WEEI has confirmed changes to its lineup are coming in 2023.
The station’s afternoon show of Merloni, Fauria, and Mego — which had previously announced the departure of Lou Merloni — will now be hosted by Meghan Ottolini and the newly hired Christian Arcand. The new yet to be publicly named show will continue to air 2:00-6:00 PM.
After his afternoon show exit, Merloni has stepped into a role as the station’s “Red Sox Insider” and will work a minimum of 60 regular season games on Red Sox radio broadcasts. Longtime radio analyst Joe Castiglione has announced he’ll scale back his schedule to 81 games in 2023.
Fauria will move to middays to partner with Andy Gresh from 10:00 AM-2:00 PM. Fauria — a 13-year NFL veteran, winning two Super Bowls with the Patriots — has been with WEEI on a full-time basis since 2014. Gresh joined the station in 2021 after a stint at hosting a sports show at news/talk WPRO in Providence.
Gresh’s former partner, Rich Keefe, will now host the evening show from 6:00-10:00 PM. He steps into the timeslot currently held by Mike Mutnansky, who announced earlier this week he would depart the station after Audacy elected not to renew his contract. Keefe has been with the station since 2017, and has also worked as a contributor to NBC Sports Boston in addition to his work at WEEI.
The changes at WEEI come after the station has fallen behind in the ratings. According to the latest Nielsen numbers, WEEI is in sixth place in the Boston market with a 4.9 share in persons 6+. Rival 98.5 The Sports Hub is the top-rated station in the market with a 10.5 share by the same metrics.
The only guy worth listening to on WEEI was Mutt , and now your axing him . I hope your ratings sink even lower as I won’t turn the dial your way again . Merloni was always entertaining and he surely knew his baseball . He will be missed . Fauria is just awful . A clown . The other guys are simply hot air balloons At least Mutnansky covered the betting side of sports . He was practically alone there , and you nitwits can him . Goodbye . I hope you sink lower .
I can’t believe you are breaking up Gresh and Keefe. Sending Keefe to the late show is the worst move I’ve ever seen Weei make. They were awesome together. Don’t fix it if it isn’t broken. And just throwing Mutt out is bad form. The guy did everything you’ve asked for. No class at this station. Gregg Hill is all you have left. 10-6 is now junk time. Good job ruining sports radio in the biggest market in the country. Back to Zolac and Beetle. See ya EEI.
I guess ted doesnt realize this is not weei