Sean Hannity has long been a force in conservative media, but there is one frontier he’s just not interested in exploring.
While discussing the recent comments from prominent college presidents who refused to say that calling for the eradication of Jewish students went against their university’s code of conduct, Hannity claimed he has no interest in speaking on college campuses the way Charlie Kirk, Tomi Lahren, Riley Gaines, and other conservative media figures do.
“I admire some of the younger conservatives coming up that, they’re still willing to go there and talk to these kids at college campuses,” The Sean Hannity Show host said. “They don’t even let them speak half the time and I’m like, ‘Who needs that aggravation?’
“I’ve been invited by many, many colleges to speak and I’m like, ‘No thanks. I got better things to do. I think I have to clean my toilets about that time’,” Hannity revealed. “‘I think I’ll go pick up Linda’s fat cat. I’ll clean out her kitty litter box. I’m not going to be able to make that one.’ I’d rather rake the leaves, which I hate.”
Although the Golden State Warriors defeated the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday night, fans of the Dubs have been frustrated throughout the season. The team did not qualify for the In-Season Tournament quarterfinals. Bonta Hill, morning host on 95.7 The Game and pregame/postgame host for the team’s television broadcasts on NBC Sports California, expressed his thoughts on how the game proceeded at Chase Center on Thursday morning.
Within his remarks, he stated that the perimeter trio of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Andrew Wiggins struggled to make shots in the first half, leading to the game being extremely arduous to watch.
“It was a dreadful vibe; a dreadful environment, and God bless Draymond Green – and I’ve said this – when he’s on the floor, I can’t complain about him on the floor,” Hill said. “He’s going to [give] everything that he has. I’m not mad at Draymond Green’s performance, but the other stuff that’s going on with this team and the rotations and trying to figure out who starts, who comes off the bench or who needs to play what. Oh my gosh – I’m frustrated man.”
For Bonta Hill to convey these sentiments on the air was indicative of the team’s current state, according to co-host Joe Shasky. Hill has been on the Warriors broadcasts for several years now and covered the NBA Finals, a full-circle moment after growing up a fan of the team. To hear how he discussed and criticized the team was evident of the wider feeling around the San Francisco Bay Area, Shasky surmised.
“I think this is important because I consider you one of the faces and voices of the Warriors,” Shasky said. “If you’re frustrated even after a victory, then I think that that speaks to the big picture.”
Upon making this assertion, Hill asked Shasky whether or not he is frustrated with the team, to which he concurred that he is. Without looking at any advanced metrics, he compared the play of Anthony Lamb and Jonathan Kuminga off the bench based on the eyeball test, divulging that he is observing that the team has reduced amounts of trust in Kuminga.
The fact that Bonta Hill is agitated with the team though points to the fact that even though they claimed victory on Wednesday, there are concerns that need to be allayed to potentially author a deep postseason run. Shasky’s veneration for Hill as one of the voices closely associated with the team ostensibly affirms his respect for his opinion and recognition of ethos.
“I just don’t feel good about that win; I’m sorry,” Hill said earlier in the segment. “I woke up – I went to sleep thinking, ‘Okay, maybe I’ll get over it when I get about five hours of sleep.’ No, I don’t. I’m a little more angry about the game last night.”
Former iHeartMedia Regional President Robert Dove has been named the new Market Manager at Alpha Media in Portland.
The Portland native will step into the shoes vacated after Lisa Decker announced her impending retirement. Decker worked as the cluster’s leader for the past seven years.
“I’m very excited to join the Alpha Media team. As a native Portlander having the chance to work with some of Portland radio’s most iconic brands is very rewarding and fulfilling,” said Dove. “I can’t wait to get started.”
Most recently, Dove has worked as the Managing Partner at a Portland advertising agency. He brings 36 years of broadcasting experience to the group, including a five-year run as the Regional President of iHeart, overseeing the Seattle, Portland, Spokane, Anchorage, and Fairbanks clusters.
“I am very excited to have Robert lead us to new heights, opportunities, and successes,” added Alpha Media CEO Bob Proffitt. “He knows Portland like no other broadcaster, has deep relationships and knowledge of our city’s intricacies, and will be a great addition to our team of Market Managers all across America.”
Portland serves as the Alpha Media headquarters. The cluster includes news/talk stations 101 KXL and Freedom 970.
After initially signaling that he would depart his nationally syndicated radio show when his contract was up, Dan Bongino has signed an extension to remain with Westwood One.
With the extension, he’ll continue to host The Dan Bongino Show each day from 12-3 PM.
“It’s been a fascinating couple years of ups and downs both personally and in the political space,” said Bongino in a press release. “I love what I do, and I’m ecstatic that we’ve agreed to move forward with the show after changes were made. I want to thank all the shows’ supporters, the stations, and program directors for their continued support. I promise to keep my foot on the gas pedal.”
After Westwood One’s parent company — Cumulus Media — implemented a COVID-19 vaccine mandate, Bongino was a boisterous critic of the decision, leading him to declare the policy would force him to leave the company when his contract expired. His contract situation led two Midwest Communications stations to drop his program earlier this year due to fears he would depart his show.
Bongino has seen success with both his radio show and podcast. The syndicated radio program launched after the death of Rush Limbaugh, and now airs on more than 350 stations. Meanwhile, his podcast often finishes as one of the top 10 most-listened to podcasts in the country.
“Because we don’t know how to talk about baseball,” Carman said. “And I put myself right in there it’s not where I am above the fray or anything like that. There’s a lost thing about talking baseball. The art of it I’m not sure.”
Ken remembered one of the most fun arguments he had with Lima was a knock down, drag out over bunting and getting callers screaming about the topic. He feels like hosts don’t dive as deep into the nuances of the game as they used to.
“You listen to old Mike and the Mad Dog from the early 2000s, and when the lineups would come out, them getting into shouting matches about who’s batting sixth,” Carman said.
Carman also thought about 2017 and 2018 when the Cleveland Browns had the number one overall picks, Carman also thought about the run in the 1990s the then-Indians had and were the top team in the city. Baseball talk dominated the radio airwaves also because there were no Browns at that time.
He felt like because of a number of factors with the Guardians, talking baseball on the show has been shuffled out of the limelight in some respects.
“I think that’s been lost over the last how many years in this city, everywhere,” Carman said. “I’m part of the problem, I’ll admit it, sorry.”
“One of the things I try to avoid, because I want to be better, and you are with me on this – I can’t turn every conversation into ‘Fix your sport’,” he added. “Well, this is the problem with baseball. That’s too easy to do, and it doesn’t help anybody’s interest. If I’m just telling you how bad baseball is, well you’re not gonna have any interest in baseball or talking about baseball. So it’s a terrible, terrible thing to do.”
Reacting to fan reaction in regards to the Guardians getting the top pick in the next MLB draft, Ken Carman said he was hoping to have a little fun on the air with it. But fan cynicism it seems has tapered expectations a little bit.
“There’s not as much generated craziness with the baseball draft that there is with the football draft or even the NBA Draft. But we can have a little fun with it,” he said.
“Are those just not baseball fans?” Lima asked in response to the cynicism in the fanbase. “Those don’t sound like big-time baseball fans.”
Longtime Boston Red Sox radio announcer Joe Castiglione was announced Wednesday as the 2024 Ford C. Frick Award winner given by the Baseball Hall of Fame.
The 76-year-old Castiglione has been the voice of the Red Sox since 1983, calling all four of the team’s modern-era World Series victories.
Several across sports media offered their reactions and congratulations to an MLB broadcasting legend.
Finally! Congrats to a legend – Joe Castiglione! Had the honor of working Joe, Bob Starr and Ken Coleman years ago and learned so much from them. Most of all, learned from Joe how to be a good human being, husband and Dad! Congrats Joe! #CanYouBelieveIt@baseballhallhttps://t.co/fInNWUpo9s
One of the highlights of my career was the opportunity to work with Joe. Great broadcaster, role model and even better person. So happy for Joe! https://t.co/2MYwKmworZ
Even University of Oklahoma Director of Athletics Joe Castiglione had to make sure he congratulated his good friend with the same name.
Heartfelt congratulations to my dear friend Joe. Over the years our mutual occupations have created some very funny stories but also created a wonderful friendship. He’s iconic for @RedSox fans & the game of baseball. An award we can definitely believe & is so richly deserved https://t.co/lXjRgR9VEs
The inaugural NBA In-Season Tournament concludes in Las Vegas this weekend, and one of the unique elements of the semifinals tonight will be the crossover coverage between TNT and ESPN.
ESPN will have the first semifinal of the evening. The game tips off at 5 PM Eastern. Mike Breen and Doris Burke will be joined by Reggie Miller on the broadcast. Lisa Salters will be the sideline reporter for the game.
For TNT’s game at 9 PM Eastern, Kevin Harlan and Candace Parker will be joined by Doc Rivers. Allie LaForce will handle sideline reporting.
Additionally, both networks are going to collaborate for extended segments in their respective pregame show windows. Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal will join ESPN NBA Countdown with Malika Andrews, Stephen A. Smith, Michael Wilbon, Bob Myers and Adrian Wojnarowski before the early game. Everyone will get together again when Inside the NBA gets viewers ready for the late game.
Front Office Sports reported that as the NBA prepares to negotiate a new media rights deal with both ESPN and Warner Bros. Discovery, network leaders see other chances for crossovers down the road.
“This is the first step in something that potentially could create other opportunities [in] the future,” TNT Sports executive vice president and chief content officer Craig Barry said.
ESPN head of event and studio production David Roberts said something similar.
“This is just a starting point,” he said.
The NBA’s current media rights contract concludes at the end of the 2024-25 season.
What was the last interview you remember? I’ll wait. Yeah, not so easy. Most interviews on radio, TV, or podcasts, or in print, are anything but memorable.
Either nobody says anything other than the usual platitudes, or the host fawns over, and tosses softballs at, the guest. The only thing accomplished is to fill a segment the easy way — hey, the guest is doing all the work! Cool! — and the host is, ideally, maintaining access to the guest while pleasing some publicist who will, the producer hopes, send more clients to the show. Everybody wins, right?
What about the audience?
Most interviews suck. Most interviews have little reason to exist in the first place, not if the host, anchor, or reporter isn’t going to ask the tough questions the audience wants answered. Is it entertaining or enlightening to a radio listener or cable news viewer if an interview consists of stock answers, vague platitudes, or ridiculous opinions met with zero resistance from the interviewer? Who wants to hear that? Yet that’s what I see, hear, and read everywhere.
Nobody gets challenged, and in the rare instances when they do get challenged, the interviewer invariably lets them off the hook. Follow-ups are non-existent. Wild claims are unchallenged. And those are among the more interesting interviews, because at least there’s some animated discussion. Others are deadly dull, too polite, interviewers afraid to make things too uncomfortable.
Uncomfortable can be, of course, the kind of memorable interview that people talk about years later, the kind that can define a host and show. I’ve written before about how I saw the light when I was programming New Jersey 101.5 and, from the front hallway of the studio, I suddenly heard John Kobylt (now at KFI Los Angeles) and Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) in a shouting match. I don’t even remember what they were arguing about, but it was a talk show host and a sitting U.S. Senator on the phone screaming at each other and I ran towards the studio, then stopped in my tracks.
Yeah, it was a Senator, but so what? Senators are just people, but also people who owe their constituents answers. John was representing our listeners. I let it go on. And our ratings reflected that attitude: We used our access to get answers for the audience, and they appreciated it. Politeness may get you invited to campaign events and press conferences, but you don’t work for political parties, sports franchises, or college athletic programs, you’re the proxy for the people, and yourself.
(Lately, it’s been fun to watch Jake Tapper let the Philly come through and be more aggressive with politicians; “Be more Philadelphia” is a good rule of thumb, although I might be biased in that regard….)
There are other radio examples, too, from Tom Bauerle in Buffalo challenging Hillary Clinton to Dan Le Batard confronting MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred over the Marlins’ tanking to the recent WFAN/Carl Banks brouhaha, and you surely have other examples, probably because they’re the interviews you remember. (We can skip over Jim Rome vs. Jim Everett, okay?) Honestly, whether they’re pundits bloviating on cable about the latest breaking news or a coach or player spouting the same safe canned responses after every game (“Why didn’t you go for it on 4th and 2?” “We’ll have to try harder next week, but give credit to the other guys’ defense”), the world, and your ratings, would probably be better off without those interviews.
But if you insist on doing a lot of interviews…
1. Listen. Yes, this has become a cliche. So many great interviewers have said this that it’s hard to figure out who said it first. It’s true, though. Prepare all the questions you need in advance — more than you need, really — but when you ask a question, don’t let your eyes move down the page to the next question on the list. Just listen to the answer, because more often than not there will be an opportunity to….
2. Follow up. This is not optional, especially entering an election year when misinformation is going to continue to be rampant. You know when you’re watching a cable news anchor talking to a politician or pundit and the latter says something outrageous and unsupportable and the interviewer just moves on? You know how you want to throw things at your TV when that happens? Don’t be that interviewer. Better yet….
3. Insist on an answer. If the subject doesn’t really answer the question, ASK IT AGAIN. Repeat until you get a commitment. No need to defer to someone who’s avoiding your questions. At least get them on record as refusing to answer the question – and point that out — before you move on.
4. This is out of order, but before you even book the interview, ask yourself: Is this what the audience wants or needs? Is this going to be entertaining or informative, or preferably both? Are people going to remember this past the second it ends? Might this make news or is it just going to sit there accomplishing nothing? Why am I doing this? (The latter question is apropos for everything in life, by the way, and the answer isn’t always pretty.)
It’s not to say that you need to be a jerk to guests, or that you can resort to name-calling or low blows. To the contrary, asking good, tough questions is a sign of respect, a sign you think they can handle it. If they can’t, it’s on them. If you’re the host, anchor, or reporter, you’re in control. Use it.
You have probably heard about having a personal brand. Well, we all have a brand.
The definition according to the American Marketing Association: “Personal branding is the act of promoting yourself as a brand by crafting a distinct identity, reputation, and online presence to showcase your skills, expertise, and personality. This type of branding is normally used by professionals, influencers, and entrepreneurs to enhance their careers, attract opportunities, and build a strong online presence.”
How do you represent yourself on the air? Do you have an identity that makes you unique? What is it? Are you presenting a show that is on-brand? Is there an aspect of your show that makes it special? I have asked these questions to several hosts over the years and when left to identify these attributes… They can’t. It takes soul searching, it takes a bit of honesty, and it also takes some courage. There is an old marketing adage when it comes to presenting anything to the consumer. What makes your show new, better, and different? I will give you some strategies to develop your personal brand on the air.
What about your personal brand in life? When you walk into the store, restaurant, or your chosen house of worship, do you present yourself like a star? Gene Simmons of the band KISS once said that rock stars should always look like it whenever they go outside. Do you present yourself as you wish to be perceived? Is it on-brand?
Longtime talk show host and Founder of the Guardian Angels, Curtis Sliwa is always in uniform. He is wearing a beret and a red jacket with the Guardian Angels Logo. I worked with Curtis for almost 4 years, I only saw him out of uniform twice. A lot of talk show hosts are somewhat shy and socially awkward. Hosts frequently only come alive when there is a microphone in front of them. This is a total mistake.
Friday Night, I made a work appearance. I worked the crowd, but I was hungry. So, I stopped at a local restaurant, bellied up to the bar, and enjoyed dinner with a beer. Well, one of the businessmen at this establishment recognized me. He moved over and sat near me. I spoke with him for 40 minutes as I enjoyed my beverage and meal. This listener introduced me to everyone at the bar. He must be a regular.
I followed my tradition of only having one beer. I was on brand. After I was recognized, I had a conversation about the show and the station. I was not dismissive of either being recognized. I didn’t try to diminish my job. Be a regular person when approached. Your show persona and personal presentation may be a little different. Your listeners don’t understand that. I mention this because I have observed radio and TV people just come across as either rude, aloof, or just nutty.
Your station’s brand will always be associated with your personal brand. How many hosts do you know who made the move across town and just got crushed? The ratings sucked, the fit was bad, and the revenue was in the toilet after 12 months into that new gig.
Always respect your brand’s relationship with the station. You are a 24-hour-a-day goodwill ambassador for your employer. Always keep that in the forefront of your skull.
I worked with an amazing talent years ago who was really the backbone of the station in the market. He had been in that community for 30 years. Everyone knew him. This guy had a hair-trigger temper, though. I got a call from a listener who was on a roadcrew, and my guy screamed at him over a traffic delay.
The listener was really sorry that he yelled at my guy. The road crew member wanted to write the talk show host a note of apology. I took that as a learning tool. I called my host and told him about the call. My host dropped the “Do you know who I am?” line on this poor dude. I brought that up. The host was crestfallen. I had to inform him that he was always an ambassador of the station’s brand.
I also let him know that the “Do you know who I am?” line is a finesse play and should be only used in rare situations. I was also able to bust his chops over this for years. We shared a laugh each time that it was brought up. Don’t let your ego hurt your station.
So…how do you develop your own brand? I hate to inform you of this, you have one. Now, you have to understand what it is. You also need to understand the three legs of the personal branding stool. What makes you new, better, and different? Ultimately, this should be the goal of every marketing plan. Once you understand these three things, you will have the basics for developing your personal brand.
Your brand should also be a listener-focused exercise. Once you have your brand in hand, figure out if you need to adjust your public persona. How does that look? Think of the Gene Simmons statement. What do people want to see? How should you present yourself? Think about you should dress. How should you act? The answers are unique to you.
For the first time in nearly half a century, former Syracuse basketball coach Jim Boeheim is starting a new job. After 47 seasons with the Orange, Boeheim began his broadcasting career earlier this week, after agreeing to a deal with ESPN, ACC Network, and Westwood One.
On the surface, it’s great news for basketball fans, who now get to hear what a coach who won over 1,000 games has to say. For others, especially those in the media, welcoming in this new voice comes with a little trepidation. Why?
I’m not sure that Jim Boeheim has the same assessment about how he treated the media. He felt like defending himself was necessary, but it went past that on many occasions. It’s hard for some in the business to understand why companies bring in people that treated their own reporters like crap in the past.
I know that Boeheim isn’t the only former coach or player who didn’t treat the media with respect and now becomes a member himself. Now, he’ll debate, I’m sure as others have, that they aren’t the media just because they’re on television or radio now. Here’s the thing: You are. You have now become what you once despised and loathed. Maybe you didn’t understand the impact or importance of the relationship when you played or coached, but now you’re one of us. It borders on hypocrisy. It makes me wonder how he decided to join ESPN following a long coaching career.
Former NFL receiver Randy Moss joined the ranks back in 2013. Moss had a mercurial relationship with the Minnesota media over his career. Some of it was not on him, but nonetheless, he was quick to distance himself from the moniker of “media member”.
He told Sports Illustrated, “I don’t like that term. I am not part of the media. That’s not my label, and I don’t want it to start now. I love the game of football, and this is just a new way for me to be part of the game.”
I get it, but when your paycheck comes from a media company, well, you’re the media. Maybe not in the same respect that a reporter or anchor is, but still the media.
Jim Boeheim surely had his issues with the media through several memorable run-ins over the years. He called out journalists for their questions. He’s questioned their integrity and seemed to enjoy belittling reporters when he had the opportunity. That’s fine, it’s his prerogative, and perhaps some stories run deeper than the surface level with the reporters. I don’t claim to know that. Maybe the parties came to an understanding after the press conference was over. Great. But again, why does it have to come to what it did with Boeheim?
Of the many clashes with the press, one in particular came in 2013 when Andy Katz, then of ESPN, tried to ask a question following a Syracuse loss to Connecticut. Katz asked what the UConn series meant to him, and Jim Boeheim refused to answer the question saying, “I’ll answer anybody’s question but yours.” Instead, he went all in on his feelings about Katz. Calling Katz “an idiot and really being a disloyal person.”
Katz later said he believed Boeheim’s feelings stemmed from Katz’s reporting on Bernie Fine, the former coach at Syracuse who was accused of sexual abuse by two former ball boys on ESPN’s Outside the Lines and was terminated.
There were many other ‘dust-ups’ with veteran reporters, but Boeheim seemed to save his worst venom for student journalists who are learning the ropes. Young aspiring journalists seemed to be better than a postgame spread for a hungry coach.
Just last season, student reporter Sam Corcoran asked Boeheim for the status of Benny Williams after the sophomore was absent from the game against Virginia. Media members had been told that Boeheim would address Williams’ absence after the game. When Boeheim did not discuss Williams in his opening statement, Corcoran asked, “Coach, what’s the status on Benny Williams?”
Boeheim immediately lost his cool.
“Is that your question?” Boeheim said. “Is that the most important question you have?”
The coach followed it up by telling Corcoran his attitude, “isn’t really good either.”
Come on. Syracuse is a ‘media school.’ This is where students go to learn and Jim Boeheim knows that. It didn’t stop another run-in with a student came after the team lost by four points to North Carolina and student reporter John Eads asked the coach why he thought the team couldn’t close out tight games. Instead of answering the question, Boeheim responded with, “We’re done,” and exited the press conference.
Other things have shown Boeheim’s distaste for the media. It has been inferred, though not proven, that he had a hand in the firing of Syracuse radio personality Brent Axe in March. Axe worked for Galaxy Media, a company that Boeheim is a partner in station ownership. Axe was let go because the President and CEO Ed Levine did not like the way Axe covered the Orange.
I’ve been in enough press conference settings and around many coaches who have suffered through bad seasons or bad games. Every once in a while, there’s a tipping point and things go sideways. But at the same time, I watched Michael Jordan answer questions, night after night, that were much worse than those, with class and dignity. Not trying to embarrass the questioner, of course not knowing that individual’s story or experience level.
We have a job to do. So does he. Look, I’m not intending to just pick on Jim Boeheim here. He’s the focus because he’s the latest that has clashed with the media in a previous life, only to become a member of the club. There are hundreds of these cases.
The late Bobby Knight was a nightmare for reporters over his time at Indiana. He often told reporters he hated the media. Knight was once quoted as saying, “All of us learn to write in the second grade,” he said of the media. “Most of us go on to greater things.” Knight made a good analyst though due to his personality. You never knew what he might say, so it was always ‘tune-in worthy’. But still, a man who made it known how much he despised media, joined the ranks.
Deion Sanders was one of the few to play in both the NFL and MLB as a pro. When he was playing for the Braves and Falcons at the same time, it was football season, and this meant that it was also the postseason in the major leagues. The Falcons had a regular-season game scheduled on the same day as the Braves’ playoff game. Sanders opted to play in the football game and received criticism from broadcaster Tim McCarver. As a response, Sanders tossed cold ice water all over McCarver. Sanders was a high-profile media star that critiqued many a player. There are and were many others as well.
Media training as these players and coaches are coming up the ranks would help this situation. Understanding the role of the media in the success of the league’s each is playing/coaching in, would provide some good perspective. Everybody has a bad day, but many of these individuals were repeat offenders and now are trying to extend their careers in a field they loathed.
I’m not rooting against Jim Boeheim. I wish him the best in his new line of work. His insight and experience level could enhance the broadcasts he does. That’s not in debate. It just makes me a little weary and causes me to shake my head in derision, every time someone that showed such disrespect to the profession, becomes one of us.
