Rich Shertenlieb returned to Boston sports radio airwaves on Monday for the first time since leaving the successful Toucher & Rich morning show in November. It didn’t take long for his former co-host and other Boston sports radio personalities to start taking shots.
The longtime radio host debuted his The Rich Shertenlieb Show on 100.7 WZLX at 6:00 a.m. on Monday. He’ll be joined each day by Boston sports writer Michael Hurley and a cast of rotating co-hosts that include former New England Patriots linebacker Ted Johnson and Charlotte Wilder.
https://twitter.com/wzlx/status/1792591695235670507
Shertenlieb addressed the drama that ended his employment with 98.5 The Sports Hub, specifically citing issues over social media accounts that he fought to maintain access to but eventually relented and gave away.
“My rationale was this,” he said. “Instead of me spending all that money paying attorneys to fight this why not spend that money in a much better place… The minute I get back my 150,000 followers… I am writing a check to the Dana Farber Cancer Institute.”
Over on Toucher & Hardy, which replaced Toucher & Rich at 98.5 The Sports Hub, Fred Toucher jabbed his former co-host over his charity proclamations.
Fred took a shot at Rich for pledging to donate to charity for every new social media follow… pic.twitter.com/ZjnpVCwIP3
— Boston Radio Watch®️ (@bostonradio) May 20, 2024
“At 8:20, a new bit ‘Putting You on Blast.’ I put you on blast and then I give a nice chunk of change to charity and let you know all about it,” said Toucher. “If you listen to me, I’ll give you a chunk of change to charity.”
Meanwhile, former WEEI Boston sports radio host Kirk Minihane was anything but playful in his assessment of Shertenlieb and his new program.
• Reviews of Day 1 are in. Worst new show debut in the history of American radio.
• Predictions and scenarios. pic.twitter.com/UIfTwc4hUE
— Boston Radio Watch®️ (@bostonradio) May 21, 2024
“Rich Shertenlieb is a radio producer, he shouldn’t be on the air, he’s a bits guy,” said Minihane on his Barstool show. “This sounds like a college radio station. What the fu** is this? This is the beginning of Rich Shertenlieb saying ‘Hey, I’m going to war with you Fred Toucher? I’m getting paid to do a morning show in Boston. What is this?”
After listening to several clips from Monday’s program, Minihane made his prediction for where the show will end up in the ratings book.
“A year from now, the Rich Shertenlieb morning show will be 6th or 7th or 8th in the ratings,” he said. “That’s a disaster.”
No one would ever accuse the Boston sports radio scene of being a supportive community, but it’s going to be an interesting few months before we see how Shertenlieb’s show performs in the ratings and whether or not that changes any of his critics’ perspectives.
[Barrett Sports Media, CBS News, Boston Radio Watch, CBS Boston]
