Genre | Sports, current events, politics, talk |
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Running time | 4 hours (previously 3-hour simulcast on television) |
Country | United States |
Home station | WEEI-FM |
Starring |
Gerry Callahan Kirk Minihane |
Executive producer(s) | Ken Laird Chris Curtis |
Air dates | since 1997 |
Website | [1] |
Kirk and Callahan is an American morning radio show on WEEI-FM, a sports radio station in Boston, Massachusetts. On November 16, 2010, a live three-hour simulcast began airing on NESN at 6–10 AM Eastern time each weekday. The show combines talk of sports and politics, along with current or "water cooler" issues. The show premiered in 1997 with Callahan and former WHDH Sports Director John Dennis, and it received strong ratings until WEEI received ratings competition in 2009 with the launch of CBS Radio's sports station, WBZ-FM (98.5); ratings have since fallen from their peak.
On February 21, 2013, it was reported WEEI.com columnist Kirk Minihane would be joining the show as a third co-host. His addition proved to be controversial when he made comments in July 2014 deemed as sexist against Fox Sports reporter Erin Andrews, and a later apology which ended with further disparaging comments against her. This caused Minihane to be handed down a further one-week suspension from WEEI, with the show ending up having an unrelated discontinuation of the NESN simulcast in September, and 21st Century Fox pulling all advertising for their film and television properties from the radio stations of WEEI parent Entercom Communications throughout the United States and a blanket refusal by Fox Sports to allow their personalities on WEEI.
On August 13, 2007, Entercom announced that the program would be suspended indefinitely until contract disputes involving both Dennis and Callahan were settled. The duo were scheduled to return to the air together that day for the first time in over three months after Callahan's long medical absence, and after a one-week vacation by Dennis. The contract dispute was believed to center around the hosts' desire to obtain a pay increase greater than what was being offered by the station, to an amount they believe better reflects the revenue the show generates. Their ratings consistently ranked No. 1 among male listeners in the 25- to 54-year-old demographic.