So long, Framingham Lou (and other WEEI discussions)

Chad Finn

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EDIT:

Looks like that won't be the case. At least we now know what Rich has been up to!

View attachment 80036
Imminent is definitely the key word there. He may have some NDA left. I don't know the timeline, just that Audacy management has been telling people changes are coming. It's fluid, but if I had to bet, I think this could end up with Keefe and Jones in midday -- I've heard contradicting stuff on Fauria -- and Gresh and Rich in afternoon drive.
 

John Marzano Olympic Hero

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Imminent is definitely the key word there. He may have some NDA left. I don't know the timeline, just that Audacy management has been telling people changes are coming. It's fluid, but if I had to bet, I think this could end up with Keefe and Jones in midday -- I've heard contradicting stuff on Fauria -- and Gresh and Rich in afternoon drive.
Gresh? Ooof. Where is Meg going?
 

yeahlunchbox

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Jan 21, 2008
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Imminent is definitely the key word there. He may have some NDA left. I don't know the timeline, just that Audacy management has been telling people changes are coming. It's fluid, but if I had to bet, I think this could end up with Keefe and Jones in midday -- I've heard contradicting stuff on Fauria -- and Gresh and Rich in afternoon drive.
I have no idea who Gresh's audience is, but he must have one because he's had like nine lives when it comes to radio.
 

hube

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Apr 4, 2010
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Gresh and Rich in afternoon drive.

Good heavens, that'd be awful. Rich and almost anyone else (probably not Adam Jones) might have a shot at competing with F&M. Rich and Gresh would be suicide by shouting.
 

Patriot_Reign

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I have no idea who Gresh's audience is, but he must have one because he's had like nine lives when it comes to radio.
Seriously. I've found him to be unlistenable as far back as his debut with Zolak at the birth of 98.5. Everywhere he goes his ratings are just 'meh', yet he's given opportunity after opportunity.
 
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Salem's Lot

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Seriously. I've found him to be unlistenable as far back as his debut with Zolak at the birth of 98.5. Everywhere he goes his ratings are just 'meh', yet he's given opportunity after opportunity.
He must work ridiculously cheap for someone that people have heard of.
 

Bigdogx

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Jul 21, 2020
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Gresh? Ooof. Where is Meg going?
Gresh is the wall street journal of sports radio. He is just there imo.

Kind of sucks to see what sports radio has become, long ways away from the Mike and the Mad Dog & the Big Show days...... This is not just an WEEI issue as WFAN has the same dead spot from 10am till 6pm.
 

steveluck7

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Rich in the afternoon is a bad idea. He’s not knowledgeable enough about sports to carry a show at that time.
Random segments not involving sports is where Rich is best. That works in morning drive. I don’t think that would be a good show in the afternoon
 

Andy Merchant

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Gresh is terrible, I hope Rich gets a guaranteed contract for big bucks because there's not going to be much for him to work with.
 

Hal Waffid

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Nov 14, 2023
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Imminent is definitely the key word there. He may have some NDA left. I don't know the timeline, just that Audacy management has been telling people changes are coming. It's fluid, but if I had to bet, I think this could end up with Keefe and Jones in midday -- I've heard contradicting stuff on Fauria -- and Gresh and Rich in afternoon drive.
If self-preservation is an instinct Rich possesses, he better play learn to play nice with Chad. I didn't hate Gresh as much as some but I'd rather hear Keefe. They need to go younger, or at least go more connected with younger.
Rich in the afternoon is a bad idea. He’s not knowledgeable enough about sports to carry a show at that time.
Random segments not involving sports is where Rich is best. That works in morning drive. I don’t think that would be a good show in the afternoon
That makes sense, but I think the play here is to swerve out of Felger's lane rather than being continuously made roadkill.

I listened to Felger's interview with Bryan Curtis and I was amazed by the contempt he has for his listeners. It seems to me like the F&M animating principle is "you, my listeners, should be ashamed of yourselves, whether it's for being gullible enough to fall for my bit or for caring enough about your local teams enough to listen to sports radio in the first place." There's got to be parts of that audience that would like an alternative to showing up and being abused or manipulated into anger.
 

Rusty13

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Huge grain of salt, as it's coming from Kirk. But if Rich was actually that unhappy working with Fred and that situation, I can absolutely understand him turning down that much money to go somewhere for much less. Having said that, I do agree that a Rich/Gresh show does not sound good at all. I'm not sure who would be a better partner for Rich though, who might be available. He definitely needs someone who can play off his bits in a humorous way, while also mixing in some sports knowledge. Someone more vanilla like Keefe I don't think cuts it.

 

TheWizard

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Oct 31, 2013
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Pure speculation on my part as I know nothing but I wonder if we'll hear something on April 1. As it's the start of a new quarter and if Rich has any non-disclosure agreements in place may be up then.
 

John Marzano Olympic Hero

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Huge grain of salt, as it's coming from Kirk. But if Rich was actually that unhappy working with Fred and that situation, I can absolutely understand him turning down that much money to go somewhere for much less. Having said that, I do agree that a Rich/Gresh show does not sound good at all. I'm not sure who would be a better partner for Rich though, who might be available. He definitely needs someone who can play off his bits in a humorous way, while also mixing in some sports knowledge. Someone more vanilla like Keefe I don't think cuts it.
What about Jones and Rich? Jones is a cynical jerk, a lite Felger, but maybe he'd loosen up a bit with an optimist guy who's funny like Rich? Keefe and Rich would be great too. Arcand as the sports flash dudes.
 

Hal Waffid

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Nov 14, 2023
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Huge grain of salt, as it's coming from Kirk.
I will never understand what people see in Kirk. If I recall, maybe 3/4 of his tenure at WEEI was feuding. He talks as though he's not among the most sensitive of the descriptive term he uses in the clip.

He is right that if they're going to bring in Rich they should give him whatever money they planned on allocating to drive time and let him do what he wants. The guys in WEEI management clearly don't have any functioning ideas themselves and they don't need to constrain the guy who does. If, like everything else they've tried over at WEEI (including Kirk) it doesn't work out, they can tell Rich to hit the bricks.

By the way, are those numbers accurate? How could Fred possibly be having money problems bringing in 9 units?
 

Rusty13

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By the way, are those numbers accurate? How could Fred possibly be having money problems bringing in 9 units?
Who knows if they are accurate, but Fred is definitely dealing with ongoing Family Court issues, as he admitted that he had to go to court directly after the show recently. On the flip side, he also just got back from a trip with his son to Atlantis, so he can't be doing THAT bad.
 

Rusty13

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What about Jones and Rich? Jones is a cynical jerk, a lite Felger, but maybe he'd loosen up a bit with an optimist guy who's funny like Rich? Keefe and Rich would be great too. Arcand as the sports flash dudes.
I like your train of thought re: Jones. He had one of the better 98 Mile submissions a few years ago, so he has a funny, engaging side to him as well.
 

Andy Merchant

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I remember Minihane saying that Toucher & Rich were making $800k under their last contract, so at least a new contract of $900k is consistent with that narrative. Hard to believe that things got bad enough with Fred where Rich was willing to walk away and take another job for $700k less just to be rid of him.

And PLEASE let it be true that Gresh is only making $80k! I wonder how much money he pissed away by botching his negotiations at 95.8 and getting replaced by Bertrand?
 

Hal Waffid

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Nov 14, 2023
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And PLEASE let it be true that Gresh is only making $80k! I wonder how much money he pissed away by botching his negotiations at 95.8 and getting replaced by Bertrand?
Haha is that what happened? I was puzzled because liked Gresh better than I like Bertrand. I remember when it was Tanguay and Zollak but I don't remember how long that pairing lasted before Tanguay farted off into obscurity.
 

NortheasternPJ

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I hate Kirk as well, but he seems pretty spot on. I'm not sure who Rich's audience really is without Fred and it'd be absolutely horrible during drive time with Gresh. Agreed with above, I'd rather pair Rich with a Jones which could possibly work vs Gresh! who's terrible.
 

Andy Merchant

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Haha is that what happened? I was puzzled because liked Gresh better than I like Bertrand. I remember when it was Tanguay and Zollak but I don't remember how long that pairing lasted before Tanguay farted off into obscurity.
It's been a while, but I seem to recall Chad Finn saying that Gresh botched his negotiation with 98.5.
 

Patriot_Reign

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It's been a while, but I seem to recall Chad Finn saying that Gresh botched his negotiation with 98.5.
I could've sworn that at least a partial reason Gresh was let go was because of how he treated people behind the scenes, though having said that I totally forgot that Tanger was the original host with Zo so I'm probably mistaken.
 

Quiddity

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Oct 14, 2008
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I could've sworn that at least a partial reason Gresh was let go was because of how he treated people behind the scenes, though having said that I totally forgot that Tanger was the original host with Zo so I'm probably mistaken.
My recollection is Gresh and Zo had a radio show together in the pre-98.5 days, I believe on a Rhode Island station, and Tanguay's 98.5 era was so unmemorable that it's easy to forget it ever happened.

WEEI couldn't have made a bigger mistake in putting a lower quality xerox copy of Felger in afternoon drive up against him. If one wants to hear 4 hours about how much the teams they love suck, Felger is by far the better option. Bringing in someone totally different from Felger like Rich would be the best play in my eyes for WEEI to save itself.
 

yeahlunchbox

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Yeah, Gresh and Zo worked together on 790 The Score.

I completely agree about EEI in the afternoon. They should have been trying to do something completely opposite of Felger and Mazz. They have the negative market covered, go for positive or a Toucher and Rich type show instead of just doing what the Sports Hub is doing.
 

steveluck7

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Yeah, Gresh and Zo worked together on 790 The Score.

I completely agree about EEI in the afternoon. They should have been trying to do something completely opposite of Felger and Mazz. They have the negative market covered, go for positive or a Toucher and Rich type show instead of just doing what the Sports Hub is doing.
But they’d be getting the far lesser on air talent with Rich. So, while a T & R type show could do well (I have my doubts about that “style” in the afternoon), Rich isn’t the one to carry the load and make that work.
 

Patriot_Reign

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But they’d be getting the far lesser on air talent with Rich. So, while a T & R type show could do well (I have my doubts about that “style” in the afternoon), Rich isn’t the one to carry the load and make that work.
Agreed. Rich's strength is producing bits like fart court or Brookline 911 and for whatever reason that translates to morning drive time material.
Jim Murray will occasionally make a "Yeah Felgahh you're wronggg kidddd" bit but otherwise it's straight up sports talk which Rich isn't good at.
 

Rusty13

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But they’d be getting the far lesser on air talent with Rich. So, while a T & R type show could do well (I have my doubts about that “style” in the afternoon), Rich isn’t the one to carry the load and make that work.
With how Toucher and Hardy has been going so far, I'm not sure that's correct anymore.
 

dirtynine

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Rich (with Toucher) did pretty well in the afternoons. For one, it’s why they were the only show retained when BCN flipped to TSH. I think he’d re-adapt ok.
 

ramfan

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My recollection is Gresh and Zo had a radio show together in the pre-98.5 days, I believe on a Rhode Island station, and Tanguay's 98.5 era was so unmemorable that it's easy to forget it ever happened.

WEEI couldn't have made a bigger mistake in putting a lower quality xerox copy of Felger in afternoon drive up against him. If one wants to hear 4 hours about how much the teams they love suck, Felger is by far the better option. Bringing in someone totally different from Felger like Rich would be the best play in my eyes for WEEI to save itself.
I found it odd that they put a lesser talented Felger copycat to go against him. Don't think this is the right combo though