Sports Radio Battles: Boston's WBZ Edges Rival WEEI In Most Recent Ratings Book

The latest round in the "apparently never-ending battle for sports-radio supremacy in the Boston market belongs to" WBZ-FM, which "finished second among men 25-54 in the quarterly Arbitron ratings for the summer," according to Chad Finn of the BOSTON GLOBE. But WEEI-FM "wasn’t far behind, finishing tied for third despite a dismal season for the Red Sox, for whom it is the flagship station." WBZ earned "a 6.8 share in the summer quarterly, which covers the period from June 21-Sept. 12." WEEI, which "finished second in the spring book, two spots ahead of" WBZ, earned "a 6.4 share this time around." WBZ, the flagship for Patriots broadcasts, "benefited from the anticipation and start of the football season, surging in September with a 7.8 share to WEEI’s 5.8 in the month." The “Toucher and Rich’’ morning drive program on WBZ was "first in the 6-10 a.m. window with an 8.6 share," while WEEI's “Dennis and Callahan” program was "tied for third at 7.2." Despite the Red Sox’ struggles, WEEI was "first in the evenings (8.9)," while WBZ was "fifth (5.6) in that 7 p.m.-midnight window" (BOSTON GLOBE, 10/3).

HOT-LANTA: ESPN Deportes Radio has returned to the Atlanta market. Clear Channel's WGST-AM has flipped from its talk lineup to the Spanish-language sports network. ESPN Deportes Radio previously aired in the market on Beasley's talk/sports WWWE-AM from August '10 until June (David Broughton, SportsBusiness Journal).