It’s Day #2 of our 6 part series honoring the best in sports radio. Yesterday we revealed America’s Top 20 Local Sports Morning Shows for 2015, and today we turn our attention to the nation’s best midday programs. Once again I’d like to remind you that this is an inexact science and the results are subjective. However, 35 radio executives took part in this voting process, and each individual was given 35 shows to choose from and asked to select their Top 20 in exact order using the following criteria below:
- 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 perform or spend the majority of the year on the air, they didn’t make the final 35. In some cases, a show may have done both, but wasn’t as strong as the 35 others ahead of them. Our goal was to feature the best shows for 2015, not the longest tenured show or the ones we’d draft if all were free agents.
As an example, two excellent programs (Ordway, Merloni and Fauria of WEEI in Boston and David Kaplan of ESPN 1000) didn’t make the list of 35 because they only spent 1/3 of the year in middays at their respective stations. If they remain intact and perform well, and we do this project again next year, they’ll likely be strong contenders.
The executives who took part in the voting represent 23 U.S cities, and 15 different broadcast companies, and many of them have been key players in the format’s growth for over a decade. In many cases, they’ve led brands in multiple markets to large levels of success. It should be noted that I did not cast a vote towards these results myself but I will be writing a column next week offering my personal opinions on what I discovered while running point on this process.
I’m sure there will be some debate over the selections, but I remind you that this list was created to highlight those in our industry who produced excellent results in 2015, and to give you an idea of how sports radio’s top leaders view the format’s best midday programs. I appreciate those who were part of the committee and took the time to contribute, and I’m thrilled now to bring to you “America’s Top 20 Local Sports Midday Shows” as part of “The 2015 Best in Sports Radio Awards“!
Additional Notes:
- Tony Kornheiser finished 11 points ahead of WFAN’s “Joe & Evan“
- “Mason & Ireland” tied Kornheiser for the most 1st place votes (7)
- Kornheiser gained the largest amount of Top 10 votes (29)
- Kornheiser earned votes on 32 of 35 ballots (the highest among shows)
- 15 different shows received at least (1) 1st place vote
- Soren Petro & “Bickley & Marotta” tied for 21st and were 3 points behind “Mad Radio“
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.
