He is considered to be the ‘Founding Father’ of sports talk radio in Atlanta and he’s far from giving up that position. Longtime Atlanta sports radio personality Steak Shapiro recently signed a new 3-year deal to continue doing his show The Steakhouse weekdays from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Audacy-owned 92.9 FM The Game.
“Super grateful to keep doing it,” said Shapiro. “I’m the longest running sports talk show host in Atlanta history. You can still be 58 and be super relevant in our format which is awesome.”
Shapiro continues to have full autonomy to do the show exactly the way he wants to do it and that is the ability to use various co-hosts with topics including sports, business, pop culture, music, and film.
And oh yeah…the topic that occupies Shapiro’s full-time life…food!
“I also have a huge interest in food because that’s my real job,” said Shapiro who hosts the Atlanta Eats television show and owns the Bread ‘n Butter content studio.
“This (sports radio) is a side hustle. I’m extremely grateful for the opportunity and excited for three more years.”
Prior to being at ‘The Game,’ Shapiro spent 17 years at 790 ‘The Zone,’ a station that he owned while also serving as head of marketing, head of programming and host. Transitioning to a shorter show while establishing a full-time career outside of sports radio has made life a little easier for Shapiro.
“I’ve always been an owner and an entrepreneur, so this is less hours and it’s also not getting up at 4:30 a.m. which I did for more than 20 years,” said Shapiro. I don’t think it’s hard. It’s like a labor of love. I don’t know any other way, so it feels easier than when I was doing four hours, and I was the boss and the on-air guy. That was a challenge.”
Over the course of his career, Shapiro has seen the radio industry go through changes but specifically has seen the sports radio industry evolve to include digital content allowing it to flourish today.
The same, according to Shapiro, cannot be said for other parts of the radio world.
“The radio industry is scary,” said Shapiro who is tuned into the business side of things. “Atlanta was a $400 million ad market and I think its $200 million now. (Sports) is hyperlocal and completely relevant with content unlike anything else that’s on the dial.”
Podcasts have become a huge part of the sports radio industry but many of them are not live and that’s the biggest difference with traditional sports radio. There is an immediacy that comes with live radio and if the ‘hyperlocal’ aspect of a sports talk radio station is programmed correctly, it can create a lot of magic.
“You can listen to 10,000 podcasts and they’re not going to tell you about the travel disaster that just happened over the weekend as it’s happening,” said Shapiro. “They’re not going to have in real time the Michael Penix draft pick, which was the biggest sports talk day of listening in the history of the format. To have hyperlocal stories in real time is still going to win. I think sports talk radio is the most relevant format. It’s more relevant of a format than it’s ever been.”
Shapiro was 8 years old when he dreamed about being on the radio and he continues to live out that dream. Each day when he drives to work, he reminds himself about the ability of getting in front of that microphone every day and talking about everything that he wants to talk about, including sports and food.
He is still having fun doing sports talk radio and he’s, at least for the moment, not thinking about walking away from it.
“People still like what I do,” said Shapiro. “It’s not a format where I’m aging out at 58. I’m close so I’ll let these three years run and then see where I am with my family and see where I am with Bread and Butter and see where I am in the radio business. With Audacy letting me do I want to do, there’s no reason to think about hanging it up at all. It’s still a lot of fun.”
Steak Shapiro has certainly accomplished a lot in sports radio as well as with Atlanta Eats and Bread n Butter. He’s been an iconic part of the Atlanta sports radio scene for a long time and he’s showing no signs of slowing down.
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.
