Andrew Porter has been experimenting with digital sports media since the beginning. In 2010, while still enrolled at Penn State, Porter launched his own blog turned online radio show The School Philly. Modeled after Barstool Sports, TSP was a blend of sports and lifestyle content around Penn State and Philly sports. He parlayed that project into a job at Philadelphia sports powerhouse, Sportsradio WIP where he has worked now for over a decade.
Porter learned the ropes under Spike Eskin who was running WIP’s social media from 2012-14. He eventually worked his way up to overseeing a social/video team of his own while managing and producing digital content for WIP’s website and across social platforms.
Porter has been around the biggest personalities and moments in Philly sports recent history. He shared the responsibilities that come with putting the words of Angelo Cataldi, Howard Eskin and Joe DeCamara into the internet. He also talked about the highlights and challenges he has faced in his 12 years at the station. Be advised our nearly 30-min conversation has been edited for clarity and brevity. Visit the Barrett Media YouTube page for the extended interview.
AR: What does a typical day at your job look like right now?
AP: It varies a lot because in the sports world we’re very dependent on the news. The benchmark for each day is to make sure we get good audio from each show. So, I’m waking up, going online, and trying to package the audio on air from the morning show, midday show and afternoon show and distribute it online in a creative, thoughtful way where we can engage viewers.
We’re setting up the big topics, and what our hosts’ opinions are on them. And we’re trying to set the tone online, the way we set the tone on the air because it’s kind of two different vehicles but we’re trying to merge that as much as possible and create some synergy.
Then throughout the day, it’s sending push alerts towards our station to get people to listen. If we have an exclusive interview of someone from one of the sports teams, a coach or a manager, we’re getting that interview podcasted and working with the producers to get that podcast and story up on our website quickly.
Same with breaking news. And even when I’m technically not working, you always have to keep an eye on it, because that’s just the nature of it. You never know when stuff can happen at night. Sometimes it’s posting highlights on social media from a Sixers game or posting interviews that can inspire conversation. So you’re never really done. The main daily focus is our three main shows and converting that audio and making sure our hosts’ takes are part of the dialogue on the internet.
AR: What are the keys to converting audio into great digital content?
AP: There’s really no set formula, I kind of have the pulse of what we want to do based on experience. But generally speaking, our hosts’ strongest takes are going to be their opening segments, that’s where they’re going to hit their main points. So usually, that’s going to be the best content in terms of engagement because it’s the most interesting and entertaining content.
Big exclusive interviews, which are huge drivers because they really differentiate us from other media outlets. We get to talk to people like Nick Sirianni, Jalen Hurts, and Bryce Harper. They do come on our station. When we have those days, those are big Hallmark moments, because we’re promoting them, and hopefully creating content out of those interviews.
AR: What are the biggest platforms of focus for WIP?
AP: So we’re on the main three: Facebook X/Twitter and Instagram, we’re on Threads as well. I feel like in the sports world, X is the biggest conversation driver right now in terms conversation, brand awareness and news, especially in sports and politics. But in terms of generating clicks and engagement, Facebook is still our number one driver, based on our demographic.
We’re not really worried about converting traffic on X. That’s more so to drive brand awareness and package different video clips. We’re experimenting with different things as these platforms are changing constantly.
AR: What are the strategies or benchmarks that you looked at in terms of growing your audience on those different platforms?
AP: Engagement, reach, followers. All that stuff is very quantifiable. You can measure it and see growth. A lot of times it’s going to be correlated to how our teams are performing. And that is the same with ratings. I mean, when the Eagles are in the Super Bowl and the Phillies are in the World Series, the work kind of does itself. The content is just endless.
When you have a down year, and you’re in February, and there’s nothing going on, then you have to start some creative meetings to drum up interest. But all three of those sites make it very easy to follow analytics. What’s harder to quantify is the brand and if you’re growing your brand positively. Sometimes we pass on certain things because something may be said on air that might not relay best on social media. There’s a fine line because we don’t want to make our hosts look bad at the expense of engagement, either.
AR: Tell me about your relationship with the hosts and talent.
AP: Pre-COVID I was in the office every day and I developed really strong relationships with the hosts, most of whom are still there. I know them all well, personally, and they’ve all been great. Over the past year or so we’ve really ramped up converting their takes on to digital. And, you know, if there’s ever anything controversial, or anything that teeters the line, I can always ask them for their permission. And they have a communication channel with me and they can always say, ‘Hey, maybe this isn’t best for online, or this isn’t what I meant to say. So please don’t post stuff like that.’
So it’s communication. It’s understanding our hosts and having a relationship and dialogue with them. Then it’s kind of understanding the pulse of how this will be interpreted online versus on the air.
AR: Looking back at the past decade that you’ve been at WIP what have been some of the biggest wins on social?
AP: That’s a really good question. Back in the day when Spike [Eskin] was doing social and I was working for him, we had a former Eagles player mention that Nnamdi Asomugha was eating lunch in his car. That went like super, super viral.
We had during the NFL draft, which was in Philadelphia, in 2017, Donovan McNabb live on our show, which was when Facebook Live was just starting. So we were able to film that on Facebook Live and that was massive.
Even this past year, Bryce Harper mentioned that he hit a homerun for one of our callers and that was a cool moment for us. We had Jason Kelce do a beer chugging contest with one of our morning show hosts at Sea Isle [City] this year, which was really cool. Great video, obviously.
But maybe our biggest post on X off the top of my head, it probably was Jason Kelce saying that Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift were dating on the morning show. No one’s really sure if he said that or what exactly he said but he basically broke that news on our morning show. That has over a million views or something that’s got to be one of our top posts.
AR: So in a moment like that how are you all over it on social?
AP: I knew Jason Kelce was coming on and this Taylor Swift story is a big story. So in the back of my head, I’m like, ‘I have a feeling that Joe [DeCamara] is going to ask about this.’ So you’re waiting there ready for it. Sometimes you even have your story pre written. Let’s say Nick Siriani is coming on and you know the topic is about Jalen Hurts’ injury. You’ll have that story pre written ready to go. But when a big moment happens it’s all hands on deck and we make sure we get everything up as quickly as possible.
AR: On the flipside, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve run into in your time managing social channels for WIP?
AP: I think the biggest challenge is merging on-air with digital because online is forever. We’ve had different hosts, and someone like Angelo [Cataldi] may say some things that would offend the fan base on air. It is what it is but, our reach online is just so massive that there are many people that are scrolling Twitter that aren’t listening to the show, or can take something out of context.
So you really don’t want to make an enemy out of one of our own people. We don’t want to turn it against them and have them taken out of context if they’re speaking negatively about the Eagles or the Phillies, because 99% of our followers are fans of these teams. And it’s kind of like an echo chamber world now where people don’t want to hear negative stuff, they want to hear positive stuff.
Our hosts have four hour shows every single day where they have to talk about different topics. So naturally, you’re going to get some speculation and negative stuff. You’re going to get some weird stuff and non sports stuff. I want to make sure that our hosts are being conveyed properly. I never would want to put someone in a bad spot where they were not happy with the way they were being portrayed. That’s always a fine balance and probably the toughest part.
AR: Can you explain how different the true radio audience and the wider social media audience can be?
AP: It’s a really weird climate and it’s tough today. I don’t know how many people are listening to every show for four hours a day but now we have an Audacy app, which is great. It allows you to rewind and listen on demand to pretty much entire shows. And it gives you context and allows you to develop relationships with the host.
It’s kind of like a TV show, right? If you watch the same TV show every day you start to become part of the show. You realize the nuances, you start to like the characters, and you feel the show. If you’re just popping in for one episode of The Office or one episode of Seinfeld, you don’t really understand the jokes. It’s not that funny to you.
That’s kind of what online is like. Most of these people online aren’t necessarily huge fans of the shows that follow us. I mean, we have 227,000 followers on X. They’re just huge fans of Philadelphia sports. Obviously there’s an overlap there but a lot of people can be following us for Eagles, Phillies, Flyers, or Sixers news and not necessarily listen to the show. So their perspective on the content is a lot different than someone who knows Joe DeCamara because they’ve been listening to him for 15 years.
That relationship is a lot stronger than someone online who’s just coming in for a quick comment or a quick troll because they don’t like this or they don’t like that. So social media is a very different animal and it’s tough to navigate in today’s climate.
AR: WIP has made the transition to video in terms of getting cameras in the studio and showing hosts in that way. Do you think that’s going to be the future of terrestrial radio, being able to integrate video to take advantage of how digital platforms are changing?
AP: 100%. I don’t think that radio stations should call themselves radio stations. Honestly, I think they’re just digital media brands. The same way Bleacher Report is or Barstool Sports or ESPN. These are all digital media sports brands. I don’t think terrestrial radio will go away because it’s good, people like listening to it in the car and when there’s big news and stuff like that. But you have to be able to repackage it in podcast form, in audio form, in video form and in written form.
There’s just too many platforms to package news. There’s just too much content out there. You have to be creative, and package quick, entertaining content. People don’t want to read long articles and listen to four hour shows anymore. They just don’t. They want quick 10 minute clips, two minute clips, 30-sec clips. It’s a shame and it makes our job harder but that’s what people want. That’s what wins online.
We’re just a digital sports media brand. We’re a sports media brand in general. Radio is part of our business- it’s probably the biggest part of our business in terms of ratings- but as time goes on, the digital part of it I think should be viewed equally as important, if not more important.
Alex Reynolds serves as Barrett Media’s Digital Director. In this role, he oversees all social media scheduling and content creation, monitoring of the brands analytics, and contributes to the brand’s newsletters, conferences, and websites. Originally from Rockville, Maryland, Alex is a passionate lacrosse fan, and graduate of Elon University. He can be found on Twitter @Reynolds14_.
