Bomani Jones still has a presence at ESPN. He may not be on TV regularly, but he still hosts The Right Time podcast three times a week. That is different from ten years ago when he was on the network regularly on shows like Around the Horn, Highly Questionable, and High Noon.
In a new interview with Fortune, Jones reflected on the ups and downs of his personal and professional life. He was asked about High Noon, the show featuring himself and Pablo Torre and was billed as a more nuanced approach to sports debate.
It was canceled after less than two years on the air. Jones says he does not view it as a failure and he does not view it as a television audience rejecting him. It was the result of ESPN bosses deciding to go in a different direction with their afternoon programming.
“I could have the greatest version of ‘High Noon’ that was possible [but] there’s not a place in [ESPN’s] line-up for that right now,” he said. “That’s just not what they do, and that has zero to do with me.”
Bomani Jones is now on HBO each week as host of Game Theory. He said that the show feels like the first time he has been able to execute something close to his original vision on television. That is the key to building long-term audience loyalty.
“You want to do your work in the place where it gets the most visibility so long as you can stay true to what it is that you’re doing. Because once people can sniff that you’re not being true to yourself and what you’re doing, then they don’t care about anything else. It doesn’t matter. Your credibility is gone once they don’t believe that you’re being true to you.”
Dan Le Batard is not happy with his staff. On his show Tuesday, he addressed something that happened on an episode of Mystery Crate, Meadowlark Media’s podcast that puts a spotlight on the producers and technical staff behind their shows.
“I want to bring yet more attention to something that not everyone has seen, that embarrassed me but I want to offer an apology to the audience today that happened on Mystery Crate recently,” Le Batard said.
During Mystery Crate, a producer addressed audience complaints about Meadowlark Media content not coming out when promised. She told the audience to “shut up” because the staff is producing a lot of content all of the time.
“I’m embarrassed by someone telling our customers to shut up about their complaints when I value their complaints, when their passion is what funds us,” Le Batard said promising his listeners that they are very important to him and he will make sure everyone on the Meadowlark payroll knows it.
“It will not happen again. I will make sure it does not happen again. Everyone here will be told not to tell the listeners to shut up when their complaints have been earned.”
Day 1 of the 2023 BSM Summit is underway in Los Angeles at the Founders Club at USC. We’re keeping you updated on news, key information, and interesting perspectives shared on stage by our speakers. BSM editor Garrett Searight will be updating this column throughout the day as each session wraps up, so be sure to check back multiple times to avoid missing anything important.
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Barrett Media President Jason Barrett welcomed attendees, sharing the details of how sports radio statistics compare in 2023 to 2013. Barrett continued by sharing those working in sports media are no longer in simply the radio or television business; we’re in the content business.
9:10-9:45 = Sports Radio in an Audio World presented by
Rosin shared seven trends that continue to drive conversations in the sports radio space.
Rosin concluded by mentioning that listeners aren’t loyal to the way they receive and consume content as much as they are loyal to the content they enjoy. He also shared that immediacy matters more than a linear experience.
9:45-10:20 = Business Strategy For Economic Uncertainty presented by
The session began with Sutherland mentioning that the economic uncertainty began nearly 3 years ago to the day. In 2021, the advertising market was strong, but has since fallen off due to inflation and other mitigating factors.
Sutherland asked what the best strategy is for managing expectations in uncertainty. Kauffman said consistency is key, but the humility to make different decisions should new information be presented. She continued by saying balancing the needs of the company and the people inside the company is paramount.
Martin said radio has experienced issues similar to this for the last 25 years. He added that creativity is the biggest driver in both sales and content. An all-hands-on-deck approach is needed to continue growth.
The conversation then turned to how talent and sales co-exist and how to continue providing resources to talent.
Martin believes there isn’t a difference between sports programming and sales. The two need to work in conjunction. In news media, there has to be a delineation to avoid credibility issues, but those problems don’t exist in sports radio, noting that listeners tune into sports radio to hear opinions.
Kauffman said the days of keeping company and station financial information away from talent are gone. She added that hosts and reporters having that information helps drive the passion and ambition of the stations and brands.
Pines added that collaboration got lost during the pandemic, but is returning. He believes those working inside stations want to collaborate and support each other. He referenced the statements from Martin that hosts can help drive sales due to the connection hosts have with listeners. Their opinions matter to the listeners, so their opinions on brands and products will carry weight.
Sutherland then asked how companies are handling remote work or hybrid situations.
Pines admitted for a long time every meeting included a Zoom invitation, and believes as much as people can be together, they should be together. At Good Karma Brands, he shared at least four days a week in the office is the goal, but the company is understanding of efficiency.
Kauffman agreed, saying that each Audacy market is available to set its own mandate, but the Northern California stations expect at least three days a week of in-office work. “We try to smart and strategic about how that happened,” she said.
Martin shared that nationally FOX Sports Radio has worked remotely for a long time, but on the local level the talent at AM 570 LA Sports never left. However, the sales staff is just now returning to three days per week.
The ability to offer different revenue streams was a topic of discussion.
Challenges have emerged, according to Kauffman. There’s not a standardization of how the company has monetized its sports audience, but knows a captive audience is there. Content creation is easy, and is easier on a local level, but monetizing it has been the challenge.
Martin agreed, saying “It’s not a product problem. It’s a sales problem. How do you teach them to sell all these sports verticals?” He believed creating “ecosystems” of each show is the easiest way to monetize each show.
Local decision making is the key, Pines added. “We see different ways we’re monetizing it,” mentioning The Land on Demand from ESPN Cleveland as one option compared to other markets.
Sutherland then asked the panel how they handle the Nielsen metrics.
Pines believed Nielsen is just one data point when several data points are available. Good Karma Brands doesn’t utilize Nielsen in all of its markets.
Martin believes if you’re only utilizing Nielsen numbers to create revenue, “you’re dead”.
The Nielsen data points are market-by-market, Kauffman countered. In San Francisco, the majority of the advertising revenue is national, while Sacramento is more focused on local business. “Getting that mindset more in Market #4 that we’re not going to rely on something we can’t control to control our destiny…you can focus on problems or solutions, we choose to focus on solutions,” Kauffman continued.
“You can be crushing the market, and still not be where you need to be,” Kauffman said of the challenges Nielsen data presents to potential customers.
10:20-10:55 = Best of Both Worlds presented by
Cohen asked members of both shows how they handled their longevity. Both shows have been together for more than 16 years.
Mason said “being a comfortable pair of shoes” for your listeners is key.
Smith said being able to help advertisers has helped. “That’s something that’s often overlooked. You have to lean into your advertisers and build them up,” he said.
Ireland said neither show is afraid to “drive off the road” when it comes to content. He mentioned a situation when Neil Diamond wore a fake mustache and a hat, and said Smith’s postgame show strictly focused on Diamond’s bad disguise. “Mason and I do that every day. We take left turns every day. Money and P do the same thing”.
“We may spend an hour discussing something that has nothing to do with sports. If we think it’s interesting, we’ll do it,” Ireland continued.
He credited Program Director Amanda Brown who has reinforced “I don’t care what you talk about, as long as it’s interesting,” adding that having that support from management is important to their longevity.
Smith said he believes their show is the most local show in the market, saying that many major market shows would never discuss high school sports as much as he and Petros do. “We show the community we’re part of you. We’re not just guys with media passes…I think that’s so important to a community. We are in your community, we live in your community, we work in your community.”
Mason said he and Ireland have completely opposite personalities, which helps continue to keep the show fresh.
Cohen asked if they have evolved over their tenured, which Ireland said he might be cancelled if you were to pull up an aircheck from their first year.
“I believe you’re either changing, evolving, or trying new stuff, or you’re getting really dull,” Mason added. “We’re much more loose now than we were.”
Smith said when their show began, it was as informative as it was entertaining. But due to the rise of smartphone usage, the informative piece has gone mostly by the wayside, but listeners continue to seek entertainment.
“You gotta find a way to be entertaining and not just be a vent outlet,” Ireland added.
Smith also gave credit to AM 570 LA Sports Program Director Don Martin for allowing he and Papadakis “to figure it out”, allowing the pair to make mistakes and decide what worked best for their show.
Ireland said he couldn’t do a show with another “sports guy”, so the pairing with Mason continues to work.
When asked if longevity was a dirty word, Smith balked at the idea.
“We’ve raised a generation of sports fans. It’s weird, but it’s really cool. I like the word ‘longevity’.”
Ireland said “it’s really tough to last a long time,” adding that it’s rewarding to have that word applied to their show.
Cohen asked if either show had ever thought their run had ended or if there was a moment they thought the show was going to end.
Smith said he hadn’t that situation, but joked “I’m going to say something and stupid. It’s a foregone conclusion. It’s going to happen”. He said the situation has changed that 10 years ago if he were let go, he might need to move to another market to continue hosting a show. However, with the landscape of digital audio and the fabric he and Petros have weaved into the Los Angeles sports scene, they could go create a new program or podcast.
11:10-11:45 = How Radio Can Compete and Win in the Connected Car presented by
D’Angelo shared there are 12 streaming platforms attempting to infiltrate the audio space in automobiles, including Apple Music, YouTube Music, Spotify, Pandora, and TuneIn, among others. These platforms offer great user experiences for drivers, and are making things easy for auto manufacturers by designing their own software and an ease of implementation. Those entities also offer detailed analytics to advertisers that traditional AM/FM radio can’t match.
Xperi works with all major car brands, and currently has 125 million automobiles on the road that carry some of their technologies.
The company launched DTS AutoStage in 2020, which combined broadcasting and internet services for broadcast radio. The technology showcases traditional radio in a similar format to that of digital on-demand audio options. Radio continues to be a featured option with DTS AutoStage, rather than being included in an all encompassing “media” option.
Tesla, Mercedes-Benz, Genesis, Kia, and Hyundai currently offer the radio product. An additional eight manufacturers will be announced in the next 18 months.
The technology features a mobile device-like display that showcases all radio offerings, rather than a traditional analog radio dial. The platform also showcases an easier to find HD Radio offerings list. It also features detailed contact and social media information for the station on the digital dashboard.
The updated digital dashboard has a search capability function, allowing users to search specifically by genre.
Stations have creative control over what information is inputted into the DTS AutoStage system to allow contact information, social media platforms, and programming information displayed on the dashboard.
Xperi will provide analytics to stations who opt into providing the company with information about their programming. The analytics provided will include reach, total users, average session times, and more. “This is meant and intended to help the industry compete,” D’Angelo said. “We are not monetizing this in any way.”
The data will be tracked in 24-hour increments, and will allow stations to monitor their performance hour-by-hour the next day.
A “heat map” will also be provided to stations, showing where the automobiles utilizing the technology have traveled and where listeners are actually driving.
“This, we believe — if segmented by day part — can have a significant impact on your sellers strategy.”
The company captured 7.2 billion listening sessions in 2022. THat number will grow to 93.3 billion in 2023.
D’Angelo mentioned car companies are looking at all available options in their infotainment systems. The radio costs manufacturers $120. However, that cost could be put into making more connected cars simply equipped with a tablet-style system that is only connected to the internet.
In exchange for the analytics, Xperi asks that stations provide static data (station call letters, logos, positioning statement, etc), a streaming URL to continue listening experiences for drivers leaving the broadcast area to continue the listening session, and live data from the station’s programming system like song title, artist, hosts, name of advertisers during an commercial, and photos of talent. The service is completely free to broadcasters.
“You give us rights to use your metadata, and we obligate ourselves to give you access to the dashboard, complete control, and access to the analytics,” D’Angelo concluded.
11:45-12:15 = 2023 BSM Summit Awards Ceremony (Day 1) presented by
The festivities began with 97.1 The Fan Program Director Jimmy Powers being honored with the Mark Chernoff Award.
“This year’s award winner is a guy who has done a tremendous job in Detroit,” Chernoff said. “What Jimmy has had to do is balance out all this great talent plus they’ve got the Lions, Tigers, Red Wings, and Pistons. So you have to balance out how you work with the teams and you also have to be critical of the teams when they’re no good. Jimmy has learned how to balance all that out. He has great ratings, great talent, and a truly great station at 97.1 The Ticket in Detroit.”
“I would never expect anything like this. I’m completely honored to be recognized,” Powers said. “I appreciate the recognition, and it’s a true honor to be associated with a legend like Mark Chernoff.”
FOX Sports NFL Insider Jay Glazer was presented with the BSM Champions Award.
“The work that (Glazer) has done and the work that he has put into the public eye has been so incredibly helpful to those dealing with mental health battles,” Barrett said.
“I could never imagine I’d get an award for being really f***ed up,” Glazer joked. “I wake up in the morning and have to make that decision to get out of bed. We’re talking about it now.
“I wanted to really come forward…I wanted to be someone to show that it’s ok to talk about this. Every time I’ve opened up about this to someone, it’s brought us closer together.”
Glazer has been honest about his mental health struggles, and recently wrote a book — “Unbreakable” — on the topic. He also launched a podcast of the same name discussing mental health problems.
“My life amazing, but between my ears sucks. But whether you’re at my level or not, we’re all going through something…so I wanted to take it upon myself to be of service. Writing this book, I’ve had so many parents reach out to me saying ‘Thank you for giving me the words to discuss this with my kids’. I’ve had grandmothers say ‘for the first time in 80 years, I can have this talk’. Now, we’re paying it forward.”
Barrett Sports Media donated $1,000 in Glazer’s honor to the Merging Vets & Players charity.
1:30-2:10 = Raising The Volume presented by
Jason Barrett started the conversation by asking Cowherd about co-hosts since the last time he appeared at the BSM Summit.
During his last visit, Cowherd’s co-host was Kristine Leahy. She has since departed, as has her replacement, Joy Taylor. Jason McIntyre now works as Cowherd’s co-host.
“I blew up his website, so I figured I might as well give the guy a chance,” Cowherd said of McIntyre, referencing a 2007 incident with The Big Lead.
The FOX Sports Radio host then shared his admiration for the radio medium, and he joked that he is likely to make mistakes because of the pace of his show, and that’s ok with him.
“Radio to me is just a treadmill,” said Cowherd. “Don’t worry about mistakes. Just go.”
He then shared about the difficulty of doing both a television and radio simulcast.
“That simulcast is about pace. I know my radio show isn’t quite what it could be, and my TV show isn’t quite what it could be, but I have to balance them.”
Barrett asked about how Cowherd handles the times he is in the headlines for his mistakes or unpopular opinions.
“I’m really good at not doing things,” Cowherd admitted. “I’m very good at not picking up my phone. I’m very good at not giving a shit about criticism…I don’t worry about that. I used to tell Doug Gottlieb this. There’s not a lot of money in being right. I got rich by being interesting. Be interesting. We’re not Wikipedia. I just don’t care about the criticism.”
Cowherd was asked about his company The Volume. He previously said he didn’t put much stock in podcasting, saying no one was getting rich on podcasting.
“I don’t consider us a podcast company. I consider us a media company,” Cowherd said. “I watched Bill Simmons, I watched Dave Portnoy, I watched Big Cat. I’m constantly pivoting. We started podcasting. We’re a media company now. We watch what the audience likes. We look at the data. We’re like driving a bus. You tell us where you’re going and we’ll meet you there.”
The Volume has seen rapid growth since its inception. Cowherd said he has a great staff, and the timing was correct.
“COVID made some people available that wouldn’t have been,” the company’s founder said. “If you want Bill, you go to The Ringer. If you want Portnoy, you go to Barstool. There’s no scarcity of me, so I created our own ecosystem. It’s our guys. I knew we couldn’t get into bidding wars, so I’d listen to all these podcast and think ‘I wanna hire people that ESPN and FOX would wanna hire, but wouldn’t know what to do with them’.”
When asked what he’s looking for in potential employees, Cowherd looks for those who are like him.
“People that can talk to themselves. Barstool’s brand is very fratty, and it works for them. Bill’s brand is very cultured. So I’m gonna hire me. I didn’t go to Missouri or Duke or any of these great other schools. If you look at what we did: Draymond Green? 2nd round pick. Richard Sherman? 5th round pick. I hired a bunch of people I thought they’re grinders. Somebody’s cast them aside. They’ve been doubted.
“If Draymond Green was the number one pick, he wouldn’t work as hard. My management staff is people who hit a ceiling at other company’s and were undervalued. We’ve really tried to hire people with a chip on their shoulder, something to prove, and are vulnerable. Big companies wouldn’t know what to do with them. And it’s worked for us.”
Cowherd mentioned now that he’s in management of a company, he doesn’t mind paying his employees what they’re worth.
“The best thing I do all year is write bonus checks to my staff. It’s such a joyful moment. If I have a producer and I write him a $12,000 or $18,000 check, I’m changing his life. It’s a down payment for a house, they can buy a car. It’s joyous.”
2:10-2:45 = From Podcast to Podca$h presented by
The panel — led by Rush — was asked why advertisers are interested in advertising on each of their networks.
Ryan McDermott said advertisers are buying a 20-year story when it purchases ads with Barstool, adding that ad buyers are looking for a younger audience with the company, and it will continue to create content where its audience exists.
“When I started here five years ago, I never would have imagined some of these blue-chip advertisers would be buying ads with Barstool,” McDermott said, after referencing brands like Chevrolet and Taylor Made.
Maggie Clifton said brands that some advertisers are still utilizing promo codes and direct links as ways to measure their ROI, but the technology is changing to allow more and more blue-chip advertisers come into the fold. She added the diversification of podcast advertisers has developed during her three years working in the space.
Matt Mallon mentioned there were previously 5-10 advertisers purchasing the bulk of podcasts ads, but that number has dramatically increased in the following two calendar years. He added the opportunities available to those advertisers has never been greater.
A company’s uniqueness to advertisers was also pointed out as a potential foot in the door for those looking to reach sports podcast listeners.
McDermott shared that Barstool is a reality television program as much as it is a content factory. It also has several different hubs in New York and Chicago, as well as an employee now working in New Orleans.
Clifton highlighted the company’s relationship with the Wynn in Las Vegas and the state of the art studios built inside the hotel and casino complex.
Each agreed that podcast advertisers are seeking different things, with the belief that aggregating podcast sales with scale is the best way to get started. While McDermott mentioned product placement of Barstool talent is a powerful tool to offer companies.
2:45-3:20 = Showtime presented by:
Nichols began the session by asking Davis how he viewed the sports media space since his NBA playing days concluded, which he called “fruitful”.
“If you look at the current ecosystem of sports, it’s its own ecosystem,” Davis said. “Athletes have their own podcasts and their own shows. Producers are becoming their own studio.
Nichols mentioned the barrier to entry is as low as it has ever been, saying you have a television station in your pocket.
“Think about NBA fashion,” Davis said. “Craig Sager was the most fashionable person. He was the fashion guy in a league where it was suits and ties and now people are trying to pitch and sell shows as a part of NBA Productions or TNT Productions of this invisible red carpet of guys walking off the bus. The evolution, and now having that in your phone, it is driving commerce. Commerce is driving content and content is driving commerce. Destinations are now so important.”
Nichols then asked Davis about his views on what traits NBA personnel have that lend itself to a sports media future.
“Our space is personality and opinion driven,” Davis said. “Voice are important. The storytellers. I think this new generation are looking for the history and we’re so — because sports is so present — busy creating the ultimate narrative. We haven’t evolved from painting the picture of ‘Oh, he broke the record’,” mentioning that LeBron James eclipsing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was only contextualized by the point of view of LeBron and no discussion of the previous record holder.
A question from Nichols wondered what Davis — a media investor — views as the most successful content.
“Radio is always great because they do it every day, constantly. The information that they retain and churn out is ridiculous. Radio is always great. But from a long from content perspective, I’d like to see it busted back down to the reel, the hot take. If you look at the next documentary coming out, there’s a documentary, then a story about the documentary, and then there’s people who don’t make the documentary, and that ancillary content is becoming a premium.”
Sport specific content has become more prevalent, which Davis agreed is a good way to operate.
“Focus is good,” Davis said. “But it’s really more about the person and the personallity. Focus is good, but your intel and your intellect is drawing out real conversations.”
Nichols believes specialization can be helpful. “I think that it helps people know what they’re gonna get, and they’re looking for you,” she said. “I think that people have more choices, being clear on who you are and what you are is helpful.”
She then asked Davis what he looks for — from an inverstors prespective — in potential hires.
“I look at a personality, a business standpoint, like entreprenuers, and a creative standpoint. For me, it’s always like having this direct focus in investing in sports and collaborating to create a bigger ecosytem so there’s a bigger revenue pot so we can all share in storytelling.”
Davis shared that six years ago, he said he wanted to invest in 10 companies. He has since invested in 40 companies, with 36 still in operation.
“There are a lot of good content creators that want to mimic radio,” Davis continued. “Any talent that we run into, we have the opportunity to send them to a company to work with. It gave us a lot of intel and insight on the podcasting space.”
The former NBA star added he doesn’t view athlete-driven podcasts as a fad, but said he doesn’t believe viewers want to hop from platform to platform to find content from their favorite players.
When asked about how he would rate the diversity of sports media leadership, Davis laughed and joked “it’s unrateable:
“We need to put a lot of interest and effort into women’s sports, women leaders, because I would say women in sports have a better periphrial around talent, story, and how to actually break barriers. Then we talk about culture. Culture is a misused word in sports, but there’s a culture that was built in the 80s, but in the 90s and 2000s, it started to become monetized. So you have these players in this ecosytem that are starting to become pioneers.”
3:35-4:10 = The Moneyline presented by
Curtis began the panel by asking Rosen and Goulet if gambling content has become the mainstream.
“This was the first year that there was a sports betting show in the BSM Top 20,” Rosen said, refrencing You Better You Bet’s placement. “That shows to me that sports betting became mainstream in our industry and they accept that it’s not just one of those sports betting shows.”
Goulet mentioned that three of the largest stages at the Super Bowl’s Radio Row were betting content companies. He mentioned three years ago, he isn’t certain those companies would be allowed to be at Radio Row, and mentioned that Tony Romo was banned from participating in an event less than a decade ago because of the company’s association with sports betting.
Rosen continued by saying there are different types of sports betting content focuses, mentioning that there are room for those who will present a “CNBC-style” offering of just spreads, information, etc…while there is also room for those that want to be entertaining. He believes, however, that simple presentation of the facts will be more difficult to maintain.
Goulet said listeners will continue to follow hosts, even if their bets don’t pan out, because they are entertained by the hosts.
Curtis asked Goulet why listeners enjoy hearing about hosts losses.
“I think that humility is something we can connect with,” Goulet said. “I love when our guys say ‘I was so wrong about this game’. I think you connect with the audience that way. People like that. You might get bad reaction to that and someone may have been following that money, but hiding from it is much worse than that.”
Rosen was asked what are fantastic moments for sports betting content creators. He mentioned a situation like Aaron Rodgers potentially moving to the Jets is the perfect example. In a more unsavory situation, big NFL injuries change things immediately that will drive listeners to sports betting content.
The conversation shifted to what a rundown for a sports betting show looks like compared to traditional sports radio.
“The only difference is you’ll dive into a few more games — especially later in the day — but what’s interesting to a sports fan is interesting to a sports betting fan,” Goulet said.
Rosen was asked about the difference between a sports host and a sports betting host.
“There is certainly some crossover,” Rosen admitted, saying someone like 670 The Score host Danny Parkins could do a sports betting show, while others couldn’t. “We at the BetQL Network want hosts that can talk the lingo of sports betting.”
Goulet mentioned that while hosts could believe they have a great bet, listeners don’t care unless they are already planning to watch a game to begin with. He pointed to a story from a few years ago that the 10 most-bet college football games that year were nine bowl games and Ohio State/Michigan. “People bet on the games they’re most interested in watching,” Goulet said.
Both Goulet and Rosen mentioned that neither of their networks take calls from listeners, with Goulet mentioning that calls could backfire on sports betting, but also because they are both video platforms as much as they are strictly-audio content platforms.
Curtis asked about the future of AM radio and how VSiN and BetQL will make up that distribution.
Rosen shared he’s still a big believer in AM radio, and pointed to his home market of Chicago still being a vibrant AM radio market. “People find good content. If they don’t listen through AM radio, they listen on the app or streaming,” he added.
“It’s actually created a little window,” Goulet said. “There are so many sportsbooks that are willing to place ads, so why not take VSiN instead of a network news radio station.”
The conversation shifted to how the sports betting space will change in the following year. Rosen believes with more states becoming legal, that is how it will change. Not so much the content, but the localization of content as more states become legal. Goulet mentioned that the nation’s three largest states by population don’t have legal sports betting.
4:10-4:45 = Rome on Media presented by
Barrett Media President Jason Barrett began the conversation by asking Rome why he continues to do sports radio and what keeps it fun.
“Because they keep paying me to talk shit,” Rome joked. “Why 30 years in am I still doing this? Because I’m stealing money. I still love sports, I still love the game, and I can put food on my kids’ table by talking about sports.”
When asked how he structures the show, Rome said he’s got a certain way of doing things, but realized early in his career that he knew the right questions to ask of himself, the audience, and his interview subjects.
“My situation is unusual,” Rome said, pointing that the majority of Audacy employees work in the eastern time zone, while his studio is located in Orange County, California. “Everybody that works with me, I make it very clear to them you have no idea how lucky we are. They don’t bother us because we’re consistent. But the second we slip, they’ll be there to let us know.”
He then shared that his staff usually gets into the studio between 5:00 AM-7:00 AM before his show begins at 9:00 AM local time.
“When, I got to the national level, I had to find topics that transcends a national audience on the more than 200 stations I’m on,” Rome said.
Barrett asked Rome how he defines if something is or isn’t working.
“We have to appeal to all these different platforms. The content is king. My feeling is, if I take care of the show, the show will take care of me…I can say something on the radio that if I said on Twitter wouldn’t land the same. Know your room. You have to be something to everybody and it’s a nearly impossible thing to do. But never shortcut the content.”
Rome is one of the few national hosts who still continunally takes callers, and said callers have to make his product more compelling.
“How many of my hardcore audience is listening for three hours? Not all of them. If they’re gonna drop in for nine minutes or 13 minutes, if they’re not caller people, you don’t want them dropping in on callers. If they’re interview people, you want them dropping in on interview people.
“This is very simple: Have a take, don’t suck. Tell me what you think. If they make it better, they get on the air. It is not your inalienable right. It’s always been a host driven show because I didn’t want to rely on somebody else to decide my fate.”
Barrett asked about Rome’s opinion on a recent statement from Dan Le Batard that nobody in sports media cares if an interview is conducted well or not.
“It’s a flex, and it’s good for the brand, but if you’re gonna get that person on and you’re not gonna get anything out of that person, it’s a waste. Dan’s a really smart person, and he’s right, but the way I came up I was always concerned someone would say ‘Why did you not ask that question?’. It’s my job to ask the question. I don’t want to be the old head in the room, but things have changed. People don’t care. Dan’s right. It’s my job to get those guys on, I think you should prep it, and I want that person to say ‘Rome was prepared’.”
Rome’s show is heard on many AM radio stations. With the future of the medium in doubt, he said the situation is not ideal.
“If it makes it harder for the consumer to get to the product, that is not a positive development,” Rome said. “People are very habitual in their listening habits…I would imagine those same exact cars would have the technology for listeners to find us on an app, on their phone, but there’s always a way to access the content.”
Rome is famously friendly to advertisers, and shared it’s because they’re the lifeblood of his show and stations.
“It doesn’t matter how good the show is, or how intellgient or insightful I am, it doesn’t matter if I don’t have advertisers,” admitted Rome. “You will not find anybody who appreciates the advertiser more than me. I’m not gonna read it and throw it aside. I’m gonna sell my ass off for you. I’m not saying it’s easy, but we have to earn their respect and their business. I know how hard it is to get that business.”
Athlete-controlled media — sometimes refered to as “new media” — has grown in recent years. Rome thinks its both good and bad.
“It’s good for the business because there’s enough to go around,” shared Rome. “But I can’t compete against Kevin Durant talking about what it’s like to strive for a championship. But everybody has an agenda. The media has an agenda, (players) have their narrative they want pushed. Is it good for the fans? Yeah. They want to be let in behind the curtain. But the athletes are going to be behind the narrative and push what they want to be sign and not be pushed.”
Rome was asked what he would like to do that he hasn’t done in his illustrious career.
“I just kinda always planned it one thing at a time. I was always pretty good about being where my feet were,” Rome said. “I remember showing up and doing The Late Late Show, and I don’t remember if it was before or after Craig Killborn. That was fun. I remember thinking ‘I nailed that’. They hit me back with ‘Yeah, you did alright. We’re looking for someone with a little more sex appeal’. But I’m telling you, I’m doing what I want to be doing.”
He concluded by saying he’s still working on a book — “because everyone has a book” — and that’s the one thing he wishes he would have completed by now.
Atlanta Braves fans will be greeted with a very different television broadcast when Major League Baseball’s regular season begins later this month. Bally Sports South has undergone a full talent overhaul.
When the network announced its talent for the 2023 season, two names were missing. Neither Paul Byrd nor Brian Jordan will return. Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution noted that Byrd’s decision was a personal matter, while the team made efforts to bring Jordan back.
Brian Jordan was part of the team of analysts covering the Braves on TV last year. Byrd was a studio host. He was at the front of a season preview show, which premiered last week.
The Braves have been hit with plenty of other changes this offseason. Chip Caray will be replaced by Brandon Gaudin on play-by-play after Caray decided to leave Atlanta for St. Louis. Also, Tom Glavine returns as a game analyst after taking time away from the team in 2022.
