For five years, John Fricke and Hugh Douglas have been a top-rated morning show with Atlanta’s 92.9 The Game. On-air from 5 – 10am each day, totaling 25 hours a week, it might not be fair to fully judge their show while most professional leagues remain shut down. But as we approach four months without pro sports and no guarantee they’ll survive through the fall, hosts have needed to adjust.
Content has focused on when and should sports return during a global pandemic. Many shows have taken these months to reminisce, while others welcomed the opportunity to dive into topics outside sports. And as sports continues to intersect with social issues, it can sometimes present an uncomfortable scenario for hosts and listeners.
With Drew Brees’ comments on protests during the national anthem, NASCAR banning the Confederate flag and a noose found in Bubba Wallace’s garage, some hosts may prefer sticking to sports, but it’s impossible to ignore the issues of racial injustice. For Fricke and Douglas, they seemed at their best discussing these topics, offering measured, honest commentary.
Atlanta Hawks head coach Lloyd Pierce has become a leading voice in the city while fighting social injustice, and his interview with 92.9’s morning show regarding the issue of racial inequality was short, but insightful. Two days later, Douglas, a former NFL defensive end, offered an emotional response to Brees’ comments that he “will never agree with anybody disrespecting the flag.”
“It’s not about the flag, it’s about being treated equal,” Douglas said through tears. “It’s about making sure that when my son drives through the city, he’s not going to get killed.”
To hear a former First Team All-Pro express that type of emotion and fear, allowed listeners to connect with the host in a way they probably didn’t realize they could. Many people believe someone like Hugh Douglas, who made millions in the NFL, doesn’t experience social hardships at this point in his life, but after hearing him speak Thursday, June 4, it would be ignorant to continue that assumption. Douglas made himself relatable to the audience and Metro Atlanta’s Black community, a city with racial inequality even though it touts the slogan of a “city too busy to hate.”
With local teams in the three major professional sports, NFL, NBA and MLB, it was interesting to hear how much soccer Fricke and Douglas mixed in. The Atlanta United have a partnership with the station, which gives reason to emphasize their local MLS club, but the hosts’ interest sounded genuine.
In New York, for example, the only time you’ll hear soccer on sports radio is during the World Cup. A local radio station might offer a quick spot to focus on matchups and countries, but very few discussions will include specific players.
When Mike Conti joins John and Hugh to discuss the Atlanta United, they break down specific players which gives me something to watch for. If I turn a game on after hearing the interview, I have a stronger connection with the United because I recognize players on the field. As Major League Baseball burns relations with its fans, 92.9 The Game’s MLS coverage is timely.
My favorite segments from John and Hugh were ones that brought in additional voices. For hosts like Colin Cowherd and Jim Rome who plan and organize each show block in detail, less on-air voices can be more. But for a local morning show that reacts to yesterday’s headlines, the segments that welcomed additional personalities offered a more communal listening experience.
Daily segments such as the Morning Mashup and Morning Menu introduced a variety of topics for the hosts to react to and included producers Abe Gordon and Orin Romain. Fricke and Douglas speak with smooth, easy listening tones, but sometimes the addition of a third voice can break the morning monotony with a quick shot of enthusiasm.
There were some bits that fell flat, such as a guessing game of what are Douglas’ five favorite drinks in the summer. It felt like filler radio, although my attention did spark when Fricke asked if a mixture of “Red Bull and Sprite” made the list – Red Bull and Sprite?
The rest of the show was equally confused. The ‘Pick 6’ segment, ‘list the six Heisman winners with the worst NFL careers since 2000,’ was slow to start simply because Douglas didn’t have the last 20 Heisman winners in front of him.
I would still encourage more creatively built segments, especially at a time when local sports topics were thin. As listening habits change and people like myself spend more days working from home and less time in cars, I look for content that withstands time. Rehashing last night’s headlines won’t always succeed in convincing me to listen live or download a podcast.
There are radio shows and podcasts that were released last week, month or even year, and when you listen, you forget the date they were recorded. Not every live show will be Dan Le Batard, where I can listen back to an episode from five years ago and be entertained for hours, but in the current digital and work-from-home age, timeless content is essential.
Just as I enjoyed the influx of personality from Orin and Abe, involving the listening audience can provide similar depth. During my hours of listening to John and Hugh, I did not hear one caller join the show, and can’t remember a listener text, email or tweet read on-air. (I admittedly did not listen to all 110 hours of the show during the month of June.)
There are varying opinions on taking calls in sports radio, but being from New York where WFAN built its show model around that input from the audience, I see its benefits. The Morning Show w/ John and Hugh isn’t alone in its decision to stick to the hosts. At the 2020 BSM Summit, 92.9 The Game afternoon host Carl Dukes discussed how his show takes very few calls and didn’t express much of a desire to implement more listener interaction.
But especially during a time without sports, there’s room to involve the audience. Fricke and Douglas introduced a variety of discussions from their personal lives about housework, first apartments and children mooching that would be enhanced by audience involvement. The opportunity is there to ask listeners for unique stories on the topic, either through a phone call or tweet.
Speaking with conviction during those personal stories, regardless of how basic they may be, will provoke the audience to participate. It’s natural to be confident when you’re offering a sports opinion, but not all hosts speak with the same tone when they’re telling a personal or funny story.
Fricke and Douglas keep the show moving with short segments and a lot of topic changes. During my month of listening, it was rare that a single topic became a focal point of the show. The rundown of headlines can limit a discussion from branching out and building through the addition of new thoughts and opinions. You’ll certainly find highlights with this sports-first show during the course of a five-hour morning, but like many hosts, the duo will benefit from the returning scoreboard.
Brandon Contes is a former reporter for BSM, now working for Awful Announcing. You can find him on Twitter @BrandonContes or reach him by email at Brandon.Contes@gmail.com.
