Hart and Stevens had been with WEEI since 2019, and joined the afternoon program in one of its many recent iterations in August 2024, with Johnson coming aboard in January 2025.
The show had been routed in the Nielsen Audio ratings against rival sports station 98.5 The Sports Hub’s “Felger and Mazz” program. In the fall, “Felger and Mazz” finished in its usual No. 1 spot with a 16.7 share, while “WEEI Afternoons” — that was the name of Hart, Stevens, and Johnson’s show — tied for 14th with a 2.0.
It didn’t get much better in the winter ratings, which were announced this week. “Felger and Mazz” had a first-place 15.3 share in the period from Jan. 8-April 1, while “WEEI Afternoons” was 14th with a 2.7.
Radio station lineup changes often immediately follow ratings-book revelations. According to sources with knowledge of the situation, the shakeup had been in the works for a while.
Last week, a clip went viral of Stevens vehemently disagreeing with Johnson about the situation involving Patriots coach Mike Vrabel and reporter Dianna Russini, then of The Athletic. Hart and Stevens had been critical of Vrabel, prompting social-media speculation that the Patriots had some role in getting the two removed from the show. According to one source involved in the process, the speculation “is some Grade A [expletive].”
While “Felger and Mazz” has dominated afternoon drive for the better part of two decades, WEEI has cycled through hosts in that daypart. In July 2018, Glenn Ordway — the longtime host of “The Big Show” during a previous highly successful stint at WEEI — moved from middays to afternoon drive, along with Lou Merloni and Christian Fauria. When Ordway retired in August 2021, Merloni and Fauria hosted in tandem, with Meghan Ottolini coming aboard in April 2022.
Fauria moved to middays and Merloni’s contract was not renewed in December 2022. A month later, Adam Jones joined Ottolini in afternoons, with Christian Arcand the third voice. That lasted until August 2024, when Jones moved to middays, Ottolini went to a writing and fill-in role, and Hart was paired with Arcand on the afternoon show. That version was revamped in January 2025, when Johnson came aboard, Stevens’s role expanded, and Arcand moved to nights.
Chad Finn can be reached at [email protected].
