aaron c beals

when i do listen to non-internet radio, an occurrence that is growing rarer in these latter days, i tend to be a fan of music rather than talk radio. that said, i found the morning show on WFNX — “The Sandbox” — highly entertaining. the DJs, with the exception of longtime FNX-er Henry Santoro, were in their late 20’s / early 30’s, putting their retro pop culture references and sense of humor right in line with my own. they tended to shy away from the overtly political (i’m talking to you, Greg Hill and Dennis and Callahan) and focused instead on the absurd. they had a good talk / music mix for the morning hours and included guests from the local Boston scene (politicians, writers, etc).

yesterday, after 2.5 years, that show abruptly went off the air, taking with it the last shreds of faith i had in the Boston radio scene. WERS (excellent college radio, albeit with too much reggae) and Paul Driscoll’s Alter-Ego program at FNX (he’s given a lot of latitude to play what he wants) are the only good things left on local radio.

word on the street is that the new VP of Broadcast Operations, Mike Tierney, blew up the show as a not-so-uncommon ‘i’m the new guy’ power move. way to screw up FNX, Mike. welcome to Boston.