Former NBC News anchor Brian Williams is being eyed by Amazon Prime Video for a special election night broadcast on the streaming service.
A report from Variety claimed that the two parties were in preliminary talks for the longtime NBC Nightly News anchor to helm an election night special for the platform.
The endeavor would be a first for Amazon Prime Video. Previously, its digital video efforts were centered on entertainment and sports programming.
According to the Variety report, the deal is not finalized and should also not be viewed as a first step by Amazon of entering the news space. Rather, it follows the platform’s previous history in producing live events.
The program helmed by Williams, if it comes to fruition, is expected to focus on a both-sides approach to the happenings on election night. Brian Williams has been largely absent from news television programming since he departed NBC News and his evening program on MSNBC in December 2021.
Bonneville Denver announced changes to their weekday programming on Denver Sports 104.3 The Fan. The changes begin today and will see Brandon Stokely joining morning drive with Mike Evans and Mark Schlereth, who joins the show following his FS1 commitments each morning. Stokely had been in middays for the last eight years.
“Brandon Stokley is one of the top radio personalities in the market,” said Program Director Amanda Brown in a release. “Placing his unique blend of energy, enthusiasm, and textbook charm alongside an iconic duo like Schlereth and Evans will provide a much-needed shot of energy to your morning.”
Denver Sports analyst Cecil Lammey now steps in as co-host with Josh Dover doing middays.
“Cecil Lammey has been a staple in the Denver sports scene for nearly two decades,” Brown said. “His passion for community and tireless dedication to his craft make him the perfect fit alongside fellow Colorado native Josh Dover.”
Bonneville Denver SVP/Market Manager Katie Reid said in the company release, “I’m excited to showcase Stokely and Cecil in different timeslots; these small shifts offer a big opportunity for them to entertain and engage with new audiences.”
The complete Denver Sports 104.3 weekday lineup is as follows:
6 a.m. to 10 a.m. Stokley and Evans with Mark Schlereth 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.: Dover and Cecil 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.: The Drive with Zach Bye and Phillip Lindsay 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.: Denver Sports Tonight
As Tyler Murray was working the hockey and baseball play-by-play circuits coming up in the business, he always looked for some opportunities to call basketball games. When his fellow hockey announcers would be baffled by why he would try and add even more to his winter workload, he would always reply with, “I have to stay ready in case the Knicks ever need a guy. I want to stay fresh and keep the demo updated.”
A couple of weeks ago, MSG Networks made it official that Murray, 34, was the New York Knicks new radio play-by-play voice. He will partner with analyst Monica McNutt for the games which air on 880 ESPN New York. He takes over for Ed Cohen who held the job from 2017 until a medical condition involving his voice forced him to step away last season with Pat O’Keefe filling in.
Murray has most recently been the voice of the Triple-A Worcester Red Sox, known as the WooSox, and has over a dozen years’ experience in minor league baseball and just this year had the chance to call some games at the Major League level, filling in on Boston Red Sox games.
The story of how Murray got on the Knicks radar is one that involves something people have been telling young broadcasters forever: you never know who is listening.
In Murray’s case it was a UMass hockey game he was calling on ESPN+. Turns out, longtime Knicks television director Howie Singer went to UMass and when he doesn’t have his own game to work on, he likes to watch UMass hockey on ESPN+.
Knowing MSG Networks was looking for a new radio voice and being impressed with the announcer he heard on the hockey game, Murray was told Singer went to his boss and said, ‘Why don’t we give this guy a look and have him in for a meeting?’
Murray said next thing he knew, MSG Network’s Sr. Coordinating Producer Kevin Meininger was texting him to see if he wanted to come in for a meeting.
Murray said, “I grew up a diehard Knicks fan and still admittedly am and what a dream come true it would be and what a dream it was just to be in that room talking with Kevin about even the possibility of it.”
Murray would end up doing an audition with Knicks analyst Monica McNutt. He said the night before the audition was the NBA draft and as he was in his hotel room, he pops on the TV and sees McNutt talking to every draft pick right as their dream was coming true. Murray said it was “like that Leonardo DiCaprio meme where he’s pointing at the TV from his couch.” Murray said the next day during the audition about McNutt, “She was incredible. Made me feel right at home.”
The audition process involved candidates not knowing what game they’d be calling until an hour before they were to start. Murray found out his game was going to be Game 2 of the Knicks-Sixers series from the 2024 playoffs. Being a big Knicks fan, Murray knew what happened in that game and knew all about the backstory and finish. “I was pretty aware of it because it’s one of the craziest Knicks wins I’ve ever seen. So, I knew the game pretty well and I knew the Knicks as well as any team I’ve ever followed. So that kind of gave me confidence.”
Murray said he and McNutt called the first and last quarter of the game watching it on a big screen in the studio. When it ended, Murray said he was told very little, he got back in his car and drove home to New Hampshire.
“It was it was such a blur, almost an out of body experience. I kept thinking, ‘alright, if this goes well, you pretty much have everything you’ve ever wanted in your career, and if it doesn’t go well, being a Knicks fan is going to be a little bit different going forward.”
Alas, he finally got the call he had been waiting most of his life for. Meininger caught him as he was walking out of a WooSox game.
“Kevin said, ‘I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind the slight inconvenience of moving to New York and being our new radio voice for the New York Knicks?’ And I said, something along the lines of, ‘Are you serious? Just to confirm this is the radio voice of the New York Knicks?'”
He said they were both laughing when Meninger said the magic words, “Yes, you are our guy. There was certainly some tough competition. We had an unbelievable amount of interest and applicants in this job. But we’re so excited to have you join our team.”
Murray said his head was spinning. He said he was so excited and, “I remember having so much energy. I told Kevin, ‘I have an hour drive home, but I feel like I could run home right now.’ I was just wrapping my head around everything. It was great to share that with Kevin, I think he just liked my story of grinding for 12 years and having some success recently.
“For them to have discovered me in that way, I think they are legitimately and really excited to bring me on board. And I’m excited to work for Kevin as much as anything. Kevin’s been fantastic. So that was obviously a cool moment.”
It gets better.
Murray waited to get home to tell his wife, and they went out for a celebratory dinner. They were headed to Maine that weekend to see Tyler’s parents and share big news. That trip was already planned complete with big news, because the initial reason for the visit was to tell them they were going to be grandparents for the first time as Tyler and his wife are expecting their first child.
Murray said they let the baby news settle in for a bit before they broke the news that the setup for them as new grandparents may not be what they were expecting. Murray and his wife then announced they would be moving a bit further away to New York for his new job doing Knicks play-by-play.
“I don’t think they could quite process it all,” Murray said “They said, ‘that’s your number one dream job’ and I said, ‘yep, it somehow happened.'”
Murray said thus far he has been welcomed with open arms. He attended the NBA broadcast meetings and said, “So many great broadcasters came up and were so nice to me and were very welcoming of me to the league. A lot of people said things along the lines of, ‘you did it the right way, you paid your dues’ and it felt like people were especially happy for me.”
When asked about his style and what Knicks fans can expect to hear, he said, “I just want to be authentic. And I think a big part of the job is knowing the audience. As a Knicks fan, I’ve been the audience basically my entire life. So, I think what Knicks fans want are the facts. They don’t want hot takes or conjecture.
“I think what makes Mike Breen so great is that you can count on him for just reliable information. And I think the best play-by-play guys bring out the best in their analysts. Clyde Frazier is one of the absolute greatest entertainers on television in any format, and I think Monica McNutt is very much similar. I’m excited just to bring the best out of her, have a good rapport with her and have some fun during the games as well. But for me, it’s all about authenticity.”
Murray talks about bringing energy and meeting the moment more so than catchphrases and cliches.
“I want to say, ‘Knicks win’, I don’t need to have my special spin on it. I just want to bring the energy and give the information and kind of meet the moment without overdoing it.”
As for his first big full-time opportunity coming in the bright lights of New York City, Murray said, “It’s exciting to be in this market. It’s a demanding fan base and the broadcast legacy that the Knicks have on TV and radio, is something I’m excited to uphold. I’m excited to reach that standard. I’m much more excited to be a part of the big market as opposed to being intimidated by it.”
To younger broadcasters who may be learning about Tyler’s story and his climb up the ladder he says the message is simple, “The short version is you never know who is listening. I talk to a lot of younger broadcasters and now I’m going to be able to give them a more precise story and example to hopefully guide them because so many people have helped me out along the way.
“And I was told ‘you never know who is listening’, but there are plenty of games you do when you don’t think anybody’s listening, but now I have this example to share and I’m excited to reinforce that and hopefully it makes a difference for someone to keep up the grind.”
All the bus rides, all the games done by yourself, all the time wondering if the big break is ever going to come. It all paid off for Tyler Murray and he said he has had some great conversations with old friends recently who he has reminded exactly why he kept up with that basketball demo.
Today is International Podcasting Day, and former Cumulus Podcast Network Executive John Wordock is celebrating by announcing the launch of his podcast consulting firm.
Wordock previously worked at The Wall Street Journal, leading their podcast division, in addition to his time at Cumulus. John Wordock Media is focused on helping podcasters retool and rethink how they engage with their audiences.
“Apple iOS17 was a nasty 2 a.m. wake-up call for podcasters, especially legacy shows. Many were simply shocked by their download changes,” said Wordock, who started podcasting back in 2006 when The Wall Street Journal and MarketWatch.com embraced the medium. “Now, with the rise of video as a valuable instrument for audience engagement, I’m looking forward to what the future holds.”
“Podcasting hit a really bad patch in 2022 and 2023,” he added. “But we’re getting smarter as an industry, learning from our mistakes and making wiser investments in content and technology. So I remain very bullish on podcasting, both audio and video, over the next five years.”
Wordock departed Cumulus Podcast Network — which had grown to become the seventh-largest sales network by weekly average downloads according to Triton Digital under his tutelage — earlier this year.
Most markets don’t have to deal with what New York sports talk radio hosts have to deal with. If you are a sports talk host, imagine knowing no matter which local teams you discuss, a large portion of the audience is not getting the content they want becuase those are not their local teams. You talk Yankees, they like the Mets and vice versa. You talk Giants, they like the Jets and vice versa. It’s the same with hockey and basketball and college sports. With it being a week where the Yankees won the division, the Mets were fighting for their playoff lives and the Giants playing on Thursday Night Football against the rival Dallas Cowboys, I thought it would be a good week to eavesdrop in on Evan & Tiki, the afternoon drive show at WFAN in New York.
Roberts first appeared on WFAN as a 10-year-old kid after writing a letter to the station asking for a job and saying he listened to the station with his dad. His goal was always to be on WFAN and after getting on at XM Satellite Radio and then The Fan in Baltimore, he was hired by WFAN as an overnight host at the age of 21 in 2004. At 23, in 2007, Roberts started in middays with Joe Benigno before the show was moved to afternoons 13 years later. When Benigno retired towards the end of that year, Craig Carton replaced him and worked with Roberts until July 2023, and that is when Evan & Tiki began.
Barber, the former 10-year member of the New York Giants who retired as the team’s all-time rushing and receptions leader, started his media career upon his retirement, initially with NBC. In 2022, Barber teamed with Brandon Tierney on a new midday show for WFAN after they had worked together doing a national show for CBS Sports Radio.
The hosts are joined by Shaun Morash and executive producer Tommy ‘Loogy’ Lugauer and the four of them entertain the New York audience each afternoon on radio along with the 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. ET portion of the program shown on SNY.
On the Friday Sept. 27 edition of the show, the topic of New York fandom actually came up in an exchange where Barber talked about being at the Giants game the day before in a suite with people from IBM and UPS.
“Someone said something about a Jets-Yankees fan,” Barber said. Roberts responded, “Yeah, they exist.”
Barber continued, “I thought there’s no way that exists.” Roberts jumped in and said, “Yeah, my former producer of the midday show, Ernie Acosta, a legitimate Jets-Yankees fan.” Barber asked how that happens, and Roberts pointed out that ‘Loogy’ is a Mets-Giants fan, to which Barber says, “There’s lots of Mets-Giant fans.”
“And you don’t think there’s a lot of Jets-Yankees fans?” asks Roberts. Barber simply says, “No.”
Barber finishes saying, “I don’t know. I just think I’ve never heard Jets-Yankees. I’ve heard Mets-Giants. I’ve heard every combination except for Jets-Yankees.” In the end it’s determined the majority of people are either Giants-Yankees or Jets-Mets.
That also happens to be what, generally, the two main hosts are considered, with Roberts a Jets-Mets and Barber a Giants-Yankees.
With the Giants coming off a loss on Thursday Night Football, the first 90 minutes of this particular show was dominated by Giants talk and they were deep into it mere moments after the intro music played. Barber started by giving great analysis of the game and went in-depth on Giants quarterback Daniel Jones.
Many have weighed in on Jones and Giants fans have not been happy with how he has performed overall. Add in the GM and head coach of the team being on Hard Knocks openly saying they want to try and find a better quarterback and you have a microscope focused on Jones at all times. Barber’s observations made for great radio as he summed up that he just doesn’t think Daniel Jones has ‘the it factor.’
As Barber broke it down and said, “it’s not terminal for his career, but he just doesn’t have it,” Roberts was quick to reply, “It may not be terminal for his NFL career but it’s terminal for his career with the New York Giants.”
As the conversation went on, nobody blamed Jones for the loss, the problem is more with Jones’ inability to make plays in big games and in big moments. They offered statistics to back it up and covered the topic, the game and the repercussions of it very well throughout the show.
This is afternoon drive in market No. 1, so you expect the hosts are going to do their jobs well including things like teasing the audience to keep them tuned in. Early in the show, Roberts gives a strong take about how the Giants couldn’t run the ball against a Dallas run defense that has not been good, and that was really the difference in the game. He barely takes a breath and goes right into his tease for the next segment, saying, “…a very respected Giants voice said something fascinating about last night’s game that I’m not sure many Giants fans will agree with, but we’ll find out next.”
In a pro move, rather than coming right out of the break with what the ‘Giants voice’ had said, he set up the segment, teased it again and went on with the show before delivering the payoff.
Throughout the show you get a lot of emotion, especially from Roberts who can go from third gear to fifth gear pretty quickly when he has a strong take on a subject. Roberts is sports passion personified, the true representative of the sports fan who is yelling at their TV while watching the game.
Barber is much more mild-mannered although that isn’t to say that he doesn’t get excited about certain subjects, he just keeps things very controlled and tries to talk through subjects rather than wanting to scream and yell. He leaves that to the other members of the team and the callers who all have a tendency to go that direction from time to time.
Overall, I have to applaud the show’s use of callers that I heard. It is far from a caller-driven show, but they allow the callers to engage on the air with the subjects they are discussing. My guess is someone does a good job of screening the calls behind-the-scenes because it certainly appeared they only let good ones through. On this day, one caller who agreed with what Barber had said about Daniels, put it in a way that really did a good job of summing it all up when he brought up something Cam Newton had said about Dak Prescott and Tua Tagovailoa, “he’s a good game manager, but not a game changer.”
Later in the show, another caller reminder Barber that he worked for several years with Brandon Tierney who is a big Jets-Yankees fan going back to the earlier subject when he had said he had never heard of that before. And there was the caller who humorously called in and said, “I just wanted to apologize for calling Shaun Morash a lard-ass yesterday. He’s still a lard-ass but I wanted to apologize anyway.”
The callers added to the show and didn’t take anything away from it. Roberts and Barber brought the callers in, made them briefly a part of the discussion, but they didn’t let them drag on and one thing that stood out to me was when a caller would say something off the rails, the hosts would cut the caller off and say they disagreed and why.
Many hosts don’t do that and let a caller go on and on talking nonsense and then addressing it only when they stop talking. A few different times I caught the hosts putting a stop to it right away rather than letting outlandish over the top statements go unchecked.
Besides, if Roberts and Barber want over the top, they have Morash and Lugauer for that.
Not only do the hosts seem to enjoy when Morash and/or ‘Loogy’ go off the reservation every now and then, they especially like when the two disagree with one another. So much so, they have made a fun game out of it that also is a way they can control the show and not have things linger too long.
After ‘Loogy’ gave a long, passionate take that the Giants and head coach Brian Daboll are tanking to get a top quarterback in next year’s draft, Morash disagreed. As they started to go at it, Roberts called for a time-out, and they stopped to work it out in an orderly manner with a debate. Each person gets a minute to defend their side, then Roberts and Barber vote. In this case it was tied, so they brought a caller in who excitedly broke the tie. Caller Diego cast his vote by saying, “Without a doubt, the future of WFAN, Tommy Lugauer.”
After roughly 90 minutes of mainly Giants talk it was on to the Yankees who had clinched the American League East and had celebrated the night before. Morash was not a fan with how the Yankees celebrated, saying they overdid it since they had just celebrated when they clinched a spot in the postseason. He was somewhat out on an island on the take, but he defended it strongly throughout and had a great line when he said, ultimately the team shouldn’t have gone overboard celebrating on the mound when “you won a division you were supposed to win!”
Whether they were playing back their Malik Neighbors predictions from the previous day, talking about the ridiculous number of flags in the Giants-Cowboys game, breaking down the Mets chances of holding on to their wild card spot or revisiting the Giants loss, the four guys had great chemistry and kept the showing moving and entertaining.
Evan & Tiki delivers the goods with a mix of strong opinions, great producer and caller engagement, hosts who bring energy, insight and passion to the table with a fair amount of hilarity. A perfect lead-in to another New York Yankees broadcast on WFAN.
For years I’ve spoken to groups, asking countless professionals which of the five F’s they’re driven by: Fame, Fear, Fortune, Fun or Freedom. In my estimation, you’re either driven by the opportunity to make more money, fearful of being unemployed, or determined to beat the competition in the ratings, and earn respect from those you cover and those you work with and compete against in your industry. Some also crave the flexibility of being able to tackle multiple challenges, or they simply love the work and the access and relationships that come from it.
I know media outlets love to write about career changes involving professionals. Money is often used to judge if someone did or didn’t make the right decision. We do it with sports constantly, but now it seeps into sports media too. Case in point, Adrian Wojnarowski’s recent exit from ESPN. When Woj announced his departure, numerous sites zeroed in on what he left on the table. They didn’t raise questions about the burnout factor of reporting, look into his personal happiness or examine his personal connection with his alma matter. Instead, it was about the years and dollars left behind on his ESPN contract.
Everyone wants to be paid top dollar for their contributions. There’s nothing wrong with that. However, the best are often driven by more than a paycheck. It’s the thrill of competition, the satisfaction of winning, the concern of getting beat, the personal connection to someone or something, the constant quest to earn respect from those who matter, and the flexibility to do what you want, especially as you have more success.
Once you’ve made real money, the dollars and flexibility represent respect and status. Take Stephen A. Smith for instance. The king of First Take isn’t hurting to pay his mortgage. He could retire today, and most would say he’s had a legendary, hall of fame career. Stephen A. is driven to be paid the most because it says he’s the best, and ESPN views him as being critical to their success.
There’s a precedent for expecting the company to compensate him more. He’s consistently ranked #1 for over a decade, appears on and lifts other company shows, and ESPN has invested larger dollars in Pat McAfee, Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, Mike Greenberg, and a few others. Stephen A. wants to make sure the company recognizes his value, and expecting it is more than fair.
In Woj’s case, let’s be real, he isn’t broke. He made plenty of money at ESPN, and isn’t going to work for St. Bonaventure for free. He cemented his legacy as one of the best to ever report on the NBA, and proved that he can thrive with and without ESPN. If he was tired of the job and had other ambitions he wanted to pursue, it wasn’t going to matter if the annual salary was seven, ten, fifteen or twenty million dollars. Once someone has reached the mountain top of their profession, it’s natural to ask ‘what’s left to do?’ If all you have to keep them motivated is higher income, eventually they seek other challenges.
The same is true of Stephen A. Smith. ESPN could offer twenty million dollars per year tomorrow, and if it came without additional opportunities beyond First Take, and having to give up his production company, he’d likely take a pass. He now hosts a video show/podcast, appears on news television, and is getting further involved in writing shows. Guys like Smith enjoy the shows they’ve made successful but that’s not enough to keep them interested. They need more. It’s likely why you’ve seen reports about Stephen A. wanting to be involved with ESPN’s NFL programming.
Stars want to rule the world, and be given the freedom to explore new avenues. They crave much more than a paycheck. It’s the competition, the quest for respect, and the desire to continually challenge themselves that keep them hungry.
I have never cashed a check as large as what some of these guys earn, but I have been paid near the top of the sports radio programming profession. I know what it’s like to cash a big check and wonder ‘how the heck did this happen?’. It’s a great feeling. But after you strike a deal, and see your bank account expand, you eventually need a bigger challenge. Once you find it, conquer it, and do it consistently, you’ll eventually ask ‘what’s next?’ If the only answer is ‘more of the same but for more money’, you eventually get bored and seek other opportunities.
Look around. Jason Kelce has a podcast and ESPN Monday Night role. SVP does SportsCenter, and ESPN Monday Night Football work. Mike Greenberg hosts GetUp!, the NFL Draft, a daily radio show, ESPN Sunday NFL Countdown, and writes books. Others like Shannon Sharpe, Colin Cowherd, Ryan Clark, Chris Russo, and Clay Travis are involved in multiple projects. Money plays a role in keeping them happy, but I suspect they’re driven by much more than that.
There’s no right or wrong answer, but many on local levels tend to worry more about losing their position than those on national stages. I’ve also heard many admit to being driven by fortune because making a good living in radio/podcasting isn’t exactly easy. Though understandable, if your focus is on being the best, delivering results, and earning respect, the rest takes care of itself. Money finds its way to those who perform, and it’s harder to terminate an individual who delivers results.
In any event, companies have to understand that the best expect to be compensated, and challenged. Money matters, but if it’s all you’ve got, eventually your top stars will chase new situations. Similar to a relationship, you’ve got to keep working at it, and introduce new ways to keep it interesting. A good place to start is by investing in them early, and asking, and taking an interest in helping them achieve their goals. When stars feel valued, and challenged, they tend to stick around.
CBS News thinks that its anchors need not fact-check the candidates in real time during Tuesday’s vice-presidential debate. Like CNN before it, CBS figures that consigning the fact-checking to online and after debates is good enough.
It isn’t.
What the networks are saying is that it’s perfectly fine for a politician to flat-out lie and for that lie to go unchallenged or leaving it to the politician’s opponent to waste time correcting the record. What they’re saying is that they don’t want trouble from the liar’s camp, they want to appear unbiased by not getting involved. That, of course, is its own form of bias, possibly even more dangerous than open, blatant bias because it doesn’t announce itself, it just leaves an imbalance while purporting to be neutral.
Some of the greatest moments in journalism have come when reporters directly challenged politicians and didn’t just sit there and nod. CBS has always ranked among its finest moments the episode of “See It Now” when Edward R. Murrow went where others feared to tread and took on Sen. Joseph McCarthy and the “Red Scare.” In 2024, the same network is encountering the same situation, politicians who are spreading false accusations that pose a danger to the country, and instead of Murrow, we’ll have anchors just prompting the candidates and leaving the challenges to someone else. If they expect viewers to pop open their browsers to see the real-time fact-check in a widget on a webpage, or to wait until after the show’s over to see it on TV, they’re deluding themselves.
Lying is what politicians do, and immediately pointing out the lies should be what journalists do. If someone lies to your face in everyday life, and you KNOW it’s a lie, you are going to say something, right? You’re not going to just nod and leave it to someone else to point out the falsehood later, are you? In effect, that’s what CBS plans, and what CNN did, and it’s an abdication of responsibility.
This is a time when the news media must step up and not let anyone get away with lies, even if that will get trolls on social media upset. Even if it’s a simple “do you have proof of that?” the moderators should – need to – challenge the participants. If they don’t, they’re further contributing to the media’s failure to meet the moment, ‘sanewashing’ the insane.
By the way, real-time fact-checking isn’t just for debates. If you’re interviewing someone, anything they say that you KNOW to be false deserves an immediate response. Even if you fear a hostile reaction, it’s your job to know when you’re being lied to and to point it out when it happens.
Now, when Tuesday comes around, we might be pleasantly surprised. The moderators may go ahead and challenge the candidates, no matter what the network announced. Or they’ll just sit there and hold their tongues, because that’s what the bosses want.
“Wow. Look at that traffic,” said my industry colleague from the passenger seat. It was prime morning rush hour, and we were driving against the flow as I ferried this person home after a medical procedure last week.
“We call that ‘TSL.’ It’s beautiful,” was my response. TSL, or time spent listening, is a term radio programmers say as effortlessly as calling out our children by their first and middle names. It’s an artistic flow similar to listening to dialogue from the Goodfellows movie. You know what word I’m referring to. Nielsen updated this term years ago to AWTE or Average Weekly Time Exposed, but saying, “AWTE is down this month” doesn’t have the same rhythm and feel.
The post-propofol conversation in my car came alive after my TSL comment, and we wondered how many of those drivers inching along the freeway were listening to the radio right now. “More than we’re led to believe,” I said.
We were off to the races, sharing theories and remedies, when my colleague quoted Edison Research’s ‘Share of the Ear’ statistics and Pierre Bouvard’s latest Westwood One blog about AM/FM listening myths.
I knew the drugs had worn off. The numbers began rolling off the tongue for the next ten minutes, and with one exit to go, we solved the industry’s problems.
In-Car Listening All The Time
“Why don’t we program to in-car listening all day?” was one of my questions. We know a lot of radio listening is happening in the automobile. Should we strategize Middays and Evenings for in-car listening? What would you change if you knew the audience listened only when it was driving?
A few days later, Nielsen Audio revealed the plan to reduce radio stations receiving quarter-hour credit from five minutes to three minutes of listening within the quarter-hour. As Fred Jacobs wrote in his blog, it’s a “game-changer” because Nielsen indicates that AQH numbers will increase by 26% on average.
I Needed To Rock
The feedback, positive and negative, started airing through social media channels. Thursday morning, I was on my way to a breakfast meeting. The sun was shining, there was a feeling of Fall in the air, and my emotional need was for Classic Rock.
I turned on the local station, and Every Breath You Take by The Police had just started. That song may be the most played in my radio career. I played it as a Current (I was a very young DJ), and it has survived on nearly every station I programmed through the decades. So, my fatigue level should be off the charts, right?
My conscious awareness of the previous paragraph didn’t happen until the end of the song. I was reacting like a regular listener. The mood, the timing, and the music all worked together to give WNRQ 4:13 of TSL. Oh, but it didn’t stop there.
The next song was Sweet Emotion. If you ask me to pick one Aerosmith song, that’s the one. I can air guitar that one on my steering wheel like a kid standing in front of the mirror dreaming of being a rock star.
Wow. The radio station got me for two songs. Are you kidding me? The next tune was Running Down a Dream by Tom Petty. Immediately, I was transported back to Red Rocks Amphitheatre when the sun was setting after Jackson Browne opened for Petty. The Heartbreakers opened with the lights exploding to the raw guitar lick at the beginning of Running. I never turn off that song.
“On a stale horse…”
Now you got me for three songs. But there’s more. If there’s one Bon Jovi song I’ll sit through, it’s Wanted Dead or Alive. Yep, that was next. When the song was a Current, I thought he was singing, “On a stale horse I ride.” The lyric is steel horse, but I sing it my way 37 years later.
Wait, there couldn’t be one more TSL incidence. Nirvana Bloom. The only reason I didn’t last the whole song was because of the reality of in-car listening. I was in the parking lot and didn’t want to be late for my appointment.
Congratulations to 105-9 The Rock for grabbing my attention for five songs. I know there were others who drifted because those songs didn’t impact them like they moved me. That’s why we research our music to find coalition and not take one person’s reaction driving in the morning sun.
Changes In Latitudes…Not Attitudes
In the Nielsen Audio measurement world, the local classic rock station got nearly twenty minutes of continuous listening from me. Reducing the quarter-hour impact from five to three minutes changes the math. But it doesn’t change the emotional impact of what stations are playing and saying in the moment. Is it strong content aimed at our audience? Period.
When Arbitron introduced PPM in the late 2000s, they did a good job of hosting market meetings to prepare radio programmers and sellers for the change. I was nervous because my station was experiencing positive momentum in the diary method.
We learned as much as possible in the six months before the change to PPM. The new Arbitron reports weren’t changing how people listened. It changed how listening was measured. I wanted to make sure we understood those differences. Over the next six months, the result was a better product because we eliminated barriers and roadblocks. More importantly, we thought about each decision a little differently and became better jocks, promoters, music schedulers, etc.
The Nielsen Audio changes will bring criticism, and some will be warranted. However, unless you have a better measurement system, I suggest you learn how to improve the listening experience because of the three-minute rule. We can do what we should every day in every format: make it better for the audience.
After decades in the world of ratings and having studied the history of the business, one thing is clear. There is room for one and a half companies. Whenever competitors existed, for example Nielsen and Arbitron in local TV, or Arbitron and Birch in local radio, one won, and one lost. I write from personal experience because I was working at Birch/Scarborough when the company was shut down in 1991.
I say one and a half companies because having a monopoly situation implies higher prices and I don’t think any ratings company that won a competitive situation has ever been known for offering “low low prices” to clients. Each takes advantage of their market position. Sure, Eastlan is still out there as an option to Nielsen Audio, but Mike Gould has been smart enough to avoid competing head-on with Nielsen (and Arbitron before it). His company has a nice niche in small markets.
With that said, there is a competitive situation in a subset of the marketplace that’s gone on for years. We refer to it as “qualitative” which is really a misnomer. In media, we think of qualitative information as something beyond age/sex ratings, meaning planned purchases, deeper household information, etc. This is really extended quantitative information, while “qualitative” in research terms refers to types of research that can’t be projected, such as focus groups, one-on-one interviews, etc.
The competitive companies are Scarborough and The Media Audit (TMA). Scarborough was founded by Harold Israel in 1974 and TMA by Bob Jordan and Jim Higginbothan in 1972. Scarborough is owned by Nielsen, a result of VNU buying the company in the ‘80s and merging it with Birch, creating Birch/Scarborough. When Birch went under, Arbitron and Nielsen picked up Scarborough in a 50/50 arrangement. As a result of Nielsen’s acquisition of Arbitron, they took full control.
When Birch went under in 1991, Phil Beswick, who started Birch Canada and then worked for Birch in the US, went to work for TMA. Much like Victor Kiam with Remington shavers, he liked the company so much that he eventually bought it.
Phil and I go back a long way as friends, and we were chatting recently about the state of the industry. I thought it would be a public service to readers to remind them that there are two options if you’re using qualitative to help sell your stations. Both are good services, both can help you make money, but the two are different from each other.
I think it is a necessity to have at least one of these services, if not both. Regular readers know about the decline in radio listening over time and that means many stations have just about the same ratings, especially when comparing rating points. Stations and clusters need to find ways to differentiate themselves from the competition which as we all know is more than just radio. Ratings are a silo, but qualitative offers a much broader view.
Who’s planning to buy a new car in the next year? How much will they spend? Who goes to concerts or spends on high end restaurants? What about lifestyles? What other media do they use? Are they heavy or light TV or streaming users? Do they drink or abstain? Do listeners use brick and mortar stores or are they more likely to shop online? The two services provide this kind of information.
At the BNM Summit earlier this month, I heard markets managers say “we’re always hiring account executives” no matter how tight the revenue situation. For much less than the cost of another AE, why not have both services in-house? To hire an AE, you have the costs of interviewing, hiring, onboarding, and if the person doesn’t cut it, firing. Why not go with both services and take the better story to each potential client? If you want to be a “consultant” and bring more information to local retailers, having access to two services rather than one should be a net positive, referring to the bottom line.
Programmers can use qualitative as well. I doubt there is any station’s audience that is defined solely on age/sex demographics.If you have qualitative in your building, use it. What do your listeners do? What do the competition’s listeners do? If you don’t know how to access and understand the data, both services have ways to get you trained.
It’s easy for me as a semi-retired researcher to suggest spending more money that you don’t have on research, but this is an investment that should pay back in multiples. If you don’t have qualitative at all or if you want to consider having both, call your Nielsen rep about Scarborough and call Phil and his group about The Media Audit. See if they can make the dollars work for you. Then get your folks out on the street armed with even more knowledge about their market that can be turned into more business for them and more revenue for you.
When Mark Schlereth was in the seventh grade, he was enrolled in a journalism class where students were required to read aloud from the newspaper. On a daily basis, he would walk in with a hat pulled down over his face and pray that he would not be called on to read because of his inability. Schlereth suffered from dyslexia from a young age, and he was able to build credibility and confidence through his athleticism that eventually parlayed itself into a distinguished 12-year career as an offensive lineman in the NFL.
Upon his name being called on that school day, Schlereth begged his teacher not to read. Effectively coerced to participate, he got up and didn’t make it through the first sentence. As a result, his teacher implored him to sit down and proceeded to call him stupid in front of the entire class.
“I get emotional just telling you that story, but that’s been my history,” Schlereth said. “That’s been my life, and so I had to find ways around that issue that I had from that point through college, I didn’t buy textbooks. I just went to class and took really good notes because reading a chapter would take me four-and-a-half hours. It was a waste of my freaking time, so you learn to adapt and to overcome and to figure out a way around it, and I’m not a victim.”
During that same year, another teacher in Schlereth’s school assisted in getting him the help he needed to overcome his dyslexia, and he is able to read today. Yet he still gets anxiety when somebody asks him to read aloud and being directed to read scripts evokes legitimate fear. Although the traumatizing experience of being belittled by his teacher continues to remain in his mind, he has found ways to adapt and thrive.
Throughout his career in sports media, which began on 760 The Zone and ESPN, Schlereth primarily served as a studio analyst. From working at the local and national levels on radio and television, he demonstrated his knowledge and insights into the game of football. As Schlereth continued to exhibit his talent, he received more opportunities and eventually joined ESPN full time where he contributed to NFL Live and SportsCenter.
“I ended up taking a pay cut to move over to FOX and with the opportunity to do some studio stuff for them as they were starting their new fledgling FS1 network, but also to call games,” Schlereth said. “I think I was guaranteed eight or nine games, but it wasn’t one of those things where I was guaranteed a full slate of games or anything, but it was something that I really thought it would be a challenge [and that] would be fun, and it’s been all of those things.”
Amid these endeavors, which also included co-hosting various radio programs, Schlereth was seldom the primary voice leading the broadcast in and out of breaks, setting up conversation or facilitating the show rundown. Conversely, he was focused on formulating strong opinions premised by facts.
As a member of the NFL on FOX franchise for the last eight seasons, Schlereth continues to engage in such preparation on a weekly basis and oftentimes spends many of his afternoons reviewing film. From there, he travels to the game site and spends time with the crew, including play-by-play announcer Chris Myers and sideline reporter Jen Hale, where they speak with teams and finalize preparations for the matchup.
“There’s this camaraderie, and there’s this teamwork where it’s very much like playing,” Schlereth said of color commentary. “It takes all of us to be on the same page to put a good broadcast together, and I think one of the cool things for me is if you’re connected – I mean, really connected with the people that you do it with – man, it’s one of the most fun things in the world because you get to celebrate everybody’s success.”
Considering potential graphics and discussions has been a constant in Schlereth’s afternoons since moving to New York City after previously living and working in Denver. Over the last two years, he said, FOX Sports has approached him, and he was hoping to be able to join a television studio program once again.
Due to family obligations though, this lifestyle was not attainable until some of his relatives moved, creating a new dynamic and ability to assume the extra responsibilities. Being paired with two former radio hosts in Craig Carton and Danny Parkins, Schlereth assumed that one of them would lead the show and that he would be there to give his perspectives and infuse entertainment.
“I always tell my partners, ‘You run the show as the host so I can run around in it,’” Schlereth emphasized, “and that’s always been the way I wanted to approach it is, ‘Just let me run around. If it doesn’t work, just let me be free to do whatever it is I feel like doing. I’m going to take this off the rails. Your job is to bring us back in, and there’ll be some poignant moments, there’ll be some great analyst-type moments, but most of the time, we’re going to have fun,’ and that’s kind of the way I’ve been as a co-host because I don’t really host the show [and] never had any intentions of hosting the show.”
That suddenly changed when Schlereth signed a contract to officially join Breakfast Ball, the new morning show on FS1 as part of its new weekday programming lineup. As he was traveling to New York, his producer mentioned logistical aspects of coming in and out of breaks, show elements over which he did not believe he would be involved in. Once Schlereth learned that he was going to be hosting the show, he expressed that the company hadn’t informed him of that when inking the deal. Nonetheless, he has tackled the matter at hand and is thriving in the dual role.
“It’s been amazing to have that thrust upon me and then trying to figure out how to direct the show and get us to where we’re supposed to be going,” Schlereth explained, “and at the same time, be an analyst and give my opinion and interject into the conversation and to really listen to the conversation, and in the same time while I’m trying to get us to where we’re supposed to go. It’s been a real challenge.”
Schlereth will utilize factors pertaining to authenticity and entertainment in order to evaluate the success of the program. While everyone from the program has a post-show meeting immediately afterwards, Schlereth does not attend because of additional obligations to co-host with Mike Evans on Denver Sports 104.3 The Fan.
“I want the guy who went to work and was listening to me on the drive to work who is doing some mundane task putting his 100th widget together [to pause] for just a second and [think] to himself – [because of] something I said – just [think] to himself, ‘Man, that guy is a freaking idiot,’ and laughs about it,” Schlereth said. “That’s my goal is to have you, at some point, pause during the day and just go, ‘What a moron,’ and that, to me, is why I’m there.”
The on-air relationship Schlereth has with Evans is something he cherishes, and he affirms his co-host to be the best person in the role with whom he has worked during his career. When Evans laughs at something he articulates, it is good for his ego. Moreover, Evans allows Schlereth to go for a little bit before bringing him back to reality. The trust and congeniality between he and Evans contributed to his decision to continue hosting the back half of the four-hour morning show.
“I didn’t want to leave the radio, but I knew that based upon the timeslot that I was going to miss some, so I put it back in radio’s lap,” Schlereth outlined. “I said, ‘How can we do what’s best for the station, to help the station and honestly help my partner, Mike Evans?’ Mike and I are very tight. I want him to be okay and the show to continue to thrive. I never had a full intention of leaving full time.”
Bonneville International added Amanda Brown as program director of Denver Sports 104.3 The Fan last year, moving into a role similar to the position she previously held at ESPN LA 710. In the prior year, Katie Reid was named market manager of its Denver stations. The recent managerial changes, however, did not preclude the company from deliberating with Schlereth and agreeing to his new role.
“They’re both really good about listening to the people who are actually doing it on air,” Schlereth said. “It’s one thing to have an opinion and to say, ‘This is what I think you guys should do,’ but to have that opinion, you also have to listen to the people that are cracking the mics every day and making it happen.”
Schlereth immediately travels upstairs to his office at the FS1 studios when Breakfast Ball ends to host on the radio utilizing a Comrex device. Before his television obligations begin, he ensures the device is properly connected to the station to prevent any delay. When his time on the air begins, he simply turns on the microphone and contributes to the show as usual. Although he refuses to meet with players and coaches remotely before NFL game broadcasts, he understands that he is able to aptly execute his role in this capacity on the air. The NFL broadcasts also require him to host Breakfast Ball remotely every Friday, introducing a two-second delay that can render it more strenuous to direct traffic.
“It becomes a very difficult kind of game to play because there is that delay, and that makes it hard, and there’s just so much better chemistry,” Schlereth said. “I know that everybody does things via Zoom and everything else, but I’m a team guy and I’m a connected person, and I like to have that connection with the people that I work with, and you can’t do that remotely.”
At the moment, Schlereth feels that his seven-day work week does not harm his effectiveness and productivity. In fact, he lauded the arrangement and divulged that he can do it for as long as the company wants. That being said, if the situation moves in a direction where it makes more sense to move him out of the show, he will completely understand it.
“I find my moments, but yeah, to grind you got to take care of yourself, and sometimes that means, ‘Hey man, I’m not going to dinner tonight. I’m so tired, I’m just going to bed,’ so those are the things,” Schlereth said. “Those are decisions you have to make when you’re busy adulting.”
Through all of his commitments, being able to celebrate successes as a group has been a rewarding outcome. Working in sports media enables Schlereth to have a platform on which to celebrate the triumphs of others both on the field and behind the scenes. As someone who has been a team-oriented professional from his time taking the gridiron, he aspires to retain his schedule and never take any time for granted.
“For me, one of the coolest things about being a broadcaster or broadcasting games is sitting around with the guys and talking about football and talking about putting a show together, and then ultimately having all these plans and then the ball’s kicked off and you have no idea where it’s going to go,” Schlereth said. “That’s exhilarating.”
