Sports talk radio can often be like professional wrestling: the feuds are fake; characters are created; fans are riled up. But every once in a while, the drama is real.
Is that the case with 98.5 “The Sports Hub’s” Fred Toucher? Or is his anger at his partner for not reaching out during a health scare all for show?
Toucher, who’s been battling a throat problem for months, took medical leave March 31 from Boston’s No. 1 morning show, “Toucher & Rich,” which he co-hosts with Rich Shertenlieb. For the previous two months, Toucher was working with a raspy voice that sparked widespread concern.
On March 31, Shertenlieb read a message from Toucher on-air announcing his leave, and said the show misses him. But according to Toucher, they haven’t spoken since.
Over the last week, Toucher has posted multiple tweets griping about Shertenlieb not reaching out during what he’s described as a “cancer scare.”
The palace intrigue climaxed Thursday, when Toucher removed all references to his radio show from his Twitter bio (his bio now says, “It’s complicated”).
On Instagram Live, Toucher suggested he could return to the program in the near future.
So back to the question: is this real, or fake? Toucher’s messages, and Shertenlieb’s lack of engagement, intimates at least some friction is legitimate.
For the highest-rated sports morning show in the country, the future is complicated.
Tension around the show
There’s been off-and-on tension around “Toucher & Rich” for the last three years. The first big rift happened at the onset of the pandemic, when Toucher derided Covid as nothing more than “the flu.”
That summer, Toucher was pulled from the air following an erratic performance, in which he showed up late and proceeded to rant about subjects ranging from his divorce to the Black Lives Matter movement.
“Listen, with everything that’s going on, Fred’s going to take a couple of days off,’’ said Shertenlieb at the time. “And we love the guy, can’t wait until he gets back.”
Later, Toucher said he intended to check himself into a mental institution. A couple of months later, he returned to the air, and said he received treatment for alcohol dependency.
But there have been flareups around the show since then, including last fall, when “The Sports Hub” laid off one of the program’s producers, Mike Lockhart. Shertenlieb wound up paying Lockhart’s salary personally, plus a 38% markup for administration fees. That’s right: Beasley Media Group, “The Sports Hub’s” parent company, was retaliating against maybe its most important show.
Toucher is currently in the midst of contract negotiations himself, and says station management has used his throat issues against him.
What is Toucher saying?
Toucher sent out a flurry of now-deleted tweets last Saturday night claiming that Shertenlieb and other members of his show haven’t spoken to him over the last month.
“They don’t need me. Cancer scare and I don’t hear a word for weeks. Then I reach out to them…Nothing back,” read one.
Shertenlieb didn’t appear to address Toucher’s accusations on Monday’s show.
On Wednesday, Toucher announced he was seeing his doctor next week, and said he’s spoken to sports anchor Jon Wallach and producer Dan O’Brien. Noticeably, Shertenlieb’s name was absent.
https://twitter.com/FredToucher/status/1653890820624330753
https://twitter.com/FredToucher/status/1653897582970585090
https://twitter.com/FredToucher/status/1653899886058696704
Later Wednesday, Toucher went on Instagram Live, and once again said he will be back soon.
“I feel my voice is getting stronger. I think that if I go to the doctor on Monday, he is going to give me permission to go back on the air. So what turned out as a big, big cancer scare where I was given assurances there was cancer in my throat, might turn out to be that I needed not to talk for a very long time.”
Toucher, 48, also addressed his situation with Shertenlieb. “I have nothing with Rich. Just wondering why he hasn’t reached out?,” he said.
Then on Thursday night, Toucher fired the ultimate salvo.
“Diarrhea,” he tweeted.
Complicated matters
Radio is a shrinking business; and as a result, weird decisions are made. Look no further than Beasley Media Group’s actions towards “The Sports Hub.” Despite the station’s incredible ratings, Beasley laid off Lockhart and another host, Christian Arcand, last fall.
Even with Toucher’s absence, “Toucher & Rich” is blowing away its competition, WEEI’s “Greg Hill Show.” In the last ratings book, 98.5 outpaced WEEI by nearly 20 points in morning drive.
The show has maintained its ratings dominance with Shertenlieb, Wallach and a rotating third host (usually WBZ sports anchor Dan Roche).
Toucher may want to return right now, but there’s no urgent need. Again: “Toucher & Rich” is beating its competition by roughly 20 points! The least important ratings period of the year, the summer book, is fast approaching.
Like most successful morning hosts, Toucher and Shertenlieb take the majority of the summer off, anyway. Station management, which is almost always averse to controversy, might want Toucher to stay sidelined until his voice fully heals and apparent anger subsides.
Toucher, with his acerbic wit and cynicism, helped build a ratings monster. Ironically, the show’s success may now be complicating his return to the air.