Herald: WBOS has edge in race for Sox rights

[Sean Smyth]

On Fri, 21 Apr 2006 10:58:27 -0400
 John Francini <francini@mac.com> wrote:
>I also would really hate to have the Red Sox have complete
>editorial  control over what gets said about them on the
>station carrying their  games. One of the virtues of their
>being on WEEI right now is that  the talk hosts aren't afraid
>to criticize or make fun of on- and off- field Sox events when
>necessary to hold them to account.

I seem to remember that Eddie Andelman's poking of the Sox was
one of the reasons the team bolted WHDH in the mid-'80s and
went to Campbell Sports. Of course, I may be wrong on this.

Teams exercising editorial control over content is nothing new.
Have we already forgotten about the Celtics' ownership of WEEI
and Fox 25? The Flyers threatened to bolt WIP a few years ago;
the team openly complained about the coverage on the station.
The Cardinals left KMOX for a deal similiar to what has been
proposed with Greater Media and the Sox, buying half of KTRS.
Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder purportedly is buying a
bunch of Washington rimshotters to build his own Redskins
sports talk network. 

As far as I know, the current Sox management team hasn't said
anything -- yet -- that would indicate it has any issues with
WEEI's treatment of the team.