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Nobody is safe.
Okay, we’ve known that all along, but we – radio people – have tried to remain optimistic. We told ourselves that we matter, that nothing can replace the engagement, community connection, and intimacy that a human radio personality can provide. We’ve insisted that radio’s chief strategic advantage is its local nature, that if we talk about local topics and local news and local weather and local everything, we win. We’ve almost convinced ourselves that the corporate overlords and private equity investors understand that.
Oh, well.
Last week’s layoffs and departures, and others over the past few months, included some people who were previously thought of as irreplaceable. Veterans all, pillars of the industry, the last people you’d think would be swept out the door, now gone. Stations thought too big and revenue-rich to be affected were indeed included in the carnage. If Audacy leasing out WCBS wasn’t enough of a shock, KFI tossing one of its keys to success – most of its local news department – speaks volumes about what’s coming.
It’s not good, at least for people working in radio.
Say it works. Say regionalizing programming works. You don’t need local hosts, local news, a local studio, just a contract engineer in case the transmitter blows. Hey, it works for EMF, right? What about AI? You can have radio programming, scheduling, even sales untouched by human hands. Efficiency! Expenses approaching zero! If you ran a radio company, you’d want that, too, as long as it didn’t involve replacing YOU.
I can’t speak for anyone else, but I’ve tried to maintain optimism about the radio industry despite it all. I’ve written about things radio can do that other media can’t replicate (at least as well), how podcasting might be a lifeline for the industry, how radio still has ubiquity and community going for it, how a breakout personality could still change the industry’s trajectory. I’m not all that optimistic anymore.
That tracks with the decline of radio as a glamour industry. Howard Stern used to call radio “the lowest rung of show business,” but at least it WAS show business. Now, it’s… I don’t know, a vessel for music and talk that you can get elsewhere in more consumer-friendly ways (customized, time-shifted, on the device in your pocket). Having a radio show is nothing special anymore when it seems like everyone has a podcast. Tell someone you meet that you’re in radio and they’ll shrug and move on as if you told them you work the drive-thru at Culver’s.
And that’s why I wonder whether it’s fixable. The owners think that the only fix is to reduce expenses by eliminating positions (that’s corporate-speak for firing human beings) to eke out a profit each quarter and keep the investors at least silent for another few months. They can’t do that forever, because companies can’t slash their way to success. It’s kicking the can down the road the same way they always have, cutting jobs and refinancing but never really explaining the end game.
Okay, you’ve fired every local staffer, reduced programming and marketing to a small national or regional crew, closed or leased your AMs, sold your real estate and towers… what then? Because that’s not going to improve the product, unless radio is no longer your product. Maybe you’re now really just a live events producer, which should be interesting if the radio stations you once used to promote the concerts aren’t good at that anymore. Let’s see how many labels and managers are willing to let you have their artists for free if you don’t have anything of value to offer them.
Or maybe someone will come along, acquire stations without incurring too much debt, and operate them with a focus on local service and actual human staff on hand to create community and engagement. After all, how many times can a company declare bankruptcy before creditors realize they probably need to do something different? In the meantime, though, for anyone whose career is in radio, take the hint from the wave of layoffs: your future may have to be in another business. Good thing that there’s life after radio. You might even like it more.
Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. To stay updated, sign up for our newsletters and get the latest information delivered straight to your inbox.
🎶O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree.🎶 Sing along with me! Enjoy that earworm for the rest of the day. What if you’re not the Christmas station or the Christmas streamer? What do you do during this season?
A Festivus For The Rest Of Us!
Festivus, a holiday featured in a 1997 Seinfeld episode, was an alternative celebration to the commercialization of Christmas. The legacy of this bit lives on 27 years later through streaming providers and Reels content.
What event, podcast, video series, or blog can be created by the non-Christmas station to show you’re in the holiday spirit without changing the playlist to celebrate?
Humorous content is the obvious opportunity. Challenge your oddest and weirdest staffers to let those beautiful minds absorb life during this holiday season and start creating ideas and content for Christmas 2025.
How can modern technology bring back classic bits and content? Bowling for Turkeys or Thanksgiving On The Mayflower are classic radio promotions deserving of a new life through video and social media.
If We Make It Through December
Merle Haggard sang about an unemployed dad unable to provide Christmas for his family. Timeless. For many, this is not the Most Wonderful Time of The Year.
Take advantage of the community service opportunities available during the holiday season to expand your connection with charities. The extended benefit is a connection with organizations and community leaders to partner with in the other seasons of need. As John Lennon sings in Happy Xmas (War Is Over), “And so this is Christmas, and what have you done?” This is the season for radio to give.
Christmas-themed promotions on the non-Christmas formats have just as much impact. Listeners who don’t want to hear about the Hap-Hap-Happiest time of year will give your brand a virtual thumbs-up for helping the broken and the needy if your station is doing a Christmas Wish-themed promotion. Oh, and every listener wants money this time of the year.
Christmas Ain’t Christmas
The O’Jays sang about Christmas and New Year’s not being the same without the one you love. What if you don’t acknowledge the season and focus on the benefits of your brand right now? I’m not suggesting you Bah Humbug and dismiss the idea of Christmas. However, do we junk up our brands when we try to be in the moment without being equipped to provide the necessary content?
Holiday audio imaging is a great way to show you’re paying attention to the seasons of life and change. However, if those moments minimize your brand’s messaging goal, you might consider using the season to hyper-focus on your strengths in the other months of the year.
Nielsen shows us what happens to audience cume in a market with All-Christmas formats. If the audience is more fragmented during the holidays, this is an opportunity to repackage your station as if it were debuting. Don’t let those Christmas stations deter you during the six weeks of Christmas music. Be your best during this time. Someone is looking for relief from the holidays.
Finally, if you’re playing Christmas music, play the hits. Radio is a one-to-many medium. What do the masses want during this season? They want hits determined by the will of the many, not the few.
Your brand may be in a rare position to experiment with new Christmas music, but the core needs to focus on the tried-and-true songs. If you need a reminder, check out Ken Benson’s latest research from P1 Media Group: Top Testing Christmas Songs 2024. The top five songs were recorded before 1970.
Analyze and retool your strategy during this season of opportunity. Don’t do the Same Old Lang Syne.
Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. To stay updated, sign up for our newsletters and get the latest information delivered straight to your inbox.
It’s that time of year again as the radio trades track which stations are going all-Christmas. There is always some station that wants to start around Halloween (usually not the top-rated outfit in town) but most wait until mid-November or so to flip. We’ve also read that Bobby Helms’ “Jingle Bell Rock” is the top-testing Christmas song as has happened many times in the past.
Last year (see my 11/20/23 column), I wrote about how the day-by-day numbers look for Christmas music in PPM. The peaks tend to be right around the Thanksgiving holiday weekend and very near the holiday itself, often with huge shares. In between, nothing major but the averages are always good.
That’s fine, but the diary markets need some attention. Even though the Fall survey ends on December 4, there will be interest in holiday music prior to that date. There are a couple of tricks you should do before the end of the survey.
Let’s go back to the 25 characters you can register with Nielsen. First, check what your stations have registered. Some of the words are “untouchable”, for example, if like most stations, you use a unique identifier (“Wolf”, “Hot”, “Hank”), that is sacrosanct as it’s likely what the majority of your diarykeepers write down.
But there are likely some more words you may not need that badly. Remember, your call letters and frequency are automatic for the Nielsen diary service so there is no need to use 105.9 or 92.3. You should put in your rounded number (106 or 92). But how about adding the word “Christmas” as part of your allocated 25 characters? You can make changes to your “station name” online in the Nielsen system. Just take something out and add “Christmas” or “holiday” or whatever.
The first question is why bother? Well, diarykeepers occasionally write down “Christmas music” and nothing else as an entry. An editor has to figure out if credit can be given. If a station has “Christmas” in their station name, you’ve just made a Nielsen editor’s life a little easier.
Your next question may be something to the effect of “I’m the PD of a news/talk or sports station and I don’t play any Christmas music”. Or perhaps you are overseeing a music station or two or three, but the A/C station across the street is the holiday music station in your market. Do you play any Christmas music? Just about every music station does. Are you talking about the holidays at all? I believe the proper term is “gaming the system”.
Some readers may be the GM/PD/MD for the big Christmas station in the market. If you’re running wall-to-wall holiday music when you read this, check what your competitors have registered. If they’re not the holiday music station, complain to your Nielsen rep. When I was at Cumulus, I used to check the station names on a regular basis and if something looked fishy, an email to Nielsen would follow quickly. Most of the time, I was sending emails to a Cumulus PD requesting that they change something in their station name.
Of course, you don’t want to waste the word “Christmas” on listening from January until mid-November. Make a note to change the station name back to the previous version in January when you return from the holidays.
If you’re in a PPM market, you’re probably thinking this doesn’t apply to you. Within your metro, that’s right. However, if you have a signal that goes into the non-metro area, you should make sure your 25 characters are up to date. That’s because you have diaries listening to you and while you may not be very interested, the networks that you’re affiliated with do care.
The RADAR network service is gone, but the networks are using Nielsen’s Nationwide service which covers all the TV DMAs, not just radio metros. The networks want every quarter hour they can get, and you can help them without doing much work at all. Make sure your 100KW signal is getting maximum credit wherever it can be heard, and the network folks will thank you for it.
Even if you don’t want to play the “let’s see if I can get some credit for playing Christmas music when my competitor is the Christmas music station” game, make sure your 25 characters are up to date. You may not have to change the 25 characters for years if you don’t change format, so this won’t add to your workload.
Take a few minutes, make sure you’re getting all the credit you deserve and perhaps some you don’t deserve.
Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. To stay updated, sign up for our newsletters and get the latest information delivered straight to your inbox.
Tommy Kramer is a 35-year industry veteran with experience in programming, operations management, and talent coaching. He has worked with over 350 stations in all formats, specializing in coaching morning shows.
The Texas Radio Hall of Fame member also works with voice actors and is a frequent blogger on his website, kramermedia.net.
He is this week’s featured consultant.
Jeff Lynn: Give me your overall view of the state of the radio industry.
Tommy Kramer: It’s easy to hear that radio is a dying medium, but the vast successes across the country in Talk, Country, CHR, and Contemporary Christian – not to mention some pretty exciting Latino stations – prove that this is not true.
There are a lot of dull, boring “paint by numbers” stations, though. I don’t want to hear the exact same music and Content in Dallas as I do in Milwaukee.
JL: How do you determine the best approach when starting with a new client?
TK: That’s an easy one. The first thing I look for is what they do best, no matter how raw the air talent is. Then, in little bite-size pieces, we gradually take away everything else, so we only LEAVE what they do best.
JL: Do you find more successful talents more open to coaching than younger talent in smaller markets?
TK: It depends on how smart they are, regardless of market size or experience. Marlon Brando had a coach. So did Tom Brady. So did Michael Jordan. Anyone who thinks they can’t improve with good coaching has their head in the sand. You should ALWAYS be looking for a way to get better.
JL: What is the difference between coaching radio talent vs. voice actors?
TK: I use a lot of voice acting (and just plain acting) techniques in my coaching, but I’d say that voice actors who haven’t done radio are more of a challenge. I’ve worked with people just looking to get started to people making millions of dollars a year in both radio and the voice acting arena. Standing out in the voice-acting arena is much harder.
JL: No need to name names but tell me about a particularly difficult talent and how you broke through with them.
TK: A morning team show in Florida. When I was Corporate Talent Coach of Paxson Radio’s 47 stations, we had them on several of our stations in all the bigger markets in Florida and a few other cities. They didn’t want to be coached, the atmosphere was toxic at times, but I just did my best to tighten up the show and overcome one key member leaving the show, and they did well until Paxson sold to I-Heart. The other partner in the show, who went on to do a show on Sirius XM, complimented me one time on the air years later, saying he had learned a lot from me. You never know…
JL: How are you coaching talent to extend their brand with social media and podcasts?
TK: We use all sorts of ideas for social. We lean heavily on video, stuff that goes deeper on a subject than you can on the air, parody songs (if they have them), interviews, basically constantly feeding and refreshing Content. And we use quite a bit of social media references in the radio show. Podcasts are a different breed, however. I get people from total beginners who have never been on the air to seasoned veterans or hip Gen Z types who think they’re gonna have 200,000 listeners in a month. I don’t enjoy podcast work nearly as much as radio and TV coaching.
JL: What tips do you have for show prep? Music radio.
TK: Start in your living room and work out from there. No “clickbait” article in the world can match what you have in common with the listener that matters to that person TODAY. My first mentor, the great Larry Ryan in Shreveport, Louisiana, told me early on that “you set yourself up as the expert,” and people come to trust you. I can’t walk down the street there with Larry without somebody coming up to him to say “Hi” like they’re old friends and that they listen to him every day.
JL: Your website has a blog entry about “conquering liners.” Could you expand on that?
TK: Sure. Liners are usually boring, and the “reads” are usually boring. “We’ve always done them” is no reason to continue. Many legendary stations had no liners or slogans. Their “liner” was their NAME. So, I give simple voice acting tips on how to make them come alive on the air. But as we dive deeper than the entry on my website, some of the tips are things that people have never heard, since they came from a combination of Acting (my stepfather was a brilliant actor, and was coached by legends), Writing (I’ve written over 800 coaching tips and articles for radio trade publications, and literally hundreds and hundreds of liners, promos, Imaging pieces, and commercials) and Musicianship (I’m a guitar player, and have always found that a musician’s sense of timing was a difference maker).
JL: Do you have a tip for writing station liners, imaging, and seizing a moment?
TK: Don’t try to be cute unless it’s “smart” cute. (Think Steve Martin or Garry Shandling.) State what makes you different. Rinse and repeat a million times. Seizing a moment is done on the air, repeated in a promo.
JL: What is the best career advice ever given to you?
TK: I don’t know where to start. Lee Abrams: “You can’t be funny every time you open the mic.” Steve Kelly and Bill Young helping me find my on-air voice. But I’d say the best advice for me, and for anyone, came from the Dean of Science Fiction, Robert Heinlein, who said in one of his books, “Be yourself, and be it in style.”
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The process to prepare and execute a successful banner drop on First Things First is an elaborate paradigm that requires successful planning, collaboration and implementation within the flow of discussion. Kevin Wildes, the co-host of the afternoon television program on FS1, recognizes that a preponderance of this work is completed before his arrival to the studio for the live venture.
After ideating a banner, people on the production team are responsible for ordering, configuring and rehearsing prior to the show. Those in audio operations ensure that the distinctive music plays in coordination with the drop, which ultimately takes a few seconds and creates an exciting moment on the screen. In the end, Wildes estimates that it requires roughly 20 people for each banner drop, representing an intricate endeavor completed without strenuous complications.
For the production of a typical episode of the show, there is a control room filled with staff that helps build the presentation surrounding the sports discussion with Wildes and his colleagues. In the hours leading up to the program, the research team explores different hypotheses and conjectures from on-air talent, delivering pertinent information in a timely manner. As someone who has performed many integral roles throughout his television career, Wildes has an understanding of the tasks at hand and aims to facilitate compiling and broadcasting the show.
“The show is a product of everybody’s enthusiasm, intelligence and hard work,” Wildes said. “I’m just the guy that sort of puts the finishing coat of paint on it.”
Wildes has been one-third of a trio that includes Nick Wright and Chris Broussard since the new configuration of First Things First was revealed three years ago. Emanating with a tangible background in management and television production, he has offered his credible knowledge and opinions towards enhancing the viewing experience. Although he formally opens the program emphasizing that it is live from New York City and prepares for astute sports discussion, he does not take himself too seriously and engages in lighthearted revelry while exhibiting authenticity and candor.
“I grew up loving the Red Sox when I’ve lived in New York for 30 years, and I know I’m supposed to hate the Yankees – I don’t, I’m sorry,” Wildes explained. “I like Aaron Judge, I kind of like the Yankees. Like, ‘You’re not allowed to do that.’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, I am.’”
Drawing off a lesson he learned earlier in his career as a producer at ESPN, Wildes aims for First Things First to strike smiles, smarts and surprises. These three pillars function as a guiding light for every project on which he has worked, something he adopted after incessantly pitching ideas during a meeting with ESPN executive John Walsh. Walsh emphasized that shows are good when they contain the aforementioned triumvirate, a principle thereupon embedded in his logic.
“I think that we have an enthusiastic team, that we try to deliver on the proposition of smart, smile and surprise, and I think that we are trying our best to both make each other laugh – me in front of the camera – we’re trying to make each other laugh, we’re trying to make each other smarter, and everyone that’s on the show is legitimately interested in what the other person has to say,” Wildes said, “and I think that’s kind of like the key.”
Consumers of sports media content find themselves immersed in an environment replete with selection where independent creators and larger conglomerates among different verticals are competing for attention. A potential value proposition for viewers to watch First Things First can be ascribed to recurring franchises rooted in the larger show. From a weekly segment that ranks NFL quarterbacks on specific tiers based on their play to displaying highlights classified as ‘Weird and Wonderful,’ the show offers creative, fresh content that merits discourse and debate.
“It’s naturally easier to have things be fresh than if, for example, we were doing a food show,” Wildes surmised. “If it was Food Things First and we were like, ‘Alright, top 10 Thanksgiving foods. Yet again, turkey coming in the top. Cranberry sauce makes a run,’ there’s nothing changing. So because sports is constantly changing, everything is going to change, and then we’re just trying to put a little spin on it, and a lot of that is Nick’s creativity as well and Brou’s creativity of how that segment is set up so that we’re always kind of pushing each other to move things around.”
Yet the program is not rooted in the debate format, nor does it have a traditional moderator guiding the conversation. Instead, Wildes offers an analogy in that he and his colleagues rotate serving as the lead singer of a band and can also play drums and guitar to contribute towards the melody. Versatility and an assortment of previous ventures enables the cast to quickly change roles, ostensibly expanding the palette on which they can ideate and create compelling, informative and entertaining segments.
“They are committed to excellence, and there’s a healthy rivalry between us all on who gets to make the best point and who was right about whatever prediction, and it really fuels some fun television,” Wildes said of his on-air colleagues. “The other thing [is] they are like legit great guys, so even when we’re [in] the fiercest debate, there is an undercurrent of caring for the other person and respecting the other person. We really do like each other, bottom line. We just legit like each other, and we hope that comes through.”
From the time the show premiered in September 2017, it had aired within the morning timeslot preceding Undisputed with Skip Bayless and Shannon Sharpe. Wildes joined the program in 2020 shortly before professional sports leagues stopped play as a result of health and safety concerns surrounding an emerging global pandemic.
The challenge of starring on a sports television show with a dearth of games and storylines to discuss, combined with the fact that Wildes had never been a front-facing on-air talent in this capacity, represented a unique environment through which to navigate. Working in his favor, however, was his familiarity with sports and television production in general, fostered during his time at La Salle University where he interned on The Late Show with David Letterman as a junior. In fact, it was from this show that Wildes drew the inspiration for his distinguished introduction for episodes of First Things First.
“My boss at Letterman ended up working at ESPN, and two or three years later, he hired me to work at ESPN,” Wildes said. “So that was kind of like the serendipitous moment of sort of getting into the sports world.”
During his stint at ESPN, Wildes worked behind the camera where he served as the coordinating producer of studio shows such as SportsNation, Numbers Never Lie and Winners Bracket. The network later named him the vice president of original content for NBA studio production that resulted in the expansion of NBA Countdown to an hour-long program and the development and subsequent premiere of The Jump. Additionally, he collaborated with Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant on a project that deciphered rudimental and analytical elements of basketball.
Wildes attributes his chance to step in front of the camera to executives at FS1 willing to take a leap of faith, and it is something for which he remains thankful. Part of the concomitant ambiguity was diminished from his appearances on The Bill Simmons Podcast within the “Half-Baked Ideas” segment, cultivating familiarity with his approach towards conversation. At the same time, Wildes was afforded the patience necessary to ascertain his responsibilities and how to best fulfill his role.
“I think people look at it as, ‘Oh, you were behind the scenes, and now you’re in front of the camera,’ and they view that as a real pivot, which makes total sense, but I don’t view it as a big a pivot [as] maybe someone on the outside world,” Wildes explained. “I view it as, ‘I used to play second base and now I have to pitch.’ It’s a pivot, but it’s not a massive pivot.”
Whereas the show was previously 90 minutes in duration, FS1 decided to expand the show to two hours in length this past July. The revamped FS1 lineup, which was revealed in late August, contains several new personalities in different timeslots as the network adapts to altered consumption habits and distribution verticals. Prior to Game 4 of the World Series, First Things First broadcast live from Yankee Stadium, a surreal moment that required Wildes to fight the urge to be awestruck.
“We’re really thankful for the opportunity,” Wildes said. “It’s funny – we were there, we were saying, ‘It’s this funny mix of us trying to act.’ You have to act like it’s just, you know, ‘Welcome to the show. We’re here before the World Series.’”
Despite the incessant nature of change, First Things First has garnered longevity and elicited positive reviews from the viewing audience. Displaying expertise, rapport and relatability, the team crafts an afternoon offering that conveys a comprehensive, nuanced picture of the landscape without inundating or confusing its viewing audience with enigmatic parlance. With two new shows in morning drive and reconfigured timing in the afternoons, Wildes has confidence that FS1 can continue to thrive through industry headwinds and challenges.
“I believe in everybody involved in the network,” Wildes said. “I’ve worked [at] a lot of places, and I’ve been very lucky to work with a lot of smart people, and I 100% believe in the teams in front of and behind the camera.”
After cooking a steak on the grill, it is generally advised to let it rest so the liquids are able to effectively be reabsorbed. Applying this credence to sports television, Wildes does not evaluate an episode of the show once it concludes; rather, he waits a few weeks to a month to review his performance. In this manner, he is able to eliminate subjectivity or bias and examine his performance through a different lens. Upon satisfying this interlude, he scrutinizes facets of the show and considers incremental changes he can make while concurrently thinking about longer plays, such as Super Bowl LIX and the NBA Playoffs.
“I kind of vacillate between those two things – tiny, picking weeds, like, ‘Oh, that transition should be a little bit different,’ or, ‘I should be tighter on ‘Weird and Wonderful,’’ to, ‘Oh, we should think about doing something huge for Opening Day maybe or the next Dodgers-Yankees game,’” Wildes outlined. “So those are kind of the two contrasting creative tasks that I look at.”
Wildes surmises that if he won the lottery and obtained a jackpot, he would still continue to show up for work and partake in First Things First. Being able to stay motivated and invested throughout the year is not only derived from his inherent passion for sports, but also through the collective spirit of the team and its dedication to presenting smarts, smiles and surprises on a daily basis. The synergy evident between Wildes and his colleagues is portrayed on the screen, and it has proven to resonate with sports fans and consumers across the country.
“‘Why are my kids jumping on a trampoline?’ They don’t necessarily need motivation; they just really like it,” Wildes presumed. “So the atmosphere, the team, Nick and Chris, it’s just fun, and I’m very lucky to be working with such great people on such a great team.”
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In February of 2021, a new podcast hit the scene with two of the most famous women in sports broadcasting today, Erin Andrews and Charissa Thompson. While hundreds of thousands, if not millions of podcasts have come and gone since then, the two friends who share very similar work lives and interests are still going strong. While I had heard and seen many clips from the show in the past, I had yet to tune in for a full episode because, to be honest, I kind of viewed it as a ‘chick podcast.’ However, that isn’t exactly what I found when I eavesdropped in on episode 284 of the podcast titled, ‘Do We Have Dirty Mouths?’
I won’t bury the lead here – the answer is a resounding yes, they do, in fact, have dirty mouths, but they are working on it and promise to get better at it. That is just one of things I learned when tuning in to the show, which I did via YouTube. The show has garnered nearly 50,000 subscribers via the video platform and has over 175,000 followers on its Instagram account.
None of the numbers the show has done is really a surprise. Not only are Andrews and Thompson both incredibly talented, but they are also on the scene for some of the biggest sporting events on the calendar and get to talk with many of the athletes sports fans want to hear from. And they happen to be really good friends who, as they say, would be doing this anyway even if it weren’t being recorded.
When Calm Down With Erin Andrews and Charissa Thompson was first announced, it was said the show would be “all about the conversations you would have with your friends when you think others aren’t listening. It’s like a text chain put into a podcast. This is the place where Erin and Charissa get real, and no subject is off limits. It’s a ‘pull back the curtain’ look into their lives, while they also ask questions about everyone else’s. Get ready for unfiltered conversations between two girlfriends about life, gossip, sports, and pretty much every random topic that needs to be dissected.”
Never has a description of a show matched the content any better. Mission accomplished.
The first thing I noticed about the show featuring the longtime lead reporter for the NFL on FOX and the host for Amazon’s Thursday Night Football on Prime Video is the incredible chemistry they have. I am sure they prepared before the episode and probably had material they were referencing, but you wouldn’t know it by watching or listening. It really sounds like they are just having a private conversation about their lives, and you are being welcomed into it.
So, yes there is a lot of ‘girl talk’ as you would expect, but this show is far from just a girl’s club. Again, their lives this time of year revolve around the same thing most sports fans lives revolve around, football. Not many people get to spend game day on the field where the action is and these two do.
At the front of the episode, the two were talking about their voices and said what most people say, which is they don’t like necessarily hearing themselves. Thompson talked about her ‘broadcast voice’ while Andrews said, “You have your announcer voice, I try to have one, but my voice couldn’t be worse.”
Immediately you hear something which will be a constant throughout the show and that is the two friends pumping each other up and not letting them get too negative about themselves. They support each other, they root for each other, and they lean on each other.
Football fans will love the insider conversation. During one part of the show, Andrews talked about practicing a report she was getting ready to do and said she found herself imitating Melissa Stark and actually threw to Mike Tirico while she was practicing. Tirico, of course, is the lead play-by-play voice for NBC’s Sunday Night Football which Stark works on. Andrews is teamed with Kevin Burkhardt and Tom Brady after many years of working with Joe Buck and Troy Aikman.
Thompson than says about Stark, “Melissa Stark, is/was our Michael Jordan. I still have her haircut that she had when she first came on Monday night sidelines.” Andrews adds, “She has always been so good to us, and we love her…She has not aged, which is really annoying.” Thompson replies, “Not a fu***** day!” Again, they are working on the potty mouths.
Next, they moved into the two games they each had the previous week and this is where you start to get the overall landscape of the podcast. In this section, they not only talk about the games and what actually happened that football fans might want to hear, they also talk about things they have to deal with and think about for games, such as what to wear, how to wear their hair and how to deal with bad weather.
While Andrews had the Tampa Bay-San Francisco game, Thompson was at a great game between Baltimore and Cincinnati. “You looked so great, the wind was blowing, you were in this great coat…you looked gorgeous,” Andrews told Thompson.
You probably won’t hear the word ‘frumpy’ much on a lot of other podcasts that talk about football, but it came up on Calm Down as Thompson described how she felt in a big coat she was wearing. Andrews says to those tuning in, “Guys, it’s hard to have a frumpy day when you are on in front of how many millions of people?”
The two talked as well about what they do during the games. Many might be surprised to know that Andrews logs the entire game on a notepad as it is going on. She said it helps her stay locked in and she is marking down key things Burkhardt and Brady are saying that she can then use to follow up on when she talks with any players or coaches. It seemed Thompson was also learning this for the first time, and she seemed to think Andrews was nuts for doing it.
I really liked a line Thompson said during this part of the podcast, when she said, “It is an honor to have front row seats to watch these athletes.” You can tell both love what they do, and they really enjoy being able to experience it all at the same time and talk about it together.
The two women know their stuff when it comes to football and those they are covering. They are also both very attractive and while many years ago that may have been all you needed to obtain a job like the ones they have, the times have changed, and as the saying goes, ‘you can’t just be a pretty face.’ As you listen to what they are saying about the games and teams they cover, it is obvious neither one is relying on anything other than their knowledge, hard work, relationships and their broadcasting teams.
I sensed a bit of jealousy from Andrews in this episode, mainly because Thompson’s schedule of games has been better of late. While Thompson was preparing for an NFC East battle between the Washington Commanders and the Philadelphia Eagles, Andrews and her FOX Sports partners will have the Green Bay Packers playing at the Chicago Bears.
Not only do you learn plenty of things about sports, including the two broadcasters’ affection for tight ends in the NFL, but you also learn about their interests away from the cameras and get into their personal lives. Thompson talked about shows she was watching and being upset Kevin Costner has left Yellowstone, Andrews talked about trying to reach her husband to tell him to get the blanket out of their son Mack’s crib.
Whether it was how you should clean up after yourself at the gym, why Charissa hates the term ‘squash beef’ or how long pumpkin flavored items should stay around before things flip to peppermint, the ladies cover it all. The show moves quickly, and episodes are perfectly timed at around 40 minutes.
Throughout the show I did think to myself at least once that the two sure do cuss a lot. But so do I, so it didn’t bother me. However, they both seemed a bit bothered by it when the subject came up. Andrews said, “I need to watch my mouth, its gross, it’s pretty foul. It’s disgusting, I really need to tighten it up. I think of women that I look up to and think they would never speak this way. It’s my early New Year’s Resolution, again, for like the 10th year in a row.”
They said they plan to hold each other accountable about it, but in truth it does add more realism to the show. This is how they talk when they talk to each other, so why not be their very true selves on the show.
As they went from the way they talk to other things they like to do away from work, they got into talking about etiquette at the gym and Andrews seeing people who will wipe down equipment, but not the pile of sweat that is on the mat below them. As they went back and forth on what the right thing to do is, Andrews made a deal with those that attend gyms saying, “I’ll watch my mouth, you wipe the mat.”
Andrews and Thompson are funny, they’re relatable and truly have a couple of the coolest jobs in the world. Calm Down is absolutely a look into their lives and a peek behind the curtains that fans, male or female, can all enjoy.
As they wrap the show, they did a ‘Headlines’ segment where they gave thoughts on some things they saw around the internet that week. This week it involved wondering if women’s intuition is a real thing, whether you should charge a roommate who always has a companion over and whether or not Home Depot is a good spot to pick up a date.
Calm Down is a fun listen. Whether it was football and the games they are working and have worked, or it was Thompson ranting on those who save voice notes, it had everything you look for in a good podcast. It even came with a great movie line drop from Charissa who told a story about watching people not use tongs to pick up food in the Delta lounge when she quoted Carl the Janitor from Breakfast Club who famously said, “I am the eyes and ears of this institution.”
Erin Andrews and Charissa Thompson are lucky in a lot of ways. For their podcast, they are lucky to have their friendship and the shared journey of their careers. Thompson, towards the end of the show, also said they are lucky for another reason, which may or may not make for a good tag line for their show.
“We are lucky that we have any boyfriends or husbands,” Thomspon said. “Because we are fu***** crazy, we are nuts!”
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As media outlets continue to go dark many are looking for new ways to keep their mics on. “It’s increasingly imperative that radio must continue to proactively educate on the opportunities we bring to campaigns at all levels,” said Mike Hulvey, President & CEO of RAB. Hulvey is one of five media insiders we spoke with who is helping their clients to have healthy revenue growth without political dollars in 2025.
“The first priority for the news media industry is to invest in a coordinated branding campaign to reinforce the value, engagement, and loyalty of news media audiences,” Jack Myers, media ecologist and founder of Media Village said.
But for a stable view, Managing Director at BIA Advisory Services Rick Ducey said to put advertising dollars aside and look at the core advertising your outlet receives. “That gives you a more stable view now that the data is stable,” he said. “But at least you’re comparing, revenue basis to [similar] revenue basis. In a political year, everyone knows there’s going to be an influx of political dollars in an even year.”
While the nearly $11 Billion spent on political advertising this year may be eye popping, Gordon Borrell, CEO of Borrell and Associates, noted, it’s just a drop in the advertising revenue bucket. “It’s a small percentage because the total advertising market in the U.S. is over $300 billion. [Political advertising] seems like a lot because it’s concentrated in television, and it can be 15 to over 20% of total revenues in a year.”
However, there is hope, especially for those with access to OTT platforms. “If you’ve got a connected television platform, it’s probably not going to be so difficult because the tide is clearly rising there,” Steve Passwaiter, President of Silver Oak Political, noted.
This rising tide plus some top adverting verticals could help grow revenue. “Among the top [growing verticals] are real estate, retail and restaurants. So, if you’re trying to get dollars into your media business, if you go after people that are trying to buy advertising, why not hang out with them and get some of their ad spend?” Ducey noted.
Passwaiter said, “You still need to think long and hard as an operator about what do I need to do here to really amp up my share coming from local markets and the way that you do that is you’ve got to find a way to get transactional business to give you more and you’ve got to find a way to grow your direct business. And it’s probably a good time to evaluate your offer.”
Myers added that advertisers might use more caution this year and if the outlet is competing with digital platforms, it’s essential “to highlight their unique value propositions, like credibility and local insights, to retain and attract advertisers.”
It’s not just the advertisers needs stations need to keep in mind. It’s also the needs of the consumer and Hulvey believes many will be cautious in 2025. “We expect to see some cautious consumer concerns; however, categories spanning legal and professional services, health care, financial planning, recruitment, insurance and even automotive have indicated growth for the coming year. Those categories align well with audiences of strong news brands.”
But still, Borell notes it is key to control company spending. “The only way for stations to survive and to continue to attract for the public companies’ investors is to put expense control front and center. It becomes more of an expense control focus than a revenue growth focus. There will be some attention given to revenue growth, particularly with OTT that is showing growth, but not at a pace that is compensating for the loss in broadcast dollars.”
Looking forward to 2025, growth might be small, but outlets will need to work extra hard to make it meaningful. “We’re forecasting that $171 billion we think will be spent in advertising targeting local audiences across the 16 media we track,” Ducey said. “The fastest growing media will be a category we call PC laptop. Basically, it’s ads targeting that device type. And then OTT, which is mostly streaming content to TV sets.”
More specifically, Borell believes digital growth is to be expected but in order to achieve healthy growth, “You have to be phenomenally aggressive in digital. Because this year for most radio stations, their radio sales have declined three, four, five percent.” Borrell went on to say, “Next year, television is going to see five, ten, twelve percent declines in broadcast. So, to get that to maintain growth, you get my point. To maintain growth, you’re going to have to drive really significant digital dollars.”
Looking at radio specifically, Hulvey noted, “As we move into a post-election environment, having local, regional, and national advertisers utilizing radio in all its forms sets up a positive path in 2025. As for a specific growth objective, we have seen national partners such as BIA indicate 5% growth is plausible in their various models. Radio has many factors in its favor; we must continue to collaborate, engage, and embrace those opportunities in pursuit of growth.”
Outlets also can’t forget about subscription., “For news media brands, it means striking a balance between ad revenue, subscription growth, and new digital products,” Myers said. “Sustainable growth focuses on strengthening the brand’s value proposition to both advertisers and audiences. A healthy growth trajectory might also involve leveraging data and analytics to understand audience behaviors and better serve their needs, ultimately driving loyalty and creating more opportunities for advertisers. In a non-political year, maintaining or slightly growing revenue through these diversified approaches indicates a robust and adaptable strategy.”
Passwaiter noted 2025 can be fruitful with a push for digital. “If you’ve got radio and local television and still have this annoying habit of working really well for local merchants and in combination with some of the digital assets that these guys have, they’ve got a lot of juice. I hope they realize how much they have, and they’ve been in the markets for a long time. That experience means something.”
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Warner Bros. Discovery and the NBA are set to settle their lawsuit over broadcasting rights. The settlement was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
WBD will receive rights to show league content on Bleacher Report and House of Highlights and the opportunity to distribute games in some overseas markets. WBD will get free access to league highlights for the next 11 years.
Over the summer, after the NBA announced it had reached agreements with Disney, NBCUniversal and Amazon on 11-year broadcasting rights agreements, WBD filed suit alleging its expiring contract gave them the right to match one of the offers. The terms of the new agreements the NBA secured are reportedly worth a total of $76 billion.
“Together these agreements ensure fans will continue to enjoy TNT’s Inside the NBA and create tremendous value for our entire portfolio as we accelerate the growth of TNT Sports, Bleacher Report, House of Highlights and our global sports business,” said David Zaslav, CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery. “We are pleased to partner with the NBA and Disney/ESPN, and to have solidified long-term rights and revenue for WBD.”
NBA commissioner Adam Silver added, “The opportunity to continue the iconic and Emmy Award-winning Inside the NBA is a huge win for basketball fans everywhere. We look forward to building on our longstanding partnership with TNT Sports and working together to promote NBA content across key WBD and NBA platforms.”
Additionally, Warner Bros. Discovery is expected to license Inside the NBA to ESPN and ABC starting next season in a separate agreement. The popular show featuring Ernie Johnson, Shaquille O’Neal, Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley will continue to be produced by WBD with the potential for additional versions of the show being made. Meanwhile, the hosts would remain employees of WBD.
Inside the NBA will appear on ESPN and ABC surrounding high-profile live events, including ESPN’s pregame, halftime and postgame coverage of the NBA Finals on ABC, Conference Finals, NBA Playoffs, all ABC games after January 1, Christmas Day, opening week, the final week of the season and other marquee live events.
Additionally, WBD would receive some rights to show Big 12 football and men’s basketball as part of the agreement with Disney. The games are expected to air on TNT and to be streamed by Max.
In a release, ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro said, “Inside the NBA is universally recognized as one of the best and most culturally impactful shows in sports. We have long-admired the immensely talented team and are thrilled to add their chemistry and knowledge to our robust set of NBA studio offerings to super-serve NBA fans like never before. The addition of Inside the NBA further solidifies ESPN as the preeminent destination for sports fans.”
Luis Silberwasser, CEO & Chairman, TNT Sports added, “At TNT Sports, we take great pride in our Inside the NBA show and know its success is both a reflection of the iconic talent on set and the incredible people behind the scenes who consistently demonstrate the creativity and craft of our great team. We are thrilled to continue to produce Inside the NBA for ESPN and ABC, ensuring fans are able to keep enjoying the magic of this show during the NBA season.”
ESPN says it will continue to produce NBA Countdown and NBA Today in addition to having Inside the NBA.
WBD and TNT Sports had recently worked an agreement with ESPN to air some College Football Playoff games. Additionally, TNT Sports has signed media rights deals with the French Open and Big East basketball to go along with the other sports it carries such as MLB, NHL and wrestling.
Saturday news drop. Warner Bros. Discovery settles legal fight with NBA. Details on what Warner got as well as WBD – ESPN deals involving Inside the NBA and Big 12 college football and basketball. https://t.co/OtuQECjxKY via @WSJ
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Netflix said Saturday night’s fight between Logan Paul and Mike Tyson drew in 60 million households worldwide. The fight took place live from AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. According to the company, the broadcast peaked at 65 million concurrent streams. Many viewers reported issues with the stream and social media was filled with negative complaints about the signal as well as the broadcast overall.
Paul, 27, won a unanimous decision over the 58-year-old former heavyweight champion, who came out of retirement to collect at least a $20 million dollar pay day. Reports say Paul was in line to receive a minimum of $40 million.
Netflix posted on their X account saying, “60 million households around the world tuned in live to watch Paul vs. Tyson! The boxing mega-event dominated social media, shattered records, and even had our buffering systems on the ropes.”
Mike Tyson wrote, “This is one of those situations when you lost but still won. I’m grateful for last night. No regrets to get in ring one last time. I almost died in June. Had 8 blood transfusions. Lost half my blood and 25lbs in hospital and had to fight to get healthy to fight so I won. To have my children see me stand toe to toe and finish 8 rounds with a talented fighter half my age in front of a packed Dallas Cowboy stadium is an experience that no man has the right to ask for. Thank you.”
The streaming network also said 50 million households across the globe watched the co-main event, which saw Katie Taylor retain her undisputed women’s lightweight championship in a decision over Amanda Serrano.
The numbers reported come directly from Netflix, without 3rd-party verification.
60 million households around the world tuned in live to watch Paul vs. Tyson!
The boxing mega-event dominated social media, shattered records, and even had our buffering systems on the ropes. pic.twitter.com/kA8LjfAJSk
Nearly 50 million households globally tuned in live for the co-main event of Serrano vs. Taylor — the bout is likely to be the most watched professional women's sporting event in U.S. history. pic.twitter.com/t4jEHQrTGa
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Amazon’s Prime Video scored an average audience of 15.51 million viewers for their Thursday Night Football matchup featuring the Washington Commanders and the Philadelphia Eagles. It was a low-scoring game through three quarters, but the Eagles scored 20 points in the fourth quarter to win the game 26-18.
The audience makes the game the most-watched TNF broadcast in seven weeks, and the third most-watched game of the season. The game peaked at 16.23 million and was an 11% year-over-year increase.
Through ten games on the year, TNF‘s record season is now averaging 14.26 million viewers, pacing up 7% more than the 2023 season-to-date average (12.31M), 11% above the 2023 full-season average (11.86M), and 38% over the 2022 full-season average (9.58M).
As it has for 32 consecutive weeks, TNF on Prime won the night among total viewers across all head-to-head broadcast and cable programming.
For the season to date, TNF on Prime Video’s median age is 48.2, more than 7 years younger than audiences watching the NFL on linear networks which is 55.3 and almost 15 years younger than the broadcast primetime average age of 62.9.
The initial figures used in this story are from Nielsen’s Panel Only measurements, the full numbers have now been used to update the story.
