In the case of the sports radio battle in Boston, that theory is being put into practice.
"This town is so sports crazy, we felt there was definitely room for two [stations] and yet us be different," Mark Hannon of CBS Radio, told The Boston Globe.
Hannon and CBS' belief has been proven true in the first year of existence for 98.5 The Sports Hub. The FM alternative to WEEI (850 AM) has made strides in ratings that previous competitors have not been able to. As a result, The Sports Hub has forced WEEI to try to improve in order to not lose a hold on the Boston audience. The most noticeable changes to WEEI have been a new format for the Red Sox pregame show and shorter commercial breaks throughout the day.
One of the biggest dents that The Sports Hub has made is in the afternoon drive time slot, where Felger and Massarotti is the third-highest rated show behind The Big Show at No. 2. As the Globe points out, Tony Massarotti's The Baseball Reporters beat WEEI's Red Sox pregame show in the ratings.
While the stations are forced to constantly tweak their on-air products in order to continue competing, consumers are left with the best product possible.
The Globe included a poll on its site, asking which station readers listen to most. The Sports Hub received 61 percent of the votes, as of 10 p.m. on Monday. We'll take it one step further, asking which show (from 6 a.m.-6 p.m.) in Boston is the best.
What is the best sports talk radio show in Boston?Market Research
