As someone who used to work in the world of Sports Talk, it’s an exciting time of the year. The college football and NFL seasons are right around the corner. And now is the time of year, when radio hosts, TV commentators, social media opinion makers, YouTubers and others are vying for your attention heading into the best time of the sports calendar.
And for News Talk radio hosts, there’s one person in particular you can learn from this time of year: ESPN talking head Paul Finebaum.
If you’re a college football fan, I don’t need to say anything more. You have an opinion on Paul Finebaum. It might be positive. It might be negative. But you have an opinion. That’s what matters.
If you’re not as familiar with Paul Finebaum, he is one of the most prominent voices in college football. His legendary regional radio show in the Southeast led to him becoming a fixture with ESPN in recent years. Whatever he says in the weeks leading up to the college football season becomes news. In many ways, he helps set the agenda for the upcoming season with his commentary.
And you don’t have to take my word for it. Just Google, “Paul Finebaum”.
I just did it and I got four different stories from credible news outlets like Sports Illustrated, ESPN and On3, with headlines such as, “Texas Football ‘Is Capable of Winning It All’ Says Paul Finebaum” and “Paul Finebaum: Alabama isn’t ‘good enough’ to win a national championship in Year 1 under Kalen DeBoer”.
With just a couple of weeks to go until college football kicks off, you can scroll through Google and find dozens of headlines of different comments from Finebaum.
So how are you, as a News Talk host, channeling your inner Paul Finebaum?
And what I mean by that is driving the news cycle in your market leading up to a big story or moment or reacting to that big story or moment. How are you turning yourself into the place to be when something happens in your community?
Now, for those looking to say, “Yeah, but ESPN…”
There’s no doubt that Finebaum having the Worldwide Leader’s muscle behind him helps get his message out there on linear TV and also on social media. Here is a prime example from one of his comments on First Take getting plenty of attention.
And while you don’t have ESPN lifting your brand, you can use social media to make a sizable impact in your market and then look to bring those listeners to your show either through the radio, your stream or your podcast.
Social media creativity is a crucial way to stand out. And it doesn’t happen overnight, but it will help people find you beyond the radio itself.
Using radio to cross promote your station or show’s social media, which drives your already existing audience to your social media, and then in turn makes them more likely to engage in your posts (sharing, liking, commenting), which helps drive the organic reach of your social media pages, is the first step to finding that niche as the place to be for the big moments happening in your city.
Then, there’s the content. The insight your audience can’t get elsewhere, the information they won’t get from TV, newspaper or social media, and the guests providing information that is exclusive to your show.
And when you have those moments, you need to do everything in your power, not just through traditional promos, liners and other imaging elements on the station, but also bragging about it where your people are also spending time, mostly on Facebook and X. Plus, use your local media contacts to cover your show if you have newsworthy items coming from your show. Make them cover you.
Channeling your inner Paul Finebaum is not just about having “hot takes”. I’m not asking you to be Skip Bayless. Finebaum’s comments are strongly opinionated, but usually based with some facts and reason, and then he drives the agenda and conversation around the sport by getting those content pieces out into the media.
You can and should be thinking about how to achieve that in your own market. It’s easier said than done in a fractured media environment, but it will be a game changer for your show and brand for the future. And with election season coming in your cities and states, there’s no better time than now.
Pete Mundo is a weekly columnist for Barrett Media, and the morning show host and program director for KCMO in Kansas City. Previously, he was a fill-in host nationally on FOX News Radio and CBS Sports Radio, while anchoring for WFAN, WCBS News Radio 880, and Bloomberg Radio. Pete was also the sports and news director for Omni Media Group at K-1O1/Z-92 in Woodward, Oklahoma. He’s also the owner of the Big 12-focused digital media outlet Heartland College Sports. To interact, find him on Twitter @PeteMundo.
