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WEEI (AM)

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WEEI
File:WEEI.png
Broadcast areaBoston, Massachusetts
Frequency850 (kHz)
Branding"SportsRadio 850 WEEI"
Programming
FormatSports Radio
AffiliationsWEEI Red Sox Radio Network
Boston Celtics
Fox Sports Radio
Boston College
New England Revolution
Ownership
OwnerEntercom
History
First air date
1930 (frequency, as WHDH)
Call sign meaning
Edison Electric Illuminating (original owner of 590 kHz when it was WEEI)
Technical information
ClassB
ERP50,000 watts
Links
Websitewww.weei.com

WEEI is a sports radio station in Boston, Massachusetts that broadcasts on 850 kHz from a transmitter in Needham, Massachusetts. The station is one of the top rated sports talk radio stations in the nation. Satellite stations are WEEI-FM (103.7 Westerly, Rhode Island), WVEI (1440 Worcester, Massachusetts) and WVEI-FM (105.5 Easthampton, Massachusetts), which signed on October 26, 2006 [1] [2]. All have scheduled periods of independent programming.[citation needed] All four stations are owned by Entercom. Studios are located in Brighton, Massachusetts.

History

WEEI traces its roots to its original owner, Edison Electric Illuminating (hence the call letters). Edison placed the station on the air on 590 kHz in 1924. In 1926, WEEI became a charter member of the NBC "Red" radio network and remained an NBC "Red" affiliate until 1937, when the station was purchased by CBS and became an affiliate of that network. Until 1960, WEEI, through CBS Radio, was the last Boston radio station to devote a large amount of its program schedule to "traditional" network radio programming of daytime soap operas, comedy shows, variety shows, and similar fare.

For the remainder of the 1960's, WEEI was New England's first talk-radio station and home of such hosts as Howard Nelson, Jim Westover and of course, Paul Benzaquin, one of the most popular radio talk show hosts in Boston history. The '60s also saw the daily "WEEIdea" feature that presented cleaning and cooking tips from housewives.

Although its talk radio format was popular, the station went all-news in 1974, following the lead of several other CBS-owned stations. At first, WEEI wasn't 24/7 all-news; the station's late-night schedule featured the "CBS Radio Mystery Theater", an attempt to revive radio drama, as well as a local overnight talk show with Bruce Lee (no relation to the martial-arts actor), a holdover from the previous format. But by the end of the 1970's, WEEI was all-news around the clock.

In 1982, CBS sold WEEI to Helen Broadcasting, which retained the all-news format. In 1991, the station was sold to the Boston Celtics, and became a sports station. Upon the change to all-sports, WEEI featured the Andy Moes show and "Glenn (Ordway) and Janet (Prensky)", a short-lived experiment in bringing a "Bickersons"-type format to sports radio. Also part of the roster was Boston sports talk pioneer Eddie Andelman.

'The Voice of Sports,' WHDH-AM 850

In 1994, WEEI was acquired by Back Bay Broadcasting, which sold the call letters and all-sports programming of WEEI to American Radio Systems. ARS then placed the intellectual property of WEEI on the 850 kHz frequency that was previously home to WHDH-AM.

WHDH 850 had a long history, along with its rival WBZ-AM 1030, as one of Boston's leading full-service radio stations. The station featured the legendary comedy team of Bob and Ray before they departed for national fame in New York, then for 35 years was anchored by morning personality Jess Cain, along with other preeminent air talent such as Norm Nathan. It played jazz, MOR and, in the mid-1970s, Top 40 music. It also featured talk radio programs hosted by Avi Nelson, and, later, David Brudnoy. But while WHDH-AM was never "all sports," it was easily Boston's top sports station during the 1950s through the end of the 1960s. It called itself The Voice of Sports.

For 30 years (1946-75), WHDH-AM was the flagship station of the Boston Red Sox, featuring play-by-play announcers such as Jim Britt, Ford C. Frick Award-winning Curt Gowdy, Ken Coleman and Ned Martin. Prior to 1951, it also broadcast the Boston Braves, the city's National League baseball club (the Red Sox and Braves then only broadcast home games, thus the teams shared the same announcers and did not have schedule conflicts).

During the winter months, WHDH (and WHDH-FM, now 94.5 WJMN-FM) were the flagship stations of the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association and the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League, employing such legendary announcers as Johnny Most, Fred Cusick and Bob Wilson. For a single season, Jim Lang was the announcer for Bruins games and brought unprecedented candor to the job. It also was the home of Harvard University football in the autumn.

In addition, the original WHDH-TV (Channel 5) was the flagship station of the Red Sox TV network from 1958 through 1971, while WHDH-AM produced an early weekly sports roundtable show, "The Voice of Sports," featuring baseball writers from the Boston Herald-Traveler (which owned the station until 1974), various figures from Major League Baseball, and longtime WHDH-TV sports director Don Gillis. No calls were taken during the show, which featured lively debate among the writers. In 1972-73, "The Voice of Sports" became a daily, afternoon drive telephone-talk program hosted by longtime Boston sportscaster Leo Egan, but it failed to take root.

WHDH-AM began to lose its valuable properties in 1969, when the Bruins and Celtics were wooed away by WBZ, and when the Herald-Traveler Corporation was acquired by the Hearst Corporation in 1972, the station was put on the market. It lost the Red Sox after the 1975 regular season and would not carry their games again until 1983-85. The station's last major sports property was the New England Patriots during the late 1980s.

In early 1990, WHDH-AM was sold to local businessman David Mugar, whose New England Television owned Boston CBS affiliate WNEV-TV Channel 7. By that March, with the sale already complete, Channel 7's call letters became WHDH-TV to correspond with WHDH-AM, and NETV became NETV & Radio. Mugar was hoping to bring back a main competitor to Boston's perennial television and radio duopoly WBZ, with a renewed emphasis on a news and straight talk format. Some sports programs remained, but news and talk were main priorities. Among the personalities to arrive in the early 1990s were mostly talents from within NETV, including TV newscaster Ted O'Brien. However, by 1993, NETV & Radio was already in trouble due to increasing debt, and when Mugar announced WHDH-TV was being sold to Sunbeam later that year, the days were numbered for WHDH-AM. The radio station, after WHDH-TV was sold off, remained the last property under Mugar's company, and received a one year stay of execution. By the following spring, it was announced that WHDH-AM would vacate the Boston airwaves entirely, and give the 850 AM dial position to another company. Back Bay Broadcasting earned the position at that point. WHDH-AM's final broadcast, in August 1994, was the death of a beloved heritage radio station in Boston, but had its void filled well by the eventual success of WEEI on 850 AM.

The Rise of 'Sportsradio 850 WEEI'

With the Red Sox coming to WEEI in 1995, they returned to the 850 kHz frequency.

In 1998, American Radio Systems was acquired by CBS. As a result of the merger, the combined company was forced to sell several of its Boston stations. In late 1998, Entercom announced plans to acquire WEEI, along with WAAF, WRKO, WVEI and WEGQ, from CBS for $140 million.

The station is popular with fans of the Boston professional sports teams, especially the Boston Red Sox. WEEI calls itself "the #1 rated sports radio talk station in America," in terms of the percentage of the area radio listening audience tuned-in. WEEI isn't alone in providing 24/7 sports radio in Boston; local competition includes WAMG - ESPN 890 Boston and WWZN - 1510 The Zone.

WEEI was awarded its first Marconi Award in September 2006 for sports station of the year. WEEI was also named large market station of the year.

WEEI is the co-flagship station of the WEEI Red Sox Radio Network with sister station WRKO, where all Red Sox radio broadcasts originate. It is also the flagship station of the Boston Celtics, beginning with the 2007-2008 season. In addition, WEEI broadcasts games of the New England Revolution (with conflicted games airing on WRKO), and Boston College football and basketball teams in season. Sports talk shows such as Dennis and Callahan (6-10 a.m. Monday through Friday), Dale and Holley (10 a.m. - 2 p.m.), The Big Show (2 p.m. - 6 p.m.), Planet Mikey (6 p.m. - 11 p.m.), and The Little Show (11 p.m. - 1 a.m.) air on weekdays. The programs are hosted, respectively by John Dennis and Jerry Callahan, Dale Arnold and Michael Holley, Glenn Ordway, Mike Adams, and Jason Pothier and Jeff Joyce. On weekends the signature show is The Mustard and Johnson Show with Craig Mustard and Larry Johnson (9 a.m. - 2 p.m. in most cases). When local programming isn't on WEEI, usually Fox Sports Radio will air. WEEI is Fox Sports Radio's highest rated station and was an ESPN Radio affiliate for several years before switching to Fox.

In April 2005, WEEI began streaming its broadcasts live online by way of a free membership at its official site (or at this link: http://wmc1.liquidviewer.net/WEEI or http://webclust1.liquidcompass.cc/entercom/audio_player.php?id=WEEI). The exception is for Red Sox and Celtics games, as these are streamed only through the team and league websites as part of subscription packages.

The station has an ongoing feud with the Boston Globe. In 1999, the Globe's executive sports editor, Don Skwar, banned the newspaper's sports writers from appearing on the station's afternoon "The Big Show" after columnist Ron Borges used a racial slur while on the air in reference to New York Yankees pitcher Hideki Irabu. Two weeks later, the ban was extended to WEEI's Dennis & Callahan morning show. WEEI retaliated by banning Globe staffers from all its shows. Nevertheless, WEEI host Michael Holly is a former Globe columnist. [3]

The Red Sox on WEEI

Red Sox broadcasts were a daily feature of the WEEI Red Sox Radio Network slate from March through October. Each broadcast consists of:

  • A pre-game show; The Pregame show is recorded from an air studio inside Fenway Park right next to gate c in WEEI air studio
  • The Inside Pitch, a segment with a member of the local sports journalism establishment;
  • (optional) A pre-game interview with the general manager ;
  • A pre-game interview with the manager (currently Terry Francona);
  • The game intro itself, a compilation of great moments in Red Sox broadcast history;
  • The game itself, with Joe Castiglione broadcasting with either Dave O'Brien or Glenn Geffner. Previous to the 2007 season, Castiglione was partnered with long-time co-broadcaster Jerry Trupiano.
  • A post-game interview;
  • Post-game statistics (called "totals");
  • A highlights clip for those who missed the early part of the game;
  • A roundup of out of town scores;
  • and a signoff tag.

During game broadcasts, WEEI is also made available through the Major League Baseball Web page (for a fee), and (for home games) on XM Satellite Radio (as part of the standard service) for those outside the Boston listening area. The entire 162-game Red Sox schedule also may be heard on an extensive radio network throughout the 6 New England States. Many of the smaller stations have always aired the Red Sox Network regardless of what Boston station originated those broadcasts. Many believe the extensive network of Red Sox radio stations to be the main reason the feeling of a "Red Sox Nation" is so solid in places hundreds of miles from Boston.

A number of local businesses have literally made their names through huge ad buys on WEEI, to the point of their jingles becoming part of the local pop culture. Most longtime Boston residents can sing "1-800-54-GIANT" -- call Giant Glass, or the "Wonder of it All" jingle for Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut, two perennial advertisers. Others, such as members of Sons of Sam Horn, deride the repetitiousness of the ads, which can become tedious over the course of a 162-game season.

The Boston Red Sox recently signed a 10 year radio deal with sister WRKO-AM for the broadcast rights for the 2007 through 2016 seasons, worth a reportedly $13 million a season radio deal. About 30 Red Sox games a season, including all games on Wednesday, will still be heard on WEEI as part of the deal.

Daily shows

  • Dennis and Callahan - Featuring hosts John Dennis, Gerry Callahan, and flashboy Jon Meterparel. Airs 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. on weekdays. It has featured a variety of special guests during different parts of the year including Curt Schilling every Tuesday and Red Sox CEO Larry Lucchino every Thursday during the baseball season, as well as Tom Brady and Boomer Esiason every Monday during football season. The program also features a daily news headline feature, in which Callahan, a neo-conservative, often spars with Dennis, a conservative.
  • "Dale and Holley" - Featuring hosts Dale Arnold, Michael Holley, and flashboy Jon Wallach. Plays 10:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. on weekdays. This show is known for its softer, more analytical approach than for abrasive sensationalism. The show is often considered WEEIs most balanced as Dale Arnold does play-by-play for the Boston Bruins and often brings hockey expertise to the show. The pair also cover the Boston Celtics quite extensively.
  • Planet Mikey - Featuring host Mike Adams. Producer of the show is Jason Pothier or J-POD. Plays from 6:00 p.m.-11:00 p.m. starting April 4, 2007. (Formerly from 7-midnight). The Planet Mikey Show replaced the long-running Ted Nation, hosted by Ted Sarandis and is known for its short, humorous theme song.
  • Red Sox Review - Featuring host Jon Rish. Program follows Planet Mikey on weekday nights (11:00 p.m.-1:00 a.m.) when a Sox game is featured. During weekends Red Sox Review immediately follows the Red Sox postgame show.

Weekend Shows

  • Mustard & Johnson (often called "Yankee Talk" originated by Glenn Ordaway) - Hosted by Craig Mustard and Larry Johnson. Craig Mustard was a part of the original WEEI lineup in 1991 when it switched to all sports. Along with Tom Doyle, Mustard co-hosted WEEI's morning show from 1992 - 1993. Larry Johnson is a syndicated sports cartoonist, formerly of the Boston Globe and The National. Mustard & Johnson can be heard from 9:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. on Saturday & Sunday. (Times may vary due to Red Sox broadcasts)
  • Greg Dickerson - Usually the last local show of the day to air on WEEI weekends. Dickerson is joined by a sportswriter. Dickerson often receives the most "abuse" from the Big Show participants.
  • Butch Stearns - Fox 25 Sports Anchor Butch Stearns occasionally hosts a weekend show with a New England sports writer.
  • Bill Burt - Bill Burt, a writer for the Lawrence Eagle-Tribune. Burt is sometimes heard on the weekends along with a fellow sportswriter.
  • Red Sox Baseball Today (aka The Baseball Show) - Runs every Sunday morning during baseball season, generally starting a 9:00 AM, and running until the Red Sox pregame show comes on, which is normally anywhere from 12:00 PM to 2:00 PM. Until his departure from WEEI in 2005, Bob Neumiere served as host. He was replaced for te 2006 season by Greg Dickerson. That move only lasted for one season when WEEI decided to name Mike Adams, who is most known for his outrageous- opinions as host. The show is cohosted by baseball writers Steve Buckley, and Sean McAdam, who serve as a check and balance system to Adams' crazy opinions. Buckley is most known for his historic knowledge of baseball, and is made fun of many hosts and callers on the station. McAdam is often made fun of by the station's hosts and callers because of his somewhat robotic voice, and lack of sense of humor. When the fooball season begins in September, this show moves to Saturday mornings. ESPN's Peter Gammons was the show's featured guest each week until the 2007 season. ESPN 890am in Boston holds exclusive rights to this ESPN personality.
  • NFL Today The only WEEI regular show that takes no phone calls. This long-time Patriots pre-game show was hosted by Dale Arnold until 2006. Co-hosts included Kevin Mannix (retired Boston Herald columnist who weekly "Report Card" became his trademark) Ron Hobson (Patriot Ledger Football writer) and Steve Nelson (former New England Patriot Linebacker). This weekly Patriots Pre-Game Show has Sports Illustrated and NBC's Peter King as it's feature interview. For the 2006 NFL season the show was re-vamped for the worst. Nelson became the only holdover. Paul Perillo and Tom Curran replaced Mannix and Hobson as the reporters and Doug Brown replaced Arnold as host. The show struggled with constant technical issues surrounding Tom Curran's phone connection (NBC.com reporter was on location at an NFL site) and constantly had trouble with their scheduled start time. There have been no reports from WEEI on lineup changes for 2007.

Flashboys

Past Personalities

Hosts

Flashboys

Dennis and Callahan controversy

The station was home to a major local controversy in October 2003, when morning hosts John Dennis and Gerry Callahan had the following exchange about a photo of a gorilla that had escaped from the Franklin Park Zoo:

Callahan: "They caught him at a bus stop, right -- he was like waiting to catch a bus out of town."

Dennis: "Yeah, yeah -- he's a METCO gorilla."

Callahan: "Heading out to Lexington."

Dennis: "Exactly."

Initially, it was believed that Dennis had said the gorilla was "probably a Metco gorilla waiting for a bus to take him to Lexington" and Dennis was suspended for two days. The radio station attempted to immediately cover up the incident, claiming that recordings of the comments had been lost. However, after mounting public outrage, the two hosts were given longer suspensions, sent to multiple rounds of sensitivity training, and forced to apologize. WEEI also agreed to provide free advertising for the METCO program on the radio station.

Both the station and the hosts have tried their best to put the controversy behind them, going so far as to mute on-air callers who attempt to mention the incident. Regardless of the damage they have done to the hosts' and station's reputation, the comments by Dennis and Callahan don't appear to have had any long-term negative effect on the ratings of the morning show. [citation needed]

Famous Callers

Like many other sports talk stations, WEEI has a famous group of longtime callers.

  • Frank from Gloucester: Frank is an avid New York Yankee fan and former bookie, who the hosts joke is at least 1,000 years old. He is known for shouting and rambling incoherently into the phone, and making up a supposed celebrity status in Boston. At one point he wasn't allowed to call in due to health concerns. He still calls into all programs, although he mostly calls into the afternoon program, The Big Show.

Frank is also a born-again Celtics fan after the Celtics ownership group gave him free tickets to opening night 2006. His signature tag-lines are, "Hello my good friend"...and he normally signs off with, "GOODBYE MEN!" He is also known for filling in doing sportsflashes on the Dennis and Callahan show. His sign-off for sportsflashes was, "I'm Foxy Lady Frank from Gloucester, and that's the sportsflash!" in reference to a strip club that he frequents. Frank is also known for having just a single tooth.

  • Mike from Canton: Mike is another avid New York Yankee fan who frequently calls WEEI. He is most known for putting over everything the Yankees do, however he rarely acknowledges any of the Red Sox accomplishments. He calls into the Mustard and Johnson show on the weekends, which features many Yankee callers, and is nicknamed by other hosts on the station and fellow callers "Yankee talk radio."
  • Dakota from Braintree a particularly controversial caller, who usually makes statements that get the hosts and cohosts upset. In 2006 he got in an on air shouting match with Steve DeOssie, in which DeOssie humiliated Dakota on the air about a variety of things related to his calls. His call ins have become less frequent after this incident.
  • Jeff from Watertown: Jeff has a vast knowledge of baseball, and is always the first caller on Red Sox Baseball Today, which runs every Sunday morning during baseball season.
  • Butch from the Cape: Real name Tom Speers, died in October 2001. He was a notorious New York Yankees fan originally from Connecticut who would often call to taunt Boston sports fans with their lack of a championship since the Celtics in 1986. Though considered abrasive and often condescending, Butch was a very popular caller on many of WEEI's programs. He was known for coining phrases such as "Nancy Drew Bledsoe" and "Pinocchio Pitino". He was mentioned in Sports Illustrated after his claim "I don't give a rat's ass about the World Cup" sparked a local debate about decency standards on sports radio. In the Whiner Line a character has developed named "Butchie From Beyond The Grave". This character gives biting criticism of the Big Show in a rhetorical, sarcastic fashion.
  • Jermaine in the car: Jermaine, an Everett resident, is a longtime caller who normally calls into the Dennis & Callahan morning show. He is an African American who always supports other African Americans. He has gone on record to say that he cheered the OJ Simpson verdict.
  • Ray from Lynn: Ray is an intense follower and evaluator of the Red Sox farm system, with succinct and sometimes brutal assessments of player talent. Ray sounds like a pro scout, though it's likely he's not on the Sox payroll. Name any player in the system, from Instructional League to Pawtucket, and Ray will have an often gruff and poignant summation of that player's big league potential. Seems to know college players as well. He can be funny, but he's probably not someone who cracks a smile very often.
  • Allison from Cambridge: With her trademark rapid fire speech ("She talks like there's a meteor heading for her house." - Tom Curran), wide ranging intellectual references, left of center politics and unusual avant-garde music, Allison stands out as unique among WEEI callers.

Quotes

  • "Loop towards shortstop. Petrocelli's back, he's got it, and the Red Sox win it! And there is pandemonium on the field...Listen!" -- Ned Martin's call of the final out of the 1967 Boston Red Sox "Impossible Dream" regular season (station was WHDH AM 850)
  • "The Red Sox win the pennant! They have beaten the Oakland A's three in a row!" -- Martin's call of the final out of the 1975 American League Championship Series (station was WHDH AM 850)
  • "The Red Sox have come from two games down to beat the Cleveland Indians!" -- Joe Castiglione's final call of the 1999 American League Division Series
  • "Swing and a ground ball, stabbed by Foulke. He has it. He underhands to first. And the Boston Red Sox are the World Champions! For the first time in eighty-six years, the Red Sox have won baseball's World Championship. Can you believe it? " -- Joe Castiglione's final call of the 2004 World Series
  • It seems to me, a guy like Randy Moss, it seems...the way...your team is so professional in how they execute, I, I think can be taken out of his game very easily, because you don’t know at times if he’s going to take plays off if the ball isn’t going his way, and I think your guys – the veterans on defense are going to know this, and they’re just going to bump him all over the field much like they did to Faulk in the Super Bowl, I think he can be taken out his game early and I think you can frustrate the hell out of him. I really can. I really, I really believe that. And I...I do not expect him to have a big game against your defense because I think they can take him off and frustrate that guy early. Because I don’t think he’s very mature...football player. -- Pete Sheppard 'interviewing' Bill Belichick
  • "The Sox rained out today at Comerica Park in New York" -- Pete Sheppard; Comerica Park is actually in Detroit, Michigan.

Religious References

On March 6, 2007 on The Big Show, a caller mentioned about the new contract of Red Sox outfielder J.D. Drew, saying that he prayed for the 50-day negotiations.

"Asking the Lord for $70 million versus $33 million is ludicrous!!!" -Glenn Ordway

"Quit this Benny Hinn Stuff!" -Pete Sheppard

"Do the Christian thing, as for the money and give to those who need it." -Steve DeOssie

Since weekend host Larry Johnson is an ordained minister and operates his own congregation, religious references occasionally appear on the station. But the hosts thought that this and athletes crediting God for a championship season (e.g. Super Bowl, World Series, etc.) was "stretching it". WEEI has listeners and staff who are Catholic (Pete Sheppard and Steve Buckley), Jewish (Jon Wallach and program director Jason Wolfe), Protestant (Johnson), and Orthodox (Fred Smerlas).

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