Before I began working for Barrett Sports Media, I longed for the opportunity to attend the BSM Summit. It just simply never worked out for me to attend, but I desperately wanted to be in the room.
I’m a learner. I truly enjoy the opportunity to take in new information, digest it, and put it into practice. I adored the Country Radio Seminar before I moved to sports radio, and I adored — from afar — the BSM Summit while working as a sports program director. And while there are differences, the opportunity to grow in knowledge, information, and see the thought processes of our industry’s leaders was an inspiring time.
So, after attending and returning from my first BSM Summit, I’ve compiled four takeaways from the event.
Radio might be dying, but audio is thriving
The conference began with Edison Research’s Larry Rosin giving a presentation on the latest information compiled by the venerable organization.
Forgive me, Mr. Rosin, for putting words in your mouth, but the presentation essentially boiled down to: AM/FM radio use is going to slowly fade out as Boomers, Gen Xers, and to a lesser extent Millennials begin to decline. Gen Z just flat out isn’t listening to AM/FM radio. They’re not watching linear television, either, but that’s a different discussion for a different day.
It makes sense that Gen Z is living on their phones. They’ve grown up in a world where everything they’ve ever wanted was featured in an all-encompassing handheld device. For those young people, listening to tradition AM/FM radio is hard. It takes more than two taps of their screen. That’s not a critique of the generation, it’s simply a statement of fact.
If you consider listening to a podcast takes tapping the podcast app, tapping the podcast you want, and pressing the play button, that’s insanely easy. And more often than not, people will choose the easy option.
56% of boomers shared that they spend the majority of their audio consumption with AM/FM radio. 23% of Gen Zers responded the same. That’s a gigantic gap. And yet, spoken word listening is rising rapidly.
People aren’t avoiding sports talk. They’re simply consuming it differently the younger you are. There are opportunities to command the space. How many radio companies wish they had put resources toward developing a podcast strategy pre-2020?
Learning from your mistakes is paramount. Something is going to come along to revolutionize the digital audio space. I wouldn’t suggest being left behind when that time comes.
Personality driven audio will only continue to grow
I found the panel helmed by Jack Rose, alongside Dirty Mo Media’s Mike Davis, The Volume’s Logan Swaim, and Omaha Productions’ Richelle Markazene fascinating. Those companies — started by Dale Earnhardt Jr., Colin Cowherd, and Peyton Manning, respectively — truly showcase how different the sports media landscape has become in the last decade.
Before the mid-2010s, the only way for a professional athlete or large sports media personality to control their own content factory was to essentially buy into a conglomerate with the hopes of someday ascending to the top.
That world has been flipped on its head and these disruptors were paramount in doing just that. And that space is only going to continue to grow.
Take an athlete like Kyrie Irving, for example. Large name recognition, large social following, and darn near everything he says creates headlines. While it might be a little more difficult for someone like that to create a company that large advertisers will want to spend money with, Irving, in my estimation, is much more likely to create a podcast — similarly to Draymond Green with The Volume — to get his message across rather than answer questions from a suite of media members he’s never been shy about being skeptical of.
Athlete-driven media is only going to continue to grow. The world is rapidly changing, and people want to cut out the middleman as often as possible. Direct-to-consumer is a trend that isn’t going to fade away anytime soon. From a consumer standpoint, why would I wait for a media company package the comments of my favorite athlete’s thoughts on a pivotal play in a big game, the play called by their head coach, or whatever the case may be, when I can listen to their podcast that will drop the next morning that will explain everything I want to hear, in a much more consumable method?
Now, don’t get me wrong, I think — in some cases — that situation sucks. It’s going to insulate athletes, who are already looking for ways to avoid accountability and criticism, from accepting accountability and criticism. But, athletes are becoming increasingly aware of the power of their brands, and the power they wield.
That space isn’t going to collapse upon itself anytime soon. Expect to watch it grow in the coming months and years.
“Ecosystem” is the new buzz word
I can’t tell you how many times I heard the word “ecosystem” last week. Again, not a criticism, just an observation, but it was the brand new buzz word.
I heard programmers talk about creating an ecosystem around their best shows to simplify things for their sellers, I heard television executives talk about ecosystems in regards to the individual brands they manage and how it allows for easier and differing brands to stand out, and I heard a digital company founder talk about how creating an ecosystem created a “scarcity” around him that previously didn’t exist.
It sounds cool, right? The word evokes a bigger identity, it makes the brands, shows, and people utilizing it sound more important. “That station might have a few good shows, but you’re going to want to be a part of our ecosystem” sounds cool as hell.
I don’t know that it really means a whole lot at the end of the day, but over and over again, the same word kept popping up: “ecosystem”.
Our industry is in good hands
I have an affinity for people who “get it”. Truthfully, I don’t even know what “it” is, but when someone gets it, you know it, and they know it. The amount of times I would be conversing with a program director, host, or someone else during the Summit that included someone making a statement and the other person saying “Yes!” and nodding in approval and understanding was immeasurable.
I think — for the most part — we’re all trying to accomplish the same thing. Once, a very wise former co-worker told me “If you and someone else are both trying to get the kitchen inside your house, what the hell does it matter if one of you goes in the front door and the other person comes in from the patio? You’re both trying to accomplish something, and just because you’re doing something one way and the other person is doing it another makes either of you right or wrong. It just makes you different.” And hearing, and discussing different topics, issues, situations, and content ideas with some of the best and brightest in sports radio game me conviction that the sports media industry is truly in great hands. There are so many people who “get it”, and it was encouraging to see up close.
Finally, not necessarily a takeaway, but a kudos. Thursday Night Football television announcer Al Michaels was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the event. It was a very cool moment to see a living legend accept an award.
But what was also insanely cool was seeing the co-workers who joined Michaels at the event. Kaylee Hartung, Andrew Whitworth, Marie Donoghue, and more Amazon co-horts came to the event to support, honor, and recognize Michaels.
It showcased the impact the legendary announcer has had on those he’s worked with for just a single season, but also highlighted the culture Amazon has built in such a short amount of time. I would be remiss if I didn’t point that out.
If you’ve never attended the BSM Summit, I encourage you to really explore the possibility in 2024. Truthfully, I hadn’t really missed being a sports radio program director since departing the format to come work for Jason Barrett in July of last year. However, as I shared with someone at the conference, listening to hearing some of the leaders in our industry talk and share their passionate opinions on where we’ve been, where we are, and where we’re going made me itching to wake up and put together a promo for Opening Day.
Garrett Searight is Barrett Media’s News Editor, which includes writing bi-weekly industry features and a weekly column. He has previously served as Program Director and Afternoon Co-Host on 93.1 The Fan in Lima, OH, and is the radio play-by-play voice of Northern Michigan University hockey. Reach out to him at Garrett@BarrettMedia.com.
