Boston Radio: Red Sox Express Concerns To WEEI

Add the Red Sox to a growing list of complainers about a negative turn in tone and content on sports talk radio station WEEI 93.7 FM, according to The Boston Herald.

That WEEI carries Red Sox games through a contract that lasts until the 2023 season gives the Red Sox every right, according to president and CEO Sam Kennedy, to express their “frustration and disappointment” with the station’s corporate owners.

“We have had a growing level of concern, and we’ve expressed that very clearly to their management, especially over the past year — and in the past week and in the past few days,” said Kennedy.

He added, “this pattern of controversial incidents is exhausting, I think, for listeners and fans in general. It’s something that Entercom (WEEI’s parent company) is smart to address.”

In the wake of calls from the Red Sox as well as recent defections among advertisers, the station took the unusual step of announcing that it would suspend live programming for 12 hours on Friday in order for its staff to receive mandatory sensitivity training.

“We’ve shared our frustration and disappointment dating back to really last year,” said Kennedy. “It seems like there’s been a pattern that’s sort of emerged in terms of a different culture throughout the station. There are always one-off controversies in talk radio and we get that; we’re talking about different highly charged subjects. Since last year we’ve expressed our displeasure and concern to Entercom’s corporate leadership down in Philadelphia. They’ve listened to us, we’ve had productive dialogue, but as you know, there have been a series of incidents that have sort of become a pattern.”

Last month, WEEI suspended Alex Reimer after he called Tom Brady’s daughter — who appeared in a Brady-authorized documentary — a “pissant.” Then last week, WEEI suspended midday host Christian Fauria for an insensitive impersonation of Brady’s agent, Don Yee, who is Asian-American. Fauria’s remarks came while mocking a prank that led to Herald columnist Ron Borges writing a story that proved to be based on false information.