Most would call it an insane grind if they tried to do what Matt Moscona does daily. There’s a morning YouTube show he solo hosts and never misses, an LSU Daily podcast, another podcast centered on NIL that drops once a week, another Wednesday night podcast with T-Bob Hebert, and then his weekday show from 3:00 -6:00 PM he hosts solo on 104.5 ESPN. That’s not counting his gameday duties during football season.
It seems like there’s not a day that goes by where Moscona isn’t giving his thoughts on LSU, the Saints, or the Pelicans. He’s worked from hotels, airports, cars, on vacations, and even while he’s sick or recovering from an injury. He’s the Cal Ripken Jr. of sports radio.
Moscona embraces the daily grind because he’s comfortable in it. It’s what he knows and what he enjoys doing. Some would get burned out by that schedule, but Moscona never feels his plate is too full.
“It’s a lot, but maybe I’m a bit of an outlier,” said Moscona. “I don’t play video games, watch TV, I don’t have a lot of hobbies, I don’t hunt or fish, this is what I enjoy doing. I’m good at it and I’m very passionate about 104.5 ESPN and Guaranty Media.”
If his daily duties already seemed like a lot to handle, Moscona is adding another title. Earlier this month he was named PD of 104.5 ESPN in Baton Rouge. It almost seems like a full-circle moment for Moscona. He was the first-ever voice on the air at the station and has been employed by Guaranty Media for the majority of his professional life. He deeply cares about the company and will now be in a leadership role to help it grow even further.
“We’ve grown so much and Matt being there every step of the way is huge,” said Gordy Rush, Vice President and General Manager of Guaranty Media. “He’s doing an afternoon drive show and knows all the details of what’s going on. That was a big part for us. I just think it’s huge with Matt’s expertise”
“I take a lot of pride and ownership in the station,” said Moscona. “When I have an opportunity to do something that’s going to help maximize everyone’s experience there and help the station continue to grow, I’m excited to do that. Yeah, it’s more work but it’s something I’m legit excited about. I don’t look at it as a burden, I look at it as an opportunity to help something I love be even better.”
The first thing on the agenda for Moscona is to meet with every member of the staff in a one-on-one setting. That’s a really good place to start. 104.5 ESPN has seen incredible success for many years and was just named the #20 Mid-Market Radio Station in the recent BSM Top 20. Moscona doesn’t need to approach his new position as one where he needs to overhaul everything the station is doing. And he knows exactly that.
“I want to hear everything they think and I want to know what they feel works and what doesn’t,” said Moscona. “I want to know what can be improved and what their individual goals are. Those meetings are going to take some time. Mostly I think one thing I’m really good at is allocating my time. I think too many people waste time on things instead of maximizing their awake hours. We all can fit things, as long as we’re auditing our time properly. That’s really why I’m able to fit in so much.”
When Moscona was initially approached about the opportunity for the PD role at 104.5 ESPN, he had a couple of stipulations. Those were met. Rush confirmed that Cade Voisin will remain as the APD at 104.5 ESPN.
“The only reason I agreed to do this job, I really only had two conditions,” said Moscona. “One, was that Cade Voisin, who was the PD, remained in a role very similar. I am not good at audits, schedules, logs, and all of the clerical stuff. I’m not good at it and I don’t have the time or tolerance to do it. Cade is going to continue doing that, along with basically making sure all of our sports programming — live and otherwise — remains on-air. Those are the types of things he is very strong at and I am not.
“The other part is I think we really needed someone who could manage our on-air staff because we never really had that. To operate more efficiently and become more profitable, which are things I’m very good at. You can describe the titles however you want, but I think Cade and I working together is important. If he weren’t in that role, I wouldn’t have agreed to do this.”
There’s a distinct advantage to promoting a PD that’s already in the building and has a working relationship with every on-air talent. Especially one that’s been at the station since the lights were turned on. Maybe there’s never a truly seamless transition when a station hires a new PD, but having someone in the role that knows every inside and out of the company, probably makes things quite a bit easier.
“Not only do I know those guys, but I don’t look at it like I need to come in and change a lot of things,” said Moscona. “Off the Bench has had a ton of success. They don’t need me to come tell them how to do their show. One of the things I love about Guaranty Media is that for as long as I’ve been there I’ve never — not once — had anyone tell me to talk about this, and not talk about that. It’s basically, we just trust you, do your show, and let the results speak for themselves.”
Not only is familiarity with the staff an advantage for Moscona as PD, but he also sits in the same chair his hosts sit in every day. There’s also a big advantage to that, as well.
“One of the real benefits of sitting in the same chair they’ve sat in every day, is I know where some of the frustration lies and now I’m empowered to do something about it, which I think does lend me to have a better finger on the pulse of what our air staff is going to want,” said Moscona. “Similarly, I know where our shortcomings are and I’ll know very quickly the things I need to address.”
Guaranty Media and 104.5 ESPN have a very forward-thinking mentality when it comes to content and exposure. The group is all-in on the video side of sports radio and figuring out a way to maximize growth and revenue in the digital space.
That’s one way where Moscona’s role as a PD is unique to some others. He has to manage the radio side of things, but there’s also the video component that’s massive for 104.5 ESPN.
“We just recognize that you have to have a digital presence,” said Moscona. “We built that TV studio five years ago with the understanding that people want to consume video. You have to give people that option. Yes, it’s absolutely going to be continuing to push our digital video product, which all of our shows stream live on YouTube. It’s continuing to look for other partnerships as far as video. My show is carried across the greater Baton Rouge area on a local TV affiliate. I’m going to continue to look for options for all of our shows, not just in Baton Rouge but statewide and regionally.
“Growing the video presence is a massive part of our growth. Guaranty has been around for 97 years. If you ask our president and CEO Flynn Foster, who’s a third-generation CEO, he says, ‘Guaranty was my grandfather’s vision, my dad’s execution, and my job not to screw it up’. I love that. His thing is they’re not interested in selling Guaranty ever. He wants it to exist for another 200 years. The vision is always not just ‘How do I meet a top line revenue number in Q1 of 2023’, it’s how do I make sure in 2053 Guaranty is still healthy. Bring in a leadership role, that’s very empowering. You can have a long-term vision and you know you have the support of your management to try and execute it.”
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.
