It’s rare these days to say that another medium can learn something from regional sports networks. It doesn’t matter what company we’re talking about, the model is in serious trouble. Some are in bankruptcy, some are simply being abandoned by their parent companies, and none of them can get the kind of distribution they once enjoyed. The fact that I am writing now about what sports radio can learn from Bally Sports Ohio isn’t just unbelievable. It’s downright mind-boggling, but here we are.
Last week, the RSN announced that it had struck a deal with Bleav to turn some of the company’s podcasts into TV shows. There was room on the schedule, and considering that we live in a time when when 46% of the podcast audience says it wants to consume shows via video, it took very little investment on the network’s part.
Despite my recent forays into social video and video podcasts, I am still a radio guy at heart. As much as the news excited me about what could be possible for my own content, I couldn’t help but wonder why more sports talk stations aren’t embracing this approach to content.
Networks have been buying other people’s content to air for years. On traditional TV, it’s how we got The ManningCast (produced by Omaha Productions and airing on ESPN2). In the streaming world, it is how we got Ted Lasso (a co-production of Warner Bros & Universal that can be found on Apple TV+).Our business should not be afraid of the model.
Plenty of stations have done the opposite. They use their talent to produce original podcasts. They set up cameras in the studio and use that is captured to create digital video content. There aren’t many radio stations though that are willing to give over airtime to a show they do not totally control – weird given how important network and syndicated programming are to the format.
A relationship like this really could be a win/win. Is there a podcast covering your local teams that shows real promise? Whether it is talented young hosts, or impressive download numbers, licensing the content gives a stations the chance to add new voices that come with a built-in audience.
Think about the number of podcasts out there. The overwhelming majority bring in very little or no income. You wouldn’t have to break the bank to do a deal. Many of them would welcome the chance to make anything at all. A flat per-show rate or a revenue split for a single hour may be enough to seal the deal.
It can be more than weekly specialty shows too. If you hear your future in a podcast host or team, why not discuss some version of expanding the show? The sexiness of radio isn’t really a thing for younger people and creating content is so easy and inexpensive now that plenty of those young talents don’t want to give up something they own and have built to go work for someone else in a medium they don’t value.
What Cumulus is going through in Dallas and went through in Nashville and Birmingham in the past could be avoided if our industry stops thinking ownership and gets comfortable with partnership.
Jimmy Pitaro talked about it at the 2022 BSM Summit in New York. Jason Barrett asked him about doing deals with Chris Russo, Bomani Jones and Alex Rodriguez that allowed them to appear on SiriusXM, HBO, and FOX respectively. Pitaro’s position was that if the network recognizes a talent that can provide real value, it is better to have them part of the time than not have them at all. If these talents value their other business relationships, ESPN cannot count on getting what it wants from a “take it or leave it” offer.
Can the podcaster you’re interested in provide a two hour daily show for you that then allows them to move a third, exclusive hour behind a paywall? If they give you two or three hours every weekday, could part of the deal be a minute per hour that they can sell both on air and on their podcast? Would it be enough to enter into a “what’s yours is yours and what’s ours is ours” kind of relationship and allow their terrestrial show not to be distributed digitally if the hosts were willing to produce an original digital show every day?
Bally Sports Ohio faced a common problem for RSNs. When there are no games on, it had very little original content to offer that actually interested people. The network found a solution by getting out of its own way and striking a low-risk/high-reward partnership.
Radio should be able to do the same thing. We don’t always have to be territorial about the content that goes out over our airwaves. There are ways to bring new talent and interesting content under your brand’s umbrella without taking on all the risk just to be able to say the content belongs exclusively to you.
Demetri Ravanos is a columnist and features writer for Barrett Media. He is also the creator of The Sports Podcast Festival, and a previous host on the Chewing Clock and Media Noise podcasts. He occasionally fills in on stations across the Carolinas in addition to hosting Panthers and College Football podcasts. His radio resume includes stops at WAVH and WZEW in Mobile, AL, WBPT in Birmingham, AL and WBBB, WPTK and WDNC in Raleigh, NC.
You can find him on Twitter @DemetriRavanos or reach him by email at DemetriTheGreek@gmail.com.
