Listenership of Boston sports radio remained strong in the 2024 Winter Book. Beasley Media Group-owned 98.5 The Sports Hub finished first for the quarter in weekday prime (M-F, 6a-7p) among Men 25-54, according to the latest Nielsen data.
The Sports Hub delivered a 15.6 share thanks to the strength of its morning, midday and afternoon shows. While the station ranked first in both rating and share, the figure was slightly down from last quarter when it recorded a 16.3 share, which also placed The Hub first.
The new morning drive duo of Fred Toucher and Rob “Hardy” Poole registered a 17.9 share in their first book working together. That placed them first overall. Compared to the fall ratings book, the morning show was up from a 17.1 last book. Year-over-year share was down though from a 25.6 share during the 2023 winter book.
Middays with Scott Zolak and Marc Bertrand remained strong with a 15.4 share for the quarter, which also ranked the program first. The rating doesn’t include viewership gleaned from its simulcast on local regional sports network NBC Sports Boston. Zolak and Bertrand were down from the fall book when they generated a 16.7 share. That was the same story year-over-year as the midday team delivered a 20.7 share in the 2023 winter book.
Afternoon drive with Mike Felger and Tony Massarotti remained the top performing show on The Hub for the quarter with a 19.8 share, first-overall finish. The show recorded the same share and ranking as it did during the winter book in 2023. Felger and Mazz are also simulcast on NBC Sports Boston, ratings for which are not factored into the Nielsen total. The afternoon show was slightly down from the fall book’s 20.1 share.
In evenings, 98.5 The Sports Hub’s combination of Joe Murray’s show and Bruins and Celtics games between the hours of 6pm-11pm ranked second with a 12.8 share.
Audacy-owned WEEI declined in weekday prime hours by eight-tenths of a share to accumulate a 3.6 share for the quarter. The 10th-place finish represented a three-spot decline compared to the fall ratings book, and a 10% decline year-over-year.
Greg Hill, Jermaine Wiggins and Courtney Cox produced the best numbers for the quarter for the station, securing an 8.6 share to finish second. The morning show was down 1.6 shares from the fall book when it also finished second; however, the share marks a big year-over-year improvement. As a whole, The Greg Hill Show moved up three spots from last winter when it was fifth with a 5.7 share.
Middays with Andy Gresh and Christian Fauria garnered a 3.5 share to rank eighth. Despite the 0.3 share decline compared to last quarter, the show was up from last winter’s 3.1 share.
Afternoon drive with Adam Jones, Meghan Ottolini and Christian Arcand was down for the quarter with a 2.3 share, tied for 13th. The afternoon trio lost three tenths from the fall book when the show produced a 2.6 share, finishing tied for twelfth. Year-over-year, the program is down from a 3.6 share when it was tied for eighth. Evenings on WEEI, which included The Rich Keefe Show and other programming, was tied for 15th with a 1.8 share.
Ratings reports and analysis are written by BSM and sponsored by Crowd React Media, a division of Harker Bos Group. Learn more about the different ways sports media research can benefit your station and cut through the noise by clicking here.
