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Comedian Ron Sexton of Bob & Tom Show Fame Dies

BNM Staff
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Comedian Ron Sexton of Bob & Tom Show Fame Dies

According to a statement shared by The Bob & Tom Show, Ron Sexton, a beloved comedian who was well-known for his work on the program, has passed away. He was 52 years old.

On July 22, the family of the radio personality, who was most recognized for his portrayal of the character Donnie Baker on the show, also shared news of his passing by posting a group photo on his official Facebook page.

“It is with immense sadness that we let everyone know that Ron Sexton passed away yesterday,” they wrote. “He was Donnie Baker to most of you, but Ron and Dad to us. Please respect our privacy at this time and pray for our family.”

The news of Ron Sexton’s passing was confirmed by The Bob & Tom Show via their official Twitter account. The post was signed by Tracey, Eric, Abigail, Alex, Aliah, Jim, and Ila. Sexton passed away in Ohio while on tour with his stand-up comedy show. The statement from the show’s co-host, Tom Griswold, highlighted Sexton’s comedic talent, including his iconic on-air characters like Donnie Baker, Kenny Tarmac, and Floyd the Trucker, as well as his celebrity impersonations. The statement expressed deep sadness at the loss of a much-loved colleague and friend.

Sexton, a comedy and baseball enthusiast, hailed from Indianapolis. He started his career in high school as a baseball commentator at his school’s radio station. In 2005, he introduced his Donnie Baker character on The Bob & Tom Show. Donnie shared stories about the boat he always had for sale and added punchlines like “State law!” and “I swear to God” during his segments. Sexton also lent his voice to characters like Floyd the Trucker and Kenny Tarmac, along with his celebrity impressions.

No information about the cause of death has been disclosed.

Dan Patrick Has Earned a 4 Year Farewell If That’s What He Wants

Garrett Searight
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Dan Patrick Has Earned a 4 Year Farewell If That’s What He Wants

It may not have ended up being the announcement he was trying to make, but the revelation that Dan Patrick would be stepping aside from his radio show at the end of his newly-signed contract shouldn’t have been a surprise.

I saw some surprise that Dan would make such an announcement. Included in that reaction was some cynicism that the announcement was a ploy by Patrick to jumpstart a farewell tour.

That wasn’t my response.

DP is undeniably on the Mount Rushmore of Sports Media. He’s entitled to do whatever he wants, especially when it comes to how he steps away. In the annals of sports media history, is there anyone who has excelled to the heights that he has in both radio and television?

Dan Patrick is a legend. And if he wants to spend four years on a farewell tour, he should do it. If he wants to spend four minutes on a farewell tour, he should do it.

I’ve shared in this space before that my thought process has definitely changed in recent years, especially when it comes to making the decision to ride off into the sunset. I use to have a hard and fast “It should be the company/team/franchise/insert entity here’s decision”. To hell with that. These are real people, and in DP’s case, a living legend.

The word trailblazer is thrown too often, but Dan Patrick is truly a trailblazer. He took an insane gamble by moving his radio show away from ESPN Radio, and it paid off immensely. The Dan Patrick Show is frequently nominated for Sports Emmys on the television side, and is widely regarded as one of the best nationally syndicated radio shows, and has been for decades.

I don’t need to go down the list of accolades the man has accomplished in his storied career. You know them and are aware of them.

Dan Patrick embodies the best qualities of our industry. He’s entertaining without being offensive, he’s a risk taker, he isn’t a hot-take artist, and is the best interviewer in the business.

If he wants to be celebrated for four years, that should be his prerogative and his alone. We often don’t appreciate greatness until it’s too late. Dan Patrick has given his audience, and those inside our industry, the opportunity to appreciate him while we’ve still got him. I hope you take the opportunity to soak it in. Regardless of how sports media will change and how we will consume the content, December 2027 will be here before we know it.

Congrats to Dan on a contract extension and his impending retirement. He deserves both.

Dan Le Batard Doesn’t Sound Like a Revolution Anymore

Demetri Ravanos
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Dan Le Batard Doesn’t Sound Like a Revolution Anymore

When he was on ESPN Radio, I was one of Dan Le Batard’s biggest fans. A former boss explained the reason perfectly: to programmers, the show sounded like chaos; to talent, it sounded like a revolution. Ten years ago that was true. 

There was a machine to rage against and Le Batard and crew did it in big ways, criticizing bosses for celebrating Major League Baseball’s trip to Cuba and showing real emotion over the exit of his champion, John Skipper. He did it in small ways, poking LeBron James’s return to Cleveland by paying for a billboard in the city celebrating the success of the Miami Heat. Dan Le Batard was always unapologetically himself and it was fun. The show worked as a great juxtaposition to everything else on ESPN Radio at the time.

Since I have been working for JB, twice he has sent me gifts from the Le Batard AF store. I send multiple entries to the show’s “Looks Like” game every year ahead of the NCAA Tournament. There was a time when I was a superfan of Le Batard and crew.

Maybe it is because I am ten years older than I was when I first discovered the show in 2014. Maybe it is that the show truly isn’t what it used to be. Either way, it just doesn’t work the same anymore.

Stugotz is the engine that made that show run. His “Weekend Observations” and sports guy idiosyncrasies, like calling out players’ nicknames whenever someone mentioned their name, were necessary for Dan Le Batard and his producers to create the kind of comedy the show was built on. How do you satirize sports talk radio without someone that really loves old-school sports talk radio?

Now that they have left ESPN, Stugotz has unlimited paid time off. Of course he is going to use it! If you know anything about the show, it is that the Stugotz character is who Jon Weiner really is.  

Without the fool to play off of, the classic comedy formula doesn’t work. What even is a movie or live show that is nothing but the straight man? It’s kinda just a lecture, right?

Dan Le Batard without Stugotz is just a sports media guy that hates the sports media. A lot of people in our industry agree that Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayliss spawned an era of unserious sports debate shows. A lot of people in our industry would like to tell Outkick to f*** off. With Le Batard, that is the full breadth of content now. 

The show is way less fun and way more self-appointed ombudsman high-horsin’ these days. I work in this industry. There are plenty of observations Le Batard has that I agree with, and I find it pretty boring to listen to. Imagine how the guy that doesn’t have journalism ethics at the center of his universe must feel now.

Going after your bosses while you work for ESPN is rebellious. Going after the industry and constantly bemoaning rules and market conditions that no longer apply to you just kind of sounds bitter. Like it or not, Stephen A. Smith is not wrong about Dan Le Batard. What used to sound like revolution now sounds like a cult leader trying to keep his followers inside the village he has convinced them is the only safe place after a nuclear apocalypse that never actually happened. 

Also, by the way, I just have to point this out for the record. Le Batard talks about how much he hates what First Take is, but praises Pardon the Interruption for being influential and groundbreaking. I have never understood how I am the only one that sees they are the exact same show.

Now, if Le Batard and his crew really wanted to, they could run the same playbook at Meadowlark Media. Dan could bemoan the influence DraftKings or gambling in general has had on the way we talk about sports. He doesn’t though. I don’t think it is because he has suddenly become sheepish or more respectful of authority.

I think Dan Le Batard is coming to terms with the fact that trying to do his show outside of the walls of ESPN, outside of the confines of sports radio is not easy. It may not even really be possible. 

The show worked as a multi-platform product, finding success on TV and as a podcast. The parameters of ESPN Radio were essential though. They defined who the heroes and villains were and how the players approached the game. Without them, The Dan Le Batard Show may be a pirate ship, but too often it sounds like there is no rudder. 

Le Batard has talked a lot about valuing freedom over money, and I genuinely believe that is true. It’s one of his more admirable qualities. But now that he has the freedom he craved, he is still trying to do the same kind of show he was doing at ESPN Radio. DraftKings gave him money, and have taken a very hands-off approach to the content. 

Raging against the machine from inside the machine seems bold. Raging against a machine that your audience believes you have already defeated, or at least put in your rearview, seems kinda silly.

It’s that episode of The Simpsons where the Van Houtens get divorced. Kirk has Homer over to his new bachelor pad. He insists to Homer that divorced life really does make him happy even though we see that no one else at the apartment complex seems to want to be his friend and that he sleeps in a child-sized bed shaped like a racecar.

Adam Gold’s Career Took Off Once He Arrived in Raleigh

Peter Schwartz
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There are multiple ways to break into broadcasting and specifically to become a sports talk radio host. For Adam Gold, it happened in a way that was very unusual.

The New York City native, who as a kid used to go to sleep with a transistor radio under his pillow secretly listening to New York Mets’ when the team was playing on the West Coast, graduated from the University of Maryland in 1988 and would spend a decade living in Baltimore with his wife.

Gold was working as a producer at WBAL Radio in Baltimore, but he wanted to be on the air.

“I felt like I wasn’t really progressing,” said Gold. “I decided that I wasn’t really going anywhere. There was no on-air possibility for me. If I wanted to get on-air, I was going to have to leave.”

That chance to leave came when his wife accepted a job with a bank in Raleigh, North Carolina and the couple made the move early in 1998. Gold didn’t have any radio contacts in North Carolina, but the radio gods were watching over him.

Two weeks after become an official resident of Raleigh, Gold was watching the Olympics when he took a look at the job listings in the Durham Herald-Sun. He saw an ad for “WRBZ News-Talk-Sports” and he called the Program Director and a week later he was hired to do some part-time work.

Things then progressed very quickly and exactly how Gold wanted.

“By middle of March, they asked me if I wanted to host the afternoon show,” said Gold. “It was the dumbest thing ever. It just doesn’t happen this way in this business.”

More than 25 years later, Gold is still going strong at what is now 99.9 The Fan in Raleigh hosting The Adam Gold Show weekdays from noon to 3pm. The show is also heard on a network of 11 stations throughout North Carolina.

Flying solo wasn’t the original plan for Gold and what had been 850 The Buzz when he came on board in 1998. He was teamed with Pat Mellon who had been the solo host of the afternoon show. They were together about five or six weeks and it seemed like things were going well.

But while Gold and management were both happy, Mellon wasn’t and announced on the air one day that he was leaving. 

“He said today is my last day,” recalled Gold, the 2022 North Carolina Sportscaster of the Year. “He quit on the air and I said ‘Don’t let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.’ I really thought he was kidding and as we were walking out to our cars, he goes no I was serious. I’m not coming in. I’m done. That was the last time he and I spoke.”

The station then embarked on a national search for a new co-host, but they ultimately decided to let Gold have the show to himself. His more than 25-year run at the station also included a brief two-year stint as Program Director.

It was not something he was comfortable with.

“I hated that,” said Gold. “There’s nothing fun about being the program director and hosting a show and being responsible for everybody. I couldn’t stand that. I was a terrible PD but I’ve done a good job judging talent. I was more of a coach than I was a PD.”

On the air, life was good for Gold. He moved to the mornings and was teamed with co-host Joe Ovies before the duo was shifted to the afternoons after The Buzz was acquired by Capitol Broadcasting, which owns 99.9 The Fan. Three years ago, the station decided to move Gold to middays and return him to his solo days.

“It’s cool that I’ve built a brand,” said Gold. “I think the show is honest. I pull no punches. I make fun of everything. I make fun of myself before I make fun of anybody else. I’m just trying to do an entertaining show.”

Over the years, Gold has been able to take his various shows on the road covering Super Bowls, Final Fours and back to New York for the 2000 World Series between his beloved Mets and the Yankees. Gold hosted those “Subway Series” shows from the window at Mickey Mantle’s Restaurant, the same place that legendary New York sportscaster Bill Mazer hosted shows on WFAN.

“I grew up listening to radio in New York,” said Gold. “I was an AM radio kid.”

Gold loved baseball, but he also had an affection for hockey. In fact, he moved to Raleigh not long after the Hartford Whalers relocated to become the Carolina Hurricanes. At the time NHL hockey arrived in town, the sports-talk landscape in Raleigh was dominated by college basketball followed by pro and college football.

Hockey wasn’t even a blip on the radar.

“I was told hockey will never make it,” said Gold. “The Hurricanes will leave. Hockey was an afterthought.”

25 years later, the Hurricanes are going strong as one of the best teams in the NHL with a rabid following and a Stanley Cup banner hanging from the rafters at PNC Arena.

“Now, college basketball is almost a seasonal game here,” said Gold. “You talk football anytime of the year, pro or college.”

And now Gold is one of the go-to hockey guys in town.

“It’s been my beat, if you will, for the last 7 or 8 years,” said Gold. “I now host pre and post. I’ve been doing a morning-after (Hurricanes) podcast after every game. The Hurricanes have become a really big deal and people have also grown to look to me to tell them what’s going on.” 

Gold has enjoyed a very successful career in Raleigh but there’s one thing still on his to-do list and that’s to be involved with Major League Baseball. He grew up a Mets fan in New York and then was able to watch the Orioles when he lived in Baltimore. During his time in Raleigh, he’s felt a bit detached from the sport, but still finds a way to satisfy his appetite by doing play-by-play for NC State Baseball, the ACC Baseball Tournament and USA Baseball.

When it comes to the Majors though, Gold is not optimistic about it ever coming to town.

“We have not had big league baseball and as much as I love big league baseball and I know there are groups that are trying to bring big league baseball to Raleigh, it ain’t happening,” said Gold. “I would love it. I don’t see it.”

Sports radio can be a tough business. It’s very rare to be in the same place doing the same thing for a long period of time, but Adam Gold has defied the odds. What he has accomplished in a quarter of a century living in Raleigh is something that you don’t see very often.

And now Raleigh has become his forever home.

“Nobody stays in one place for 25 years,” said Gold. “I have not ever pursued anything outside of Raleigh. I haven’t had a resume tape since I got this job. I haven’t had a written resume. I wouldn’t even know how to do one right now. I’ve been lucky to do this.”

Stephen A. Smith: Dan Le Batard’s ESPN Obsession is ‘Bush League’

BSM Staff
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Dan Le Batard and Stephen A. Smith are still friends. They’re just butting heads.

The ongoing back and forth on Dan and Stephen A.’s respective podcasts is well-documented, but on Friday’s Stephen A. Smith Show, Smith said he and Le Batard had spoken off the air.

“Because I went at him before I went on vacation, cause I didn’t appreciate some of the bullshit he was saying on his show,” Smith said. “And I still don’t.”

Stephen A. has been consistent in taking issue with the potshots Le Batard has taken at ESPN in light of recent layoffs at the network, in addition to expressing his disdain toward Smith for how he and Skip Bayless revolutionized sports debate television. But Stephen A. made it very clear their arguments about the industry don’t change how they feel about one another personally.

“We can disagree and still be friends,” Smith said. “Dan Le Batard and I have been friends for over 20 years. And any disagreement that we have is not going to change that.”

But Stephen A. did want to circle back on the fact that he thought it was very uncouth for Le Batard as a former longtime ESPN employee to continue bad-mouthing the network.

“Got your own damn show, got your daddy sitting in the middle between you and Bomani Jones half the time or somebody else,” Smith said of Le Batard’s former show Highly Questionable. “I particularly didn’t like him constantly bringing up ESPN and bitching all the time about ESPN. Because I’m just one of those dudes where if a place is good enough for you to collect a check from for years, why are you maligning it every chance you get the second you’re gone? I just think that’s bush league.”

Chris Hand Experienced Travel Chaos Before First Show on SuperTalk 99.7 WTN

BNM Staff
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Chris Hand Experienced Travel Chaos Before First Show on SuperTalk 99.7 WTN

WTN Super Talk 99.7 in Nashville was conducting a nationwide search for a new midday host. The station plugged several people into the timeslot, including Pamela Furr, President of the Tennessee Radio Hall of Fame. A few months in, Program Director Dan Mandis received a message from Chris Hand inquiring if the position was still open.

Hand had previously worked as a producer for Mandis and considered him a mentor. At the time, Hand worked as a media director for Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA organization.     

Hand had a successful radio career primarily focused on music formats, spending ten years with Rhythmic CHR and Hot AC. However, during his last run with SuperTalk from October 2022 to April 2023, he began to consider transitioning full-time to news/talk. He saw opportunities for himself in this format, as other radio personalities such as Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, and Todd Schnitt have flourished in music and news/talk. It’s a move that’s been beneficial for many in the industry.  

Hand’s top priority was being an excellent father. When his wife secured a job at a music company in Nashville, he gladly took on the role of staying at home to care for their children. During our conversation, Hand’s son was present, and he shared his hopes to have his kids experience the same America he did growing up. Hand believes that it’s crucial for his kids to have access to the best possible opportunities. He views his work at Turning Point as critical and comparable to hosting a talk show on the radio every day.  

Chris Hand is a valuable member of the SuperTalk 99.7 team, bringing creativity and fresh ideas. He demonstrated his skills in a Thanksgiving promotion he created for the station last year, featuring his four children discussing the potential next President while gathered around a table.

The tagline “We even discuss politics at the kids’ table” was used in the promo. Chris has a passion for writing and enjoys the creative process. Although he lacks experience in hosting conservative shows, he sees it as an advantage to bring a fresh perspective. In an interview with Barrett News Media, Chris shares his experience in his first week at SuperTalk, his involvement with Turning Point USA, and his effort to make his first show on time. 

Ryan Hedrick: What was your impression of Turning Point USA before joining SuperTalk 99.7, and what was the biggest takeaway from your experience with them?  

Chris Hand: Turning Point is amazing. There is such a great staff there. It’s a young staff; everyone is hungry and always willing to learn and try something new. It was weird because I felt like I kept having dream gigs popping up one after another there for a little bit.   

RH: Did you learn anything from the principles that Turning Point USA Founder Charlie Kirk instilled in the organization, even though you didn’t work side-by-side with him?  

CH: One thing that was sent through the organization was grassroots humility, a warrior spirit, and persistent innovation. Those are the core values that they want to instill in everyone who works there. Charlie’s fearlessness and positivity are infectious.   

RH: How did your first week of shows at WTN go? Can you share some insights on how you prepared for your role as a full-time talk host?  

CH: Luckily, I had done it [hosted shows] before, so I knew what the process would be like going into it. The preparation will evolve as I get more comfortable with this shift. The first week, I was worried about formatics. I worked on trying to get down the flow of my show. While the other hosts are so well-versed and so experienced, I wanted to try and make sure not to be like anybody else. That was key for me.   

Last week, I tried to live in a bubble and not listen to anybody’s takes to make sure I didn’t accidentally steal anything. I tried to make my bumper music different and my intro music different. I also tried to read everything that I could read.  

RH: How did you catch the attention of SuperTalk 99.7’s Program Director, Dan Mandis, for the talk host position?  

CH: I had done some shows for them prior to my stint at Turning Point USA. I had been a producer, and I had done some imaging here and there, and Dan and I had known each other for a while.  

RH: Why is it crucial to discover your unique niche in talk radio and avoid getting pulled toward the echo chambers that some hosts tend to fall into?  

CH: I was at ACTCON (Turning Point Action Conference) in West Plam Beach, Florida, and I watched Tucker Carlson’s speech, and he said something that resonated [with me]. He said he doesn’t watch the news; he reads. He also said he’s very careful of what he reads because he doesn’t want to internalize bad information.   

It was very important during the first week, especially trying to get my feet wet and show everybody who I am; I thought it was important to not listen to anybody. I listen to a lot of media, but for the past couple of weeks, I’ve just tried to shut it all down.   

RH: What was your first show on WTN like? Do you have any unique experiences to share?  

CH: I was traveling back to Nashville one day before my first show. I arrived at an airport in Florida and got stuck there for six hours. Finally, I arrived in Atlanta, but my flight got canceled, then got uncancelled, and then the pilot argued with the flight attendant at the gate about whether the plane was going to take off or not. It ended up being around midnight when they decided to cancel the flight.   

I ran downstairs to the car rental place, and I learned that all the cars were sold out, so I thought I was going to miss my first show, so I took an Uber from Atlanta to Nashville. The ride was a few hundred bucks. It was my first show, and I couldn’t miss it. The radio station had been promoting me for four or five days at that point.

When I arrived at the studio, I slept probably five hours over two days. It was chaos leading up to my first show, and then once I hit the air, it was everything I thought it would be.   

RH: What makes the Nashville radio market appealing to you?   

CH: Nashville is so cozy. Because I live in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and I’ve been here for so long, I’m just trying to talk to my friends. I’m trying to talk to the parents of my kid’s friends, and I’m trying to talk to my neighbors. Because I have been here for so long and know these people, I can easily envision who is listening to my radio station. I’m trying to be who I would be if you bumped into me at the mailbox.   

RH: Do you have any tips based on your experiences for individuals seeking jobs or trying to advance in this industry, as it can be quite challenging to secure a position?  

CH: Once I decided I wanted this gig and sold myself on it, I was persistent. I’m sure Dan [Mandis] didn’t want me to have his cell phone number at a certain point anymore. A couple of times, I said to him, ‘If I’m bugging you, texting you, just tell me.’ I just stayed persistent and positive.

Luckily for me, there was no downside because I already had the Turning Point gig. I was blessed; I had a great job either way.

At the end of the day, I didn’t want to leave this area, so when the job at SuperTalk 99.7 became available, I didn’t go for it at first. It wasn’t until a month later that I reached out and expressed interest. From there, it was off to the races.   

RH: What inspires and drives you?  

CH: I want to be a good dad. I love the country, want my kids to have the same life growing up that I had, and want my grandkids to have that life. Pushing American values and being at the forefront of the debate and the conversation is something I was doing off the air anyway, sometimes a bit too much for my wife’s liking (joking). It’s not much of a transition [hosting a show]; I get a wider audience to do it with.   

In Radio Ratings, The Weighting is the Hardest Part

Dr. Ed Cohen
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In Radio Ratings, The Weighting is the Hardest Part

When I was considering a title for this radio ratings column, all the puns around weighting came up in my head. There’s the Tom Petty standby “The Waiting (Weighting)” because, of course, it’s the hardest part. Then there’s “The Weight” by The Band. They were all too easy so forgive me. Let’s just get into it.

As you know, the “black box” of ratings includes weighting for different variables. This means that the sample is adjusted to reflect the population or universe estimates for the weighted dimensions. 

By the way, there is a subtle difference between population and universe, but for the purposes of this discussion, the words are interchangeable. Sometimes, the sample is very similar to the population so the results are adjusted just slightly, but other times, the sample is so far off on some weighting variable that some survey respondents count for much more than other participants.  If their listening or viewing habits are unusual, the results can be skewed.

Let me give you a marvelous example from last century. I was VP-Research for Clear Channel and would occasionally head to Columbia, MD to review diaries at Arbitron. The prime purpose of this visit was to review WKCI (KC 101) in New Haven (Glenn Beck was PD and morning host which tells you how far back we’re going), but Clear Channel also had an AM station, WAVZ, that at the time was running Music of Your Life. 

If you don’t remember MOYL, this was a “standards” format that probably had a core demo of 75+. Somehow, WAVZ was number one W18-24 middays, and if memory serves, top three in P18-24 middays as well. How could this happen? I found the diary of a young woman who reported that she listened to WAVZ every weekday from 8 AM to 5 PM. In the comments, she stated, “I work in a nursing home.” Honest reporting of behavior but completely off from the reality of the market. 

Weighting is done because the rating services want to reflect the population. The weighting variables should have a direct correlation with what is being measured, in this case, media usage. For example, age matters. Does a 20-year-old listen to the same formats as a 50-year-old? Generally not. How about men versus women? If you’re Hispanic and you speak only Spanish, are you more likely to view Spanish language videos over English language videos?

Not every market uses the same variables. For Nielsen Audio, every market is weighted by age cells (18 of them for PPM and 16 for diary). From there, each market may be different. A one-county metro with low minority percentages will not be weighted for any other variable, but most markets have some sort of geographic weighting and it can get very complicated.  Geographic weighting exists in both diary and PPM.

Both services also weighted for race (black), Hispanic ethnicity, and language dominance within Hispanic depending on the makeup of the market. I won’t rehash the arcane rules that determine each market’s weighting variables, but you can look up the rules in the latest Description of Methodology and the weighting variables for each market in the “Blue Book” or “Red Book”, the Nielsen publications that have the market ranks, populations, etc. 

Nonetheless, being black, Hispanic, having a particular language dominance within Hispanic, and “Other” (non-black, non-Hispanic) does have a relationship with what audio you choose to use.

PPM uses a couple more variables which are the presence of children (yes/no) and employment status (employed full time/not employed full time), the latter of which is used only for persons 18+. 

Why not use other variables, such as income or education? Don’t these variables have something to do with listening? For example, income and all news may correlate. How about education and public radio? 

Weighting for a particular variable requires credible estimates of the population as well as good data from the respondents. With the exception of language dominance within Hispanic ethnicity, solid estimates projected from U.S. Census data (the gold standard) exist.

Let’s assume we have good universe estimates for education and income. Now the problem is respondent reporting. I remember when our demographer at Arbitron reviewed the education results from diary surveys against the population data. Not many people were willing to admit that they didn’t finish high school. 

Respondents appeared to move themselves up one level, for example, high school dropouts reported finishing high school, high school graduates spent some time in college, and the “some college” group was now more likely to graduate.  It’s similar in the income category. 

You may not make a lot, but do you want to admit it?  It doesn’t hurt to go up a category or two in a survey.

Further, the two variables didn’t have much value when added to the weighting mix. In weighting, sometimes, the cure is worse than the disease. Too much weighting (and too many variables) can interact and cause big swings in the data. In radio, even the biggest stations have relatively small AQH audiences (sorry to say that) and as everyone who uses the data knows, one meter or one diary can make a world of difference. 

More opportunities for weird “bounces” are in no one’s interest, unless of course, your numbers improve and you make your bonus. Keep in mind that “what goes around comes around”, so if you’re lucky one time, you’re likely to be unlucky sometime in the future.

The net is that weighting is a good thing to improve sample representation, but you need to track how Nielsen is doing. It’s easily done by reviewing the E-book. Remember the E-Book? 

That’s right…not many subscribers look at it because it has almost no listening data, but it’s the easiest and often the only place to find population information, how the sample for your market turned out, etc. 

If Nielsen is grossly under or over-representing some characteristic for an extended period (not just one month or one diary survey), it may be time to bitch at your rep as a starting point.  Pick your fights. And before you complain, look at how you can put the “misses” to your advantage. 

If a particular variable is underrepresented, how does your station perform with that cell? Can you play to it knowing that each meter/diary carries a greater weight, meaning every quarter hour is worth more?

During my Cumulus time, I used to receive a “monthly” (every four weeks) report from Nielsen detailing the sample in each of our PPM metros at a granular level. If you’re a subscriber in a PPM metro, ask your rep to see the report regularly. 

Let’s meet again next week.

The Hardline Announces Dan McDowell & Jake Kemp Are Not Returning to The Ticket

BSM Staff
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The Hardline Announces Dan McDowell & Jake Kemp Are Not Returning to The Ticket

The sports talk radio world in Dallas was shocked last week to learn that The Ticket hosts Dan McDowell and Jake Kemp had submitted their resignations.

McDowell had been at the station for 24 years and co-hosted The Hang Zone with Kemp. The duo reportedly reached an impasse with Cumulus Dallas leadership in negotiations for a new contract.

On The Hardline with Bob Sturm, Corby Davidson and Dave Lane on The Ticket late last week, Sturm and Davidson offered their reactions to the news that began to circulate across the sports media space.

Sturm said hearing that Dan and Jake had gone was some of the tougher news he’s had to bear since he started.

“Honestly as the kid caught in the divorce, man I don’t really care the details as much as I care the outcome which is – this sucks,” Sturm said. “It may not suck for them. They may be very pleased. In fact, I took a look at their video, and they seem OK with how things are, but I do know in my heart of hearts that they both intended to stay at The Ticket for a long, long, long, time. It didn’t happen.”

The disagreement in negotiations reportedly stems from the fact that Cumulus would not give their blessing to Dan and Jake to podcast outside of their daily radio show. The two hosts fought the company for the right to be sole proprietors of any outside content they generate.

“Sometimes it just doesn’t work, and they’re really steadfast in what they want and that’s control of their outside media,” Davidson said.

“They want to own some aspect of their personas and that’s just counter to corporate radio,” Lane responded.

“They want to change the game, and honestly that doesn’t surprise me,” Sturm added.

Sturm seemed particularly shaken up by their departures, talking about how he considered McDowell a brother and that they had similarly structured contracts and pay just out of respect for one another.

Sturm and Davidson talked about having a different relationship with Kemp, who has been viewed as a little brother in Sturm’s eyes and someone Davidson watched basically come of age at the station.

But they made the overall point that as hard as the news is, they have to keep carrying The Ticket torch forward.

“The Ticket is going to be fine. Now it’s going to be different. But The Ticket is going to be fine,” Davidson said. “We’ve taken a couple of hits here, and for me personally, and I feel like I’ve seen it all here in the last 25 years – all of it. This one stings the worst, and it’s not really even close just because the hanging out aspect like we said.”

“I wish the station would’ve been able to satisfy them, and I wish they both had a bar that was lower for compromise and I really mean that,” Sturm added. “I wish both sides could’ve found common ground, and that in the end they both will say, ‘We tried really hard, and we wish the other side would’ve tried harder.’”

The announcement came just days after Corby Davidson offered listeners some hope. On Wednesday, he told listeners that despite the reports in the media saying McDowell and Kemp were done, it was more of a holdout than an actual resignation and both sides still wanted to get a deal done. That appears to no longer be the case.

Eli Gold Returning to Bama Radio Crew Following Cancer Treatment

BSM Staff
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Eli Gold, the voice of Alabama football on the radio, is officially returning to the broadcast booth for the 2023 season. The 69 year old sat out the 2022 season as he was undergoing treatment for stage 3 cancer.

Eli has been calling Crimson Tide football the last 35 years. He told Ryan Fowler of Tide 100.9 in Tuscaloosa that he now has a clean bill of health and intends on being ready for Bama’s season opener on September 2.

“I was a very sick boy. Turns out, I have gotten better,” Gold said. “There’s still work to be done.”

Gold said there were times when his wife Claudette was told by doctors he might not live through the night. But he said he continued to not lose hope in one day returning to the broadcast booth.

“You can’t give up, man,” he said. “You’ve got to fight. You can’t give up. I learned that.”

Dan Le Batard: Justin Fields is ‘Content, Not a Human Being’ to Colin Cowherd

BSM Staff
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Dan Le Batard: Justin Fields is ‘Content, Not a Human Being’ to Colin Cowherd

Colin Cowherd adjusted his outlook on Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields ahead of the 2023 season, and Dan Le Batard was very intrigued by the FS1 host’s take.

On The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz last week, Le Batard said it’s interesting to see how some of the top voices in the medium like Cowherd have evolved over time and continue to stake their claim in the landscape with hot takes.

Dan has made it clear how he feels about how sports debate television has changed thanks to Skip Bayless and Stephen A. Smith, but he said there’s just something different about the approach Cowherd takes.

“Because Cowherd is super calculated about how he gets people to listen and he knows there’s money in being wrong,” Le Batard said. Cowherd tweeted last week he was originally 60/40 on Fields being successful in the NFL, but he’s dropped it to 55/45 because he felt like Fields lacked self-awareness. Cowherd took plenty of flack on Twitter for the take, which is something he’s accustomed to doing.

But Dan said Cowherd is just seizing the opportunity to generate content.

“So he’s got no problem taking out Justin Fields as a quarterback. Because why not? It’s content and it’s not a human being,” he joked. “It’s just something I said once upon a time, being wrong doesn’t cost me anything, I’ll just go after Justin Fields, but I’ll do this purposely and purposefully.”

“It sounds like he’s less certain that he’s gonna succeed, right?” asked Amin Elhassan. Amin said it was really odd Cowherd decided on 55/45 considering most people are either all or nothing, 90/10, 60/40 or 50/50.

“He still thinks he will succeed, but he’s leaving himself the chance that he’s going to be less wrong because he moved it back 5 percent,” Le Batard responded.

“The way that Colin Cowherd is going to age, is better and more pioneering than anyone ever, because Amin has never heard anyone go 55/45,” he added.

Dan said he just loved the approach Cowherd took. It was very much a Cowherd thing to do.

“Colin Cowherd is here to tell you he’s already dropped 5 percent on what Justin Fields is gonna be,” Le Batard said. “Is he going to be a runner, is he going to be a quarterback, which isn’t that I want in this league? Can I trust him to be a quarterback, as the position entirely changes.”

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