Boston Radio: Ratings Celebration At The Hub Ended Quickly

On Thursday, sports WBZ 98.5 FM The Hub celebrated a massive win in the Nielsen summer ratings period, finishing first overall and in all individual day parts in the men 25-54 demographic from June 23-Sept. 14, according to The Boston Globe.

However, the cdlebration was short-lived.  On Friday, The Sports Hub’s parent company, Beasley Media, inflicted another a round of corporate cost-cutting across its stations in various markets, and stations in its Boston cluster were not spared.

As of early Friday evening, eight employees at the five Beasley-owned stations in the Boston market were fired, including two at The Sports Hub: evening co-host Christian Arcand and longtime morning show producer Mike Lockhart.

Arcand had been with The Sports Hub since December 2017 and had co-hosted “The Adam Jones Show” — which ranked No. 1 in the summer ratings book — since June 2018. He was working without a contract but had negotiated a three-year deal that he had expected to sign soon.

Other personnel at Beasley’s Boston stations who were victims of the cost-cutting Friday included Julie Devereaux and Brian Bell at 105.7 WROR; Bobby Blaze at Hot 96.9; Jonathan Wier at Country 102.5; Ken West, the program director at Radio 92.9; and Joe Plett, a director of production for Beasley.

In a brief statement, a Beasley spokesperson said, “Like other responsible publicly traded organizations, we are restructuring our operations to reflect the reality of the country’s current economic challenges.”

While Beasley’s cost-cutting plans were no secret, personnel at The Sports Hub had reason to believe they would be spared. The station isn’t just an enormous ratings success, but also is one of the top-billing stations in the country when it comes to advertising. In 2021, The Sports Hub brought in more than $33 million, most among any sports station in the country, and fifth among all stations nationwide of any format or genre.

One reason for the cuts is the decline of Beasley’s stock price, which is little more than a dollar per share. But that’s more than twice what shares of Audacy — rival station WEEI’s parent company — have been going for recently. It was at 34 cents per share as of Friday afternoon.

As for the summer book...In the Men 25-54 demo, The Sports Hub took first with a 17.3 share, while WEEI 93.7 was tied for fifth with a 4.9.

• In morning drive, “Toucher and Rich” took first with a huge 24.2 share, while WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show” was seventh with a 5.2.
• The Sports Hub’s “Zolak and Bertrand” show was tops in middays with an 18.0 share, while WEEI’s “Gresh and Keefe” took sixth at 6.4.
• In afternoon drive, The Sports Hub’s “Felger and Mazz” extended its years-long run of first-place finishes, and had a 19.6 share. WEEI’s “Merloni, Fauria, and Mego” show was third at 6.0.

There were other Beasley RIFs in other markets also.  Including Tampa where market icon Mason Dixon departed Classic Hits WRBQ Q105. At Country WQYK 99.5 PM and cluster OM Travis Daily is gone as well as WLLD Wild 94.1 evening personality Joe Franchize, according to media reports.