Viewership for ESPN and ABC’s coverage of the MLB Wild Card round was down year over year according to reports.
Viewership averaged 2.25 million on Tuesday and Wednesday for Games 1 and 2 of the four first round best-of-three series.
When looking at coverage in 2022, which featured weekend games, the wild card round averaged 2.73 million.
The series between the Marlins and Phillies was the most-watched, averaging 2.99 million viewers in Game 1 and 3.24 million in Game 2.
Brandon Tierney didn’t join WFAN until recently, but his run could have started much earlier than it did.
Talking to co-host Sal Licata on their show Tuesday, Tierney spoke about having a meeting with Mike Francesa and Mark Chernoff to potentially replace Chris “Mad Dog” Russo, who left the station in 2008 for SiriusXM.
Former Mike & The Mad Dog producer Eddie Erickson was the one who convinced Francesa and Chernoff to talk to Licata, who at the time was still under contract with ESPN New York.
But Brandon told a funny story from that meeting in Queens about Francesa, who jokingly busted Tierney’s chops from the get-go.
“(Mike) goes, ‘Let me ask you a question,'” Tierney said. “He goes, ‘I think you’re good. I really do. I think you’re good. But for somebody who’s good, how come you get no ratings?’ This is how it starts.”
“In that moment, I was more professionally confused,” he added.
Even though he ultimately didn’t end up at WFAN until last year, Brandon Tierney said he has nothing but love for Mike Francesa.
“I got profound respect for Mike, and at the end of the day when me and Tiki started here he sent me and Teek a very nice hand-written note. Mike and I are good,” he said.
There are all kinds of options for the path to a sports media career. Matthew Berry may have a path that is one of one though. Can you name anyone else in our field that got their start writing on Married…With Children and went on to become one of, if not the authoritative voice on fantasy football? Add a writing credit on the third (I didn’t know there were two) Crocodile Dundee movie and an appearance in Avengers: Endgame to the resume, and you are truly talking about a one-of-a-kind path.
Last year, Berry announced that he was leaving ESPN and taking all of his fantasy content with him to NBC. It was no small loss for Bristol. Sports Business Journal noted that the 2022 season of Fantasy Football Now saw its audience drop by 9% over the previous year. Is it a coincidence that happened to be ESPN’s first football season without Berry? Probably not.
Very few people thrive in the world of digital sports content like Berry. We discussed how he structures a fantasy football podcast to make sure it doesn’t sound like an endless string of numbers and how his love of Jimmy Buffett helped him find his professional voice.
Demetri Ravanos: As podcasting became more and more popular, how did the expectations of fantasy content change? I would imagine when you got started it was a lot of just presenting straight stats and answers to questions, and now maybe there’s more personality involved.
Matthew Berry: Yeah, it’s been quite some time, but when I started, there weren’t a lot of fantasy podcasts out there, if any. I’m talking about Fantasy Focus at ESPN, which we started in 2007 with two guys: Jay Soderberg, who everyone knows as PodVader and Nate Ravitz.
The three of us sort of started that show in 2007, and there weren’t a lot of podcasts in the fantasy sports space in general. In fact, there wasn’t even that much fantasy content overall, at least compared to now. So, my biggest thing was, and this has been a hallmark of my career that when I broke into the industry, a lot of content – the majority of it being written – was for lack of a better way to describe it, very nerd-based. Heavy on statistics and analytics, very dense, very numbers based. Sometimes you felt like you were reading homework. I always took the approach of, “This is fun, man.” It’s a hobby and we we all want to be good at it, win, and be smart about the choices we make, but there’s a way to learn about players and trends and tendencies and trends in analytics without making it feel like homework. This is something we do for fun and the content should reflect that.
My big pitch when we present the content in an audio format – the podcast – I told my co-hosts and producer, “For this podcast to be successful, it can’t be nerds talking to nerds. What we should really do is a morning radio show that just happens to be talking about fantasy football the entire time.”
It has all the trappings of a morning radio show in terms of of bits [and] nicknames, sound drops and segment ideas, all of that. That obviously resonated with a lot of people, and it quickly became the #1 podcast in the space and one of the #1 podcasts at ESPN. When I left, it was the #1 podcast for original audio at ESPN and had been for a number of years. It was one of the top sports podcasts across the board in general subjects by whatever metric you want to use.
My work has always been about trying to bring more people under the tent. I’ve expanded that now to sports betting, but again, we all want to win, and winning is important because it’s more fun when you win. The idea here is that this is a hobby. This is something we do for fun; this is something we do to spend time with our friends and family and our colleagues and have a little bit of action on the game in sporting events that we might not care about otherwise. So, it should be fun.”
I’ve tried very hard to create content that breaks down those barriers and doesn’t make it seem scary, nerdy or like homework, just more about what it should be – talking to your friends at a bar.
DR: Is that something you take into your online presence away from the podcast? Essentially being someone who is sought out for more than just answering, “Hey, do I start Travis Etienne or Bijan Robinson this week?”
MB: Sure. It’s a very specific choice, right? The show that I do for NBC and Peacock, the daily show, which is a podcast, but also you can watch it on YouTube; you can watch it on Peacock both live and on demand; clips from the show air on NBC Sports’ digital channels, including RotoWorld.com. It also airs as a radio show on Sirius XM. It’s distributed in a number of different ways and on many different platforms, but there’s a specific reason why it’s set in a bar.
The Monday through Friday show is called Fantasy Football Happy Hour with Matthew Berry, and Sunday morning show, same thing. You can watch it on YouTube; you can watch it on Peacock; you can stream the audio; you can listen to the audio on SiriusXM Sunday mornings. It’s called Fantasy Football Pregame. It’s kind of a double entendre. Obviously, they’re before the games, but also, what do you do before you’re going out? You pre-game, right? So both shows take place in a bar; we have drinks in front of us; we do shots on air, and the vibe of the show; the look of the show is very specific and a choice because I believe that’s how most people talk about sports. They’re on their phones; they’re at a bar; they’re watching with their buddies [and] hanging out. If it wasn’t a bar, it would have been a living room. I really didn’t want a nice desk and three people in suits and ties. It needed to look like how people actually do this.
Demetri, to answer your question in terms of how I engage with people online or socially, I mean, I don’t want to say it’s a choice because that makes it sound like I’m not real [and] that it’s some sort of act. It’s not. I guess the choice is just to not put on any kind of broadcaster-y type deep voice. “Hello. I’m an announcer for sports.” It’s much more trying to be myself and just react and be real.
Two things here and then we can move on. The first one – back when I was at ESPN, they did a study. I don’t know when this exactly happened, but they did some sort of focus group of a bunch of ESPN talent. “Who do you think was the most knowledgeable?” “Who was the most respected?” You know, all these different categories. I’m not privy to the results other than what they told me, which was that that I scored the highest of any ESPN personality at the time as the guy you’d most like to have a beer with. I took that as a massive compliment, because, by the way, I think I am pretty fun to have a beer with, but I’m very much like, “This is sort of who I am.”
I’m a massive Jimmy Buffett fan and when he passed away, I wrote an article about him – my Week 1 Love/Hate on RotoWorld.com. One of the things I talked about [was] the fact that Jimmy was once asked about his place in the music industry. They asked about the fact that he was he was pretty popular and successful, but he never really won Grammy Awards. When you talk about the great singer/songwriters of the universe, he never got mentioned in the same breath as the Springsteens of the world. I’ve never forgotten his reaction. This is the exact quote. “I’m not that good a singer, and I’m a so-so guitar player, but I’m great at being Jimmy Buffett.”
The minute I heard that – and this is what I wrote in my column – my career completely changed. I was so worried about “I need to be better at stats like Nate Silver. I need to be like that kind of analytics expert.” Then I was like, “I should have as many inside sources as somebody like Mike Florio or Adam Schefter.” Then I would be like, “No, I need to be able to break down film like an X’s and O’s guy like Chris Simms or Devin McCourty,” two of my colleagues on Football Night in America.
I used to beat myself up over all of those things, and the minute I read that quote, I realized, “screw all of that, I’m pretty good with stats and I’m pretty good with access. I’ve got pretty good contacts, but I’m not elite at any of them. What I am really good at is being Matthew Berry, so I’m just going to focus on being Matthew Berry. The people that dig it will come along for the ride. The people that don’t, you know what? There’s lots of great options out there for them.”
DR: Because the value proposition you are offering people is, “You want to spend time with with Matthew Berry,” I wonder how much you feel like you need to do promotion of the show at this point on social media. Obviously you have a reputation. You built up a fan base and you’ve built up a perception of expertise that I would think, and you tell me if I’m wrong, that when there is a new Fantasy Football Happy Hour, you could feel pretty comfortable knowing your people are going to come check it out.
MB: I don’t want to speak for NBC, but I think I’m safe in saying that they’ve been thrilled so far with the with the numbers on all of my all of the content that I produce. There’s something they put out publicly. In terms of digital traffic, it’s up.
[Editor’s note: NBC reports that “In the past year, NBC Sports’ and Rotoworld’s fantasy football and gaming social media platforms saw tremendous growth, with video views more than tripling (up 222%) and new followers having more than doubled (up 131%) in the span.”]
In general, for sure, I think that, again, not my place to speak for NBC, but my perception, in terms of what they’ve said to me, is that they’re over the moon and pleased with the numbers. Content I do for them on all platforms is delivering. The other piece of it is that you can sort of just see it, right? My Peacock show is “Served by Applebee’s.” We have a sponsorship with Bud Light. We have a sponsorship with DraftKings. It’s a presenting sponsor in Applebee’s, but we also have two other significant sponsorships. Companies are putting their money where their mouth is wanting to reach our audience. So obviously we’re doing something right.
With promotion, it’s twofold. First, I’m very flattered. When I left ESPN, there was nervousness. I have a big audience and I think I have a big following and I was hopeful that they’d follow me, but you never know. ESPN is super powerful and certainly people that are critics of mine would say to me, at least prior to be leaving, “the reason you have the following you have; the reason you get numbers is because you’re on ESPN.”
DR: The sight of those four letters can do a lot of heavy lifting for some people.
MB: Correct! Those four letters do, in fact, do a lot of heavy lifting for some, not everyone. We’ve seen this throughout the history of ESPN. I’m not going to take any shots here, but there have definitely been people that left ESPN and prospered. There have been others that have left ESPN and it’s, “Where are they now?”
You’re always a little nervous. You’re leaving the mothership and and asking yourself, “Will everyone follow me?” I was blown away. I did not expect the audience we have to immediately be there. I thought we’d have to build something, and honestly, we are still building. I’ve been thrilled with the amount of people that have found me on NBC, but I would be lying if I said that every single person knows that I’m there.
I will still go out in public and run into people who recognize me, ask for a photo, and want to show me their fantasy team and they’ll say, “Hey, I love you on ESPN.” I’ll usually be like, “Well, I’m at NBC now. I’m at RotoWorld.com. Come and find me there. Come listen.”
I was at ESPN for 15 years. I’ve been at NBC for one. I remember talking to Trey Wingo. He was just like, “I’ve been off of ESPN five years and people come up to me and say, ‘Hey, I love you on ESPN,’ or Michelle Beadle, who’s also a friend, same thing.'” When you’re connected with a certain brand for so long, it gets ingrained in some people’s minds. So part of my job now is just trying to reinforce that, “Hey, I’m team NBC now. I’m part of the Peacock family. Come find me there.”
There’s also a halo effect too to my content that people may be aware that, oh, my podcast is there or they know where to get my podcast because they subscribe on Apple or Spotify or wherever, but they may not be aware of exactly, “where is Love-Hate now?” “Where are my rankings?” “Which website has my rankings?” So I try to help with that branding because what happens is that people come and they’ll find my content, but then they’ll also discover the content of a lot of my colleagues as well. Part of my job is not only to bring traffic to what I work on, but to what my colleagues and friends at NBC work on too.
DR: I’ve heard in the last month, two radio hosts in two different major markets make the comment that as soon as sports gambling became legalized in their market, they found that interest in their fantasy football segments just plummeted from listeners.
I wonder if you have noticed that in traditional media yourself. Has sports gambling replaced fantasy sports for some people? Maybe it’s just a matter of the depth that you can go to on the radio that is better suited for podcasting where most fantasy players are going to look for their information.
MB: It’s probably a combo. First of all, I’ll put on my analytical hat just to say, “Small sample size. “Two hosts in two markets. Maybe their fantasy segments weren’t that good.”
For me, I have not noticed that. Now, one of the reasons could be because we actually integrate betting into our shows. One of my co-hosts on both Fantasy Football Happy Hour and Fantasy Football Pregame is Jay Croucher, and Jay is a betting analyst for NBC Sports. He spent five years as the head trader at PointsBet. He’s got real credibility in the sports betting world. We integrate odds, sides and lines and player props all the time, every day on the show. So as a result, I think we probably scratch that itch in a way that those radio hosts don’t.
There’s certainly, to your point, more competition both ways. There’s more competition in terms of trying to get your question answered. There’s a lot more podcasts, websites, social media [and] a lot more people willing to engage a lot more startups. I have a carve out with NBC called FantasyLife.com. It’s 100% free. You can get any question you have about your fantasy team answered.
So I think there’s partially that. There’s also more casual players interested in winning their bets than winning their fantasy leagues. The participation in fantasy sports though is at an all-time high when you look at studies across the industry.
There’s probably more competition for your time. I just know for the casual player, maybe there’s more resources available. I still go back to the theory that maybe their segments just aren’t very good.
DR: I will note that neither of them are shows where you appear as a regular guest.
MB: There you go. I really only do one radio segment a week. I’m just too busy, so I turn them all down. The only one I’ve done, and I’ve done it for years, is a weekly segment with Mason & Ireland on 710 ESPN in LA. I do that because Steve Mason gave me my start way, way, way back.
The very first person ever put me on the radio as a fantasy expert was Steve Mason so, in addition to just being a longtime dear friend of mine – him and John both are – I’m also just loyal to them. So, I’ll do that every week that I can as long as they’ll have me.
My point of bringing that up, Demetri, is that I’ve done that segment now for almost 20 years. Those guys have been on the radio, obviously for a long time. They’re legends. We still get a ton of calls, texts, tweets. I mean, it is always, “Sorry, we’ll get to you next week.” That’s always what happens at the end of those segments.
To learn more about Point-To-Point Marketing’s Podcast and Broadcast Audience Development Marketing strategies, contact Tim Bronsil at tim@ptpmarketing.com or 513-702-5072.
Kristen Welker, NBC News’ longtime co-chief White House correspondent, debuted as moderator of NBC’s Sunday morning public affairs program Meet the Press on September 17th. She took over from Chuck Todd after his nine-year stint.
The first edition of the show hosted by Kristen Welker was highly criticized by observers for her interview of current GOP presidential candidate frontrunner Donald Trump; most of the criticism stemmed from her lack of challenging his unfounded claims. Yet, the spot did grow Meet the Press enough to top its Sunday morning competition on September 17th in both viewers and demo — not a commonplace occurrence in recent years.
According to Nielsen Media Research, it averaged 3.06 million total viewers including 516,000 within the key 25-54 demographic. In addition, these figures are well above what the program has done this year (thru Sep. 17) — 2.38 million viewers and 437,000 in 25-54; for all of 2022, it did 2.53 million viewers and 529,000 in the 25-54 demo.
For that same September 17th morning, usual Sunday morning public affairs leader Face the Nation on CBS drew 2.66 million viewers and 501,000 adults 25-54 for its first half-hour (note: not all CBS affiliates carry its second half-hour). ABC’s This Week posted 2.49 million viewers and 464,000 adults 25-54.
On Welker’s second edition on September 24, she interviewed Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, presidential candidate and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R), and Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.).
Meet the Press led its direct competition for the second consecutive Sunday in adults 25-54. For Sep. 24, it delivered 456,000 within the key demo, +17,000 over ABC’s This Week and +56,000 from CBS’ Face the Nation. Nonetheless, the total viewer crown went to the George Stephanopoulos-led This Week (2.542 million). Meet the Press was runner-up with 2.474 million total viewers; Face the Nation was third (2.178 million) and Fox News Sunday (957,000 viewers / 243,000 adults 25-54) trailed behind.
Meet the Press did accomplish outdrawing Face the Nation in total viewers in back-to-back weeks for the first time since February 2021.
Cable news averages for September 18-24, 2023:
Total Day (Sep. 18-24 @ 6 a.m.-5:59 a.m.)
Prime Time (Sep. 18-23 @ 8-11 p.m.; Sep. 18 @ 7-11 p.m.)
Top 10 most-watched cable news programs (and the top programs of other outlets with their respective associated ranks) in total viewers:
1. The Five (FOXNC, Tue. 9/19/2023 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 2.770 million viewers
2. The Five (FOXNC, Wed. 9/20/2023 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 2.743 million viewers
3. The Five (FOXNC, Mon. 9/18/2023 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 2.627 million viewers
4. The Five (FOXNC, Fri. 9/22/2023 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 2.590 million viewers
5. The Five (FOXNC, Thu. 9/21/2023 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 2.565 million viewers
6. Jesse Watters Primetime (FOXNC, Wed. 9/20/2023 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 2.487 million viewers
7. Hannity (FOXNC, Wed. 9/20/2023 9:00 PM, 60 min.) 2.443 million viewers
8. Jesse Watters Primetime (FOXNC, Tue. 9/19/2023 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 2.346 million viewers
9. Jesse Watters Primetime (FOXNC, Thu. 9/21/2023 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 2.301 million viewers
10. Rachel Maddow Show (MSNBC, Mon. 9/18/2023 9:00 PM, 60 min.) 2.226 million viewers
168. Anderson Cooper 360 (CNN, Wed. 9/20/2023 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.790 million viewers
405. Forensic Files (HLN, Tue. 9/19/2023 11:30 PM, 30 min.) 0.309 million viewers
407. Varney & Company (FBN, Mon. 9/18/2023 10:00 AM, 60 min.) 0.304 million viewers
450. Fast Money Halftime Report (CNBC, Fri. 9/22/2023 12:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.262 million viewers
468. Weather Channel Live “Live Storm Coverage” (TWC, Sat. 9/23/2023 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.248 million viewers
611. Newsnation Prime (NWSN, Sat. 9/23/2023 7:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.178 million viewers
Top 10 cable news programs (and the top programs of other outlets with their respective associated ranks) among adults 25-54:
1. Gutfeld! (FOXNC, Wed. 9/20/2023 10:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.338 million adults 25-54
2. Hannity (FOXNC, Wed. 9/20/2023 9:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.310 million adults 25-54
3. The Five (FOXNC, Tue. 9/19/2023 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.289 million adults 25-54
4. Gutfeld! (FOXNC, Fri. 9/22/2023 10:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.281 million adults 25-54
5. The Five (FOXNC, Thu. 9/21/2023 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.267 million adults 25-54
6. The Five (FOXNC, Fri. 9/22/2023 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.266 million adults 25-54
7. The Five (FOXNC, Wed. 9/20/2023 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.261 million adults 25-54
8. The Five (FOXNC, Mon. 9/18/2023 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.258 million adults 25-54
9. The Faulkner Focus (FOXNC, Fri. 9/22/2023 11:00 AM, 60 min.) 0.254 million adults 25-54
10. Jesse Watters Primetime (FOXNC, Wed. 9/20/2023 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.248 million adults 25-54
33. All In with Chris Hayes (MSNBC, Tue. 9/19/2023 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.174 million adults 25-54
58. The Source with Kaitlan Collins (CNN, Tue. 9/19/2023 9:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.154 million adults 25-54
203. Forensic Files (HLN, Wed. 9/20/2023 11:00 PM, 30 min.) 0.096 million adults 25-54
277. Weather Channel Live “Live Storm Coverage” (TWC, Sat. 9/23/2023 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.079 million adults 25-54
328. The Exchange (CNBC, Thu. 9/21/2023 1:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.071 million adults 25-54
547. Cuomo (NWSN, Wed. 9/20/2023 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.044 million adults 25-54
736. Varney & Company (FBN, Mon. 9/18/2023 10:00 AM, 60 min.) 0.028 million adults 25-54
Source: Live+Same Day data, Nielsen Media Research
In 1992, there was a major shakeup in the Atlanta radio scene when WGST lost its popular midday host, Neil Boortz, who decided to leave WGST and join its rival station, WSB. Meanwhile, Sean Hannity was making his way up in the radio industry and landed the midday slot at WGST. Eric Stanger had never met Sean Hannity, but he liked what he heard on his show. He was amazed that a guy so young could share opinions like he did and hold his audience.
Eric Stanger was working in a restaurant during the day and would do an evening shift in the WGST newsroom. Before he left at night, he made sure to leave Hannity a few stories for his show in the morning. This unexpected turn of events resulted in a long-lasting friendship between the two. Eric Stanger became Hannity’s trusted producer, laying the foundation for a remarkable partnership that has lasted for over three decades.
The Sean Hannity Show is syndicated on more than 700 radio stations throughout the country. With the passing of conservative talk pioneer Rush Limbaugh, many industry leaders now consider Hannity to be the reigning champion in the talk radio arena. Known for his legendary work ethic, Eric Stanger has had a front-row seat to observe one of the most remarkable careers in the history of talk radio.
It’s important to emphasize that The Sean Hannity Show is a testament to his work ethic and name recognition in the industry. However, it’s worth noting that even at that level, one cannot function without an incredible team of individuals supporting them.
In an interview with Barrett News Media, you’ll have the opportunity to meet the team behind the most popular talk radio program in the country and discover how Sean Hannity keeps up with the constantly evolving media landscape. This includes the continued emphasis on transitioning from being a traditional, one-medium brand to being present and accessible on every platform where listeners and viewers are found.
Ryan Hedrick: How did you meet Sean Hannity?
Eric Stanger: I got my paying start in radio at a station called WGST in Atlanta. Back then, it was the up-and-coming news/talk station, and we were going up against a well-known heritage station news talker, WSB. Neil Boortz, who had been on the station for years, left and went to WSB, so WGST needed a new midday guy.
I was working as a news assistant writing news articles and carting up sound at night, and they hired Sean from a station in Huntsville, Alabama. Because I was working at night, I was able to listen to the show during the day on my way to work (day job). I was working at a restaurant.
I just really loved his show. Sean was young and fresh; I think he was only 27 or 28 at the time, and I identified with his voice. I didn’t know you could be on the radio and be young and opinionated like that. His presentation really hit me. So, since I was working at night, I would pull AP stories off the wire and leave them for him on our shared desk. He would use the stories the next morning. He didn’t know who I was.
Finally, it came time for him to hire a full-time producer, and I interviewed, and we hit it off immediately, and I got hired. I was his first producer in Atlanta, and this is probably 1993.
Sean left the station to go launch Fox News Channel in 1996, and I went out to LA, and I went to go produce the Tom Leykis Show for Westwood One, and then I ended up coming back and working at WABC, and I was his (Hannity’s) producer there and we just kind of stuck together after that. I’ve been with him for more than 30 years.
RH: How did The Sean Hannity Show evolve from its early days in Atlanta to its status as a powerhouse on over 700 radio stations, eventually becoming the king of talk radio after the passing of Rush Limbaugh?
ES: We owe a great debt to Rush. Sean says it on the air all the time. Rush kicked the door down for all of us. All of us who are on the air and all of us who work in the conservative talk business. I am proud of all the work I do for Sean, but Sean would have been successful no matter what. He’s just one of these guys; when you combine his talent for the medium with his work ethic and drive, you have no choice at that point but to be successful.
That’s the element that’s really driven the success of Sean Hannity. He started this business in 1987. I go back with him to the Atlanta days.
When I think of what my role is now, I am the happiest guy in the world because I get to work with Sean, who I’ve known for years, who’s kind of like my big brother, and then we have this amazing staff.
RH: What role do you play in facilitating the day-to-day success of the show?
ES: The thing that I like to do is to be able to provide Sean and the production team with everything they need to have to do the best possible show every day, whether it’s in our studios in New York City or on the road. Sean goes on the road every now and then to do remotes and cover news and things like that. And then my other role is staying in touch with our affiliates. We have 720 affiliates now, and we’re very proud of that.
The thing I love is being able to talk to programmers, talk to sales guys, and help them succeed with Sean. I teach them how to sell the show and work with them on that. It’s about winning together. We crossed the 700-affiliate mark last year, and that’s a major milestone for us. The success of the show, Sean, is the driver of that. We have the greatest production staff in the world, and we have support from Premiere Networks.
We’ve worked with many different companies, and we’ve worked with Premiere for about 15 years. Everyone on our team is completely committed to their roles and to making the show successful.
RH: How many people work on The Sean Hannity Show daily?
ES: As far as syndicated radio shows, we have a small team. Everybody on our team plays a key role and works well together. I’ve been around for 30 years. Our Executive Producer, Lynda McLaughlin, our other Executive Producer, “Sweet Baby” James Grisham, producer Jason Mosse, Katie Holcomb and Blair Cullen, and another producer, Ethan Keller, all these people, except Ethan, have been with us for over 20 years.
We have a small team, and we have been around for years and years. We are all loyal to each other, and there’s a commitment that’s very special. When I talk to Sean about it, he calls his team a smooth-running machine. We all have a specific role, but we all help each other when we need It.
Every day in the studio, things run fast. There are so many elements that all need to come together in time for the broadcast. When you’re doing a live radio show, sometimes you’re booking guests up until airtime; it’s really demanding. You’re getting audio together; you’re putting together a cut sheet. All that must be communicated to Sean. It’s constantly changing circumstances, and everyone must be on their A-game daily.
I mentioned Lynda [McLaughlin]; she is extremely talented. She leads the studio team. She is really like the producer’s producer. She has a wonderful way of motivating the studio crew, communicating with Sean, and keeping the swirling chaos manageable. She’s on the air a lot now. She has this on-air banter with Sean that we get such amazing feedback on because she provides comic relief for the show.
We are devoted to Sean and care very deeply about the show’s success. Sean takes very good care of us. We all work on the number one show in the country, and it’s the best show in the country, and we know that and believe that. We work very hard to keep it that way.
RH: When you talk to affiliates, what are their clients saying about The Sean Hannity show?
ES: I’m happy that I can talk to not only programmers and affiliates but salespeople because I think that it’s important. We take great stock in ratings, but I also like to help sales departments sell the show successfully. I think that’s equally important. You can have great ratings, but it will not be successful if your sales department doesn’t know how to sell the show. So, I love to be able to go talk to salespeople about how to sell the show, what categories to target, and what clients to target.
We have many success stories. We have many local clients on local stations who have been with us for over ten years. That kind of retention is amazing. It speaks to how credible Sean’s voice is and what a great job he does for clients on the network and local sides.
RH: What steps does the show take to remain fresh and resonate with tomorrow’s audience and yesterday’s?
ES: You must be on top of breaking news and be current until the last minute. I can just tell you that there have been days where Sean will prep until 3:06 (show time), there’s a breaking story at 3:00, and he throws the show out the window, and we get into the breaking news quickly.
Sean is adept at covering breaking news that is not even political. He loves to talk about football, music, culture, and everything that’s going on while remaining on his focus, which is politics. He likes to refer to the show as the daily newspaper. You’ve news headlines; you’re politics and editorial pages with an opinion, fun, and, when appropriate, a little bit of fun and personality. That’s really the way to stay fresh, and he’s very much himself with all of that.
RH: How do you manage strong and successful personalities within the show?
ES: I am not on top of those guys. Lynda has the freedom to go in the air and banter with Sean. Stations love it so much; why would I get in the way of that? There are strong opinions, but we have a lot of fun, too. Sean did a 15-minute monologue about Due Lipa, and we were just glued to it because it was interesting coming from Sean. He also talks about Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce, and Lynda chimes in. Everybody has opinions, but it’s also a lot of fun.
RH: WOR host Mark Simone once told me that the best quality that Sean Hannity possesses is his work ethic. Can you describe how Sean manages his daily schedule and what he does to prepare for his radio show?
ES: I’ve never seen a guy work like Sean. Those of us on the staff will sometimes get those calls at 3 or 4 o’clock in the morning or 6 a.m. on a Sunday. He’s not only prepping shows but also looking at ratings. He’s looking at TV ratings. He wants to know what’s going on with different markets and what we can do better for various markets. He’s very, very focused. That’s why I said that he would have been successful no matter what because you just can’t have that kind of drive and not be successful.
Sean truly loves this business, lives it, and breathes it. Every minute he spends doing prep or studying TV markets or radio markets, it’s because he loves the business, and there’s no turning it off.
RH: You were promoted to Senior VP of Operations for The Sean Hannity Show in March. What added responsibilities do you have in your new role?
ES: The difference is now, and now that COVID is over, I think the change is that I’m able to be in the studio more and be more hands-on with the crew. During COVID, I was working from home for three years, and I had knee surgery and couldn’t go in. I am so happy with the fact that I am in the studio more, communicating with Sean more, and seeing him when he’s in.
I’m also spending time with Lynda, James, Ethan, and all the staff, just making sure that I am there on a hands-on basis and making sure I am providing the team with the tools they need to do their jobs the best way they can, that’s what makes the show the best it can be.
RH: What is your response to those who claim that radio is a medium that people no longer care about and that it is not what it used to be?
ES: I think the people that are ringing the death knell of radio, I am not going to agree 100%. I think there’s a lot of life left in radio. I think the focus is now that we must be everywhere our listeners are. I don’t think people have stopped caring about breaking news. I think they’ve just moved from listening to AM Radio to listening to FM Radio to listening to streaming, podcasts, and social media. They are finding other ways to get their information. We just need to ensure we deliver our message wherever they are, eyes and ears.
A report surfaced earlier this week that Warner Bros. Discovery — with either TBS or TNT — is interested in purchasing a portion of the rights to the newly expanded College Football Playoff.
It is an interesting report for several reasons, and it’s always fun to speculate on the motives behind both the interest of purchasing the package and the story getting out to the public.
Let’s focus on the latter for just a moment.
The news that Warner Bros. Discovery is interested in the College Football Playoff can be viewed a number of different ways (and we’ll get into them!), but I think it’s a message to the NBA. And that message is: “We’re serious about not overpaying you, and we’ll find somewhere else to spend that money if you’re going to be greedy.”
It’s a clear signal that the network isn’t joking about not making a bad deal.
The NBA hasn’t been shy about its desire to exponentially increase its television rights deals. And WBD hasn’t been shy about negotiating in public, with CEO David Zaslav going as far as to say “We don’t have to have the NBA”, and “I’m hopeful we get a deal done with the NBA”.
Warner Bros. Discovery has been selective in its rights deals. The company has amassed a somewhat sneaky good collection, with March Madness, the MLB/MLB Postseason, the NHL/NHL Playoffs, as well as U.S. soccer, among others.
But the College Football Playoff would largely be unchartered territory for the company.
And that has me asking a few questions.
The first?
I think it’s a fair question to ask and one that has a bit of history. FOX Sports secured the rights to the BCS in the late 2000s when it had no college football rights. At the time, it seemed like an odd decision for not only the network but the BCS. Why would you partner with a network that didn’t air your product for your most important games?
Now, we know that the package was a precursor of FOX Sports going all in on college football, and now rivaling ESPN for supremacy in the sport.
So, is this strictly TNT and TBS viewing the College Football Playoff as a nice jewel to have, or could the networks be a player in college football TV rights deals down the line?
The network pays hundreds of millions for a Major League Baseball package that, to be frank, hardly anyone watches. Until October, that is. And then the eyeballs come in the millions for Postseason baseball.
If you’ve seen that you’re essentially paying for the postseason, why pay anything else for the regular season? It’s the old adage “Why by the cow when you can get the milk for free?”
Why make a rights deal for the ACC or Big 12 — and maybe even a second or third-tier rights deal at that — when you can simply buy four to six games to the College Football Playoffs?
The two entities share the rights to March Madness. Could they combine for another mega deal to freeze out FOX Sports or NBC Sports from getting a slice of the College Football Playoffs pie? It sure would make a lot of sense, wouldn’t it?
The two have an obvious working relationship. It would be in both of their best interests to work together. It makes too much sense.
Now, for the College Football Playoff, I go back to the question the BCS should have asked: Why would you partner with a network that didn’t air your product for your most important games?
The answer isn’t a pleasant one, and frankly shouldn’t be the only driving factor, but let’s be honest with ourselves, it’s all that matters in college football. Money. That’s the only answer. The College Football Playoff is going to be driven by whoever is going to give it the most Benjamins. Is it ideal? No. But it is reality.
Should a deal between Warner Bros. Discovery and the College Football Playoff happen — and I’m skeptical that it’s really an option — there would be even more questions about how the partnership would work.
But let’s wait to cross that bridge when we get there.
Morning radio is about nailing the basics and then delivering the “extra”. News, weather, and traffic remain important staples for the listener. That’s the foundation, and the host’s job is to smoothly and enjoyably navigate between them all morning. Beyond that, the differentiator is the added value – nuggets of information, moments of levity, and provocative conversations and interviews.
For the most part, I don’t want to pontificate, preach, or proselytize. There have been exceptions. For example, when Alex Jones was pushing the notion that the Sandy Hook school shooting was a fraud, that was a bridge too far. I have seen the families, and there is no doubting the still-lingering trauma of 20 children shot in cold blood while in school. When that trial was in full swing, there was no fence-straddling.
Generally speaking though, I find myself to be ruggedly independent, which means I want to look at an issue through my own eyes and not through that of a political party, affinity group, or religion.
That’s why a story like Israel/Hamas/Gaza is so challenging.
There is so much emotion involved. The images are awful. The history is complicated. Religion and ethnicity are involved. Since passion enters the conversation from all sides, it becomes difficult to freely share ideas.
There is so much energy out there supporting Israel that some difficult but necessary questions become politically charged.
What about innocent Palestinians who will be killed in Gaza? What about Gaza itself, considered by many to be an “open-air prison”? Does more violence solve anything? Is this a problem without a solution?
These are difficult, sometimes uncomfortable questions to ask on a news/talk radio show. However, if you extract the intensity of injecting strict analysis, they are important angles of the story.
Nothing can justify the grotesque events that happened in Israel late last week. However, that doesn’t mean the whole story is black and white.
There is no magic way to address the yarned ball of nuances in this story, but one thing is for sure: Running from it is a mistake.
The decision I made was to try and let other voices carry the discussion as much as possible. That doesn’t mean giving callers the chance to sound off. On an issue like this, that is too risky when time is so tight on a morning show clock. You need to have some control over the conversation. Plus, it’s too unpredictable and often not constructive.
Sorry. It’s just the truth.
In this care, it’s about bringing in a range of voices directly invested – academics, politicians, advocates – and ask them the difficult questions. Then, let their words round out the debate.
React. Push back. Follow up.
That’s where you earn your keep, and through that sequence and giving a diversity of perspectives, you can actually provide more clarity to the balled-up threads of ideas — and empower the listener to judge.
For the listener who simply wants to hear their own views reflected on them, they can wait for the opinion call-in shows. We’re going to try and pull in all of it, not just one part of it.
We have Yale, UConn, Wesleyan, University of New Haven, and Connecticut College, and if you do the work on booking, it’s not all ivory tower left-leaning academics. There are enough smart people out there to give all sides; you just need to go find them. And by the way, they all want to talk about it on the radio.
Some readers/listeners may counter that this is fence-sitting.
I live in Connecticut. I don’t have relatives in Israel. I don’t know anyone in Gaza. But there is no need to apologize for not being directly impacted by the events, especially considering there could well be global ramifications from what is happening.
What if Israel attacks Iran? What if the U.S. compromises support for Ukraine in order to help Israel? Doesn’t this story also add framing to our own border problem?
The point is you don’t need to be directly affected to have a vested interest. And it’s our job in news/talk radio to provide ideas, voices, and perspectives to make sure people understand that.
Barry Melrose, a studio analyst for coverage of the National Hockey League on ESPN, will be stepping away from the network as he endures a battle with Parkinson’s disease. During this difficult time, he will spend time with his own family and therefore end his tenure with the property. John Buccigross, his ESPN colleague and longtime friend, made the announcement on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Tuesday ahead of the network’s season opening tripleheader.
“I’ve had over 50 extraordinary years playing, coaching and analyzing the world’s greatest game – hockey,” Melrose said in a statement. It’s now time to hang up my skates and focus on my health, my family, including my supportive wife Cindy, and whatever comes next. I’m beyond grateful for my hockey career, and to have called ESPN home for almost 30 years. Thanks for the incredible memories, and I’ll now be cheering from you from the stands.”
“Barry has had a connection to the sport for an astonishing 50 years as a player, coach and analyst, and he has left an indelible mark both on and off the ice,” ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro said in a statement. “We wish him and his family the very best.”
Melrose first joined ESPN in 1996 after serving as the head coach of the Los Angeles Kings for the preceding three years. Over a seven-year span, he called various regular-season and playoff games for both ESPN and ABC Sports before moving into the studio to provide analysis for select telecasts. In June 2008, he briefly left the network to take the head coaching job with the Tampa Bay Lightning and made his return upon being relieved of his duties shortly thereafter. Since then, he has regularly appeared on programming such as SportsCenter and ESPNEWS, and was known for working with Steve Levy in giving reports annually from the Stanley Cup Final.
“For years, I’d walk around the Stanley Cup Final with Barry Melrose,” Levy told Barrett Sports Media in an interview last November. “He was like a rockstar because he’s Barry Melrose. He’s got the clothes [and] he’s got the hair.”
“Barry is a unique, one-of-a-kind person,” NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement. “And hockey on ESPN won’t be the same without him. … His love for hockey is obvious and infectious. And it is impossible to have a conversation with him without a smile on your face. Barry, we wish you well in this fight and know you will give it everything you have — as you always do.”
Melrose played 10 years of professional hockey in both the NHL and World Hockey Association (WHL) and ended his career with the Detroit Red Wings. The vast knowledge and passion for the game allowed him to contribute to college hockey broadcasts as well, a display of versatility within the sport.
“I’ve worked with Barry at ESPN for over a quarter-century,” Buccigross added on X. “Cold beers and hearty laughs in smokey cigar bars. A razor sharp wit, he was always early and looked like a million bucks. I love him; I’ll miss him. Wayne Gretzky on a life dedicated to hockey.”
