When Gavin Dawson first arrived at 105.3 The Fan in Dallas 13 years ago, he jumped straight into the deep waters of radio in afternoon drive. Things did not go very well.
“I was out of it in seven months,” recalled Dawson.
It was, sort of, a Conan O’Brien moment for Dawson, not getting a lot of time to build something special, but he would move to evenings with Chris Arnold and that turned out to be the start of something big for him at The Fan.
The evenings proved to be real estate where Dawson could grow in the market and have some fun at the same time.
“There’s sort of a freedom that comes along with that,” said Dawson.
Like sneaking out of the studio to pick up a 12-pack and breaking a few radio rules during the hours when one could get away with that.
From there, Dawson moved to middays and three years ago made a return to afternoon drive as host of GBAG Nation weekdays from 2pm to 7pm on The Fan.
What does “GBAG” stand for?
“Good Broadcasting About Games”.
For Dawson, good broadcasting means great ratings so things are great in GBAG Nation.
“It’s so much of a results-based business with what the ratings are determining your attitude,” said Dawson who relocated to the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex 13 years ago from Portland. “That’s your only scorecard that you really have outside of some other indicators you can look at. I would say it’s the most rewarding because of the added gravity of being in afternoon drive and the added expectations and pressure that comes along with that.”
In the North Texas market, the overwhelming subject that drives ratings would be the Dallas Cowboys. During most of his time in town, Dawson has had to focus on “America’s Team” while also mixing in some pop culture with banter talk and comedy. He’s also a huge video game player and has the Xbox Live handle of “Radiochamp”.
Being a gamer and mixing that into the discussion helped him attract some new listeners at night and in the middays, but in afternoon drive, it’s been Cowboys-Cowboys-Cowboys…That is, until recently with the success of the Dallas Mavericks, Texas Rangers and Dallas Stars.
“Since I’ve been in the North Texas market, this is the most successful that all the teams have been at the same time,” said Dawson. “It’s unbelievable when you actually have multiple teams going that can drive ratings. If the Mavs, Rangers and Stars aren’t good and you talk about them on the radio, it’s not productive. The Cowboys are always interesting here but if these (other) teams aren’t good, nobody cares about them and that’s a tough way to do radio sometimes when you go through a drought like that.”
For many people, the sports radio business is like climbing up a ladder. You move around within a radio station from a behind the scenes role to getting a shot on air to being a full-time host. Or, you move around from market to market looking for that “forever home” or maybe that final landing spot is coming back home to where it all started.
For Dawson, going home to Portland, going to a national network or moving to another market is, at least for the time being, very much off the table.
“I never dreamed of doing anything national,” said Dawson. “I don’t think there’s a next step for me. I don’t want to go to New York, I don’t want to go to Chicago and I don’t want to go to Los Angeles or San Francisco. I really feel like, for my career, I’ve found home in North Texas. The community accepted me and I just feel like it would be foolish or greedy to think that I could easily go somewhere else and replicate this again.”
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.
