In this week’s issue… More turmoil on Boston sports radio – Audacy changes looming? – Remembering John La Barca – Toronto hosts exit – Radio Days arrive
By SCOTT FYBUSH
Jump to: ME – NH – VT – MA – RI – CT – NY – NJ – PA – Canada
*There’s never any shortage of drama on Boston sports radio, but at least there’s now an explanation of what’s been going on with the city’s top-rated morning show, “Toucher and Rich’s on Beasley’s WBZ-FM.(98.5 the Sports Hub).
After several days without either co-host – it was a scheduled vacation for Rich Shertenlieb – Toucher returned to the air Friday to fill listeners in on what has been going on: beset by depression after his throat issues and in the midst of a divorce, Toucher said he was in a dark place in the days leading up to the Memorial Day weekend.
“Half the time I live alone, without my kids, all right,” he told listeners. “So then there was the whole throat thing with the possible cancer, and I was out of work for five weeks, and there was a lot of time alone.”
Toucher asked his father to come to town to stay with him, but before he could arrive, Toucher made the social media posts, began drinking out of embarrassment, then voluntarily checked himself into a detox facility where he rehabbed during the holiday weekend and for a few days afterward.
Describing it as the most challenging days of his life, Toucher told listeners he’s working with his therapist and plans to give up drinking for good.
After a few turbulent months, will Toucher’s openness ease some of the tensions that have plagued the show? No doubt Beasley hopes so, especially as its crosstown rival, Audacy’s WEEI, continues to have its own struggles.
(Read on for more on Audacy’s woes in our subscriber-only section below…)
THE 2025 TOWER SITE CALENDAR IS SHIPPING SOON!
We promised we would reveal the cover of the 2025 calendar, and here it is! (at right)
We chose the 100,000-watt transmitter of the Voice Of America in Marathon, right in the heart of the Florida Keys. This picture has everything we like in our covers — blue skies, greenery, water, and of course, towers! The history behind this site is a draw, too.
We know you’ve been waiting for information on the calendar. Although production was delayed, it is at our printer now and will be shipping starting this weekend. We will ship daily through Christmas Eve. Place your order now for shipping right off the press!
This will be the 24th edition of the world-famous Tower Site Calendar, and your support will determine whether it will be the final edition.
It’s been a complicated few years here, and as we finish up production of the new edition, we’re considering the future of this staple of radio walls everywhere as we evaluate our workload going forward.
The proceeds from the calendar help sustain the reporting that we do on the broadcast industry here at Fybush Media, so your purchases matter a lot to us here – and if that matters to you, now’s the time to show that support with an order of the new Tower Site Calendar. (And we have the new Broadcast Historian’s Calendar for 2025 ready to ship, too. Why not order both?)
Visit the Fybush Media Store and place your order now for the next calendar, get a great discount on previous calendars, and check out our selection of books and videos, too!