WEEI versus The Sports Hub (was: Entercom to buy WFNX?)

[Donna Halper]

At 12:20 PM 11/27/2010, Bob Nelson wrote:

>Pay no attention to that huge FM station behind the curtain! Just 
>like I'm sure WEEI tightening up their brakes and moving the Sox to 
>EEI full time had nothing, oh NOTHING to do with 98.5's presence. As 
>the recent "Greater Boston/Beat The Press" edition said, 98.5 has 
>become competitive very
>quickly and I'd suspect they're winning or at least even in key demos.

In this case, I am not persuaded that it's about AM versus 
FM.  Boston has a history of successful AM stations (WBZ is a prime 
example) that are beloved and relied upon by people of all 
demographics.  WEEI has for many years had no serious competition, 
and even in the best of times, a station without seriously 
competition can become self-indulgent or self-referenetial (the same 
callers, the same "inside jokes", etc).  When the Sports Hub came 
along, I think it not only put sports on FM in a bigger way (the 
Patriots games had already been on FM for a while) but it provided a 
new and fresh opportunity to talk sports, gave younger listeners a 
chance to be heard, and provided a new opportunity to be part of a 
sportsfan community.

For those listeners unfamiliar with WEEI and its history (people who 
did not grow up here and have no idea who Butch from the Cape or the 
Man on the Way Up were, or why the guy calling Glenn Ordway a "fat 
bastard" on the Whiner Line is supposed to be amusing), the Sports 
Hub became a good choice. I think the Sports Hub's listeners perceive 
it as more modern and up-to-date than WEEI.  But I'd hesitate to 
write WEEI's obit just yet.  There are a lot of professionals at that 
station, and I think they will devise some ways to keep or expand 
their listener base.  Research I've seen suggests that many sports 
fans can't get enough sports-talk, and they flip back and forth 
between both stations.