Mike Tirico made time for Shan & RJ in Dallas Wednesday morning, calling in from Churchill Downs to talk about the upcoming Kentucky Derby. Horses weren’t the only subject discussed. They made time to talk about the broadcasting business too.
After a discussion of when Tirico’s New York accent rears its head in conversation, Jane Slater, who was filling in for RJ Choppy on 105.3 The Fan’s morning show, remarked that in a business that tries to make everyone have as broad of a sound as possible, someone like Marty Smith is a rarity.
She said that not only is Smith’s thick Southern accent unique. It is genuinely hard not to be charmed by it.
“Well, that’s like the SEC Network’s thing, right?” Tirico replied. “If you’re not saying ‘Hey y’all. How ya doing?’ you can’t get on the SEC Network, right?”
Smith grew up in Pearisburg, Virginia. He got his start covering NASCAR before he was given the opportunity to work on ESPN’s college football coverage.
In a conversation with BSM’s Demetri Ravanos last year, Smith said that his voice and on-air persona are authentic and informed by his background.
“It is a lifelong field from where I’m from to where I am,” he said. “It is relationships made that pinched my clay and remolded who I was to who I am and reshaped me as a person.”
Mike Tirico told Slater and Shan Shariff that broadcasters should aspire to be more like Marty Smith. The accent may be authentic, but it also is a reflection of who is watching, something this industry doesn’t prioritize enough.
“The biggest mistake we make is not speaking to people directly,” Tirico said. “I think knowing your audience is a key part of everything. So, the SEC audience, you don’t have a lot of folks from Wisconsin or North Dakota watching.”
