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Barrett News Media’s Top 20 Mid Market News/Talk Radio Morning Shows of 2023

Jason Barrett
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Barrett News Media’s Top 20 Mid Market News/Talk Radio Morning Shows of 2023

Welcome to the second annual Barrett News Media Top 20 series recognizing News/Talk radio’s best for 2023. This series is voted on by news/talk radio program directors and executives all across the country. To stay informed on each day’s results please bookmark our website, follow BNM on Twitter at @BNMStaff, visit us on Facebook at Barrett News Media or sign up for our daily newsletter, ‘The Rundown‘ by clicking here. We appreciate the support.

The six categories featured this year are news/talk radio’s Major and Mid market morning, midday, and afternoon shows, the top program directors and radio stations, and the format’s best national talk shows. Major Markets represent shows, stations, and PDs operating in markets #1-#20. Mid Markets are for markets #21 and below. Not included in our lists are NPR brands and shows. Maybe in the future we’ll change that or add an extra category but for now, mainstream talk radio outlets are our main focus.

As you review the results in this category, please remember that they represent the collective opinions of fifty four (54) news/talk radio programmers and executives. We try our best to make sure the top shows, hosts, programmers and brands are listed for voting consideration. Industry decision makers are then asked to vote on market categories based on where their stations/shows operate. We don’t participate ourselves in the voting process, we simply add up and present the results.

I want to thank Barrett Media’s Digital Director Alex Reynolds for doing an awesome job on this year’s graphics, as well as each PD and executive who participated in this process. We had representation from fourteen companies and forty different cities, which was even better than last year. For those who didn’t vote and were invited to do so, I hope you’ll change your mind next year. It’s good for the format if you’re involved, and depending on the final votes, it can benefit your staff, sales team, and company, and excite your audience and advertisers.

Moving on to the voting, here are a few things I’d like you to be aware of.

#1 – Our executive voters are asked to rank their Top 20 selections for each category based on a few key factors; quality of show (ear test), originality, ability to entertain-inform-connect across multiple platforms, ratings success, clearance (national shows) and industry buzz. Remember, our voters live in different cities, have different tastes, work for different groups, and value certain factors higher than others. This is not a perfect system but it’s the best one we’ve come up with to showcase the industry’s best. Having run it for eight years with the sports talk format, we’re going to stick with it until another option arises that makes it better.

#2 – The executive panel consists of program directors and corporate executives from a number of top broadcasting companies including Audacy, iHeart, Cumulus, Hubbard, Cox Media Group, Townsquare Media, Salem Media Group, Radio One, Alpha, Bonneville, FOX News Radio, Westwood One, Federated Media, and Zimmer Communications. We involve a large number of people in this process in order to receive feedback from all parts of the country, and to avoid the results heavily favoring one company. Given the variety of people in this process, it means there’s no guarantee that success last year will be duplicated this year.

#3 – A total of 98 mid market morning shows were eligible for votes from our executive panel in the Mid Market Morning News/Talk Shows category. These programs are counted on across the nation to create compelling local content, and produce strong ratings and revenue for their respective brands. Many of these shows enjoy great success in their local cities, but only one can stand atop the rankings.

Which brings us to this year’s winner. The top honor once again goes to Mike McConnell of 700 WLW. The popular Cincinnati morning host pulled off the repeat thanks to a category best six (6) 1st place votes. BNM congratulates Mike, Scott Reinhart, and the entire WLW team on grabbing the top spot again, as well as every other show which gained a spot on this year’s list.

Now, here are the full results of “Barrett News Media’s Top 20 Mid Market News/Talk Morning Shows of 2023!”

Additional Notes:

  • Mike McConnell finished comfortably in front of WTAM’s Wills & Snyder with a 133 point lead, courtesy of a category best six (6) first place votes.
  • Spots 21-25 belonged to A New Morning with Susan & Brian, Utah’s Morning News, Bo Thompson & Beth Troutman, C4 & Bryan Nehman and Kevin Miller In The Morning.
  • The closest contests saw Total Information AM nip Ben Ferguson by 3 points, and Pete Mundo edge Dan Mandis by 4 points.
  • Of the 98 shows to appear on submitted ballots, seventeen (17) received at least one 1st place vote.

*** Boxer has since left mornings in Columbus, replaced by Mike Elliott. His show was on 610 WTVN in morning drive when voting took place.

Here is the remaining schedule for the BNM Top 20 of 2023.

  • Tuesday December 12 = BNM Top 20 Major/Mid Market N/T Radio Midday Shows of 2023
  • Wednesday December 13 = BNM Top 20 Major/Mid Market N/T Radio Afternoon Shows of 2023
  • Thursday December 14 = BNM Top 20 National N/T Radio Shows of 2023
  • Friday December 15 = BNM Top 20 Major/Mid Market N/T Radio Program Directors of 2023
  • Monday December 18 = BNM Top 20 Major/Mid Market N/T Radio Stations of 2023

FanDuel Parent Company Sets NYSE Listing Date

BSM Staff
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FanDuel Parent Company Sets NYSE Listing Date

Flutter, the parent company of FanDuel, has revealed the date in which it plans to start being listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

Trading on the stock will begin on January 29, the day after the AFC and NFC Championship Games, which will reveal the matchup for Super Bowl LVIII. The company will be found on the ticker as FLUT.

Flutter plans to delist from the Euronext Dublin exchange and keep a separate listing on the London Stock Exchange, according to Front Office Sports.

95% of FanDuel is owned by Flutter.

Mike Felger: Being 2nd Chair in Sports Radio ‘Sneaky Hard’

BSM Staff
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Mike Felger: Being 2nd Chair in Sports Radio ‘Sneaky Hard’

Morning drive on Boston’s 98.5 The Sports Hub will have a new co-host alongside Fred Toucher starting in January, and speculation continues to swirl about who will replace longtime co-host Rich Shertenlieb.

The Boston Herald last week reported the latest in the station’s search for a new morning co-host. Kendra Middleton, a familiar voice in the mornings, has interviewed, and other current station talent like Jim Murray and Rob “Hardy” Poole are believed to be getting consideration.

Mike Felger, co-host of Felger & Mazz on The Sports Hub, has been jokingly suggested as the next co-host. But Felger said in a digital video reported on by the Herald that it would certainly be a challenge, and that he and Toucher would have success.

“I think it would go well,” he said. “What is a sneaky hard spot is to be in the second chair, to be in the Mazz chair, the B chair, because listening is harder than talking… that would be the only discomfort.”

Felger added that it would be an adjustment.

“I’m just used to running my mouth and setting the pace, and that sort of thing,” he said.

Law & Crime Network Eyes Expansion in Growing Genre

Krystina Alarcon Carroll
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Law & Crime Network Eyes Expansion in Growing Genre

Sometimes crime does pay… just not in the way you’d expect. Companies like Law & Crime Network are cashing in on crime.

“I was [Dan Abrams’] first or second employee when we started Law Newz seven years ago,” Rachel Stockman told Barrett News Media over Zoom.

Since 2016 the startup with 3 people exploded into a company of nearly 100 and changed their brand name from Law Newz to Law & Crime Network. Now the President of Law & Crime Network, Stockman, like many great journalists, started as an intern in local news.

Her West Virginia internship turned into a passion as national news hit her small market. “The Sago Mine disaster happened and so it was really my first experience being part of a national news story,” she recalled, “so that really sparked my interest to to become a journalist.”

Moving on to be a reporter in Green Bay, Atlanta, and New York it was her experience in Phoenix which ignited her passion.

“I was covering a lot of immigration-related issues. And they at the time, passed a really controversial immigration law,” Stockman said, “I was a young reporter, and I just remembered how intimidating I thought covering courts was at the time.”

The intimidation turned into questions and questions brought an application to Law School. She graduated from Yale but did not become a lawyer.

“I decided to go back into journalism after that. But it was still great to have that legal foundation,” Stockman explained. “Going to law school really gave me the confidence to continue to report on really critical issues in our justice system.” Confidence she uses to inspire her team at Law & Crime, adding, “The foundation of [the network] is really law and crime and accuracy and commitment to really understanding how our justice system works.”

Law & Crime Network brings that understanding to their viewers in four different ways, OTT networks, social media, lawandcrime.com, and Productions. The key to what Stockman calls their “360 approach” is dominating social media. “Our YouTube page has a huge presence, almost 6 million subscribers, and we’re covering everything from court cases to the big to true crime stories to big legal stories.”

Stockman added they have nearly 1 million subscribers on TikTok and an extremely active Snapchat page.

The network’s viewership began reaching a larger audience via their production company. “We are producing content for partners like Netflix, [and] Hulu,” Stockman added. “One of our great partners is A&E. We really leverage our experience in the legal and crime sphere to be able to then create compelling programing for them as well.”

The biggest viewer expansion Stockman says came from the 2022 Johnny Depp Trial. “We honestly were not expecting that one to blow up as it did. Obviously, we knew there would be interest because they were celebrities,” She recalled. “But we were really shocked by kind of the level of universal interest in the case and how not only were people tracking kind of daily developments, they were really in the courtroom every single day wanting to not miss a moment of that case.”

Commitment to their community is key, with almost 6 million YouTube subscribers they typically have hundreds of people, actively chatting every day. “They’re alerting us to other cases that are going around the country. And it’s really unique compared to other companies and other media organizations. Just how loyal are our fans and our community is,” Stockman said.

Even with a committed community, it remains hard to get every court case,

“It is difficult in some states to get in [to court] and some states don’t allow cameras altogether.”

Stockman continued to say “The federal court system also does not allow cameras in court. So there we are, pretty limited, I would say probably 30 states allow cameras in court.”

This creates a challenge for the Network as some states allow cameras on a case-by-case basis or have banned cameras entirely.

Stockman feels Law & Crime’s coverage of court is worth fighting for. “We believe in transparency. We think the public should be able to see our court system and see our justice system in action.” Some critics believe cameras in court don’t provide transparency instead becoming a distraction and dramatizing the process. If given the option Stockman’s answer is simple, “We always want to air on the side of transparency if there’s a choice.”

Barrett News Media pressed Stockman on if there were cases that took advantage of cameras in the court, turning a trial into a circus or more of a TV show. Her response? “Overall, judges and attorneys can certainly when they know they’re being taped, when they know they’re going to be on camera, on a live stream will certainly play to the cameras. There’s no denying in that.”

Stockman added, “That just goes along with any major case that happens. There’s going to be media coverage and there is going to be folks on either side taking advantage of that or trying to get in the spotlight and push their case in any certain direction.”

Law & Crime Network is not alone in the true crime market, other networks like Court TV and the True Crime Network are willful adversaries but Stockman says Law & Crime does something the others don’t, have a diverse case group.

“We’ll cover the wide range, whereas a lot of times our competitors will narrow in on one case. We’re everywhere and covering everything from all different angles and sides.”

Stockman added “We really have had a huge focus on our social as a strategy. Social first.”

The network is planning on continuing its growth in 2024. and while Stockman couldn’t get into specifics she did tell BNM, “We are going to be launching some more YouTube channels. In the crime space, we’re working to increase our distribution for our linear channel and get on more OTT platforms.” 

Stockman added, “We’re going to continue to be the leader in true crime, making sure we’re the ones that are on top of all the major cases and bring our audience the biggest the latest developments.”

Note: Krystina Alarcon Carroll worked at Law & Crime Network in 2021.

Has Stephen A. Smith Outgrown First Take?

Demetri Ravanos
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Has Stephen A. Smith Outgrown First Take?

Stephen A. Smith has clearly outgrown First Take. He’ll never say it, because he knows the brand’s success depends on him. However, one look at The Stephen A. Smith Show and it is clear, this is a guy that doesn’t need to spend weekday mornings shouting about Jalen Brunson’s effective field goal percentage anymore. 

Think pieces have been written about what the podcast says about Smith’s ambitions. Plenty of radio hosts have had fun at the expense of the ESPN star’s proclivity for going off-script in ways that might make the Walt Disney Company uncomfortable. None of it has changed The Stephen A. Smith Show. 

The podcast has taught us that Stephen A. Smith can pull from deep knowledge about the Pixar Cars universe, he will defend his right to use R. Kelly’s music to set the mood, and we have learned that the man loves a big ol’ butt. 

AND THAT’S ALL WITHIN THE LAST MONTH!

Personally, I like this unabashedly horny, politically vague, and more well-rounded version of Smith than the one I see on ESPN. The guy yelling “How dare you” when Chris Russo tries to argue that some dude who handed the ball off 85% of the time is a better quarterback than Patrick Mahomes is not a human being. He may truly believe his point, but the conviction is goofy. The guy giving truly awful advice for microwaving fish feels real. He doesn’t know what the hell he’s talking about but he is confident that he does.

I don’t claim to know what ESPN will or should do when Smith’s contract comes up for renewal. The First Take star has made it clear that he expects to be made the network’s highest paid talent. He’s certainly entitled to that opinion. He has the numbers to back it up, but the TV business has changed. ESPN is on its way to being a digital product, which will most certainly change its finances and priorities. 

If you’re paying the $30 or $40 per month that we expect ESPN to charge for its a la carte service, you’re not doing it for First Take. You’re not doing it for PTI or The Pat McAfee Show either. It’s all about the games. They are and will always be ESPN’s most valuable asset. I would imagine that in the coming years, the network will take a hard look at just how much anything else is actually worth.

Who from the “embrace debate” universe has crossover appeal? Probably no one. Games attract a large audience. Sports talk? That’s more of a niche. 

Everyone reading this has a very distinct feeling about Skip Bayless. Most of the world doesn’t though. Bayless has leaned hard into the act. It’s important to him to put on the best sports debate show TV has to offer. That’s a perfectly admirable goal, but the ceiling is pretty low. 

Most people aren’t going to go looking for something like that. If Bayless ever wants out of FS1, his options would be limited at best and possibly non-existent at worst.

Stephen A. Smith has big ambitions. He wants to act. He wants to host shows outside of the sports realm. He wants to produce. He may want to run for office. If ESPN determines it doesn’t need to pay over $10 million per year for the star of a show that is largely consumed on mute in airport bars, then he needs to prove he can do those things at a level that gets him paid.

Most of the comments about Smith’s podcast have to do with what it could make him in the eyes of ESPN. I think it is important to consider that as ESPN evolves, maybe no single show or talent will be particularly valuable to the network, at least not to the tune that it currently is. So we have to look at Smith explaining how to skirt the issue of lying to date about how well you can cook differently.

Over the Thanksgiving holiday, I read Brian Stelter’s Network of Lies, which is about the Dominion lawsuit against Fox News and the network firing Tucker Carlson. No matter how you feel politically, I recommend it, because it gives some great insight into how a network built on talking head shows operates.

At Fox News, where every host has the same opinions, the network is the star. Sure, people rise up and gain a following, but Stelter points out all of the presumed stars that have not hurt Fox by leaving and he theorizes Carlson will eventually be one of them.

I’ve been thinking about that a lot as I listen to Smith shout that he just needs a woman “to be a solid 7.” Has he read Network of Lies? Smith is friends with Sean Hannity. Has he had conversations about how valuable an opinionist is when he only preaches to those already converted? 

Stephen A. Smith is irreplaceable at ESPN so long as the network wants to be in the First Take business. Smith is smart enough to know that won’t be forever. Even if ratings for the show never slip, changing economics could force the network’s hand at some point. 

That is why Stephen A. Smith wants you to know how he feels about big, juicy booties. Maybe sports talk on television will have less value amidst television evolution, but talent that can entertain and make an audience pay attention never will. Smith is betting that he can make you care about what he has to say regardless of what he is talking about.

Steve Czaban is Helping Mold Sports Radio’s Future at 97.3 The Game

Peter Schwartz
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Steve Czaban is Helping Mold Sports Radio’s Future at 97.3 The Game

After a long run in Washington, DC, Steve Czaban made the move in May 2019 to host the morning show on 97.3 The Game in Milwaukee. Being part of the Milwaukee/Wisconsin market was nothing new to Czaban as he held down a 30 to 45-minute feature on “Bob and Brian”, the number one FM show in the market for almost a quarter of a century.

The show became so successful that Czaban signed a contract extension in April of 2022 and the show continues to soar.

“The show has gone great,” said Czaban.  “We’re double the nearest sports radio competitor in town and we’re top five in the target demographic of men 25-54. I really have been loving it.  It’s the best group of guys and just vibe that I’ve had a sports radio station pretty much in my career.  It’s been a very good situation for me.”

It’s not easy for a talk show host to transition to another market because you really have to have intimate knowledge on the teams, the players, and the fans in a town in order to have a fighting chance to be successful.  When Czaban made the move from DC to Milwaukee, the experience of dabbling in the market certainly helped him to talk about everything Packers, Bucks, Brewers, and Wisconsin sports, but it’s not something that comes easy.

In fact, he wonders how other people can do it.

“I didn’t go into it cold,” said Czaban. “I think if anyone in our business goes into a market cold, I don’t know how you do it because you just have to have a certain base of historic knowledge of this player, this team, this game, this moment and this incident to call upon to at least be fluent in the language of the local sports market.”

So, in order to have that fluency in a new market, you have to literally channel your inner Rodney Dangerfield and go “Back to School” and that means doing your homework to get you ready for your new gig. You don’t just bag your bags, move to a new city, turn on the microphone, and talk about the teams in town without knowing what you’re talking about.

Steve Czaban says there is a textbook for what to do, but it’s certainly a challenge.

“The advice would be if you’re a host and you’re entering a new market and you don’t really have any connection or history, then I would absolutely do a cram session,” said Czaban.  “Every night, flashcards, reading everything, watching YouTube highlights, and at least for the first six months if now a year, make sure to tread lightly because there’s a good chance you’re going to walk into a rake if you start talking about ‘They should never have traded so and so’,  well, there’s more to it.”

Czaban has spent his career trying to help young talent break into the industry and grow. He’s had a knack for bringing new people along and educating them on the business and the highs and lows that come with it.

Sort of like a head coach developing quality assists who go on to become head coaches themselves.

“I don’t know what kind of a coaching tree I have,” said Czaban. “But I do make sure to try to explain to the younger people around me like my producers and what not because I’ve seen so much in the industry. I’ve seen some really messed up stuff but I’ve seen good stuff as well and I’ve seen good stories.  I just try to lend that perspective of having been in the circus for 30-plus years.”

Many of those years were spent as a host in Washington DC, Czaban certainly spent a lot of time talking about Washington Redskins/Football Team/Commanders owner Dan Snyder had his part in the fall of the once-proud franchise. He still has his finger on the pulse of what’s going on in DC and how the sale of the team from Snyder to a group owned by Josh Harris had an effect on sports radio in Washington

Czaban says the sale and the fan reaction had a huge positive impact.

“They definitely had a surge,” said Czaban. “I was very happy for everybody still on the air doing sports radio day to day at seeing the bad man run out of town who wrecked the franchise, lost the team, name, logo, and soon-to-be history that he was finally gone. I think it was definitely good but now with the Commanders being so bad, there’s hope with a new owner but there’s a lot of cleaning out that has to be done first. I think the guys on sports radio are going to be very busy this next year or two.”

Transitioning to full-time hosting duties in Milwaukee a few years ago, Czaban saw the Aaron Rodgers era with the Packers wind down. After the Packers traded Rodgers to the Jets this past off-season, the keys to the offense were transferred over to Jordan Love. While there were some growing pains inside Lambeau Field at the start of the season, the Packers have rebounded.

Not everyone in town thought it was going to happen and some host’s patience ran thin…but not Czaban. He had gone through too many lost seasons in Washington to realize that you just can’t throw in the towel until a season is done.

“There were guys on my show and on other shows (when the Packers were) at 2-5 they were like ‘Season is over, they’re going nowhere’ and they were even talking about draft position,” said Czaban. “I was the only guy saying whoa the season can be over when it’s over. We have all the time in the world for that but it’s not over now. Now, I kind of look pretty smart.”

Steve Czaban also looks very intelligent for being able to do something that not many people in the sports radio industry can do. He was successful in one market for a very long time and has made the transition to a new market and is, once again, having success with a tremendous sports talk show.

ESPN Doesn’t Eat Their Own Dog Food

Dr. Ed Cohen
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ESPN Doesn’t Eat Their Own Dog Food

If you check Wikipedia, which has become the font of all knowledge, you’ll see that the term “Eat Your Own Dog Food” may have come from the Lorne Greene Alpo spots of the ‘70s, or perhaps Microsoft. I picked it up from Fred Jacobs of Jacobs Media and he used it to refer to listening to your station, especially the streams, which were often pretty bad. Not audio quality, but the presentation. 

When I was at Cumulus, I used to listen to a few of the company outlets online, and at one point, I would hear the same PSAs running five and six times in a row in a stop set. The issue was duly reported to corporate engineering and to their credit, the problem was fixed. It’s always a good maxim for programmers to listen to their stations and make sure that what’s going out, whether on-air or online, sounds as good as it can.

That brings me to the video streaming experience. I’m a hockey fan and have a subscription to ESPN+, which gives me access to most of the out-of-market NHL games that aren’t on a national platform. It’s great to have access to the games, as well as some of the more esoteric sports options that you can watch. Where else would you get to see Northwoods League baseball? How about lower-level college football, basketball, baseball, soccer, and volleyball, men’s and women’s, among other sports? 

After last week’s column, you know that I’m a student at Western Kentucky University and most of their football games were on ESPN+. Who could miss the epic battle between WKU and Sam Houston State? And then, there’s cricket. I’m still trying to figure out the rules, but it’s entertaining to watch. One of these days I’ll try the Hindi version…maybe that will help!

Here’s the rub: ESPN, apparently, doesn’t eat their own dog food, or if they do, they don’t care.  When I started in the business many years ago, it used to be that you wanted to get a three-frequency for an ad campaign. During one recent cricket match, I scored at least a twelve frequency for a particular Hyundai vehicle. The spot was in every break! 

Recently, I watched the Washington Capitals/Arizona Coyotes game and as a Caps fan, it was a complete disaster with Arizona scoring five goals in the first period! Beyond the awful result, my frequency for Target ads was at least ten times and probably more (I wasn’t counting). And I’m now glad to know that we may be in the NHL’s golden age having seen this message over and over as well as being intimately aware of what the Geico gecko has been up to recently. 

Some spots would start, but didn’t time out correctly for the break, so they were dropped partway through to put the game back on. Having watched the Capitals version of the game for many years while living in the DC area, ESPN+ would start a spot at the end of the period, when it had perhaps 5-10 seconds before the intermission show would begin. Of course, the spot was cut.

I’m not writing this to shame ESPN+ as they’re not the only culprit although other ad-supported streaming services are good enough to put a countdown timer on-screen, so I know how long I have before unmuting the spots. And live sports from disparate sources posses different challenges than prerecorded programming. 

Still, as a consumer, can’t I be offered something better? And for the advertiser, is showing me the same spot or even multiple executions 10-15 times over a few hours the best use of advertising dollars? 

If this is the promise of programmatic, maybe we need more Herb Tarleks after all.

You probably don’t have an operation the size of ESPN, but you can eat your own dog food.  Most PDs are fanatics about doing that, but if you’re not, get with the plan now. Your audience is unlikely to be as fanatic as this Caps fan and the PPM will not forgive your mistakes.

Let’s meet again next week

Pat McAfee Pledges to Return to College GameDay in 2024

BSM Staff
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It’s no secret how a select group of college football fans feel about Pat McAfee being a featured analyst on College GameDay the last two seasons. But despite the constant negativity thrown his way, McAfee believes he will be back on GameDay in 2024.

Pat McAfee was joined by Kirk Herbstreit on the GameDay set in Foxborough on Friday, and while McAfee was talking to Herbstreit about the blowback he received after Florida State didn’t make the College Football Playoff semifinals, eventually his future on GameDay came up.

McAfee first said college fans are not afraid to tear right into him in a very visceral way.

“For me sports are fun. I grew up in an NFL town, and it’s like, ‘Hey we talk shit,'” he said. “That is competition. And college football – I don’t want to say it’s the softest group of fans – but it is a fan base that gets very offended and gets very mean. They get very mean. Like they feel as if I’ve walked into their living rooms and smacked them right in the mouth. And it’s like, ‘Yo I’m just talking – we’re just talking sports here.'”

The negative feedback from fans has certainly weighed on McAfee throughout the season. He said even though it’s clear his presence on the show hasn’t hindered ratings success, the threats and criticism don’t make it worth losing half his weekend.

“I don’t want the negativity in my life. I don’t want the death threats every week,” McAfee said.

Herbstreit kept trying to get McAfee to focus on the positive side of things, calling the very vocal naysayers a “lunatic fringe” of college football fans. But Kirk also praised McAfee for being a fresh voice and presence that’s taken College GameDay to a new level.

“I’m not kissing your ass. I’m just telling you this, and I’ve told you this a lot, that you changed my experience,” Herbstreit said. “I work really hard with these three projects (College GameDay, Thursday Night Football on Amazon, and the weekly primetime college game on ESPN) and you’ve really changed the approach, the energy not just on the set but the week. I’m having a blast.”

Kirk shocked everyone on the show going as far as to say that if Pat even considered leaving College GameDay, he would follow suit.

Pat McAfee said he’s always come into it with a team-first mindset and a desire to have fun. He just kind of figured the negativity would’ve been dialed back by now.

“I pride myself on being a good locker room guy, good vibes guy, good energy guy, which is why it is becoming something where it’s like, every single Saturday, do I want to read — because I’m on the internet a lot. We’re an internet show. So I’m like on there,” McAfee said. “People are like, ‘Don’t read your mentions.’ It’s like, ‘I have to.’ It’s part of our job. Like it’s part of my job to read the internet.

“It’s like, these college fans are awesome, they’re phenomenal, they’re incredibly passionate,” he added. “But man, that negativity — normally when I get dropped into a new show like the WWE, that negativity is like three months. They hate my life, they hate my — they hate everything about me. And then they’re like, ‘You know what? This guy, not that bad.’”

Herbstreit continued to reiterate that the loud voices are a true minority in the grander space of college football fandom, and he illustrated his point by noting that Pat has always received very warm welcome by the fans in attendance at the show.

Pat McAfee admitted he’s fallen in love with the atmosphere the fans provide, eventually saying he’s going to be back on set next year.

“How about this? I’m back. I’ll come back. Let’s do it,” he said. “I don’t love it. I don’t love that my life is just going to continue to have people telling me to run into oncoming traffic, swallow a barrel.”

Former Tennessee Titans Tight End and 104.5 The Zone Host Frank Wycheck Dies

BSM Staff
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Former Tennessee Titans Tight End and 104.5 The Zone Host Frank Wycheck Dies

Tennessee Titans fans were saddened to learn over the weekend that beloved tight end Frank Wycheck died. He was 52 years old.

Wycheck passed away after falling and hitting his head at his Chattanooga home on Saturday, according to a statement from the family.

“We are all devastated to hear the news of Frank’s passing,” Titans controlling owner Amy Adams Strunk said in a statement. “He was loved by so many, and his memory will always be cherished. Frank’s name was synonymous with Titans football. He was such a huge part of our team’s success both on and off the field. He embraced this community and fan base immediately, and everyone loved him right back.”

In 11 seasons with the Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans, Wycheck recorded 505 receptions for 5,126 yards and 28 touchdowns. He was a three-time Pro Bowl selection. Frank is in both the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame and the team’s Ring of Honor.

Wycheck was part of one of the most memorable plays in NFL history when his cross-field pass to Kevin Dyson in a 2000 playoff game set up what’s now known as the “Music City Miracle.” Wycheck’s only Super Bowl appearance came that season.

Post-retirement in 2003, Wycheck went into sports radio, hosting a morning drive talk show with Mark Howard and Kevin Ingram on 104.5 The Zone. Wycheck was also the color analyst for Tennessee Titans radio broadcasts, leaving both roles in 2017.

Howard passed away last year, but Ingram on Sunday offered his condolences on X.

Kirk Herbstreit: Pat McAfee Has ‘Changed My Experience’ on College GameDay

BSM Staff
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Kirk Herbstreit: Pat McAfee Has ‘Changed My Experience’ on College GameDay

While many detractors say otherwise, Kirk Herbstreit is crediting Pat McAfee for positive changes in the way he and the team approach College GameDay.

During an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, McAfee jokingly discussed leaving College GameDay due to “mean” college football fans ruining his fun and positive life. “I don’t want the negativity in my life, I don’t want the death threats,” McAfee said. Herbstreit, however, had no time for McAfee and threw the gauntlet down. “If you dare even think about leaving College GameDay,” Herbstreit said, “I’m leaving with you.” McAfee then responded with the famous line from Talladega Nights — “don’t you put that on me!”

Within the jest, however, Herbstreit lets us peek back behind the curtain to how he and the rest of the College GameDay team feel about McAfee. “You’ve changed my experience,” Herbstreit said. “You’ve changed the approach, the energy, not just on this set, but like the week. I’m having a blast…It’s like being on a team where you have a great energy. If you dare leave…” Fortunately, by the end of the segment, McAfee was back on board and admitted this would be his life for the foreseeable future.

Some pundits have felt that McAfee’s appearance on GameDay hasn’t helped grow the program, despite them confirming Herbstreit’s remarks on McAfee’s personality. Former ESPNer Dan Le Batard said on his show, “He is effusive, he is such a positive person. He is effusive in his praise for the people on that set. But now the numbers are coming back, and this is something that McAfee couldn’t have expected.”

While the ratings numbers for GameDay are higher than they’ve ever been (something Herbstreit and McAfee made sure to mention in their discussion,) they’re still under attack from FOX’s Big Noon Kickoff, who have scored some major ratings wins over this past season. According to FOX, before the Nov. 25 game between Ohio State and Michigan, Big Noon Kickoff averaged 2.34 million viewers and hit a record 4.36 million viewers from 11 a.m. ET until kickoff. This made Big Noon Kickoff the most-watched college football pregame show on television for the weekend. The recent losses have some feeling like College GameDay has lost its way.

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