Our seventh sports media summit concluded last week in Chicago, and despite being mentally and physically spent, it was a success. This was our first live show in the Windy City, a city that I hold in high regard. There are so many great radio, digital and television brands in Chicago, and tons of talented people. It was an honor to welcome many of them as attendees and speakers, along with others from around the country who came to support the show.
Conferences like ours only work if people show up, gain value, build and extend relationships, and companies support them. It’s why I put so so much time and effort into it. Months are spent booking speakers, creating graphics, designing programs, selling sponsorships, and mapping out every session to make sure there’s a wide ranging agenda. I do that in addition to consulting clients, running this website, building newsletters, and working with our editors and writers. It’s a lot to manage but somehow I get it done. Just as this one ends, planning for our 2025 BNM Summit in September begins.
No matter how good Day 1 and Day 2 are, I will always find things that could be better. I host this Summit because I want to educate and improve this industry. Too many higher ups have forgotten what matters. It’s the people, the art, the relationships, and the joy that comes from creating content and building connections. The headlines surrounding our business are far too often tied to financial results, stock prices, projections, and corporate lingo that does little to excite people to spend time and money with our brands. Making time to innovate, celebrate, and educate is vital to generating stronger interest in our brands and programming.
What especially pleases me is when students and the best in our business remark how much more they learned about the industry at the Summit. Seeing leaders like Andy Roth, Jeff Catlin, Dave Tepper, Bruce Gilbert, and others take notes, shows that the content has value. And when Burke Magnus, Scott Shapiro, Ozzie Guillen and others express appreciation for the detail put into their sessions, it confirms that the extra effort is worth it. At heart, I’m a producer and programmer, and I try to use those skills to create a memorable experience for all who are a part of it.
Though I’m pleased with the show, there are still too many programmers, talent, producers, and market managers not attending. If you work in sports radio, sports podcasting, sports advertising, etc., why is this not on your radar? The show is designed to help you. The connections, conversations and takeaways are invaluable.
We also have work to do to get more media buyers, ad agency execs, and advertisers in the room. I’d like to bring more students to the show too as they gain a lot from the experience. We had great support on that front this year, which was awesome.
The quest for perfection never stops, but overall, I’m proud of how this year’s show turned out. Below are a few things that stood out last week.
Highlights
- The Premiere Networks awards ceremony was a huge hit. Seeing how the videos connected with Jeff Catlin, Bruce Gilbert, Mike North and Danny Parkins was awesome. Make sure to check out the Barrett Media YouTube page to watch the awards ceremony videos. I think they’re the best that we’ve produced yet. The speeches given by all four men were moving, and I greatly appreciated Jeff Smulyan joining us, and Dan Bennett and the entire The Ticket staff, Mike Thomas, Mark Chernoff, Jim Cutler, and Steve Stone all contributing to the awards videos. Travis Williams of Dynasty Films hit a homerun bringing the vision to life.
- Fred Jacobs did an excellent job customizing TechSurvey 2025 for Sports Radio professionals. I’ve been a fan of Fred’s work for a long time, and I was thrilled to hear from a number of people who raved about his session. There were a lot of great takeaways in Fred’s session.
- I knew Ozzie Guillen would be colorful, candid, and conversational. He certainly didn’t disappoint. Few can hold a room’s attention like the former White Sox manager. We tied together managing talent, media and corporate expectations, and the differences that exist in winning and losing organizations. Ozzie added his touch of flavor to the discussion too, keeping the crowd laughing and listening.
- ESPN President of Content Burke Magnus was open, honest, and gave the room a better understanding of how ESPN executives view the industry’s challenges and opportunities. He explained how his bar for success in podcasting is being on the same level with the Kelce’s, offered insight on managing people and situations differently involving politics, contractual flexibility, and the Disney image, and shared his thoughts on TV vs. digital impact and the upcoming launch of ESPN’s direct-to-consumer offering.
- The programming panels delivered as expected. As I told Mitch Rosen, Rod Lakin, Jeff Catlin, and Scott Shapiro, we could’ve easily spent thirty minutes on each topic. I’m sure Bruce Gilbert would say the same about his chat with Danny Zederman, Andy Roth, Brad Carson, and Matt Moscona. Roth certainly made an impression with his strong opinion on Nielsen ratings.
- All of the talent panels were excellent. That’s expected when you have gifted speakers like David Kaplan, David Haugh, Steven St. John, Marc Silverman, Jonathan Hood, and Laurence Holmes. Laurence and Jonathan’s closing remarks were especially strong. I also thought Jen Lada, Courtney Cronin, Leila Rahimi and Annie Agar were awesome on our Women’s Sports panel. Many of their points struck a chord, and the passion and intelligence displayed by all four women was impressive. Justin Craig did a great job setting them up for success.
- I appreciated John Snyder of Nielsen entering the lion’s den to share insight on the 3-minute switch and the early takeaways for the sports radio format. When David Kenny was named Nielsen CEO in 2017 he said “where the industry gathers you’ll see a more present Nielsen” except those words rang hollow. John though came to last year’s show, and made time to join us on stage at this one. As I said after he finished, our business gets better when everyone gets in the same room to hear and understand each other’s challenges and ideas. It was great having him there, and I think he provided a number of valuable takeaways.
- Our business panels featuring the five market managers led by Mike McVay, our Podcasting business session featuring Cameron Hendrix, John Goforth, and Mike Hulvey, and our Digital discussion with Courtney Hirsch, David Locke, Bron Heussenstamm and Phil Mackey were all excellent. If you paid attention, you left each with valuable takeaways. Kevin Cassidy‘s point about advertisers giving credit for two seconds of a pixelated Instagram view but dismissing radio measurement changes from five to three minutes especially stood out.
- Ben Mintz and Eddie of Barstool Sports were interesting, entertaining, and fun to chat with. Barstool sent two digital producers to the show to film it, which resulted in content for ‘The Yak‘. That was smart. Brandon Walker, I heard what you said on the show, and will touch base regarding next year. You’re welcome anytime.
NOTE: I have a Barstool flag on my office wall, and respect what Dave Portnoy and his team have built. I’ve covered the outlet fairly for 10 years, including attending their Upfront and Mini-Golf open in Phoenix. I’ve also had Kevin ‘KFC’ Clancy and former CEO Erika Ayers-Badan speak at prior Summits. I learned the day prior to our event that Kirk Minihane had an issue with me and was pressuring Ben not to speak. If Kirk isn’t a fan that’s fine but I was unaware. I supported his show with Gerry Callahan, and the few chats we had were professional. Thankfully Ben and Eddie kept their word, and the session turned out great.
Closing
We’ll be posting clips, backstage interviews, and full sessions over the next two weeks. Once everything is ready, an email will be sent to all attendees with login details to re-watch the show.
For now, the 2025 BSM Summit is in the books. Thank you Chicago for showing up, and to all of our partners for lending their support.
Jason Barrett is the Founder and CEO of Barrett Media. The company launched in September 2015 and has provided consulting services to America’s top audio and video brands, while simultaneously covering the media industry at BarrettMedia.com, becoming a daily destination for media professionals. Prior to Barrett Media, Jason built and programmed 95.7 The Game in San Francisco, and 101 ESPN in St. Louis. He was also the first sports programmer for SportsTalk 950 in Philadelphia, which later became 97.5 The Fanatic. Barrett also led 590 The Fan KFNS in St. Louis, and ESPN 1340/1390 in Poughkeepsie, NY, and worked on-air and behind the scenes at 101.5 WPDH, WTBQ 1110AM, and WPYX 106.5. He also spent two years at ESPN Radio in Bristol, CT producing ‘The Dan Patrick Show’ and ‘GameNight’. JB can be reached on Twitter @SportsRadioPD or by email at Jason@BarrettMedia.com.
