No more "Sandbox" for 'FNX

In an effort to cuts costs and perhaps boost ratings, WFNX 101.7 FM yesterday ditched its morning show and announced other changes to its daily lineup. In addition to canning The Sandbox, the alternative station will no longer air Dr. Drew Pinsky’s syndicated “Love Lines” program, and added onetime WBCN jock Adam 12 to take over the afternoon slot held by “Big Jim” Murray. (Murray will remain with the station, though not in an on-air capacity.)

“These moves will allow us to focus on our core audience, which has always been Boston’s most passionate and knowledgeable fans of music and pop culture,” Mike Tierney, ‘FNX’s new VP of broadcast operations, said in a statement. The Sandbox’s Charlie Padgett and Ed Oliveira were let go, while co-hosts Dustin Fletcher Matthews and Henry Santoro will stay on as part of revamped lineup with the station’s program director Keith Dakin.

(In the interest of full disclosure, we sometimes appeared on The Sandbox.) “There was a new sheriff in town,” Padgett said yesterday, referring to Tierney. “And eight times out of 10, when there’s a new guy, they’re going to blow things up.” Padgett told us Tierney showed up at the station unexpectedly yesterday just as the gang was about to go on the air, and he was accompanied by someone from human resources. “I said, ‘Uh oh, one or all of us is about to be (expletive),” said Padgett, who mentioned he’s already applied for a job at the Apple store at the North Shore Mall. “This is probably it for me,” he said. “Radio is a contracting industry.”

For his part, Oliveira said he’s got no immediate plans, but he’s happy for Fletcher. “He’s my roommate,” he said. “Will this make it a little awkward? I don’t know. We’ll see.”

-- Mark Shanahan