Neverett (r) in June was told by WEEI station execs to start looking for another jobTIM NEVERETT
Red Sox radio announcer Tim Neverett "will not return" after choosing to "let his contract run out rather than continue to work for flagship station WEEI," according to Chad Finn of the BOSTON GLOBE. Neverett was told by station execs in June to "start looking for another job, but had hoped that the situation would get better." He said that he was "extremely disappointed with how the past year went because of a lack of support from WEEI management." There were "industry rumors about possible changes in WEEI’s Red Sox radio booth all season long." Sources said that one "genuine consideration" from station execs had WEEI "dropping the concept of a conventional radio baseball broadcast to make the call of the game sound more like a sports radio talk show." Neverett said that he "expects to have an announcement about his next job soon" (BOSTON GLOBE.com, 12/12). AWFUL ANNOUNCING's Andrew Bucholtz noted Neverett's exit marks "yet another high-profile change with Red Sox announcers." The last came ahead of the '16 season, when Don Orsillo was "controversially pushed out from TV broadcaster NESN," Dave O’Brien was "moved from the WEEI booth to the NESN booth and touted as an 'upgrade' (many fans don’t agree), and Neverett came in from Pittsburgh to fill O’Brien’s radio slot." While that move "had more to do with the team than the broadcast partners and this seems like the reverse, it’s interesting to see yet more drama around Red Sox announcers" (AWFULANNOUNCING.com, 12/11).
TWITTER REAX: Patriots and Providence College broadcaster John Rooke tweeted, "Wish @TimNeverett the best. Very good at his trade." MassLive.com's Matt Vautour: "Kudos to Tim Neverett. Couldn't have been easy after today's news to do the UMass hockey game on TV. But he handled it like a pro." WTPSports.com's Molly Burkhardt: "WEEI is trying to make their baseball broadcasts more like a 'sports talk show'. I may be 23 going on 73 but the best part of radio baseball is the old school feel. Just two people getting super nerdy about the game. Don’t do this @WEEI."
