With almost three years together, nearly 500 radio stations, and millions of listeners across the country, Clay Travis and Buck Sexton are always working and prepping to get things right. The duo sat down with Barrett News Media after Travis traveled to their affiliate stations in Atlanta and Seattle.
“We love meeting our people,” Sexton said, “When someone knows you from TV, they will come up and they’ll look at you and they’ll be like, ‘I like you on TV.’ When they are radio listeners, they want to shake your hand or hug you, and it’s because they know you. You’re not some person that pops up on the screen when they’re at the gym, the airport, or at home. You’re someone that they spend real time with.”
Travis added, “We’ve been everywhere, and there is a huge component of this job that has nothing to do with what you say for three hours into a microphone. It’s the most important part, ultimately, because that’s the job itself. But it’s only a part of the job. And there’s a huge number of people around us, like our producer Ali, who help ensure that we have a good show on a day-to-day basis.”
A question they often get asked is “When do you prep?” The answer is always.
“What people wouldn’t understand is they think you sit down in front of a microphone, you talk for three hours, and the job’s over. We’re always prepping. Always preparing to be able to talk,” Travis said.
“I’m sending Clay the next day’s story ideas, clips, guest ideas, whatever it may be, sometimes at 3:05 PM. We finish at 3 PM Eastern.” Sexton went on to say, “I always tell people that prep is the thought you have while cooking lasagna at 7:00 PM and you realize, ‘Oh my gosh, who’d be a perfect guest for that?’”
Their prep is what leads them to do their best and get the facts right every day. “I would go to bat for our show in the three years it’s been on, even if we may not end up with the right opinions. I thought we were going to see a red wave in 2022. I was wrong. But our facts are all right. Everybody doesn’t have to agree on opinions. But I think there has to be a foundational agreement of what the facts are. And we get the facts right on the show.” Travis added, “If I get a fact wrong, we feel embarrassed and I feel like I’ve failed the audience. But opinions? Look, that we’re not going to be 100% right on everything.”
Buck Sexton seconded the comments even noting the pair sometimes have different opinions. “Clay and I disagree on a fair amount. So he’s wrong every time he disagrees with me. So there you go. But this is why we keep track of the bets; to keep each other honest on this stuff. It’s all recorded, but we have to write them down, too.”
A big bet they have is who will be President Trump’s running mate for the 2024 election. Sexton said, “I’ve thought that it was likely to be and still think it’s likely to be Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), whom I think would be very smart for Trump for a whole range of pretty obvious reasons. And, Clay has said, ‘Well, I’ll let him say it.”
“I think it’s going to be Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC). I would actually go with Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) just because I think he’s by far the most accomplished governor in the country. I think he got almost everything right with COVID,” Clay Travis said. “I don’t think that’s going to happen. But if you just ask me who is the most ready to be a really good president based on the executive job that [DeSantis has] already done. My dream ticket, so to speak, would be Trump, President, and DeSantis, VP.”
Travis noted his dream ticket is highly unlikely. “Buck agrees with me that he doesn’t think DeSantis would take it. There’s also complicating factors about them both being from the state of Florida constitutionally. But let’s play like fantasy politics drafting. Trump-DeSantis would be the ticket.”
Both Travis and Sexton agree with recent polls saying Trump might win in November but noted a lot can happen in the six months until election day. “As George W. Bush once said, ‘Fool me once, you can’t get fooled again,” Sexton said. “There’s a million different things across the country that can be done which can make a difference. The numbers right now can change.
“If you look back historically, there have been cases where Presidents or challengers have been way behind at this stage, and everyone woke up to a very different reality on Election Day. I do think it shows the general weakness of the Biden administration.”
Clay Travis noted, “I think Trump is going to win, but I was burned in 2022, so I’m somewhat apprehensive about what might happen over the next six months. I think right now you would have to say if the election were today, Trump would win. And I think he might win comfortably.”
“There aren’t actually that many people whose minds are changeable, so I tend to think we’re going to remain kind of fixed. But even right now, you’re talking about the election coming down to a few thousand people, potentially in the Milwaukee suburbs or in the suburbs of Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, or in the Detroit suburbs. What did Axios say? I think it was 0.6% of the overall population is basically going to decide this election. So 99.4% of things are baked. What’s that point six going to do?”
Launching on June 21, 2021, The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show will soon mark their three-year anniversary. While their show is in Rush Limbaugh’s former time slot, they recognize they need each other to try and fill his shoes. Together they work tirelessly to honor his legacy.
Travis noted they were not just picked out of a hat for this position saying, “There’s a lot of dues to pay.” Hard work combined with being “almost egoless” is the key to success.
“When you show up in a parking lot at 4:45 in the morning and you’re trying to go in and do a show, and there’s no one there to let you in, and you have to start the show on your phone in the parking lot and nobody else is around. You kind of get the pecking order in a serious way.”
Sexton added, “We built our own audiences and did it from zero. From the ground up. I mean, I didn’t even start with a radio station. I started digitally online and then grew into getting radio stations over time. Clay and I make jokes about showing up at radio stations and no one even knows who we are. And we’re supposed to do a three-hour show, and you got to pay your dues at radio. And both of us for over a decade had been really showing up and slogging it out to the best of our abilities, and proved successful with audiences.”
For those looking to follow in their footsteps, Buck Sexton added, “I didn’t start off in media and I think that’s a huge advantage.” The former CIA Analyst added, “That is the first order of business: Figure out what you think is really interesting and where you can learn a lot and do something that’s worthwhile. And do that, especially in your 20s. I think that’s a pretty failsafe way to go. Then, as you start to get further along in that process, maybe get in your late 20s, start looking at 30. Think to yourself, ‘Alright. Well, how can I leverage this?’ And I would say ‘How could I begin a media career then.’”
Travis broke his advice into four parts, “I’ve got a 16, a 13, and a nine-year-old. What I try to get them to do is read as much as possible, because I think you have to be able to analyze a lot of information. And the earlier you get adept at being able to read rapidly and analyze voluminous amounts of information, the better you’re going to be able to handle all of the different complexities and challenges of an individual day.”
His second part of advice is for young adults looking to break into the media, “Don’t expect to make much money. If you want to go into media, you have to really fight your way and there isn’t some magic bullet or suddenly you make $100,000.”
Third, “Figure out a way to make income in multiple places, because I’ve been in a situation where you lose a job, it’s tough, and it can be of no fault of your own. The media industry’s very tough. And so if you can have income coming in from three or four different directions, that can make a tremendous difference.”
Lastly, “You don’t have to be perfect every day, but trying to be good matters when you’re live like we are. Every show is not going to be a home run. There are days we’re going to finish and be like, ‘Ah, that was okay,’ right? But it’s a willingness to get up and try to be good every day and understand that if you weren’t great yesterday, it’s over. You don’t get to rest on your laurels. If you were awful, you get the opportunity to be better the next day.”
Krystina Alarcon Carroll is a news media columnist and features writer for Barrett Media. She has experience in almost every facet of the industry including: digital and print news; live, streamed, and syndicated TV; documentary and film productions. Her prior employers have included NY1 and Fox News Digital and the Law & Crime Network. You can find Krystina on X (formerly twitter) @KrystinaAlaCarr.
Clay and Buck are undoubtedly the new face of political talk radio having stepped into Rush’s shoes. The problem is I don’t feel they’re talking to ME. Only each other. There are other shows with 2 hosts who can still talk to me rather than making me feel like an eavesdropper. Rush also did a great job in his tongue in cheek updates. Rush had Johnny Donovan producing parody spots. Not that Clay and Buck need to do that, but just hearing these guys talk and talk and talk does get boring. There must be hundreds of appropriate guests they could get on the air to talk about stuff that matters. Radio can really get it’s act together and present compelling programming-even a high energy disagreement would be entertaining. What we get is dialogue. What we want is entertainment we can actually look forward to! It’s one opinion. I’d love to hear someone on broadcast radio really “hit their stride”. Clay and Buck are in the perfect position. Now if they could just work on their act!