Boston’s first FM sports talk radio station is kicking off today with surprisingly little fanfare.

WBZ-FM, dubbed “98.5 The Sports Hub,” will debut at 6 a.m. with former WBCN [website] disc jockeys Fred Toucher and Rich Shertenlieb of “Toucher & Rich” trying their hand at sports talk.

At 10 a.m., Comcast SportsNet New England’s Gary Tanguay and former New England Patriots [team stats] backup quarterback Scott Zolak will take over.

Veteran Hub sportswriters Michael Felger and Tony Massarotti, who is still writing part-time for the Boston Globe, will go head-to-head against Glenn Ordway’s “The Big Show” on rival WEEI-AM (850) at 2 p.m.

Their debut show will feature Red Sox [team stats] General Manager Theo Epstein and Bruins [team stats] owner Jeremy Jacobs, Felger said yesterday.

Normally, Felger and Massarotti will be on until 6 p.m. But tomorrow, Tanguay, Zolak and Andy Gresh will host the Pats pregame show starting at4 p.m. as the lead-in to the first preseason game against the Philadelphia Eagles.

“The Sports Hub” has radio rights to broadcast Patriots and Bruins games.

Media watchers think the new station could represent the first real threat to ’EEI, which has enjoyed a local sports-talk radio monopoly in the sports-obsessed Hub for years. But Felger, who has been a guest off and on at ’EEI over the years, wasn’t in the mood to talk too much trash about his colleagues turned rivals yesterday.

“They’re very sensitive to criticism,” Felger quipped. “They tend to overreact. Some of those guys are getting older and we don’t need to upset them.”

Felger said his mission is to carve out a market share and build an audience.

“What we’re doing has nothing to do with ’EEI,” he said. “We’re just going to do a better show. We will be focused, opinionated and passionate. That’s a formula that works.”

Damon Amendolara, most recently from WQAM in Miami, will hold down weeknights at “The Sports Hub,” working from 6 p.m. to midnight.

Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/jobfind/news/media/view.bg?articleid=1190691

Felger will once again attempt to win the ratings war against WEEI.

Talk radio is huge in Boston.  More specifically, sports radio is huge and the biggest contributor to that cause has been WEEI.  Is that all about to change?
Starting on Thursday, fans will be able to tune in to 98.5 FM and listen to “The Sports Hub.” Boston.com is reporting the lineup from 2-6 will be Michael Felger and Tony Massarotti, while the midday show will pair Gary Tanguay and Scott Zolak.

I post this blog just to see where people’s heads are at.  Will you listen to Felger of the Big Show?  Will you listen to Tanguay or Dale & Holley?

My choice?  I like Felger alot.  He speaks his mind and the majority of the time I think he’s right.  He doesn’t hold back and definitely doesn’t slant his views to be from a Boston perspective only. I’m surprised by the Massarotti choice, but I’m not opposed. I’ll listen to Felger the majority of the time and tune in to WEEI to hear the Whiner Line.

As for the midday show, that is a tough call.  I’d lean towards Dale & Holley because I put Holley at the top of the list in that foursome.  On the down side, I’d put Dale Arnold at the bottom of the list.

In any event, like Dano El wrote yesterday, it seems like WEEI is afraid despite comments stating otherwise.  They have made a truce with the Boston Globe so you will hear people like Bob Ryan and Dan Shaughnessy on WEEI now.

And they have also started to change the length of their commercial breaks between segments.  Up until now, ten minutes was fairly routine for a break between segments on WEEI.  Starting this week they have started to shorten their breaks to as little as 90 seconds.

WEEI says they are not worried about the effect “The Sports Hub” will have on their airwaves, but their actions certainly speak to a different tune though.

Article Courtesy of:  Boston Man Cave CLICK HERE

Posted by Chad Finn, Globe Staff February 26, 2009

"You Can't See the WIZARD... Now Go Away!"

We don’t change the station, and so the station sees no need to change. Ratings are huge, possibly even as huge as the station claims. Its primary demographic has tremendous appeal to advertisers. And New England’s fanatical dedication to the professional sports teams that the station’s hosts bloviate about in four-hour blocks is seemingly endless.

And so there you have it: WEEI. Your sports-radio leader. A perfect storm of arrogance.

What’s that adage about pompous silver-spooners? He was born on third base and thinks he hit a triple? That fits certain WEEI hosts as comfortably as a Bloomin’ Onion–stained Tommy Bahama shirt. They think the station’s success somehow reflects on them, that we tune in for their shrill banter, contrived characters, and prefabricated opinions. We don’t — never have, never will. We listen because we love sports, our beloved teams are enjoying a remarkable run of success, and WEEI happens to have both access and broadcast rights. Most of all, we listen because there is no other decent local alternative with a signal stronger than that of a ham radio.

Now, I’m not suggesting all WEEI programming beats your eardrums into submission. Dale and Holley are engaging in the midday, and Mut and Bradford make those weekend chores pass quicker. But it is telling that the two smartest sports radio shows in the city in recent years — Michael Felger’s drive-time program on ESPN 890 and the Ryen Russillo/Jon Anik/Anthony Pepe crew on WWZN 1510 — were broadcast elsewhere on the dial. If only either had owned a signal that didn’t turn into a French-language station a mile from the Zakim Bridge, they might have gained the appropriate audience.

So to feed our unquenchable sports jones, we have no choice but to suffer the WEEI banshees. But that doesn’t stop us from longing for something better, something not only entertaining but intelligent, passionate, and insightful.

We’re not here today for the purpose of holding a sports radio fantasy draft, but for a moment consider the station you could build — and the one ESPN Boston should have built — with roster depth that included the best of the Globe and ESPN, underrated talents such as Russillo and Mike Giardi, as well as the requisite WEEI refugees. (Remember Steve DeOssie after he skipped over to 1510? Thoughtful and articulate. On WEEI? An overgrown Scut Farkas.)

Maybe I’m naïve. Maybe the average Boston sports fan is less sophisticated than I want to believe. But I’m convinced that provided with an equal signal, some savvy program director could build what WEEI claims to be: the premier sports radio station in the country. And just in case such a benefactor happens to have read this far, at no charge we offer you a thinking fan’s guide to the real dos and don’ts of sports radio in Boston.

Have a well-considered opinion and the knowledge to defend it in an entertaining manner: No, passing yourself off as some sort of insider because of an association with the Celtics two decades ago does not count, particularly when there is mounting suspicion that you haven’t watched more than a handful of out-of-market NBA games since the days of short shorts and sky hooks. In a related note: Yelling the loudest doesn’t make you right. Didn’t your mom ever teach you that?

After you’ve beaten a story to death, please resist the temptation to beat on the corpse daily for another several weeks: Wait, wait, wait … you’re telling me Manny Ramirez quit on the Red Sox? And they traded him? When did this happen? How come you never mentioned this, Mikey? HOW COME YOU NEVER MENTIONED THIS??!!

No more celebrity callers …: Call it the Glenn Ordway Corollary: The more obnoxious the caller, the more airtime he gets. It’s a cornerstone of the lucrative business of pandering to the lowest common denominator. But I can’t be the only one who lunges for the scan button as soon as “Angry Bill” and his miserable brethren begin spewing their first word of venom.

… or sycophantic co-hosts: Ah, another Ordway self-preservation tactic. Surround yourself with a couple of knowledgeable co-hosts, then fill out the rest of the cast with talking-head lightweights and cronies who will argue with you only to the point where you say zip it, refuse to point out your factual missteps, and, for the sake of a paycheck, willingly play clichéd characters appropriate for a failed soap-opera actor. That way, you’re irreplaceable, since there’s no obvious successor to the throne. Brilliant! Also: Unlistenable!

In order to qualify for airtime, a co-host has to be able to put two consecutive syllables together without his tongue tripping over his mustache: Don’t worry, big guy. You’re halfway there.

Hosts are not permitted eight-part questions so long and windy that they require a syllabus and stretch from one commercial break to the next: That means you, Dennis … Denito … Dentillo …

Talk politics or the news story of the day when the moment calls for it: Credit where credit is due: WEEI was riveting radio in the days after September 11. The tone was sincere, heartfelt, and human. Since then, however, the tone regarding politics and world matters has become so extreme that certain hosts make Dick Cheney look like a beatnik. Worse is the increasingly snide disregard for those with different circumstances, views, and — the case certainly can be made — pigment. It’s one thing to be provocative, but too often that crosses the line to irresponsibility. Sure, a certain element is enthralled — hillbillies and cavemen, mostly. Others are simply waiting for the inevitable repulsive comment that leads to your downfall.

Enough with the drop-ins from comedians who’d bomb at the Ha-Ha House of Whiskey and Waffles: And if some clown named Shecky does find his way into the studio — either as a guest or as your nighttime host — have some dignity and refrain from hee-hawing and chortling and racing to laugh loudest as if he’s the reincarnation of George Carlin. He’s not. He’s a D-lister with a captive audience, and his best jokes wouldn’t make the cut for the Whiner Line. Which, by the way, is the best thing you have going. We might note the material comes not from you, but from the listeners. We’re going to assume you miss the irony of that.

“You Can’t See the Wizard… Now Go Away”

OT columnist Chad Finn is a sports reporter for Boston.com and can be reached at finn@globe.com

A CBS-launched rival to WEEI emerges in post-WBCN shakeup

By Don Aucoin, Globe Staff  |  July 15, 2009

Boston Sports Radio

Longtime sports-radio powerhouse WEEI-AM (850) may finally have a real fight on its hands – and this time its opponent will come from the FM side of the dial.

CBS Radio revealed yesterday that it will launch a new sports-talk station, named 98.5 The Sports Hub, on Aug. 13 in Boston. The station, which will be heard at 98.5 FM and have the call letters WBZ-FM pending FCC approval, will try to lure listeners with call-in shows and broadcasts of New England Patriots and Boston Bruins games.

Michael Harrison, publisher of Talkers magazine, a leading trade publication, said that while WEEI is a well-programmed station with loyal listeners, the new station will present it with “very strong competition, because the FM dial is a better piece of real estate.’’

Earlier rivals, such as WWZN-AM (1510), known as “The Zone,’’ have tried and failed to dislodge WEEI from its perch as the top-rated sports station in Boston. But the play-by-play broadcasts of Patriots and Bruins games, along with a powerful FM signal and the corporate muscle of CBS, could bolster the fledgling station’s identity as a destination for sports fans.

Mark Hannon, senior vice president and market manager of CBS Radio Boston, had words of praise for both WEEI and ESPN Radio (890), another sports-talk radio station in Boston, but made clear he believes the newcomer will be able to more than hold its own. “We don’t intend to replicate WEEI,’’ Hannon said in an interview. “We intend to build our own unique audience on the FM dial. We feel that in this town, where fans are so obsessed with sports, that there is room for an FM sports approach.’’

To be sure, WEEI itself has an FM presence outside the Boston area, airing on FM stations in Cape Cod, Providence, Springfield, and northern New England.

Jason Wolfe, vice president of AM programming for Entercom New England, which owns WEEI, voiced confidence the station would withstand the challenge. “It doesn’t change what we’re going to do,’’ Wolfe said. “We’ve dealt with competitive situations before, and we’re fully prepared to deal with it again. . . . We have the largest audience, and we know what it takes to maintain that audience.’’

At ESPN Radio (WAMG-AM), station manager Al Turner said he welcomes another combatant in the sports-radio wars.

However, since ESPN Radio focuses primarily on national sports, it will be WEEI and 98.5 The Sports Hub that square off most directly in the competition for local sports fans. Two well-known sportscasters, Michael Felger and Gary Tanguay, are expected to join the afternoon lineup on 98.5 while retaining their roles on Comcast SportsNet, where they cohost a show. (Felger also writes for the WEEI website and fills in occasionally as a host.) WBCN morning personalities Toucher and Rich will handle the morning drive on 98.5.

More broadly, yesterday’s announcement underscores the continuing extension of the talk radio format, long a mainstay of AM radio, into FM territory. Sports radio has proven to be a lucrative format because of its appeal to a demographic that can be hard to reach: young and middle-aged male listeners. FM stations are increasingly trying to grab a piece of that audience, with sports-talk shows on FM in Detroit, Dallas, Washington, and, soon, Boston.

“As we see the twilight of the music-radio era, talk radio is migrating to FM, and a lot of that is going to be sports,’’ Harrison said.

The switch will result from the movement of several radio properties, all owned by CBS. Mix 98.5, which broadcasts adult-contemporary music under the call letters WBMX, will move up the dial to 104.1 FM, where it will replace WBCN-FM, the legendary rock station.

The Bruins games that currently air on WBZ-AM (1030) will move to 98.5, as will the Patriots games that currently air on WBCN. No change is envisioned in the Patriots or Bruins broadcast teams, Hannon said.

It remains to be seen whether there will be a change in the competitive balance in the sports-radio landscape. “This is the third effort to come after us at ’EEI,’’ said Julie Kahn, vice president and market manager of Entercom New England. “The best content will win.’’

Don Aucoin can be reached at aucoin@globe.com.