Fang's Bites

Developing: Red Sox Radio Announcer Resigns Amid Pay Cut

This broken by the very well-connected Boston Sports Media Watch’s Bruce Allen. Jon Rish, the studio host on the Boston Red Sox Radio Network and fill-in announcer when Dave O’Brien is away on his ESPN duties, has resigned and will leave as of April 24. Rish has been part of the Red Sox Radio Network since 2006 and its flagship station, WEEI, since 2005. In 2008, he was appointed as the third announcer in the booth to fill in for either O’Brien or Joe Castiglione.

Rish was heard on Spring Training broadcasts in March and started the season with Castiglione for the Red Sox season opener against the New York Yankees as O’Brien called the game on ESPN and also this weekend in Toronto as O’Brien was in New Orleans calling the NCAA Women’s Final Four.

It is rare for an announcer to leave a baseball team while the season is underway, even more so just as the season has begun. However, Bruce Allen at BSMW reports that Rish has decided to leave WEEI, the Red Sox and the radio business altogether after being asked to take what is said to be “a significant pay cut.”

WEEI has been having ratings and revenue issues since being overtaken and surpassed by rival 98.5 The Sports Hub last year. Long-time afternoon drive host and station original Glenn Ordway was sent packing from the station earlier this year and sources have told Fang’s Bites that another host is in danger of losing his job.

The upheaval in the radio business is often cutthroat and the firings can come without warning. To see an announcer leave one of the most coveted positions in Major League Baseball shows that the behind-the-scenes jockeying can be taxing no matter what the market or the team is.

[Boston Sports Media Watch]

UPDATE, 3:55 p.m.: Chad Finn of the Boston Globe reports that Rish was asked to take a 30% pay cut. He tells Finn: “It wasn’t fair to me and it wasn’t workable for my family.”

No word on a replacement for Rish at this time.

Attempting A Friday Megalink Post

This week has been hellish for me and I apologize for not being able to post as much as I would like. I’ve been away from my computer for most of the day and by the time I get home, I’m tired and don’t want to update the blog.

Well, with me already done my errands for today, I’ll give you some linkage that has been seriously lacking this week.

Of course, there’s the Weekend Viewing Picks which you can peruse.

National

Michael Hiestand of USA Today says Jim Rome is hoping to make a splash as he prepares to launch his new daily show on CBS Sports Network.

Reid Cherner of USA Today’s Game On! blog says perpetually angry ESPN college basketball analyst Doug Gottlieb is throwing his hat into the Kansas State coaching ring.

The Associated Press was on hand to witness Root Sports Northwest’s production of the Seattle Mariners-Oakland A’s regular season openers in Japan without actually traveling to the Far East.

Sports Illustrated’s Jon Wertheim has more thoughts on the numerous conflicts of interest in tennis broadcasting.

Sports Business Journal’s John Ourand has Fox Sports’ statement on its carriage dispute with Time Warner Cable over Fox Sports San Diego.

John profiles legendary sports television producer Don Ohlmeyer.

Around the Rings has the press release regarding the European Broadcasting Union obtaining the rights to the World Cups in 2018 and 2022.

ESPN Ombudsman Jason Fry of the Poynter Institute says college basketball analyst Bob Knight should not be allowed to live by his own rules when he’s on TV.

Scott Soshnick and Steven Church of Bloomberg Businessweek says the Los Angeles Dodgers sale was sparked by media rights.

Alex Ben Block of the Hollywood Reporter says former Sony Pictures head Peter Gruber who’s part of the new Los Angeles Dodgers ownership group could bring a new attitude towards marketing the team.

Jon Lafayette of Broadcasting & Cable has Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott calling rights fees for college football are undervalued.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News says NESN National is being launched in Indianapolis.

Tim Nudd at Adweek says Chrysler is unveiling four new follow ups to its “Halftime in America” Super Bowl spots during various events this weekend including the NCAA Final Four and Mad Men.

Adweek’s Mike Shields writes ESPN.com is partaking in Facebook’s Open Graph, but with some restrictions.

Jason Del Ray at Advertising Age notes that CBS/Turner brought in its highest sales revenue ever for March Madness Live.

Ronnie Ramos at the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center says March Madness has been enhanced by social media and the digital experience.

The Brothers Yoder at Awful Announcing cast the upcoming Anchorman sequel using ESPN’ers. This is good.

Ben Koo at AA is not a huge fan of the overhead shots employed by CBS/Turner for the NCAA Tournament.

Dan Fogarty at SportsGrid says the Los Angeles Times feels there’s one person who could spoil the new ownership for the Dodgers.

Ahmed Yussuf at EPL Talk gives a first-hand account of following the English Premier League from Australia.

Sports Media Watch says last weekend’s rain-shortened NASCAR on Fox event did not do well in the ratings.

Joe Favorito asks if ‘The Hunger Games” could give archery a boost in time for this summer’s Olympics.

Jason McIntyre at The Big Lead reports that Joe Posnanski is leaving Sports Illustrated.

Ty Duffy at The Big Lead says the potential Fox cable sports network may not knock down ESPN, but could give it a run for its money.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell talks about two rival Hollywood agencies representing Tim Tebow simultaneously.

Bob’s Blitz says WFAN’s Craig Carton browbeat former Tiger Woods swing coach Hank Haney to the point where he hung up.

Brandon Costa of Sports Video Group says CBS returns to New Orleans where it began its Final Four journey 30 years ago.

East and Mid-Atlantic

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe says ESPN MLB analyst Curt Schilling is facing hypocrisy calls after he criticized his former Red Sox team this week.

Chad adds some thoughts on Schilling and on NESN’s Jenny Dell that didn’t make his column.

Bruce Allen of Boston Sports Media Watch writes in SB Nation that a Tiger Woods in contention is good for The Masters^® and its TV partners.

Bob Tedeschi of the New York Times reviews this year’s edition of the MLB At-Bat app.

Richard Sandomir from the Times examines the Dodgers sale.

Anthony Riemer of Newsday looks at Jeremy Lin’s lunch with the sacked ESPN.com editor who unwittingly made a racial slur last month.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post feels Fox Sports’ Jimmy Johnson should not be advocating violence. I don’t think he did, Phil, but continue to hate everything, ok?

Justin Terranova of the Post has five questions for former Tennessee and current Sirius XM analyst Bruce Pearl on the Final Four.

The Albany Times Union’s Pete Dougherty has the ESPN MAC football schedule.

Pete has CBS excited about this year’s Final Four.

Jane Kwiatkowski of the Buffalo News says this is a tough time for the local TV sportscast.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call looks at a local PBS documentary on the Lehigh Valley IronPigs.

Laura Nachman says Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia is ready for Phillies baseball.

Dan Steinberg at the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog says the Fox sitcom “Raising Hope” gave another of many Capitals references.

Jim Williams from the Washington Examiner talks with MLB Network’s Mitch “Wildi Thing” Williams.

South

David Barron from the Houston Chronicle writes that the Houston Open should be helped by a lot of interesting storylines.

David says Jim Rome is getting ready for his CBS Sports Network closeup.

David writes that Texans running back Arian Foster is taking his show to the team’s radio flagship station.

In The Oklahoman, Mel Bracht has ESPN’s MLB analysts predicting the upcoming season.

Mel says there will be plenty of baseball available in the Oklahoma City market.

Mel reports a local radio station has flipped to being a full-time ESPN Radio affiliate.

Mel writes that a local radio sports director has been laid off thanks to Clear Channel.

Midwest

Elton Alexander of the Cleveland Plain-Dealer says New Orleans has provided CBS with plenty of Final Four excitement.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer says a local TV station plans to ride the Kentucky train for as long as possible.

John says a couple of long-time local radio veterans got the ax due to Clear Channel cost cutting.

John writes that a radio documentary on late Cincinnati Reds voice Waite Hoyt airs this weekend.

The Indianapolis Star says Butler coach Brad Stevens will be a guest analyst for CBS on the Final Four.

Bob Wolfley at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes the Brewers have extended their radio rights deal with their long-time flagship station.

Bob says a local sportscaster is back to work after a long illness.

Bob tells us that Marquette coach Buzz Williams will also be a guest analyst on CBS this weekend.

Paul Christian of the Rochester (MN) Post-Bulletin writes that CBS loves New Orleans at Final Four time.

Dan Caesar at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says 20 Cardinals games won’t be seen by AT&T U-Verse subscribers this season.

Dan writes that the defending champions Cardinals will be in the national spotlight quite a few times this season.

West

Jay Posner at the San Diego Union-Tribune writes that Fox Sports San Diego is not optimistic of getting a deal with two cable providers in time for Padres opening day.

Jim Carlisle of the Ventura County Star has ESPN’s MLB analysts praising Magic Johnson’s presence with the Dodgers.

Jim was surprised that Kentucky-Louisville wasn’t the nightcap for the Final Four.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News says Lakers fans are enjoying having guest analysts on radio broadcasts this season.

Tom talks with Jim Rome about his CBS Sports Network show.

Tom has more on Rome in his blog.

Canada

The usually uninformed Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail says CBC Sports appears to be rudderless as it heads into a new NHL negotiation.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog has the viewership numbers for Canadian sports television from last week.

And that will conclude the megalinks.

Radio Daze

I’m not in a good mood right now and it’s not because Maria Sharapova and Ana Ivanovic were eliminated on consecutive days at Wimbledon (ok, it’s partly because of that), but it’s mostly due to the fact that one of my good friends lost his job yesterday.

Having worked in radio in Providence for a number of years, I have made many good friends. Even though I’m no longer in the business, I have still kept my friendships that I made when I was at WHJJ/WHJY/WSNE/B-101. Over the years, one-by-one, my friends have been picked off by the management. Friday, my friend, Brian Mulhern of 93.3 Coast FM lost his job. I’ve known Brian since he worked for Carolyn Fox at 94HJY. As fellow Red Sox fans, we’ve suffered together through many heartbreaking losses and then celebrated over two Red Sox championships. We’ve gone to many Sox games together. We’ve comiserated over lost relationships, congratulated each other through the good times and through it all, remained good friends.

We love talking about comedy such as Arrested Development, Brian Regan, Larry David and anything under the sun.

Earlier this year, my friends over at the Score AM-FM in Providence lost their jobs and now Brian loses his. Radio is a tough business. Unless you’re a Howard Stern who can name his own price and employer, my suggestion is to stay out of radio for now. It’s not a fun place to be.

UPDATE, 9:55 P.M – John Crowe over at the Crowe’s Nest has his reaction to Brian’s firing.

And on another note, it was Mike Francesa’s turn to address the situation with him and Chris Russo on WFAN. Newsday’s Neil Best was watching on YES and listening to the FAN and was amazed at what he heard.

Unless Francesa is pulling an acting job, it appears the Mike & the Mad Dog show is very much in flux at this point. This is a situation we’ll continue to monitor.