Five years ago, the WEEI was still high. They were shutting down attempts to challenge them in the forms of 1510 Zone and ESPN590.
In February of that year, Chad Finn wrote a column for the Boston Globe OT that was eerily predictable in what he had to say about WEEI and its future.
Perhaps the average Boston sports fan is less sophisticated than I want to believe. But I’m convinced that given an equal signal, some savvy program director could create what WEEI claims to be: the premier sports radio station in the country.
Then in July 2009, the launch of the new 98.5 The SportsHub was announced. WEEI had no cause for concern, and even released statements that they were ready to take on this challenge as well.
Five years ago today, on August 13, 2009, WBZ-FM, 98.5 The Sportsshub went on the air. That day everything changed. Unlike previous competitors, 98.5 had a strong FM signal. They also had the Patriots and Bruins radio rights. It wasn’t the static-filled sound of AM radio with limited signal coverage and lesser-known talent.
The new station was immediately competitive, and while WEEI tried to maintain its edge (Who can forget what Jessica Heslam told Jessica Heslam when asked about Thacher and Rich , that he’d never heard of them and that “‘I’m talking to you from under my desk right now because I’m so scared’”), but within two years 98.5 had overtaken them in the ratings, especially in the morning and afternoon drive time slots that WEEI had dominated for 15 years.
WEEI then made a series of panicked moves, none of which worked, including dropping the only show that was still winning its time slot – Dale and Holly – and replacing it with Mat and Merloni, which quickly fell behind Gresh and Zo in the ratings.
The station fired or reduced the roles of the likes of Pete Sheppard, Glenn Ordway, Jason Wolfe and Dale Arnold while going through the disastrous Jeff Brown era. They changed management again and finally stabilized things somewhat when Dennis and Callahan took over from Thatcher and Rich last July. (Which doesn’t mean they’re winning the ratings period, but it’s a start.)
Meanwhile, 98.5 rolls on. Interestingly, they’ve succeeded not because of smart sports talk (for the most part), but because they’ve taken what WEEI did and taken it to another level. Felger and Maz’s show and Adam Jones’ nightly show thrive on constantly critiquing every local team and player and offering “the sky is falling” scenarios on a daily basis. Listeners love it, as evidenced by the ratings.