How You Say Goodbye on the Radio Matters More Than You Think

Saying goodbye on-air to a radio audience and a job you love is hard. It’s emotional and signals the end of a chapter in your career. As challenging as it may be, others pay attention to how you conduct yourself signing off. Especially executives. They won’t call, text or email you, but thanks to the wonders of social media, most see and remember your final act.

I listened Friday to part of Brandon Tierney’s final show on WFAN. He showed exactly how it should be done. The conversations with Alex Rodriguez and Rick Pitino were awesome but hearing his father call-in as his final caller was special. Hearing BT’s voice shake as he talked about how much WFAN and the audience meant allowed listeners to feel what he was going through. Many listening became fans for life. It was real, honest, emotional and left listeners wondering ‘how could this guy not be part of WFAN moving forward’.

Many of those listeners will continue to love WFAN but they’ll also follow BT anywhere he goes. He’s launching a new show today on YouTube. Without even saying one word on the channel, he’s already had nearly 4K subscribe.

The week prior, I listened to Sal Licata say goodbye to WFAN too. Similar to BT, he was appreciative, reflective, open, and honest. As he spoke his final words on the WFAN midday show, you felt sadness because you didn’t want him to go. The final goodbyes between BT and Sal were genuine and showed why their partnership worked.

Both Brandon and Sal conducted themselves as true professionals amid a difficult and highly publicized situation. If either had expressed frustration and sounded off it’d have been understandable. But they didn’t. They understood the bigger picture. I’m certain their phones will ring and their DMs and inboxes will be full. Talent and successful track records coupled with the ability to rise above difficult circumstances leads to others wanting to do future business with you.

Then on Friday I listened to Doug Gottlieb’s last show on Fox Sports Radio. Once again, well executed and handled with class. Anyone who enjoyed Doug’s show and style left that broadcast feeling like they were saying goodbye to a friend. They were happy for his success coaching basketball and understood why he was stepping away from full-time radio hosting.

Doug made the final show about trips down memory lane and his journey from ESPN Radio to CBS Sports Radio to FSR. He explained why radio meant so much to him and how Jim Rome’s show influenced his desire to do it. Hearing Chuck Wilson, Adam Klug, and Louise Cornetta call in was cool. It felt like a thank you to all who listened and helped him create 23 amazing years in radio. His stories of sacrifice, family, and why he believed in saying yes, showcased why Gottlieb became a respected and trusted voice on national sports radio.

BT and Gottlieb have both spent over two decades entertaining sports radio audiences. They’re pros who will do much more in the media world moving forward. Sal will too. BT and Doug exited Friday, the same day as many at Infinity Sports Network. Ironically, Brandon and Doug were once teammates at CBS Sports Radio, which later became Infinity. They helped launch the network in 2012. Tierney co-hosted mornings with Tiki Barber and Dana Jacobsen while Gottlieb handled afternoons.

But not everyone at their former network signed off in similar fashion.

Bart Winkler’s sign off last week was good for us at Barrett Media because it made for a solid sports media story. It left a bad taste in the mouths of some programming folks though. The amount of texts I received over it surprised me. I didn’t think it was Bart’s best moment but I understood where he was coming from. The end of his show and news of Infinity shutting down was hard for him to accept.

But whether I agreed with Bart or not is irrelevant. It’s about the next opportunity at that point. Why use your final minutes on the air potentially turning off any decision maker who might consider you for future work? Maybe it creates some buzz, clicks, views and a story on Barrett Media, but will that matter in a few weeks when you’re hunting for the next gig?

In his farewell address, Bart said he was bitter because the listeners of the Infinity Sports Network were an afterthought. He said management never considered how they felt. He talked about the past 2 months behind the scenes, why he didn’t understand the need for a new network, and expressed that although radio isn’t dying, it will if the people in charge continue to make decisions based on how to do things cheaper and more effectively.

Talent sometimes are so focused on their show that they don’t look at the full scope of the business. Good executives are always going to seek ways to be more effective while spending less. It works that way in sports, politics, music, media, and many other industries. This is a business not a hobby. The goal is to boost profitability while limiting expense.

Were Westwood execs supposed to choose programming based on positive emails or tweets? Westwood One has a stronger brand identity than Infinity and the advantage of being the NFL and NCAA’s radio partner. That gives them options to use for trying to gain more weekday clearance for shows and national dollars from advertising agencies. Audacy keeps the BetMGM side of the partnership which is important, and with Bruce Gilbert guiding WW1, an exec who has led ESPN and Fox Sports Radio and forgotten more about national sports radio than most know, and Armen Williams running programming, they’ll be fine.

Westwood One is introducing a lot of new names to a national stage. Jim Rome is the one name who needs no introduction. It will take time for these shows to catch on, and it’s possible that they won’t. Bruce Gilbert and Armen Williams understand that. But that’s no different than what CBS Sports Radio and Infinity Sports Network did introducing the country to many new voices including Bart’s.

I thought CBS Sports Radio did some great things over the years. They featured a lot of quality talent and sharp programming minds. But to many operators outside of NY, it was perceived as WFAN National. Gregg Giannotti, Tiki Barber, Brandon Tierney, and Shaun Morash graduated from CBSSR to WFAN. Damon Amendolara earned mornings with Mike Babchik at Mad Dog Sports Radio. Maggie Gray moved to CBSSR from WFAN and multiple anchors went back and forth between both brands.

It’s not just about clearing nights and weekends and weekday shows in smaller rural cities. Becoming a larger part of lineups in bigger cities matters too. Fox Sports Radio makes sure that Dan Patrick and Colin Cowherd are cleared in top cities. ESPN Radio pushes Unsportsmanlike and Rich Eisen in similar fashion. The CBS Sports Minutes and guest call-ins were good but the success of Audacy’s local stations made it tougher to gain clearance on big local brands. That limits being able to attract national dollars. I don’t fault Audacy and Cumulus for modifying their approach in the national space to try and grow their business.

Most who flooded social media with messages at the network were reflective and appreciative while acknowledging the uncertainty. I thought Zach Gelb did a great job highlighting CBSSR alumni on his show the past few weeks. Damon Amendolara’s video talking about his time at CBSSR with Shaun Morash, Andrew Bogusch and others was excellent. Bill Reiter’s goodbye was delivered in a classy manner, making it easy to want to follow him on Substack. Maggie Gray and Andrew Perloff kept the focus on their show, reminding folks that it’s ok to say little when noise around you is swirling.

Being sad, confused, concerned, angry, and emotional is natural when a job you love is going away. But part of a public job involves dealing with situations that are stressful and difficult. How you handle them says a lot about your maturity and ability to navigate sensitive business situations. Bart may not have handled this perfectly but he’s a good host. I’m looking forward to seeing him bounce back in the future.

I’ve always advised folks to look at the odds and play the long game. Are you in better shape landing your next media gig with 20 decision makers interested or 10? You can still prevail with 10, but why cut the odds in half if you don’t have to? You can disagree with a decision or direction but how you discuss and deal with it gets noticed.

But hey, don’t take it from me. Maybe just watch Brandon Tierney and Doug Gottlieb. They gave you the blueprint last week.

Quick Hits

Barrett Media Holiday Newsletters: Similar to last year, newsletters this week and next are being sent 1x per day at Noon ET. There are no newsletters on Christmas Eve, Christmas, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.

Writer Changes: If you read Ken Johnson‘s column last week or Perry Simon‘s piece today, you learned that both won’t be with us in 2026. Charese Fruge has also signed off after writing a great feature last week on Heather Bermudez. All three did a great job for us and I hope you enjoyed reading their work. They were consummate professionals who I’d recommend to anyone looking. I wish them the very best moving forward.

Facebook Links: Meta is working on an experiment that could limit the number of links users can post on Facebook. The only way around it would be with a paid Meta Verified subscription. Facebook confirmed the news to TechCrunch. If implemented, it will impact creators and brands posting links from their blogs and other platforms.

Charlamagne Gets the Bag: Congrats to Charlamagne Tha God on his extension with iHeartMedia. Reports have suggested that the number is $200 million over 5-years. If accurate, that’s reportedly double what Stephen A. Smith got at ESPN. That not only reinforces Charlamagne’s value to iHeart, it suggests that his Black Effect Network is a big part of future business, and radio is more than willing to pay top dollar for top performers.

Sid Rosenberg Suspended on X: Platforms are really still doing this immature nonsense? The host of a popular New York City talk radio show, who has been honored and asked to speak on multiple occasions in the nation’s capital by the President should not be unable to communicate with his audience on a platform such as X which claims to be all-about free speech. Hey Elon, how is this still happening?

HOT 97 Morning Drama: A post late Friday on the Hot 97 Facebook page promoted three new hosts joining the radio station. They are Ronndell, Lana and Million. The post did not say if the three would be working mornings or elsewhere on the station. Building up intrigue is fine, and announcing additions during the holidays when less people pay attention has less value. Nonetheless, EBro, Peter and Lauren were installed in mornings for a long time and listeners deserve to know who’s taking the reins next.

Damion “Damizza” Young: I wasn’t familiar with Damion before last week but am glad that I stumbled on to his Instagram account. His video commentaries on the music and radio business are timely and refreshing. Give him a follow if you’re into those specific areas of content.

Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. Sign up for our newsletters to stay updated and get the latest information right in your inbox.

Jason Barrett

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.