Free Republic

Money talks. Loud enough that WEEI’s talkers are giving the city a daylong moment of silence. In an unprecedented move, Entercom execs are pulling the plug on WEEI’s live programming tomorrow so the sports station’s button-pushing talk jocks can undergo sensitivity training after several advertisers jumped ship. “It’s a matter of the corporate world of broadcast media colliding with the politically incorrect culture of sports talk radio,” said Michael Harrison, publisher of Talkers Magazine. “I salute Entercom for the effort. However, sensitivity training for sports talk hosts is like teaching NFL players how to tackle gently.”

Entercom Communications, whose WRKO and WEEI stations in the Boston markets have been the radio home for the Boston Celtics since 2005, will no longer broadcast the storied NBA franchise's games beginning next season...It's uncertain at this time which station will carry the Celtics games in the 2013-14 season.

Hosts to be announced, but CBS announces that the long-rumored sports station will replace hot AC "Play 98.7" WSJT. No specific start date, beyond "August." CBS already runs sports-formatted WQYK (1010), and that station's assistant PD Mike Pepper will be the PD of "Sportsradio 98.7 the Fan." CBS market manager Ben Hill says "locally-based on-air personalities, and a programming team with years of experience in Tampa will help shape the station as a place listeners can trust for the most honest, engaging and interactive sports talk." CBS will be lining up against Clear Channel's WDAE (620). The TampaBay.com site says...

Entercom responds to the pressure from CBS Radio's "Sports Hub" WBZ-FM (98.5), and will announce Thursday morning that it will simulcast its longtime sports station WEEI (850) on 93.7, starting Monday. That displaces variety hits "Mike FM" WMKK, which has moved [ratings] 2.8 to 2.9 to 3.2 with age 6+ Average Quarter Hour shares in the last three Personal People Meter monthly books. WEEI, carrying the baseball Red Sox, has moved 3.9-3.5-4.3. "Sports Hub" WBZ-FM has moved up and down (5.2-2.6-3.4), but has been making particular inroads with WEEI's younger male listeners. “Mike” replaced the previous “Star” AC format on...

A Boston sports-radio host yesterday likened former Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow’s NFL draft party to a “Nazi rally,” a remark one media observer called an “amazing double standard.” Fred “Toucher” Toettcher said yesterday on 98.5 The Sports Hub, “It looked like some kind of Nazi rally. . . . So lily-white is what I’m trying to say. Yeah, Stepford Wives.” Station spokesman Cha-Chi Loprete said the station “received no inquiries regarding” the morning drive-time show and declined further comment. Efforts to reach Toettcher for comment were unsuccessful.

Charles Laquidara is having second thoughts about participating in the four-day farewell to WBCN that starts tomorrow morning. The legendary former disc jockey, a centerpiece of the marathon sendoff, is upset that former jock Mark Parenteau is not invited to take part. “Mark’s one of the key figures, and we’re not allowed to mention him. His name’s been wiped out,’’ said Laquidara, who hosted “The Big Mattress’’ show back in the day. “I feel like a whore and a hypocrite doing [the farewell] because it’s not being handled in the ’BCN spirit.’’ After 40 years, the station is about to...

It's a good thing Chicago's two sports radio stations, WMVP and WSCR, are bottom feeders in the quarterly ratings. Otherwise, the perception might be that their hosts define the city. And heaven help us if we were personified by a collection of crude, disgusting cavemen who spew anti-Semitism, conduct ``hug a Black'' missions, make fun of people on life support, refer to a female TV executive as ``a bitch'' and react to Bill Wirtz's passing by asking which local figures should die next. This isn't just irresponsible behavior. It's really sick and demented, making shock jocks sound like cool-jazz DJs....

Today’s long-anticipated on-air reunion of WEEI Sports Radio co-hosts John Dennis and Gerry Callahan has been scratched by the station, which has taken the pair off the air indefinitely amid unraveling contract talks and rumors of defection. The highly rated morning hosts say they’ve been locked out. The radio station calls it a chance to “reflect.” “For me to be locked out on the week that we do the Jimmy Fund Radiothon breaks my heart,” Dennis told the Herald yesterday. “It’s the most important thing we do all year long.” George Regan, spokesman for WEEI (850 AM) and its owner...

Bach might be back on Washington's airwaves, even if the region's only classical music station, WGMS, drops the format. Public broadcaster WETA (90.9 FM) is considering dumping its news-and-talk programming and returning to being a classical broadcaster if the music dies on WGMS, WETA's management said yesterday. In a special meeting Thursday, WETA's board voted to give station executives the green light to consider switching back to classical if WGMS drops the format. Dan DeVany, WETA's vice president and general manager, said the station "could move very quickly" back to classical if circumstances warrant.