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To the surprise of absolutely nobody, 98.5 The Sports Hub in Boston host Fred Toucher talked about the end of The Rich Shertenlieb Show on 100.7 WZLX as part of nationwide cuts by iHeartMedia. Toucher and Shertenlieb worked together for many years before Shertenlieb left the station. He was hired by iHeartMedia to take over mornings on a classic rock station and was given less than six months before the plug was pulled.
After a caller made reference to what happened, Toucher said, “You’re referring to Rich Shertenlieb, whose show was cancelled before six months on the air. Yes, I understand. Thank you. It’s exciting for me, too.”
Shertenlieb posted about what happened on X and said in part, “…To say that I’m disappointed is an understatement. When we launched the show at the end of May, the plan was simple. We would take the months of Summer to build chemistry with the new cast and by Fall and football season, we would be close to sounding what our vision of the show would be. However, just over two months into the show, management decided to alter the format. They wanted music, I did not. However, despite my disagreement about the decision, I agreed to move forward, and music was added.
“After starting from scratch, watching the show fanbase grow and the interaction with the fans increase as they became part of our radio family is one my proudest accomplishments in all my years of broadcasting. I’ve never been part of that much growth, ever. But the thing that I am the most proud of is the team that I helped put together for the show. This was THE team. If I could work with all of them the rest of my career, I would die happy. I love all of these guys. And through the last several months and my differences in vision with management, these guys had my back the entire way. All of them.”
Referring to this statement, Toucher said, “…he has the inability to tell the truth that is really quite fascinating…I mean, just why can you not be forthright and honest? It would appeal to the audience so much, but here we are…But I’ll be completely honest with you. I’m very happy that that’s over. I’m not surprised, and I’m very happy, because I feel like he’s a backstabber and does not tell the truth and is not loved by his fellow employees, certainly here.”
Rob ‘Hardy’ Poole said, “For the most part, I don’t want anyone to be completely out of a job, so I can’t say that I’m happy about it.”
Toucher then added, “Well, he, to my understanding, tried to maneuver to get me out of a job…And I’ll tell you when I would not have said anything today is if I would have read the statement that he put out and it seemed like he had learned any humility, like if there was any truth or humility, like he had learned anything from this experience, like don’t backstab your friends, don’t be a snake, can’t talk to people to their face, don’t lie about how you got into a situation, but there was no transparency, and it’s just still the same garbage.
“It’s everyone else’s fault. Lies, lies, lies. Like it’s just nonsense. And then, you know, I can’t imagine he gets another job in the market, so I’ll never talk about him again.”
