The Sports Hub Takes August But WEEI Keeps Surging

For the past few years, 98.5 The Sports Hub has established itself as a dominant brand. The CBS Boston sports talker has enjoyed tremendous success in the Men 25-54 demographic, cementing its position as one of the top rated sports radio stations in the nation.

While The Hub was building momentum, their main competitor WEEI, was undergoing a few changes. After making adjustments and bringing back a few friendly and familiar voices, progress soon followed. Boston sports radio fans began eating up the programming delivered by both brands, helping make the city the highest rated sports radio market in the country. There aren’t many cities in America where two sports radio stations finish 1-2 in the ratings, and their shows combine to reach 20-25% of the Male 25-54 demographic, but that’s exactly what’s transpired over the past few months.

In August, we saw a repeat in terms of the rankings with the Sports Hub finishing 1st and WEEI coming in 2nd. But one noteworthy item that jumped out was the improvement from WEEI and a slight decline from The Hub when you analyze their performances over the past twelve months. To be fair, The Hub has been cranking out record setting numbers, so eventually even the best have to slow down.

If you look at the situation from The Hub’s point of view, their three weekday shows are all number one, and delivering double digit ratings with Men 25-54. That’s phenomenal. They can also feel good about their evening number because although it’s slightly behind WEEI’s, they’re competing against Boston Red Sox baseball which costs a lot more. They also have a sizable lead over WEEI in most dayparts so they have plenty of ammunition to use in selling their story.

Flipping the script to WEEI, they’ve got to feel ecstatic about their year to year growth. During that span they’ve gained two to three ratings points on their weekday shows while the Hub has either declined or stayed flat. Dennis and Callahan led the charge by adding three full points in morning drive while competing against the Hub’s top rated show (Toucher and Rich). It’s even more remarkable when you take into account that they were battling without regular contributions from John Dennis. That’s encouraging news for Kirk Minihane, Gerry Callahan, and station management as they move forward without Dennis who left his full time position in August.

Not to be lost in the shuffle are the midday and afternoon shows which have also made significant strides, adding more than two share points to their performance. WEEI can also point out that they’ve stayed on track while going through a Program Director change, which is a testament to the work being done by Assistant Program Director Joe Zarbano and his team behind the scenes. The station can also lay claim to their ratings dwarfing most of America’s top sports radio stations, even if they don’t defeat The Hub. When you add all of that up and combine it with their Men 35-64 story where they beat the Hub in mornings, middays, and M-F 6a-7p, that’s a whole lot to work with.

Looking at it strictly from a Men 25-54 numbers point of view as most industry folks do, you’re going to recognize The Hub for being in the driver’s seat. They are and they deserve credit for a strong month. To perform the way they have over the past few years is extremely difficult and their work is worth recognizing.

But as I’ve learned over the years that it’s not always about a monthly ratings performance, which is why I highlighted the year to year progress too. Most brands analyze their growth over one year’s time and this is the space where WEEI can feel encouraged and the Hub can find areas to improve upon, despite being on top.

To climb back into the 2nd position and stay there consistently is a big accomplishment for WEEI because they were not in this spot last year. There’s now a serious battle where one or two quarter hours can make the difference in who wins and loses the next book. The combined performance of Toucher and Rich and Dennis and Callahan (now Kirk and Callahan) is as good as it gets in mornings in the sports format, and now it’s up to both brands and their talent to maximize their creativity, abilities, and strategy and hope that the Nielsen gods are on their side next time around.

It’s a pleasure to watch this competition from afar. Judging by the recent trends, I’d be surprised if we didn’t have another great story to share next month. In the meantime, best of luck to both stations and their teams going forward. May the best brand win!

*** All numbers are for Men 25-54

Jason Barrett

Jason Barrett is the President and Founder of Barrett Media since the company was created in September 2015. Prior to its arrival, JB served as a sports radio programmer, launching brands such as 95.7 The Game in San Francisco, and 101 ESPN in St. Louis. He also spent time programming SportsTalk 950 in Philadelphia, 590 The Fan KFNS in St. Louis, and ESPN 1340/1390 in Poughkeepsie, NY. Jason also worked on-air and behind the scenes in local radio at 101.5 WPDH, WTBQ 1110AM, and WPYX 106.5. He also spent two years on the national stage, producing radio shows for ESPN Radio in Bristol, CT. Among them included the Dan Patrick Show, and GameNight.

You can find JB on Twitter @SportsRadioPD. He’s also reachable by email at Jason@BarrettMedia.com.