It appears that Pete Sheppard has done his final sports flash for WEEI’s Big Show.

From Regan Communications (PR firm for Entercom New England) today:

Statement Regarding Pete Sheppard from Entercom New England Vice President and Market Manager Julie Kahn and Vice President of AM Programming Jason Wolfe

“As we continue to operate in challenging economic times, it is with regret that we announce today that we have eliminated Pete Sheppard’s position as sports anchor on the Big Show. We’d like to thank Pete for his outstanding work with WEEI over the last ten years. He played a major role in our growth, and helped “The Big Show” become one of the top radio shows in the country. We wish Pete the best of luck in his future endeavors and remain extremely grateful for all his contributions over the past decade.”

Too bad for Pete. He was the one guy on that afternoon show who actually had some passion for sports. The elimination of his position also raises the question of what happens to Patriots post game shows next season, and who becomes the standard “fill in” host for Ordway.

If this really is a economic layoff, and I don’t have reason at this time to believe otherwise, what would prevent Sheppard from becoming just another rotating fill-in co-host or flash guy in the future? Or does he surface at 98.5?

Sheppard had signed a multiyear contract with WEEI back in May of 2007, so it doesn’t look like contract negotiations gone bad here.

The Boston Radio Watch fellow says that Curt Schilling called in and said he won’t come back onto the WEEI airwaves until Sheppard is rehired. 

Glen Ordway stated on the air that the company has decided to outsource the flash updates for the Big Show, similiar to what they’ve done to other shows (Dale & Holley) in the past.

Approval Ratings – Pete Sheppard (BSMW)

Sheppard out at WEEI (Boston.com)

Published by Bruce Allen

Automattician.

97 thoughts on “Pete Sheppard Out At WEEI”

  1. Sorry to hear about anyone lose a job. He had a tendency to bloviate but let the callers talk and wasn’t an a-hole like others.

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  3. He got a little too hyper at times, but he does seem to have a passion for sports. The fact that he was willing and talk Bruins–making him one of the few sports radio personalities who did that–was always a plus.

    Too bad for Pete, but I’m sure he’ll land on his feet somewhere. As much as we scoff at WEEI, it’s a good thing to have on a sports radio personality’s resume.

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  4. Maybe he wasn’t Republican enough. If it were not for the guests, there would be no reason to listen to that station at all.

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      2. That was a beat down?!??! Wow. Different strokes for different folks I guess. And what has Scott Brown ever done? Nothing….voted in by the sheep who don’t know any better and follow Rush Limbaugh and Sarah Palin. Good luck with that.

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  6. If the current WEEI conversation (Ordway talking politics with McAdam) is indicative of the post-Meat Big Show, please…PUH-LEEZE…bring Pete back!

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    1. I’m listening too, and keep waiting for the “Pete sighing in the background” bit to get played.

      Truly yawn-inducing stuff.

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  8. I might be the happiest person in the world today! Although I am sad he is now unemployeed, I am so glad that I will not have to listen to him anymore. Was this is an actual layoff or a response to his comment to a caller on Monday’s show about the caller having “no balls” for hanging up? Pete had a habit of berating and belittling callers who had a different opionion than his own.

    Bye Pete! 🙂

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  10. I liked the Big Show better when Pete hosted as opposed to the Big O.

    He was better solo than he was on the panel, moved the show along and did a good job with co-hosts.

    He actually will be missed.

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  11. Probably the best part of the Big Show. Sure, he could be blustery, or play the buffoon, but he was as real as real can be on a show like that.
    If he goes to the other station, I’ll listen to him there.

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  12. Bastards. WEEI monkey see monkey do. The number 1 station can’t afford Pete Sheppard. I say Bull Crap. Go ahead and ruin somebody’s life, we don’t care. Good luck, Pete, I hope you wind up at 98.5 FM. That is when I switch.

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    3. Dale and Holley lost their flash. Now Pete’s out after over 15 years at the station.

      Jon suck-up in the morning better be updating his resume.

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  14. Very sorry to hear it! Hopefully he will turn up on 98.5. He can be painful to listen to at times but he was always good for a show!

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  16. Ive been waiting for that fat studdering blob to be taken off the air. The big show just got 50 times better. Now if they would just get rid of the Dale and Holley show, Weei would be the best sports station on radio.

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  18. This is unbelievable. All you people are frauds. I’ve been coming to this site for over 2 years now and all I heard was how terrible Pete the Meat was, how he needed to go (like the rest of the Big Show), and you would never listen to his constant interruptions and yelling.

    Now it’s like someone’s relative died here. FLIPPITY FLOP goes the frauds.

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  22. Wow, have to say this comes as a bit of a shock. Wonder if this has anything to do with EEI’s ad revenues since the emergence of 98.5? Sheppard’s last contract was a multi-year deal in May of 2007, wonder when that was due to expire?

    Another interesting aspect of this is that I met Pete once and I believe he also held the title of ‘sports director’, which meant that all the sports-flash staff reported to him. I’m guessing that task was previously removed from his responsibilities before getting laid off.

    Also have to think that moving forward EEI/Entercom might staff the station with part-timers or freelancers…perhaps from CSNNE? Wonder if those plans to move EEI to an FM signal are now permanently on the back burner?

    As for Pete, it seems that 98.5 is pretty full for staff with Gresh coming on board as a fill-in guy. Maybe if ESPNBoston.com ever goes forth with a competing station maybe he winds up there.

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    1. From what I gather, radio stations don’t dump personnel before their contracts are up. They make people work at whatever job they can find until the end of a contract and then dump them. Look at the spillover from WBCN to 98.5. T&R were under contract and had a successful morning show, but CBS also kept Hardy just to do flashes. Crash wasn’t dumped when CBS brought in Wallach, but Crash has hinted (mostly at the beginning) that he would be gone once his contract is up.

      My guess is that Pete had a two-year contract, which expired, and was working “at-will” under the terms of the expired contract. Felger had the same thing at 890. His contract expired, he continued to work, but left once he got a better deal(s).

      The whole ESPN thing ain’t happening for Pete. The only theory going is that WEEI will move to FM and put ESPN Radio on 850 full time. No room for Pete.

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  23. shocking! it’s not like they haven’t sold a ton of advertiseing or give ordweigh enough money. it’s an ensemble show for cryin out loud. what a crap decision from mgt.

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  25. The bigger picture here is that it’s obvious, from a business standpoint, that 98.5 is having an impact on ‘EEI and it’s now starting to manifest itself via on-air personnel decisions. Positions typically get “eliminated” (Fraudway’s on-the-air word to describe it) either due to poor performance (not the case here, it appears), or due to a loss, or anticipated loss, of revenue in the business.

    There is only a finite amount of advertising dollars out there, regardless of the number of radio outlets where the ads can be placed. Companies are scrutinizing every marketing penny spent, and closely evaluating the returns they are receiving on those pennies. So, we can infer that ‘EEI is not making the ad money they used to, hence Sheppard is tossed overboard to save some bucks.

    Now, I wasn’t a fan of his by any stretch, but it sucks to lose a job. Having said that (thank you, Larry David), please tell me that the skinny geek on the morning show is next.

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  28. They certainly worked quickly to take Pete’s name on the website. Yet when you look at the big show “cohosts” page, it has Mcadam working at ESPN.com, Curran at NBC.com and butch sterns as the lead sports guy at fox.

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  30. I agree with Bruce. say what you want about Pete, at least he seemed to enjoy sports. I’m also of the opinion that the “Big Show” was actually better when Ordway was on vacation and Pete hosted it….but enough of this foolishness, about Scott Brown and Martha Coakley blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah…..

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  31. why doesn’t the over paid load in the afternoon, capt. Expert, pick up Petes salary he’s getting 6 figures? maybe “misery in the morning has done the same with tweetermeter

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  32. not a good start for senator elect Savior- he keeps losing his weei cohorts he’ll be building inspector in wrentham soon

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  33. So the Pats losing cost Petey another few weeks of work, eh? Where’s your Brady now, Shepard!

    Agree with others who noted that maybe it was a small doses thing but Pete was actualy better in the big chair then he was in the booth. And his RPG work with the steakheads was awful -pete just b/c you work with 2 ex jocks doesnt qualify you to talk down to callers and quetsion their lack of football wisdom.

    Make me Wolfekhan for a day and I figure out how to make Mikey fail a drug test and then give Shep the night spot at a fraction of the cost.

    Meter can’t be feeling great now – first Wallach (who had the 4sight to jump to FM) then Pete – only one flashguy left. – maybe his BC broadcasting saves him although it certainly didnt help Teddy.

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  34. Reminds me of Howard Stern/Jackie Martling when listeners thought Howard should have kicked in to keep Jackie, but Ordway obviously doesn’t feel Sheppard is vital to his show enough to renegotiate to help keep him on board– isn’t Ordway pushing 60? Maybe his last go-round.

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    1. The more I think about this “layoff”, the more it doesn’t really add up. How much could Shepard be making, $100K? (If he was making any more than that, then he should have been hitting his knees every night thanking the deity of his own chosing for that gig.)

      Now, $100K is a very nice salary (especially for a quasi-knuckle-dragger), but, when compared to all the money that the Big Show has generated over the years for Entercomm, it’s a drop in the proverbial bucket. There’s gotta be something more to this than saving a few bucks, especially if no other on-air “talent” is let go. (Fraudway hinted at other layoffs that have taken place behind the scenes). Also, who gets whacked in the middle of the week? Typically, it’s done on a Friday.

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      1. Completely agree J.R. The market is tough now for all media, but being “the number one sports radio station in the country” which they never fail to remind people of, they had to be raking in the cash. Something smells funny, and I think it’s the fat fraud running his bus over Pete behind the scenes.

        Pete occasionally lost his mind, but I like him because he did keep shows moving and he didn’t entertain callers that were clearly too stupid for words. Sad he lost a job.

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      2. I agree 100% with you J.R.. I do not buy what Ordway said when he said that all of the flashes are being outsourced. If this were the case why has Meterparel and John Ryder not been given pink slips? Maybe they have much longer on their contracts? I do not know. I would think a change like that would be done immediately.

        I do agree with those who said Shepherd made a much better host (sans the Real Postgame Show which was dreadful, Smearlas is probably the biggest culprit there)than co-host.

        My guess is that Shepherd made around $100,000 per year, which is a pretty good chunk of change. I wonder if the days of the large contract like those for Ordway or D&C are over for a while?

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        1. Because Pete wasn’t working under a contract. Ad sales are down. No more Scott and Martha ads to run 10 times an hour. They have a new competitor, who is attracting the same desired audience. Whom are they going to cut? The cheapest person to get rid off.

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          1. Wouldn’t that also apply to Meterparel and Ryder as well? Unless both make very little money and can be held on.

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          2. Only if those two aren’t under contract. This isn’t the NFL. If Meterparel or Ryder are working under a contract, you have to pay out the contract. When their deals expire, they will have a dose of reality. They probably won’t be offered contracts, either told to hit the bricks, or this is what Entercom will pay you at-will.

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      3. I think you’re right. There’s much, much more to the story. I kinda think Shepp did something that pissed off Entercom.

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  35. Sorry to see Pete go. Might be a good thing for him since WEEI is the #1 Sports Station in the country that talks politics.

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  36. I agree with a poster above – as much as I disliked his bloviating when on with Ordway, he seemed to grow up and play nice when he was a fill-in host. Obviously, WEEI encouraged the clown act on the Big Show with Smerlas acting the buffoon and Pete the fanatic, but he would settle down as host and sound reasonably intelligent.

    I rarely listen any more – and I certainly don’t listen to Felger and Maz either – I just find other things to do in the afternoon.

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  37. 98.5 should drop Anthony Massarotti and join Felger with Pete Sheppard. The could call it the show ‘the D-bag and the Wind Bag’… Kidding aside, I really think Mike and Pete would be a GREAT show that could seriously challenge WEEI

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  38. I’ll miss the guy. As much as his belittling callers from time to time pissed me off (calling callers burger flippers when his job was to compile scores from the web and read them every half hour, something he frequently screwed up with anyway), I think he was by far the most down to earth guy there and that so many arrogant blowhards from Ordway to Dennis to Mustard, etc… stick around while he goes is unfortunate. In the long run I think this will harm them more than it will help.

    Wouldn’t be as nice as them bringing back Teddy, but if they replaced Adams in the night with Shephard and fired Adams I’d be a lot happier with that.

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  39. I think this a reflection of entercom in general nothing to do with pete.He was very good while the big o was on many of his vacations

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  40. I for one look forward to the outsourcing of the newsflashes and the new Indian accents.

    Full disclosure I stopped listening a while ago but I’ll start again if it’s the same guy who has helped me with new software many times.

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  41. of course Pete is a knucklehead–but he was a good part of the big show. that lame excuse by the bean counter middle managers kahn and wolfe is pathetic. ordway is makin a gazillion dolars–come on…
    hey pete, give 98.5 a call–i find myself listenin to 98.5 more and more. weei management got fat and happy. looks like they’re goin the canned espn syndication route–that is the kiss of death. wouldnt be surprised if they dump mikey next. weei is dying. Tanguay and Zo are kickin the butt of the two dweebs on the view. troupiano is excellent and kicks the butt of those 2 nerds mutt and bradford. weei’s days are numbered. those management bugs have screwed up, they are clueless and they should be dumped overboard. wolfe and kahn ought to get lost, parasites…

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  42. I have made a decision to not listen to EEI anymore after there over the top support of Brown in the past weeks. Liberals listen to sports talk too and use it as an escape. The only Boston team I love is the Sox. I live in West Mass and being a Pats hater, it was great to hear the homerism of Sheppard and the agony he went thru when they lose. I will actually miss him since we cant get 98.5 out here

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  43. Definitely, a bone head move by ‘eei. They should have dumped Meter who is far more offensive than Pete. Maybe if Ordway didn’t sign his “million dollar” contract they could afford to keep Pete. So much for Ordway having any pull. The morning boys keep their flunky and Big O loses Pete.

    It’s a shame 98.5 brought Boston’s Biggest Boob (Gresh) on board. Hey, 98.5 how about growing a pair, dumping Gresh, and picking up Pete. So far you “talent” picks (Tanger, Shank, Gresh, etc) have really stunk.

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  44. WTF, I can not beleive what I heard today on the whinner line! Ordway says ” it doesnt work like that” when caller critisized him about taking less $ to keep Pete? f u. I struggle to even get weei traveling from Spencer to Leominster everyday. weei is suppose to be #1 but I can receive 98.5 FM anywhere in worcester county? I have been avoiding the FM station,
    (as Felger refers to the AM station) but NOW HELLO FELGER I am officially jumping ship. Again F U Orday for not standing up for Pete!

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  46. Finally.

    Poorly prepared, mean spirited. Only highlight of his career (errr… I mean job) are his embarrassing interviews (the time he was interviewed on another station and had no idea what he was talking about for example).
    When left alone he was worse. As bad as Mike Adams is, he can talk… not stumble.

    Bye and stay out of my speakers.

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  48. This move is jaw dropping not jaw jacking.

    I liked Pete, if the callers got out of line he’d “puch ’em in the mouth.”

    Does this make me the fattest guy in Boston Radio? (EGA and LJ not included).

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  49. Pete,

    This is the business we’ve chosen. I didn’t ask who gave the order. When I heard it, I wasn’t angry; I knew Pete, I knew he was head-strong, talking loud, saying stupid things. So when he turned up dead, I let it go.

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  50. Pretty funny how Ordway doesn’t seem to give a shit, but Curt is taking a stand. Sorry Curt, but since you stopped stealing the Sox’ money your opinions (on everything!) aren’t nearly as relevant as you think.

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    1. that is the most absurd notion i have ever heard. Schilling can’t function without his “curt in the car” personna. He needs to be adored by jock sniffers like Ordway, “Misery in the Morning” et al. Curt cares about Curts interests( anyone notice the 38 studios hat at the Scott the Savior rally last weekend? he is a media whore and cannot function w/out the fading adoration. he has created the personna of “jocktellectual” in this market and relishes it.

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    2. Have I got this right? Curt is on the payroll at ‘eei so how many places do any of you know that employees tell their bosses what they will do?

      Sounds like a grandstanding BS move by the Curt-ster. He’ll “boycott” the Big Show until Kahn/Wolfe tell him to get his sorry butt on the air. Nice try Curt. I am starting to believe it WAS ketchup on the sock.

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      1. “Paid gig”? You and Shaughnessy are clueless. Hate the guys politics, hate the guys face, hate the guys software – I don’t care. But EVERY cent he receives from EEI goes to ALS Research. I think any fool (like you and shank) who like to characterize his appearances as a paid gig deserves the misery you clearly live. I hope you don’t ever have a debilitating, non-curable (yet) disease so you don’t feel worse about your ignorant comment than you already (should) feel.

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