In no particular order...
- I think there is more room for 2 sports stations in Boston if one of them is willing to take a more "blue ocean" approach and target a niche other than call-in type controversies related to the major local teams. That might mean any kind of combination of things such as national news and discussion, more in-depth expert analysis or interviews, college/"other sports" type coverage, T&R-style "guy radio" general-entertainment, historical/general sportsophile type stuff, "how to" type shows for youth coaches and athletes, or other things that I'm not thinking of. That would probably be a smaller station, commercially speaking, but smaller does not automatically equal doomed.
- WEEI and TSH are going head-to-head for the same demographics, with conceptually very similar content, and WEEI mostly can't compete. Even their bumper announcer sounds like a cheap knockoff. It is ironic that WEEI was seminal in the development of the "shootin' the shit about sports" format, but now is not very good at it.
- A lot has been said about strong opinions, chemistry, etc... I actually think too much reliance on "formulas for sports talk success" is part of what did EEI in. All the stuff that supposedly "sells", EEI has had plenty of: ginned-up controversy, red-faced ranting, contrarian opinions that listeners will want to argue with, etc... I think they made a series of mistakes, relying too heavily on such gimmicks, and not enough on keeping tighter, more focused infotainment value (if that's not an oxymoron).
- Another big mistake on EEI is a too-narrow spectrum of too-similar personalities, especially on the same show. Even if they took opposing sides, it was sometimes hard to tell who was talking on the big show. If you read a transcript of most WEEI broadcasts without names, it would be hard to tell whose opinions you are reading, sometimes even what show it is. That's not as true on TSH: you'd usually be able to tell whether you were reading a transcript of T&R, G&Z, or F&M, for example, and usually even who is doing the talking, just reading a transcript without names. It's like EEI wanted to keep their spectrum of opinion and debate within a range that wouldn't alienate the supporting cast from The Friends of Eddie Coyle.
- While I do think there might be room for more than one sports-oriented station, I doubt whether there is room for both EEI and TSH as currently constructed. As a listener, it's neat to be able to flip back and forth at commercial breaks and slow parts, or on big news days, but it's going to be very hard for the weaker of the two stations (EEI, in this case) to hold onto competitive talent, supporting content, and ultimately advertisers. Especially with the stupid Globe feud in place. Places like NYC, you can have a Mets-oriented show and a Yankees-oriented show on simultaneously, and one might beat the other in ratings, but there is a built-in erosion wall, and a reason for columnists, athletes, advertisers, etc to be on the "Mets station", even if it's second in the ratings.
- When EEI eventually lets D+C go, their problem is not going to be "who is better than D+C?", but "Who is going to pull listeners away from T+R". Same with Salk + Holley. You can't just play addition by subtraction, because strange as it may seem, those WEEI personalities *do* have a loyal listener base, and WEEI has legacy/inertia listeners. Which is why I think if WEEI is going to try any amount of reinvention, they should go bold. Just trying to tweak the on-air chemistry is rearranging deck chairs.
P.S. It's probably too late now, but I personally think they should have let D+C keep talking politics. I suspect that a lot of their listeners liked that aspect, and listened partly because of it. I think WEEI made the mistake of thinking that they could stop the hemorrhage of "everyone else" by cutting out the most controversial and red-hot aspects of the show. I think they just kind of neutered it instead, turning a mean old dog into a tired old dog.