Media

Lou Merloni is out from WEEI’s afternoon drive show

Fellow host Christian Fauria will move to middays.

Jim Davis/Globe Staff

December 11, 2022

Lou Merloni, the former Red Sox infielder who has been a full time weekday host on WEEI for 11 years, is being let go from the station’s afternoon drive program, while fellow host Christian Fauria will move to middays.

Merloni’s contract expires at the end of the year. He was informed of the station’s plans early last week. There is a possibility he will contribute to the station’s Red Sox game coverage.

Merloni announced he was leaving the show in a tweet Sunday night. He will be on the show through this coming week and plans to explain his status Monday.

I’ll be back in studio tomorrow. Can’t wait to react to the week the Sox had, get you ready for Pats/Cards and talk about me leaving the show @MFMonWEEI See ya at 2!!
— Lou Merloni (@LouMerloni) December 11, 2022

Fauria, the former Patriots tight end who joined WEEI in May 2014, will be paired with Andy Gresh in middays. Current co-host Rich Keefe is expected to be reassigned, possibly moving to nights.

It is unclear right now what the station’s longterm plans are for afternoon drive. Meghan Ottolini, who joined Merloni and Fauria on the program in May, is expected to remain on the program.

Christian Arcand, who joined the show as a producer and fill-in host in November, weeks after he was a victim of corporate budget cuts at 98.5 The Sports Hub, sat in for Merloni for most of last week.

Merloni’s departure will end a decade-plus run as a regular voice at the station. The Framingham native joined WEEI in 2008 as a frequent co-host of “The Big Show,’’ a year after his 15-season professional baseball career ended.

In March 2011, Merloni was paired with Mike Mutnansky in middays in his first fulltime role. Three years later, that show was broken up, with Fauria and Tim Benz joining Merloni. Benz left the station in July 2015 to return to his native Pittsburgh. That September, Glenn Ordway returned to the station in middays with Fauria and Merloni.

In July 2018, Ordway, Merloni, and Fauria – known as “OMF” – moved to afternoon drive. Ordway retired in August 2021. Merloni and Fauria hosted in tandem until Ottolini came aboard seven months ago.

The “Merloni, Fauria, and Mego” show finished third in afternoon drive in the summer Nielsen Audio ratings in Boston – the most recent full ratings book — among listeners ages 25-54 with a 6.0 share. That was a good distance behind the 19.6 share rival station 98.5 The Sports Hub got for its “Felger and Mazz” program, a ratings juggernaut for more than a decade.

But the WEEI program had seen a ratings uptick in the fall ratings, which will become available in full on December 28. Just not enough, apparently, to prevent a reshuffling of its lineup.