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Chaiel Schaffel Moving to Reporter Role for WBZ NewsRadio

BNM Staff
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Chaiel Schaffel Moving to Reporter Role for WBZ NewsRadio

WBZ NewsRadio is shifting Chaiel Schaffel from a news writer to a news reporter role at the Boston all-news station.

In a post to X, Schaffel revealed he would be moving to the news reporter role in a full-time capacity.

“I’m thrilled to share that next week, I’ll be moving behind the mic and starting my new job as a full-time reporter for WBZ NewsRadio,” wrote Schaffel. “I cannot stress enough how deeply grateful I am to my bosses for taking a chance on me and my dear friends in the WBZ newsroom, who taught me everything I know and have had my back with full-throated support at every step. This place is stuffed with the sharpest people anywhere.”

Schaffel has served as a news writer at WBZ NewsRadio since October 2020.

Bob Sirott: We’re Never Going to Be Able to Go Back to Pre-Social Media Days

BNM Staff
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Bob Sirott: We’re Never Going to Be Able to Go Back to Pre-Social Media Days

Social media dominates the lives of many in 2024. Even for news media professionals, a large chunk of time is spent daily on platforms searching for content, promoting initiatives, or getting a general feel for your audience. WGN morning host Bob Sirott knows it’s unlikely we’ll ever return to the days before social media.

During his morning show, Sirott welcomed social media strategist and expert Scott Kleinberg to talk about the changes in social media.

Bob Sirott asked Kleinberg what the next big thing in social media would be, when he gave a surprising answer.

“I read this prediction not that long ago in The New York Times where someone said that Gen X and older millennials are going to trade their cell phones and social media and re-embrace old-school interactions in real life,” said Kleinberg.

“And honestly, Bob, I have to say I find that prediction fascinating. Because life before cell phones, in certain ways, was much more peaceful…Stranger things have happened.”

The Chicago-based host responded by saying he finds it difficult to return to a life before platforms, apps, and mobile devices dominated our consciousness.

“Isn’t the horse out of the barn there? I mean, I don’t think we can go back to the way it was before we were constantly on our smartphones,” Sirott said. “I don’t think we can go back.”

He concluded by noting that there are “multiple answers” to the question about what’s next on the horizon for social media.

iHeartMedia Returns Impact Radio to 1250 WHNZ in Tampa

BNM Staff
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iHeartMedia Returns Impact Radio to 1250 WHNZ in Tampa

iHeartMedia has relaunched Impact Radio, flipping Spanish news/talk station Acción 1250 to its former Impact Radio branding on 1250 WHNZ, which it used from 2000 until 2021.

The station’s all-new daily lineup will consist of:
6-9 AM: Michael DelGiorno (originating from WLAC in Nashville)
9 AM-12 PM: Armstrong & Getty
12-3 PM: Bloomberg Radio
3-6 PM: The Ramsey Show
6-9 PM: The Joe Pags Show
9-11 PM: The Michael Berry Show
11 PM-6 AM: Bloomberg Radio

“Tampa Bay is one of the fastest growing communities in the United States. As the region’s economy continues to grow, we are pleased to offer programming tailored to the people making that happen,” said iHeartMedia Tampa Bay Senior Vice President of Programming Tommy Chuck. “Around the clock, the programming will keep listeners informed on issues effecting their everyday lives and pocketbooks.”

“We recognized a need in the Tampa Bay Area for compelling financial news & entertainment and are excited to present a diverse programming mix to fulfill those needs,” added iHeartMedia Division President Chris Soechtig.

According to RadioInsight, the Spanish news/talk branded Acción stations in Jacksonville and Orlando remain intact.

NewsNation Expanding ‘Morning in America’ to Weekends, Alters Daily Lineup

BNM Staff
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NewsNation Expanding ‘Morning in America’ to Weekends, Alters Daily Lineup

NewsNation has announced it is expanding its morning show — Morning in America — to cover both Saturdays and Sundays beginning later this month.

The newly launched weekend show — which debuts on Saturday, January 27th — will air from 7-10 AM ET and will be hosted by Hena Doba. Doba joins from Cheddar News, where she spent the past five years hosting the outlet’s morning show Wake Up with Cheddar. Additional stops include CBS News, and local television roles in Hartford, Savannah, Atlanta, and Watertown, New York.

“We are excited to debut our new weekend morning show along with an enhanced daytime lineup to fill out our 24 hour/7 day-a-week schedule in 2024,” said NewsNation President of News Michael Corn. “This programming is another big milestone for the network as we continue to build a best-in-class news organization.”

NewsNation is also shuffling its weekday lineup. Morning in America will move to a three-hour program, hosted solely by Markie Martin from 6-9 AM ET. Current co-host Adrienne Bankert will move into a role as Special Projects Anchor for the cable network and will debut a new series centered on faith in the nation called One Nation Under God.

With that alteration, NewsNation Live with Marni Hughes will air from 9 AM-noon ET, with NewsNation New with Nichole Berlie expanding to three hours and airing from noon-3 PM ET.

Finally, Elizabeth Vargas Reports and The Hill are swapping timeslots. The show helmed by Vargas moving to 5 PM ET, and The Hill — hosted by Blake Burman — now airing at 6 PM ET.

The weekday changes to the NewsNation lineup will take effect on Monday, January 22nd.

SportsRadio 610 Remains on Top in Houston Fall Ratings Book

BSM Staff
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The battle in Houston among the three sports talk radio stations remained tight in various dayparts. In the latest Nielsen XTrends fall ratings data, SportsRadio 610 saw the greatest success this quarter.

Staring with weekday prime hours (M-F 6a-7p), Men 25-54 listening favored SportsRadio 610. The station garnered a 3.2 share to finish fourteenth. That represented improvement from a 2.7 share attained during the summer, which placed the brand seventeenth. It was also four-tenths of a share better than 610’s last fall performance when the station ranked sixteenth.

In mornings, Payne and Pendergast finished tied for nineteenth with a 2.4 share. Seth Payne and Sean Pendergast were up six-tenths of a share from the summer book when the show was tied for twenty first place.

The midday programming block from 10a-3p, featured In The Loop with John Lopez, Landry Locker and Figgy Fig, and one hour of the station’s afternoon show The Drive with Stoerner and Hughley. The five hour daypart produced an eleventh place finish courtesy of a a 3.7 share. That performance was up from a 3.3, twelfth place finish in the summer. It marked a one point bump from a 2.7 share, fourteenth place finish in the market.

Afternoon drive with Stoerner and Hughley finished sixteenth for the quarter with a 3.3 share. The show was slightly up from a 3.2, twelfth place finish in the summer book. Consistent with the latter measurement year-over-year, the program improved by three ratings positions and 1.1 shares.

Across town, iHeartMedia’s SportsTalk 790 finished the quarter in weekday prime with a 1.6 share. That placed the brand in twenty first place for the quarter. Year-over-year, prime hours were relatively flat, down just one-tenth of a point and one ranking lower.

Sean Salisbury led the morning show in the fall book to a 1.6 share, twenty first place finish between 6a-10a. The show was five-tenths of a point and one ranking lower from the summer book. Year-over-year though, the show grew from a 1.2 share, twenty second place tie.

Middays from 10a-3p featured two shows – Next Up with Stan Norfleet & Chris Gordy (10a-12p) and The Matt Thomas Show from 12p-3p. The two programs combined for an 0.6 share, twenty third place tie this quarter. The five hour block was down a share point from the summer, and further off from last fall when the daypart produced a 1.9 share. 790 was also ranked higher in the summer and last fall’s book.

Afternoons featured The A-Team consisting of Adam Wexler and Adam Clanton, and the hour-long program The Nightcap with Michael Connor and Ross Villarreal. Clanton and Wexler occupied the 3p-6p hours, while the Nightcap operates from 6p-7p. Together the two shows delivered a 2.7 share for the quarter, equating to an eighteenth place finish. That was slightly down from one-tenth and a seventeenth place finish in the summer. However, compared to last fall, the four-hour drive time window is up seven-tenths of a share and two spots.

Gow Media’s ESPN 97.5 Houston lost six-tenths of a share in weekday prime finishing the fall book with a 0.4. That placed the station in a tie for twenty seventh place. Year-over-Year, the outlet was down two tenths of a point, and two positions.

During the morning 6a-10a daypart, which includes one hour of ESPN Radio programming followed by the local morning team of John Granato and Lance Zierlein, the station recorded a 0.4 share. That placed the morning block in a tie for twenty seventh. That’s down from a 1.0 share, twenty fifth place result in the summer. Compared to the fall of 2022, mornings are down from a 0.9 share, twenty fifth place finish.

In middays, where two programs occupy the five-hour daypart, the station generated a 0.4 share, twenty sixth place tie. The Paul Gallant Show hosted by Paul Gallant and Connor & Beard co-hosted by Michael Connor and Josh Beard were down nine-tenths of a share from the summer, and five-tenths of a point from last fall.

Turning to afternoons, which features Joel Blank and Jeremy Branham of The Killer B’s from 3p-6p, and The Bullpen with Joe George from 6p-7p, the combo shows notched a 0.3 share, twenty sixth place tie. That was six-tenths of a share down from the summer, and three-tenths of a share lower year-over-year.

SportsRadio 610 finished with a 2.9 share for the full week (M-SU 6a-12a). That placed the brand in a sixteenth place tie, up from a 2.4 share, twenty first result last quarter. The station also improved from a 2.5, eighteenth place tally last year.

SportsTalk 790 earned a 1.9 share in the same category, good for twenty first in the market. In the summer book, the station had a 2.7 share, nineteenth place ranking; however, it improved on its statistics from last year when it possessed a 1.6 share and ended in a twentieth place tie.

ESPN 97.5 Houston collected a 0.2 share for the quarter, which ranked the brand twenty ninth in the market. That was a six-tenths of a share decline from last quarter. Year-over-year, the share is down four-tenths and the ranking is down from a twenty sixth place tie.

Ratings reports and analysis are written by BSM and sponsored by Crowd React Media, a division of Harker Bos Group. Learn more about the different ways sports media research can benefit your station and cut through the noise by clicking here.

Scott Masteller Wants to Offer Something Unique to Philadelphia

Demetri Ravanos
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Scott Masteller Wants to Offer Something Unique to Philadelphia

As far as Scott Masteller knew, his days of a full-time radio grind were over. It was 2022. He had decided to step back from his day-to-day role with Hearst’s WBAL in Baltimore. 

His new plan was to work part-time with the station’s talent while also working with Harker Research in the consulting space. It was a chance to learn more and keep contributing to the business he loved without the same grueling hours commitment.

Then, an opportunity presented itself in the one market that infatuated Masteller. That is why, at the beginning of 2024, he is now back in the full-time, day-to-day radio grind with 97.5 The Fanatic in Philadelphia.

“I had a number of conversations with [Beasley Media’s Philadelphia market manager] Joe Bell over the years,” Masteller told me. “He’s become a friend, and this is probably the only market in the country where I would consider doing something at this stage of things. My parents lived in Bucks County to the north of Philly, so I’ve been a Philly sports fan for a long time. I followed the media in this market. It’s always the one market I wanted to be a part of. 

“So all of that came to fruition at the right time. I made the decision that if I could do this on terms that are agreeable to both Beasley and myself, that this could be a good partnership.”

Giving up the PD reins at WBAL was not a mistake. Masteller has no regrets about the decision he made in Baltimore. It was the right one for him at the time. In fact, that decision gave him the chance to be in different rooms and participate in different conversations. 

He certainly didn’t know it at the time, but his work with Harker gave him some information he will certainly be putting to use in his new job.

“They did a fascinating study on the state of sports media, which shows where everything is going and what matters the most to the consumer, whether it’s radio, audio, television or different digital platforms,” he said. “I think that’s really important. And then there’s the whole aspect of what works in a market like Philadelphia. I’ve seen different studies where they’ve talked about Philly and the passionate sports fan base that exists in this market.”

The search for a new program director at The Fanatic began in September. Chuck Damico was serving as that station’s PD and the assistant PD of the city’s legendary rock station WMMR. Following Bill Weston’s retirement, Damico took the reins of MMR, a job that wouldn’t leave him time to program a second station.

It was a job in one of the best sports radio markets in the country, but the abundance of fans didn’t mean it would be easy. The Fanatic was on the wrong side of a ratings fight with WIP.

Joe Bell knew he needed a steady, experienced hand. That’s where Masteller, a guy who has had success leading brands all over the country, including ESPN Radio at the network level. 

“I’ve never been afraid of challenges,” Masteller says. “I can remember when I took the job in Dallas to go to 103.3 ESPN. The Ticket is there. People that I respect were telling me, ‘Scott, you’re making a big mistake. Why are you doing this? You should stay in Portland where you’ve got a better thing going.’ But, think about what motivates a football coach or basketball coach or baseball manager to take a job.”

In Dallas, Masteller saw a strong, established competitor with a lead that seemed insurmountable. What he recognized though was that he had the tools he needed and would be working with a staff that wanted to learn and take direction. He could create great radio. He could make an impact and the station could make the ratings battle interesting.

He thinks he can do the same at 97.5 The Fanatic. The station has to play catch-up to 94 WIP. Masteller isn’t going to do that by trying to convince the audience he has a better product. That isn’t going to help.

“The biggest mistake I think programmers make sometimes is thinking ‘well, we’ve got to be like those guys across the street,’ and I say to that, ‘that’s not the recipe, normally, for success.’ Maybe you can pull that off, but find out how you can offer something new and unique to the consumer. Then you’ve got a chance to grow your audience.”

He also isn’t coming in taking for granted that all of his hosts are perfect. They are human beings just like you and me. The instinct is to think about their show as a three-hour block instead of multiple shorter blocks heard by different groups of people.

Masteller’s guiding philosophy is that everyone turning on 97.5 The Fanatic wants to hear about what’s going on. They may already know the biggest story, but they want to be a part of the conversation. They want to hear more, learn more and be entertained. 

The man has been in the talk radio business for a long time. His impact is felt in multiple buildings across multiple markets. It’s no different from Bill Parcels or Nick Saban. The man has generated a “coaching tree,” programmers who learned their craft under him and went on to have success of their own.

“You surround yourself with people who are really smart, who take the initiative to keep learning and get better at what they do,” Masteller explained. “Eventually those people move on. That’s part of the deal. You’re there to support them and help them grow in whatever they want to do.”

He points particularly to Amanda Brown, who was recently named the new PD of Bonneville’s 104.3 The Fan in Denver. He hired her as a producer for his station in Dallas. ESPN took notice of her work, brought her to Bristol and eventually moved her to Los Angeles to lead 710 ESPN LA. 

“We need smart people like her and some of the others that I’ve worked with in other markets to be the future of this format and understand that the format is changing. One thing I think these people all have in common is an intense focus on talent coaching and talent development. 

“Unless you’ve done it and sat behind a microphone for 3 or 4 hours a day, you don’t realize what a challenge it is to be compelling and entertaining every day. You can have a day where you go to work and you’re not feeling great, but the light comes on, and the person driving down I-95 in Philly doesn’t care. They just want to hear compelling, entertaining, informative sports talk radio. 

“I feel really proud that I’ve been able to help some of those people get to where they are. If there’s somebody that I feel has the potential to grow, I’ll do my best to help those people move forward.”

In September of 2022, Scott Masteller was satisfied with his place in sports radio history. He had accomplished so much in so many places. But just when he thought he was out, the right opportunity came along and pulled him back in. 

Taking on a behemoth like WIP is a challenge, but challenges are what he does. Will he have success again? Only time will tell, but one look at his history tells you Scott Masteller has a plan of attack and is ready for the fight.

Stephen A. Smith: I’m Only Going to Address Jason Whitlock Once

BSM Staff
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After being a primary talking point for nearly a week on Jason Whitlock’s BlazeTV show Fearless, Stephen A. Smith finally responded in full on his podcast Wednesday.

Whitlock had called into question certain events from Smith’s 2023 memoir, Straight Shooter, particularly Stephen A.’s claim to being a high school basketball player and getting a basketball scholarship to Winston-Salem State University.

Smith prefaced on The Stephen A. Smith Show that fans of the podcast and fans of First Take on ESPN would see a different side of him when talking about Whitlock. Stephen A. had been referring to Whitlock as a fat bastard on social media and on ESPN.

“He’s a no-good individual,” Smith said. “Probably the worst individual I have ever had the displeasure of ever being associated with in any capacity.”

Stephen A. Smith also was preemptive before engaging in his response to Whitlock. He felt like he owed it to the people he loves and cares about and his employer.

“I even took the liberty of calling my pastor to apologize in advance for what I gonna say about that no-good bastard,” Smith said.

“I did the same when I emailed the bosses at ESPN. This is my podcast. I own and operate this. I do what I want on this podcast,” he continued. “But it doesn’t mean that I still don’t harbor a responsibility to at least give my daytime employers a heads up as to what I’m about to do.”

While Whitlock had been digging into Smith multiple times since last week, Stephen A. – who said he never talks bad about his colleagues publicly – was going to make an exception to address Whitlock.

“I’m only gonna do it once,” he said. “Because this bastard is worse, less than a damn cockroach. He wanted my attention. He’s got it.”

Stephen A. said since Whitlock has blown up every bridge he’s had prior to arriving at TheBlaze, talking bad about other people in the industry, especially other Black journalists, is how he’s managed to survive.

“That’s not real work,” Smith said. “Think about this for a second. I’m supposed to be covering sports, but I make a career talking about my colleagues. That ain’t work! That’s you finding some slick way to get a check, because you can’t get a job. That’s Jason Whitlock. That’s who the hell he is.”

Smith also cited a 2015 Deadspin article written about Whitlock that listed Stephen A. among big-name ESPN talents that refused to work with him when they were both at the network. Smith said that reputation followed Whitlock to other career stops, and Smith even has it in his contract that he will never work with Whitlock.

“You think I’m lying? Ask ESPN. Ask FOX,” Smith said. “Ask the Kansas City Star. Ask them all. Jemele Hill, Rob Parker, Chris Broussard, Skip Bayless, yours truly, along with a host of Black folks all over this country. Every single one of them will confirm what the hell I’m saying about this piece of garbage.”

Stephen A. Smith clarified that he wasn’t trying to take shots at The Blaze for hiring Whitlock, but he delivered a warning about embracing Whitlock.

“Be careful that you don’t get yourself stained in stench by Whitlock,” he said. “He can do that to you. He is the worst. He’s not ethical, he’s not moral.”

“He will lie, he will denigrate, and he will turn against anyone to serve his own good,” Smith added.

Stephen A. admitted at one point that he knew Whitlock was trying to bait him into retaliating in some fashion. But after this one time, he will go back to not mentioning Whitlock’s name.

“It will never happen again,” Smith said. “He’s irrelevant. He’s not important. He’s insignificant, and he knows it. And he did all of this to try and bait me into all of this stuff.”

“My point is I don’t care. And the reason I don’t care is because I’ve been holding it in for nearly 10 years,” he added. “So there comes a point and time where at the very least, at least one time, you have to address it. It’s necessary. It’s important.”

“He wants to talk about me, that’s fine. Ladies and gentlemen, he’d give anything to have my job. He’d give anything to have my resume.”

Stephen A. Smith also said at this point in his career, what good would it serve for him to just lie about playing basketball in high school and college, and why would it matter to someone like Whitlock?

“Look, I’m 56 years old. If yall think now that I’m successful in this business, that I gotta sit here and lie about me playing basketball in high school to write in my own damn memoir, at this point and time in my life I can’t help yall,” he said. “I’m not gonna waste my time with that silliness.”

“You are a great writer,” Smith later said of Whitlock. “Your mistake was you started talking and worse wanting to be seen while you were talking. Which is why your quality and your value plummeted. Because when we see you and we listen to you, we know how worthless you are.”

Jason Whitlock: I’ll Pay Someone’s College Tuition if Stephen A. Smith Comes On My Show

BSM Staff
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Jason Whitlock: I’ll Pay Someone’s College Tuition if Stephen A. Smith Comes On My Show

Jason Whitlock has made Stephen A. Smith a topic of his BlazeTV show Fearless over the last few days, to the point that Smith himself dedicated pretty much the entire episode of his podcast to respond.

Jason Whitlock on Tuesday in reviewing Stephen A.’s memoir Straight Shooter, questioned if some of the stories Smith shared actually happened the way it was written. In particular, Whitlock didn’t believe Smith made his high school basketball team on a one-day tryout and then later landed a scholarship at Winston-Salem State University.

“What grown man that has made millions of dollars, has fame at Stephen A. Smith’s level, is running around telling farfetched tryout stories?” Whitlock asked.

Whitlock pushed a broader point that Smith is the sports media version of Hollywood plants that comedian Katt Williams referred to in his interview with Shannon Sharpe.

On X in the midst of posting clips to his Stephen A.-focused show, Whitlock quote tweeted Stephen A. promoting his book being available in paperback, digging further into claims that Smith’s basketball stories were not factual.

He said if Stephen A. would come on his show to talk about the book, he would pay for a kid from Smith’s neighborhood of Hollis, Queens to go to Winston-Salem State for four years.

Smith on Wednesday night did eventually issue a response to Whitlock in the form of The Stephen A. Smith Show. He also referred to Whitlock as a fat bastard on the air during First Take.

Jason Whitlock seemed unenthused by Smith’s attempts at clapping back.

Whitlock did address one point Smith brought up in his response about an email Jason sent in an attempt to put whatever beef the two had to rest.

How to Maintain Control When a Guest Goes Off the Rails

Perry Michael Simon
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How to Maintain Control When a Guest Goes Off the Rails

It’s your responsibility. You put a guest on your show, or a pundit, or a commentator, it’s on you. You (ostensibly) made the decision, and whatever happens, it’s yours to own. Simple.

Yeah, it’s about Pat McAfee and Aaron Rodgers, but it’s also about Kristen Welker and Elise Stefanik, it’s about Boris Sanchez and Jay Ashcroft, and it’s about news reporting and social media. It’s about how you react when a guest goes off the rails (or doesn’t). It’s about taking responsibility and responding in the moment.

What do you do when a guest begins spouting conspiracy theories? Forget that – what do you do when the guest goes way off topic, or steers the conversation into waters you’d just as soon avoid? What do you do when a guest resolutely refuses to answer an important question? You need to be prepared for that. It’s your show. You’re supposed to maintain control at all times. Lose that, and it’s not your show anymore.

It’s fair to say that when you sign Aaron Rodgers as a weekly guest, you know what you’re getting. Same when you invite politicians onto your show. You know Rodgers is into anti-vaxx stuff and conspiracy theories, and you know the politicians are going to pull what politicians always do and answer the questions they want to answer rather than the ones they’re actually being asked. Knowing all of that going into a segment, you need to be prepared to push back, to challenge (whether or not, that is, you agree with the spin they’re offering), and to repeat key questions when they’re not being answered and not let it go until you get an answer.

Of course, it’s more than that. The mere act of booking guests like that is, for some, a problem, namely offering your platform to people who may not deserve a platform. Aaron Rodgers is a get, and so are prominent politicians in the news. The thing is, you know you’re going to get things out of them that aren’t what you might want to endorse.

Once you’ve opened your platform to those people, though, you really are endorsing them if you don’t offer any pushback when they say things that aren’t defensible. And the last thing you should be doing is being afraid to respond to a guest for fear they won’t come back on the show; if they’re going to do that, they’re not worth having as guests in the first place.

So, how should it go? Do you let someone spout falsehoods or unproven allegations and just move on to the next thing, like Kristen Welker did with most of Stefanik’s filibustering on Meet the Press last week? Do you yuk it up like McAfee and Rodgers (and can someone check A.J. Hawk’s vital signs, please? Maybe a mirror under his nose to see if he’s breathing)?

Or do you ask tough questions and refuse to move on until you get a clear answer? That’s what Boris Sanchez did with Missouri Attorney General Jay Ashcroft – he asked on what grounds Ashcroft plans to try to take Joe Biden off the ballot, and when Ashcroft would only cite the Texas Attorney General’s unspecified investigation, Sanchez kept at it, noting the section of the Missouri constitution that applies to the situation and insisting that Ashcroft answer the question, then bringing the interview to an abrupt end when Ashcroft couldn’t or wouldn’t answer. It was strong, compelling television and it made a larger and more salient point than politely moving on to another question would have provided.

I get it. Sometimes controversy sells. More people probably are aware of Pat McAfee now than before Aaron Rodgers went rogue after Jimmy Kimmel and Anthony Fauci, though judging by how I’ve seen McAfee’s show on every TV screen at every restaurant and bar at every lunch I’ve had out for months, I think he’s about as ubiquitous a TV personality as anyone these days. But it’s a long-term issue, and even if it doesn’t directly hurt business, it’s not the best long-term play to be known as someone who allows falsehoods – lies – to spread without pushback.

So push back when warranted. There are a lot of things with which you can have your name associated. Softball questions and acquiescence to conspiracy theories are not among the most desirable ones. Your platform is worth a lot more than that.

CBS NFL Analyst Tony Romo Can’t Get By on Just Personality and Prognostication

Andy Masur
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Since he burst onto the scene, Tony Romo has been the talk of the industry. Since 2017 Romo has been with CBS and in the number one booth alongside Jim Nantz. The reviews have been mainly positive over the course of his brief media career.

There have been some over the years who feel like Romo is unprepared from time to time during a broadcast. It was a reported concern of CBS earlier this year that Romo wasn’t studying enough for the games he was doing. Still Romo has been doing the job, getting by on personality and prognostication and that works, until it doesn’t.

I have to admit that my judgement in this column is based on the game I just watched last weekend. The Bears faced the Packers in a late afternoon kickoff at Lambeau Field. I was shocked when I heard that the CBS “A” Team of Nantz and Romo were doing the game. I know the Packers were on the verge of clinching a playoff spot, and it’s the oldest rivalry in the NFL, but I was still surprised. The Bears don’t normally garner the top broadcast team, with the exception of their appearances on Thursday, Sunday or Monday night games.

Watching the contest as I prepared for my hosting of WGN Radio’s Bears postgame show, I was struck by some of the odd commentary made by Romo. Was he watching the same team that I’ve covered all year? Luke “Getsky”, is not the Bears offensive coordinator. Luke Getsy is. More than once I heard that one. Romo also said that Getsy was doing a great job. The numbers and I beg to differ with Romo on that one. Yes, I’m nitpicking here, but it was the start of some very generic analysis when it came to the game.

There were times I thought that Romo went generic because he didn’t know all the storylines. Talking about the Bears 0-4 start, which was actually 14 straight losses, he mentioned something about Bears coach Matt Eberflus’ job being in jeopardy. The Bears have never fired a coach during a season. While it looked bleak, there wasn’t a chance of that actually happening. I realize that the Bears were not really the story in this game, it was the Packers and the chance to make the playoffs under Jordan Love. I get that. But there are two teams playing, and two fan bases watching the game. Balance is difficult but information is readily available.

I also understand that I’m watching the game with a more critical eye and ear, since the Bears are my hometown team and the group that I’ve covered for many years. The things that bothered me about the broadcast may not amount to a hill of beans for anyone else. But having been in the play-by-play chair before, I know how important preparation is for that role. It’s not just important, it’s critical. Nantz, as always was well prepared, smooth and in full control of the broadcast. I never doubt that, he’s one of the best to ever do games in the NFL.

Romo comes off as a bit of a wildcard at times. His personality is infectious. He genuinely seems to enjoy what he’s doing and his predicting of plays, before they’re run, is uncanny. But it’s not always about the personality. It’s also about the information and I’m not just talking about the X’s and O’s. He’s played the game at a high level. Take me inside the thought process of the quarterbacks. Tell me what Love was looking for in his receivers when he got pressured a few times. Romo started to get into what it was like for Love to sit and watch and learn from the previous starter. Humanize that.

When Romo was the Dallas starting QB, Dak Prescott was behind him. What did Romo do to help Prescott along? What did he say to him? There was so much there that was left untouched, it would have been great to hear the personal story. Even if it got contentious at times. It would have made for good television.

I thought Romo could have also added some insight into what Justin Fields is going through, not just physically but mentally with all the uncertainty he’s up against right now. Every quarterback has gone through that and Romo’s experience would have been nice to hear.

Romo did have his good moments during the game as well. Early in the second half, Love completed a 17-yard pass to wide receiver Bo Melton. Romo was gushing about the throw.

“Watch his leverage when he throws this ball,” Romo said as the truck rolled a replay of Love’s pass. “He throws it in a phone booth, Jim! It’s about a 30-yard throw for the Pythagorean theorem. That probably didn’t actually make sense there.”

The phone booth reference probably confused the Gen Z’ers and Millennials in the audience enough, but then Romo added a Pythagorean theorem reference.

“Can you explain that?” Nantz asked.

Romo explained, “a2 + b2 = c2, which means Jordan Love is good.”

“You’re a genius,” Nantz stated.

While these exchanges are entertaining, I’d love to see Romo use his experiences as a player more than he does. His cheery disposition in the booth will only take him so far, and there needs to be some substance. Specific analysis for the players who are on the field in that game.

That’s why I’m watching.

The gold standard in analysts is John Madden. I’m not saying that each needs to be him, what I am saying is Madden was the master of using his personality to help highlight game situations that he was prepared for. He had a way of “booming” and “wapping” his way through a replay, without distracting too much from the analysis of the play. You could tell that Madden was prepared, he had talked to coaches and had information on players that he could relate to his audience.

Once in a while Romo seems to get lost in his own ramblings. Sometimes that results in something pretty interesting and funny, but I wish that were the rule rather than the exception. He knows the game, there’s no doubt about that. Just watch him predict the next play. That’s a special talent. He has good insight. I just want to hear more of it, more of his own experiences as a QB in the NFL. Romo has all the intangibles to be a great analyst, but preparation is the key to a great broadcast, I hope he takes that to heart.

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