On Monday’s edition of Toucher & Hardy airing on 98.5 The Sports Hub, the program was set to launch its new YouTube livestream, providing another method for viewers to find the morning show. Aside from listening on the air, listeners can stream the show live on the 98.5 The Sports Hub website and station app, which is where they can also find individual segments and hours in podcast form after the fact. Listeners can also find the show in audio form airing live on the TuneIn Radio and iHeartRadio platforms as well. Moreover, consumers can watch the program live on Twitch and take part in the live chat function, which is sometimes referenced on the air by members of the program.
Introducing the livestream of Toucher & Hardy on YouTube is part of a larger initiative to add shows to the digital media platform, according to Nick Gemelli of 98.5 The Sports Hub. While appearing on the morning show, he stated that The Baseball Hour and Joe Murray’s program are going to be among the offerings. When Toucher & Hardy commenced their show on the radio at 6 a.m. EST on Monday, however, the program was not on YouTube because of technical difficulties that the team at the station was working to fix. Ryan Johnston informed the hosts that a button allowing the station to eliminate the radio commercials was not working properly and was being repaired.
“Wait, so this whole thing was set to go today and now it’s not working at all?,” Toucher asked. “…So this big launch on YouTube was happening today, and now it’s not happening because it’s broken because we can’t click on a fake button on the internet?”
Gemelli entered the studio after the hosts were trying to understand what was happening, leading Toucher to remark how long it took for him to walk a shorter distance and get behind the microphone. He then asked Gemelli what exactly was happening so he could become cognizant of the situation that was prohibiting the program from airing on YouTube for the first time.
“The commercials are played over-the-air on the radio,” Gemelli said. “On YouTube – so I have to press this button that not only doesn’t show us certain commercial breaks; it puts like a graphic or something, but it mutes the commercials and plays some generic music in the background until we come back from break.”
Toucher proceeded to ask everyone in the studio if they understood what Gemelli had explained and then went on to read several comments from the livestream on Twitch. Some of the comments included imploring Gemelli to correct the problem preventing the YouTube livestream, while another classified it as a soft launch.
“So the button that triggers that during commercial breaks is not working; it’s not working at all,” Gemelli said. “It was working over the weekend I think, but now it’s not.”
After Gemelli informed Toucher about the other programs being introduced to the 98.5 The Sports Hub YouTube channel, Toucher recognized that the shows not being included are the ones that currently air on television. This led him to reminisce about when Toucher & Rich was simulcast on local regional sports network NBC Sports Boston, which now simulcasts the midday program (Zolak & Bertrand) and afternoon drive show (Felger & Mazz).
“We’re the ones not getting paid for TV in a shrewd business move by the old show that I am as much responsible for as anyone else,” Toucher said. “I just don’t remember why we did it. It seems like we just threw away money for no reason, but I don’t think they have interest in having us back again.”
The livestream on YouTube eventually began and broadcast the remaining three-and-a-half hours of the program. The entire Tuesday edition of the Toucher & Hardy show was simulcast on YouTube and also included a live chat functionality that allowed viewers to engage with the program in real time.
