I’ve always felt John Stockton would have the characteristics to be a great producer in sports radio. He makes others around him better, he puts the stars in the best situation to succeed and he doesn’t demand the limelight. Doesn’t that sound like the producer of a successful radio show? The only thing I’m not sure of is if his short shorts would catch on.
There are so many John Stockton’s in this industry. People that don’t get the notoriety, attention or paycheck of the big names in radio, but without them, their absence would be massively felt.
Al Dukes, producer of Boomer and Gio on WFAN, is one of the many that serve as an intricate piece of his show’s success. But at the same time, working with two stars such as Gregg Giannotti and Boomer Esiason, that can mean the show almost writes itself on most days. So, even as the executive producer, where does Dukes find his space to program the show?
“We have a group text message with me, Boomer and Gio,” said Dukes. “It’s there if anyone ever wants to say something, tweet a story or anything like that. We do it a lot now, since we’re not all in the same spot and we don’t see each other face-to-face. Sometimes we’ll do some phone calls, but I’ve worked with Boomer now for 13 years and Gio for three, so we’re kind of already in sync with how we think the show is best run. It’s really been running pretty smoothly for a while, so we don’t do all that much altering of it.”
Beau Morgan, producer for Dukes and Bell on 92.9 The Game in Atlanta, is also on a two-man show that’s established as one of the best in Atlanta. The identity of a show can often dictate what a producer’s biggest role is. For Morgan it’s all about content.
“Content is king,” Morgan said. “When I first got in the business I was essentially a guest booker, because that’s the way it was where I was working. Producers book guests. I realized everything starts with content so I try to develop content. I wake up every morning and I put a show sheet together. I think about where we want to start the show and I have a conference call with Carl (Dukes) every morning at the same time.
“We go over how we want to start our show, where we want to go with the content, storylines, that kind of stuff. A secondary would definitely be that I don’t want to put guests above feedback. I think feedback is extremely important. But I’m always in those guys’ ear. Maybe it’s just a correction of, the stat was really this, or it was 2013 when this guy really did that.
“COVID-19 really changed how I produced. With less sports happening for a long time I booked more guests to help develop content. Carl and Mike can talk about the NFL Draft until they’re blue in the face but at some point you have to give the listener something different, so that’s where I use guests to break different angles. Then, there’s nothing wrong with creating content 2 to 3 days later from a soundbite that a guest said on your show. They all go hand-in-hand in someway. The longer I’ve been in the business, the more and more I believe that content is king.”
Content is king, but so are sales. Especially in a COVID world where just about every station in America has suffered some kind of cut. A producer needs to always be mindful of what sounds best on the air, but how also to make it profitbale.
“My hands are involved in all aspects of the show,” said Greg Toohey, executive producer of The Herd on Fox Sports Radio. “Content, prep, sales, podcasts, guests, Jon Goulet and I are the bridge between Colin and the TV side to our iHeart/FSR Team. I work directly with our iHeart sales group ensuring we’re doing our part to keep the clients happy. I also enjoy collaborating with our talent booker on guests to decide who we want to go after each day and week.”
Maybe you’re a producer like Morgan and believe content is king. Maybe your focus is more on scheduling high-profile guests. Regardless it’s all about how much you’re able to improve the show you’re on.
“I send a rundown by around 10:30 and from there we kind of fill in the gaps,” said Tyler Devitte, producer of Ordway, Merloni and Fauria on WEEI in Boston. “We basically know, from that run down, what the big stories of the day are, any potential guests, any local or national audio we want to use, I provide the framework. From there, they can insert any takes they want to have, any sound they heard, any stories they want to jump on. At our conference call at 11:15 that’s when we hash out those ideas. But a lot of it starts from that morning email.”
“Prep,” said Dustin Rhoades, executive producer at 670 The Score in Chicago. “Making sure we have all the right audio, stories and then twisting them into sports talk and making them relatable. Like, taking a national story and making it relatable to the local audience.”
Though the producer is normally the one making the host better, It can work both ways. Greg Toohey works with arguably the best host in America in Collin Cowherd. He’s a better executive producer because of the talent he works with.
“Colin’s unending quest to be the best of the best drives me and our staff to be our best and bring our “A” game each and every day. His prep is second to none and I’ve always appreciated and respected the fact he’s willing to come in three hours before the show, sit down, discuss and debate ideas, to put the show together. I’ve always known ‘your show is only as good as the prep and work you put into it,’ but, working on this show with Colin has taken that saying to another level. “
Pressure is a great motivator in many things, including sports radio. When producing in a large market, there’s a pressure to bring it every single show and fill segments with unique and fresh content.
“Going from market No. 48 in Jacksonville, where I used to work, then being inserted into the pressure of working at WEEI, there’s a certain standard you want to live up to” said Devitte. “The audience in Boston, they demand a lot out of you and they’ll tell you when you suck. If your show sucks, if you turn in a bad show, or a show where the guys are just trying to get to the finish line, the audience will tell you that. They know if you’re mailing it in and they’ll tell you about it. A big part of my job is to present things to them that are fresh.”
Just like you should never take a legendary point guard for granted, a great producer should never be underappreciated. In many circumstances, nobody knows what’s best for the show, what the audience wants to hear, and how to handle ego, quite like the executive producer.
Name a successful show and you’ll find a great producer that works their ass off behind the scenes to ensure the show is running at its maximum potential. One of the bigget keys to being the ultimate producer is knowing the strengths of the host and using them to enhance the show.
It’s not always an easy job, frankly, it’s sometimes even thankless, but if you can get the most out of your hosts everyday, you’ll be the intrical piece of creative a show that’s special.
Tyler McComas is a columnist for BSM and a sports radio talk show host in Norman, OK where he hosts afternoon drive for SportsTalk 1400. You can find him on Twitter @Tyler_McComas or you can email him at TylerMcComas08@yahoo.com.