Being extremely versatile is an incredible tool for any sports radio host. In fact, it’s probably one of the best skill sets you could possess. Not only will it give you longevity at the station you currently work at, but you’re also more likely to open new doors and opportunities outside of your building. Versatility is what I think of when Jake Asman of ESPN 97.5 in Houston.
Why? Because He’s a do-everything type of host on the air. If you need someone to host a solo show, Asman has done that multiple times throughout his career at a high level. Looking for someone to drive a three-man show during afternoons? He currently does that on The Wheelhouse with Cody Stoots and Brad Kellner. There’s not a situation you can throw Asman in on the air, where he’s phased and seems out of place. He can do it all.
“For me, I’ve always tried to be versatile as a broadcaster,” said Asman. “I think the days of, I do this and that’s all I do are long gone. You have to be able to do a little bit of everything. I think the ability to host solo, or with one co-host or even two is valuable, because you never know where the business is going.”
If there’s an art form to being versatile, Asman has mastered it. He did play-by-play in college, he’s done sports updates, hosted shows on the radio and even some TV stuff. But Asman has really zeroed in on YouTube and the opportunities the digital platform presents. He hosts The Jake Asman Show on his YouTube page, which serves as his outlet to talk about New York sports and the teams he roots for in the city.
But it’s about more than just an outlet to talk about his beloved Jets. He’s projecting what the future of the business is going to look like and he sees YouTube being a big part of it.
“Just with the way the business is changing from a digital media standpoint, I really believe YouTube is the future,” said Asman. “I think any sports radio brand that’s not taking advantage of the exposure you can get on YouTube is making a massive mistake. We’ve been really able to grow our Wheelhouse audience just by posting some clips and segments on our YouTube channel. We get listeners all the time that come up to us at remotes and say, hey, I started watching your show on YouTube and now I listen on the radio.”
Asman talks about New York sports on YouTube because that’s where he grew up. But Houston has been his home for the past four-plus years after originally moving to the city to host for SB Nation Radio. Local radio was always his passion while growing up in New York and he routinely listened to both WFAN and ESPN 98.7. Houston isn’t similar in many ways to where he grew up, but he’s embraced the community and the teams that play in it.
“I’ve been really lucky,” said Asman. “I’ve been in Houston for over four years and I originally came here for SB Nation Radio as a host and doing some weekend stuff. During the week, Gow Media, the parent company owned SB Nation Radio, which is now SportsMap Radio and owned the ESPN Radio Houston affiliate, I’ve always been able to do things on the local station, whether it was my first year here covering the Texans everyday or going to Rockets and Astros games, or as a fill-in.
“I’ve always been around it. Local radio was always my biggest passion and I think I was very fortunate that, when they moved me to afternoon drive in August of 2021, even though I was new to doing day-to-day radio every single day in Houston, I had already lived in the city for three years. So, Houston had already become a home of mine and I was familiar with the teams and had relationships with the different coaches and executives around town. It made that transition easier than for someone who would have had to move to a new town.”
Asman can be heard every afternoon on ESPN 97.5 in Houston on The Wheelhouse with Cody Stoots and Brad Kellner. Asman drives the show, which can be tricky when you’re trying to get two other hosts involved as much as possible. But driving a three-man show was something Asman was prepared for, thanks to someone he really looks up to in the New York market.
“Chris Carlin, who’s someone I really admire in the business and has done a three-man show before,” said Asman. “I called him over a year ago before I moved into afternoon drive and asked for one piece of advice. He said, for me, I always look at it like I’m a pass-first point guard but always want to make sure I get my shots off. So I sort of pick and choose my spots, where if I think I have a stronger take I can take us through the segment.
“Or if I know Cody or BK have something they’re really passionate about or something silly they want to make into a bit, it’s about listening to your co hosts and finding out where everyone fits in the show. And then sometimes funny things just happen or something comes out of the blue that you didn’t think would make a funny segment and you go in a different moment. I just try to make sure we have fun, not take ourselves too seriously and do a good sports show for the city of Houston.”
It’s incredibly beneficial to be able to host with other co-hosts but to also have the tools to host solo. Hosting with other co-hosts is much easier than hosting solo, but what type of show does Asman enjoy the most?
“I really like the three-man show from an entertainment standpoint,” said Asman. “ If it’s just me ranting about the Jets having a brutal loss on Sunday, then I can do that on YouTube. As far as entertainment value, I think it’s so hard to do four hours by yourself. I really think sports radio at its best is people having conversations. It’s the old sports bar analogy. That normally means more than one host is involved.”
The Wheelhouse is all-in on Astros talk right now, seeing as the team is playing in its fourth World Series in the past six years. The success of the franchise has demanded heavy baseball talk during football season, but when you combine it with the apathy of the Texans, the Astros have been the lead story most days.
“Right now it’s been mostly baseball,” said Asman. “We’re also airing the Astros games on our station of the ESPN national feed. We’ve had pre and postgame coverage centered around that we’ve been able to air. The Texans would get more attention if they were more competitive. Because the Astros have been so dominant and in their fourth World Series in the last six seasons, that’s what people want to talk about.”
“I think Houston has almost become a baseball town, just because you look at the success of the Astros on top of how bad the Texans have been. People are just very disinterested at times with the Texans. The Bill O’Brien situation really took a toll on the fanbase. I think there’s a lot of people that are checked out or, hey, let me know when they’re good again and they’ll come back.”
Asman is incredibly talented and has a bright future ahead, but he also has the luxury of being with two co-hosts that are also incredibly gifted. Both Stoots and Kellner have hosted in the state of Texas, with Stoots having experience in Lubbock and Houston and Kellner having previous experience in Austin. They know the Houston scene well, just as Asman does. The chemistry the three have found together has made for very entertaining and thought provoking radio.
“Cody is probably one of the most prepared hosts I’ve ever worked with,” said Asman. “He’s so creative in coming up with different angles on a topic. For the most part, everyone in Houston is going to be doing a similar type of topic on the Texans, Rockets or the Astros but Cody’s ability to take a national story and localize it, or take a local story that everyone is talking about and come up with a different angle helps us so much. Especially since we’re the only four-hour show on the station.
“Brad is the funny guy on the show. He’s probably the wittiest guy I’ve ever met. He can take something you say, that’s a very subtle thing and he can turn it into a whole bit and make fun of you. He always keeps the audience on their heels with things he says. Brad is always super prepared and when he needs to deliver a passionate sports rant, he is capable of it. He understands that radio is supposed to be fun.”
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.
