We’ve reached the halfway point of our “2015 Best In Sports Radio” series. So far we’ve featured America’s Top 20 Local Sports Morning and Midday shows, and today we’re turning our attention to the Top 20 Local Sports Afternoon shows. If you’re late to the party and unaware of how this process works, here’s a quick briefing.
35 radio executives took part in the voting process. Each member was provided with 35 shows to choose from and asked to select their Top 20 in exact order. This was the criteria they used in making their choices:
- Strong local ratings success in 2015
- An established track record in the format
- Quality content delivered on a consistent basis
- Spent more than 2/3 of the year with the radio station
- Finished 2015 employed at the station and without the show being changed
- Points are to be given for each ranking (EX: 20 points for 1st place, 1 point for 20th place)
If a show didn’t spend the majority of the year on the air and make an impact in their local market, they didn’t make the final 35. In some cases, a show may have done both, but didn’t perform as high as the other 35 ahead of them. The objective is to recognize the best shows of 2015, not the longest tenured show or the ones we’d draft if all were free agents.
As an example, “Dery and Sharp” from Detroit Sports 105.1 and “Fletcher and Chop” of 750 The Game in Portland didn’t qualify for the list of 35 due to not being together as a full show in afternoons for two third’s of the year. If they stay together and perform strongly in 2016, and we elect to do this project again next year, they’d be up for consideration.
The 35 executives who voted represent 23 U.S cities and 15 different broadcast companies. I sought out smart and experienced industry people from a number of organizations across the country because I wanted the results to be balanced and without company bias or geographical influence affecting the totals.
There will be debate over some of the selections but I remind you that the goal is to highlight those in our business who produced strongly in 2015, and to give you an idea of how the top leaders in the sports talk format view the country’s best afternoon drive programs. I myself did not vote on the results, but will have a column coming out next week sharing my own observations and opinions on what I learned while overseeing this project.
I want to thank everyone who was a part of our executive committee and took the time to share their input. Now without further delay, Barrett Sports Media presents “America’s Top 20 Local Sports Afternoon Shows” as part of “The 2015 Best in Sports Radio Awards“!
Additional Notes:
- Mike Francesa received (12) 1st place votes and was 67 points ahead of 2nd place
- “Burns & Gambo” and “Chuck & Chernoff” were tied for 21st and 3 points out of 20th
- “Valenti & Foster” landed the 2nd highest amount of 1st place votes (7)
- “Felger & Massarotti” were the only other show with more than (2) 1st place votes (5)
- Ten of the Thirty Five shows on the ballot received at least (1) 1st place vote
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.
