BSM’s Top 20 National Sports Talk Shows of 2019

The BSM Top 20 of 2019 has arrived. This is our fifth year of recognizing the best in sports radio by involving industry professionals. We’ve started each of the past four years by showcasing the top local morning, midday, and afternoon shows during the first three days of the series, saving national shows for day four. This year though we’ve decided to change it up and kick things off with the national shows before turning our attention to the local categories for the next five days.

Before you scroll down to look at the results and save the photos to promote your favorite show on social media, there are a few things I want you to be aware of. First, the voting for our Top 20 series involved forty seven radio professionals from thirty cities and eighteen companies. Yours truly (Jason Barrett) does not vote on the awards, I simply collect the information, add up the votes, design the images, and present and promote the results.

Secondly, our voters are asked to consider the criteria below to judge the format’s best programs. However, each contributor values certain things more than others. Due to that fact, we understand this is an imperfect science. Nonetheless, the Top 20 series offers a collective snapshot of what radio industry executives consider to be the format’s best shows.

• Strong ratings in 2019
• Industry track record
• Reputation and influence
• Finished 2019 with the network/station
• Ability to entertain and inform consistently
• Points are given for each spot (EX: 20 for 1st, 1 for 20th)

That now brings us to the rankings for National Sports Talk Show of 2019. For the 4th time in 5 years, industry voters have chosen ‘The Herd with Colin Cowherd’ as the best National Sports Talk program. Cowherd’s program collected the most 1st place votes (20) of any 2019 nominated show or individual, and finished comfortably ahead of runner up The Dan Patrick Show.

Heard weekdays from Noon to 3pm ET on FOX Sports Radio, FOX Sports 1, local radio affiliates, the iHeartRadio app, SiriusXM, and additional audio channels, The Herd continues to produce the type of high caliber content that sports radio executives value. BSM congratulates Colin, Joy Taylor, Don Martin, Scott Shapiro, Jon Goulet, Greg Toohey, Sam Betesh and the entire FOX Sports Radio crew on earning this year’s top honor, as well as every other show which earned a spot on this year’s list.

Now, here are the full results of “BSM’s Top 20 National Sports Talk Shows of 2019!”

Additional Notes:

• Colin Cowherd took 1st place with a 53 point advantage over The Dan Patrick Show; Cowherd also gained the most 1st place votes of any National Sports Talk Show (20).
• 21-25 belonged to Mike Florio, Ferrell on the Bench, Ben Maller, and Spain and Company. Florio finished 3 points behind The Odd Couple for 20th place.
• The closest races were Clay Travis over Chris Russo by 7 points, and Rich Eisen in front of Golic and Wingo by 5 points.
• 61 national shows were eligible for votes. Companies with programs on the list included Barstool Sports, CBS Sports Radio, ESPN Radio, FOX Sports Radio, NBC Sports Radio, Radio.com Sports, SB Nation Radio, SiriusXM, and VSiN.

Jason Barrett

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.