Welcome to a special feature this week on SportsRadioPD.com titled “5 Podcasts in 5 Days“. I’ve returned to my audio laboratory to put my ear on five different podcasts which sports fans all over the world have become increasingly interested in and listen to frequently on iTunes, Soundcloud, and additional apps and websites. Those five podcasts feature Bill Simmons, Clay Travis, Jonah Keri, Adrian Wojnarowski, and the Men In Blazers.
In reviewing each of these shows, I wanted to get a sense of what made them unique, how they sounded compared to sports radio programs, how involved the sponsors were, and what type of content experience they offered the audience. I also wanted to see how similar or different they were to one another. If any other unique items of importance stood out, they too will be included in my final analysis.
To start things off, I’m sharing my review of “The Bill Simmons Podcast”. Between Tuesday, and Friday, full reviews will be available for the remaining four shows. They will be featured in the following order: “Men In Blazers”, “Outkick The Show with Clay Travis”, “The Jonah Keri Podcast”, and “The Vertical Podcast with Woj”.
As a reminder, this report represents the opinion of one person – Jason Barrett. My goal in sharing it is to provide an honest, and objective view of what you can expect to hear based on what I uncovered while listening last week. Does that mean that every podcast created by these personalities are the same? No. But, it’s a reflection of their most recent work. What may or may not happen on other episodes is irrelevant.
Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, let’s dive into the first review. I’ve included the episode for you to listen to and follow along with if you wish.
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/268493879″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”450″ iframe=”true” /]
- TITLE: The Bill Simmons Podcast
- DATE: June 9, 2016
- LENGTH: 1 Hour 3 Minutes
- CAST: Host = Bill Simmons. Contributors = Patrick Barker, Joel Solomon, and Brendan Lynch
- SPONSORS: Seat Geek, Starr Station, Casper Mattress, Stamps.com, and Five Four Club – extra focus given to The Ringer and Bill’s upcoming HBO program “Any Given Wednesday”.
- PRODUCTION: Good groove music is used to start and end the show. The same bed is used for all commercial reads. It’s a simple production built around the personalities involved. The audio mic quality is very good (except for when the show is talking to Brendan off-mic).
SHOW BREAKDOWN:
:00-1:30 = Bill starts the program by plugging the sponsors, his website, and upcoming HBO show.
1:30-3:45 = Introductions to Joel Solomon, Pat Barker, and Brendan Lynch who are contributing to today’s show. Bill tells the audience that Joe House won’t be dropping by since he’s playing golf today. The highlight of the intros is when Barker gives some raw meat to Philadelphia fans by acknowledging that he loves the Phillies, 76ers, and Flyers, but grew up around Eagles fans, and believes they are awful people who he hates collectively.
3:45-16:00 = Conversation about a multitude of angles involving Game 4 of the NBA Finals. The guys discuss the Warriors not being favored in Game 4, Steph Curry being out of sync through the first 3 games, whether or not Curry can take the physical toll of the NBA playoffs, and why the Cavs should be using enforcers to try and get Draymond Green off of his game.
Some highlights during this segment include Solomon pointing out that Curry could easily go for 40 in Game 4 (he scored 38) and make everyone forget about his previous issues. He also asked one key question and raised a fair follow up “what if Draymond gets a technical in the next game (he did, and has since been suspended for Game 5)? That could have a big impact on this series.” The one strong take that stood out the most was when Barker labeled Steph Curry as the Peyton Manning of the NBA Playoffs and explained the comparison.
16:00-17:15 = Live read for Five Four Club.
17:15-26:10 = The guys debate what to do with Kevin Love in Game 4, why the Cavs roster mix is bad, LeBron being a bad GM, how Simmons could be convinced that the Celtics trading for Love in the off-season could be a solid move, and why Jerry West was a genius for standing firm and pushing the Warriors to resist the temptation of trading Klay for Kevin Love.
26:10-27:25 = Live read for Casper Mattress.
27:25-37:00 = The third segment starts with a discussion around whether or not the guys would go to Brazil to play for Team USA in this year’s Olympics. Suggestions are made about who to send if the best players in the NBA don’t want to attend. The crew raise the possibilities of sending the 76ers, the Globetrotters, retired players, the D-League champs, 22 and unders, Russell Westbrook and 11 of his friends, and a team featuring the Lopez brothers.
The highlights in the segment are when Solomon brings up that Carmelo Anthony will play because it’s his destiny to build his legacy as the greatest Olympian of all-time, and become the Michael Phelps of USA basketball. The guys also talk about the possibility of JR Smith and Draymond Green mixing it up. Bill says the way to do it is find out one girl in Draymond’s past that is still a sore spot and keep bringing up her name. Barker adds “or just find his current girl and have sex with her before the game”.
37:00-45:00 = The final in-depth discussion revolves around Sam Hinkie’s tenure in Philadelphia. Barker is adamant that the 76ers gave him a raw deal. Bill and Joel disagree. Bill mentions Hinkie’s inconsistency in drafting good talent and uses Michael Carter-Williams as an example. He also acknowledges that he didn’t vote for MCW for the Rookie of the Year award, and it ticked off MWC’s agent.
Another quality part to this discussion centers around Barker’s plan to fix the 76ers. After pointing out that he’d trade Jahlil Okafor to the Lakers for D’Angelo Russell, Bill asks “do you really want one of the worst locker room guys of the past 5 years”? Barker says “He’s 19, and if he exposes a teammate’s infidelity twice on Snapchat then I’ll come back on the podcast and admit that you are a genius”. The segment ends with pointing out how the miss on Porzingis hurt Hinkie, and whether or not the crew could convince Knicks owner James Dolan to have his blues band JD and the Straight Shot become the house band for the show.
45:00-46:20 = Live read for Stamps.com.
46:20-47:05 = Rotating chairs so Brendan Lynch can join the conversation, followed by an introduction of his background.
47:05-51:05 = Bill points out that there’s always one nugget of Brendan’s life that skips out, and brings up a funny story of how Brendan got a friend of his to meet him to see the new OJ movie, but never told him that it was 8-hours long. Brendan admits his friend wasn’t happy. Additional conversation revolves around Brendan taking the OJ tour.
51:05-57:30 = Bill asks Brendan to give his three internet deep dives. This is a part of the podcast which is very entertaining. The first one Brendan lists is being highly interested in chiropractic adjustment videos on YouTube. He says he’s enamored with a chiropractor out of Colorado named Nelson Vetanze who adjusted Jake Plummer to which Simmons points out “Jake retired early.
For the second deep dive, Brendan talks about chiropractic strokes, and his fascination with Kevin Sorbo. He points out that Sorbo had a stroke in his expensive car on Wilshire Blvd. He labels him as one of America’s great storytellers, who is not a fan of neck adjustments.
The final deep dive has to do with the movie “eyes wide shut” which Brendan hated when he was young. Now after going on YouTube and finding people who have analyzed the movie, he can’t stop watching it. Solomon adds a great line “Bill if you learned anything today you need to get a podcast started with the Lopez Brothers, and you need to track down Kevin Sorbo for this show”.
57:30-58:10 = Bill talks about adding a new podcast for Channel 33 called the Writer’s Room.
58:10-61:30 = Bill asks Brendan to tell a story of when his wife’s purse got stolen. He says a guy on a skateboard bear hugged his wife while they were walking down the street after leaving a laundromat. She starts screaming, and Brendan who’s never been in a fight before, says the first words out of his mouth to the guy are “do you want to bang bro”? The phrase came from UFC’s ‘Ultimate Fighter’. The police got called, and the guy gets caught, and afterwards his wife says “do you want to bang bro? what was that?”
61:30-63:30 = Simmons plugs adding a new podcast, thanks the sponsors with additional reads, plugs The Ringer and his upcoming HBO show, thanks the in-studio guests, and signs off.
SHOW ANALYSIS:
The best parts of this podcast are the result of great chemistry between the group. Bill does an excellent job of positioning Pat, Joel, and Brendan as equals, and pulls a few good stories, opinions, and well timed one-liners out of each of them. You get the sense as you listen that these guys enjoy working together, and as a listener you feel like a fly on the wall inside the offices at The Ringer.
Simmons swears a number of times during the podcast which depending on your preference can be a good or bad thing. It’s a reality in most people’s lives, and makes the conversation more real, but for those who don’t like to hear foul language that might be a turnoff. I personally didn’t mind it at all because it’s how people have day to day discussions.
The one area that I did feel was missing is that there isn’t enough opinion out of Bill. Although he does a great job of getting the others to express their views, Bill is the star and too often it feels like he’s the point guard who’s trying to get everyone else involved but passing up his shot. Given his ability to move the needle with his opinions in print, and his prior experience striking a chord on television on ESPN, I’d like to hear him not only ask the crew to weigh in on subjects, but also take the reigns himself and deliver some memorable commentaries. It’s not a question of whether or not he has opinions to share, it’s a matter of not being aggressive enough due to playing the lead host role.
From a business standpoint, three live reads were done during the show, in addition to the inclusion in the open, and the close. The reads also run longer than sixty seconds, and Bill gets the crew involved during each of them. The segments do get brought to a screeching halt at times, and the setups could be a little better, but Bill treats each client as if he’s giving them a personal touch. They’re treated as partners, and the use of music underneath separates them from the content during the show.
If there’s one area that stood out about Bill’s contributors, it’s that they not only were comfortable being there with him, but their use of humor and hot takes made for an enjoyable listen. Pat enjoys being the antagonist, Joel is witty and well thought out, and Brendan tells some hysterical stories and delivers them in unique fashion.
During the span of sixty minutes, the guys dove into at least six different pieces of content. They provide enough substance, but also keep the pace moving, and don’t allow the topics to become fatiguing. It did take almost 4 minutes before they dove into the opening segment, and with listeners having the option to listen on-demand, they’ll likely fast forward in the future if that becomes a regular practice. I recognize that sponsor reads have to be executed, but an extra two minutes for introductions after sponsor reads was a little long.
CLOSING COMMENTS:
Bill and his crew are a fun listen. If you’re looking for hard hitting takes, inside information, or interviews with newsmakers, this won’t be your cup of tea. But, if you enjoy conversations that you’re likely to hear at the water-cooler, inside a sports bar, or at a house party among friends, then you’ll enjoy what the Bill Simmons Podcast provides.
The one thing I tried to keep in the back of my head as I listened was “how is this similar or different to sports radio”?
From the positive side, there are no rules on the language used. Long commercial breaks don’t exist which keeps the content experience strong (sponsors actually gained more live read time than they usually do over the radio airwaves), and the format is free flowing which allows the guys to enjoy themselves. It’s also a one-hour show instead of three to four, which helps keep an emphasis on making sure the best they have to offer is presented, rather than recycling a lot of the same topics or relying on audience phone calls to fill air time.
The negatives are that aside from hearing a few different voices engage in conversation, there isn’t a ton of creativity in the presentation. In radio, the music changes, production is added, audio clips are incorporated, guests are included, and the audience is invited to participate. There’s urgency over the airwaves, but less in this podcast. Broadcast companies could also ask “how can you make the same amount of money when you’re only implementing three live reads in the entire hour”?
Overall, I found the Bill Simmons Podcast to be entertaining, relaxing, conversational, and fun. It mixed sports, humor, pop culture, and sounded like a real daily conversation between friends that just so happened to be recorded. If you enjoy what Bill does, you’ll like this show. If he starts adding more of his opinion and personality to it, and some additional entertainment value to improve the presentation, you could grow to love it.
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.
