In Boston, the clear Sports Talk leader is Beasley Media Group’s WBZ-FM 98.5, which has a commanding lead over every other radio station in the nation’s 10th largest market. How does it compare to its in-format competition? Nielsen Audio’s February 2023 ratings show WBZ-FM with a 7.5 share, while the No. 2 Sports Talker — Audacy Corp.‘s WEEI-FM — is ranked 14th overall, with a 3.2 share.
In Providence, WEEI-FM is simulcast on WVEI-FM 103.7, licensed to Westerly, R.I. In that market, WBZ-FM is also the Sports leader.
Now, Audacy is saying goodbye to its Warwick, Rhode Island outpost and consolidating its longtime office there for WVEI with its staff at WEEI in Boston. The news comes as Audacy on Friday announced “a series of updates for its leadership team” that directly impacts its Sports leadership.
GoLocalProv.com first reported the move on Thursday. It says employees were notified of the closure earlier this week, via an e-mail.
WVEI has enjoyed independent sales and marketing from WEEI since May 2004, when the company formerly known as Entercom acquired what was Alternative WWRX-FM from Phoenix Media, the Stephen Mindich-led organization that also owned the former WFNX in Boston. WVEI was acquired for $14.5 million.
Meanwhile, Audacy Chairman and President/CEO David Field shared in a company memo on Friday that Mike Dee is leaving his full-time role at Audacy and will immediately transition to a new role as a senior advisor to the company. Field said, “After many years in leadership roles for some of the most premier organizations in professional sports, Mike joined us in 2017 to help us elevate our unrivaled sports business and develop new value-creating initiatives for our consumers and clients. Over the past six years, Mike has made invaluable contributions to the company, deepening and enhancing our league and team relationships, forging landmark customer partnerships, and launching new content and monetization opportunities. During his tenure, Mike spearheaded our company’s foray into the rapidly growing sports betting space, including his work establishing record-breaking, multi-year partnerships with FanDuel and BetMGM, acquiring BetQL, and the launch of the BetQL Network.”
He continued, “Mike approached me in February about redefining his role within Audacy, where he could continue contributing but free up some bandwidth to pursue other professional interests. In his new role as a senior advisor, Mike will continue to engage on behalf of Audacy on a number of important partnerships and lend his expertise and counsel on certain key projects and initiatives.”
Meanwhile, Tim Murphy is exiting “after an outstanding, highly effective run with the company.”
Murphy has been with Audacy for 15 years, “playing a critical leadership role.”
Early in his tenure, he was the visionary behind WEEI.com; given the Rhode Island office closure his exit could be related to that corporate move.
Murphy had also served as Entercom Corporate’s VP of Digital Strategy & Enterprise Platforms before he relocated to Philadelphia from Boston. Since then he has led Corporate Business Development.
“He has also played an important leadership role in working in collaboration with NAB and others on industry issues,” Field said. “Tim has also worked to help recruit and develop an outstanding team of business development leaders within the organization and distributed much of his responsibilities to these leaders in their respective areas of focus, such as tech, podcasting, digital, revenue operations, sales, and content.
“Tim approached me earlier this year, suggesting that the smartest path forward for the company would be to pivot away from a centralized business development role and distribute those responsibilities to our business development leadership across the various focus areas.”
Murphy will remain with Audacy through the end of April to help with the transition.
“Please join me in thanking Tim and Mike for their outstanding contributions to the company over the years and wishing them all the best,” Field wrote, concluding the internal company announcement obtained by RBR+TVBR. “We look forward to working with Mike in his new role, and I’m also certain we will continue working with Tim in the future.”
