Timing is everything in sports and in business. Last year, what began as a normal October week in Milwaukee turned dark without warning as iHeartMedia began another round of layoffs that hit 97.3 The Game extremely hard. For Steve Czaban, a two-decade veteran of the sports radio industry, it was a morning he won’t forget.
Czaban, along with many others on the staff of Milwaukee’s 97.3 The Game, fell victim to a reduction in force as the station began to flip away from sports to adult contemporary.
“Disappointing for sure, and I miss the station and the team badly,” said Czaban, recalling the events of that week in Milwaukee. “That remains a hole in my radio heart. But the industry is the industry.”
Czaban’s morning program led the station’s ratings success and which led to 97.3 The Game securing the broadcast rights of the Green Bay Packers just a few years earlier. Despite that success, Czaban says a change in upper management marked the beginning of the end for the station. Following the retirement of market president Jeff Tyler, he says a management restructure led to The Game’s demise just three months later.
“It’s unprecedented what happened. I can’t imagine another situation like it. A sports station and the flagship station of an NFL franchise, while also doing so well in the target demos. Plus, in the middle of a football season with a pedigree team like the Green Bay Packers just suddenly saying never mind,” explained Czaban.
What made the timing even more unprecedented was that Czaban was negotiating a new multi-year extension with iHeartMedia. He said talks were well underway after the company extended program director Tim Scott and other members of The Game team.
Czaban says he saw no warning signs that business would turn for the worse so quickly.
“We had agreed to the scope of let’s keep doing this. Then it kept getting held up, and then by fall it was never mind. We’re going to shut the whole station down,” notes Czaban. “It’s all about who wants to run that kind of format. Are they equipped to do it and do it in a way that makes economic sense to them.”
A week after the cuts at 97.3 The Game, iHeartMedia Milwaukee management flipped the station to B97.3. The pivot to adult contemporary also moved Packers Radio Network broadcasts to classic hits 95.7 Big FM.
“If somebody really believes that a station that plays the hits of the 80’s till today will kill, you’re not going to talk them out of it. Sometimes some people in radio think iTunes and Spotify don’t exist,” explained Czaban. “Sports radio is an expensive format. To me, when done right, it’s a durable, dependable, money-making format. Even more so now, with fewer things that get the collective eyeballs and ears at one time.”
Keep The Train Rolling
Despite what happened in Milwaukee, Czaban didn’t hit the brakes on creating content. Since 2018, he has been ahead of the curve for prime sports radio talent with the creation of the CzabeCast. A podcast venture born from his desire to control what he talked about on his own terms.
Nearly a decade later, the CzabeCast has generated a unique and devoted following that has supported Czaban through several stops on his sports radio journey.
“It’s always smart to dig your well before you’re thirsty,” says Czaban. “At numerous occasions along the way when it came to contract time, radio entities asked if they could host my podcast on their platform. I told all of them over my f***ing dead body.”
Czaban’s reasoning for that decision is simple. If situations like the one in Milwaukee were to happen, the radio company would own the rights to the content he built over many years.
“The CzabeCast is my one thing I’m holding back as a big middle finger. Just in case things go sideways with any of these companies,” explained Czaban.
In the immediate aftermath of the events in Milwaukee, Czaban says he received multiple offers about his interest. Since then, he has focused on producing the CzabeCast and taking fill-in opportunities with 106.7 The Fan in Washington, D.C., one of his previous markets.
He says filling in on The Fan has been a fun experience, allowing him to co-host with different programs and personalities. Czaban compared it to a freelance guitarist playing with different bands on the road, where each experience offers something new.
Czaban continues to receive interest from around the country about a return to sports radio. As he weighs his next move, he is considering several options.
“There’s a couple right now that I’m evaluating, now that I’m out of my non-compete with iHeartMedia. It’s going to be about making sure I choose the right opportunity to pursue,” says Czaban, adding that he feels no hesitation in taking his time after the events in Milwaukee. “I don’t want to do anything half-assed or one to two years and done.”
A Return To Radio
The interest from other outlets comes as no surprise. Czaban brings a wealth of experience, spanning digital platforms, local radio, and nationally syndicated sports talk. Over his career, he has hosted on multiple national networks, including Fox Sports Radio, Sporting News Radio/Yahoo Sports Radio/SB Nation Radio, and ESPN Radio.
As he surveys the current landscape of national sports talk radio, the veteran voice admits he doesn’t see much that resonates like it once did.
“It’s very weak right now. ESPN seems to have given up on having a premiere national lineup in terms of radio. Who’s their big name? But ESPN never really embraced radio anyway,” said Czaban. “National programming now that’s radio only is like a bucket of grout that is only used by affiliates to spackle holes in a lineup.”
To his credit, Czaban says hosting a national sports radio show is never boring. In fact, he prefers the opportunity to be conversational and perform across a broad spectrum—something he hopes to return to one day, though he understands nothing is guaranteed.
“I left my crystal ball in my golf bag back home,” jokes Czaban when asked if he’ll be hosting local sports talk radio a year from now. “I would love to do that, but I can’t predict or say how or where.”
If the events in Milwaukee six months ago proved anything, it’s that even the most stable situations in sports radio can vanish without warning. However, they also reinforced why Czaban bet on himself years ago.
The microphone may change, and the signal may move, but the voice—and the audience that trusts it—remains. For Czaban, that’s the part no corporate decision can ever take off the air.
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John Mamola is Barrett Media’s sports editor and daily sports columnist. He brings over two decades of experience (Chicago, Tampa/St Petersburg) in the broadcast industry with expertise in brand management, sales, promotions, producing, imaging, hosting, talent coaching, talent development, web development, social media strategy and design, video production, creative writing, partnership building, communication/networking with a long track record of growth and success. He is a five-time recognized top 20 program director in a major market via Barrett Medi’s Top 20 series and has been honored internally multiple times as station/brand of the year (Tampa, FL) and employee of the month (Tampa, FL) by iHeartMedia. Connect with John by email at John@BarrettMedia.com.
