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WEEI and the New England Patriots Extend Programming Partnership

“The content partnership treats WEEI to weekly conversations with New England Patriots six-time Super Bowl champion head coach Bill Belichick and Patriots players on WEEI in Boston.”

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WEEI will once again deliver some of the best football programming in the format thanks to a new agreement between the station’s parent company Audacy, and the New England Patriots. The two sides have struck a multi-year deal to continue their broadcast partnership, which calls for an exclusive continuation of “Patriots Monday” and “Patriots Friday” programming.

The content partnership treats WEEI to weekly conversations with New England Patriots six-time Super Bowl champion head coach Bill Belichick and Patriots players on WEEI in Boston. In recent years, weekly player appearances have included Tom Brady, Julian Edelman and Cam Newton. The partnership between WEEI and the Patriots started in 1995.

“We’re delighted to extend our longstanding partnership with the New England Patriots and continue giving Patriots fans exclusive access to their favorite team every week,” said Tim Clarke, Senior Vice President and Market Manager, Audacy Boston. “We look forward to Coach Belichick and multiple veteran leaders providing perspective and game analysis that only they can share every week on WEEI.”

“For more than a quarter century, Boston sports fans have followed the Patriots on WEEI,” said Murray Kohl, Vice President of Sales, New England Patriots. “We are happy to extend our partnership and continue to provide exclusive access to interviews with Coach Belichick and many of our star players. The conversations that our coach and players have with the WEEI hosts each week provide a much different dialogue and insight into the personality than any other sports platform and has become appointment listening for many Patriots fans.”

One change this year from prior years, Bill Belichick will move his Monday appearances from afternoons to mornings. The Patriots head coach will now join WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show,” featuring Greg Hill and former Patriot Jermaine Wiggins weekdays from 6a-10 ET. The midday show “Gresh and Keefe” with Andy Gresh and Rich Keefe will continue welcoming a rotation of players from 10a-2p ET, including an offensive player, defensive player and a weekly special guest. The afternoon show, “Ordway, Merloni and Fauria,” hosted by Glenn Ordway, Lou Merloni, and two-time Super Bowl champion and former Patriots tight end Christian Fauria, will feature a weekly chat with the Patriots starting quarterback between 2p-6p ET. “Patriots Friday” will also return with additional team-focused programming throughout the season each Friday.

In addition to creating Patriots-focused on-air content, WEEI has also struck deals with a number of NFL contributors. The station this fall will feature weekly discussions with Michael Irvin, Michael Lombardi, WFAN morning host and CBS NFL analyst Boomer Esiason, ESPN analysts Tedy Bruschi and Keyshawn Johnson, and NBC Sports’ Peter King.

Sports Radio News

Charles Barkley: ‘I Want to Be on TV Less’

“His contract with Warner Bros. Discovery runs through 2024-25.”

Jordan Bondurant

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Charles Barkley

It’s possible you could see Charles Barkley appearing occasionally on CNN.

Reports from The Wall Street Journal and Variety this week indicate the cable news network is close to finishing a deal that would have Gayle King on the network. Rumors have said that the network would like to have Barkley join her, but Barkley says nothing is decided on his end.

In an appearance on Bickley & Marotta on Arizona Sports on Tuesday, the Suns legend and NBA on TNT analyst said he and King are friends so this wouldn’t be a situation where the duo would be coming in green.

“I’ve gotten to know her well through the years through my relationship with Oprah (Winfrey) and she’s just cool,” Barkley said. “I said, ‘I would consider doing a show with Gayle, one day a week starting in the fall.'”

But Barkley, 60, reiterated what he’s made known for a while now: he doesn’t plan on sticking around in the TV business for too much longer. His contract with Warner Bros. Discovery runs through 2024-25. So this CNN opportunity could be pretty limited in scope, which is what Charles desired.

“It’ll only be one day a week if I decide to do it,” Barkley said. “I said, ‘No, I don’t want to be on TV more. I want to be on TV less.'”

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Sports Radio News

John Kincade: Thursday Night Football Flex Vote About ‘Licking Jeff Bezos’s Boots’

“For these billionaires to be licking his boots? Embarrassing. They can’t do this. It’s obnoxious.”

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John Kincade

A report claims that at the NFL owners meetings, a proposal to give the league the ability to implement flex scheduling for Thursday Night Football was proposed. 97.5 The Fanatic’s John Kincade was flabbergasted at the idea.

The proposal would allow the NFL to move scheduled games in the final weeks of the season from Sunday to Thursday. The league would also have to change the rule that teams could only play one Thursday Night Football game per season to accommodate the change.

During The John Kincade Show Tuesday, the host claimed that even considering the idea was simply a matter of the owners kowtowing to Amazon owner Jeff Bezos, whose company — Prime Video — broadcasts the package.

“They’re licking Jeff Bezos’s boots,” Kincade said. “I can only imagine buddies running trips and fans go ‘Ok, I’m going to the Eagles game on Sunday. I’m flying in Friday, spend two nights in a hotel, and fly out Monday’. Oh no you’re not, the game’s been moved to Thursday night. This is freaking ridiculous, and shining Bezos’s shoes is freaking embarrassing. For these billionaires to be licking his boots? Embarrassing. They can’t do this. It’s obnoxious.”

Kincade continued by marvelling at the idea even being floated to the public.

“To me, it’s just such a dumb idea. But sometimes those things happen in sports.”

The 97.5 The Fanatic host is not the only sports media member who has shared their displeasure with the proposal this week. Monday Morning Quarterback’s Peter King aired similar sentiments, saying “We can all agree this seems insane.”

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Sports Radio News

Mike Francesa: BetRivers Podcast Is Enough For Me Right Now

“I’ve had a couple offers in the last couple of months. I’ve turned them all down. Anybody that’s asked me for steady work or to do something Monday through Friday I’ve said no.”

Jordan Bondurant

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Mike Francesa

If you were hoping to catch Mike Francesa hosting a daily TV or radio show in the future, that ship has likely sailed.

Asked by a listener on his Mike Francesa Podcast if he would go back to doing a show on television similar to his Mike’d Up program on NBC New York, Francesa said it’s not in his future.

“I would doubt it,” he said on his Monday episode. “At this point, I’m not as visible. So it wouldn’t make as much sense as having me now as it would then. And frankly, I’m doing what I do now, and I love doing it.”

Francesa reunited with his former WFAN co-host Chris “Mad Dog” Russo on ESPN’s First Take back in January, but Mike said the podcast he’s doing for the BetRivers Network checks all the boxes of what he’s looking for work-wise at the moment.

“It’s actually enough,” he said. “I’ve had a couple offers in the last couple of months. I’ve turned them all down. Anybody that’s asked me for steady work or to do something Monday through Friday I’ve said no.”

“It would have to be something very unusual for me to do on a regular basis,” he added.

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