Editor’s note from Jason Barrett:
We’re up to Day #2 of our special ‘5 Podcasts in 5 Days‘ series. Doing the honors as our special guest reviewer for this project is Jay Soderberg, formerly the Head of Content for BlogTalk Radio, and a digital audio producer, imaging director, and podcast creator for the ESPN Radio network. Jay is not one to sugarcoat what he thinks. He’s candid, direct, and unapologetic with his feedback, and focused on trying to help content creators produce exceptional material, even if it means having to get under their skin in the process.
As podcasting has continued to grow due to its limitless offerings of unique, creative, and original content, it still remains a space without structure and a clear understanding of what does and doesn’t work. Unlike radio which uses ratings measurement to justify the effectiveness of a particular show or host, the success or ineffectiveness of a podcast can often be disguised by how a program is ranked on the Apple podcasting charts.
Since this space has turned into the audio version of the wild west, we thought it’d be beneficial to bring back 5 Podcasts in 5 Days and find out which audio shows are checking the right boxes, and which ones could use some fine tuning. The five podcasts we charged Jay with listening to and critiquing were Mystery Crate by Dan Le Batard and Friends, The GM Shuffle with Adnan Virk and Michael Lombardi, The Most Valuable Podcast with Charlotte Wilder and Jess Smetana, Locked on Jazz with David Locke, and Real Sports from BluWire’s Jack Settleman and Abe Granoff.
We hope you’ll find Jay’s reviews of these 5 programs to be informative, honest, and well explained. If you have further feedback you can find him on Twitter @TheRealPodVader or you can email by clicking here. Enjoy!
THE GM SHUFFLE
Title: The Anthony Davis Trade Would Never Happen in the NFL
Date: June 25, 2019
Length: 31 minutes
Cast: Mike Lombardi and Adnan Virk
Sponsors: none
Production: none…well, a music bed to open and close the podcast
Show Breakdown:
0:00 – Raiders on Hard Knocks tease but first, “Weed the North” as the Raptors celebrate their NBA Championship
2:18 – Raiders are on Hard Knocks and it’s going to be AWESOME!
7:53 – John Fox throwing shade at his former team, the Bears. Mike wouldn’t go as far as Fox went, but he doesn’t believe in Mitch Trubisky as much as others. Plus, they have a much more difficult schedule ahead.
10:05 – The Patriots accuse the Texans of tampering in regards to Nick Cesario. Mike shares his insider view on how the Patriots front office works. Plus why Jack Easterby can’t work as a more senior front office guy from his previous role with the Patriots as a reverend.
15:45 – Todd Gurley has arthritic knees.
16:59 – Comparing the Anthony Davis trade to the Herschel Walker trade.
22:00 – Over/Under series and now doing the NFC North with 3 teams set at 9 wins and the Lions taking up the rear. Mike loves the Vikings.
25:18 – Teams that you’d like to see end the drought: Bills, Vikings, Browns, Lions. Mike would most like to see the Browns win it. Plus, the town will sink Lake Erie.
27:45 – Where are we going to see Mike next? How about Adnan’s Cinephile podcast? Let’s get Mike on to talk Sopranos.
:46 seconds left – music bed underneath signals the end is coming, 17 secs left “We’ll talk next week.”
Show Analysis:
It’s clear that Mike and Adnan have great chemistry and play off each other brilliantly. Adnan is a professional with great transitions between news items, but this sounds like any other extended radio guest spot or sports podcast except it offers the addition of swear words. The main difference between this show and other NFL themed podcasts is Lombardi’s extensive background in NFL front offices, which is something phenomenal to tap into.
Using his experience to compare the biggest news of the day – the Anthony Davis trade – and comparing it to the NFL – the main sport being covered on this podcast – is brilliant, but it seems wasted as we have to sit through some other less exciting news items before reaching that point. The beauty of a podcast is that it’s recorded and you can easily cut and paste segments to place them wherever you want. The segment was definitely a highlight, the team even decided to title the episode after it.
Since this show is only once a week, there’s plenty of time to plan out a great show rundown. It appears from listening to this particular episode that there are some recurring segments. Making some production elements to highlight those segments would certainly add to the show.
Also, spending just a little over 3 minutes on the entire NFC North to preview their over/under win totals isn’t going to be enough to compete with other podcasts that provide an entire hour’s worth of content on each of those 4 teams. That’s a wasted opportunity. The show would be better served extending that discussion and tapping into Lombardi’s experience to highlight how those 4 teams attacked their off-season’s and explain how it positions them for the 2019 season.
Closing Comments:
It’s an easy enough listen and only 31 minutes long. Going back to that nugget from Edison Research which states that the average podcast listener listens to 7 podcasts a week, this sports podcast isn’t going to unseat any of those 7 unless the listener is a big fan of Mike Lombardi or Adnan Virk. In their defense, they do have a lot of fans.
Every new episode is an opportunity to create more new fans but too many sports podcasts fall back on the same radio pattern much too easily these days. That prevents them from doing something different and exciting.
I would love to hear some production added to hype up recurring segments and perhaps some more segments that utilize Lombardi’s front office experiences to analyze the moves made by a few teams. How about a segment where Adnan and Lombardi think of how Tony Soprano would react to some of those other not so exciting news stories? Now, you’ve blended the pop culture with the sports news and blending the two loves instead of segmenting them separately in the podcast. Also, don’t play me out like Tony and fade to black at the end. I’m likely going to hear that music bed at the end and just skip to the next podcast waiting.
The key is to always give the audience a reason to continue listening, even if it’s the end of the podcast. How about some previous episodes they might have missed that are worth checking out? Or previewing what’s coming up next week? Can we see any potential news on the horizon? What team will be featured next in the over/under series?
There is great potential here with this podcast. Adnan, Mike and their team will need to invest more time and effort though in the presentation if they want to maximize their opportunity.
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.
