As Isaac Ropp approaches 19 years of hosting Isaac & Suke on 1080 The Fan in Portland, he can’t help but think back to how it all started and how things could have been a whole lot different had he not just followed his heart, his gut and his instinct as to how to be a successful sports talk show host.
If the show was a success or a failure, it was going to be on his own terms.
“When they initially offered me the job, I didn’t know if I could do it,” said Ropp. “I didn’t have any experience, and I just said to myself if I’m going to fail at this, I want to fail on my own terms. I want to do this being me. I’m going to present me and see if that’s good enough.”
Well, it was good enough and continues to be more than good enough almost two decades since the show first debuted. When the show started, one of the radio station’s executives called him with some advice on how to make the show successful and a big part of that advice was to rely on phone calls.
Phone call after phone call after phone call.
Ropp was not about to take that advice.
“In my head I’m going no that’s not going to happen,” said Ropp. “That’s not what I want to do. I’m just a listener. I love sports radio, and I hate calls. I just think they’re unfocused. I was going to die on the vine doing it my own way just being me and here we are 19 years later.”
Aside from sticking to what he believed in, Ropp also attributes a large part of the show’s success to the chemistry and the relationship that he has with his co-host Jason “Big Suke” Scukanec. They started working together in 2005 and they have built up quite a partnership over the years.
“He’s a big personality and can think on his toes and is a lot of fun to work with and he also respects me as much as I respect him,” said Ropp. We’re both uniquely ourselves. We’re authentic. I think the listeners feel that and they appreciate that.”
Another reason for the success of the show is because of the support that Ropp and Scukanec receive from management including Program Director Jeff Austin. While some PD’s may want to have an influence on the content and how a show flows, Austin lets Ropp and Scukanec do their thing.
“He’s a great leader,” said Ropp. Jeff is wonderful in a lot of ways. He never overreacts to anything. He’s very levelheaded and is more of a friend than a boss, at least to me. He’s largely left us alone all these years which I think is a fine line for a lot of leaders and for program directors with certain shows.”
Having a successful sports talk show in a market like Portland that has just one major professional sports team could be a challenge when it comes to talking points and content. But when it comes to Isaac & Suke, they don’t have to spend a majority of their time talking about the NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers or even the Portland Timbers and Portland Thorns soccer teams, the Hillsboro Hops minor league baseball team and the Portland Winterhawks junior hockey team.
At the end of the day, a sports radio show in Portland could very much sound like a national sports radio show.
“I like that,” said Ropp. “I think a lot of people might look at that as a negative, but I never have because I don’t want to be beholden to just talking about the local sports teams because that’s what people think you have to talk about. I always say just because something is local doesn’t make it relevant.”
While Ropp pays close attention to the relevant topics of conversation and the success of the show and 1080 The Fan in general, he doesn’t really pay much attention to the competing radio stations in town. While there has been stability at The Fan, there has been frequent changes at other stations in the market.
Ropp just worries about his own situation.
“I just don’t think about the competition ever,” said Ropp. “I’ve always been one to believe that if you’re doing what you’re supposed to be doing, you’re going to be successful. I just focus on us and if we do that and build our audience and sell and we’re reaching the marketplace the way we should, it doesn’t matter to me what the competition does.”
The sports radio industry certainly looks a lot different that when Ropp was hired at The Fan almost two decades ago. Today, podcasts and other digital forms of content are a huge part of a sports radio station and that’s something that veteran hosts, like Ropp and Scukanec, have to adapt to if they want to stay on top.
The habits of listeners have changed.
“It’s kind of hard to see what sports talk radio 2.0 is going to be,” said Ropp. “Traditional sports talk…I think it’s a little dated, a little boring and maybe not important or focused enough…maybe too niche to be in this day and age of people podcasting and people really needing their stuff quickly.”
Isaac Ropp wasn’t 100 percent confident that he would be a success as a sports radio host when he was hired almost 19 years ago, but he certainly channeled his inner Frank Sinatra and did it his way. And his way has led him down a path to success.
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.
