Former WEEI host Kirk Minihane, who now hosts The Kirk Minihane Show with Barstool Sports, had plenty to say on his most recent episode about the recent changes announced by WEEI. He also said from what he is hearing, there is at least one other announcement still to come.
Minihane, in trying to explain the Boston radio scenario to a national audience explained what happened and gave his opinions on the moves.
Minihane said, “They got rid of Megan Ottolini in the afternoons, and they put Adam Jones and Rich Keefe in middays, which I think is actually probably fine, like, what’s the difference? That’s a smart move…And then they’re putting Christian Arcand and Andy Hart in the afternoons…”
Minihane also added, “and they’re going to add Ryan Johnston, I’m told.”
What Minihane was saying is that he is told the afternoon drive show on WEEI will not just be Arcand and Hart, but also Johnston, who has been with 98.5 The Sports Hub since the station came on the air and has also been rumored to be a candidate for the open Boston Bruins play-by-play job aired by The Sports Hub.
Minihane concluded the WEEI changes were more about saving money. “If you pay attention to the radio in Boston…this is Christian Arcand, Ryan Johnston, and Andy Hart is finally like a Des Moines afternoon show. ‘We’re giving up.’ This is, like, a $150,000 budget in the afternoon.”
As far as how he thinks the new WEEI afternoon show will do against 98.5’s Felger and Mazz, Minihane simply said, “It’s going to get clobbered.”
Looking at the rest of the dayparts, Minihane said, “The morning show does great. You know, make fun of Greg [Hill] all we want. They’re super competitive, and then nobody listens the rest of the day. So, good luck. It just feels like such a minor league move. Like, just so low rent. It’s going to be so bad.”
The two WEEI shows had struggled in the ratings and didn’t show any signs of being competitive with the shows from 98.5, so ultimately everyone had to have known change was coming.
“I wasn’t surprised they finally made moves,” Minihane said. “You get ones in the ratings, eventually you have to do something.”
While not a fan of Andy Gresh, Minihane said he did get along with Christian Fauria and said, “I feel bad for him. But if you don’t get ratings, you hit the bricks.”
Then, Minihane went back to the conversation about money and how it played a role in the decisions.
“I guarantee you, Fauria made more than anybody else at the station, other than Greg [Hill],” he said. “And Andy [Gresh] was probably second because he came in, he was a radio vet. So, they’re just cutting money. They’re paying Andy Hart, who is actually a very nice guy, a terrific bore, but a nice guy. They’re not giving him a dime raise to go from writing for the website to hosting an afternoon drive show in Boston. So, I like Fauria, but Gresh I am glad that, you know…hopefully he never works again…but he will…he’ll do fill-in work, he has no pride, he’ll do nights.”
