After Fred Toucher made critical remarks about ESPN host Mike Greenberg, which included calling him a “no-talent prick,” sports media pundits took notice across the industry. Various publications disseminated what Toucher and the rest of the in-studio crew had to say, which included information update anchor Jon Wallach heard over the years about Greenberg.
Toucher expressed that it was never his intent to make fun of Greenberg; however, he was perturbed by what Greenberg had recently expressed in an interview regarding the importance of teasing content. Essentially, Greenberg said that no aspects of a radio show or its personalities truly matter unless the cast is able to engross listeners through a commercial break – something Toucher chided as “hacky” and “dumb.”
“The thing that sucks about that is that it misses the point on why radio is always going to be viable, and that’s the intimacy that you share with an audience,” Toucher said Thursday morning on 98.5 The Sports Hub. “By improvising for four hours a morning, you’re required to at least share your personality, if not details of your personal life.”
Toucher saw what people were saying about the interaction and read an article from Awful Announcing on the air that divulged his quotes and gave context on the situation. Most of the story had pertained to Greenberg and his roles at the network as host of Get Up, NBA Countdown and coverage of the NFL Draft this year – in addition to appearing on his national radio show, #Greeny.
“Toucher has endured some much-publicized issues this year,” the story read, “including throat surgery, divorce proceedings and a stay in an alcohol detox facility that led to his week-long absence from his show.”
One-by-one, Toucher addressed each of the points made in the final paragraph, the air time, however, was not about Awful Announcing or Toucher personally, but instead to address the possibility of their being a feud between he and Greenberg. With the multifaceted host being “one of the two personalities at ESPN,” according to Toucher, he does not feel the criticisms warrant much consideration.
“If I’m Greenberg, I’m seeing this and I’m going, ‘I’m making $6 million [and] I’m on national television, and this is the worst thing that someone said about me. Fine,’” Toucher assumed.
The segment concluded with Toucher conveying his final thoughts on the situation, specifically taking umbrage with the premise that successful radio centers on teases. He has been in the business for over two decades and has become synonymous with Boston sports, thanks to his prosperous morning show with Rich Shertenlieb on 98.5 The Sports Hub. Accordingly, Toucher assured his listeners that radio shows have much more to do with being able to inform and entertain the audience instead of solely focusing on how to keep people at the edge of their seats.
“I just thought as a radio personality, it was a really dumb thing to say,” Toucher articulated. “It doesn’t make any sense. Then if you’re someone in radio, ‘So I don’t have to do anything? I can be really uninteresting and really boring?’”
