Bowl season begins on Saturday, and SiriusXM plans to carry play-by-play of every contest from Myrtle Beach to Honolulu to the national championship in Houston and points in between.
In addition, SiriusXM will air coverage of three big postseason all-star games like the East-West Shrine Bowl on February 1st, the Reese’s Senior Bowl on February 3rd, and the All-American Bowl on January 6th.
The 2024 FCS national championship game on January 7 will also air live on SiriusXM.
For the College Football Playoff, fans will have several options for listening to the semifinals on New Year’s Eve. ESPN Radio’s broadcast will air on SiriusXM channel 80 with team broadcasts available on channels 81, 82, or 84.
At 80-years-young Robert Herring Sr. has a lot of wisdom to convey, if you’ll let him. “We rented an old railroad boxcar to live in,” Herring recalled to Barrett News Media in an email exchange. For years his father, Alfred Shelby Herring, worked in California and sent money home to Louisiana. Saving what they could the family of 4 reunited in California. “Things were pretty tight for a while,” Herring said of his youth.
As a child he attended school and found work on the side by shining shoes. At 12, Herring was working alongside his father on DiGiorgio Farms. “I had to lie and say I was older than I really was,” Herring added. “I worked on the grape vines, crawling under them on my hands and knees through the dirt and mud to straighten them out and keep them clean and healthy so they’d grow properly.” The money he earned helped pay for the family’s food and rent.
Soon after, the Herrings moved to Los Angeles. His father got a better job working in the oil fields. “[My father] ended up having a pretty serious fall and after that he couldn’t work anymore,” Herring said. A few months after the fall Herring’s father passed away at 55. “We were all on our own, my mom and sister and I. I had to support our family, I was just a teenager,” Herring recalled.
His mom working overnights, and Herring delivered newspapers to “make ends meet.” His journalistic roots run deeper than just delivering papers. “[I] didn’t much get along with the people running the [high] school, so I started a newspaper called the Inky Press,” Herring shared. “I started publishing stories they didn’t care for.”
He was offered a punishment and ordered to apologize but instead Herring made his own way. “I left the school. I took a test and got the rest of my high school credits and I was done with it.”
Herring got a job cleaning eggs, and from there stocked shelves in a store, fell in love and got married (for the first time). “I was about 18 years old at this point, and that’s when I went to work for AT&T.”
Driving AT&T’s CEO around in the company car wasn’t enough so Herring started a side hustle. “I started grooming dogs, and wouldn’t you know, that turned out to be a pretty good gig. The pay was surprisingly good, so I quit AT&T and opened up a pet shop,” Herring said.
He opened a second pet shop before, “I found after a while I didn’t really care for running a pet shop.” His next job, “Driving a concrete truck, which was a lot of fun but I wasn’t very good at it,” Herring said.
Thereafter, Herring made gas ranges for cooking before moving on to circuit boards. Working from the ground up he made enough connections and bought his first circuit board company. “My first day on the job, I went around contacting all the employees who were let go [by the old owners], and told them they could have their jobs back, which was a great move.”
From 1980 through the millennium, Herring built and sold his first company then built and sold a second circuit board company. In the process, he met President Ronald Regan and became friendly with the President’s son, Michael. Herring also went though 2 divorces. After selling his last company Herring did something he’d never done before. “I used the time to step back and see what I wanted to do with my life.” He married his current wife in 2000.
Ready for a new challenge Herring started Herring Networks in 2003. “I figured since I loved watching TV, it’d be fun to start my own television channel,” Herring recalled, “I thought people would probably be interested in watching stories about living the good life, traveling and nice houses and cars and that sort of thing.” Wealth TV was created but it wasn’t enough for Herring, so in 2013 he launched OAN, One America News Network.
OAN is widely considered by legacy and new wave media outlets to be one of the most conservative networks in America. Many critics call them ‘Far-right.’ However, in a blind bias survey conducted by All Sides Media they found OAN to be ‘Right Leaning,’ demonstrating less bias than their competitor Newsmax, who scored ‘Right.’ The same survey rates OAN as equally ‘Right Leaning’ as Fox News, with a score of 3.10. All Sides Media rates outlets on a scale of -6 (left) to 6 (right) 0 being centered or neutral in their reporting).
Herring feels the mischaracterization is because of legacy media. “The problem is the media is quick to jump to conclusions and paint their own version of events. We don’t report the popular narrative, we report the truth, and that tends to make enemies.”
Enemies like Dominion, who allege OAN made unfounded claims about their technology rigging the 2020 election. While the network settled one defamation lawsuit earlier this year, there are several others pending. All of which could mean financial stress for the network. When asked to speak on it Herring said, “I can’t talk about Dominion or any of our lawsuits, for obvious reasons.”
Herring wants to set the record straight with his critics. He admits, “At one point I supported Hillary Clinton—and I even voted for Obama!” He later added, “We report the news, just the facts, as we find them. I think that’s what really sets us apart from everyone else.”
Looking to the future Herring has a lot of concerns. “Things are worse than I’ve ever seen before. Not in my 80 years have I seen things this bad. We’re more divided than ever.” Herring added “People out there are killing each other over the dumbest things and it doesn’t have to be this way.”
After the lawsuits from 2020 are done Herring’s goal for OAN is simple. “We’re going to get back to doing what we do best: reporting on the news and giving the American people the stories they can’t find anywhere else.”
It’s now the end of 2023 and it’s full steam ahead to 2024. Before you know it, elections will be ramping up across the country, starting with primaries and then into what’s sure to be a wild fall with a Presidential election. There will be billions of dollars spent over the next 12 months. How will radio — and news/talk radio, specifically — capitalize on the event?
According to a new report, the advertising dollars spent on U.S. elections and advocacy issues will grow to roughly $16 billion next year, up 31.2% compared to the last presidential election in 2020.
The report notes that a majority of political advertising spent in the U.S. goes to local broadcast TV, but an increasing amount is moving toward digital channels.
We know that TV has always been the hub of political advertising. The amount of money wasted on TV is astronomical, but it’s not going to change overnight.
Meantime, digital growth continues as the world continues to change. Also, the internet offers infinite inventory for campaigns to place ads with few regulations.
But what about radio?
Radio remains the only medium that offers something that combines the best of each of the previously mentioned platforms: Radio’s costis cheaper than TV, but its storytelling is far superior to anything digital. Plus, it’s far more likely to receive engagement from its audience of one in a car, on a stream, or on an Alexa, than another annoying pop-up ad or video player on your phone or computer.
I know there are many people in our industry telling radio’s success story to political media planners ahead of 2024, but we need to keep beating our drum because if not, TV’s monopoly on the bulk of political dollars will only continue.
Want to reach a younger voter? Radio’s your best bet.
Here are the numbers: The median viewer age continues to creep upward for CBS (63.2), ABC (58.5), NBC (59.2), and Fox (52.4). Meantime, the median listener to AM/FM Radio is 46 years old.
Want a better chance to reach potential voters?
Nielsen’s most recent Radio Today report revealed on average AM/FM radio reaches 91% of U.S. adults 18+ each month. The reach figure is greater than live and time-shifted TV (90%), smartphones (87%), connected TV devices (86%), PCs (79%), and tablets (57%).
And these numbers are not skewed by a certain age group. Nielsen found for the hard-to-reach adults 18-34 demographic, 87% listen to AM/FM each month. And of that same group (18-34), only 9% of them watch linear TV.
Looking at ad-supported audio sources only, the monthly reach disparity among young adults (age 18-34) is even greater. Whereas AM/FM radio has a reach of 87%, ad-supported (free) YouTube Music has a reach of 31%, followed by Pandora (18%), Spotify (16%), and Amazon Music (10%).
When looking at all age groups, the report found radio garnered a 38% share of total audio listening ahead of streaming audio (17% share), YouTube (13% share), followed by podcasts and satellite radio both with a 9% share.
Despite these incredible numbers, radio continues to fall behind, or at least not keep up, when it comes to political advertising dollars. This should not be happening. And we can only continue to be our own best advocates, whether it’s local races unique to your market, regional congressional seats or statewide U.S. Senate or Presidential races, political media buyers need to know the truth. Or as some might say, they need to stop believing the “fake news”. Radio has a story to tell. Let’s tell it. Onto 2024.
Straight up, I was never a huge fan of Shannon Sharpe as a broadcaster. I always felt that he was more about decibels than depth, volume than verisimilitude, and screaming than substance. Sharpe seemed to be the quintessential example of how the loudest guy in the room is not always the most insightful. I sure as hell could hear him, but I really didn’t want to.
Times have changed. Since joining ESPN’s First Take in September, Sharpe has undergone a transformation and become a must-watch on the highly-rated sports debate show. Sharpe does not just contribute to the show on his Monday and Tuesday appearances, he becomes the show.
The moniker Renaissance Man is often used for a multi-faceted individual, a person of various talents if you will. Shannon Sharpe’s football resume is unquestioned: three-time Super Bowl Champion, Pro Football Hall of Famer, five-time All-Pro, eight-time Pro Bowler, and a member of the NFL 1990s All-Decade Team.
Still, Sharpe is a latter-day Renaissance Man not because he has merely transitioned from playing to broadcasting. Renaissance means rebirth, and this is the essence of what Sharpe is doing now. The erstwhile co-host of FS1’s Undisputed has undergone a metamorphosis and taken his TV game to a whole new level of insight and information.
While his run on Undisputed ended abruptly, Sharpe greatly benefitted from working with co-host Skip Bayless. The polarizing Bayless is one of the all-time great sports debaters, a man whose rhythm and intensity are matched by few.
Like a young quarterback playing understudy to a veteran signal caller, Sharpe took in Bayless’s prowess even if it was merely by osmosis. Simply put, he is a better communicator than he was pre-Undisputed.
As in his playing days, Sharpe’s motor is Indy 500-worthy. On First Take, however, he has slowed it down, measuring his words, and planning his thoughts more deliberately. He has also mastered the art of listening to his fellow panelists.
I can see Sharpe taking in the words of others as they speak and planning his retorts. He used to just shoot from the hip, now he is more hip to what he will be shooting.
Sharpe’s good friendship with First Take star Stephen A. Smith has resulted in a creative comfort zone where the former Broncos and Ravens tight end can be himself. But it is not just Smith, Sharpe has honed his craft and has logged excellent exchanges with the likes of host Molly Qerim, and panelists Dan Orlovsky and Jeff Saturday.
Sharpe has become a versatile talent providing real talk, humor, hot takes, and unique perspectives not only on football but on a wide sports spectrum.
The December 12th episode of First Take is a great example. Sharpe came out swinging saying that he has concerns about the Miami Dolphins despite their prolific offense. He put the verbal hammer down on the Dolphins’ defense for letting inexperienced Titans’ quarterback Will Levis dominate them and wondered what the likes of Lamar Jackson and Patrick Mahomes will do to them in the playoffs.
Speaking of Mahomes, Shannon Sharpe threw out an excellent question when discussing the Chiefs’ subpar receiving corps saying, “Can you imagine what DeAndre Hopkins would look like in a Kansas City Chiefs’ uniform?”
This dude was on fire with comments. He asserted that while everyone thought the AFC would be the loaded conference this year, it is the NFC that has more Super Bowl-ready teams right now. Regarding last Monday night’s game between the Packers and Giants, He averred, “When (quarterback Tommy) DeVito is in the game, (the Giants) expect to win, they don’t hope.”
At times, Smith, Qerim, and Saturday seemed absolutely entranced by Sharpe’s superb rants. He dominated the show. In discussing the tax ramifications of Shoei Ohtani’s financial deal with the Dodgers, Sharpe spouted that Uncle Sam is the only guy who doesn’t have to do any work and gets 50%. Seamlessly sailing into another sport, Sharpe had some nice moments talking about Spurs’ rookie Victor Wembanyama and this week’s Pacers/Pistons NBA matchup.
In a crossover segment with the equally vociferous Pat McAfee, Sharpe made the point that the Ravens are the AFC team most likely to reach the Super Bowl, “They are now no longer one dimensional,” he offered, “They can pass it, they can run it, and their special teams are excellent. They can take their show on the road and they can possess the football.”
He stated outright that the Eagles can’t beat the Cowboys or the 49ers and was even more direct in talking about Pelicans’ star Zion Williamson stating, “Zion has not got his butt in shape and he has not done what his needed to do with his eating habits.” Sharp pulls no punches, answers to no one, and knows no limits in his frankness.
With Max Kellerman’s exit from First Take, Smith could have easily brought in a bunch of panelists who would simply fall in line with his opinion, laugh at his jokes, and generally suck up in gratitude for the exposure. He did no such thing. Instead, Smith features Christopher Russo, Dan Orlovsky, Saturday, Marcus Spears, Ryan Clark, Kimberley Martin, and Sharpe – a crisp collection of combative cohorts.
Sharpe’s rise has not gone unnoticed. He was recently named the Number 1 Most Entertaining Sports Personality by Complex Sports, a popular sports, culture, and media news company.
He also has 2.9 million followers on both Instagram and Twitter and entertains these followers with his ongoing praise of LeBron James and the use of animation and video in his posts. Sharpe also has a podcast called Club Shay Shay where he interviews popular sports and entertainment personalities.
Today’s Shannon Sharpe doesn’t just show up to the set with his Hall of Fame plaque and yellow jacket. He is prepared, dishes out stats to support his opinions, and is thoroughly well-versed on the subjects at hand.
A lot of athletes turned broadcasters rely on their charisma and personality to effortlessly translate to the airwaves. Shannon Sharpe may have fallen into this category early in his career, but he has grown as a personality. He is a former player who is unafraid to criticize players. He is a current broadcaster who has not forgotten what it is like to be a player. The result is thick commentary with deep roots.
Shannon Sharpe is living up to his last name with barbed commentary and pinpoint accuracy. His words are like a laser beam cutting through the BS and shining a direct light on a wide array of issues.
As the viridescence of the environment prepares to transform into the picturesque composition of autumnal galore accentuated by the tinge of the leaves, Merrill Reese is completing a pivotal assignment. Despite serving as the longest-tenured play-by-play announcer in the NFL, he is focused on ensuring he keeps his job with every new season. In order to effectuate this desire, he listens back to his calls of four full games and picks up on certain proclivities or shortcomings that he can work to improve from the onset of the preseason.
There are times where he will make mistakes, such as misidentifying a player, but he understands those things are naturally going to happen and can be remedied through a haste correction. Occasionally, he will find himself using particular verbiage too often and recognize the need to vary his vocabulary, something he has built through a commitment to reading.
“Somebody once told me – and they were talking about football [in] the way that they talk to the players – that you never stay the same,” Reese said. “You either get better or you get worse. I want to always get better.”
SportsRadio 94WIP recently announced a six-year media rights extension with the Philadelphia Eagles that will keep games on its airwaves through the 2028 campaign. This on-air partnership has made an indelible impact around the Philadelphia metropolitan area, dating back to the 1969 season, one year before the merger between the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL). Outside of the 15-year stretch between 1992 and 2007 when the team broadcast on Infinity Broadcasting-owned WYSP, Eagles games have been transmitted through the station’s associated frequencies, keeping the fans both informed and entertained.
Reese is a local broadcaster and has always remained loyal to the Philadelphia marketplace, neglecting opportunities to expand his responsibilities to the national level. Unlike various other professional sports leagues, regionalized NFL games on television are broadcast by national networks. While many viewers enjoy the television broadcasters, there are some people who turn down the volume and synchronize the game to the radio feed, looking to hear a broadcast focused on the local perspective.
“The job of a television play-by-play broadcaster is to caption the pictures,” Reese said, “and the job of a broadcaster on radio is to paint the picture and describe every step. So they’re different jobs and they’re done differently, but I think our job is important too.”
Reese engages in a curriculum of groundwork involving research and conversations leading up to any given Eagles football contest. During the week, he frequently travels to the NovaCare Complex to watch practices, sit in press conferences and interview players in the locker room. By the time gameday comes around, Reese feels apprehensive until kickoff and focuses on being his best, realizing that there may be someone who has never listened to a game tuning in for the first time.
“I don’t care if it’s the preseason game or the Super Bowl – you want to be at your best, and you prepare to the nth degree,” Reese said. “….I’m very, very fortunate to do what I do and get the reception and the feeling of appreciation that I derive.”
With an understanding that he wanted to be a sportscaster, Reese decided to enroll at Temple University and joined WRTI, the student-run radio station. After some time asking sports director Tom Cardella for an opportunity, he was permitted to call a Temple baseball game into a tape recorder. By his sophomore year, he was named sports director of the radio station and broadcast Temple football games for the next three years.
Although much of his time was spent at the radio station, he also took classes related to his major including a radio drama course where he produced a project titled, “Wings that Couldn’t be Clipped,” which told the story of the 1960 Philadelphia Eagles. Little did Reese recognize that he would be on the call the next time it occurred when the team hoisted the Vince Lombardi Trophy following the 2017 season.
“It made it special because this is a town that loves the Eagles; this is a town that stays with the Eagles whether they win or lose,” Reese explained. “This is a town that fills that stadium whether there’s slush and sleet or 100-degree [Fahrenheit] temperature. Whatever it is, they’re out there for this football team.”
Before he started working behind the microphone for the Eagles, Reese endured a training program to become a public affairs officer in the U.S. Navy. The experience strengthened his resolve and perseverance, conveying that it helped him to further mature and is representative of a very important time of his life.
“Everything you do teaches you something that is helpful at some other point,” Reese said. “I was in the Office of Information and it was a wonderful experience. After college, you gain the confidence [and] you grow up.”
Combating rejection required him to utilize these skills in order to thrive in the competitive sports media space. Spending his summers in Ventnor City in New Jersey, he worked with Steve Berger on WOND Radio and provided five-minute sports updates at night. From there, he was informed by a friend that there were job openings at WCOJ in Coatesville, Penn. and proceeded to audition for station owner William Halperin. Afterwards, Halperin advised him to look for a job in a smaller market.
Cardella then informed Reese of an opening at WPAZ in Pottstown, Penn., and he went to meet with the owner while feeling a lack of confidence. Becoming comfortable in the industry was hardly a facile task, and he was granted a chance to go on the air to call a high school football game when the only other alternative would have been dead air. Working seven days a week, he continued to call football along with little league baseball, and worked in music and news coverage in the studio.
“You take the steps in small increments,” Reese said. “It took me a long time to go from Pottstown to WIP and ultimately to become the play-by-play voice of the Eagles.”
Even though the weeks are packed with preparation and studies ahead of Eagles games, Reese has managed to continue as a managing partner at WBCB in Levittown, Penn., serving as a part-owner and general manager of the entity. Every morning, he works at the station for a couple of hours before traveling to the Eagles practice facility. Afterwards, he will sometimes stop at WBCB later in the afternoon and hosts the Pro Football Report program on Tuesdays.
“I balance the two things and they’re really labors of love,” Reese expressed.
Reese previously broadcast news coverage for the outlet, along with going on the air for affiliated stations WWDB-AM and WHAT-AM. While there, he offered to do sportscasts in the morning for free so he would be able to gain the experience. After auditioning at KYW-AM, news director Reggie Laitte advised he look for a career outside of broadcasting or go into another part in the industry, stating that he would never make it in a major market.
Following initial disappointment, Reese was able to persevere and auditioned to fill in for WIP sports director Charlie Swift while he took a month for summer vacation after he had accumulated a deluge of days off over the years. Landing the highly-coveted job led him to appear on pregame and postgame broadcasts for the Eagles, a role that allowed Reese to cover the team he had grown up watching. He held the position until he was asked to join the Eagles broadcasts as a color commentator ahead of the 1977 season where he worked directly with Swift, the play-by-play announcer.
In the 13th week of the season, Reese made his play-by-play debut for the team and has held the role ever since, but the circumstance under which he landed the job was calamitous. Swift had taken his own life four days before the game, leaving his wife and two children in a devastating situation for sports fans everywhere.
When Reese learned of the news at 2 a.m., he was overcome with melancholy and dedicated his morning show on WWDB to him. He received a call that same day from program director Dean Tyler, informing him that he would be doing the play-by-play announcing for Sunday’s game.
“Charlie was considerably older than I, but he was a guy that I looked up to and respected and liked,” Reese said, “and he died suddenly on Dec. 7, 1977 and certainly it hit me like a lead weight.”
In addition to his play-by-play obligations, Reese worked as sports director at WIP for 14 years during a time when the outlet was operating in the music format. The station began gradually adding sports talk programming in the mid-1980s featuring legendary hosts such as Angelo Cataldi, Howard Eskin and Al Morganti. During Reese’s stretch in the managerial role though, he would broadcast the morning sports news amid hourly updates that also featured news and weather before playing 50 minutes of music.
“When WIP went to the sports talk [format], I was not a sports talker,” Reese said. “I was not a guy who was arguing about sports and getting into debates from morning until night, but I certainly think sports talk radio brings pleasure to a lot of people and if it’s done well, it brings great ratings to that radio station.”
Having worked in the role for 46 years, Reese has always strived to remain genuine with his audience on the air and delineate the action taking place on the field. There are moments when he is critical of the team, never referring to himself within the aggregate. In fact, he does not like being called a “homer,” nor does he actively cheer for the team during the broadcast.
Instead, he looks to call each game as objectively as possible while depicting the moment with a pallet of tonalities and intonation. At the same time, he does not want to be perfidious towards the listening public, aiming for earnestness rather than a portrayal of verisimilitude imbued with equivocation.
“I will make certain statements, but if the Eagles get a call that I think is an advantageous call for them but not the correct call, I will say that,” Reese elucidated. “I do not openly root on the air, but again you can hear the excitement and the love that I do have for this team in the tone of my voice.”
Former Eagles wide receiver Mike Quick has worked as the color commentator on broadcasts for the last 25 seasons, and he is someone Reese considers to be a good friend. When he was first starting out, Reese directed Quick to tap him when he had something he wanted to say. Quick would then speak when Reese tapped him again, a practice that diminished over time.
“I would look over at Mike and he would know,” Reese said. “You grow and you become more comfortable working with each other game by game by game, and after all these years I guess we can just finish each other’s sentences.”
The Eagles have had their fair share of thrilling finishes while Reese has been on the broadcast, including game-ending field goals and touchdowns. There have also been plenty of disappointments, including the team’s recent loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVIII after leading through three quarters of play. Regardless of the outcome, these close games engender tension and puts Reese at the edge of his seat.
Retaining a sense of clarity through a protracted stretch of chaos is pivotal to keeping the listeners informed. With the lack of a visual aid for some listeners, Reese always looks to mention the score, time, down and distance as often as possible. Making sure that his audience is always aware of these four factors is a fundamental aspect of the game broadcast itself and something he periodically ensures to do over the course of the game. When he forgets to carry out this essential task, producer Joe McPeak throws a card in front of his face that reads “Score/Time” in order to remind him to acknowledge those metrics.
“I hate to get into the car and hear any sporting event where you can hear the crowd; you can hear the excitement and you’re sitting there for five minutes or six minutes and sometimes even longer and you don’t know what the score is,” Reese said, “…so that’s something that I am always aware of.”
The calls of monumental junctures in Eagles history, he avers, are things that take care of themselves as reactions after these instances. A catchphrase he has used throughout his career is, “It’s Gooooood!,” which he articulates after certain kicks. Reese ensures to use the call sparingly in consequential situations, such as on a long game-winning kick. There have also been times where he does not exclaim the phraseology, which has become of his broadcast vernacular almost by happenstance.
“It’s not always the same,” Reese said, “but every now and then if it’s a very special moment, that’s what seems to come out.”
Maintaining a level of credibility in an era where the advent of social media has allowed people to easily amplify and disseminate their voices en masse is an important aspect of the job. Reese has been around the team in the play-by-play role for 46 seasons and following them for most of his life and renders it imperative that people believe what he is saying. Moreover, he feels that the world today includes a lot of sensationalization, overstating the magnitude of certain events and sometimes fabricating stories entirely which can risk impugning the trust of the audience.
“There are certain broadcasters – and I’m sure there are certain writers – who throw things up against the proverbial wall and hope that they stick without the story being totally investigated,” Reese said. “I think there is a shock value involved to sports talk radio that there are people who are there to pick arguments and one guy goes in one direction and his partner goes in the other direction and they may not all agree totally with what they are espousing, but I think at the same time it’s entertainment.”
As soon as each contest ends, he returns home and watches all of the remaining football on the schedule, including the afternoon slate of games if the Eagles play at 1 p.m. EST on a Sunday. Following the Sunday and Monday prime-time matchups televised by NBC Sports and ESPN, respectively, he watches other college games throughout the week and Saturday games in addition to Thursday Night Football on Amazon Prime Video. There are times where Reese feels the urge to stop and watch a local high school football game on a random afternoon to watch a quarter or two, consuming additional in-person action before his next game broadcast.
“I immerse myself in football throughout the entire week,” Reese said, “but I do all the requisite studying [and] the preparation of memorizing the rosters; the getting-to-know facts about each player.
Over his 46 years as the radio play-by-play announcer, Reese has missed all but one game and remains dedicated to his craft, earning a spot in the team’s Hall of Fame in 2016 and expressing that he will never willingly retire from the position. Evidently, his voice has become synonymous with Eagles football and is part of the organization’s soundtrack as it looks to earn another Super Bowl championship at the season’s end.
“The fact that you go into every game loving it – I can’t wait for a game to arrive,” Reese said. “I think success is happiness, knowing that there’s nothing in the world you would rather be doing, and that’s the truth.”
Legendary ESPN college basketball analyst Dick Vitale appears to have cleared another hurdle toward returning to the airwaves.
Vitale, 84, posted on X on Thursday that he remains cancer-free.
“Santa Claus came early for me & my family. Just was on the phone with Dr. Rick Brown (my oncologist, Dr. Ken Meredith (bloodwork). They game me super nets that the Pet Scan was clean (No Cancer) & my bloodwork was all very good,” Vital revealed.
Santa Claus came early for me & my family . Just was on the phone with Dr Rick Brown ( my oncologist ) Dr Ken Meredith ( bloodwork ) They gave me super news that the PET SCAN was clean (NO CANCER ) & my bloodwork was all very good .To many of you I send ❤️❤️❤️ & THANK YOU for ur…
He has been in speech therapy trying to regain strength in his vocal cords so he can return to broadcasting.
Vitale was diagnosed with cancer of the vocal cords this summer and underwent several rounds of radiation treatment. He had to go months without speaking. He originally planned a return to ESPN on November 28th, however, ongoing treatments have kept him off the air.
Recently, I was listening to the Media Insultant podcast hosted by media sales and management executives Jackson Weaver and Keith Samuels. They discussed the distressing news (14:20 in) about the latest third-quarter earnings reports showing that some broadcasters in both TV and radio had net revenues down to double digits, and even digital was declining for more digitally focused broadcasters.
As I heard this, I wondered what the guys would say about how a sales rep could turn this trend around, so I asked. Weaver, who managed radio properties in Seattle (KJR stations), Astoria/Seaside, OR (Ohana Media), Palm Springs, CA (KGAY/KHCV), and Olympia, WA (KGY/KAYO), responded to my inquiry with simplicity. And his words could be the difference between a good and great year for any of us in sales.
Weaver laid out his ‘Thin Mint of effort’ strategy. Weaver maintains that if you are serious about getting better at sales in 2024 –extend 1% more effort daily—just 1%. In sports, it’s called the Power of Marginal Gains.
The concept of marginal gains lays out the potential of minor, incremental improvements. Weaver’s idea is simple: make that extra call, craft a new spec spot, do one more walk-in, or follow up with two emails or texts daily. These seemingly minor actions, when consistently applied, have a profound impact.
He emphasizes that although research might indicate a staggering 37x increase in results over a year due to this 1% extra daily effort, the precise numbers might be debatable. However, what remains indisputable is the fact that it yields results. Just 1% per day can catalyze significant growth and success. One extra sales call per day, and you’ll gain 200-250 additional revenue-generating possibilities in 2024. That’s impact.
Weaver’s advice reminds me of the 212-degree concept. At 211 degrees, the water is hot. But, at 212 degrees, it boils, and with boiling water, you get steam, which can power a train. By giving just 1% extra effort each day, we can have the sales train running down the track!
We all get overwhelmed with making a 15-25% sales increase all in one month. Let’s flip that script. Commit to consistent, marginal gains that pave the way for extraordinary results. I’m all about searing a steak, but give me BBQ low and slow! Don’t quit too soon! That extra 1% effort could be the difference where big deals can occur.
So, as we venture into 2024, try to embrace the Power of 1% and try branding you. Make that extra call at 4:45 PM on Friday. Create a spec spot for a new-to-radio advertiser. Text that hard-to-reach buyer with a new idea. Email a past client and request a CNA return to your station. Make that extra effort, take that additional step, and commit to daily improvement.
The Thin Mint Strategy is a recipe for success, and once you have just one, you will finish the box before you know it!
Audacy Buffalo’s News Talk station WBEN partnered with sister station, 107.7 The Wolf, and raised $117,000 for a local charity during its Radiothon on December 13th.
Throughout the day, programming on the two stations featured interviews and stories showcasing the impact of the charity – SPCA Serving Erie County.
The misison of the charity is to create a more humane community through education, rescuing, protecting and enhancing the lives of animals and nurturing the bond between animals and people.
“We’re thrilled to have been able to spearhead the radiothon effort for the SPCA in 2023 and excited we exceeded the goal and expectations for the event,” said Tim Wenger, Senior Vice President Market Manager and WBEN Brand Manager, Audacy Buffalo. “The money raised is a testament to our listeners’ commitment to community and will go a long way toward helping the SPCA meet a growing need.”
Dave Portnoy has put a lot of stock in the reality series Surviving Barstool. He went to great lengths to ensure the finished product was seen, even yanking the show from YouTube over censorship concerns. However, the finale of the series was spoiled by Barstool host Ben Mintz, and Portnoy did not take that news lightly.
During his thrice weekly program, Mintz accidentally revealed the final contestants on the conclusion of the reality series, which has garnered hundreds of thousands of dollars in sales of the series for Barstool.
On Thursday, Portnoy suspended Mintz’s show Wake Up Mintzy until the program can adequately install a delay to ensure similar situations don’t happen.
In a video posted to X, Mintz said “Yesterday morning, I made an egregious, idiotic mistake — another one I didn’t mean to — but nonetheless, a very stupid one when I left a spoiler for Surviving Barstool up on Wake Up Mintzy. If you’re a hater of mine, you’re probably going to enjoy today because I’m about to get freaking rained on by the internet. I deserve it…I really don’t have a real explanation for it…We’re not doing Wake Up Mintzy until we get the dump button figured out. The show’s not canceled, just suspended. Powers that be said it could go on but we gotta have a dump button because I’m too much of a wild card with what I say sometimes. I feel really bad about it.”
The mistake by Mintz isn’t his first misstep with the company. Earlier this year, Barstool — while still owned by PENN Entertainment — was forced to fire the host after he uttered a racial slur while reading rap lyrics on a live stream. Portnoy fought the firing but ultimately caved when the company claimed its gambling licenses could be affected by the viral video.
In a series of videos, Portnoy has shared that he has previously instructed Barstool staffers to not allow Mintz appear on any programs that do not have a delay, to ensure situations like this do not happen.
“How f—ing dumb are you?,” Portnoy is seen yelling at Mintz in one video. “You f—ing dummy! Why don’t you have a f—ing dump button, you f—ing dummy? We already know you can’t talk for more than a second without f—ing something up. Sorry doesn’t do it, Mintzy.”
Although the Kansas City Chiefs are projected to qualify for the NFL playoffs and viewed as a potential Super Bowl contender, frustrations surrounding the team’s recent performance seem to be riding high. The Chiefs have lost four of their last six games and have an 8-5 record, good enough to lead the AFC West but behind the Baltimore Ravens and Miami Dolphins with four more games to play. The franchise has been a consistent talking point throughout the year on the 610 Sports Kansas City morning show with Bob Fescoe and Josh Klingler.
Part of the team’s shortcomings have centered on the difficulties wide receivers and skill players have in catching passes since the team leads the league with 33 drops this year. The presence of award-winning singer and songwriter Taylor Swift has also created additional buzz surrounding the group, in addition to tight end Travis Kelce’s New Heights podcast he hosts with Wave Sports + Entertainment. On the most recent episode of the show, Kelce cursed out the media for discussing some of the players on the team in the light it has.
“We usually cuss in light-hearted ways, but I felt like you guys had to feel that, whoever’s talking shit on the skill players on our offense right now, man,” Kelce said. “This is a group effort, and when you turn on the film, what’s real is that we’ve got guys who can play this game and we’ve got guys who we can have success with and win with and win championships with.”
Kelce proceeded to say that the media’s criticism and doubt in the team is going to help fuel them and make them better to endure the tough games. On Thursday morning, Fescoe underscored his belief that the media is being used as somewhat of a scapegoat for the team’s shortcomings.
“When things are going the way that we’re not used to, it’s always the media’s fault,” Bob Fescoe said. “Isn’t that normally how the way it works? The media’s saying this and the media’s doing that and the media’s doing this? I guess now, according to Travis Kelce, the media is the reason why things are kind of going the way that they are right now.”
Klingler concurred with this remark, identifying the paradoxical nature between blaming the media and also describing the cohort of reporters and outlets as fuel. In essence, he feels that Kelce and the Chiefs are getting exactly what they want during this arduous stretch of games. Fescoe conveyed that he will help the team in any way possible, even if that means him having to belabor critical points regarding different aspects of the team or players on the field.
“How come when things are going great and everybody’s singing praises, they never mention, ‘The media’s being great with us’?,” Bob Fescoe said. “….We never hear praise for the media.”
“If you think it’s negative, [it] sounds like you need it,” Klingler added.
