Tucker Carlson abruptly departed Fox News in April. Despite the unceremonious exit, the former host still is grateful for certain aspects of his tenure with the cable channel.
During his latest Tucker on X episode, Carlson told Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy that he was never interfered with during his time at Fox News.
“My view on Fox hasn’t really changed. They let me say whatever I want, whatever I wanted really for 14 years,” Carlson said as he emphasized the word “whatever”. “And I’ll never stop being grateful for that. And then obviously, I said too much. And I’m not exactly sure what I said that was bad. No one ever told me. But one day, they were like, ‘Nope! Can’t have this anymore.’ And they fired me.
“And I even told them as they were firing me, like, ‘It’s your business.’ I made a mental note: ‘Never work for anyone else again’, and I never will. But I can’t be mad about it. I mean, they were great to me. The Murdochs were always nice to me and one day, for whatever reason they had enough. My feelings weren’t hurt. I was not expecting it!”
Ep. 21 Dave Portnoy founded Barstool Sports and just completed the most impressive business transaction of our lifetime. He also just got into an epic fight and shared the video with us first. Watch. pic.twitter.com/W7AJ10kZni
Carlson later mentioned that while executives may have shared displeasure with something he did, said, or featured on Tucker Carlson Tonight, those critiques never came directly to him.
“They never got in my way at all. They were always super nice to me. But… it’s a company run by fearful women. You know what I mean? And there were always second-tier people who were hassling my producers. But no one ever called me,” continued Carlson. “I got along with everybody. I think they knew the censorship — I don’t welcome that, you know? But they never actually got in the way of anything.”
Earlier this week, Olbermann directed a post on X, formerly Twitter, to Gaines that said “Can you just address the reality and move past it? You sucked at swimming. That’s why you lost,” in regards to her rise in prominence for advocating for women’s sports after tying with transgender swimmer Lia Thomas — who went on to win a National Championship — in the NCAA Swimming Championships last year.
While appearing on the Indianapolis news/talk station, Gaines admitted she didn’t know who Olbermann was when the interaction first happened.
“You know what’s so funny? My dad played college football and he played in the NFL and different things. So when I told my dad I was like, ‘Dad, who is this old man?’, I had no idea who he was. Because he’s like ancient. He was like, ‘Oh my gosh, he was covering (sports) when I was playing’, so if that says anything. And my dad’s old,” Gaines said with a chuckle. “(The feud with Olbermann) is actually still ongoing. I just posted a video in response to him, which is the last of my attention he’ll get. It’s kind of comical and honestly the entertainment that I needed.”
After calling her a “nasty, stupid, unsuccessful transphobe”, Gaines countered the claims from Olbermann by showcasing the numerous trophies she won while competing at the University of Kentucky.
Riley Gaines has turned her advocacy for women’s sports into a career, now hosting the Gaines for Girls podcast for OutKick. She also recently appeared on the OutKick on Fox special that garnered nearly 1 million viewers.
Fans of the Dallas Cowboys and the NFL knew the name Gil Brandt. Those fans that listened to SiriusXM regularly got to know the man as a personality as well.
Brandt, who was a regular presence for years on SiriusXM NFL Radio, passed away on Thursday. He was 91 years old.
Steve Cohen, who had been the SVP of sports programming for SiriusXM until earlier this year, took to X (formerly Twitter) to pay tribute to a man he called his mentor.
“The football world lost a HOFer,” Cohen wrote. “I lost my mentor and someone who was a 2nd father to me. Gil Brandt was my friend and he was always there for me and my family. I loved him very much and was blessed to have him in my life. RIP Gil and thank you for everything you did for me.”
SiriusXM paid tribute as well. NFL Radio posted a graphic on X honoring Brandt.
Earlier this month, 910 WFDF-AM — billed as the Superstation — made sweeping programming changes to its previous urban/talk format. The station has since featured the national ESPN Radio feed, but that was never the long-term plan. Today, owner Kevin Adell is announcing first through Barrett News Media that a conservative talk format is coming to the 50,000-watt station.
The station’s new programming lineup will consist of a majority of the Premiere Networks conservative talk radio offerings. Fox News Rundown will get the day started at 5:00 AM. Justin Barclay will host a local morning show from 6:00-9:00 AM. Barclay currently hosts West Michigan Live for WOOD Radio in Grand Rapids. More can be learned by visiting the radio station’s new website here.
Following Barclay’s show will be:
9:00 AM-12:00 PM: The Glenn Beck Program 12:00-3:00 PM: The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show 3:00-6:00 PM: The Sean Hannity Show 6:00-9:00 PM: The Jesse Kelly Show 9:00-10:00 PM: Bill O’Reilly 10:00 PM:-1:00 AM: Our American Stories with Lee Habeeb 1:00-5:00 AM: The Other Side of Midnight with Frank Morano
Adell Media owner Kevin Adell told Barrett News Media the timing was right to make a move to conservative talk after 760 WJR made major changes to its lineup in June.
“June 22nd, WJR switched their format to an all-local format, getting rid of all the national shows and dropping ABC News at the top and bottom of the hour. So June 23rd, I came up with the ‘Aha!’ moment where I realized, as a broadcaster, you look to see what’s available in the market,” said Adell. “You take a look to see what’s available in the market and I saw a huge star-studded lineup. And it was available and no one was taking it. And so I reached out to everybody from Peter Tripi from Premiere, and by July 4th, it was all said and done. I had a skeleton program schedule with Premiere and Red Apple Media.”
As the race for the Republican Presidential nomination heats up, Adell added it’s the perfect time to join the conservative radio fray.
“The country has never been divided as much as it is now. And you know, I’m going to be right in the mix, bringing conservative talk radio to a top 10 market like Detroit. Michigan’s a swing state. And so, it played a lot into looking at ‘Is it the right time?’ In broadcasting, it’s always about timing.”
With a lineup that now features Glenn Beck, Clay Travis and Buck Sexton, and Sean Hannity in crucial dayparts, Kevin Adell sees a bright future for the Superstation.
“I look to eventually be a top 10 station in the market. These are national people that have a greater local audience. There’s 5 million in my DMA and so I look to be eventually a top 10 (station). I’ll probably start off at top 20, top 17, and then eventually a top 10. It’s the first time that WJR has had some real competition. They bill themselves as a sort of a talk radio station, and this is the first time since WXYT years ago that they’re going to have real competition.”
In the latest publicly available Nielsen ratings, Audacy all-news WWJ finished 10th with a 3.9 share, while WJR finished 17th with a 2.1 share in the 6+ demographic.
In a recent MSNBC interview, Vivek Ramaswamy, a potential Republican candidate for the 2024 presidential election, disputed host Andrea Mitchell’s claim that climate change was responsible for two million deaths in the last five decades. Jimmy Failla believes Ramaswamy was right in his actions.
Ramaswamy argued that evidence shows fossil fuel technology has reduced climate-related deaths by 98%.
Fox News Radio host Jimmy Failla says Ramaswamy was right to confront the host because Mitchell was making an argument based on the emotion of recent disasters in Hawaii and elsewhere.
“Who are they appealing to?” Failla said. “For the most part, good people. People who want to help and believe that they can make a difference in the world.”
Failla says the problem is Mitchell and other journalists who work in major media companies are reacting emotionally and often confuse their facts.
“People say, ‘We do have this climate change, and the Mayor of St. Petersburg said something about the ocean being warm. I guess what they’re telling us on CNN is true; we better donate to his campaign.'”
“That’s how this works,” he added. “Good people are being prayed upon by opportunistic people who are armed with nothing other than the audacious level of claims they’re willing to make in the face of emotional moments.”
Prior to the start of the football season, most networks hold a seminar in order to bring their personnel up to speed on new facets of the broadcast, rule changes and to grant them a chance to meet one another. Understanding the importance of establishing affinity with the audience, ESPN executive producer Jed Drake once addressed his staff and implored them not to be afraid to divulge new ideas. Throughout his remarks, he expressed that there is no reason to loathe the prospect of trying, affirming that there is no such thing as a noble failure. The allocution impelled Todd Blackledge to inform his producer, Bo Garrett, about an idea he had had in the back of his mind for several years but never shared.
“I love finding these little hole-in-the-wall places, and I’ve been doing SEC games for a lot of years and I’ve got a whole catalog of places that I like to go,” Blackledge remembered expressing to Drake. “Let’s try to do something and call it ‘Todd’s Taste of the Town.’”
As he peregrinates the country each year to call college football games, Blackledge has always observed the culture surrounding a particular university and its locale. Whether it is Mac’s Drive-In in Clemson, S.C., The Salt Lick in Driftwood, Texas or Ye Olde College Diner in State College, Pa., the college football analyst became known for his culinary palette and created a bonafide franchise. Approaching each edition of the segment receptive to new ideas, he was able to explore destinations and connect the distinct trademarks of communities with one another.
“After being an analyst for 20-something years, all of a sudden after three or four weeks, I became more known as a food guy,” Blackledge said. “I’d run into people in the airport and the hotel, and the first thing they’d ask me [was], ‘Where are you eating this week? Where are you going for a ‘Taste of the Town’?”
Blackledge released a book complete with reviews of restaurants from around the country and anecdotes from his time on the road and appreciated the feedback he received each week. Now that he is a member of NBC Sports as a color commentator on Big Ten Saturday Night, there was a decision to make about the future of the segment.
“I’m going to let it stay where it was,” Blackledge divulged. “As much as anything in respect for the guys that worked so hard with me on it on a weekly basis, I wouldn’t want to try to replicate that with other people.”
Blackledge has an earnest appreciation for his teammates and understands the value of everybody working together. While he does not work directly with the camera operators during broadcasts, he makes time to speak with them and the production staff about storylines he may follow to help them guide their shots. Moreover, Blackledge makes it a point to interact with them during the media meal instead of remaining affixed with his commentary partners, producer and director.
Growing up as the son of a coach, the gridiron was always transfixed in his psyche in addition to the broadcasts themselves. While playing pickup football games in his backyard, Blackledge vividly remembers announcing the contests by mimicking what he saw on television.
As his NFL career began to reach its end, Blackledge began to consider following his father’s footsteps in coaching. In fact, there were a couple of instances where he nearly joined collegiate coaching staffs, but he has grown to cherish sports media. None of it would have happened without his first boss, Guido D’Elia, taking a chance on him in 1990 while working with Penn State through D’Elia’s media production firm, Mind over Media. The outlet had produced the Emmy Award-winning weekly program, Penn State Football Story, which presented highlights and news about the Nittany Lions.
D’Elia taught Blackledge about writing, voicing over highlights and cameras among other things. During that first year, no network had decided to broadcast one of the team’s football games against Texas, resulting in Blackledge receiving his first chance as a color commentator. After calling an additional matchup, plus hosting the weekly recap show, D’Elia helped him compile a demo reel to send out to broadcast outlets for other opportunities.
“He was always challenging me and pushing me to try to take my game to the next level,” Blackledge said. “I am just forever grateful to him for that. To this day, he remains my primary mentor.”
D’Elia, a marketing consultant who is best known as the creator of the “White Out” at Beaver Stadium, has followed Blackledge throughout his broadcasting career. A couple of times a year, Blackledge contacts him and asks him to watch one of his games. The next day, D’Elia shares notes he jotted down.
“It sounds like it should be in the business of communications that there would be great communication from top to bottom,” Blackledge said. “There isn’t always, but if you find somebody that’ll tell you straight, that’s a valuable thing.”
When Blackledge was hired by the Big East Television Network to call 11 games in its first year though, he was not sure whether he would want his career to continue to grow.
“Fortunately, I did the Big East for a couple of years and I was able to add a few Bowl games here or there with ESPN and different things,” Blackledge said. “Then finally after three years, I got an opportunity to go to ABC. They only offered me six games, and they only guaranteed me six games, but at that point, I felt I was ready to take a bet on myself.”
Blackledge entered the ABC Sports role with a determination and focus to perform to the best of his ability, working with commentators such as Roger Twibell, Terry Gannon and Mark Jones. In his five years with the network, he was on the call for marquee matchups including the Army-Navy game and the Michigan-Ohio State rivalry, while also appearing on studio coverage. As he steadily gained more repetitions, Blackledge ensured he remembered a sagacious piece of advice he received from a television producer in 1990 when he was calling a game between Iowa and Miami (FL).
“He pulled me aside after the first production meeting and said, ‘Look, if you don’t remember anything else, remember this,’” Blackledge recalled. “‘The guy sitting next to you – his job is to tell people what happened – who made the carry; who made the tackle; what the down and distance is. That’s not your job; you don’t need to repeat what he said or what we just saw. Your job is trying to answer the question, ‘Why?’”
It may seem simple from the onset, but everything Blackledge does in the booth is geared towards being able to effectively parse moments of each game and convey his expertise. At the same time, he is able to infuse his personality into the conversation and be seen as more than just an unadorned courier.
CBS Sports recognized the strides Blackledge had made and tabbed him as its lead analyst for its coverage of college football in 1999 – including the Southeastern Conference and Army-Navy game among other events. The network is the place where Blackledge first paired with Sean McDonough, who he would later work with again at ESPN. The broadcast booth, which later included Verne Lundquist, traveled around the country to call games, with both commentators further developing as bonafide professionals.
Once Blackledge signed with ESPN in 2006, he started working with Mike Patrick on College Football Saturday Primetime and had the chance to call many captivating showdowns – including the National Championship Game on ESPN Radio. Over the years, he integrated his “Taste of the Town” segment.
Skilled at establishing rapport with his broadcast partners, Blackledge seamlessly transitioned when he was assigned new on-air partners such as Brad Nessler and Joe Tessitore. The key was in determining the broadcast styles of the commentators and blending in to maintain a steady sound on a week-by-week basis.
“For me, I never had any issues working with anybody because they were all great and all of them wanted to be successful and wanted our team to be successful,” Blackledge said. “It didn’t take long to adapt.”
Leading up to a game, Blackledge consumes an inordinate amount of information. He tries to watch the last three games of each team, along with any recent previous matchups between them. On Thursdays, he is usually traveling to the site of his Saturday game and attempts to arrive in time to watch afternoon practice.
Friday is usually when the broadcast team gets to meet with the head coach, offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator from the home team. If there was no conference call ahead of time with the visitors, they will meet in person with them as well, usually at the team hotel. By the time gameday comes around, he is ready to inform and educate viewers about all things college football.
“I like to get to the stadium early, [the] same way that I used to do when I played,” Blackledge said. “When you play in the NFL, they used to have the first bus earlier than the second bus, and I was a first bus guy. Sometimes, I was even [in] a cab before the first bus. I just liked to be there [and] get there early, and I like to do the same thing with broadcasting.”
When NBC Sports closed a seven-year deal with the Big Ten to acquire a share of its media rights, the network officially secured a prominent conference to pair with its exclusive broadcasts of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
Blackledge did not foresee himself joining NBC Sports and was content with his role at ESPN, but ultimately received an offer to join the prime-time game that he could simply not refuse. What NBC brought to the table was intriguing to him in being part of launching a new era of Big Ten football. The conference now has a dedicated weekly prime-time slot on a national broadcast network for the first time, along with nine exclusive games on NBC’s streaming service, Peacock.
“I just think that game under the lights at that time of day has just got a great look and feels big and looks big and sounds big, so I’ve always enjoyed doing prime-time games,” Blackledge said. “With NBC doing the prime-time games and Big Ten and again just the way they made me feel, they wanted me to kind of be in the center of this new thing that they’re doing.”
Blackledge will work with 26-year-old rising star Noah Eagle, who was most recently the radio play-by-play voice of the LA Clippers. Blackledge has had the chance to interact with Eagle on several occasions and is already convinced that he is going to be a star in the business. Both broadcasters met to call a closed-circuit practice game together ahead of their debut on Saturday night when Penn State hosts West Virginia.
“I grew up the son of a coach and there’s real value in that,” Blackledge said, “and he grew up the son of a great broadcaster and in that kind of family, and I think there’s great value in that for him as well.”
Eagle and Blackledge will implement sideline reporter Kathryn Tappen, who is joining the property after primarily hosting different events for NBC Sports over the years. The broadcast trio, along with director Charlie Dammeyer and producer Matt Marvin, is filled with vast, award-winning experience.
“No matter how good of a player you are – and I’m sure Tom Brady will find this out; there’s nobody better than him – but doing TV is different than playing,” Blackledge said. “It takes work; it takes preparation [and] it takes understanding [that] you’ve got to speak in small windows [and] you’ve got to know the cadence and rhythm of the guy that you’re working with.”
Courtesy: Marc Lebryk
Blackledge has been working in sports media for over three decades and has no signs of slowing down any time soon. Joining B1G Ten Saturday on NBC has reinvigorated him and given him a new challenge to conquer as part of his illustrious playing and commentating career. The job has a surfeit of travel that starts around Labor Day and ends just before Christmas, but the destinations are somewhat unfamiliar for Blackledge this time around. While he has called games in many of the venues, it has been several years since that point, and he is looking forward to “taking in all the flavors” of each location.
“I haven’t been to a game at Illinois in many years, and I haven’t been to a game in Madison for several years,” Blackledge shared. “I’ve only done one game ever in my career at Iowa, [so] there are venues that are great places for college football that I’m looking forward to getting back to and kind of visiting.”
Blackledge wants to be able to look back on the first few weeks of the program and see sustained progress to help elevate the show to the best football broadcast on television, including going up against those of the NFL. As high of an expectation as it may be, he trusts that it is attainable and something everybody should want. He will never be satisfied and knows there is always room to redefine what doing your best encapsulates.
“I’ll be calling Guido a couple of times this year and still taking input on how to improve, but it’s exciting to try to do it now with a whole new group of friends and a whole new group of people,” Blackledge said. “I think it’s going to be really, really exciting.”
I never learned how to type in school or college. I hired a professional to type my papers. When I started selling ads, I noticed I had an increasing amount of mail I needed to send to my clients. Something as simple as typing envelopes was not a priority. My station group didn’t have the resources to keep up with me sending out thank yous, order confirmations, and articles of interest to clients. I hired someone to do it out of my pocket. It paid off and taught me the value of focusing my time on the most profitable use.
It wasn’t typing up envelopes.
And I don’t think you are doing yourself any favors if you are a high-achieving salesperson handling your paperwork and other non-sales activities.
Is it time for you to hire a personal assistant? Here are some things to consider about your workload, responsibilities, and other needs.
1. Load Management: Traffic, order input, and answering client inquiries are part of your to-do list. You can regain valuable time for strategic activities that drive revenue by delegating administrative work, appointment scheduling, station paperwork, and CRM entries. Figure out how much time AND energy that is for you.
2. Time Management: An assistant can manage those tasks that are crucial but not directly tied to sealing the deal. With an assistant taking care of follow-up emails, appointment confirmations, and paperwork, you’re free to concentrate on how to get more face-to-face selling time and pursue more significant deals.
3. Client Support: An assistant can be the first line of contact, ensuring that client inquiries are addressed ASAP. Clients want immediate resolutions and less follow-up. They will also be more likely to book again.
4. Organization and Focus: An Assistant can help you remember station and client deadlines and details that must be meticulously managed. An assistant can help keep your calendar organized, set reminders for important dates, and make sure all copy and promotional deadlines are met. You can spend your energy on sales, not paperwork.
5. Scale and Growth: Do you consistently exceed sales targets? You are prime to scale and grow then. However, too much growth without help can lead to burnout. Have you ever not sold something because it wasn’t worth the paperwork? Hiring an assistant can help you expand your operation and give you some insurance that your top sales performance is sustainable.
6. More Experts: An assistant’s skills and background can offer value beyond paperwork. They might excel in market research, data analysis, or writing copy. If you can leverage that, you can enhance your pitch, develop better data-driven strategies, and offer clients more innovative advertising solutions.
7. Team U: An assistant can collaborate with other support staff and make your team more efficient. They can get answers from you by talking to somebody else—more client time for you.
8. Cost-Benefit Analysis: Most assistants make about $40,000 per year. You must gross about $57,000 to pay them or 25% commission on about $225,000 of new business. Everything you sell over that is profit. Maybe you can split the cost with another top-performing building rep.
9. Training and Communication: You can’t hire anyone and expect it to work immediately. You must conduct initial training and communicate what you want them to handle. Look for someone with radio experience who has been laid off- they are everywhere.
10. Be Flexible: Part-timers, work at home or in your home office, be open to the possibilities. The station has plenty of space and may allow you to use some. You bring plenty to the table anyway.
Be strategic. A well-matched assistant can be the key to your productivity, allowing you to focus on what you do best: building relationships and closing deals. And you can deduct the expenses. Consider the workload, responsibilities, and potential benefits to make an informed decision that can take your career to the next level.
During the August 27 Red Sox-Dodgers WEEI radio broadcast, play by play man Sean McDonough was unabashedly critical of the Red Sox regarding the 2020 trade of superstar Mookie Betts to the Dodgers.
McDonough stated, “It’s a trade that can never be defended and a stain that will never be erased,” pretty strong words from a Boston-bred guy on the team’s regional radio broadcast. Local broadcasters criticizing the team for which they work is a rarity, but there is one former MLB broadcaster who has never been shy about voicing his views on the local ballclub – even in retirement.
Earlier this year, in an interview on the Foul Territory podcast with Scott Braun and A.J. Pierzynski, former White Sox broadcaster Ken “Hawk” Harrelson spouted, “I didn’t retire. I got retired. I got fired is what it boils down to. I’m sure they will deny that, but what led up to that and everything else is going to be interesting.”
Harrelson, who retired from the White Sox broadcast booth in 2018 presumably by choice, doubled down on the team just a couple of weeks ago.
In an interview with Chicago Sun-Times reporter Daryl Van Schouwen, Harrelson discussed the 2023 White Sox stating, “There’s so many holes there. It’s been a tough team to watch. It’s been one of the most disappointing seasons of my major league career.”
This candor was nothing new for Harrelson, a true broadcasting icon and winner of the National Baseball Hall of Fame Ford Frick Award in 2020. In his 43 years behind the microphone, Harrelson was known for his garish and boisterous style.
From “Put it on the board!” to “Hell yeah!” Harrelson was anything but a broadcasting wallflower, but don’t blame Ken.
“That’s the Hawk, not Ken,” says Harrelson, who spent 33 seasons calling White Sox games on TV across various broadcast stations. “The fans brought that out of me, and I’ve spoken to psychiatrists about it. They say we all have an alter ego. Hawk can do things that Ken can’t do.”
Before becoming a Windy City legend, Harrelson belonged to Boston, first as a Red Sox slugger from 1967-69, and then alongside Dick Stockton and Ned Martin as the team’s television voice on WSBK-TV 38 from 1975-81. When he reflects on his time in Boston, several images appear.
“The first thing obviously is the fans, just how unbelievable they were, and then I think of Carl Yastrzemski. His 1967 season is still the best year I’ve ever seen any player have. It was a magical season. To this day, he is the best left fielder I’ve ever seen. That year, whatever we needed, he did it.”
Like McDonough this past week, Harrelson’s candor was his hallmark and eventual downfall in Boston. “I told it like it was. At one point (former Red Sox GM) Haywood Sullivan got upset with me.
“I was giving a speech at UMass-Boston and was asked about the job Haywood was doing with the team. Haywood wanted me fired. Bill Flynn the GM at TV-38 went to bat for me, but it didn’t help.”
Fired after the 1981 season, Harrelson joined the White Sox, another metropolitan team with a bedeviled past. “Two big cities, two great franchises,” says Harrelson who hit 131 home runs and knocked in 421 runs in 9 big league seasons. “When I got to Chicago, Don Drysdale was my partner. A lot of people at that time thought we might be the best TV broadcast team ever.
“I was very lucky. Dick Stockton is still the greatest and most versatile announcer in the business. Dick was kind enough to tape a video message for me for my 25th anniversary with the White Sox.”
As much as baseball has given to Harrelson, he has given just as much back, especially when it comes to kids. He says it was Boston Bruins legend Bobby Orr that convinced him to visit kids at Children’s Hospital.
“I got to know one boy and his parents really well and I told them to call me anytime they wanted to come to a game. When the boy was in remission, they called me and I got them (Red Sox owner) Mr. Yawkey’s seats.
“I was in the worst slump of my career. Before the game, the boy gave me some Dubble Bubble gum and told me it would help me get out of my slump.
“In the first inning, I hit a two-run homer and saw the boy cheering as I rounded the bases. In the sixth, I hit another home run, but there was no one in the seats. After the game, the boy’s mother called. He had a relapse and had to be rushed to the hospital where he passed away.”
Despite his controversial departures from the Red Sox and White Sox, Harrelson still holds a deep affection for both franchises. “When the Red Sox won the Series in 2004, I cried watching the game in Orlando.
“In 2005, when the White Sox won it, I cried again. We had over two million people in our parade path. I hosted the ceremony downtown and it was fantastic.
“I’m the luckiest guy ever to put two feet on the face of the earth, and I hate to lose. (Former manager) Alvin Dark said that no one wanted to win a game more than I did. He should have said more than Hawk did.”
When weighing the pros and cons of doing remote broadcasts, I know many hosts don’t see any positives and can’t stand them. It gets us out of our comfy confines in the studio, it breaks up routines, and it can be a bit clunky at times with guests and callers, plus the sound quality will not be quite as good as the studio. It can also help land breaking news.
But when it comes to local talk radio being at its best, there’s very little downside that can come from being “in” your community with your broadcast, if properly planned and targeted. Doing shows on street corners for the sake of it is worthless, but if executed with a purpose, it can have enormous positives.
When thinking “remote”, many may think of the potential face-to-face contact with those loyal listeners in the zip code of your choice. But that’s just gravy. Remotes aren’t about the listeners on-site in 2023. It’s about the listener who isn’t going to show up, but is going to appreciate you being in their backyard. And then, more importantly, bringing that same listener can’t-miss content that they can’t get from any other medium.
And the more of this a station chooses to do, the more likely you step into a situation I happened to find myself in this past week. I’ve written about our “Back the Blue” Tour we launched this year on KCMO. I take my morning show to area police departments for a Friday morning broadcast every 6-8 weeks and we spend a portion of the program talking with the police chief, and various leaders within the police department. Our goal is to highlight the great work these leaders are doing for their community, most of which does not get nearly enough attention in today’s media landscape.
Prior to our “Back the Blue” Tour stop this past Friday, I received a text from the police chief in Gladstone, Missouri at 4:00 a.m. that we would have to move some guests around since there was an officer-involved shooting earlier in the morning that resulted in the death of the suspect.
Suddenly, our feel-good, rah-rah “Back the Blue” show turned into a breaking news story. The community of Gladstone had not had an officer-involved shooting since 2016, and here we were scheduled to be on-site with our show that morning for a four-hour broadcast.
We had to cancel a couple of guests since they were on the scene of the shooting doing their job. However, we were still able to promote various folks within the department who we had planned, but each one came prepared with an update on the shooting, per the chief’s request. Speaking of the chief, he joined us three times throughout the broadcast with various updates on the shooting.
So while the rest of the Kansas City media was waiting patiently on a street corner for an official update from a media spokesperson, we were interacting directly with the police chief on an hourly basis for updates the rest of the city’s media could not get.
Yes, there’s obviously luck involved in how this story unfolded and fell into our lap, however, I’ve always been a believer in creating luck, to some degree. By trying to find unique and creative angles to get more involved in the community, we were able to luck our way into being at the center of a breaking news story that was the top story in the region for that day, and into the weekend.
“It’s been an absolute pleasure,” ESPN Radio host Jay Williams said in his final show at the network on Thursday.
Williams had a chance to put in some final words before he moves on from ESPN, and he said doing a four-hour radio show is increadibly difficult.
“It takes a lot of conversations. It takes a lot of thought,” he said. “A lot of people have to bring it each and every day.”
In addition to the folks behind the scenes who helped make him better or bring him out of his shell, Williams had to make sure he thanked former co-hosts Keyshawn Johnson and Max Kellerman for their work.
“Those guys are always my brothers, and I know they will strive and continue to do incredible things,” Williams said.
Jay added that it’s been an incredible learning experience and he was glad to have been along for the journey.
“I’ve learned so much about myself battling through this show and really learning and participating in football conversation every day,” he said. “Sharing my life, my basketball stories, making fun of myself in ways that I never thought I would.”
