9:00-9:10 – Opening Remarks by Jason Barrett
Jason Barrett welcomes the attendees to Day 2 of the 2020 BSM Summit with some raffles because radio people love free stuff. Barrett welcomes the first panel of the day featuring Bruce Gilbert, Chris Oliviero, Mark Chernoff and Steve Cohen.
9:10-9:55 – The Power Panel
- Mark Chernoff-VP Programming WFAN and CBS Spors Radio
Process for getting someone on-air – Let me give some kudos to Eric Spitz who found a lot of talent when he was with us. We did a contest in ’94 or ’95 and one of the contestants was Joe from Saddle River, Joe Benigno who was one of the best callers we had on-air. Joe won the contest to get an hour or so on-air and he wanted to get into radio. I suggested the Connecticut School of Broadcasting to learn about the industry and a local radio station to develop. He did, he bought airtime at WJDM 1530 and did shows for several months. When I was ready to move Steve Somers to middays, I needed to hire somebody for overnights and he won the audition.
I’ve had these conversations with David Field. We need more diversity and Entercom has been doing a better job of that. We’ve done a better job of being diverse on-air, it has been harder to find women and minorities that apply for management. When Eric Spitz left I offered the APD job to two women who both chose other jobs instead. Our target audience is male 25-54 so naturally we get more men that apply for internships and look to get in the business, so the audience is not diverse enough, but I whole-heartedly wish there was more diversity.
One unnamed program director once told me to find the listeners with Nielsen diaries and only worry about those listeners to focus on ratings. A lot of us still live with that mindset of programming our station to get Nielsen ratings. We have all this great content, but we only get 7% of the advertising pie. How is that possible? We need buyers to come to us on all of our platforms and see all of the content we create on those platforms.
I told Boomer and Carton, just make sure everything emanates with sports, but from there I don’t care where you go. We’ve continued that with Gregg Giannotti and it has brought in a younger audience. The entertainment factor is important. Start at sports, but it’s okay to spread your wings, go off into other topics and I think that appeals to the younger audience. - Chris Oliviero-Strategic Advisor/Former EVP CBS Radio
If you have talent who has talent, you need to focus on being able to keep them because they can cut you out and go directly to their audience. They can go to another market. I wouldn’t worry about finding the talent, I would worry about keeping the talent, because if they’re good, they’re going to be poached.
If you’re in terrestrial radio and you have a heritage station, own that and appeal to your older market. Don’t try to change it, but if you’re building a new station, you have an opportunity to have a blank slate and you can build toward a younger audience.
From a management standpoint, we just have to prioritize diversity and hold ourselves accountable. In years past, we would just lean on ‘well nobody applied.’ That excuse doesn’t work anymore, we need to do a better job of finding people.
If you have an orchestra, you need a conductor, you need a maestro and that’s what a good program director can do. Imagine an orchestra without the conductor. - Bruce Gilbert-SVP Sports Cumulus/Westwood One
Covering Kobe Bryant’s death – Our job is to make sure nobody says anything stupid. TMZ reported it, a lot of people were hoping it was wrong, but TMZ’s batting average on breaking stories is pretty damn good. Once there was second source we went with it. Our job is to support talent with the right information and timing.
Spike Eskin nailed it yesterday morning, the younger audience doesn’t know a world where they can’t get the exact content they want, when they want it. I don’t know if we can get that younger demo to listen to radio. We’re way down on their list in terms of content. Even play-by-play which some of us spend a lot of money on, it’s easier for the younger audience to stream video of a game than it is to find audio of a game.
We’ve all admitted it, we have failed in being more diverse. We talk about it at these conferences every year, but what is done to fix it? If you look at television and ESPN, this is one place where they are way ahead of us. They made it a priority and it was unacceptable to say nobody applied. We just have to be better about prioritizing it the way TV has.
I would hope we can stop programming to Nielsen. We have been so focused on how to beat the meter and where to put commercials, but nobody asks how does that impact the listener? The bulk of our business is still in the core product, but we can’t wait for that to die before we adjust. We need to take this amazing content we create every single day and figure out how to monetize it four or five times over and not just post a show online as a podcast. There is huge audio upside on other platforms. - Steve Cohen-SVP Sports SiriusXM
Covering Kobe Bryant’s death – We didn’t want to report anything from social media when covering the immediate news. SiriusXM NBA Radio was ready to go live, we moved their NBA game and Jaren Jackson did a good job of reporting and covering the news with facts.
I love to see people start as interns, move to production, EP and program directors. You need to find people at every level and for us at SiriusXM we not only ask you to be a program director of your channel, but you have to work with all of our program directors. We all have to do a better job when it comes to diversity.
I don’t have to play the ratings game with SiriusXM, for me I’m competing for dollars with other departments. Politics is so polarizing it’s becoming the new sports radio. Podcasts are wonderful, but having the companionship in your car in morning or afternoon drive is everything for a radio listener. The younger audience wants things snackable, shorter segments. If you look at our video content it’s quick, three or four minutes. We do fewer 40-minute interviews and we’ve adapted in those ways.
On the importance of program directors at local stations – Who’s making people better? You’re gonna put some salesperson in as a program director? What moron is going to do that?! You need people that can coach talent and coach producers. This is an art form and somebody needs to be their to coach. - Moderator: Jason Barrett
9:55-10:30 – 2020 Vision presented by Hubbard Radio
- Susan Larkin-Regional President, Market Manager Entercom NY
Disruption will continue, change will continue. Did we know a few years ago that smart speakers would become the new radio in homes? 21% of RADIO.COM streaming now comes from smart speakers. We don’t know what we don’t know and things will continue to change. As a leader, you need to convince everybody that there is going to be constant disruption, lets disrupt ourselves and make sure we’re ahead of the curve. You set the tone as a leader, if you’re stressed or worried about the future, everyone is going to feel that.
You better have thick skin if you’re in the sports business, especially in New York. Tim (McCarthy) and I go way back, but newspaper writers try to pin us against each other – ESPN vs WFAN and it creates clicks for them. But it shows that people are interested.
I’m not an expert with content, but I want our leaders to talk to each other. Mark Chernoff has been a great resource and leader and he has a background in music radio, we also have program directors of our music channels that have a background in talk radio. I want leaders that are open to listening to other ideas and leaders that want to surround themselves with people that are better than they are.
I challenge every single person here today, whatever you think you can do this year – multiply it. You have the responsibility to set a high goal. Be relentless, be obsessed with it, hire the right people and charge forward. - Dan Seeman-VP/Market Manager Hubbard Radio Minneapolis
When it comes to content leaders, we look for people that will take risks and think outside the box. We built a female sports radio station in the Twin Cities that became one of the top stations in the market and there was only one person there with a background in radio. Now we’re trying a similar thing with SKOR North which is a digitally focused radio station. We have an AM signal for a base of what we’re creating, but AM radio isn’t growing so I’m more concerned about the digital metrics of SKOR North. We want leaders that share that vision with out talent.
Love what you do. In this business today, as hard as its is, I want people willing to run through a wall. The days of doing your three-hour shift and going home are over. What are you bringing, what new ideas to you have, what platforms are you on? I want everyone to share the love and passion for this industry. - Tim McCarthy-SVP ESPN Radio, Market Manager ESPN NY/LA
Everyone has to understand their role and how they can contribute. Everyone has to understand this is a business, we’re a family that has to work together. Talent doing a good job with reads and commercials helps us to sell more advertising. 10 years ago, a lot of our talent wouldn’t be doing all of the things we ask them to do today.
We have to be honest and realistic with people, if an afternoon show is 25th in the market, adding a podcast isn’t going to help. If people aren’t listening on the radio, they’re not going to listen to the podcast. Just be clear and honest with people when change happens and they respect that.
Make yourselves and everyone in your department as relevant as possible. This business isn’t easy. One thing that drives me crazy – how many radio stations market their product? Digital, billboards – they say they don’t have the budget for it, but then complain that they don’t have enough listeners. They need to find a budget to market their product. - Todd Markiewicz-VP/GM 97.1 The Fan
Don’t assume everything your doing is the best that can be done. Have the courage to change. It’s important to think of it as being a content company, not a radio company.
Have as many relationships as you can, inside and outside the building. If we continue to do that, because of the passion for sports, we’ll continue to win in this industry. - Moderator: Erica Farber-CEO Radio Advertising Bureau
10:45-11:20 – Imaging For VP’s and Bigwigs presented by Core Image Studio
Jim Cutler-Jim Cutler New York
Cutler presents audio, video and examples of bad imaging to the attendees, highlighting if you waste the listeners time, they’re gone.
Creative partners should bring ideas to the table at the risk of being shot down if you think you can help them succeed. A company called LoJack asked Cutler to do a commercial for them. LoJack is a device that goes inside cars in case the car is stolen. Cutler asked if he could call people who had their cars stolen for the commercial. The company said yes and it helped them earn tens of millions of dollars.
With six-second attention spans, news outlets are always screaming for attention with buzzwords like slammed, outrage and backlash in headlines. Cutler then read examples of bad copy radio stations are using to try and attract listeners. One station began the copy with ‘We now have a text line.’ Text lines and Facebook pages shouldn’t be promoted as being a new innovative idea. Another station wrote copy to promote a contest that will occur next week and included the phone number. No listener is going to remember the contest-line phone number a week later when the contest starts.
Any anti-women sports commercial for a radio station is shooting yourself in the foot. Fans at sports games are 50% women. Women are great, intelligent sports fans. Don’t shut out potential listeners.
Audience retention – most people leave audio content within 60-seconds. You can spend time creating a great five-minute parity song, but people aren’t going to hear the entire thing. Content needs to be less than 60-seconds.
Imaging needs to be short, quick and to the point, but topicality doesn’t erase creativity. You can still be creative and adrenaline pumping, while staying on point.
11:20-12:00 – Media Warfare: Is It Good or Bad For Business? presented by Steve Stone Voiceovers
- Damon Amendolara-CBS Sports Radio
I would want to know why my PD didn’t want me to engage in a media conflict. If I feel like it’s an important time to defend myself, I’ll do it. I’m usually tongue and cheek and sarcastic, when Mike Francesa called me out for my nickname, ‘DA’ it was fun, and here we are seven years later still talking about it.
I don’t subscribe to making it personal, because you don’t know what the results will be. You have to pick your battles. But I think it’s good for business. The listeners that love the guy you’re going after, they’re going to be listening for the retort. - Kevin ‘KFC’ Clancy-Barstool Sports
We’re at war every single day, we’re at war with each other and we’re at war with the internet. That kind of stuff is almost par for the course for us and our fans love it.
Still, to this day, I think ESPN missed a great opportunity (Barstool Van Talk). I realize that ESPN is never calling me. I’m OK with that.
I feel like we do more internal fighting than external. The times we really band together is when someone comes after us. They want us to go and do our thing and create intrigue with it. - Freddie Coleman-ESPN Radio
I had a caller say he disagrees with me 90 percent of the time. I asked, why are you listening to me? I must be doing something right if I have a listener that disagrees with me that much. - Gregg Giannotti-WFAN
When I saw the back page of the New York Post with me and Mike Francesa, the first thing I did was laugh. It was incredible to me that my career has brought me to this point. I used to be the kid in the car listening to Mike, now I’m the adult getting into media feuds with him. But then I thought, did I get to a level that I don’t respect? When Boomer saw the paper, he said ‘I’m proud of you.’ I had been trying to carve my niche in the show for two years and it was good to see that I said something people cared about.
You have to have two people to battle. Mike doesn’t always engage, but when he does, you feel like you need to battle with him because if you don’t, it’s as if you don’t exist in this world. If it was hurting the radio station, I don’t know that I would do it, but my entire career has been instinctual.
If a caller asks what you think about a co-worker’s feud, you better have his back. It looks really bad if you don’t. - Moderator: Jason Barrett
The Mark Chernoff Award
- Mark Chernoff-VP Programming WFAN and CBS Spors Radio
I might be the most berated program director in the history of radio. When I came to WFAN in ’93, I left K-Rock and Howard Stern. Stern said ‘you’re going to go work for that dirtbag Imus?’ When I got to WFAN, Imus said ‘you worked for that dirtbag Stern?’ I understood they had their issues, but I had a great working relationship with both of them.
I love going to work and I still do after all these years. In the sports world, you never know what’s going to happen.
As a program director, I always tell people to be a listener. That also applies to radio stations, listen as a listener. Listen to your station. If you hear something bad, change the channel and hear what other stations are doing because that’s what a listener would do. Take note of it and talk to you talent about it. At the same time, if you hear something good, tell your talent about that too.
I’m happy to give this award to my really close friend, Mitch Rosen. Mitch knows and understands talent, knows how to run a radio station, he can manage up and manage down which is really important. He’s worked with great talent, knows how to talk and deal with talent, he’s an innovator and creative. Mitch is a great rights negotiator which has been vital to The Score’s success. He stays on top of the Chicago sports world and knows what’s going on in the entire sports world. I’m thrilled that this award is going to Mitch Rosen and couldn’t think of a better person. - Chris Oliviero-Strategic Advisor/Former EVP CBS Radio
For a sports radio P1 junkie like myself, meeting Chernoff in 1998, fresh out of college was like meeting the Wizard of Oz. I was asking for part-time board-op work and he gave it to me. For $5.50 an hour.
If there was going to be one award that is going to recognize sports programming excellence, it has to be named after Mark Chernoff. Mark was not the first sports radio PD, but Babe Ruth was not the first baseball player. You don’t have to be the first to be the best.
Chernoff is a talent whisperer, from Stern to Imus to Francesa, Russo, Boomer and Gio. He’s helped raise millions and millions of dollars for charity, which he doesn’t talk about much.
Mark was crucial to launching CBS Sports Radio, a thriving national sports network. He played an important role in bringing sports radio to FM. He’s helped launch stations in Boston, Pittsburgh and other markets that have all gone to the top. If you look at Mark’s finger prints, they’re all over the industry. What Mark is probably most proud of is his coaching tree. If Mark cares about you, he shows it and if he says he will help you, he does it. One of those people on his coaching tree is Mitch Rosen. The symmetry of Chernoff getting the award named after him and Mitch receiving the award is perfect. - Mitch Rosen-Brand Manager, 670 The Score & 105.7 The Fan
It’s an honor to be the recipient of the Mark Chernoff Award, my longtime friend, and what I’ve learned about Mark is, his most prized possession is his grandchildren.
I wake up every morning and I’m so passionate about what I do and I know most people in this room are. We have to be willing to change. Local sports is the future of sports radio. We have to be teachers and coaches with our talent, we have to try new concepts, experiment and be flexible – whether it’s gaming or technology. We have to look in the mirror everyday and be willing to change.
Be nice. Over-communicate with your staff. If you treat people well, they’re going to work harder for you. Be open-minded, change happens in every business.
I’m humbled and honored to get this award and to get an award with Mark Chernoff’s name on it is even more special because he’s been a friend for so many years.
The Champions Award
Keith Murphy & Andy Fales-1460 KXnO
Jason Barrett recognizes Keith Murphy and Andy Fales who helped save six jobs at their radio station in Des Moines. Keith and Andy chose not to do their show after cuts were made which helped bring the shows back to the station’s airwaves. In a video, Keith and Andy credited their listeners and sponsors for making it happen. ‘We’re thrilled to receive this award, but we accept this award on behalf of our listeners and sponsors.’
Barrett called Andy live from the stage on his cell phone to discuss the award and present him with a $1,000 check to take the entire KXnO staff out to dinner.
1:40-2:15 – Sports Radio Coast to Coast
- Don Martin– SVP FOX Sports Radio/Premiere Radio Networks, VP and GM of AM 570 LA Sports
National radio is 400 locals, and it’s everyone’s job to make sure those local stations sound good with what’s provided on the air.
Don’t be afraid to ask national talent to call in to your local show, the worst that can happen is they’ll say no. You’d be surprised how often they say yes.
Los Angeles is known for one thing – traffic. I have a producer that had the idea to have Dan Patrick cut a liner for every freeway in the area. So our listeners hear Dan Patrick throw it to our traffic reporter for updates on specific freeways. That wasn’t my idea, that was my producer’s idea, it’s important to hire strong producers as well as talent. - Justin Craig– Senior Director ESPN Audio
Jason Fitz just started his new national show First Take Your Take, and he goes on 25 local stations a week to support it. He’s hoping to make it 30 and keep increasing it.
What does national radio need to do a better job of? “Shorten our commercial breaks.”
We have to blur the lines of national and local radio. Good content is good content and we have to work towards that collectively. - Scott Shapiro– VP FOX Sports Radio
When you’re doing a national show, we try to bring topics that appeal to a broad audience. You want to play the hits. Use a few key topics that reach a broad audience and dig deep on those. Don’t try to cover too many different topics like SportsCenter in 1995.
There is no reason a national host can’t develop the intimate relationship with your local audience. It’s on us to hire talent that can do that. It shouldn’t matter where they’re broadcasting from. - Amanda Gifford– SVP ESPN Audio
Whatever we can do from a network perspective to make the local stations feel like Will Cain is part of your station, we’re happy to do it. For local program directors, if you have things you want us to record or do, don’t be afraid to ask. We’re still in the PPM business, the talent wants to do well, if cutting liners and integrating within the local scene is going to help them get better ratings, they’re going to do it.
The ability to be nimble quicker is what radio does better than TV. Radio is much more intimate, there’s more freedom, more ability to be creative. Not everything has to fit into a 22-minute block. It’s also more challenging than TV, which any host will admit. - Moderator: Jeff Rickard- 1070 The Fan
2:15-2:50 – TechSurvey: Sports Radio’s Deep Dive
- Fred Jacobs, President Jacobs Media
Jacobs presents attendees with various charts detailing information about sports radio audiences based on 50,000 surveys.
The audience isn’t very diverse. Are there a lot female sports fans as potential listeners? Possibly, but sports radio listeners are 85% male and 15% female.
97% of sports fans watch TV/Video for an hour each day. 95% have a smart phone, 85% have a social media account, 76% watch streaming content. Three out of every four sports radio fans can connect their phone to the car. Twitter is the most important platform for sports radio fans.
Why do people listen to sports radio? 84% listen because of sports topics. 67% enjoy talk shows, 65% say it’s the easiest to listen in the car, 52% feel a connection to the hosts. 50% listen because radio is free, which can be an advantage as other platforms continue charging subscription fees.
43% of listeners listen to AM/FM radio in the car. 22% listen to an AM/FM radio at home, work or school. For sports radio listeners, 41% listen on an AM/FM radio in the car, 15% at home, work or school which equals 56% traditional listening and 44% digital.
In 2013, 76% of sports radio listeners used traditional AM/FM radios and digital listening was just 24%. In seven years those numbers have changed significantly.
As people get into on-demand audio and podcasts, the less traditional radio they listen to. Broadcast radio in the car has 59% of audio usage, satellite has 18%. If you eliminate cars that are not connected, AM/FM goes down to 50% and satellite increases to 25%. 38% of sports radio listeners say they listen to less AM/FM radio once they subscribe to satellite.
3:05-3:40 – The Content Cycle presented by Compass Media Networks
- Adam Schein-Mad Dog Radio/CBS Sports Network
I find myself thinking about show topics all day long. The tiebreaker for what to start with is, what am I most passionate about? What can you do to put a spin on it and make it your take?
I still use legal pads and take bullet point notes for my show. For my monologue I don’t script it, but I’ll write out a quote so I don’t misquote anyone and then I ad-lib the rest and hit on the bullet points.
I still think the two-way sports talk connection exists. There is a way to use calls as a tool and vehicle in sports radio to get back to your main topic. I think a lot of national sports radio hosts are afraid to take calls, I don’t think they want to be challenged. I cringe when I hear that people don’t want to take calls. There’s an art to it, if you have a bad producer or someone that doesn’t want to take calls it won’t work. They can challenge you, they can make you better, more opinionated and more entertaining. - Maggie Gray-WFAN
One of the things that distinguishes radio from television is the listeners feel like they really know you, so when something tragic happens, they feel like the hosts can be there for them. It’s a huge responsibility that I don’t take lightly. You have to trust your gut instinct and have confidence in that instinct when something serious happens on-air. You can joke about sports, have fun talking about sports, but when real life things happen, you need to be there for the listeners and that separates the really great hosts.
We have a new show so we’re still finding all of our strengths and weaknesses. I try to be Belichickian about it and find out what everyone on the show does best. I like the idea of creating a universe for our show, so I like including the producer and board-op and let them be characters on the show. They have to be willing to do that.
I thought our three-person show that people had a lot of questions about ended up working really well. We became friends and I think that came across genuinely on-air. Even if we argue, it’s not personal, we just see sports through a different lens. With a solo show, all of my jokes would land flat! - Chris Carlin-98.7 ESPN NY
You have to find ways to separate yourself. I want to be the guy that gives you the aspect or idea of a story that you haven’t thought about yet. I want to find a different spin or unique angle to a story.
I had not done local radio in awhile and I credit Spike Eskin at WIP for helping me because he thinks about things so differently. I was able to learn how to plan a show and take topics in different directions.
You have to prepare each day like you’re not going to get one call which sounds nearly impossible for most local hosts. I believe callers can add to a show. At WFAN, when I was getting started, all I had to do was say baseball and the lines were lit and you can get too dependent on that. You’re not going to get better, develop your voice and do things to make yourself compelling if you use calls as crutch.
I prefer to have a co-host, I think there’s something about building a partnership in radio. Now I’m trying to figure out what kind of solo host to be. - Carl Dukes-92.9 The Game
I do a five hour show, we take very little calls if any in a week. There are reaction days during the football season after a big matchup, that’s when I take calls.
We have a tendency to just take calls and not solicit what kind of calls we want, that’s what derails a show and turns it into a train-wreck. What are we talking about and how can callers enhance the conversation? I need to tell them exactly what I want to talk about and then I need my producer to have five-minute conversation with them before they go on-air.
The producer is the most important element to the show and that often goes under the radar. Having a producer that takes the same approach to the show as a host is the number one thing for a show. There are some great shows with unbelievable producers that challenge the hosts and we need that. Also, if your producer is more worried about the show they don’t have, rather than the show they’re working on with you, then you have the wrong producer. - Moderator: Michael McCarthy, Senior Reporter Front Office Sports
3:40-4:15 – 30 In 30 presented by Hubbard Radio
Guests: Lakin-Mackey-Rush-Mamola-Tepper-Williams-Kinard-Spittle-Porth-Graci
Armen Williams – Sports Radio 610 Houston
A look into 610’s creativity and execution around Texans Takeover, StoernTalk, and the Best Bugs Tour.
Phil Mackey – SKOR North Minneapolis
Last year the Twins set the record for most home runs in a season. We bought a $2,000 insurance policy on a $50,000 giveaway if you could guess the player who would break the record and they did it with a grand slam. The Twins were at bat with the bases loaded and a chance to break the record. The game went to commercial for a pitching change and we had 1,500 people sign up for our app because of the promotion.
How do you get 18-34 year olds to consume sports talk radio? Maybe you don’t, put content where they use it > YouTube. We get 75,000 monthly YouTube viewers and each one watches video for an average of 8 minutes.
Gordy Rush – 104.5 Baton Rouge
Video highlights on YouTube hep bring new audience to your brand. For our three shows in the first six months 104.5 will do six figures just through YouTube highlights. In July, all of shows will be on YouTube Live. Gordy also shared how 104.5 executes their Studio sponsorship and the LSU Whiskey and Whine postgame show.
Gavin Spittle – 105.3 The Fan Dallas
Flagtober – we make custom flags and pass them out in October. We drive to 10 locations in 12 hours on a Saturday which gets 150-300 people to each location because they all want that flag. They put them on flagpoles and promote your station.
Find what game your local audience is playing. We hold a cornhole tournament, but it can be any game that is popular in your community.
Shan and RJ’s Firehouse Tour. Embrace your community and hand out t-shirts at firehouses, each appearance brought out 100 listeners.
Rod Lakin – Arizona Sports 98.7FM
We used a multi-platform approach last spring when the Arizona Cardinals had the number 1 pick. They were rumored to be interested in Kyler Murray and still had Josh Rosen. We reached out to Carson Palmer and Kurt Warner to discuss what they believe the Cardinals should do. They spoke for an hour and 20 minutes in a pre-recorded spot. We broke it up into three different parts and offered it as an uncut podcast. 98.7 also delivers Newsmakers Week and The Territorial Roast Cup Battle built off of Arizona-Arizona State.
Dave Tepper – Altitude Sports Radio 92.5FM Denver
Bracket Madness, for two weeks we register people on-air for the promotion. 120 listeners get selected, we throw a party where 16 of them get paired with a Sweet 16 team, if you’re team wins you get the grand prize. Altitude also does promotions giving away $925 with a special Pick 4 contest, and boosts the hockey fan’s appetite with another promotion titled ‘Mystery Puck’.
John Mamola – 95.3 WDAE Tampa Bay
Florida is a very political state so we did The Great Sports Debate. This was the first time we had all of our talent in one room at the same time. We had them on stage at the state fair and it was the highest attended date for the fair.
The Tampa Bay Rays don’t have a lot of All-Stars, but when they do we want to get behind them. We started #ClickCorey for Corey Dickerson when he was up for the final spot in the MLB All-Star game. He was sixth in voting when we started the campaign and he finished first by over one million votes. WDAE’s final promotion is an event titled ‘Sneaker Soiree’.
Chris Kinard – 106.7 The Fan Washington DC
Our app is very important, but a lot of stations carry play-by-play at night. That leads to listeners being shut out because the station can’t stream the game. Give people a reason to be on the app by experimenting and trying new things without worrying about negative ramifications because PPM rules don’t apply to the app.
Chris then went over some of the ways 106.7 The Fan embraces new technology and sports betting to help The Fan drive additional listening and new revenue opportunities.
Jim Graci – 93.7 The Fan Pittsburgh
FAN Uncensored gets all of our talent on one stage at the same time. The first year we had 300 people attend, now we’re up to 600 people. It’s a great opportunity to let hosts tell stories, have fun and build a connection with the audience.
We bring talent to youth softball and baseball games. We went to 20 events this year and it gives us an opportunity to get out into the community, build new relationships and give away sponsored SWAG.
The last project is creating original video content with unique personalities. The Fan’s evening host Paul Zeise drives (auto dealer sponsor) with a friend and offers passionate takes on current sports news. Titled ‘Road Rantz’ it’s a simple way to play off of the host while treating the sponsor to quality branded content.
Ryan Porth – 102.5 The Game Nashville
Season of Giving – All three of our shows brought ideas of how to give back to the community during the holidays. Our morning show collected toys, the midday show collected winter clothing and our afternoon show collected school supplies. We raised over $13,000 in donations.
The Titans made it to the AFC Championship this year, but we don’t have the Titans’ rights. A year ago we got rid of sports updates, but leading up to the Championship game we did hourly updates featuring the Titans and Chiefs. It was our most popular sales asset back in January and it opened our eyes to similar opportunities.
The final piece of the puzzle is utilizing Predators playoff tickets to drive listening and revenue. They remain one of the hottest items in the market.
4:15-4:50 – Topic: Social Studies presented by Harker Bos Group
- Jason Barrett-President, Barrett Sports Media
Jason and Demetri reveal numbers based on a survey conducted to talent and producers which asked for their input on their station’s social media strategy. There’s a lack of information being passed along to key members of brands.
JB looked at 1310 The Ticket in Dallas and how they used social media in one week – 77 total posts across three platforms. 3864 engagements from fans, but zero responses from the station. Demetri did a similar dive on 1080 The Fan in Portland.
Producing great creative content without paid media behind it is like setting up a candy store in the desert. Stations are also too reliant on flooding timelines with articles and text content, material which produces less engagement and reaches a small portion of the audience. Video, creative images, audiograms and infographics are proven to make a bigger impact and should be focused on by brands.
WIP in Philadelphia does a custom show just for Facebook during the NFL season. The Game in SF almost always posts content with video or creative images, hence the reason why they generate a lot of views, sharing and engagement. ESPNLA operates strongly this way on Instagram.
Five years from now, program director’s who only have an ability to drive Nielsen ratings won’t be as important. You need to be a digital expert too and not just leave it to the young people in the digital department.
Analyze what is working and what isn’t. Treat each platform differently. - Demetri Ravanos-Assistant Content Editor, Barrett Sports Media
Your audience is looking for video and creative images. As you scroll through Twitter, even if it’s something you’re not interested in – a moving image or creative image will catch your eye. Audiograms and polls are engaging to a lesser extent. Articles and text are far less important.
Demetri looked at 1080 The Fan in Portland and how they used social media over the course of one week – 133 total posts on three platforms and almost half of them were articles, the least impactful content to share. 807 total engagements from fans, but only nine responses from the station.
If you’re not engaging with fans, how good at social media are you? It’s called ‘social’ media, but if you’re not social with people, that’s more of a case of ‘pushed’ media.
Everything SKOR North in Minneapolis does on-air is built with the idea of giving it a second life digitally.
Write short, smart, witty and in a relatable and engaging way. Don’t bombard people with meaningless content, use your time wisely to pass along valuable material.
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.
