Get the latest Boston sports news
Receive updates on your favorite Boston teams, straight from our newsroom to your inbox.
Rich Shertenlieb joins WEEI to co-host new afternoon show
Shertenlieb will host along with former Patriots linebacker Ted Johnson and Ken Laird.
When 98.5 The Sports Hub started assembling its lineup of programs for its August 2009 launch, one of program director Mike Thomas’s crucial moves was putting Fred Toucher and Rich Shertenlieb in morning drive. The show, and the station, became a sports-radio ratings powerhouse.
Seventeen years later, Thomas has turned to Shertenlieb again, at a different station and under much different circumstances.
WEEI and its parent company Audacy announced Monday morning that Shertenlieb will co-host the station’s new afternoon show, along former Patriots linebacker Ted Johnson and Ken Laird. The show will be titled “Rich and Ken With Ted Johnson.”
Advertisement:
“Rich is one of the most dynamic and entertaining voices in Boston media, with a proven ability to connect with audiences across platforms,” said Thomas, now the senior vice president of programming and sports format vice [resident, Audacy, in a statement. “Paired with Ted’s championship pedigree and insight, and Ken’s deep understanding of the station and its audience, this show brings together a unique combination of credibility, energy and perspective that will resonate with Boston sports fans.”
WEEI shook up its drive program last Wednesday, two days after the Nielsen Audio winter ratings were revealed and the show had finished 14th with a 2.7 share. Andy Hart and Nick “Fitzy” Stevens were let go, while Johnson remained. The challenge of the new show – and one WEEI afternoon drive programs have struggled with through multiple lineup changes over the last eight years – will be to make a dent in Sports Hub hosts Michael Felger and Tony Massarotti’s ratings. The Felger and Mazz show was No. 1, as usual, in the winter with a 15.3 share.
Advertisement:
Shertenlieb, who came to Boston in 2006, and Johnson have worked together previously, first at 98.5 The Sports Hub, and then at WZLX. Shertenlieb launched an eponymous morning show on the rock radio station after a contentious departure from the Sports Hub and a fractured relationship with longtime on-air partner Toucher. Johnson, Michael Hurley, and Emerson Lotzia were regular co-hosts on Shertenlieb’s show. It lasted just short of six months, abruptly ending in November 2024 when parent company iHeartRadio executed massive budget cuts across its stations.
“I’m thrilled to be at WEEI and reunite with my buddy and one of my favorite colleagues, Ted Johnson, and work with Ken to see what we can build together,” said Shertenlieb in a statement. “The station’s connection to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Jimmy Fund makes this deeply personal, given the role those organizations have played in saving my wife’s life. [His wife, Mary, is a cancer survivor.] I’m grateful for this next chapter and can’t wait to get started.”
Laird has been with WEEI since 2015, as a producer and weekend host. He became the station’s operations manager in 2022 and brand manager in ’23, and will maintain the operations manager role.
Advertisement:
Be civil. Be kind.
Read our full community guidelines.To comment, please create a screen name in your profile
To comment, please verify your email address