Planning the 2020 BSM Summit is no day at the beach but as things fall into place, it becomes fun sharing the news with all of you. Today, I have a few new announcements to pass along that I’m sure folks are going to be excited about.
BSM is thrilled to announce the addition of WFAN afternoon drive host Mike Francesa to this year’s lineup. Mike has been one of sports radio’s most successful on-air personalities for the past three decades, helping the format cement a strong position with listeners and advertisers, even as ratings measurement, station ownership, and his show went thru changes. Mike will sit down with yours truly for a 1 on 1 conversation on a variety of industry issues, which I’m sure will be a treat for our industry attendees.
In addition, BSM is proud to announce the details of a newly created third award at the conference. ‘The Mark Chernoff Program Director of the Year Award‘ will be given to sports radio’s top programmer as voted on by BSM and a select panel. To help make it even more special, former CBS Radio and Entercom Communications executive VP of programming Chris Oliviero has agreed to join us and provide an introduction before Mark says a few words and presents the award to the 2020 recipient.
Sticking with the awards, we will once again hold ceremonies for the Jeff Smulyan Award and Tony Bruno Award. Both Smulyan and Bruno will be in attendance for the event. Bleacher Report VP/GM of Sports Betting and former VP of Content Joe Yanarella and Amplifi Media’s Steven Goldstein have also been added to this year’s lineup. BSM previously announced Paul Finebaum, Adam Schein, Maggie Gray, Brandon Tierney, Bruce Gilbert, Mike Thomas, Mark Chernoff, Phil Mackey, Jim Cutler, and Patrick Keane will appear at the 2020 BSM Summit.
Our two-day sports media conference takes place on February 26-27 at the Ailey Citigroup Theater on West 55th Street. Discounted tickets are on-sale for one final day (today Monday September 30th) on BSMsummit.com. Regular prices go into effect on Tuesday October 1st. Hope to see you there!
Jason Barrett is the Founder and CEO of Barrett Media. The company launched in September 2015 and has provided consulting services to America’s top audio and video brands, while simultaneously covering the media industry at BarrettMedia.com, becoming a daily destination for media professionals. Prior to Barrett Media, Jason built and programmed 95.7 The Game in San Francisco, and 101 ESPN in St. Louis. He was also the first sports programmer for SportsTalk 950 in Philadelphia, which later became 97.5 The Fanatic. Barrett also led 590 The Fan KFNS in St. Louis, and ESPN 1340/1390 in Poughkeepsie, NY, and worked on-air and behind the scenes at 101.5 WPDH, WTBQ 1110AM, and WPYX 106.5. He also spent two years at ESPN Radio in Bristol, CT producing ‘The Dan Patrick Show’ and ‘GameNight’. JB can be reached on Twitter @SportsRadioPD or by email at Jason@BarrettMedia.com.
