It’s one thing for Entercom to screw up its fading Boston talk station, WRKO (AM 680). It’s quite another for the company to mess with its highly successful sports operation, WEEI (AM 850). But that’s exactly what has happened.
Boston Sports Media’s David Scott got the scoop late last night, reporting that WEEI’s top-rated morning hosts, John Dennis and Gerry Callahan, have been locked out over a contract dispute. The Herald’s Jessica Heslam and Laurel Sweet follow today with a story that actually leads the paper. (Callahan is also a Herald columnist.)
Now, consider the ill-fated moves that have brought Entercom to this impasse. The big one took place last fall, when the company negotiated a deal with the Red Sox to move most of their games from the sports station to the talk station. Yes, some games are still on WEEI. The schedule is determined, as best as I can tell, by the phase of the moon. Fortunately, those of us who live in Media Nation are able to hear all the games on a non-Entercom affiliate, WBOQ (104.9 FM).
The residual effects: WEEI now has a talented host, Mike Adams, trying to do a sports show that competes with the Red Sox, an impossible task. WRKO’s Howie Carr (like Callahan, a Herald columnist) is said to have been furious over having his show cut short by Sox games, thus helping to precipitate his move — pending the resolution of lawsuits he and Entercom have filed against each other — to rival WTKK (96.9 FM). Finally, both WRKO and WEEI have had their identities fuzzed up (a talk station with the Red Sox? a sports station without the Sox?), which is deadly for marketing.
In the case of “Dennis & Callahan,” there is an additional drama. Callahan has been off the air for months, recovering from what Scott describes as “multiple surgeries to his throat.” Supposedly Callahan was going to return to the airwaves today and explain, finally, what was at the root of his health problems. Scott also writes that “D&C” may not return to WEEI at all:
The final bit of intrigue in this whole complicated mess is the multiple reports we are receiving that D&C are being coveted by a completely separate broadcasting entity that would use the pair as its cornerstone to build a New England regional sports talk network. While some industry insiders are telling us that is a real, viable possibility others are more skeptical and assume it is a ploy on behalf of D&C’s representatives to drive up their clients value on the open market.
Shots can confirm that a regional player fitting the description does have the infrastructure in place to build such a network, but whether or not the group would be able to guarantee the kind of money that Dennis and Callahan are looking for is open to debate.
Personally, I wouldn’t miss “Dennis & Callahan,” which trucks in low-rent populism, homophobia and — in one notorious incident — out-and-out racism. I think you could move the vastly superior “Dale & Holley” show into the morning drive-time slot without missing a beat or a ratings point.
But “D&C” is the number-one radio show among men between the ages of 25 and 54. I wouldn’t think Entercom executives Jason Wolfe and Julie Kahn would want to take the chance of losing them.
Then again, maybe Tom Finneran can do sports.
Virtual Dennis: If you click on the WEEI home page right now, you might see a virtual John Dennis talking up the Jimmy Fund radiothon.
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Hi Dan.Do I detect the faint whiff of the gimmick, publicity-wise, being cooked up here?Again, we see how the media love being part of a story — pardon my smirk, but this seems all a bit contrived to me.Having said that, now watch D & C sign a contract with WILD this week … er, or not.
Mike Adams, talented? No.
Good job as always, except for one glaring error–calling Mike Adams “talented.” You either know very little about sports (or talent). Adams is the master of painfully ignorant, frat-boy radio. He’s an embarrassment.
I loved Mike Adams on NECN years ago. I’ll confess I don’t get to hear him too much now — I’m listening to the Red Sox!
It would be more helpful if you did some digging rather than re-hash David Scott and the Herald story – neither of which is very deep either.And “talented” is not an adjective I would use with Mike Adams’ name unless you think that going on for hours about how incensed he is that Manny Ramirez and Barry Bonds draw breath on this planet is a talent.You can do better, Dan.
WEEI could screw up a one-car funeral procession.When I clicked on your Finneran link, they had a YouTube video by Roy Orbison. I’m a huge Orbison fan, (his Cohasset appearance near the end of his life was amazing), but what are the odds of the rights to the video being legit? They just seem to find a way to mess up. And if anyone has believed ANYTHING George Regan has said since 1995, I have a bridge in Minneapolis you might want to buy.
DK – Why wouldn’t Entercom move D&C into Finneran’s spot on RKO?
Good rddance to loser Callahan and Scumbag Deennis, also know as Mr. verbosity. The fat fuck takes 1000 words what any other fool can say in 10. Move that other milktoast loser Dale Arnold into AM slot and watch the bottom drop out. Too funny.
Brisket Boy: That makes a lot of sense, provided Entercom can keep D&C from walking out the door.
Dan, there were plenty of opportunities to hear Mike Adams without missing the Sox, back when he subbed for and then replaced Ted Sarandis on ‘EEI. The guy is awful.
All you have to do is switch around the programs. Keep the Big Show from 2-6. Move the Dale and Holly show from 6-10, move Planet Mikey from 10-2 and have another show as the evening show.
Mike Adams has nighttime written all over him; his gimmick wouldn’t fly mid-day imo. I am not a fan of some of D&C’s views but some their commentary at least make you think a bit about things in a different manner. I can’t say the same of Dale & Holley (boring) and there is no way I would tune into them in the morning.
Good riddance to both of them…Personally I could care less about either of their neanderthal political opinions or their endless drivel of golf talk…I would pair Felger and Michael Holley in that spot both insightful and entertaining hosts…
Brisket Boy & DK, what sense would it make to move D&C over to RKO? Then there’d be a void to fill at 850. Am I missing something here?
Mike Adams would the worst talk show host on the air, except that EEI occasionally puts Butch Stearns on in the afternoon.
And one more thing here,It looks like The Herald is doing its part by piling on Entercom and making it look like Entercom is screwing D&C like their boy Howie.The Herald seems to hate WRKO and its management. They sure don’t miss any opportunity they get.The other aspect not being discussed, in the middle of an unprcedented talent crisis at Entercom’s two major talkers and with talk of yet ANOTHER sports entity being ADDED potentially to Boston’s sports/talk line-up, how ESPN840 is NOT capitalizing on this but is instead fading away faster than you can say “Felger Defection” is beyond astonishing.What’s her name out there? Jessamy? Did I spell that correctly? Someone should wake you up, my friend and advise you to SELL SELL SELL in the words of the wise Jim Cramer.It is abhorently obvious this ownership is beyond asleep at the wheel. The ZONE had a lot more relevance and vsibilty and quality programming mix in its heyday than ‘ESPN’ the KING of sports giant ever has in its Boston try-out. Wrong local ownership to partner with. Eddie Andelman would have been a better owner, if you can fathom that possibility. That’s telling.Felger must feel very frustrated and would not dismiss him being wooed by ANY of these players, including Entercom. He deserves better support than 840 is showing him. The station STINKS and its signal is an insult to the 21st century. I can’t catch it in so many spots arond the area.Incompetent. And Felger won’t wait for the train to come to a complete halt. He’ll jump off at the right platform.As for D&C, I mean, come on, talk about betting on injury-prone commodity. injured or injuring? Just look at today’s big news and the polls and you’ll see their politics have no longer as much traction, so who is going to give them top dollar for plying their trade as usual? Not a smart GM, you can bet. They’ll always do ok, because there are always @$$es for some chairs. Just like the Mike Adams faustian deal. You lose Ted’s smart thoughtful delivery and listenr following for ignorant beer-swilling frat boysand a host with an incomprehensible phobia for a ‘hispanic immigrant’ and hall-of-fame-bound $200 Million Asset to Boston History. He is sexist beyond the tolerable and is a lawsuit waiting to happen. (How many people have done the EmailFemale thing already?) I am not sure what’s more cringe-inducing his idicoy and pedestrian intellect or the sounds coming from swallowing food, clearing is throat and smacking his lips upon open mic going live. And how about we restrict the on-the-air previleges of certain immature reverse-cap-wearing producers right out of Spring Break?N.
What (used to) amazes me is that Entercom continues to find way to bleep up the proverbial free lunch. Dennis and Callahan leaving, Scott Allan Miller – gone, Howie taking second fiddle to the Red Sox on a news station and being asked to take 50k less a year, Tom Finneran, a smart guy that can bring in the politicians which is great except I have to listen to Tom Finneran, and no more local news. At what point does Julie Kahn and Jason Wolfe get let go for creating these situations? As for the Metco crack by D&C and Julie Kahn “standing behind” them, lets face it there was too much $$$$ on the line for WEEI to fire them. And by the way, if Entercom had a brain in their head, why not sign up Chris Lydon? What say you Dan?
Dave: Entercom has made such a hash of things that it’s hard to know how to respond. WEEI is often described as the most successful sports station in the country, but WRKO has a stronger signal. If WRKO is going to be a part-sports station anyway, maybe it makes sense to move D&C to that station. But WEEI is clearly a more valuable property.Ryan: Well, I’d certainly like to see Christopher Lydon land somewhere. It’s pretty hard to imagine him on WRKO, though.
Scott Allen Miller and Dennis and Callahan gone within months of each other? That is too sweet to even think about. Listening to Callahan in the morning is the aural equivalent of drinking Drano instead of one’s morning coffee.D and C are like free agents who leave the Patriots: they’re a product of a superior system, not possessors of innate star-like talent, and they ain’t gonna make it anywhere else. In other words, pretty much anyone could get the morning ratings on WEEI.
One more funny thing to watch, is how a local baloney guy is trying oh-so desperately to take advantage of this situation and garner more attention for a site that usually is as busy as a bagel shop on the Sabath. By now, they are probably cracking the $5 bar on GoogleAdWords, 0.000012 at a time.This is so funny… you can TELL he is just twisting down there in the Cape wondering why oh ‘why wouldn’t they call ME so I can host my own show? Can’t they see that I am so geat and avaiable and so close to them? How stupid can they be to miss out on great ME?”Ahhh ..how sad. “why would TKK go outside of town to find subst hosts? WHY? Why wouldn’t they give me another shot, I woud suck and then leave disgruntled so I can bash the heck out them with insider info I gather while I am there? Why?Don’t they see I am GREAT? Are they that stupid?What if I am wrong so often. So what? How about all the people who believe and say the same things I do and they are still doing ok if not thriving or getting elected? Why can’t I?Why why why”Just like Howie growls, immitating the Corrupt..well-you know…”Ahh the pain” haN.PS: Savewho?
DanI think Lydon would be a fit for ‘RKO and Entercom. They have been successful in syndicating WEEI out in Western Mass, and I think that a syndicated Chris Lydon in the New England region would be dynamite, and with his “Open Source” deal, I WRKO could build on that. Lets face though WRKO has NO local talent, and I think it is a matter of time before Finneran goes or gets a “zany” sidekick to breathe some life into the show. But seriously, why not Lydon on a revamped WRKO? There is a brand recognition of talk radio that Chris could make an imprint on.
Ryan – Why no Lydon? Because as soon as the average WRKO listener pierced the self-obsessed prattle that Lydon dispenses, and realized what he was advocating and disseminating, they would storm the ‘RKO studio with pitchforks and lighted torches.Also – please advise – why do you think WRKO WANTS to be revamped?
Why don’t we just chalk up the Lydon Paradox to the ever contradictions we have in this state. Smart Guy. Lack of opportunity. We all know he’d have great potential. We also know by now not many have been taking chances on him.He has to completely recreate his show and delivery. He can’t do a Connection 3.0 anymore. That one-trick poney has long deserted the barn.He has to channel his smarts and wonkiness into a more vibrant more captivating format. Probably needs a new producer, no offense here. He needs coaching from a more carefree comedian to inject more crowd-handling skills in a medium other than a stale NPR setting (this one might ellicit some jabs back)He is Not a good match for WRKO, that is if RKO wants to still fix itself. He is erudite. WRKO is edgy and provocative, for better or worse. It doesn’t work. When you say the acronym WRKO, images evoked are that of angry pickuptruckdrivers and Revere beach grandmas laughing it off with Howie. So what do you want? Lydon to fit into that picture or you want WRKO to take 500 steps back and completely reinvent itself as another NPR deom clone?Which is easier you think,if you are going to keep harping on this Lydon-WRKO Non-Connection. As a fan of the guy, I sympathize with him as I am sure ever since he never landed a post-BUR deal, he mus5t have had a hard time sleeping. It must gnaw at him that he completely misred Jane and BUR and overestimated his rebounding prospects and he is seeing his talent squandered while he could have been right in the middle of many weighty social and political ssues being treated everyday. I feel bad for the guy. It must be kiiling him. I wish it were different and he could channel it for the benefit of many, but so is Life, unfair , very often.He probably can fit in on TKK better since there are some like-minded voices on there. But now with Carr on board, it is increasingly incompatible with the whole Lydon thing. I am curious to know what LaCamara has had in mind all this time. What has he thought about any potential new production, potentially lucrative one that could see national syndication. Has Paul contemplated such a thing. Has he approached Lydon at all about any ideas. Or does he talk to him at all?There are some great ideas out there that could work phenomenally in this twon, that could incorporate Lydon and many other underutilized solid media people in this town, but who’s listening. GMs, Pds and TV/newspaper editors are just so short-term zombies, self-centered and devoid of any big picture view at all of this and devoid of really great talent, truly visionary stuff that made talk radio and TV programming giants.Everyone is just concerned with putting out an OK product, play it careful. Play the pedestrian stories for a day or two and look for a new sensation in a couple of days, just keep people satisfied day to day, week to week, ratings book to ratings book… run of the mill stuff.No inspiration anywhere in any newspaper room in this town, no great programming in ANY Tv station in this town. Abslutely none. None in Radio land. It’s all insipid.Yet, we have all this talent rotting.And I don’t mean BrianB, here.I mean genuine talent. ANd not only that, we have talent factories right here in our backyard, training them and shipping them all out. Emerson, BU Comm and Journ, NU, Law schools, Berkley, Art schools, even lame CT Broadcast Inst etc. A lot of national hosts originate here. How many people know Barbara Walters was born and raised and educated here? Liz Clayman who is going to resurface anytime somewhere is our own. Sarah Silverman cut her ‘teeth’ here and sooooooooo many others. SO may great local bands.Even in the last 10 years, you saw a bunch of new talent get a shot on Boston TV as small reporters and all wound up with national and cable gigs. WHDH, BZ, WFXT. The last couple of years, even that factory seems to have dried up. I don’t remember the last good local reporter who made it big nationally. David Muir maybe? but he has been long gone from here too. Nothing new really.We have a talent defict, ladies and Gents, yet we have talent. How contradictory is that? The talent that is visible is not as good as the one shunned or not even tapped at all in our schools?Boston kids today have a better shot at being dicovered on youtube or a blog than on a Boston Radio station or newspaper. Even Emerson’s radio station destroyed their local flair and creative programming in favor of formats.The Good news is that media companies have tons of money avaible for rebuilding. They have a good talent pool ready. They have a good demo mix in one of the best metro ares in the world. Good corporate ad money. Successful sports and banks and research buzz.It’s there for the taking. They just need to connect the dots. Who is the next visionary to do so?N.
Also – please advise – why do you think WRKO WANTS to be revamped?Uh, let me guess … because they’d like to get people listening to the station again? Or is that too simple?
Dan, I wouldn’t say that WRKO has a particularly better or worse signal than WEEI. They both have about the same, actually…good daytime signals that are also good nighttime signals UNLESS you live in Metrowest, since both null HARD to the west to protect other distant stations on the same frequency.That’s why Sox fans out there were delighted to hear about WCRN’s shiny new 50000 watt nighttime signal (and new Sox affiliation) this spring.
Although I enjoy D&C, I have to agree with Citizen Kane’s assessment, “In other words, pretty much anyone could get the morning ratings on WEEI.” As long as the Sox and Patriots (and now possibly the Celtics) remain not just athletic but also social phenomenons, listeners will be tuning in to WEEI in droves, at least so long as the hosts are tolerable.On that note, I find Dale Arnold unbearable. Despite their lack of on-ice talent, the Bruins will be much more watchable now that NESN has dumped him from Bruins games. What I do find irritating on the D&C show are the seemingly endless commercial breaks. While I realize that the strong ratings make the show popular with advertisers and lucrative for WEEI, it seems like there is more advertising than talkshow. The minute they go to break, I start to channel surf and if there’s something interesting and less interrupted on another station, I don’t always go back to D&C.For me, both Mike Adams and Butch Stearns are more likeable on radio than TV. Adams NECN show was painful, on par with early local access programming, yet I enjoy his radio show. Stearns is OK on radio, but is far too smug on Fox25. What’s with sliding his hand into his pants pocket midway through every sportscast, then slowly pushing forward the “zipper area” of his pants so that that area takes prominence in the camera shot? It’s freakish, yet happens every night. Another annyoance in the TV sports category is channel 7’s new Larry Ridley teasing the upcoming sportscast and then just before the commercial break bellowing out, “Nexxxxxxxxxxxxxt!” Like Stearns’s hand-in-pocket gimmick, Ridley’s shtick has become trite.To steal a quote from Nick the bartender on “It’s a Wonderful Life”, hey Larry, “We don’t need any characters around to give the joint atmosphere.” Knock-off the sophomoric nonsense and read the damn tele-prompter.
Get a load of all you morally and intellectually superior liberals, so filled with hate and venom(not to mention nasty language) for people with whom you disagree. You people come off as more “neanderthal” than the evil conservatives you live to bash.Liberals truly are the most intolerant group of people anywhere.Thanks for the laughs, you phony losers.
Some of the folks on radio-info.com think it might be because the Globe revealed just how much Howie Carr has been making at WRKO and D&C are in the middle of contract talks so …
If someone is dumb enough to say what they said @ 6:09, they are obviously not smart enough to be specific about which allegation they are leveling and are not prepared to defend.It’s just a sinking ship syndrom. You know how happy the rats are when they have to jump offboard in the middle of a turbulent sea. They are NOT happy.Jump away, anon.N.
I’m surprised that no here has mentioned that there are alternatives out there to listen to in the morning, such as Mike & Mike. While EEI has been filling the void with B level talent like Craig Mustard, I’ve found Mike & Mike to be enjoyable, knowledgeable and the guest like Buster Olney, Peter Gammons, Chris Mortensen etc are enjoyable and provide useful information. EEI is messing up a good thing and if ESPN is smart they’ll invest in this area and seize this opportunity. I live in Metrowest and get ESPN fine during the day. It’s not as provincial as EEI but I’ve switched and find myself listening to EEI less.
Dennis and Callahan are the best combo that WEEI has ever had. I have been listening to WEEI since they had Andy Moes doing the morning show (that was a funny show too!). They even tried Craig Mustard and Tom Doyle in the morning and they were awful. Callahan is a great commentator who is one of the few sane people in Massachusetts who supports President Bush and not lunatics like Chappaquidick Ted or Ketchup Kerry. Dennis is a funny guy but is wrapped a little too tight. No one will admit it but Eddie Andleman is still the greatest sports show host in Boston history. He even made Dale Arnold palatable for a while. The greatest radio I have ever heard came when Eddie was behind the mic. The day he tried to locate Ivan Putsky is still the funniest thing I ever heard on radio. If Dennis and Callahan leave WEEI it will be a loss for all sports fans in the area. Dont forget WEEI is simulcast in Worcester and Springfield so it has a large audience compared to other stations. If D&C leave I hope they are not replaced by left wing loonies like John Salley on TBDSSP who claims Bush did not win the last 2 elections…..a mind is a terrible thing to waste!!
Why on earth would a station ban the anticipated comeback of half its morning show three weeks before contracts expire during the slowest listening period of the year when the hosts’ alternative to continuing employment with the station appears to be a yet-to-be-assembled network?Has all the earmarks of a stunt. Even if the hosts jump ship at the contract expiration, their options seem limited to the phantom network or one of the male-targeted CBS O&Os. They may well jump, but D & C’s continued presence on ‘EEI would hardly fuel a publicity engine for a new station when the new station is publicly undetermined.The fall ratings book begins Sept. 20 and a pennant race and Patriots opener will carry the remaining days of the Summer ratings period, so why not build some anticipation and notch up the buzz surrounding the centerpiece talent? These people leave nothing to chance when it comes to ratings surveys. (Don’t think the Sox on ‘EEI on Wednesdays is a coincidence — it’s tied to the return date for the Arbitron surveys.)What is really amusing, though, is how this Scott guy, clearly being used by someone with an agenda, falls for the absurdity that the program director, Jason Wolfe, calls the shots on hiring talent for contracts worth millions of dollars — or even on contracts worth mere hundreds of thousands of dollars. Not. A. Chance. (He goes so far as to say “If Wolfe flubs this one the way he has flubbed his recent WRKO mis-maneuvers…” as if it was a program director’s call. Talk about buying the baloney people are whispering in your ear. Wolfe may play the point but he doesn’t call the shots. He also fell nicely for the second day keep-it-in-the-papers angle, as if advertisers suddenly started demanding rebates and pulling ads when they had been paying according to contract during Callahan’s extended absence and Dennis’ vacations. Suddenly in one day they’re demanding and getting concessions from the station? C’mon.)Those personnel decisions are made by people at the market manager level and above, and nothing happens with high-priced long-term deals (and in radio anything more than 13 weeks is long-term) unless Bala Cynwyd says it will happen. It’s a publicly-traded company, people. But then, this guy seems to think a newspaper scores a great beat when it scores beats on a story involving one of its employees.The “heavily financed” network is also an amusing concept. The first thing they would need to do is line up stations with strong signals that have either a sports format (which lets off most of New England since most the sports stations in smaller market cities tend to be small AMs with signal or dial-position problems) or are male-oriented (which forces a station to jettison the portion of the audience that is not sports fans and forces the syndicator to find a middle ground between sports and general talk which may drive Boston metro sports fans back to the pure sports talk stations which, if this scenario happens, would include WEEI) or which are willing to flip formats with little notice.The big question is just how down-to-the-wire the station will play this thing. I’m betting on the Wednesday after Labor Day.
Does the virtual John Dennis get drunk and leave threatening voice mails too?Just wondering.
N, you want specifics? WRKO are call letters, not an acronym, (at least not since Radio Keith Orpheum/General Tire was involved.)And if ‘EEI wanted to take care of their overnight, they could put you on afternoon drive.
PR Spin Alert:Anonymous 9:36 PM said: “I’m surprised that no here has mentioned that there are alternatives out there to listen to in the morning, such as Mike & Mike. … [SELL SELL SELL] I’ve found Mike & Mike to be enjoyable, knowledgeable and the guest like Buster Olney, Peter Gammons, Chris Mortensen etc are enjoyable and provide useful information. [DIVERSIONARY] EEI is messing up a good thing and if ESPN is smart they’ll invest in this area and seize this opportunity. [COUNTER A WEAKNESS] I live in Metrowest and get ESPN fine during the day. [SLUG OPPO] It’s not as provincial as EEI but I’ve switched and find myself listening to EEI less. “It’s ok, Jessamy you can post under your name. This blog doesn’t bite. It might do tons of good to your bottom line to come out of hiding and act like a legit Boston media member with a stake and a contribution. And no, if you are a NE fan, the people you mention do not like NE sports teams and it shows and it makes for unpleasant listening at times, for the two dopes inthe morning to the midday duches. And good riddance, DanP.The other spin alert, probably comes from the nutjob brothers. They still deem it ‘relevant’ to use “Chappaquidick” in their advertising for the drivel they put out.Give me a break, people, you have to try better next time.And finally to Amused,I agree with some of your premises but I think you take your cynicism a bit too far. This publicity stuff is overblown. I don’t believe ANY of this is a publicity stunt from anyone here. I think there are real issues sticking in the middle of deals being closed.These are players that don’t need these gimmicks. These are not Mike Adams who was out of the scene selling cars for a long time. Once Howie or Gerry resurface, you bet any of their regulars will find them on day one. wrko/Weei’s replacements also would find a lot of open ears as their sizeable audience will listen for the first days at least and see what”s new before departing, so I don’t see this “hype conspiracy.’Maybe this Herald piece explains some of what Entercom is trying to accomplish: cut costs.EEI/RKO for long thought it had the leverage. Tide has turned and they don’t.They were trying to CONvince Howie to accept $50k less, as ludicrous as that sounds, hammer out his deal and then have the leverage and savings to close D&C’s deal. They must have thought that these radio personalities don’t have as much leverage/options as they think they do and soon, they’d sign at the dotted line. It has backfired. They mishandled another missed opportunity with Neumy and next year negotiation with Ordway will be just as full of drama. Jason is not the be all, end all nor is any one person locally. God only knows who oks the salary figures ultimately, here in Boston or @ HQ. But to strip Jason and Julie of any power to plot the negotiations is going to far. You gotta give their incompetence some credit here.Howie wasn’t negotiating with someone in PA, he was talking with Jason and the lawyers, so he is directly involved.This is beyond “Robbing Peter to pay Paul” and “Penny-wise Pound-foolish” Soon they will probably want to divest of one of the stations if they have one station’s worth of content and talent spread over two frequencies.It is still mesmerizing to see a company bungle contract negotiations for the top-rated programs in their slots. It just doesn’t make sense. Either local management is really really stupid or coprorate hands are holding things up. To dismiss one of the two completely is being too cynical.We don’t know is the honest answer and anyone here or at Sctt’s could be specualting or feeding untruths. All you can do is wait for the results and the news dripping afterwards.N.
It seems to me D&C’s popularity comes not from their knowledge of or pithy insights on sports but from their ability to fan the flames (as opposed to flame the fans) on controversial, mostlynon-sports topics. Reportedly, D&C’s “Headlines” segment is the most popular part of the show.So why not take that appeal over to the “talk station” in the mornings (or opposite Howie C in the pm drive?) where the Speaker is floundering and leave EEI to the pure sports audience? Wouldn’t the combined Entercomm audience be expanded this way?I’ve also thought pairing Callahan and Finneran on RKO would make for interesting angry bald white guy radio that would generate audience, revenue, and controversy for a station that deperately needs help.
Hey N – Sorry I’m not Jassamy Tang. I’m far from it. I don’t work for ESPN, 890 (or ESPN840 as you call it), a media outlet or anything else your conspiracy mind can come up with. Here’s the deal. EEI has jumped the shark. They are pompous, obnoxious, arrogant, and there day is going to come. They carry an agenda and use it to weld power around this town. Has anyone noticed the attention the Revolution are now getting on that station, now that they are carrying their games? What I would like to see is a viable alternative. A station that talks sports – not news, not big obnoxious former athletes talking down to people, and not meat heads like Sheppard (The next insightful comment he makes will be his first. As he would say on his fill in days – no doubt about it). I’m sick of these losers that call daily thinking that they are part of an in crowd because the Big O knows their name. Like they are part of some cool club that no one else belongs to. They are no different then the “whack pack” that were regulars on Howard Stern’s show. Eventually though it gets old and boring. Regarding “And no, if you are a NE fan, the people you mention do not like NE sports teams and it shows and it makes for unpleasant listening at times”. They don’t like NE sport teams. Are you kidding me? Are you that shallow? Are you a sports fan or just a NE fan? The “People” that I mention do talk about NE sports but they also talk about other teams as well (lo and behold what a novel concept). Wouldn’t it be nice to hear what’s going on in NY? Wouldn’t it be nice to hear what’s happening in Indy before or after a big pats game? Wouldn’t you like to be educated about other teams to see how they stack up to the NE teams? I do. While I love my NE teams I like to be knowledgeable about them and their competition. ESPN Radio does that, particularly Mike & Mike and their guests. Listen to Peter Gammons on Friday AM, I bet you learn something about the Sox that you wouldn’t hear on EEI.So to close, just want to make sure you know that I’m not who you think I am. In fact I would classify ESPN TV as the same as WEEI Radio. Windbags, Substance over style etc. If I was Jassamy or anyone associated with ESPN, Mike & Mike etc. do you think I would say that? ESPN Radio however actually provides stimulating discussion and not “TRADE MANNY” or “BILL BELICHICK IS GOD” Talk.I’ll sign my name this time. Sincerely,KevinGood God.
I’ve been saying the following for months now;As an atheist, the best argument I have every seen for the existence of a deity is that Gerry Callahan, after years of using his microphone as a soapbox to deliver bigoted, irrational and often contradictory diatribes, has been rendered speechless and forced off the air.
Oh this is too funny…Ok, Mr ‘Kevin’ I’ll take your clarification at face value (no other choice there for now) but allow me to reject the bile that follows.I am not sure what allows you to deduce that I am not interested in other teams or don’t follow any. Au contraire, my friend. I follow the national scene very closely, all major sports, all divisional race, all the analysis as well as Motorsports US and Intl, Soccer Intl and sports business/media/advertising and add that to all the US news, Intl news, Business news, Media and Creative media news as all as think-tanks and so many other things. I absorb and seek more info in 24 hours than you may do in…well …anyway.The two morning twits you are in love with are for sure Boston bashers and are UNRELIABLE BIASED national sports commentators and I wouldn’t value their word on anything. One of them is a schemeing pompous dope, who openly lobbies for jobs with sports leagues and I predict one day, he will ‘retire’ to such cushy job, so he plays it very very careful. He never offends anyone and is always PC and UNORIGINAL. I think I recall him facetiously wishing to be a Baseball Commish one day. The Other is a Patriots and Red Sox-hating ex-NY Jet. He never picks the Pats even if they are the favorites and always finds something worng undeservedly and I don’t recall him saying anything fair or complimentary about Tom Brady. He is another Peyton wh##e.I do enjoy national coverage and I seek it. BUt I also do not enjoy nor tolerate sitting there and hearing garbage about my own teams that I know to be false/unfair and bile about other hyped “ESPN favorite sons” teams that I know to be bogus, like the Dungy hype or the Bonds hype or the Earnhardt Jr hype or the Seattle Seahawks hype or the San Diego Chargers hype or the Yankees hype or the Vick great quarterback hype or the McNabb hype or NotreDame hype..(want more???)Gosh, are you deaf or just not paying attention when the show is on?The last straw that broke the camel’s back recently when I stopped even hopping to their call numbers is when they had the nerve to berrate Selig for NOT being committed to attend Bond’s 755 and that he “should do the right thing.” Utter garbage.. ESPN lackey spin garbage. Matters way beyond their pay grade if they were supposed to be hired to tell me what the score is and analyze teams strength. What business do they have telling the world how the Commish should treat their former “co-worker” ie multi-million ESPN-Reality show star?That is good programming for you, Sir?You enjoy it. It is garbage and media analysts nationwide do not like ESPN’s arrogance nor undeserved dominance. Read yourself some Muschnik for some great critique from someone who has his head screwed right.Gammons..uhh..you gotta love the guy, but sorry, he lost his edge. No, I do not learn anything significant or new with him anymore. I like his bird’s eye analysis of that particular snapshot of the season, but is very careful about divulging what he knows and upsetting his access and he has to keep a lot of the gems for ESPN premium column online, which I would pay for ONLY if I am too senile and old to know better.Actually, one could argue ESPN baseball coverage misses more Harold Reynolds’s nightly contribution than Gammons’ wisdom sessions. I would look forward to a book from Gammons once he is NO LONGER covering the teams, with some distance. That would be great.And I’ll share one of my guilty pleasures with you. One of the most delicious things to watch is the hicks out there in Indystar Colts forums when their team is being embarrassed. Sometimes, I’ll follow the game while looking at their thread just to delight in their awe of the Bellichick wonder. Dungy, my….You say “Wouldn’t it be nice to hear what’s going on in NY?” uhhh yeah, I’d love to listen to the Fan if I could more often. It’s a lot more entertaining than anything Jason produces. FoxsportsRadio actually does sports talk better than ESPN on radio, by a mile. JT the brick , despite being a rabid Yankee fan, is good sports radio, despite what Mike Admas says out of jealousy. Sporting news also has some decent national sports talk and their signal is ten times better than 890. (did I get it right this time?) So no lesson from you on broadening my scope, ‘sport.’ (or Kevin I should say)Ok, INSTANT UPDATE here: as I am wrapping this up, Mike Lowell homers and Coco scores Varitek in for the win. Ok, then I go to ESPNNEWS and the announcer was going to cry. First, he said the game was going to extra innings, which it didn’t and then made this incomrehensible joke that he DIDN’T WANT the Sox to win in the 9th but would rather go into extra innings. I can’t figure that one out.Then in a very downbeat tone, he sadly announces that since the Yankees got clobered by Baltimore, the Sox extend the lead. If it were reversed, these idiots wold be running out of breath in puppy excitment. Very much like the Spanish Goooooooooooollllllllllll…hmm ….ESPN STINKS!The only entertaining show now on ESPN is the “Bornx is Burning” Pretty good talent and acting and nice throwback history there. But not in my lifetime would I ever conceive that ESPN would produce ANYTHING remotely elaborate about the Red Sox. Or about the Patriots. Be honest with yourself, now. Do you think ESPN would ever produce something like that on Boston teams? If you answer yes, I’ll make ESPN890.com my homepage and leave it on the radio all day.This is the same network that elevates so many onehit wonders and ignore the Old Celtics and Bruins dynasties like they never existed. The same network where the thought of the Patriots being a dynasty is an INSULT. Save for Ditka, their football coverage is blantantly sophomoric and dishonest.N.
You’ve been all had.Don’t forget to turn off the on-air light when you leave.
Much as I despise his politics, Jerry Callahan has what only a few other hosts have, the ability to create an engaging on-air conversation. Glenn Ordway is one. The Big Show is much better when he’s on than when he’s not. It’s not because of what he says, but what he gets others to say. Others: Neumeier. Imus. Dale Arnold and John Dennis do not have that ability. (I have no explanation for the continued D&C Show ratings success. I doubt it would have continued indefinitely. The show has become unlistenable, regardless of who guests with or without Dennis.)Meterparel is, at this point in his career, a decent foil, but not much else. DeOssie is a one-note Johnny. ‘EEI has trouble on its hands.