Kevin Graham Could Be New PD
WEEI 93.7 FM morning men John Dennis and Gerry Callahan — blindsided
by the firing of boss Jason Wolfe yesterday — said they have been assured that
station suits want them to be “part of the solution” to the once-dominant
sports station’s ratings woes.
Callahan, a Boston Herald sports columnist, said Entercom
Boston general manager Jeff Brown told him and Kirk Minihane, who was added to
the morning show in February, that “we’re going nowhere.” And Dennis, who is on
vacation this week, said Brown called him after Wolfe got the ax to reiterate
that the morning show was not in any danger.
“I take him at his word,” Dennis said. “I’m not worried.”
Wolfe, WEEI’s vice president of programming and operations,
who oversaw the station during years of Boston
radio dominance, was shown the door last week, the victim of spiraling ratings
and competition from WBZ-FM 98.5 The Sports Hub, the upstart that stole much of
the longtime sports-talker’s audience.
In the most recent ratings period, The Sports Hub’s
top-rated morning show, Toucher and Rich, dominated with a 13.4 share. Dennis
and Callahan finished fifth with a 6.0. The Sports Hub was No. 1 overall with
men age 25-54, both stations’ target audience, while WEEI was fifth, according
to Arbitron.
Kevin Graham |
There have been reports that Brown’s choice to replace
Wolfe is Kevin Graham, program director at KFAN in Salt Lake City . Brown declined to discuss it
other than to say he will make an announcement in the next couple of days.
Wolfe’s successor will have to try to figure out how to
increase listeners and decrease station costs — a tough act to pull off
especially given the fact that WEEI is saddled with a whopping 10-year, $200
million contract to air Red Sox games that runs for three more years. The
station also has the broadcast rights to the Celtics.
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