WEEI adds Patriots Friday to its Patriots Monday football-talk programming
There will be a fatso worth listening to on WEEI’s The Big Show this fall.
The implosion of ESPN Radio 890-AM has paved the way for WEEI 850-AM to snap up Patriots Friday, an all-day extravaganza of New England Patriots related programming.
WEEI already had Patriots Monday, the day-after programming package that featured exclusive interviews with New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady (on The Dennis & Callahan Show in the morning), head coach Bill Belichick on The Big Show in the afternoon, and lesser Patriots luminaries in between.
(Here’s how the Patriots describes the success of the latter:
Through the years, this program has become a must-listen and is the highest rated interview in its time period in the market.
“[T]he highest rated interview in its time period in the market.” That’s funny.)
Patriots Friday is a bit trickier in that it really can’t be too much about football - the previous week’s game is a distant memory and the players can’t really say much about the upcoming game. Or, as Patriots Murray Kohl, VP of Sales, puts it in a press release:
Patriots Friday will give WEEI’s listeners even more opportunity to hear from their favorite players as they finish their week of preparation heading into each game.
Fortunately, offensive tackle Matt Light and outside linebacker Mike Vrabel, two of the best yakkers on the team, will be regular guests on The Big Show’s Patriots Friday. Vrabel is a bit of a jackass who likes to run his mouth while Light is more of a light hearted good ol’ boy. Both worked very well going up against Michael Felger on 890 last year and hopefully they won’t be dulled by the sycophants on The Big Show. It’s certainly a target-rich environment for Vrabel.
The not overly entertaining Vince Wilfork will be on Dennis & Callahan, and Wes Welker, Ben Watson and Logan Mankins will rotate on the Dale & Holley midday show. That’s weird scheduling. Welker is much better suited for the sophomoric D&C while Wilfork is practically made for D&H.
Felger will rejoin the WEEI borg by covering the Patriots for WEEI.com, the sports-talk radio station’s soon-to-be “world class Web site” (well, it will be world-class in January 2009). Felger was on WEEI’s The Big Show for a couple of years, if I remember correctly, after the The Boston Globe banned its writers from appearing on the show.
I wonder if the expansion of Patriots Friday from a mere afternoon drive-time show to an all-day lineup means Patriots’ podcast PFW In Progress will reduce its programming from four days a week during the season to a measly three? The two hour podcast airs live at noon and is made available for download later in the day. Felger often used the podcast to plug his afternoon show but it strikes me as highly unlikely that anybody on WEEI has any interest in doing that. Maybe perennial malcontent Paul Perillo, senior writer for Patriot Football Weekly, who occasionally appears on WEEI during the season, will get some cross-over benefit from the deal.
Now, listen, I didn’t want to have to bring this up, but seriously, it’s Saturday evening and Patriots’ website Patriots.com reads as follow on the Patriots Football Network page:
PATRIOTS FRIDAY
Fridays during the season on 890 AM ESPN Boston890 ESPN Boston has the exclusive rights to broadcast Patriots Friday from Gillette Stadium each week during the season. Kevin Winter delivers Patriots updates throughout the day, and ESPN Boston’s Mike Felger hosts The Mike Felger Show from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m. from Gillette Stadium, where he is joined by prominent Patriots players each week.
Come on, Fred, get off your sabbatical and put Ferreira to work!
