Big dough for ’Big O’ Glenn Ordway... and maybe a TV gig

Afternoon drive king Glenn Ordway has inked a lucrative deal to stay at sports radio powerhouse WEEI that could also land the talkmeister on TV.

Ordway signed a five-year deal with the station worth more than $1 million per year and is negotiating to bring his highly rated “Big Show” to television, sources told the Herald. The TV deal could mean even more money for both Ordway and WEEI-AM (850) owner Entercom.

The deal with Entercom includes the likelihood that Ordway’s radio show will be simulcast on a sports cable network, possibly Comcast SportsNet or NESN.

The video of Ordway’s show would be streamed online at WEEI.com and would include several live interactive components that would allow Web users to participate with the show.

Ordway, 57, whose Big Show debuted in 1995, plans to return to WEEI’s airwaves today.

His previous five-year contract with the station expired Dec. 31 and he told listeners before he went on vacation that he wasn’t sure if he’d be back on WEEI.

But yesterday, Ordway said he feels blessed in these tough economic times. “I just feel blessed not only to have a job that I love going to every single day, but right now I’ve got the opportunity to be able to expand our Big Show brand,” he said.

In addition to new online components, Ordway envisions the show being viewed from several different camera angles.

Sources said Ordway was attracting interest from other Boston radio giants, including the CBS-owned WBCN [website]-FM (104.1) and Greater Media, which owns five Hub FM stations.

“We were committed to negotiating a new agreement with Entercom,” said Ordway’s agent and attorney, George Tobia. “It was a long and sometimes difficult process for both sides. But in the end, we got a deal that I think will alter the landscape of Boston sports media for years to come.”

The show usually does well, often #1 in its time slot (beating out Howie Carr's conservative talk on sister station WRKO). WEEI has expanded to stations simulcasting it in N.H., Maine, central and western MA, and R.I.

People complain online about all the shouting on THE big show, but it brings in the bucks. Rumor had it if Ordway jumped to another company like CBS or Greater Media, there would be an FM sports talker starting up in Boston. Not so now (though tech. WEEI is an FM sports talker on some of its simulcast stations)

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