As a high school junior, Keith McPherson announced Pop Warner football games in New Jersey, and was approached by a spectator who told him that he had a good voice and should consider studying communications in college. Initially, McPherson was confused, as he was unaware that communications was a college major, nor did he know what exactly it encompassed.
As time went on though, he realized that it was the career path he desired, and worked hard to find the avenues to create content and leverage his sports knowledge and digital expertise, learning on the fly and discovering unique opportunities to differentiate himself from others.
Throughout high school, McPherson was not only an avid fan of the New York Yankees and then-New Jersey Nets, but also an athlete himself, playing football at Ocean Township High School. During his college search, he was recruited to play football at Rutgers University, but ultimately departed his home state to attend James Madison University as an undeclared major. For two years, he played Division I college football as a quarterback, and after not taking the field as a sophomore, came to the realization that brought him back home to Monmouth County.
“Something clicked where I was like, ‘Okay, I’m not going to the NFL, and I need to focus on a career; I need to choose a career path. I’m a wild sports fan obsessed with all sports, and talking all sports radio and television, maybe I can do that,’” McPherson recalls thinking. “When I transferred, I literally transferred without football in mind.”
McPherson spent the next four years at Monmouth University as a member of WMCX radio and HawkTV, and graduated at the age of 23 eager to apply to his first job in media. The only problem was that each job he was looking for required three to five years of professional experience.
Unsure of where to turn next, McPherson began making income as a DJ at local clubs and bars, something that he started doing in high school, and eventually began working at his local Guitar Center store selling audio equipment to customers. Looking for an opportunity to work in media, everything changed when he saw a casting application for the MLB Fan Cave in New York City.
“That was the turning point,” said McPherson. “That was when I kind of knew, ‘Okay, everyone wants 3-5 years of experience. This is going to be the first thing I can put on my résumé.”
For the duration of the 2014 Major League Baseball season, McPherson, along with several other “cave dwellers” from around the United States watched all 2,430 regular season games at 692 Broadway for 14 hours a day, while creating digital content in the process. He affirms that while the days were exhausting, the experience taught him about the ways in which other people follow baseball – a lesson in cultural diffusion occurring within the “melting pot” of New York City.
After the baseball season ended, McPherson spent the next five-and-a-half months applying for media jobs, but heard nothing back. Preparing to take a job at The Home Depot, he then received his only call back for an interview from MTV, largely because the network had filmed its show Off the Bat from the MLB Fan Cave every Tuesday during the regular season. After two rounds of interviews, McPherson was hired, and for the next two-and-a-half years, he worked on the company’s social media team. Once he reached the three years of experience necessary to pursue most other media jobs, he took a risk and left his job to look elsewhere.
“I could look for a job and match my passion with my profession,” said McPherson, “and I quit MTV, [and] applied to jobs [while driving for] Lyft and Uber for a month.”
McPherson joined a startup company, for the first time, when he was hired in August 2017 as fuboTV’s first-ever social media manager, helping construct a strategy to help expand the streaming service’s reach and growth potential. Ten months later, he took a role as a digital marketing and strategy manager at Roc Nation, collaborating with athletes to help proliferate the company’s reach. Three months into this role though, McPherson made a broad observation that changed the course of his career.
“I was just noticing people rise in the podcast world and in the social media world, and that’s when people started using the term ‘influencer,’” said McPherson. “I’m looking at people that are using Twitter and Instagram, podcasting and YouTube to build their own brand; build their own name; talk about what they like and what they want to be about.”
One purchase of a new Mac computer and a video camera later, McPherson was liberated from any corporate ties. He began recording sports content that he distributed over multiple platforms in an effort to find his voice among others in the media.
“I was unemployed and I kept building my online brand, but you need to survive, and I wasn’t making money off my online brand,” said McPherson. “I was getting followers and views, so I was driving [for] Lyft and Uber [and] I was working at a restaurant for a little bit. I couldn’t work anywhere full-time because it would have taken time away from me editing or me creating.”
Throughout his journey working as a cave dweller and then in various roles pertaining to social media, McPherson always remained an active member of Twitter, specifically among the cohort of Yankees fans. One of the connections he made on the platform happened to be with Jimmy O’Brien, who was in the process of building a startup multimedia company called “Jomboy Media.” After nearly a year working independently, McPherson catalyzed an opportunity to join the growing company as an intern. It is safe to say he wasted no time making it known that he would be more than just a short-term addition.
“I understood what Jomboy was building, and I crushed it right away,” said McPherson. “Through crushing it right away, one of the more senior advisers was like, ‘Hey, if we want to keep this guy, we’ve got to pay him full-time because he’s already had full-time social media jobs and he’s out in front of the camera now building his own personal brand.’”
Two months after starting as an intern, McPherson became a salaried employee, and worked with those at the company to prepare for the start of baseball season. Then everything stopped as the COVID-19 pandemic became an immediate matter of public concern across the United States, forcing McPherson and those at Jomboy Media to work remotely.
“We had just launched the Bronx office down the street from Yankee Stadium,” said McPherson. “We were all excited about working in the Bronx together and going to the games at night…We were so excited for that season and then the pandemic hit and stopped everything.”
Despite the disappointment that arose from being unable to work in person, McPherson was used to doing things remotely from his time operating independently. Each day while fully remote, he focused on building both Pinstripe Strong and Talkin’ Nets, his Yankees and Nets podcasts, respectively, to the point where they gained massive followings on social media, rising levels of listenership and high-profile guests.
Come 2021, McPherson and New York sports fans were finally able to attend games in-person again, albeit with health and safety protocols in place. While the atmosphere was different, McPherson was finally able to record new content on-site, and distinguish himself from others in sports media by being among the fans.
“I’m the fan in the stadium,” said McPherson. “…I’m the guy that’s turning the camera on when we hit a home run. I’m the guy that’s turning the camera on when [Kevin Durant] shoots a three and the crowd goes wild.”
One day, McPherson noticed that new WFAN Program Director Spike Eskin had begun following both of his podcasts on Twitter, and soon after, members of Jomboy Media filled-in to host a midday show at WFAN. Aside from being verified on Twitter, McPherson had no idea who Eskin was, that he had replaced one of the format’s pioneers in Mark Chernoff, nor that Eskin was considering trying to add him at WFAN. Then about one week later, the new P.D. messaged McPherson to go to lunch for an interview about joining the team at WFAN.
“I literally had a WFAN keychain on my keys since I met Marc Malusis in 2014 at the MLB Fan Cave,” said McPherson. “I feel like I manifested it.”
Less than two weeks later, McPherson was on the air for a tryout, and eagerly planned how his radio show would go. Yet when then-New York Mets manager Luis Rojas made a questionable decision removing starting pitcher Taijuan Walker from the game, McPherson had to be quick on his feet and adapt his plans to fit what his audience wanted to talk about.
“I had this whole plan for what I was going to do, and that went out of the window,” said McPherson. “….[After the show,] I found out from Tom Izzo, the head of digital, that [they] definitely noticed a huge bump in interactions the night [I] was on.”
Encouraged by his first-show on-air, McPherson sought to get back behind the microphone as soon as possible talking sports with New York fans on a nightly basis. From the time he auditioned though, he had heard nothing from WFAN, and he tried to figure out what was going on by checking in with Eskin.
“He really couldn’t tell me much,” said McPherson. “I was kind of like, ‘Damn, I just want another spot. I want another night. I’ll do 2-5; it doesn’t have to be 11-2…,’ but little did I know they were working on stuff.”
When the news came out this past October that longtime WFAN nighttime host Steve Somers was set to retire, sports radio fans across the New York-Metropolitan area pondered who would supply the talk and entertainment they had grown accustomed to for over three decades. For Eskin, replacing Somers represented one of the first major decisions he had to make on the job, and it was essential that the station chose a voice that embodied the passion and fervor that exists among New York sports fans – a voice like Keith McPherson’s.
By the time the calendar turned to October, McPherson learned that he would be replacing Steve Somers in the 7 p.m. to 12 a.m. nighttime slot on WFAN, an outcome he was surprised to learn, but a challenge he was elated to face.
“I was like, ‘Woah, slow down. I’ve never done this before. I only have radio experience from college. I don’t want to be the guy that’s tagged as Steve Somers’ replacement. The Shmooze is iconic; he’s huge; he’s a one-of-a-kind voice and presence on the radio,’” said McPherson. “I didn’t know what to do, but I wasn’t going to turn it down.”
The news was formally announced in November on Carton and Roberts while McPherson and his wife were on their honeymoon in Puerto Rico, leading to him receiving congratulatory texts and messages on social media. Later that month, McPherson made his WFAN debut, becoming the first Black host to be a part of the weekday lineup since Tony Paige left the station in 2019.
“I just wanted people to give me a shot,” said McPherson. “I wanted the chance to learn on the fly. I wanted the chance to fail – and put my energy into WFAN and not be anyone else… I wanted to be Keith McPherson, but through this platform; through this historic radio station.”
Six months working in his new role, McPherson has been able to foster a connection with his audience and is creating engaging multiplatform content that appeals to New York sports fans. His philosophy on how to do that is simple, but seldom found and sometimes frowned upon in the industry.
“My style is just to let people talk,” explained McPherson. “You’re calling into my show; you’re calling into WFAN. If you have a take or a thought that some of you want to get off on air, go for it – we can have a conversation. It doesn’t have to be ‘Alright, I’m going to be short with you – hang up the phone on you.’ I’m no better than you. I’m a fan just like you are. I just happen to be on this side of the mic; this side of the phone. Call me up, and we can talk about any sports topic; any conversation.”
While his hosting style is his own, he has had the opportunity to speak with his predecessor Somers, and gain valuable advice as how to host an entertaining and informative radio program in the number one media market in the world. Before they spoke about the art of taking calls, being able to approach shows differently on slower versus faster sports nights and being able to discuss larger issues outside of sports, McPherson was excited just to meet Somers to gauge how he felt about the transition.
“I didn’t know how he would feel because if you read Facebook or Twitter, which I don’t do as much anymore, people were acting like I pushed him out, and WFAN forced him to leave for me,” McPherson stated. “I was like, ‘Damn, that’s not the case at all.’”
Throughout his time on the air, McPherson has enjoyed connecting with callers from younger demographics in an effort to broaden his listening audience and help grow the games he is talking about. It is one of the reasons why he was recently brought on as a co-host of Off Base, a studio television show on MLB Network geared towards millennials and looking at “America’s Pastime” through a different lens. Yet as radio and other platforms continue to move towards becoming more digital, being available and willing to interact with sports fans outside of the time on-air is essential to cultivating an engaged audience.
“When I’m on air, I tell people, ‘Hey, tweet at me,’” said McPherson. “Not everybody is bold enough to call in, but they’ll send a tweet… I feel like if you’re a radio host in sports, you need to have Twitter open while you’re on air; you need to be paying attention to what’s trending on Twitter – you’re live on air – that can help your show; that can help your broadcast.”
As radio continues moving into the 21st-century, finding the next generation of talent can seem like a daunting task – that is, if program directors fail to adapt their selection processes. McPherson’s being a sports radio host in a major media market with his only radio experience prior to it being in college is something that deviates from the norm in the industry; however, his hiring and early success may be indicative of a change in the way radio finds its talent. After all, stations are always looking to continue to find ways to improve their ratings and earn more revenue in today’s congested media landscape.
“The next great radio host and the next great people to invest in or to put on a mic – they’re already there,” said McPherson. “The biggest thing I tell people is that there’s no gatekeepers. If you’re dope, people will find you. Make videos; make content; write your thoughts out and put them on Twitter. Radio’s got to learn that it’s not always the people who have worked 10 years inside your station [that] become your next guys.”
Derek Futterman is a contributing editor and sports media reporter for Barrett Media. Additionally, he has worked in a broad array of roles in multimedia production – including on live game broadcasts and audiovisual platforms – and in digital content development and management. He previously interned for Paramount within Showtime Networks, wrote for the Long Island Herald and served as lead sports producer at NY2C. To get in touch, find him on X @derekfutterman.
