Greetings from the beautiful city of San Francisco! This is my first journey into writing an official blog and I’m excited to do it even though I swore to myself that I wouldn’t enter this space until pigs were flying outside of my window and hell had frozen over. I looked outside today and can confirm that neither have occurred so I’ve clearly adjusted my thinking which may be good or bad. Only time will tell.
Sometimes in this media business when athletes end their playing careers and switch from the field to the studio they’ll mention how they feel like they’re moving to the dark side and for yours truly that’s how I feel at the moment. The reason is because this industry is full of people with strong opinions on what works, what doesn’t, what’s the key to future, etc. however when you’re in a leadership position and you put your opinions, philosophies and strategies on display for the world to see, you’re instantly in the line of fire.
While I can’t control what anyone thinks or says about my views and the way I approach my craft, I want to be clear that the reason I’ve elected to start writing this blog is to share my love and passion for sports radio as well as some of my thoughts & philosophies on what I believe leads to making great radio and delivering results. There’s no other agenda in play here other than that.
Now for the disclaimer. I will not be sharing specific details about the way things work inside the offices of my existing radio station nor will I be shedding any dirt on previous places I’ve worked at. I may share some experiences and offer some examples from time to time to illustrate how something can be done better and lead to stronger results but if you’re coming here and expecting to get the “inside scoop” on everything inside the walls of every brand I’ve been associated with then I apologize in advance because you’re likely to be disappointed.
I’ve been very fortunate during my career to earn the trust and respect of a number of great people and companies and because of those relationships, I’ve been afforded the opportunity to coach and influence the careers of many great personalities while shaping the identity of each brand.I hope to simply offer my professional insights, opinions and suggestions and look forward to getting to know many of you who either work in this industry or follow it and share the same love and passion that I have for it.
Well hopefully that provides some perspective on what you can expect on this website. As the days, weeks and months pass by I hope you’ll check back and read some of my thoughts and take something away from them. Sometimes they’ll reinforce your beliefs and sometimes you might think I’ve completely lost my mind but either way it’ll be interesting and from where I sit, that’s never a bad thing in this business.
Jason Barrett is the President and Founder of Barrett Media since the company was created in September 2015. Prior to its arrival, JB served as a sports radio programmer, launching brands such as 95.7 The Game in San Francisco, and 101 ESPN in St. Louis. He also spent time programming SportsTalk 950 in Philadelphia, 590 The Fan KFNS in St. Louis, and ESPN 1340/1390 in Poughkeepsie, NY. Jason also worked on-air and behind the scenes in local radio at 101.5 WPDH, WTBQ 1110AM, and WPYX 106.5. He also spent two years on the national stage, producing radio shows for ESPN Radio in Bristol, CT. Among them included the Dan Patrick Show, and GameNight.
You can find JB on Twitter @SportsRadioPD. He’s also reachable by email at Jason@BarrettMedia.com.
