By David Scott
Boston Sports Media Watch

In the end, they couldn’t live without each other. Jason Wolfe needed his morning drive binkies, Entercom needed station stability and John Dennis and Gerry Callahan needed to do exactly what they’ve been doing for the past decade: attract listeners.

The end result is a win-win for all parties and saves Entercom from having to explain potentially embarassing numbers from the Summer book (which hits mid-October), and saves D&C from testing the waters with another local entity (see below) or wherever their “mystery option” was based.

The rotating slew of shabby talent that dominated the ‘EEI AM drive slot all summer long was a drain on the station and Entercom as a whole. Advertisers, Shots is told, have still been asking for make-goods (and/or refunds) from the rotating circus of D&C wannabes’s shows that dominated the summer months (Larry Johnson, Craig Mustard, Bob Lobel, et al). The return of D&C should sooth those buyers’ minds and the D&C inventory (especially in these next few weeks and months) will be “hot” once again.

“And they lived happily ever after,” deadpanned one Entercom informant.

As for the bad blood that surfaced during the course of negotiations, both side’s moles are writing most of it off to the “nature of business. David J. Field got the deal done, but (Wolfe) held it together so it could get done,” said another mole. “(Wolfe) kept the lines of communication open.”

If true, Wolfe will have redeemed himself a bit for the bungling of Howie Carr’s situation that is leading to Carr’s jumping to Greater Media’s WTKK.

. . . Several area insiders have contacted Shots to confirm that D&C did indeed have another serious suitor in the running for their services. From what we can read in the tea leaves, the local pursuer was an FM signal, somewhere in the 90.0’s and was seriously considering a format change to all-sports. Whether or not those plans will move forward without D&C is not certain.

If you pressed us on a guess, we’d go with Greater Media’s 92.9 FM outift, which made an abrupt morning change last week and has been very experimental (and shaky) in recent years.

Even if there isn’t an alternative out there, D&C sure had everyone - including David Field - convinced that there was one.

. . . To the best of our knowledge, the eight figure deal being thrown out is the pair’s combined deal. Each man will be paid in the high-six figure range, with ratings bonuses that could to push the deal over a cool mill for each. Not bad for 20 hours of air time per week, ample vacation days and perks galore.

. . . Callahan - who is said to be in fine health after his “multiple” throat surgeries - is expected to continue his Herald column. We’re told to expect Callahan’s voice to be a “little scratchy” during his return appearance on Monday and we’re also told to expect the duo to make their usual “smart-ass, self-deprecating” comments about the “lockout” and the negotiations.

. . . Dennis too, can maintain his side gigs, which are mostly made up of golf rounds, but include his consulting business, MediaWise.

. . . Glenn Ordway is up for renewal next year and we’re officially announcing our resignation from the chasing of Sports Talk Show Hosts’ contracts. This damn processional took a solid month of our lives and includes no fewer than 17 D&C dominated posts since August 10. That’s ridiculous, when you think about it - yet I’ll still be with you at a bit before 6 a.m. on Monday to chronicle the initial minutes minutes of the D&C reunion show.

David Scott writes from a seaside shanty on the shores of Hull, Mass. and can be reached at shotsATbostonsportsmediaDOTcom.