Evan Cohen had an advantage when deciding how to introduce himself to the audience thanks to a dual role as both a host and an executive. Ushering in a new era of ESPN Radio, he prompted Michelle Smallmon to talk about why she came in the show’s premiere episode with a black eye.
Viewers of the program could see it for themselves on ESPN2 as she regaled the tale of what happened in her New York City apartment, instantly invested and intrigued by the story and everything thereafter. Even though the circumstance timed itself perfectly, Cohen took a risk in starting a show this way and learned the details behind the incident with the audience live on the air.
Whether it is about sports or not, Cohen is always prepared. Watching games is just as important as the viewing experience, trying to find the metadramatics in each situation to present consumers with parlance and conversation that goes beyond expounding statistics. Sports radio has an inherent element of entertainment that forges a strong connection with its listener base, and these narratives tend to have more value than meretricious greetings.
“If I’m doing the show and we’re doing the show that we think is right, our life is work and our work is life,” Cohen said. “….If you just make up in your mind, or at least I have made up in my mind, ‘My entire life could be show fodder,’ then it’s always enjoyable.”
Good Karma Brands and ESPN have been business partners for more than two decades. In the first quarter of 2022, Good Karma Brands acquired ownership of ESPN New York 1050, ESPN 710 Los Angeles and ESPN 1000 in Chicago. As part of that agreement, Good Karma Brands continued its digital sales obligations for ESPN as its official operating partner and inked a local marketing arrangement (LMA) to take on select responsibilities pertaining to ESPN New York 98.7.
When ESPN began layoffs mandated by The Walt Disney Company in order to slash $5.5 billion in costs, the audio division of the outlet took a significant hit. Program directors Ryan Hurley and Amanda Brown were relieved of their duties, as were executives Scott McCarthy, Louise Cornetta and Pete Gianesini. Additionally, those within the ESPN Radio Network sales staff lost their jobs as the company finalized a renewed deal with Good Karma Brands to execute sales responsibilities within the company’s radio and podcast networks.
Cohen is part of this transition as the vice president of content for Good Karma Brands, but he has no jurisdiction over what happens at the outlets in New York and Los Angeles from a managerial standpoint. As it relates to other ESPN affiliates owned by the company, he works directly with market managers and content directors to ensure that they produce content that best satisfies three key performance groups: fans, teammates and partners. The partnership is one factor that Cohen affirms proves ESPN’s commitment to content crafted for the ear.
“[ESPN has] decided that [it] would like to find partners to go out and find a way to market the content to great advertising partners that they can put [its] message on, and [it wants] to bring in best-in-class operators who do that on a daily basis to help raise the profile of [its] audio,” Cohen said. “I think people have had this twisted for so long.”
ESPN Radio announced a revamped national weekday lineup in late August with experienced hosts up and down the board. From Freddie Coleman and Harry Douglas to Amber Wilson and Ian Fitzsimmons, new and unique pairings are keeping listeners interested and entertained with the latest sports talk.
Starting off the day is a three-person composition with Chris Canty, Michelle Smallmon and Cohen on Unsportsmanlike, and early reviews of the show have been favorable. For Cohen, reaching this point of his career required taking calculated risks and seizing any opportunity that could help him grow – even if it was outside his direct interests.
When Cohen was 9 years old, he heard Mike Francesa and Christopher “Mad Dog” Russo on WFAN for the first time and remembers distinctly thinking that he wanted to work in sports media.
In addition to working on the student radio station and newspaper at the University of Wisconsin, he had professional experiences over every summer. An internship with the Madison Square Garden Radio Network marked his first external radio endeavor, and subsequent experiences at WFAN and various network public relations departments bolstered his acumen and comprehension.
During Cohen’s junior year at the university, he interned for the Wisconsin Badgers broadcast team, consisting of Matt Lepay and Mike Lucas. For football and basketball home games, along with television and radio shows, he observed the way they went about their jobs and helped out where he could. Learning both through osmosis and involvement assisted in his erudition, but there was no viable substitute for bonafide repetitions.
“Matt Lepay taught me a lesson early on [by saying], ‘If you want to be on the air, you’ve got to get on the air,’” Cohen recalled. “He was specific in the way he said that because he didn’t say, ‘If you wanted to be a sports talk radio host, you’ve got to do sports talk radio.’”
Good Karma Brands had found its niche in the sports talk format and was starting an ESPN Radio affiliate from scratch in West Palm Beach, Fla., leading Cohen to relocate and host a show produced by John Martin. Originally on 760 AM, the station implanted itself in the country’s largest market without a sports radio station at the time and included programming hosted by company executives Craig Karmazin and Steve Politziner themselves. Today, ESPN West Palm is in the midst of celebrating its 20th year on the air and has established itself as one of the outlet’s trusted and respected sports media outlets.
Cohen, however, quickly found out that he was going to be much more than just a host. As he was discussing the job offer with management, he remembers being told that no money would be invested in advertising the station and that no full-time producer would be hired. Furthermore, working as a salesperson would be a condition of his employment as a host, requiring that he execute the role during the day to catalyze remunerative growth.
“It was the single greatest experience I could have because it allowed me to appreciate being on the air,” Cohen affirmed. “It allowed me to work to be on the air, and we started something from scratch that the only way we could make it work was grassroots efforts of being there, meeting people and learning the market.”
Upon being informed of the offer though, Cohen expressed some ambivalence regarding whether or not he should take the chance and called his father to ask his opinion. He was met with a resounding plea to take the job, with his father emitting shock that he would even consider turning it down in the first place. Today, Cohen is often asked how media professionals can exit their comfort zone, to which he frequently replies, “You have to determine what your comfort zone is in order to know how to get out of it.”
Despite West Palm Beach’s status as a top 50 market, the area at the time consisted of many transplant sports fans with allegiances to various teams. Evidently, personalities had to be able to talk about non-local topics. Hosting shows in this marketplace helped him relate to different types of listeners and foster connections with strategic corporate partners, preparing him to continue broadening his horizons.
“You’re appealing to a fanbase that is not solely focused on one team, so how do you connect with them?,” Cohen expressed. “I think it’s [by] being as relatable as possible.”
Cohen connected to the local marketplace by working on Florida Atlantic University broadcasts of football and basketball games in various roles, including as a play-by-play announcer, analyst and sideline reporter. He could also be heard on the Miami Hurricanes Radio Network as the host of its postgame show, coinciding with opportunities to serve as a fill-in host on FOX Sports Radio. Former vice president and general manager Andrew Ashwood afforded him the chance to contribute to the outlet, a place where he ended up meeting colleagues Jorge Sedano, Greg Bergman and Chris Morales.
“It’s crazy in this industry how many people you meet early on,” Cohen said. “Then later in life, you work on different projects with [them] and now I’m interacting with all of them [at] ESPN LA.”
While most of Cohen’s work took place on the radio, he also gained television experience as the sports anchor for WPTV, the local NBC affiliate. The job emanated from a deal that tabbed ESPN 760 sports radio personalities to appear on the news channel to provide local sports features and contribute to the Braman 5 Sports Live nightly sports wrap-up program. The confluence of exposure and expertise, combined with fortuitous timing, put him on the radar of SiriusXM.
Cohen began hosting a four-hour morning drive program on Mad Dog Sports Radio with former baseball executive Steve Phillips and worked closely with lead producer Mike Babchik. Later in the day, he would host his two-hour show on ESPN West Palm while continuing to serve in a managerial role with Good Karma Brands. Cohen’s days were jam-packed with media obligations, and he split his time between New York City and West Palm Beach each month to effectively perform his roles. Regularly appearing on a national and local outlet each day, he adopted nuanced differences in his style while keeping a consistent approach.
“The platform is the biggest thing that’s different [in] who’s watching and who’s listening and the amount of people,” Cohen expressed. “If you stay true to kind of what got you here and stay true to what you believe is right in terms of radio, then I think that you’re going to be good.”
Cohen and Babchik eventually began hosting the show, renamed The Morning Men, together when Phillips transitioned to work on SiriusXM MLB Network Radio, an idea they had discussed previously and implored station management to cosign. Former New York Jets guard Willie Colon joined the program in 2021, and the show continued to gain traction on the air. After some time passed, Cohen came to end his afternoon program in West Palm Beach after more than 5,000 episodes of his show to focus on his SiriusXM and Good Karma Brands managerial responsibilities.
Continuing the three-person hosting format as he did with SiriusXM and Morning Men made sense to him of the caliber of talent he is working with now on ESPN Radio’s Unsportsmanlike. Michelle Smallmon had been a successful radio producer and found success in multiple morning teams on 101 ESPN in St. Louis. Chris Canty had played in the NFL and appeared both on radio and television with ESPN, taking the preparation of his show as seriously as lining up against Tom Brady. Cohen is cognizant of the fact that this is a show with invaluable levels of radio experience and can appeal to consumers from numerous markets.
“When I get this insane opportunity to be at ESPN and to be a part of this show and to work with two people like that – man oh man,” Cohen said. “You can’t be luckier than I am to work with that level of talent.”
Canty authored the name of the show during a brainstorming session, recognizing that its goal is to find enjoyable and convivial aspects of every story discussed. Deviating from usual sports media structure by focusing on celebrating the game and its players is at the center of their ebullient mindset.
Relatability and connectivity are the keys to success for any sports radio program, effectively transforming casual listeners into devoted fans who can advocate on the show’s behalf and convince more people to listen. There is no host who has done that more effectively in the history of the medium, according to Cohen, than Howard Stern.
“If you think about the Howard fans, they support Howard in a way that is so unbelievable that I think the mark of a great show is, in some ways, getting your fans to contribute to the marketing department,” Cohen said. “The more the fans can promote the show, the better your show is going to have a chance to succeed.”
None of that is possible without some level of vulnerability and divulgence of personal life, continuing to entice listeners and retain their mind share. Growing comfortable in doing that as an executive took time for Cohen, and he now feels he has reached a point where he can relax and fulfill his obligations with aplomb. Having a vested interest in both sides of the partnership centers his focus on how the brands can help one another achieve their collective goal of generating revenue and garnering relevancy.
“I think that I am unbelievably lucky to have both,” Cohen said. “….I get to learn so much from so many people at both companies and then kind of be that messier of ideas so to speak with both spots.”
Good Karma Brands will forsake the 98.7 FM signal in New York City in August 2024, converting ESPN New York’s distribution solely to the AM band and other digital channels. The decision to abdicate its position on the FM dial saves $12.5 million for its annual lease fee, perpetuated by internal data that reveals that 60% of station listenership comes outside of radio.
“I see no time in which Good Karma Brands will not do everything in its power to make sure the fans consume our content in a way that partners can support that will make teammates happy,” Cohen said, who did not have direct involvement in this decision. “I have no idea where and when that lands and how that lands, but I know for 20+ years, the goal of Good Karma is to make sure fans consume our content in a way that partners want to support and makes teammates happy, and I’ve never seen anything otherwise.”
Cohen references New England Patriots head coach and general manager Bill Belichick in what he looks for from himself and his colleagues on a day-to-day basis. Whenever he is asked what encompasses a successful effort on the field, Belichick will usually reference all three phases of the game – offense, defense and special teams.
“I look at it in the same way [with] all three phases,” Cohen said. “The three phases are sales, marketing and content – but in essence, it is fans, teammates and partners. If we hit all three of those phases, we will be successful.”
Derek Futterman is an associate editor and sports media reporter for Barrett Media. Additionally, he has worked in a broad array of roles in multimedia production – including on live game broadcasts and audiovisual platforms – and in digital content development and management. He previously interned for Paramount within Showtime Networks, wrote for the Long Island Herald and served as lead sports producer at NY2C. To get in touch, email Derek@BarrettMedia.com or find him on X @derekfutterman.
