To say that one is really busy in life could be construed a couple of different ways. On one hand, being busy could be really good. On the other, having a lot to do could keep you away from things that you love. In the case of Brandon Kravitz, it couldn’t be any more the former.
“It’s definitely a lot to juggle but I enjoy it,” said Kravitz, the host of the afternoon show from 3pm to 6pm on 96.9 The Game in Orlando. “In every aspect of what I do, I’m doing what I love. There are taxing days and I think I’ve found a good balance between everything.”
Everything includes spending some quality time with his wife Mallorie and his son Owen, who will turn four in October. It was easy to hear during my phone conversation with Kravitz just how much the young man enjoys having dad around when he’s not working.
“There he is,” said Kravitz as Owen tried to talk to him during our phone interview. “Hi buddy! I’m on the phone…hang on.”
As someone who is married with two boys, I can completely understand what life is like for Kravitz balancing a busy work schedule with family time.
He has found a way to make sure he has all the bases covered.
In addition to the daily radio show, Kravitz is host the pre-game, halftime and post-game shows on the Orlando Magic radio broadcasts, hosts Fantasy Bites, a daily podcast on Rotowire.com and hosts The Fantasy Fix from 10am to 11am on Sundays on iHeartRadio stations in Tampa, Miami and Orlando during the NFL season.
As busy of a schedule as that sounds, a younger Kravitz may have had even more gigs, but he found a way to avoid that.
“I learned how to say no,” said Kravitz, who in addition to his on-air work, also wrote for BSM during 2021 and 2022 . “That’s been a big help for me. I used to say yes to everything and my plate would overflow and now I’ve got a pretty good idea of what I can and can’t do timewise.”
It wasn’t that long ago that Kravitz eliminated something from his schedule that not only took up a lot of his time but also had an effect on his on-air performance.
From late 2019 to the summer of 2021, Kravitz was not only a host for The Game. He was also the station’s Program Director.
“I really didn’t like it,” said Kravitz, who had starting hosting his own show not long before the PD duties were added. “I was still trying to figure out how to be good at (hosting). I felt like I lacked a little bit of credibility being inside the office as far as dictating the way that we should structure our shows. On the air, I was just much more stiff. I’ve really loosened up since I stepped away from that part of the job. At times, I sounded like a manager hosting a show.”
As far as the daily radio show is concerned, Kravitz has done a great job mixing local sports like the Magic and University of Central Florida along with national topics that will keep all of the area’s sports fans engaged. Not everyone who lives in Orlando is from that region so expanding the topics of conversation is essential.
“I love doing sports-talk radio in Orlando,” said Kravitz. “Our audience is so eclectic in their interests that I feel like I can cover pretty much everything and still keep enough people engaged. I can venture off and talk about different teams where, say, in Boston, if you’re spending time on the Red Sox, Celtics or Patriots, you’re probably losing your audience. When I sit down to think of topics. I don’t think if I’m going to be chewed up and spit out by an Orlando sports fan.”
While Kravitz is enjoying life in Orlando, the nature of how he handles a daily radio show certainly can paint a picture of what could lie ahead for him somewhere down the road.
That road is not necessarily going to keep him near I-4.
“I do think about what’s next all the time and for me it’s just about hitting whatever that next level is,” said Kravitz. “Ideally, I would find myself in a bigger market that has more professional sports teams or to move national. I love covering the fantasy and sports betting angle so that’s another area where I would get pretty juiced up about an opportunity to just focus on that.”
Kravitz began his sports radio career in 2011 as a part-time producer and host so he’s had more than a decade to observe and examine the industry and how it’s evolved.
The reality is that technology has helped the industry and the talent grow because there are now ways to reach more listeners.
“I think everyone has figured out how to be more digital, to have a better presence in terms of social media, and the importance of that somebody might find you not during your specific time block,” said Kravitz. “You could be discovered via podcast now. It does feel like there’s less of this reliance on you’ve got to listen to me during this time and this time and more about general brand building.”
Kravitz is very much a student of the radio industry and he has a clear understanding of where the business was and where it’s going.
Despite the naysayers that tried to convince him to do something else for a living, Kravitz followed his dream and it’s certainly paid off.
“I was told, when I first got into radio, that this business was dying,” said Kravitz. “If radio was going to go away, it would have already gone away. There are so many options out there now that people are just (saying) this is overwhelming and what’s the easiest thing for me to find? And that’s where radio wins because it’s right there on the dial.”
Life is good for Brandon Kravitz with his family life and a great career in radio. He’s laid the foundation for the future and achieving more of his career goals while continuing to carry a heavy work load in Orlando.
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.
