ESPN’s Paul Finebaum joined Bryan Curtis on his podcast, The Press Box for a discussion about Finebaum’s media career. On the podcast, Finebaum went through his history of starting as an investigative reporter for a newspaper in Alabama and how he slowly transitioned to a radio “pot-stirrer”.
Curtis asked a question about Finebaum’s choice of formatting his show. Finebaum’s program, from its inception, has been very caller-driven. Finebaum said he had always been a proponent of giving the listeners, the fans, a voice.
“I’ve always believed in that,” said Finebaum. “I learned at some point that the callers were really the most important thing”.
Finebaum also talked about how his relationship with the format and his callers has changed.
“At some point I went from being an antagonist to being a friend,” remembers the host. “It changed over the years. It changed even more dramatically in the last couple of years. Especially during Covid. Now I almost feel as if I am an advocate for the fans. I’m not trying to make this show into anything that it’s not, but most talk show hosts simply don’t care about the fans”.
Finebaum mentioned on former radio host and current ESPN personality that doesn’t understand why he would devote so much time on the air to callers.
“I was with Tony Kornheiser a couple of years ago on his podcast. Afterwards we grabbed some coffee… he basically said ‘why to you talk to these effin’ idiots every day?’ He can’t understand it. Why? He’s from New York. He’s opinionated. But he’s not alone”.
Finebaum would continue, “A lot of people in the industry think the callers make no sense, that they’re a waste of time. I’ve been criticized countless times Bryan, by people saying you could put anybody in that chair and do what he does. It takes no common sense. It takes no creativity. I would argue it takes patience, though. And I believe in the callers”.
Curtis then asked how do you make a caller “good”.
“You listen and you’re curious,” offered Finebaum.
