One of the most successful shows in not just Boston sports radio history but all of Boston radio, “Toucher and Rich,” is coming to an end.
The longtime 98.5 The Sports Hub morning show has come to an end, cohost Fred Toucher revealed Friday morning on the program. Toucher recently re-signed with The Sports Hub, but cohost Rich Shertenlieb did not.
“I get a call that yesterday was Rich’s last show on the station,” Toucher said Friday on the show, as seen in a video shared to X by the account Boston Radio Watch. “We were talking about today’s show. I assumed Rich was going to be here. We all assumed Rich was going to be here. To be honest with you, what do I know? Maybe something could have been done at the last minute. Maybe the issues they were dealing with could have been rectified, but that’s not happening now. Rich is not coming back.”
Beasley Media recently reupped Toucher’s contract, but that process differed from the past, he said Friday. While the duo had previously negotiated together, they went their own ways in this round of negotiating.
So, now, the show will continue without Shertenlieb but with Toucher as the face of the morning program.
“When it became apparent there were some hurdles in his negotiation — I again don’t know why — I talked to management and some people around the industry about the future of the show, and I have to be honest with you, I’m extraordinarily excited.”
Shortly after Toucher’s new deal was announced by Beasley Media Group, the “Toucher & Rich” X account, run by Shertenlieb, disappeared — or at least the handle did. The account was changed over to represent a personal account for Shertenlieb. That was relatively short-lived, but the writing might have been on the wall as late as Thursday when Shertenlieb announced he was no longer operating the restored “Toucher & Rich” account.
Toucher explained Friday that he and Shertenlieb weren’t exactly close off the air, and he took exception to some comments Shertenlieb made about him in the past. It’s been a tumultuous year for the show, in large part because of extended absences from Toucher, who has also dealt with health issues.
Regardless of the drama behind the scenes, Friday’s announcement — as inevitable as it might have been — is the formal end of a remarkably successful run. The duo’s time together dates all the way back to 2006 in Atlanta, and they had been the morning staple since The Sports Hub debuted in Boston in 2009.
The program has been one of the region’s most popular shows for years and dominated the ratings for the last few years, most recently winning the summer book with a 15.3 share in the key demographic, per Boston.com. At its height, the show was doing ratings in the 20s, like the insane 24.2 number it posted last summer.
Toucher said the new show will launch at the beginning of 2024, and the current show will continue as is — without Shertenlieb, of course — for the rest of this calendar year.
Toucher also said he has “no idea” what’s next for Shertenlieb.
