Boston Radio: 98.5 The Sports Hub Maintains Its Leadership Position

Despite all the changes at 98.5 The Sports Hub, the rating have maintained.

Chad Finn sportswriter at The Boston Globe provided a recap of the changes.

Original morning show cohost Rich Shertenlieb abruptly left the “Toucher and Rich” program on Nov. 9, with nearly a month remaining in the ratings book.

It was the first time since February 2015, when Marc Bertrand replaced Andy Gresh on the midday show, that one of the main hosts from a Sports Hub daytime program changed.

Despite the changes during the fall ratings, covering the period from Sept. 14 to Dec. 6, the Sports Hub finished first overall and across all of its weekday and weeknight programming in the men ages 25 to 54 demographic, its primary advertising target.

Overall, the Sports Hub had a 16.3 share of men 25-54, well ahead of the runner-up, rock station WZLX (7.0). Rival sports radio station WEEI was seventh (4.4).

Last fall, the Sports Hub earned a 19.6 share, while WEEI was second at 9.0.

The breakdown this fall by day parts (Men 25-54):

• Morning drive (6-10 a.m.): “Toucher and Rich” — or unofficially “Toucher and Friends” after Shertenlieb left and before Rob “Hardy” Poole was confirmed as the new cohost beginning Jan. 4 — took first with a 17.1 share. WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show” was second with a 10.2, easily the station’s highest-rated show.
• Midday (10 a.m.-2 p.m.): The Sports Hub’s “Zolak and Bertrand” was tops with a 16.7 share. WEEI’s “Gresh and Fauria” tied for sixth with a 3.8 share.
• Afternoon drive (2-6 p.m.): “Felger and Massarotti” continued its long run of dominance for the Sports Hub, finishing in the No. 1 spot with a 20.1 share. WEEI’s “Jones and Mego” tied for 12th with a 2.6.
• Evening (6-11 p.m.): The Sports Hub, which has Bruins and some Celtics broadcasts along with a show hosted by Joe Murray at night, finished first (12.2). WEEI, which features “The Rich Keefe Show,” tied for 13th (2.8).

Finn has a few lingering thoughts on the fall Nielsen Audio ratings, which, as usual, were lacking for suspense or competition . . .

• Since launching in August 2009, 98.5 The Sports Hub has maintained uncommon stability in its daily lineup. Among primary daytime hosts, the only major changes in more than 14 years have been when Andy Gresh replaced Gary Tanguay as Scott Zolak’s midday co-host in April 2010, and when Marc Bertrand took over for Gresh in February 2015.
• There have been a few changes with its evening programming. Damon Amendolara’s departure for a national CBS Radio gig in December 2012 led to a decade-long run for Adam Jones in the nighttime spot before he left for an afternoon drive role at WEEI last January. He was replaced by Joe Murray, a longtime part-timer at the station.
• To look at the stability through the prism of the competition: Four of The Sports Hub’s six original hosts — Fred Toucher, Zolak, Michael Felger, and Tony Massarotti — remain in the same roles. WEEI’s daytime hosts when The Sports Hub launched were John Dennis, Gerry Callahan, Dale Arnold, Michael Holley, and Glenn Ordway.
• Ordway was the last among them to work at the station, retiring in August 2021, and his tenure wasn’t linear. He had been fired in February 2013, only to return 2½ years later.
• WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show” draws strong ratings in morning drive, finishing second with a 10.2 share in the men’s 25-54 demographic in the fall ratings. It is by far WEEI’s top-rated program.