His thumb hovered over the send button as he re-read his text for the last time. He was strategically sending the message via an app called Cyber Dust, because he knew the two people he was trying to reach were most likely to respond via this platform. As Parker Hillis hit send to both Ben Rogers and Jeff Wade of Ben and Skin, then-at 105.3 The Fan in Dallas, he waited for the moment that would change his professional world.
Hillis’s upbringing as a kid that would later make a career in sports radio is an all-too-familiar one. He was a huge sports fan in the Dallas Metroplex and would often listen to both The Ticket and The Fan while in the car with his father. However, his actual journey into sports radio was the complete opposite of all-too-familiar.
Hillis initially thought his career choice would be in aerospace engineering. That’s why he left DFW for Auburn University after graduating high school. However, even while in Alabama, he was constantly listening to The Fan to keep up with his favorite teams in the metroplex.
After two years, he returned home and enrolled at The University of Texas at Arlington to continue his aerospace engineering pursuit. But a year later he found himself burnt out and in need of a change. Hillis wanted to enjoy his next venture and when he thought about what that would be he came to an easy conclusion.
“That was when my love for sports and connection to sports radio began,” said Hillis.
That’s when Hillis decided to reach out to Ben and Skin via Cyber Dust, now known as Dust. After listening to The Fan relentlessly, he knew the two hosts were tight with Mark Cuban and pushing the new app. He figured his best chance to reach the two would be there.
“The app was like a precursor to Snapchat,” said Hillis. “It’s one of those where you send a message and it disappears after 10 seconds. As I’m listening to those guys, I know they’re invested in this app, and on a whim, I sent both of them a Cyber Dust message, that said, ‘Hey, I’m curious about what you guys do. I don’t have any idea where to start or how somebody would get into your industry. You probably won’t even read this, but I’d love to know if there’s anyway I can come introduce myself, see what you guys do at the station, go behind the scenes and take a look.’”
His intuition was dead on. Quickly after sending both messages, Ben and Skin both responded and got Hillis in touch with their producer.
Soon after, Parker Hillis was changing his major in college to broadcast journalism and was interning at The Fan. His foot was officially in the door.
“The timing of it was perfect,” said Hillis. “I did an internship and finished school. Gavin Spittle and Tim Collins were the ones that hired me on.”
Little did Hillis know at the time, but he was working for his first influential programmer that would help shape his career. Hillis didn’t realize it because his initial pursuit in the business was on the talent side. But after a short time as a producer for shows such as K&C Masterpiece, who was very critical in his quick ascension in the industry, he soon realized how hard it was going to be to get his own show in a major market like Dallas. So once again, he pondered his next move.
“I sat back and asked what I enjoy the most about what I’m doing,” said Hillis. “At that time I was doing a lot of training and working with multiple shows, producing content, producing segments, producing shows and working with our young talent. That’s what I enjoyed doing.”
Hillis decided to lean into the programming side of things and it was the best decision he could have made. That’s where the benefit of having Spittle in the same building really helped. Hillis noted how exceptional Spittle was at developing content, managing relationships with the Dallas Cowboys and Texas Rangers and managing his talent amongst several other things.
“Parker was a Swiss army knife for us,” Spittle said. “We put him in so many positions, and he thrived and embraced all of them both on and off the air. His passion for his teammates and our product was noticeable.”
“The way he develops content is something I really leaned in to,” Hillis said. “The way he would meet with shows and talk through specifically how to build segments. How to be conversational and relational as opposed to just providing information and telling you X and O’s as to what’s going on in the headlines. How he managed both of our partnerships with the Cowboys and Rangers. He actually gave me a ton of insight into those relationships when I was there. I started out just cutting highlights and worked my way up eventually to EP’ing the Rangers and assistant EP’ing the Cowboys and it was really crucial in my growth in explaining, hey, here’s how we handle these situations.”
Parker Hillis is grateful for his experience with Spittle and is quick to say how critical he was in his growth as a programmer. If that wasn’t enough of a blessing, the next step in his career was going to be alongside another well-known programmer.
A connection with Armen Williams is what got Hillis to 104.3 The Fan in Denver. Williams was leaving The Fan for SportsRadio 610 in Houston, so APD Raj Sharan was being promoted to PD. Upon leaving Denver, Williams left Sharan a list of names that would fit for the APD position at The Fan.
“I had built a relationship with Armen, initially,” said Hillis. “When he was in Denver he was looking for a producer of his afternoon show, which at the time was Big Al and D Mac. He reached out to me because we had some mutual connections, he came from The Fan, so he knew Gavin. Kevin Turner had worked with Armen in the past and sent my info along to him. So he reached out to me and we got pretty deep in the process of me going out there to produce that show.”
“But I just got married and promoted at The Fan to basically be working every night with K&C. So it just didn’t work out. But Armen and I stayed in contact after that. So when he left Denver and Raj stepped into his position, he left my name as a reference.”
Sharan essentially cold called Hillis, seeing as the two had no relationship with one another. However, after the application and interview process, the situation clicked for both sides. The kid that had spent the vast majority of his life in DFW was about to leave for the Rocky Mountains.
Hillis soon realized just how different his new market was from Dallas. He was at a place where the Broncos were far and away story number one in town, no matter the time or season. As he listened to The Fan to prepare for his move, he noted he heard one segment in 12 hours of content that wasn’t Broncos centric. Sure, the Cowboys were king in Dallas, but he was also used to mixing in segments involving the Mavericks and Rangers.
“That rocked my world,” Hillis admitted.
But just like he leaned into learning from Spittle, he leaned into learning from Sharan on his new surroundings.
“Raj really forced me to stretch my thoughts on what the industry is and adapt my content and development to meet what the market calls for. A lot of that is building a perception of what you are as a brand. The biggest thing he taught me was brand recognition and development. How do I make myself sound like the biggest thing in town and make myself sound like we’re talking about every single sport, every single segment every day, when in reality we’re catering to the needs of our listeners and creating this perception of how big we can possibly be.”
Those were far from the only things Sharan taught him. Hillis still marvels at Sharan’s creative side and his ability to be proactive and ahead of the curve.
“Raj’s creative side, I don’t know if I’ve met a programmer in the industry that thinks the way that he does,” Hillis said. “He’s so proactive and ahead of the curve. For me, the biggest growth while I was there was working with Raj on dealing with certain situations, creating content, creating imagery in a market that called for something very different than what I was comfortable with.”
It was the perfect relationship to form for what was about to come next. After a series of big breaks, the biggest was about to happen with an opportunity to return to Texas and be the PD at SportsRadio 610 in Houston. It was an incredible offer for someone at such a young age, but with the influence he had picked up and how talented he was, there was no question he was ready.
“Parker had a very clearly defined philosophy and belief in what he wanted his station to sound like,” said Sharan. “He had a very set philosophy and belief on what he wanted. As well as a vision. That’s why I was confident he was going to be successful.”
“You hate to lose a person like Parker, but our clubhouse continues to cheer him on and we are so excited that he rejoined Audacy and a station that is so close to my heart in SportsRadio 610 and their great team,” Spittle added.
Nobody could blame Hillis if he had nerves upon getting to Houston. He was arriving as the new guy at the most established sports radio station in the city. Hiliis knew the success of SportsRadio 610 and realized he wasn’t hired to engineer a complete overhaul. So he approached his first few weeks in a role of hearing out his new hosts.
“It was a lot of listening,” he said. “Even before I set a guideline as to my philosophy on air, my goal was to get to know the hosts, where not only could we talk about content, but we could talk shop. I had to figure out who each of my hosts were before I could give them a directive of what I wanted us to sound like. I made it really clear when I was coming in that I was looking for ways to make sure they were at their best.
“I knew I was the new guy and my baby voice obviously would show in a market like this with guys that have a ton of experience. Seeing a new face probably wasn’t going to be easy, so I made sure I did a ton of listening.”
It was a professional and mature way to handle the first few weeks of his new PD gig. And the hosts at his new station appreciated the opportunity to share their input.
“I thought it was awesome,” said Sean Pendergast, of Payne and Pendergast on SportsRadio 610. “It’s logical, particularly with our show, because Seth and I have had a really good run since Armen put us together back in July of 2019. We’ve been No. 1 in mornings virtually the entire time we were put together. I like that he sat back and listened. There were and are things we want to add and do better, our digital presence is still something that’s being worked on. I was really excited to hear that he skewed younger because I think he’s in tune with the audience that we are trying to attract at the younger end of our target demo. I loved his approach.”
Many will point out sports radio needs more young programmers and ones that are forward-thinking to help push the industry. Parker Hillis fits exactly into that. He’s a young programmer is doing big things in this business. Though he could be one of the faces that helps push sports radio forward for the next several years, in the meantime, his philosophy in Houston is one that has won out consistently.
“The philosophy that I pass along to all of my guys, and the core of what I think makes for good sports talk radio, comes from the connection to the audience,” said Hillis. ”I handle my business on a day-to-day basis with my guys by trying to connect with them as best as I can and I feel like that’s exactly how we should handle our business as we put out to listeners. We have to be more about the headlines, we have to give a connection that allows someone to want to invest in us as much as we invest in this town and market.”
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.
