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Laura Rutledge is Thriving on Her Journey at ESPN

Derek Futterman
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Laura Rutledge is Thriving on Her Journey at ESPN

When Laura Rutledge looks back at the early days of the revamped NFL Live, she recognizes how she occupied a cavernous studio alone while everyone else was in remote locations carrying out their roles. In trying to adhere to health and safety protocols due to the global pandemic, the network had made adaptations to many of its studio shows. Although everyone involved was excited for the new show, the external situations surrounding the endeavor placed it in a unique situation compared to the launch of other studio programming.

“I remember very early on being discouraged and feeling like we weren’t really given a fair shake, and it was basically out of everybody’s control,” Rutledge said. “There was nothing anyone could do about it, and so instead of wallowing in that, I decided, ‘Okay, we’re not going to use that as an excuse. We’re going to find some way to make this really work.’”

Rutledge had faced different levels of adversity in establishing herself and working in sports media. At this stage in her career though, she is largely recognized as one of ESPN’s versatile, star talents. Aside from her natural hosting abilities, she has exhibited unyielding poise and a commitment to enhancing her colleagues. Every weekday, Rutledge is joined by ESPN NFL analysts Dan Orlovsky, Mina Kimes, Marcus Spears and Ryan Clark on NFL Live, a show that genuinely blends congeniality with proficiency pertaining to a predominant sport.

“I know some people are like, ‘Wow, is it really this good? Do you guys really like each other this much,’ and I would just tell you it’s just family,” Rutledge said. “We’ve been there for each other through a lot over these last few years, and so I think that’s very rare to find in TV in general, but I desperately hold on to the chemistry that we’ve created because I know that it’s something rare and special.”

Rutledge left her ego behind at the entrance to the long and winding road towards Bristol, Conn., and she has worked to build off each opportunity placed in her direction. Viewing chances to broaden her skillset as stepping stones instead of obstacles, she prepares to cross these rivers with a confident composure. As time has progressed, Rutledge has improved her ability to construct bridges that put her in the fast lane of success.

The airport is a common destination on some of these drives since she frequently travels throughout the football season to host and report on various network programs. Before she was a passenger on an airplane preparing for takeoff, Rutledge was on the runway herself competing in beauty pageants. As a longtime member of the Miss America organization, Rutledge sought to win scholarship money while in college at the University of Florida. While she eventually won the title of Miss Florida in the summer of 2012, the process helped her refine key fundamentals in her sports media pursuits.

“I really didn’t know how to be in front of a camera and I would deal with debilitating nerves trying to do that, so this forced me so outside my comfort zone that I had to learn pretty quickly how to make it all work,” Rutledge said. “I think if you can be on a stage in front of people, being on a camera isn’t nearly as bad.”

From a young age, Rutledge possessed a keen interest in the arts and ballet dancing, and although she enjoyed sports, she did not closely scrutinize teams and leagues. Upon matriculating at the University of Florida, she was using some of her academic scholarship funds to pay for ballet classes and needed to find a job to help alleviate some of the costs. A friend subsequently told her she had a good voice and should consider joining WRUF, the campus radio station. In the spring of her freshman year, Rutledge applied and was informed sports was the only opening, and she did not hesitate to oblige.

In order to learn about what she was covering, Rutledge engaged in deft preparation and displayed a steadfast yearning to excel. As she focused her major on telecommunications and news, she discerned the widespread passion for college sports and made her voice heard. Outside of her own work, she watched and drew inspiration from ESPN television personalities such as Mike Greenberg, Paul Finebaum and Scott Van Pelt. Rutledge, however, thought she was going to work in radio but was open to any chance to assimilate into the industry.

After relentless attempts to land an internship, she began working with FOX Sports Florida in her senior year and primarily copied DVDs over the summer. Despite crossing through an open doorway, Rutledge felt discouraged and that the role was somewhat a waste of time.

From her propensity to take action, she approached management and asked if she could write positional previews for Florida and Florida State football. Even without a guarantee that they would be published, she set out on the project and looked to imbue the website with fresh, relevant content. In the end, every single article was posted, and the gamble parlayed itself into a position as a sideline reporter for the Tampa Bay Rays while still in school, catalyzing her career in television.

“One of the great things about a baseball season and being a regional reporter is that if you have a bad game, you can come back out the next day and do it again,” Rutledge explained. “I felt that bounce-back opportunity for me after many bad games and many times when I would think, ‘Oh my goodness – I can’t even have any success at this,’ that was really beneficial.”

Rutledge eventually relocated to the FOX Sports-branded regional sports network in San Diego, which later became Bally Sports San Diego. While there, she further bolstered her portfolio by reporting on San Diego Padres games and serving as a fill-in host in the studio. Even so, she had an inclination to do more and pitched a new show, SDLive, on which she would produce, write and host.

“I look back and I’m like, ‘Oh man, I could have done that so much better now,’ but at the time for being as young as I was in the business but also really passionate about trying to grow the producer side of my brain, it was great experience and I loved it,” Rutledge said. “I was very sad to leave San Diego; the only thing that pulled me away was the opportunity with ESPN.”

Several weeks before the college football season, Rutledge interviewed with ESPN at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and had a willingness to do anything to land an opportunity. She was subsequently added to the talent roster ahead of the debut of the SEC Network and quickly began reporting on football, gymnastics, softball and college baseball games. From the onset, Rutledge aimed to adequately perform her roles and serve as an asset rather than a liability in the grand scheme of coverage.

“I learned a lot, I think, in those early days, but I think the keys to getting more opportunities at ESPN was showing that I didn’t care what it was going to be that they were going to ask me to do,” Rutledge said. “I was going to find a way to do it and hopefully perform at a high and acceptable level.”

When Rutledge was named the host of SEC Nation in 2017, she sought to find a way to bring the feel of a college atmosphere to viewers at home. The show broadcasts live at gameday on select college campuses throughout the season with analysts Jordan Rodgers, Roman Harper, Tim Tebow and Paul Finebaum. College football reporters Marty Smith and Ryan McGee also contribute to the program, which informs viewers through entertainment and keeps them coming back each week.

“It is this mix of these really interesting, fun personalities who are very football-minded and very smart,” Rutledge said, “and so that’s a show I’m incredibly proud of and I really, really look forward to doing every single week during college football season.”

Rutledge continues to balance her hosting commitments on both SEC Nation and NFL Live and travels for both programs throughout the year. Regardless of the show, she looks to remain out of the way and elevate the people around her so they can flourish. Although she is in front of the camera, Rutledge looks to remain somewhat in the background to cultivate memorable moments. She truly seeks to be a team player, placing her colleagues before herself and doing things in the best interest of the show.

“They don’t need to remember what I said because I’m there to make them shine, and that will be what I hope people would say about me,” Rutledge said. “I hope that’s what my coworkers would say about me because that’s my ultimate goal.”

From watching other sports programming, Rutledge feels that conversation sometimes becomes too serious in a medium implementing entertainment value. Whenever she is working, Rutledge tries to remember people who have bad things happening in their lives and simply yearn for a reprieve.

“At this point, I’ve done so many embarrassing things on TV and had so many weird moments that there’s nothing that I’m really that afraid of because I will always just be who I am,” Rutledge said. “It took a long time for me to get there, but in life I’m sort of goofy and I love a blooper and I just love to laugh and have fun.”

While NFL Live utilizes analytics and other esoteric concepts of the game, it also confers on other topics others may perceive as trivial. There are disagreements at times, but the show largely eschews from contentiousness and retains a level of comfortability and education within its segments. Everyone on the show has respect for one another and is cognizant of the importance of actively listening rather than steady interruption. Contrarily though, there are times where entropy has etched the show into the minds of viewers, but it is always with the backing of strong trust across the panel.

“We know that of course we understand the football that we’re talking, and we love to inform; we love to be at a high level X-and-O wise,” Rutledge outlined, “but I think the most memorable moments from the show have been things that have been completely spontaneous and unplanned.”

Cast members of the program and production staff take part in a daily meeting prior to the show to discuss topics for the show. Throughout the week, the analysts on the program reveal what they are interested in bringing to light and maintain a consistent dialogue. Since the show is daily rather than weekly, it has the flexibility to move segments or discussion points in order to react to the dynamic news cycle in real time. ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter famously broke news of quarterback Aaron Rodgers being traded to the New York Jets during an edition of the program, allowing viewers to experience their reactions in real time.

“Our staff gets to weigh in on what they’d be interested in,” Rutledge said. “That’s always interesting because it gives us a nice barometer to see what fans – people who aren’t analysts but do work on the show – what [they would] care about. We really take that seriously, and then we talk to the analysts throughout the day – the people who are going to be on the show – [and] they sort of tell us, ‘Hey, I saw this,’ or, ‘I’m interested in that,’ and then we kind of sort through it and we’ll have a lot of conversations.”

Although there is some overlap in the preparation process for sideline reporting, Rutledge has had to make alterations in order to balance all of her responsibilities. She frequently feels fatigued but reminds herself of how lucky she is to be in her position. As a result, there are times where she has to sacrifice the amount of detail to complete the essential tasks prior to a contest.

During this past NFL regular season, Rutledge was the sideline reporter for Monday Night Football games in the three weeks ESPN presented doubleheaders. Additionally, she was on the broadcast for the network’s first ever NFL divisional round playoff game in addition to its Wild Card weekend game the week prior.

“I think one of the things that’s helped me a lot is finding ways to prepare where I really just focus in on whatever that sport is in a short time period and knowing that my brain can handle that and just cramming it all in and then moving to the next thing,” Rutledge articulated, “and then when I’m done with it, I kind of flush a lot out and then I hope there’s something left in case I had to go back to that team or that sport or that show or whatever it may be, and I found some success that way.”

Retaining credibility and being well-versed in the subject matter helps Rutledge suppress the surrounding criticism and misogyny to which she has been subjected. Every time she is on the air, she looks to remain consistent in her craft and serve as a role model for aspiring professionals. There were moments where she would let commentary affect her, but she has been able to effectively tune it out and not allow them to linger in her headspace.

“I think for me, I’ve always tried to live in a world where I don’t use that as an excuse,” Rutledge said. “While there may be people who would say ugly things or people who would treat people differently, I’ve tried to find ways to just move past that, and it’s not always possible, and so I’m very sensitive to people who have had examples where that hasn’t been the case for them.”

When Rutledge was seeking to ascend in the industry, she did not feel there was much assistance in finding the road forward. Whereas she used to be focused on her performances to define her level of success, she has broadened her scope and augmented the output as a whole. Rutledge believes there are chances for everyone, and she wants to assist others in knowing where to look and getting started.

“I think for me, that’s going to continue to be my priority no matter how long they’ll have me doing this,” Rutledge said. “At some point, I won’t be doing this anymore and I’ll be old news, and that’s great because that means it’s time for somebody else to take over.”

Rutledge is currently in the final year of her existing contract at ESPN, which is set to expire this summer, and she has interest in remaining at the network. At the same time though, she is receptive to other opportunities to cover the best events and continue performing a variety of different roles. Regardless of where she is next football season, she aspires to continue sideline reporting and experiencing moments of pure exhilaration.

“To be holding a microphone on Monday Night Football with people that I respect so much who are on those broadcast teams and the crew that does such an amazing job is beyond a dream come true,” Rutledge said. “It’s something that never in a million years I would have imagined, so I think just the more the better, and I would be thankful for anything that comes my way.”

Despite having hosted and reported on several games during her years in the business, Rutledge feels a nervous excitement ahead of each broadcast. There is undoubtedly a commitment to her performance, but it comes with a greater perspective of bolstering the aggregate product. In a time of mass layoffs throughout the media industry replete with dissemination platforms, it is clear to Rutledge that the industry is changing.

“I think it’s just extremely important that we never lose sight of what our ultimate goal is, which is to serve sports fans anytime, anywhere,” Rutledge said. “At times you see things that sort of looks like maybe we’ve fallen away from that, and that’s true for any business in any company, and just making sure that we’re always keeping our eyes squarely on that focus I think will allow for a ton of success for everybody at ESPN moving forward.”

Rutledge always has a strong sense of gratitude and considers herself fortunate to keep a packed schedule. Between SEC Nation, NFL Live and reporting assignments, along with being present for her family, moments of respite are few and far between.

In the moments where they do occur though, she thinks about the people who have and continue to support her on the journey. Instead of tracking a bonafide rise per se, she keeps her eyes focused on the road and free of distractions continuing forward towards an unknown final stop.

“I’ve worked so hard to earn every single thing and to earn it through credibility and professionalism,” Rutledge said. “And so to me, nothing that comes my way is worth doing unless that’s how I’ve earned it, so I hope that continues. Maybe one day I’ll stop and smell some roses, but for the meantime I’m just going to keep on trucking as long as they’ll let me.”

The Ticket In Dallas Brought the Fun to Sports Radio

Dave Greene
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The Ticket In Dallas Brought the Fun to Sports Radio

“We need to be more like The Ticket in Dallas.”

I cannot tell you how many times I uttered that sentence when I was a Program Director or General Manager. No matter what city I was in or station group I was working for, I would always point to The Ticket as an example of the type of station we should strive to be.

When listening to a radio station over the internet became an option, I would often tune in to stations outside my market and try to find good examples to share with hosts or other managers. At first, it was a quest to hear how the stations sounded – the imaging, the music, the station promotional ads and of course how the hosts conducted their shows.

Most of the time in the late 90’s, after listening to a lot of the major market stations, I would find myself with the same two takeaways; We need to have an event like WIP in Philadelphia has with ‘Wing Bowl’ and we need to sound more like The Ticket in Dallas. No easy task, for sure.

While it took me awhile to realize it, the two very much had the same common denominator – they were stations which had a true connection with the listening audience. Those that tuned in on a regular basis felt like they were a part of the club or family. Similar to a fraternity, others desired to be a part of it and when there were events (or fraternity parties), you didn’t want to miss out. If you did, you would not only miss the excitement of the event, but you also wouldn’t be part of the water cooler talk about it aferwards.

When I would listen to The Ticket, I heard fun. The hosts sounded like they had the best jobs in the world and the callers almost sounded as if they had won something just by getting their call through to give their take on the topics of the day or just to get in on the fun.

And, while sports talk radio shows had been around for many years, most of them stuck to the same formula. The hosts stuck to hardcore sports talk, which is exactly what the audience wanted. The Ticket started out this way as well, but within a couple of years it became something completely different than most other sports radio stations in the country.

The Ticket was less sports talk and more “guy talk.” We had all heard the expression that sports talk radio was supposed to be, “like a couple of guys sitting in a sports bar.” The Ticket was one station playing that out each day on its airwaves. Could “sports talk” get away with adding other topics the core male 25-54 demographic talked about? The answer was ‘Yes!’ and The Ticket really proved the model.

It is also worth noting, social media didn’t exist when The Ticket became more of a phenomenon than a radio station. Which makes it ever more amazing how smart programmers and talented hosts grew a legion of ‘P1’s,” who have carried The Ticket through many successful years.

Not every market is made for what The Ticket has been. It sounds simple – have a consistent lineup of hosts who deliver entertaining radio and build an adoring fan base around them. Yet most stations that tried to emulate it have failed miserably.

If you have a show in the sports talk format and you get to do things that are outside of the box, you probably have The Ticket to thank for it. The station has set the bar high for how to engage with an audience and make them feel like they are just as much a part of the success as the hosts themselves.

So let’s all raise a glass. To Mike Rhyner and Greg Williams. To George Dunham and Craig Miller. To Norm Hitzges. To Corby Davidson and Bob Sturm. To Jeff Catlin who has been the ringleader for more than 20 years. To all of the people who have made The Ticket one of the most entertaining radio stations in the country. And to the listeners who have been along for the ride.

Cheers to 30 years!

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The Best Thing I Heard This Week

NBC’s Mike Tirico popped on ESPN Chicago with Waddle & Silvy on Thursday afternoon. The topic of Bill Belichick’s future came up and how he may not end up as a head coach in the NFL next season. Tirico’s opinion on Belichick as an analyst was quite different than most and it was an educated opinion. Tirico is one of very few broadcasters who can say they have worked with Belichick in the capacity of football analyst, having worked with him on ABC prior to Super Bowl XL.

Click here to listen to Tirico with Tom Waddle and Marc Silverman.

Colin Cowherd: NFL Only Sport I’ll Watch on a Streaming Service

BSM Staff
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Colin Cowherd: NFL Only Sport I’ll Watch on a Streaming Service

Don’t count on Colin Cowherd tuning in to watch an NFL game exclusive to a streaming platform unless it’s on Amazon.

Cowherd on The Colin Cowherd Podcast for The Volume said recently that he’s now taking recommendations for good TV shows to catch with the football season ending.

“I don’t watch any streaming during the football season,” Cowherd said. “And then once the football season ends, I’ll commit to a few Netflix shows.”

Colin explained that in this current era of streaming dominance, he doesn’t need to have every service under the sun.

“I have Amazon for football, and Netflix for my wife,” he said. “I have peeled way back on stuff. I like sports, I like news, I like politics. It’s all on TV.”

George Noory Guides Coast to Coast AM With His Gut Instinct

Krystina Alarcon Carroll
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George Noory Guides Coast to Coast AM With His Gut Instinct

He’s the hardest working man in the industry, with an audience that’s more like family. Most importantly Coast to Coast AM host George Noory is a man who keeps his promises.

“I made a pledge to our audience when I came in. There are a lot of lonely people out there. I get emotional about that. But I told them I will never, ever leave them. That’s why I do it,” Noory told Barrett News Media over a Zoom call.

George Noory didn’t intend on being in the media, but at 19 he decided to give it a try. “I was going to be a dentist. That’s what my dad wanted me to become,” he added, “I did that for about two years. And I said, you know what? I love broadcasting. I’ve always loved broadcasting, and I miss broadcasting.”

Through a friend he got his first gig. “[My friend] was in the broadcast curriculum at the University of Detroit, and he was going home for Christmas. He lived in Cleveland, and he said, ‘George, they won’t let me leave.’ He was a copy-boy at a television station in Detroit. He said, ‘They won’t let me leave unless I get somebody to fill in for me for a week. Would you do it?’ I went ‘Absolutely.’”

George Noory went on to say, “I stayed there for a week and I was ready to leave, and the news director came up to me. His name was Frank and he said, ‘George, we want you to stay.’ I said, ‘Well, what about [my friend] David?’ He said, ‘We’re going to keep him, too. Don’t worry about that.’ So they kept me on and I stayed there for a couple of years, got my degree in broadcasting from the University of Detroit.”

From the University of Detroit, George Noory went on to become a  radio reporter at WCAR. “I did that for a couple of years, then I went to a TV station in Detroit, WWJ television. From there, I went to WJBK-TV, which was channel two.”

After his reporting career, Noory had an extensive career as a TV Executive Producer before being offered a News Director position in St. Louis. “He made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. So we picked up my family, I had two little girls and a boy, and we moved to Saint Louis in 1979. I ran the NBC television station there, KSDK.”

It wasn’t until 1996 when George Noory figured out what he wanted to do. “I heard Art Bell on the radio doing Coast to Coast in Saint Louis. He was affiliated all over the country. And I said, ‘That’s what I want to do.’” When Bell retired in 2003, Noory took over for him.

22 years later, Noory has built more than an audience, he’s built a family.

“Of all the programs I’ve done in my life, it is one of the strongest, tight-knit groups of listeners I’ve ever come across. I’ve listened to other talk shows and you hear callers call them but hear they’re family. They care about people.” Noory added, “I get callers who call in wondering if so-and-so is okay from Tallahassee, or if somebody from Wichita is okay. I mean, they really care about people, and that just keeps me going. It’s just amazing. Sometimes it gets emotional.”

The Coast to Coast AM family includes his producers. Noory hasn’t had a single staff change since he took over the show. Most notably, Coast to Coast AM is known for speaking on the paranormal and what some consider conspiracy theories. Noory said of the content, “I believe a lot, I always did. I believe in life after death, I believe that there’s Bigfoot wandering out there, and I believe we’ve been visited by extraterrestrials. We continue to be.”

Noory later added, “I think the government knows [we’ve been visited by aliens]. Just by the nature of the hearings that are happening right now, without publicly coming out and telling us everything. Because I think they’re trying to figure out how they can tell us that they lied to us for so many years. But this is an amazing universe and I’m glad we’re in it.”

When asked if he’s ever met an alien Noory in jest said, “Maybe I am one.” In a more serious tone, he told BNM if he did meet one, “I think my first question to an alien is if they believe in God. I’d love to know what that answer is. Where do they think they came from? How did they get here? I think it would be one of the greatest questions you could give mankind or humankind.”

Part of why George Noory believes is because of some of the inexplicable calls he receives. “One of the good calls I got one day was from a police officer. I get a lot of calls from police officers. They work all shifts. And he said that they had a call that a guy had a heart attack.”

Quoting the officer, Noory said, “And we got there, George, before the first responders got there. We get to the door and the little old man lets us in and we see a person on his stomach on the floor. We rush to him and flip him over. It’s the little old man who opened the door, and we turn around and that guy’s gone.” Noory later added, “So those kind of calls just keep on coming.”

Emmy award-winning Noory does cover more than aliens and conspiracy theories on his show. Working overnight hours, Noory is often the first live show to break news from around the world. Most notably, Noory was the first to announce the death of Osama Bin Laden.

While he does have to hyphen from fact and fiction more, Noory always goes with his gut.

“I’ve been lucky enough to be extremely intuitive about certain things. My gut instinct has been pretty profound, and I use that a lot on the radio show. And that seems to be helping and working.” Noory later added, “It’s it’s a given gift. It came from somewhere. But, there’s just an uncanny perception of certain things, and. Gives me a different insight into certain things.”

For those looking to follow in his footsteps, Noory said, “Give 120% every day and just work, work, work. And make it happen. It’s a tiring job sometimes, but you have to do it.”

George Noory said of himself, “I see myself as a stability factor in this country, not just a paranormal host who has fun and stuff like that, but to kind of calm people down during uptight times that we’ve had. Uptight times are going to have even more. And, I want to be there for them so they can at least tune in whenever they can and feel some kind of comfort that there’s a voice out there in the wilderness, in the darkness that can be heard for, though, and that’s what I’m going to keep doing.”

Noory added, “I told my producer, Tom, I’m not going to retire. I’m just going to work until one day, he goes back on the air, and says ‘George died during the commercial break.’ That’s it.”

Is Being a Radio Program Director Appealing?

Jason Barrett
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Is Being a Radio Program Director Appealing?

I’ve been thinking about the headline of this column lately. I’m sure many of you reading this will have differing opinions on it. As we examine the issue, remember that the answer changes from market to market, company to company, and individual to individual. I’m going to do my best to share my thoughts as someone who has not only done the job but led nearly twenty programming searches over the past eight years.

I’ll start with the positives about the job.

The program director is involved in all aspects of the business. There’s a chance to work across promotions, digital and sales, with play-by-play partners, and interact with different people, while monitoring the brand’s growth. You’re given access to a budget and trusted to make smart decisions on behalf of the company. That allows you to grow as a professional. Knowing your voice matters when key decisions are made also makes you feel that you’re valued by your bosses. Being able to earn time with corporate executives and share your vision is another plus.

Leading and helping people, being creative, giving someone a career start or important promotion, and connecting with listeners to learn how they view your brand are other benefits. You can see the progression or lack thereof from your staff based on how they respond to your direction. You’re able to make personnel moves, add key contributors to improve coverage, and introduce fun promotions and imaging to excite your fans and on-air staff.

If you enjoy being strategic and challenged, programming will keep you interested. You can implement things on the air and see what sticks. You’re given access to data, and trusted to use it to shape future decisions. That knowledge allows you to guide your team to the right type of content, promotions, events, etc.. By setting them up for success, you gain trust. Most people in radio want to win and they’ll listen if you can show them how to do it.

Another positive is the compensation. Program directors are usually paid more than other behind the scenes roles. Making money in radio usually requires working in management, sales or on-air. There are exceptions for producers, board ops, social media assistant’s, etc. but the financial upside is usually solid for a programmer. The larger the market, the better the chances of making a better living.

Now let’s look at the other side.

Getting big ideas implemented on the air has become harder. There are brands 3 weeks out from the Super Bowl that still don’t know their plans. That’s nuts. When I led stations, I had a calendar ready for the entire year. Every feature on every show was detailed for sales to know when it occurred and what came with it. Major promotions were known in advance and then discussed with the programming staff in monthly meetings. If a local story broke and required a change, we pivoted, and did so quickly.

The amount of time is takes to capitalize on opportunities and do something big has sucked the life out of some creative people. It’s also cost brands opportunities to generate interest and revenue. There’s also too much reliance on continuing past promotions or events because they were previously sold. Sports media’s top digital outlets react quickly to opportunities, which used to be radio’s super power. Why we’ve given that up and made it harder to execute I’ve yet to understand.

Next, programmers today are often overshadowed by general managers. That makes sense if a GM has strong programming acumen like Chris Oliviero, Mike Thomas or Ryan Hatch. Most though aren’t built that way. Go look at the press releases that stations send out announcing programming moves. The PD’s name is often missing. The PD may be part of the process but group decisions happen more frequently now. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Not every PD should have free reign and top managers should be part of decisions that affect multiple departments. However, some PD’s deserve more say based on track record and ability.

How much the GM respects and understands the PD role is another issue. In recent months, a top 10 market GM said ‘there isn’t much for a PD to do in our building’. That’s what someone says when they don’t know, value or understand the position. It’s a case of I’ll pick the lineup, the talent will host the shows and you do whatever. They essentially view the PD as a middle manager except that’s not what a strong program director provides. Making it worse, this is a city where the PD oversees multiple stations. But again, there’s not much to do there.

The final issue involves what’s asked and expected of PD’s in 2024. The abundance of tasks that have little to do with creativity and staff development continue to rise. People don’t take PD jobs expecting to get rich. They also don’t pursue them because they love building clocks, attending promotions meetings, filling out timesheets and affidavits or assisting engineering or HR. They do it because they want to be creative, work with shows, put their stamp on a brand, and compete. When the fun parts of the job get replaced by office work, talented people leave.

I know of one situation a few years ago where two candidates interviewed for a job and learned that they’d be tasked with managing 4 sports radio brands in two cities and serving as a co-host of a 4-hour afternoon show. The position paid under 50K. This was in a top 50 market. How do you expect anyone to effectively manage 4 radio stations let alone do it while spending 20-hours on-air each week? This won’t surprise you, both candidates turned down the job. The station had to promote a person from within who wasn’t ready for the role.

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There are pros and cons to every job. Plenty still see the value of being a program director. Others find it less appealing. Those opinions are mostly shared though by people with prior experience. What about interest from younger professionals? Do they desire to lead sports radio stations? If so, why are they less active pursuing opportunities and landing them?

A lot of the answers to this question will depend on who you ask and where they work. Some companies still value the role, others don’t. Quarter to quarter thinking and stress over debt has unfortunately created more focus on executing than creating/building. That approach doesn’t excite, attract or retain talented people. It also makes others rising through the ranks question how far they can go with your company.

Once or twice per year I’m asked to consider a PD role. I appreciate the interest but the answer is always no. I loved the job and am proud of what I did but I’ve since built two strong brands and a successful business. I get the benefits of programming BSM and BNM while helping stations, companies, and people that I like working with. I wouldn’t trade that for anything.

Since I’m not chasing a job and still work with groups nationwide, I’m going to share three pearls of wisdom for aspiring and existing programmers. Use it as you wish.

First, learn to look at your brand through a business lens. Many focus on content, ratings, brand awareness, and serving listeners but don’t know the local business climate. Challenge your general manager to teach you. Spend time with your Sales Manager to learn what the financial wins and losses are. You can even explore spending time with clients or talking to executives in other fields. Knowledge is available everywhere if you look for it. When you see and understand the full picture, it makes you a stronger executive.

Secondly, every single PD should be making time to develop future brand leaders. You’re a coach. They hired you to make people better. If you possess those qualities, use them to assure the company has future options. That reflects well on you and shows your team that you’re invested in their growth. This business is going to be in tough shape in a decade if we don’t groom future leaders. It starts with inspiring others to pursue the same path you did, and then showing them how it’s done.

My last piece of advice, stop using ratings to justify your success. I know great PDs who were ranked 25th, and others who earned industry accolades despite not meeting with talent or shows for more than 3 years. Your numbers reflect what exists on a screen based on what Nielsen reports. But few have physical proof that shows how people behave when they listen, view or read your content. You’re offering blind faith to an imperfect system.

For years I’ve called it Programming For Ghosts. We’re in an era of multiplatform content and brand building. Not every PD knows how their audience consumes them. You should know your podcast, YouTube, streaming, website, social media, radio, and newsletter stories, not just your radio ratings report. You then use that information to showcase your brand’s impact and explain how it benefits clients and staff.

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Thumbs Up:

Michael Kay, 98.7 ESPN New York: After learning Doc Rivers was exiting ESPN to become the new head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks, Michael took the network to task. It’d have been easy to avoid the topic and the internal noise but Kay was honest with the audience and his co-hosts. He questioned how CNN could scoop ESPN on the Rivers news, why Doc’s agreement didn’t have a clause in it preventing this issue, and acknowledged that the new booth wasn’t crisp and certainly wasn’t on par with what existed previously with Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson. ESPN management and PR may not have loved it but Kay spoke from the heart and said what many were thinking.

DraftKings: Adding Marie Donoghue to the network’s executive team makes the company instantly stronger. The expected new marketing partnership with Barstool Sports is also smart. With former ESPN talents like the Golic’s on board, a partnership in place with Meadowlark Media, and a management team featuring former ESPN execs Stacie McCollum and Len Mead, DK is positioning itself for future success. The impact may not be felt today or tomorrow but long-term growth requires patience, strategy and skill. DK is making sure they’re built to win.

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Thumbs Down:

Vince McMahon: WWE’s former owner and longtime mastermind has left his position as executive chairman with TKO Group Holdings following allegations of sex trafficking, rape, defecation and more against a woman named Janel Grant. If you read the lawsuit and what’s been shared online, you’re likely going to be repulsed by what McMahon is accused of. I’m not an attorney nor familiar with the entire case, but for Vince’s sake, he better have evidence that proves the allegations are false. His public image and life’s work are on the verge of extinction similar to what happened to Joe Paterno’s legacy at Penn State.

If you abuse power, make bad decisions, and hurt people, there are large consequences. If guilty, this is what Vince will be remembered for, which is a shame but very much deserved. Unfortunately, those involved with the WWE who had nothing to do with this mess now have to deal with a PR nightmare based on Vince’s alleged actions.

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BSM Summit Update:

More than thirty executives, programmers, talent and researcher experts have been announced for the 2024 BSM Summit in New York City, and there’s more still to come. If you haven’t bought a ticket or reserved your hotel room, log on to BSMSummit.com. The deadline to book a room is Tuesday February 13th. It will not be extended past that. If you want to save money on your stay and be in the room for the show, handle it before time expires.

We ran a number of Summit ticket contests this week to give folks a chance to attend for free. The winners are: Natalie Marsh of Lotus Las Vegas, Mike Paterson of Mid-West Family Broadcasting, Ken Selvaggi of Union Broadcasting Louisville, Kraig Riley of 93.7 The Fan, Parker Hillis of Sports Radio 610, and Jim Irizarry of Mid-West Family South Bend. College students who have won tickets include Emma Bigg and Beau Dragone of Hofstra University, and Julian Tiburcio of Manhattan University. I have two free tickets left for advertising/media buying professionals. First come, first served. Just email me.

Last week we announced Angelo Cataldi and Steve Cohen as award winners. Still to come are the Mark Chernoff and Champions Award recipients. I hope to announce those next week. In the meantime, I’m thrilled to reveal Jomboy Media COO Courtney Hirsch will join us for the first time. Also participating are WFNZ Program Director Jeff Rickard and SKOR North Director of Content Phil Mackey. The full agenda will be released at the end of February.

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BSM Top 20 Update:

The votes are in. My thanks to the 60 programmers and executives who submitted feedback for the BSM Top 20 of 2023. The results will be released next week. The six day series recognizes the Top 20 National Sports Radio Shows, and Local Sports Radio Stations, Program Directors, Morning Shows, Midday Shows, and Afternoon Shows in both major and mid sized markets. A huge thank you to Steve Stone Voiceovers for supporting the series and sports radio’s best.

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Super Bowl Week in Las Vegas:

I’ll be in Las Vegas Monday-Wednesday February 5-7 along with BSM’s Derek Futterman. I’ll be on radio row promoting the Top 20 and visiting partners and familiar faces. Derek will be working on our Day Spent With series which includes spending time with Fox Sports Radio and VSiN. He’s also spending a day prior to the Vegas trip with Jim and Dawn Cutler for a peak into the day in the life of a voice artist. The Day Spent With series will run each Friday in February and March.

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Black History Month on BNM:

Public radio week was difficult to execute but we got it done. My thanks to our team and all who made time for them. Now we turn our focus to February and producing special coverage for Black History month. Krystina Alarcon Carroll and Garrett Searight will be writing 8 features during the month showcasing some of the best black broadcasters on-air and behind the scenes. Look for content to run on Monday’s and Friday’s on BNM starting this Friday February 2nd.

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If you have a question or comment you’d like addressed in a future column, please send it to JBarrett@sportsradiopd.com. Press releases, interview requests and news tips can also be passed along here. Thanks for reading!

Bomani Jones: Assumption I’d Join Meadowlark Media ‘Somewhere Between Lazy and Insulting’

BSM Staff
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Many believed Bomani Jones would quick link up with Meadowlark Media after he departed ESPN last July. However, he said that idea wasn’t as likely as others may have believed.

Over the weekend, Jones did an “ask me anything” on X, and in a now-deleted response to someone inquiring about joining forces with his former Highly Questionable co-host Dan Le Batard, Jones said don’t hold your breath.

“My run with Dan ended just fine,” Jones wrote. “The assumptions I’d go to Meadowlark just because I worked for him before are somewhere between lazy and insulting.”

Bomani Jones, who hosts his podcast The Right Time and hosted the HBO show Game Theory, added that he will continue to operate independently.

“I had my own thing before I met Dan,” Jones said. “While I worked with Dan. After I worked for Dan.”

Bomani felt like people might have misread the relationship he has with Le Batard.

“He was my co-host,” Bomani said. “Not my daddy.”

How Nielsen Defines ‘Hispanic’

Dr. Ed Cohen
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How Nielsen Defines ‘Hispanic’

Today, you’ll (hopefully) learn something about how Nielsen Audio defines who is Hispanic and their use of language. Like so many things involving ratings, it’s not a simple “cut and dried” definition. 

Nielsen attempts to collect race and ethnic information about all rating participants, even in markets where that status may not be relevant to the local market, for example, my home metro of Bowling Green, Kentucky. That’s because the individual’s data may be utilized in other services where race and ethnicity are needed. If you’re working in a market that doesn’t have race and/or ethnic weighting, that’s why Nielsen asks about it.

Due to software limitations that go back decades, Nielsen Audio can only classify individuals into three categories: Black, Hispanic, or Other. If you work in a market that has no race/ethnic weighting, then everyone is Other. If only one of the two groups is weighted, for example, Hispanic and not Black, then the Black respondents become Other. 

Of course, the individual gets to decide which category they feel is closest to their identity, but Nielsen Audio’s limitations only allow you to be in one category. Some Hispanics are Black (and vice versa), but you can’t be both as far as Nielsen Audio is concerned. Typically, the hierarchy will be that you’re Hispanic first, followed by Black, and then Other. And if you consider yourself to be Asian, Native American, etc., forget it, although Nielsen does track Asian in PPM even if the service can’t weight on that dimension.

Keep in mind that Hispanic is not a race, but an ethnicity. Good survey practice requires that race and ethnicity questions be kept separate, and Nielsen does that. But good survey practice doesn’t always jive with peoples’ perceptions. In the 2020 Census, about one out of seven respondents said they were “some other race” and 90 percent of those respondents also reported they were “Hispanic”. You can see the problem.

If you’ve answered “yes” to the Hispanic question, Nielsen can move on to “language dominance”. The concept has been around for a long time concerning radio ratings having been first used by Birch/Scarborough back in the 1980s for their ratings service that competed with Arbitron at that time. Currently, 28 metros have language weighting.

The reason weighting is used is to account for differences in the sample compared to the population on variables that have something to do with what is being measured. Age and gender matter. Race and ethnicity matter. Some variables don’t matter at all. For example, I’m left-handed, but does “handedness” have anything to do with radio listening? No.

The premise behind language dominance is that speaking only Spanish makes you more likely to use Spanish language media. If you speak only English, the result is probably the opposite.  Nielsen asks about language use at home, which gives different results than usage away from home. It’s a four-part question, with options for Spanish only, mostly Spanish, mostly English, and English only. If you’re truly bilingual, you have to add that response on your own.

When we’ve discussed weighting in the past, we’ve talked about universe estimates or population estimates (the terms are interchangeable for our purposes). For most variables like age, gender, geography, race, and ethnicity, census-based estimates are available and utilized. 

The problem with language is that there isn’t a census-based estimate for language usage “at home”. The census does ask about other languages that you might speak and how well you speak English. If you speak Spanish, but can’t speak English, that should be pretty close to what Nielsen is measuring, but Nielsen Audio doesn’t work that way.

Nielsen creates its own universe estimates for language dominance. In the past, it conducted a major national study of language dominance among Hispanics that could be used for both national and local video and audio markets. I’ve not been able to verify whether that very expensive study is still being conducted or whether Nielsen has resorted to a less costly method.

In the past, we’ve talked about weighting and if you’re in a language-weighted metro, you should always check how the sample performed compared to the population estimate. If Nielsen misses badly, especially in the direction of English dominance — in other words, too few Spanish-dominant Hispanics were in the sample compared to the estimate — then the ratings can move wildly. This can even happen in small markets. 

While at Cumulus, I had numerous conversations with Nielsen regarding Oxnard-Ventura, a majority-Hispanic market that is currently ranked 125. Invariably, Nielsen Audio could not get the sample close to the purported population for Spanish-dominant Hispanics and the result would be big numbers for the Spanish stations, while Cumulus’ English language stations lagged. 

Check your market in the E-Book and see if language dominance matters. Even if you’re not in a language-weighted market, compare Nielsen’s race/ethnic sample to the population. It’s all in the E-Book.

Let’s meet again next week.

Charlie Kirk: ‘Podcasting is a Ruthless Business’

BNM Staff
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Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes have a podcast through iHeartMedia that has been both praised and maligned. Conservative radio host and podcaster Charlie Kirk says he doesn’t believe the show has much of a future.

While appearing on The Megyn Kelly Show, Kirk was asked about the podcast between the disgraced GMA3 anchors. He shared his belief that one of the easiest ways to deduce how talented media members are is by taking their platforms away and seeing if they still find success, similar to how Kelly did after leaving Fox News and NBC and joining SiriusXM.

“You can tell a lot about somebody and how talented they are or not when you remove them from the box. When you remove them from being in 100 million homes, and all of a sudden you make them have to survive in the wild, you’re gonna find out a lot,” said Kirk. “Megan, look, you have like the number one podcast on the planet here. And we love it. We love the success. We love the virality. I don’t think this (Holmes/Robach podcast) is going to do very well.”

That’s when Charlie Kirk opined on the state of the podcast industry and the difficulty in finding success.

“Podcasting is a ruthless business, as you well know, Megan,” Kirk said. “It’s hyper-competitive. And what I love about it is that if you’re a failure people see your failure very, very quickly. If you don’t succeed, you go into the hinterlands.”

Anthony Lima on 92.3 The Fan: CBS Has a ‘Big Issue’ With Tony Romo

BSM Staff
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The Ken Carman Show with Anthony Lima in Cleveland discussed the struggles of CBS duo Jim Nantz and Tony Romo. Nantz and Romo will call this weekend’s AFC Championship game and also Super Bowl LVIII.

Barrett Sports Media’s Andy Masur recently criticized Romo’s lack of preparation in a column. This week, New York Post sports media columnist Andrew Marchand wrote about the topic as well.

Carman said he mostly watches games without sound, which led Lima to explain what the criticisms have been all about. He mentioned mistakes Romo has made and other times when he doesn’t have the information a top analyst should know.

Later, Lima said a positive of Romo at the outset, his prognosticating of plays, turned in to a negative. “The thing everybody loved about Romo and was amazing to see, the peek behind the curtain, was the way he was picking plays,” he said. “I think we realized as sports fans we don’t want to know what play is coming. The greatest aspect of sports is the surprise, the fact that something happens that we don’t see coming. If Romo is there telling you it’s coming every play, while it’s cool he is putting on this amazing carnival act, it doesn’t necessarily enhance the broadcast.”

Carman added, “I think it’s a hard thing to do and I think he might be finding out how hard it is, but he’s getting paid so much that you can’t give that up. You’re going to stadiums, they roll out the red carpet for you. Clearly there’s a bit of a problem with what is going on, but you’re still the number one and people still want to see it and hear it.”

Lima wrapped up the topic saying he thinks there are several other broadcast crews which are better right now. His list included Kevin Burkhardt and Greg Olsen, Joe Buck and Troy Aikman, Ian Eagle and Charles Davis amongst others.

“I would put all of those booths ahead, right now, of Tony Romo,” he said. “When you think of what they are paying Tony Romo, that is a big big issue for them right now.”

Dan Le Batard: It Is ‘Beneficial to the NFL to Have Taylor Swift in the Super Bowl’

BSM Staff
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With the championship round slate of games quickly approaching in the National Football League, a preponderance of sports discussion is centered around which teams will earn a spot in Super Bowl LVIII, taking place on Sunday, Feb. 11 from Las Vegas, Nevada. The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz will be on site in Las Vegas for its Thursday and Friday shows in the week leading up to the Super Bowl. Ahead of the game though, the show discussed the potential featured matchup taking center stage.

In the NFC, the Detroit Lions will aim for a chance to hoist the Vince Lombardi Trophy for the first time in franchise history. The team will face the San Francisco 49ers, who have two AP Most Valuable Player finalists in quarterback Brock Purdy and running back Christian McCaffrey. San Francisco aspires to snap a two-game losing streak in Super Bowl appearances and could have a chance to do so with a win on Sunday. The game will be televised on FOX with kickoff scheduled for 6:30 p.m. EST/3:30 p.m. PST.

Meanwhile, the Baltimore Ravens will host the Kansas City Chiefs in the earlier matchup to determine the AFC champion, which will be televised on CBS. Kickoff for the matchup is slated for 3 p.m. EST/12 p.m. PST, but consumers could be searching for award-winning singer/songwriter Taylor Swift beforehand. Swift has been dating Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce since the summer and has been at many of his games this year to support him, drawing intrigue from football and music fans alike.

Combined with the team’s recent success – which includes two Super Bowl championships in the last five seasons – Dan Le Batard is hoping the team wins the game on a controversial call.

“I don’t think it’s what’s going to happen, but it’s what I’m rooting to happen because with the refereeing crisis that they have in that sport, the content machine will melt down if that’s what happens,” Le Batard explained. “And then we’ll go flying into conspiracy theories – very quickly, we’ll be [going], ‘The whole thing’s scripted.’”

Before the season began, the NFL engaged in an advertising campaign featuring several of its star players participating in a table read and reviewing a season script. In the past, there has been speculation from some fans that outcomes and storylines are predetermined before the year, referring to potential results as being scripted per se. Le Batard’s co-host, Jon “Stugotz” Weiner, believes that the league may want the Chiefs to make the Super Bowl because of the team’s popularity. For reference, the team won the championship last season against the Philadelphia Eagles with an average audience of 115.1 million viewers tuning in on FOX television and digital platforms, rendering it the most-watched U.S. television program of all time.

“The city of Baltimore is prepared for this thing to feel rigged because of how obviously beneficial it is to the NFL to have Taylor Swift in the Super Bowl,” Le Batard explained. “She didn’t want to be in the halftime show, and everything that happened after that, people have talked about the idea that everything that happened after that could look orchestrated.”

Show producer Chris Cote conveyed that if Swift were to show up at the Super Bowl, the halftime show featuring Usher would feature various shots of Swift in the process. Cote has grown tired of the Swift phenomenon surrounding the team and is rooting for the Ravens to defeat them on Sunday afternoon. Outside of the halftime show, the show surmises that some fans of Swift’s will root for the Chiefs to win on Sunday and make the Super Bowl, which could result in an appearance from the superstar at Allegiant Stadium.

“You talk about the conspiracy theories on if the Chiefs get in on a bad call, but can you imagine Swifties who have now dedicated their lives to being so upset that Mecole Hardman is getting touches that if Baltimore gets in on a controversial call, what’s going to happen on social media with the Swifties; it’ll be a nightmare,” show contributor Jeremy Taché said. “That can’t happen.”

Even though Weiner believes it would be enjoyable to see the Chiefs lose the game in this fashion, he was surprised to find out that Le Batard is rooting for the reverse scenario. With Ravens quarterback and two-time league MVP Lamar Jackson trying to make his first Super Bowl, he seemed to believe it to be a more compelling angle.

“This is what I am rooting for when I root for the stories and not the content, Stugotz. I’m rooting for just the stories,” Le Batard said, proceeding to discuss the Lions upcoming game. He then continued by expressing his opinion on the AFC Championship game. “….I am not rooting for the underdog in this circumstance; in fact, I believe that Baltimore is going to drag Kansas City, but I am afraid that Patrick Mahomes might be Michael Jordan somehow, even though that’s not what I’ve seen from this team.”

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