A little over three weeks after Bangor all-sports radio station set another all-time high for money raised in its annual Jimmy Fund Radiothon, the big boys are following suit.

Boston Red Sox flagship station and talk radio giant WEEI (850 AM) will hold its third annual Jimmy Fund Radiothon Friday from 6 a.m. to midnight. The entire program will also be simulcast on New England Sports Network.

“It was a huge success last year, and the biggest thing was creating awareness about the Jimmy Fund,” said WEEI director of marketing Craig Birkel. “It definitely helped the reach of the radiothon to have it on NESN last year.”

Boy, did it ever. WEEI raised $375,000 for the fundraising arm of the Dana-Farber Cancer institute in 2002. Last year, the total zoomed up to $1.1 million.

“We’re just trying to help out the Jimmy Fund,” said Gary Roy, NESN’s promotions/public relations director. “So if our simulcast helped them out that much, all the better.”

NESN’s simulcast will be seen in all New England TV market, except those outside the Boston area on Friday night, as Boston station WSBK’s broadcast of the Boston Red Sox-Detroit Tigers game will be aired from 7 p.m. to the game’s conclusion. Viewers in the Boston market will see the Sox game on WSBK (Channel 38) and the Jimmy Fund coverage on NESN.

Radio stations in Providence, R.I., and Worcester, Mass., are also simulcasting WEEI’s radiothon.

Dale Duff, program director and sportscaster for WZON (620 AM), said his station raised just over $7,000 this year after raising more than $6,000 last year. The total has consistently gone up each year, since WZON started its radiothon and auction in 1995.

“We did great. One of the big hits was the [Red Sox radio announcer] Joe Castiglione book, which we sold for $50 apiece,” said Duff, who added that Castiglione will be personally signing each copy. It was kind of neat because Castiglione mentioned us that night on the Red Sox broadcast about our radiothon.”

The highest-grossing item in WZON’s auction was a four-pack of tickets to Fenway Park to see the Sept. 4 game between Boston and Texas. The package, which went for a price of $1,600, also includes a visit to meet Red Sox announcers Castiglione and Jerry Trupiano in the radio broadcast booth.

Cox on Fox

Former New England Patriots linebacker Bryan Cox has joined the cast of characters on Fox Sports Net’s “Best Damn Sports Show Period.”

Cox, who will join former New York Giants cornerback Jason Sehorn as NFL analysts for both the Fox Network and BDSSP, played for the Patriots, Miami Dolphins, Chicago Bears and New York Jets during his 12-year NFL career. The three-time Pro Bowler won a permanent spot after endearing himself to viewers with the blunt honesty and openness he showed during a few stints as a BDSSP guest host last year.

BDSSP airs on Fox Sports Net New England each weeknight at 8:30 p.m. and repeats at 11 p.m. on nights when there are no live broadcasts.

Andrew Neff can be reached at 990-8205, 1-800-310-8600 or at aneff@bangordailynews.net