt and Lou success is fairly shocking. I didn’t think Gresh and Zo were doing much in the way of Celtics bashing – they were OK – but I think Mutt and Lou trotted out some strong Celtics/NBA guests during the month which really helped them enjoy their first successful month.
This is only a one-month snapshot, it should be interesting to see what the quarterly ratings look like when they come out next month.
Some items of interest:
Which way should the Red Sox go? – A blog post from Peter Abraham yesterday which I applaud heartily. This team needs a major shakeup. I’m onboard.
Kevin Youkilis about good to go – Michael Silverman has Youkilis sounding like he’s ready to move on.
Voices line up for Red Sox announcer job – Beth Teitell in the Globe talks to some of the candidates.
Situation must be right if he is going to return – Steve Bulpett has sources close to the Kevin Garnett/Celtics situation saying that KG could be open to a return, but wants to see what pieces Danny Ainge is able to put together first. KG would like to know who he’s playing with before committing to a return.
Celtics in good hands with Doc – Jackie MacMullan says that whatever the Celtics roster looks like next season, they’ve got the right coach in place.
Joseph Addai fills important role – Mike Reiss has the former Colt already stepping into a leadership role with his fellow running backs.
Looking at the Ballard move – Greg A Bedard warns us not to overreact to the Patriots claiming Giants TE Greg Ballard, but I love it – it’s such a Belichick move to make.
Tuesday mini-camp observations – Andy Hart provides his usual thoroughly detailed recap of yesterday’s Patriots practice.
NHL could be looking at a shortened season – Joe Haggerty reports on what could be another ugly labor fight for the NHL starting on September 15th.
105.5 WEEI FM Springfield has announced an exclusive partnership with the University of Massachusetts (UMass), making it the official home of UMass football and men’s basketball. The five-year agreement kicks off with the 2012 UMass football season, which begins on August 30th at the University of Connecticut.
