It doesn’t seem that long ago that the team of Pat Donovan and Aaron Jacobson were doing a podcast called The Benchwarmers before either of them were heard on air in any significant way for iHearMedia in Tampa. Eventually, the podcast grew into something bigger.
“It’s been amazing,” said Donovan. “We hit it off right away. We kind of grew it to eventually ‘Maybe people should know what our names are and call the show the Pat and Aaron Show’”.
Well, the Pat and Aaron Show eventually grew from a podcast into a Saturday radio show on WDAE and then into a full-time weekday slot four years ago. This past November, the duo moved to drive time when they took over the morning show.
And now, Donovan is the recipient of a new three-year deal.
“I’m psyched about it,” said Donovan. “At the end of the day, they know I want to be at iHeart long-term and I want to be at WDAE long-term. I’m pretty happy about it.”
Sometimes, when a show is moved from another daypart into the morning slot, there is a certain amount of adjustment that needs to take place. During most of the dayparts for an all-sports radio station, the content is almost strictly about sports. For a morning show, there is generally a mix of sports and pop culture.
In this case, Pat and Aaron were already doing a lot of pop culture…or BS as Donovan likes to call it.
“That was kind of a big part of what worked for us in middays,” said Donovan. “We actually got our first ratings bonus during the pandemic when there were no sports happening at all because of our ability to kind of BS.”
When the show was elevated to mornings this past November, the hosts actually had to dial back the level of BS that they were delivering.
“We had to kind of realize that you need to be a little bit more informative in the morning because, at the end of the day, there were people who went to bed early the night before and didn’t see the game,” said Donovan.
The audience has always loved the combination of sports and BS. It is a very passionate and loyal fan base that has come to be known as the “Goon Squad”.
When Pat and Aaron were doing weekends, the callers started to give themselves that nickname. That’s how the hashtag #goonsquad was born. It was the energy of the callers and the listeners that helped the show morph into something special.
“That kind of community that we built with our audience, that goon squad if you will, has really helped elevate us,” said Donovan.
In the fall of 2019, Brew Hub in Lakeland, Florida created a Goon Squad IPA. It became one of the most wanted beers in the company’s history. It was originally intended to be a temporary promotion, but sales took off in a big way.
“It was supposed to be a one-off for (the brewery’s) anniversary years ago and it’s now on the shelves of every Publix in Florida,” said Donovan. “It’s one of the top-selling craft beers in the region right now. I’d like to think that part of that is because of the growth of our audience.”
How much do Pat and Aaron love their audience?
Enough that when the Buccaneers won Super Bowl LV in Tampa in February of 2021, the boat parade came together very quickly. There were many fans who had to work that day. At the time, Pat and Aaron were doing the middays. That meant that some of their listeners needed to get the day off from work in order to go to the parade.
“We were able to call people’s bosses at work and bother them and say ‘hey so and so really needs the day so they could go celebrate the Bucs winning the Super Bowl so can they get the day off?’” said Donovan.
“We got a bunch of people the day off from work so they could go to the Bucs’ Super Bowl parade. A small part of that memory will always be ‘Hey I was at the Super Bowl parade because Pat and Aaron got me the day off’ and I love that.”
Speaking of the Bucs, Donovan’s new deal also solidifies his role as a part of the Buccaneers’ radio broadcasts on sister station FM 98 Rock. Being a part of an NFL broadcast team was always on Donovan’s to-do list and now that is reality.
“I eventually would love to do play-by-play for the NFL as well,” said Donovan. “To be able to earn the opportunity to be considered a pre- and post-game analyst for Buccaneers radio, when a lot of times that’s the kind of position that goes to a former player, has been incredibly rewarding.”
The Bucs’ Super Bowl LV victory over Kansas City was just part of a recent run of great success for the local teams in Tampa.
In addition to Tom Brady helping to bring the Lombardi Trophy to town, the Tampa Bay Lightning hoisted the Stanley Cup in 2020 and 2021. The Tampa Bay Rays also continue to be one of the best teams in baseball. It’s a run that includes making it to the World Series in 2020.
There’s this idea that having to talk about losing teams can create great radio, but the last few years in “CHAMPA BAY” have proven that to be anything but the truth.
“It’s funny because a lot of people believe that losing creates good radio and it can, but I don’t believe it’s more fun,” said Donovan. “To have this era of just winning and showing the sports world that ‘hey, this city matters in a big way’ was really important to the fan base and it was so much fun. People think you get great radio from losing but I feel like we were able to get great radio from winning.”
And now the goal is to take that great radio to new heights in the Tampa Bay area.
As they worked their way up the ladder at WDAE, the objective was to get to mornings and now that box has been checked. The immediate goal is to continue to generate great content each day for the goon squad.
Pat and Aaron want that passion to grow and spread so that the show can challenge for the top spot in town.
“Anybody who is in anything competitive, you want to be the best. We’re in a market with a guy like Mike Calta who is a radio legend and has dominated mornings for a long time,” said Donovan. “That’s the reality in Tampa Bay. That’s the goal – to be number one. I think we’re doing pretty good. Now it’s just about chipping away until we’re the best.”
Now with a new three-year deal, perhaps the best has yet to come for Pat Donovan.
Peter Schwartz writes weekly sports radio features for Barrett Media. He has been involved in New York sports media for over three decades, and has worked for notable brands such as WFAN, CBS Sports Radio, WCBS 880, ESPN New York, and FOX News Radio. Peter has also served as play by play announcer for the New Yok Riptide, New York Dragons, New York Hitmen, Varsity Media and the Long Island Sports Network. You can find him on Twitter @SchwartzSports or email him at DragonsRadio@aol.com.
BSM may want to try listening to other sports talk radio shows, because then they’d see what a dumpster fire 5 out of the 6 hosts are on DAE.
Exactly one guy, TKras, would be able to get an on-air job outside of this market. The others? Pizza delivery, Uber, and stocking shelves at Publix would be the pinnacle for them.
How much does iHeart pay BSM for these puff pieces?