The Pittsburgh Pirates and Audacy Pittsburgh have agreed to a multi-year contract extension that will maintain 93.7 The Fan as the flagship radio home of Pirates baseball through the 2027 season. KDKA-FM has been the flagship station within the Pittsburgh Pirates radio network since the 2012 season. With the extension, Audacy Pittsburgh will continue utilizing the team brand and game programming on KDKA News Radio (KDKA-AM), which is simulcast on 100.1 FM and 1020 AM. The outlet will also air all of the team’s weekday afternoon games under the deal.
“In Pittsburgh, there aren’t many traditions more engrained in our community than the Pirates on The Fan and KDKA,” Michael Spacciapolli, senior vice president and market manager of Audacy Pittsburgh, said in a statement. “We are honored to continue to tell the story of this team for many many years to come as they chase another World Series title for our city.”
Pirates radio broadcasts alternate between play-by-play announcer Joe Block and Greg Brown and also include analyst John Wehner and studio host Chris Mack. The team last qualified for the postseason in 2015 where the team was eliminated in the National League Wild Card Game. With dynamic, young talent including Jared Jones, O’Neil Cruz and Mitch Keller along with one of the most highly touted minor-league systems in the sport, the team is aiming to compete for a postseason berth and World Series championship. Both parties previously extended their radio broadcast agreement in 2021, which instituted weekday afternoon games airing on KDKA-AM and game simulcasts across 93.7 FM, 100.1 FM and 1020 AM.
“Our relationship with KDKA is like no other in sports,” Travis Williams, president of the Pittsburgh Pirates, said in a statement. “Starting with the first baseball game to ever be broadcast, KDKA and the Pirates have been synonymous with each other. We are thrilled that the tradition will continue and be expanded upon across the cluster of Audacy Pittsburgh stations.”
Afternoon co-host Shari Elliker departed KIRO Newsradio in Seattle earlier this week as part of budget cuts at the Bonneville station. Her co-host, John Curley, addressed the situation after the announcement.
Curley took to his familiar afternoon timeslot with new co-host Jake Skorheim and talked about Elliker’s exit, stating it was always a pet peeve of his when changes were made in a station’s lineup or a format changed and no one ever talked about the situation on air.
“Shari is no longer the co-host. Jake comes in. There’s other people that are not going to be part of this show and part of the station. It’s the finances of the whole thing,” Curley said. “That happens when sales are down or people aren’t spending as much and the economy’s sort of in the shaky spot. So they look at it and they say, ‘Well, how much money do we have? Where can we spread the money around? Who are we going to keep or not keep?’ And that’s what happened.”
Shari Elliker joined KIRO in December 2021 after a long career in markets like Washington D.C. and Baltimore. And while John Curley was sad to see his co-host go, he shared that this departure is better than a previous one Elliker experienced in her career.
“It’s tough for Shari. I called her. I got a text from her, ‘I got fired.’ So I called her and then somebody else in management called me,” said Curley.
“The craziest story she ever told me. She’s been in radio for like more than 30-some years. She went to her boss. This is many, many, many, many, many years ago in another market. And she said, ‘I just have to know. I’m about to sign this mortgage. I’m about to buy this house. I have to know, and you could just be honest with me, it’s okay. We’ve known each other. Just tell me, because I know cuts are coming, am I safe? Am I safe? Because I have to know because if I buy this house, I have to know.’
“‘Oh, Shari. You’re fine. Don’t worry. Oh please.’ That was a Thursday. (She) comes in on a Monday or whatever. And she buys the house on Friday, and they let her go. And she said ‘Why don’t you tell me?’ I just couldn’t. We weren’t allowed to tell you and she’s like, but just as a human being … She’s like, ‘Oh my god.’ So, she has been through it all, ups and downs and all those steps. She knew.”
Cumulus Media has announced that Mike Eaby will be promoted to the role of Vice President and Executive Producer of Westwood One Sports. As part of the new role, he will be responsible for managing and overseeing the multiplatform content and live event production from Westwood One Sports. Eaby will report to Bruce Gilbert, the senior vice president of sports content and audience for Cumulus Media and Westwood One, and is going to begin his responsibilities on Wednesday, May 15. He will succeed Howard Deneroff in the role, who is departing his role after working for over 35 years with Westwood One Sports.
“Mike has played a substantial role with Westwood One Sports for nearly 30 years, both in the control room and on the field, greatly contributing to the success of our Sports franchises, including marquee events like the Super Bowl and March Madness,” Colin Jones, president of Westwood One and executive vice president of corporate strategy and development at Cumulus Media, said in a statement. “Our listeners, advertisers, and league partners turn to Westwood One Sports because we deliver consistently outstanding audio broadcasts. With Mike’s experience, passion, and vision, I’m confident he is the perfect person to quarterback Westwood One Sports into its next era.”
Eaby began his career with Westwood One Sports and joined the company as an editor following his college graduation in 1997. For more than 25 years, he has worked as an on-site producer for the NFL on Westwood One, including 16 Super Bowl championships and 23 conference championship games. Moreover, he has worked as an on-site producer for the NCAA March Madness basketball tournament for 23 years and has served as coordinating producer for Westwood One broadcasts of 10 Olympic Games, eight PGA Championships and 21 editions of The Masters.
“First and foremost, I want to recognize Howie who has been an unparalleled mentor to me throughout my career,” Eaby said in a statement. “As a result of his guidance, I’m prepared and ready to lead Westwood One Sports into its next chapter and am grateful to Cumulus for entrusting me with the keys to our industry-leading sports play-by-play business. With the expansion of sports media into the digital landscape, I’m excited for what the future holds as we explore new technologies, platforms, and business possibilities.”
Deneroff signed a multi-year contract extension with Westwood One in 2019 and has been an integral part of its sports division for several decades. Throughout his career with the company, he has worked in multiple roles on coverage of the NFL, NCAA Championship, The Masters and PGA Championship among other marquee sporting events.
“Westwood One Sports is known as the best in the business for audio sports play-by-play,” Jones said in a statement, “and I would like to thank Howard Deneroff for his immeasurable impact on our sports programming and production success over the years.”
NBCUniversal has selected iHeartMedia to serve as the official exclusive audio partner for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. The agreement will allow iHeartRadio to provide 24/7 play-by-play audio channels with select NBCUniversal linear television coverage of the Olympic Games. The play-by-play channels will facilitate listeners to hear NBCUniversal coverage of exhilarating moments from the Olympic Games with an emphasis on Team USA. NBCUniversal coverage across the iHeart channels is currently expected to include Team USA men’s and women’s basketball, volleyball and soccer, in addition to swimming, gymnastics and track and field.
“We’re excited to partner with iHeartMedia to provide Olympic fans with even more ways to enjoy the Paris Olympic Games,” Gary Zenkel, president of NBC Olympics, said in a statement. “This partnership allows iHeart’s large audio audience to hear NBCU’s Olympic coverage away from their televisions and digital devices, as well as engage with the Games through iHeart’s celebrated and entertaining podcasts.”
iHeartMedia will create an original Olympic Games podcast hosted by Saturday Night Live cast member Bowen Yang and Fire Island actor and comedian Matt Rogers. The program, which will be interview-based, will include current and former athletes along with celebrity fans. Through the show, listeners will be able to learn more about the Olympic Games and the stories behind the athletes. Episodes of the show will be released starting in late June and will continue through the Olympic Games Closing Ceremony in August. The program will be distributed by iHeartPodcasts, available to listen on the iHeartRadio app and through other podcast distribution outlets.
“We are thrilled to partner with NBCU on coverage of the Paris Olympics this summer and heighten the excitement around this year’s Games,” Michael Biondo, president of business development and strategic partnerships at iHeartMedia, said in a statement. “As the leading sports audio destination, it’s an honor to be able to provide our platform and our massive reach to bring further awareness and up-to-the-minute coverage of NBCU’s broadcast of this year’s Olympics.
The partnership with NBCUniversal will also permit iHeartMedia to produce Olympic-themed episodes of several of its most popular podcast offerings. Some of these are slated to include Stuff You Missed in History Class and Ridiculous History. Moreover, iHeartMedia will promote NBCUniversal’s coverage of the Summer Olympic Games, which it has broadcast since the 1988 edition of the event that took place in Seoul, South Korea. The International Olympic Committee granted NBCUniversal the U.S. media rights to the Olympic Games through 2032 in a deal that was finalized in 2014 for $7.65 billion.
Following a troublesome interaction with Indiana Fever rookie forward Caitlin Clark at her introductory press conference, Indianapolis Star reporter Gregg Doyel has been given a two-week suspension by the publication. Additionally, Doyel will not be permitted to cover Clark and the Fever this summer, although he will reportedly still write columns on the team. When Doyel was attending the opening press conference, he made a heart sign with his hands towards Clark and said to her that if she started doing that to him, they would “get along just fine.” Doyel was excoriated by media members and basketball fans for his gesture and wrote a column in the newspaper in which he apologized to Clark.
Within the article, Doyel explained that he was “well-intentioned” and vowed to “do better” in the future. Moreover, he divulged that he went through denial and anger, incredulous to the fact that he was perceived to be on the wrong side of the situation. As he thought about the situation further, he realized that he was in the wrong. Doyel has not published a story for the newspaper since April 29, not writing about Clark’s preseason debut nor the Indiana Pacers playoff run.
Doyel has been a columnist for the Indianapolis Star since 2014 after serving as the lead sports columnist for CBSSports.com. Throughout his career, he has won multiple awards from several prestigious organizations in recognition of his work. Clark, who is the all-time scoring leader in NCAA college basketball, was selected first overall in the 2024 WNBA Draft, and she was subsequently introduced to the media two days later.
Since arriving in the WNBA, Clark has been subject to questions surrounding her personal life, including from another reporter who asked if “bae” would be in attendance at a recent preseason game. The inquiry was in reference to her boyfriend, former Iowa basketball guard Connor McCaffrey. Clark responded to the query by stating that he was working and that she was playing solo, something she would need to get used to because she is a professional. Clark and the Fever will open the 2024 regular season on May 14 visiting the Connecticut Sun at 8 p.m. EST on ESPN2 and streaming live on ESPN+ and Disney+.
The Caitlin Clark effect is in full force. The latest development has ESPN adding coverage of their WNBA opening night doubleheader on Disney+ in addition to ESPN2 and ESPN+. This will be the first time WNBA games have been added to Disney+.
The two games will feature Clark’s Indiana Fever on the road against the Connecticut Sun followed by the Phoenix Mercury at the Las Vegas Aces. Tip time for the first game is set for 7:30 p.m. ET.
The Fever will be no strangers to the national television audience as 36 of 40 of their games will be featured by the league’s national broadcast and streaming partners. In the league’s 28th season, games will be seen across various ESPN platforms including ABC, the CBS Television Network/Paramount+, CBS Sports Network, ION, NBA TV and Prime Video. ESPN’s platforms will also broadcast every game of the WNBA Playoffs and Finals.
“With the energy and excitement already generated by what we anticipate will be a star-studded rookie class, and on the heels of a 2023 season that featured one of the greatest MVP races in WNBA history and our most-watched regular season in over two decades, the WNBA’s broadcast and streaming partners are offering a huge national platform that will showcase the league’s superstars, rising stars, rivalries and a newly reconfigured WNBA Commissioner’s Cup presented by Coinbase,” said WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert in a statement earlier in the offseason.
May 14, the #WNBA's highly-anticipated 2024 season tips-off????
For the first time ever, the marquee Opening Night doubleheader is available on @DisneyPlus in addition to ESPN2 & @ESPNPlus
While FOX Corp. saw a decline in advertising revenue during its third fiscal quarter, profits were way up compared to the same timeframe in 2023.
Advertising slumped to $1.24 billion during the quarter compared to $1.88 billion in the prior year. However, most of that can be attributed to the network company being the home of the Super Bowl in 2023, as well as slightly fewer NFL broadcasts during last season.
Despite the advertising drop, the company saw a net income of $704 million during the quarter, compared to a $50 million loss it saw last year. In April 2023, Fox News settled a defamation lawsuit brought by Dominion Voting Systems for $787.5 million, leading to the loss in income.
“FOX’s fiscal third-quarter results once again demonstrate how our unique strategy continues to distinguish FOX from our peers,” said CEO Lachlan Murdoch.
“The strength and leadership of our core brands, coupled with our focus on live content and must-have event programming, is clearly valued by our audiences, advertisers, and distribution partners. The consistent financial delivery from this strategy supports our investments in innovation which are driving momentum in our digital portfolio, led by Tubi. Our balanced capital allocation approach, fortified by our strong balance sheet, underpins our ability to drive long-term value creation for our shareholders.”
Award-winning journalist Isobel Yeung has been appointed an international correspondent at CNN, the network announced Wednesday.
After working at VICE News for nearly 10 years as a senior correspondent and producer, Yeung covered a wide range of political social, and cultural stories for the outlet. She won 10 Emmy Awards, a Peabody, and was also named the Foreign Press Association’s Journalist of the Year, among other accolades, during her tenure.
“I’m thrilled to be joining CNN, at a time when impactful journalism has never felt more important,” she said. I’m incredibly excited to continue my reporting from around the world, and to reach new audiences — this time with the formidable force that is CNN.”
In her new role, Isobel Yeung will be based in London.
“Isobel has a truly exceptional track record of impactful, enterprise reporting and filmmaking. It is extremely rare to find a multi-skilled journalist with such a body of experience and award-winning work across so many countries,” added CNN Senior Vice President of International Newsgathering for TV and Digital Deborah Rayner.
“Hers is the kind of journalism that has always been at the core of what CNN is about, and we’re thrilled that she is joining our already outstanding team of international correspondents.”
First things first: Bally Sports/Diamond and the folks over at Comcast won’t duke it out forever. After the requisite insult swap, they’ll get back to the negotiating table and, more likely than not, hammer out a new agreement for the Major League Baseball broadcast markets they’ve recently hosed.
The bigger question is, how soon can MLB itself grab the wheel of this careening truck?
On some levels, that’s what the league’s brain trust wants. In a perfect world, MLB would bring almost all of its teams’ broadcasts in house and create a monster streaming package that covers everything. All markets, no blackouts – the works. It’d be a baseball watcher’s dream, and its growth and profitability would be MLB’s exclusive province.
It isn’t going to happen soon, for a number of reasons. But let’s not knock it down completely before we’ve had a chance to peek under the hood.
MLB’s franchise owners, or franchise-owning corporations, have pretty much loved the regional sports network system, because RSNs usually delivered a good payday and a long-term contract – two things most franchises need. But RSNs are totally dependent on delivery methods, and that means they’ve constantly had to juggle deals with various providers: Comcast, of course, but also DirecTV, AT&T, Spectrum, NBC Sports – it basically depends upon where you live and who are the dominant systems in your region.
The system worked until it didn’t. RSNs, as we’ve previously noted, have been on the run for years, as customers fled their cable setups for the new world of streaming services and a la carte viewing. With the mass cable providers losing subscribers, the sports networks’ compensation began dwindling. It’s a slow death spiral now.
Until it’s over, though, the RSN model still matters, which is why Comcast/Xfinity and Bally/Diamond will work things out. Among other things, Diamond Sports Group needs the revenue, even at a reduced rate, if it’s going to successfully emerge from bankruptcy next month via an Amazon-backed plan.
The basis of the most recent contract dispute is simple. Comcast wants to put Diamond’s RSNs on a premium subscription tier, which users have to pay more to access. It’s a straight revenue proposition. Diamond, understandably, wants its networks kept as part of the standard cable package, where it can reach more viewers.
The parties let a short-term deadline expire without working anything out, a dunderheaded move but not a fatal one. In the here and now, fans in 11 MLB markets lost access to the Bally/Diamond networks, and if it went on forever, fans of NHL and NBA teams would eventually notice. (That doesn’t matter currently, since both those leagues are in national playoff broadcast mode.)
MLB’s rooting interest here is certainly subject to interpretation. As Evan Drellich pointed out in The Athletic, league commissioner Rob Manfred said in February that he’d like to launch a streaming package with about half of the league’s teams by 2025. For that to happen, Diamond’s bankruptcy restructuring plan would have to fail in court, leaving many markets without a significant delivery method and opening up their rights to an MLB production.
At the same time, the league doesn’t necessarily want to see Diamond fail. A successful emergence from bankruptcy could lead to several more years of relative broadcast stability in a bunch of markets even if yearly payouts decrease, and that could be important for several MLB franchises.
But the long-term industry goal makes more sense with the passing of time. We’re nowhere near being a streaming-only nation – even with cable taking massive hits, for example, Comcast still claims more than 14 million subscribers – but for MLB, being able to offer a streaming package that can be picked up almost anywhere, with no idiotic local blackout, is eventually going to sound like very good business.
America’s major sports industries all handle this situation differently. The NFL is practically exempt, since its deal is entirely national. For the others, this transition from cable-dominant to streaming-oriented is a slow turn of a large ship – but a critical one.
And MLB will get there. It probably won’t be as soon as Rob Manfred daydreamed earlier this year, but the turn is under way. This Comcast-Bally brawl is a little entertaining and a lot irritating, but it’s a sideshow. The real action is still in its early days.
From the moment the preseason begins, Rob Perez watches every second of every game taking place in the NBA. On days that can include as many as 15 contests on the docket, it results in a jam-packed schedule and heavy content cycle. When the games conclude, he is much like a player or coach in that he reviews the tape and searches for nuances or aspects of play that he might have missed. At the same time, he is sharing key moments and providing his thoughts to followers in real time, generating prodigious levels of engagement and captivating intrigue.
Known as “WorldWideWob” on social media, Perez possesses an ability to comprehend what will resonate with an audience, exhibiting a shrewdness towards emerging trends. At the same time, he also knows when to move on and adapt, constructing a brand from scratch that has cemented a coveted place in the basketball ecosystem.
Equipped with a comprehensive outlook cultivated over many years of market research, analysis and application, Perez has arrived at a place where he can appeal to and engage with many different factions of consumers. After all, he does not perceive his preparation to be tedious, nor does he view the content schedule as overwhelming.
“My audience size at this point, being in the millions that it is, some people know me for one specific thing and then they find out at a later time that, ‘Wait, this guy hosts a show? This guy actually talks ball? He does more than police chases?,’” Perez said. “It’s all of these different little things [adding] up, and once I get people through the door, I can introduce them to all the different variations of content creation and distribution that I am producing on a daily basis.”
While Perez does not refer to himself as an influencer, his dais has very much become a venerated and indispensable aspect of the gameday experience. As the leader of a brand that satiates the demand for content, he embraces the early stages within the diffusion of innovation and avoids negligence. Technology plays a role in the evolution of his media career that has been somewhat consolidated and adeptly fused together through his new role broadcasting on SiriusXM NBA Radio.
“You want to have that want; you want to have that drive because there’s always going to be [someone] out there that is willing to do your job for half the price just to get their foot in the door,” Perez said, “so I’m competing against all of those people that also are passionate about the NBA. And if I’m not all in, then I might as well be all out.”
Perez is hosting his Late Night with Wob show following playoff games on SiriusXM NBA Radio, an opportunity that represents the culmination of previous endeavors in several different areas of media. The venture permits him to evince his proficiency in various mediums of content creation and dissemination through the lens of basketball. Versatility, he avows, has become an essential facet of the industry rather than a mere commoditization or bonus per se.
“I’m stating the obvious here, but the entire content world is saturated with not only personalities at this point, but methods of distribution,” Perez explained. “If you want to be a content creator, you are going to have to know five different languages.”
“[If the next face of the league] isn’t going to be Victor Wembanyama, it might be Anthony Edwards”@WorldWideWob talks with @TermineRadio about the attention around the TWolves all-star guard.
Perez always had a penchant for basketball inculcated through attending New York Knicks games at Madison Square Garden, but discovering and thriving in the niche of content creation took significant time and effort. Many of his early basketball memories include watching athletes such as Xavier McDaniel, John Starks and Patrick Ewing take the floor under the bright lights of New York City.
While an undergrad, Perez remembers a Twitter employee visiting his sports communication class and promoting the service, a proposition that piqued his curiosity and compelled him to sign up as a microblogger. Graduating at the peak of a recession though, he needed to find a day job and tried to implement his proclivity for sports.
“All that was really hiring was sales,” Perez said. “There’s always room for people that are willing to sell something to drive revenue. So, I knew I wanted to work in the NBA because of my passion as a fan, and ultimately, I ended up in a city I had never been to in my life, which was New Orleans working for the NBA franchise down there – the New Orleans Hornets. The gig was pretty much, ‘Here’s a phone book – start calling; start selling stuff,’ so that went well.”
Following a promotion to account executive in 2010 and remaining in the role for a year, Perez decided that he wanted to assume the role that resembled more of a ticket broker. As a result, he relocated to the Northeast and founded HiLo Tickets, serving as the chief executive officer of the firm. Later on, he and Justin Cener co-founded Crowd Seats and eventually sold the business to ScoreBig, Inc. Perez decided to move on after less than six months as an inventory manager following the acquisition. He had started to write for DraftKings and The Big Lead during that time as well, granting him a perspective in the editorial content sector of the business.
Perez put more of his effort into Twitter and worked to expand his brand with the new multimedia functionalities on the app, along with the short-form video application Vine. In addition, he experimented with live video streaming with Meerkat, launching it for the first time when he was sitting by a pool. Shortly thereafter, Periscope debuted and was quickly acquired by Twitter in an $86 million transaction that also included the social media platform Niche.
“I saw this and I just found it as an opportunity to put myself out there because I was not an employee of a major network,” Perez said. “I was just a sole proprietor – a one-man shop – and if I wanted to share my thoughts with the world, I had to rely on this new technology to be able to distribute it.”
The first time Perez used Periscope for a live stream was after returning from a bar at 3 a.m. and making pizza rolls with his roommate Katie Fischer. Much to his surprise, 50 people ended up watching the live stream in the middle of the night. It led to him thinking about taking such an approach to content surrounding basketball and the NBA, and he ultimately began to broadcast live postgame shows on the platform. The audience rapidly proliferated around the globe and reached fans from around the world, demonstrating the global reach of the sport and vacancy the WorldWideWob brand was beginning to fill in the landscape.
As all of this growth was occurring, Perez began to work with COMPLEX as a digital media producer and was later hired to contribute to the FOX Sports website. Through it all, he continued to operate his WorldWideWob account, augmented his following to hundreds of thousands of users and began to implement YouTube Live as well.
“I kind of wanted to do this version of the standard network television – Jimmy Kimmel; Conan O’Brien; Jay Leno-type show, but for basketball, I guess in a way was always my vision for it and just religiously coming back,” Perez said. “Every time there was a big moment in the NBA between the years 2016 and 2018, I would be live on Periscope on Twitter, and everyone knew it, and that’s where they know they could get postgame reactions.”
Balancing his independent content ventures with an additional job presented its challenges, especially because of the wide range of tip-off times that can occupy the schedule during the season. He remembers that there was not much live programming following the conclusion of the later games, a discerning observation that led to further audience expansion and subsequent retention.
“I became just this late-night, North America guy with an international audience that was always there regardless, and because I was able to interpret, comprehend and execute those analytics of seeing where the audience was watching from, it really motivated me to continue doing what I was doing,” Perez said. “Because it may not get the shine that a network show in America would – an ESPN; FOX; Turner; all those programs that run throughout the day – because most people are sleeping when I’m live, but that was the motivation for doing it and sticking with it.”
The program eventually metamorphosed into Buckets with Cycle, a subsidiary of 247 Laundry Service that was later acquired by the Wasserman Group. Following its first season, Cycle and ESPN agreed to an original content and advertising partnership that resulted in the expansion of Buckets and additional programming development. The second season of the show ended up accumulating over 10 million viewers across its 10-episode slate.
“That was what I would consider to be my creative zenith,” Perez said. “I was sleeping in the office. We were coming out with 10 to 12 episodes a year, and these episodes would take a full week to edit, produce, do the creative for [and] film. We got Cassidy Hubbarth from ESPN, who’s like my big sister to this day, to co-host it with me. I think in that moment was kind of when WorldWideWob became more than just a Twitter personality. It was recognized that, ‘This guy does more than just film his television with his iPhone 7.’”
Perez signed a multi-year deal with The Action Network in which he assumed a multi-faceted role as a senior NBA producer. While there, he wrote articles, hosted podcasts and helped develop new programming with the outlet.
The landscape changed once the pandemic hit in 2020, but fortunately for Perez, he received an invite from Twitter to be part of the beta for Spaces. The live audio streaming functionality built within the social media application got Perez thinking about the next adaptation of his live program.
“As Zoom becomes a big thing and these live audio chat rooms become a big thing, I’m imagining a world where I can almost reinvent sports talk radio with technology,” Perez said, “and what I did was combine the Late Night with Wob streaming concept with live audio, and I would have people call in and I would randomly select them to participate in the show and share their thoughts the same way people call into a radio station.”
The derivative of his original program became known as Radio Roulette and contributed to the sustained growth of his followers on social media. Rather than having a moment of notoriety propelling reach and engagement, such as going viral overnight, Perez utilized a methodical approach to his craft. In essence, he continued to refine what he was doing ahead of the mass adoption of such and stayed at the forefront of innovation.
Since that time, Perez has worked with several companies on a contract basis including SportsGrid, FanDuel, Underdog Fantasy and Amazon’s Amp platform. Ahead of the NBA Playoffs, he signed a deal with SiriusXM to join the talent roster on its SiriusXM NBA Radio channel. Hosting the Late Night with Wob postgame show several nights per week during the playoffs, Perez provides his reactions, interviews personnel and takes calls from listeners across the country. He will remain with SiriusXM NBA Radio during free agency and the NBA Summer League to proffer his insights and analysis.
Part of the reason Perez decided to join a sports radio station within SiriusXM can be attributed to the next-generation streaming app it unveiled last year. While the product has become embedded in most automobiles and other means of transport, the programming has become more accessible through the new multimedia platform. At the same time, the company refreshed its brand identity and reaffirmed its commitment to bring listeners closer to stars across many genres.
“Anyone that is interested in the programming can reach it even when they’re not in transport, so that is a big step for a company this size that has had a business model for, what, [a] decade-plus, that was very tunnel vision if you will,” Perez said. “That sounds derogatory, but it’s not meant to be. If they had something that works – and if it’s not broken, you don’t fix it – but they realized, ‘We need to evolve with technology because people are listening to content more than the ways that we are distributing it,’ and their answer was the app, and the app takes two clicks to find anything you want.”
As a sports radio host, Perez knows that he can both be a professional and provide value for advertising partners while also conveying the essence of WorldWideWob to the listeners. An analogy he draws for his show is a spinning arrow outside of H&R Block during tax season, an eye-catching form of user acquisition that promulgates the service. The content Perez posts on X partially serves that purpose and tries to create steadfast consumers interested in the long-form content.
“Wob can be known to toe the line a little bit, and it’s not more so with takes and such, but it can be with delivery,” Perez said. “It can be at any moment – the vein starts popping out of my neck for no reason – and it’s that type of volatility if you will that I think keeps the audience on its toes and there’s not this consistent voice while still always being true to the authenticity of who I am. There’s just always a way for me to come at you in a unique and different way.”
In his business transactions, Perez considers himself a sole proprietor who owns intellectual property that can be licensed by different companies. The traditional approach to prosperity often centers on the premise of starting a platform and selling it a decade later when it gains enough viewers and subscribers. Operating independently is different – Perez is hired to produce content, promote the brand and gains access to resources – yet it can lead to a litany of challenges and a lack of respite. The lifestyle is not amenable to all, but it is something Perez embraces and accepts.
“If I am a solo entrepreneur brand, me the person and not a separate business, then I cannot just take a week off and hope that other people working at the company can carry us until I get back,” Perez said. “If I go on vacation [and] I leave my phone at home, there is no content whatsoever being produced for a week, and you can fall into irrelevancy if you are not feeding the content hamster wheel that this world has evolved into.”
The Official NBA Postgame Show — Late Night with Wob — is live @SiriusXMNBA
As Perez continues hosting on SiriusXM, he aspires to continue providing his genuine reactions and opinions to his audience no matter how they tune in. Moreover, he will keep posting his thoughts and highlights on social media in real time, primarily on X where he has over 1.1 million followers.
Only one team can hoist the Larry O’Brien Trophy as NBA Champions, and the overall parity within the league and entropy of playoff basketball renders it difficult to prematurely determine a winner. In whatever manner the season ends though, Perez will be there for the legion of basketball fans invested in his content while inviting new audience members to take part as well.
“The moment you ask me not to be Wob, I’m a terrible talent,” Perez divulged. “I’m not skilled enough to be a suit-and-tie professional reading from a teleprompter. There’s people out there who go to school for that kind of stuff. All I know how to do is be Wob, and that’s what’s gotten me to this point, and I think that’s what’s going to continue in the future.”
