Boston Radio: Talk WMEX Passes On Rush Limbaugh

The incoming owners of Talk WMEX 1510 AM said they will pass on Rush Limbaugh and go instead with a new programming lineup meant to bring more humor and local coverage to conservative talk radio in Boston.

The Boston Globe calls it a surprise move by a station that radio industry analysts pegged as the presumptive landing spot for Limbaugh’s nationally syndicated show after his distributor, Premiere Networks, and WRKO 680 AM said last week that it had failed to reach an extension.

“He’s been offered to us four times, and we’ve said no,” said Mary Catherine Remmer, co-owner of Daly XXL Communications, which has been operating WMEX under a lease management agreement since March and plans to close on a purchase from Blackstrap Broadcasting later this summer.

Meanwhile the new WMEX lineup debuts June 2. The morning drive slot, from 6-10 a.m., will be anchored by Joe Ligotti, the YouTube sensation better known as “The Guy From Boston.” Ligotti built an online following by posting video rants on topics such as illegal immigration and gay marriage — often with an American flag in the background and a cigar in his mouth, and always in a heavy Boston accent.

Bill Keeler, currently a morning show host at WIBX 950 AM in Utica, N.Y., will take the noon to 3 p.m. shift that otherwise might have been Limbaugh’s. Michele McPhee, a former Boston Herald columnist, will anchor the afternoon drive from 3-6 p.m.