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As a lifelong basketball aficionado, Alan Hahn tries to act as a facilitator who positions his teammates for sustained success. Akin to a point guard directing traffic on the hardwood, he seeks to ensure that he obtains the best out of his partners as the team seeks to craft an informative, entertaining and engaging sports talk radio program.
For the last several years, Hahn has been successful in this endeavor with Bart Scott, a linebacker who played 11 seasons in the NFL and concluded his career with the New York Jets. Scott gave Hahn an early vote of confidence in requesting to host alongside him upon arriving at ESPN New York in 2019. In fact, it represented a fresh start for Hahn after he nearly departed sports talk radio entirely following frustration amid a lot of opportunity.
With more avenues for sports media coverage than ever before, Hahn worries that the business has ostensibly rendered itself diluted. Through his observations, he has evinced that there are people giving opinions who lack traditional modes of credibility and media background. Although Hahn is energized by the increased accessibility for consumers to hear radio stations from around the country and the domestic appeal of New York-based teams, he aspires for hosts to have the proper ethos on the airwaves.
“I do worry that there isn’t an emphasis put on somebody that actually has credibility [and] that can be trusted with their information versus somebody that’s just, ‘This dude’s funny, so I don’t care that he makes it up, [and] I don’t care that he is reckless with his takes. I just think it’s great,’ and I worry about that,” Hahn said, “but again, ratings are everything, and if you’re getting ratings, God bless you, you’re better than I am.”
Although ESPN New York is not available through the traditional FM dial, Hahn finds it easiest to listen through the app while driving. The streaming audience for the midday show, he has come to understand, is on par with the programs in drive time, and its reach has been further expanded through the reach of 880 AM. Rather than thinking about potential shortcomings, Hahn has shifted his focus towards the benefits associated with the refined distribution approach.
“We get calls because of that app,” Hahn said, “and I think that’s great too because there are New York fans, people that have either moved away or maybe are just away on business, and they still want to consume the show, and they can because of that, so you don’t have to be a national show to have national appeal.”
The traditional means of keeping score has deviated from a decision to unsubscribe from Nielsen Media Research ratings data at the local level, signaling an emphasis on proprietary and internal metrics to gauge its performance. Hahn remembers questioning how the system effectively measured the aggregate after observing a large fluctuation between quarterly books. Hahn and Scott initially started hosting their show locally but were later added to the national network lineup, leading the team to reconsider how they were approaching topics.
“Once all that happened, I was like, ‘Forget it – it just doesn’t make sense to me,’” Hahn said. “….It doesn’t affect us anymore, and I’m glad for it because I think not being obsessed with it, it helps you just relax and just do your show the way you want to do it.”
Hahn feels fortunate to have only applied for one job in his professional career, and he was able to build momentum from the position to garner additional ventures in the New York metropolitan area. Starting his pursuit out of college working as a phone clerk at Newsday, he found himself in the building and continuously sought out the next challenge. Company management had alerted Hahn that it did not hire part-time employees to full-time positions, advising that he would need to work elsewhere and could potentially return in the future. Hahn, however, demonstrated persistence and earned beat reporting roles for the Islanders and Knicks over the ensuing decade.
Hahn first appeared on MSG Networks during the summer of 2010 when superstar NBA forward LeBron James was exploring free agency. After he was only supposed to appear for one segment, the network kept him on the rest of the episode and asked him to return the next week. Following additional episodes, MSG Networks asked Hahn if he would be interested in appearing on Knicks postgame shows if it aligned with his schedule, a proposition in which Newsday permitted him to take part.
“When they said, ‘Your camera,’ I would freeze and look around like, ‘Wait, which camera’s mine? I don’t know which one’s mine,’” Hahn recalled. “They would talk to me in my ear, and I would stop talking to listen to the producer in my ear or the director in my ear, and they’re like, ‘No, don’t stop talking. Keep talking.’ That’s all skills that you have to develop that they let me develop over time, and hopefully none of those clips are available on YouTube.”
The studios for ESPN New York were previously located adjacent to Madison Square Garden, providing quick access for Hahn to take the air with Dave Rothenberg after select games. Program director Justin Craig asked Hahn to come in and do the same thing on the weekend, and he began making more routine appearances behind the microphone as a guest. On one particular Sunday night, he was scheduled to appear on a show and noticed there was no host in the studio. Before taking the air, he asked the producer who would be hosting and found out that he would be anchoring the program.
“That first segment was only 10 minutes long – two minutes in, I ran out of material; I had nothing left,” Hahn said. “I was sweating – it was just crazy – but because when you’re a radio host, there is no backspace [and] there is no edit, there is no time to be creative. You have to just ad lib, you have to riff, you have to have something prepared to talk about and be able to talk about it, and that took time, but it also took me being thrown into the pool and [being] told, ‘Swim,’ which I did.”
Hahn continued to host on ESPN New York and began bringing former Islanders goaltender Rick DiPietro into the studio to make contributions. The initial entreaty came during a golf outing after DiPietro had texted Hahn during the show with his own opinions and demonstrated his sports expertise.
This duo started gaining traction and eventually landed its own midday show where it continued to build a cadre of listeners invested in the program. Despite early success though, Hahn felt that he was being self-conscious and struggling to fulfill his role while continuing to balance his other responsibilities. Considering that he had never intended to be a radio host, he informed station general manager Tim McCarthy that he wanted to quit.
“I just thought, ‘Let me walk away. It’ll be better for everybody,’ and he said, ‘No, I’m not letting you do it. I’m not letting you do it,’ and so he gave me the 7 to 10,” Hahn explained. “He says, ‘Just do this, and let’s figure it out. See how it feels,’ so he didn’t have to do that. He could have just said, ‘Fine, go. Like, whatever,’ but he wouldn’t let me give up on it, and so I owe him a lot for that.”
Instantiated in the evening slot, Hahn was able to reset and find his voice as a host, renewing confidence in his abilities. Prior to that time, he believed he was too busy always trying to respond to what DiPietro said and was apprehensive about emitting ineptitudes. Hahn continued to develop when he started filling in on ESPN Radio in morning drive for Zubin Mehenti, situated at the network’s Seaport District studios. The proximity to Mike Greenberg allowed Hahn to observe and learn more about the craft from him, along with appearing on morning shows such as Get Up and First Take.
“Once I saw him and how he worked and what he put into it – the energy he brought to it – the way he’s able to transition, the way he’s able to set people up, the way he made everything sound like it’s the greatest freaking thing you’re going to hear today, that is, to me, when I graduated from hosting school and understood how to do it,” Hahn said, “and I feel like since then, that’s why I’ve been at my best because of learning [and] from seeing that firsthand, but from the failures too.”
When Hahn and Scott first started working together, they were situated remotely because of health and safety protocols related to the global pandemic. Upon the shift to the national airwaves in early 2021, the program struggled to find its identity and weigh New York sports discussion with the greater landscape.
“Eventually, it was like, ‘Alright, these guys are better in New York – let’s bring them back,’ so we went back,” Hahn said. “It’s only now, since the move back, that we have found a consistency where we’re together on a regular basis in studio.”
Despite possessing tangible playing experience and esoteric knowledge, Scott allows Hahn to elucidate his opinions and perspectives on the action. It is a gesture that Hahn appreciates and part of what has made Scott a “great teammate” for the show. At the same time, the duo knows that while they want to synthesize different aspects of the games, hosting a compelling radio program also includes a variety of other elements.
“It’s not just static radio that, ‘It’s you talk, then I talk, then you talk,’” Hahn said. “We both have this feeling of the podcast mode – conversational – that every now and then we’re going to drift off into pop culture or music, which we both share a music love, [and] movie lines, and we just laugh easy.”
The challenge in his lifestyle is balancing his hosting obligations with studio coverage of Knicks basketball during the season. Maintaining a regimen grounded in a mindset of discipline and consistency, Hahn ensures he works out, eats well and obtains respite so he is able to bring his best to his radio and television work. Viewing the landscape of ESPN though, he discerns an indefatigable work ethic and energy that he seeks to demonstrate within his responsibilities.
“I look at people like Stephen A., and Greeny’s another great example,” Hahn said. “I just look at the guys and they’re workers, and I don’t mind working. I’ve been a worker my whole life, so this, for me, is the hustle that I’m all about.”
As Hahn prepares to embark on another season of Knicks basketball on MSG Networks while continuing hosting on ESPN New York, he does not regard himself as having achieved his ultimate goal since he is not in drive time. When a previous national opportunity to work alongside Keyshawn Johnson and Jay Williams fell through, it felt like a failure, but his skillset and dedication to the craft has continued to elicit new opportunities. As someone who is fully invested in radio and television, he has his sights set on being remembered for more than his current ventures amid the concrete jungle.
“Having your name on a show is a pretty freaking big deal in New York, but having your name on a show in a drive-time slot or on a national show or on TV – I look at Stephen A., I look at Mike Greenberg, and I say that’s success,” Hahn said. “That’s the goal. That’s what you’re trying to get. I don’t know if I’m ever getting there, but that’s kind of it.”
