What started as a small project to gauge the industry’s perception of sports radio’s best talent, brands, and programmers five years ago has turned into one of our most popular content pieces of the calendar year. The majority of the votes have been received, and during the weeks of February 1-5 and 8-12 we will reveal the results of the BSM Top 20 of 2020.
Similar to past years, we will highlight the Top 20 local Major/Mid Market morning, midday and afternoon shows, the Top 20 local Major/Mid Market sports radio stations and programmers, the Top 20 National sports radio shows, and the Top 20 Original Podcasts. Votes are cast by executives in the sports/radio industry. We’ve already received 51 submissions and are just waiting on a few final ballots to trickle in before adding up the totals.
During my programming years, I heard format people frequently complain about lists done by publications without asking the industry for its input. There was a belief that folks on the outside don’t know the talent, stations, and programmers as well as those responsible for creating the content and producing local market success. So I created this annual series to give sports format leaders an opportunity to recognize the best performers from the prior year.
Having done this as long as I have, I’ve learned that lists will always create mixed reactions, no matter what the final results show. Some executives have a strong grasp on what’s taking place across the country and listen to a lot of different content and talent. Others are immersed in their own radio station and don’t have the time or interest to worry about a large number of out of market hosts and/or brands. That said, I’ve managed to build a lot of relationships over the years, and though tracking down leaders from various radio companies can be an exhausting process, I think it’s helpful and productive for industry people to get a read on how they’re seen by the format’s top programming minds.
But analyzing the best of 2020 isn’t as easy as prior years. A number of people lost jobs this year due to layoffs. Some shows downsized from 3 to 2 or 2 to 1 members. Some people changed markets and/or timeslots, and other programs were cancelled before the clock ran out on 2020. Our one rule which never changes is that a show/talent must end the year on the air with the radio station, and in the timeslot for which they are being given voting consideration. The rest is subjective and left to the voters to decide on such as originality, ability to entertain, multi-platform excellence, length of service, and ratings success.
I want to thank Steve Stone Voiceovers for signing on as our exclusive sponsor for this year’s Top 20 series. A total of 240 shows, stations and PD’s will be highlighted next month, and it’s a cool feeling knowing your peers respect your work and view your contributions as significant to the sports radio industry.
Before I wrap up, I do want to point something out which many lose sight of. The amount of people under consideration for recognition is lengthy. For example, there are 81 program directors eligible for voting consideration in the Major and Mid Market categories. The morning show category has a total of 79 shows, Middays have 100, Afternoons are at 90, National shows are 86, Original Podcasts at 117, and Stations are a combined 91.
This means that while 240 shows, brands and people will earn recognition, nearly 400 who were on the ballot won’t make the cut. Sometimes we lose sight of how big the sports format is, and what it takes to stand out against a large number of competitors. As someone who listens to a lot of different sports radio brands across the country, trust me when I tell you that there are a lot of good shows and people out there who easily could make a case to be on the list but don’t get the attention that others do. That doesn’t mean a station or host is lacking skill, it just means a greater focus needs to be placed on increasing awareness in the format.
Regardless, next month we’ll shine the light on the industry’s best for the prior year. I can’t tell you how to feel about being on the list or how to respond after the results come out and you learn where you stand, but what I can say is that there’s a lot of positives associated with being recognized by industry leaders, so appreciate it, celebrate it how you feel is appropriate, and then get back to the grind because the on-air performance you deliver today and tomorrow could be the difference between making or missing the cut of the BSM Top 20 of 2021.
I sold radio advertising and did a sports talk show for 36 years. I never stopped doing one or the other. I sold more than my share of endorsements for myself and other on-air personalities. I believe in the results you can generate for clients with testimonial ads and it’s the best way to realize your earning potential as an on-air personality. I felt like I was worth more than a station was willing to pay me as on-air person, so I went to the market to prove that.
I always thought I was overdue for a raise, so I went to the market for that each year. My income was usually about 30% endorsements and the rest salary and commission. I built in my talent fee for the endorsement and got the sales commission for the spots that went with it. I tried to make sure if I was charging $300 a month in endorsement fees that my schedule was $1200-1500 per month or more. I always felt like I was the best salesperson for me and the results the client received were always better with endorsement delivery spots.
I had multiyear endorsements in automotive, jewelry, sports bars, fine dining, pizza delivery, clothing, real estate, dry cleaning, painting, and hot tubs. Some of these relationships I still maintain to this day.
I always felt more on-air people should get into sales, at least to better sell themselves because salespeople will take the path of least resistance and profit. And in some cases, they don’t want to see the on-air person make more off an account than they do. A $300 endorsement fee is better than a $200 commission on a direct client sale of $1000.
So, why don’t more on-air people sell themselves?
I asked Mike Scott that same question. Mike retired as Region President/Gulf South Region for iHeartMedia a few years ago and now lives near me in Frisco, Texas, north of Dallas. Mike has taken the concept of on-air people selling endorsement contracts to a new level.
In fact, he has perfected it.
Scott calls it a cultural shift that needs to take place in more radio station groups. And the benefits can be enjoyed for all. Scott says, “endorsement partnerships renew 4x—6x better than non-endorsement deals and can last for years, withstand every business downturn, budget cut, or even a pandemic. “ Scott organized the on air talent in Mobile, Alabama and converted them into self-endorsement sellers. He has a system for client engagement and contact, follow up, how AE’s serve as agents, client entertainment, referrals, prospecting, elevator pitches, and contract renewals.
The iHeart cluster grew endorsement partnership revenue by 80% in 18 months.
Scott says, “unless your format is incredibly unique, there is no reason on air people should have less than 7-10 Partnerships—and spoken word formatted talent, especially ALL SPORTS, are almost limitless.” Scott doesn’t believe in short term endorsement deals. He calls them poison, “they don’t have enough time typically to create the FREQUENCY required. You really need 6 months + for the partnership to ‘season’.”
So, what are we waiting for?
I would be willing to bet that at least 20% of the on-air people in every building right now could get 7 deals and probably 40% of spoken word talent.
Get ahold of Mike for the details, the station investment is less expensive than agency commission, it all cash flows and you get a lot more for it. Mike’s email is mscott92258@outlook.com.
Conservative talk radio is undergoing a major shift, perhaps the medium’s biggest in the last few decades.
As we ramp back up to normal life after the Christmas and New Year’s break, talk radio is also getting back to business as usual. However, this year promises to deliver a changing talk radio landscape where much is still unknown.
For the last four years, conservative talk radio, aka successful and profitable talk radio, has had proven results delivered by the Republican Trump administration to admire every day. More money in working-folks’ pockets, zero foreign wars and judges who admire and follow the constitution make up just a few of the items top talkers have had to praise over the past few years. Plus plenty of drama, some created by the President, along with even more drummed up by his Democratic opposition.
As such, the biggest shift in 2021 for conservative media is playing the role of the opposition, with their preferred party no longer holding control of the White House. In fact, as a business model this vantage point has traditionally held the biggest upside, in terms of ratings and revenue. It pays very well to vocally beat the drum of opposition and point out your opponent’s mistakes. Fear, anxiety and anger sell, and we are certain to see it from the right, as we have for the last few years on the left.
This assumes, of course, that Joe Biden is in fact the president as of late January. For a moment, we’ll go with that assumption and disregard the mountains of evidence indicating it was actually President Trump who swept most of six swing states, and with them the Electoral College.
Relating to this current political battle over the validity of the election results, some talk hosts will have to find their sweet spot. Sean Hannity, for example, spent four straight years loudly praising and lauding the accomplishments of President Trump, only to seemingly roll over and pronounce a Trump loss immediately as we woke on November 4th. While other hosts fought, as they do to this day, Hannity was much slower to come around to supporting the 75-plus million voters who believe their legal choice was subverted and corrupted. Only as the waning days of 2020 approached did Hannity seem to tap into the anger and frustration of his radio listener base. In 2021, he’ll have to stake out his territory.
Other hosts, such as Mark Levin, have been 100% behind the #StopTheSteal movement, immediately pointing out the unconstitutional nature of this election process, and becoming especially critical of most of the post-election judicial rulings. Levin has never wavered, and his posture will undoubtedly remain consistent as the new year unfolds. Rush Limbaugh has hit a similar tone, urging America not to back down and allow its will to be subverted.
Abnormal this year will be the afternoon or evening airwaves devoid of Michael Savage. After 26 years opining about politics, culture and meatballs on his syndicated radio talk show, Savage now moves to a podcast-only format, where he says his program may be a bit more edgy, due to a lack of FCC constraints.
The biggest change in 2021 – in fact the elephant in the padded radio studio – may be the world of talk radio without Limbaugh leading the charge. In an emotional sendoff to 2020, Limbaugh concluded his final broadcast of the year by admitting the day will come when he cannot host his daily radio program. The eternal optimist and “Mayor of Realville,” Limbaugh has been open about his battle with lung cancer, especially after missing shows due to the effects of treatment. Limbaugh literally resurrected the talk radio format in the 1980’s, hit a nerve with the traditional, conservative majority of America, and helped give rise to a generation of hosts and personalities following his lead. A broadcast day without Limbaugh, whenever that should come, will surely be as abnormal to the medium as one can imagine.
We don’t know exactly what the 12 months of 2021 will bring, let alone the first 12 days of this new year. Americans are hoping for health. To quote Warren Harding, who lead our nation at this time 100 years ago, they are hoping for a return to normalcy. Harding and his successor, Calvin Coolidge, led a rebirth of the nation and the rise of the roaring 20’s.
American talk radio is now experiencing a rebirth of its own. We will hear their voices roar anew in 2021.
When we look back at 2020 years down the road, chances are most of us will remember it as the year we were rocked by Covid-19. The pandemic caused death, economic pain, a surge in unemployment, shut downs across the country, and even a Presidential change. Although each of the issues we’ve dealt with are much more significant than news created in sports media circles, this is after all a media site, and 2020 was a year full of activity.
During the past twelve months, Joe Rogan and Bill Simmons got paid big by Spotify. Outkick became a bigger brand due to Jason Whitlock and Clay Travis teaming up to form a strong 1-2 punch. Mike Francesa stepped away from the daily sports radio chaos in New York City after three decades on top. Sports radio stations 98.5 The Sports Hub, 97.1 The Ticket, and KFAN proved they could deliver monster ratings without sports, while top notch talent such as John Kincade, Steak Shapiro, and Bernie Miklasz learned that even a strong body of work wasn’t enough to survive the havoc created by Covid-19 on the sports media industry.
The coronavirus also taught the sports television industry a valuable lesson about storing quality programming, as networks aired content of little value due to the sports world shutting down. The national sports radio scene saw Mike Greenberg return to ESPN Radio while Mike Golic, Trey Wingo and the Dan Le Batard crew exited. Damon Amendolara even showed how a national sports radio show can bring together a host, listener and community by introducing the world to ‘Lil’ Mo Gaba and continuing to honor him after his passing.
There were many examples of great content, touching stories, head scratching decisions, and personality rants, but I’m going to focus on twelve things I liked, observed and remain bullish on heading into 2021. This list is not in any particular order. It’s just a series of things that have either caught my attention or are floating thru my brain as we brace ourselves for a brand new year.
#1 – Layoffs were unfortunately a frequent part of the 2020 conversation. ESPN, iHeart, Entercom and others all went thru it. Personnel were cut and in some cases temporary salary reductions, hiring freezes, and mandatory furloughs were installed. Entering 2021, there are a lot of talented people sitting on the sidelines. Though some decisions were necessary as a result of unexpected economic pain caused by the pandemic, cutting jobs isn’t a path to long-term prosperity. Brands become weaker, retained employees become bitter as their responsibilities increase, and competitors get stronger due to skilled people being available. With another stimulus package expected to give more relief to media groups and a vaccine on the way to help society in its fight with Covid-19, better days should be coming our way. If though future cuts become necessary again, executives should learn from the mistakes they made in 2020. Introducing poorly thought out terms such as ‘employee dislocation‘ and ‘excellence centers‘, and failing to be open and honest with media professionals who were being let go after investing decades of time to help brands succeed leaves a sour taste in everyone’s mouth. It paints a picture of a company and its leadership team lacking awareness and compassion during difficult times. In the long run that’s never a good omen for growing a business. Professionals understand the realities of the world. They can handle bad news. Treat them with respect rather than worrying about how your message might resonate in the trades and press. Trust me, no fancy quote or created term is going to make your company look better when you’re eliminating hundreds of salaries.
#2 – You can have the best talent on earth, a sales team that can sell ice to an Eskimo and a loyal audience that will listen to anything you present thru their speakers but it’s all irrelevant if you can’t actually get on the air. 2020 was The Year of the Engineer. Brands learned how fortunate or screwed they were this year based on who was in charge of their engineering department. Engineers usually fly under the radar inside most stations, only being called upon when something goes wrong. Well, given how many challenges there were to deal with in 2020, few departments earned their money more than these folks. So when you’re enjoying an adult beverage celebrating the arrival of 2021 and putting 2020 in your rear view mirror, feel free to raise a toast to the men and women in these departments across the country because without them, the damage our industry felt in 2020 would have been much more severe.
#3 – No brand had a better 2020 than Barstool Sports. Regardless of whether you love or loathe Dave Portnoy and Erika Nardini, Barstool was acquired as part of a $450 million dollar deal with Penn National. They then rewarded their new ownership group by continuing to dominate social media, introducing new apps, podcasts, and personalities (Deion Sanders, Joey Mulinaro, Ben Mintz), monetizing commentaries and social moments thru a mixture of strong advertising and merchandising strategies, explored new territory (Coach Duggs on Twitch), and they’re positioned well to enjoy a strong share of the sports betting market. Portnoy in particular continues to evolve by diving deeper into the stock market, moving to Philadelphia to grow the brand’s sports betting opportunities and fan base, and by being more active in the political arena. He weighed in frequently on decisions made by politicians during the pandemic, offered video commentaries on the presidential election, and has appeared on CNBC and FOX News, even traveling to the White House for a face to face conversation with President Trump. Don’t worry he didn’t change everything though. Pizza reviews remained a hit, and feuds with former HBO exec Peter Nelson and media critics remained alive. The brand’s best effort though came at the end of the year with the creation of The Barstool Fund to help small businesses impacted by the pandemic. The idea was an instant success, generating over 11 million dollars in donations, and helping more than 45 small businesses. The videos submitted by local businesses have been powerful, and the calls made by Portnoy to each owner informing them that help is on the way have been uplifting, proving to the world that Barstool can do amazing things with its platform when it rallies around a cause. Barstool has taken a lot of hits over the years for its prior actions and commentaries but their ability to make an impact is undeniable, and they’re unlikely to slow down anytime soon, even with a pandemic causing all sorts of pain and disruption.
#4 – Some were pissed that Craig Carton had a seat waiting for him in New York at WFAN following his exit from prison. I’m not one of those people. Hearing Carton back on the air, doing what he does best, entertaining sports radio listeners, was a smart programming and business move for FAN. Craig is gifted at what he does and added instant star power to the radio station, but finding chemistry with Evan Roberts and beating 98.7 ESPN NY’s The Michael Kay Show is going to be a lot harder than teaming with Boomer Esiason and beating a national morning show featuring Mike & Mike and/or Golic & Wingo. Whether Carton & Roberts win or not though in the future is besides the point. Sports radio is better with Craig Carton on the air. If you want to pout about him getting the job without serving a life sentence for his prior transgressions that’s fine. But I think it comes down to four simple things; Results, Relationships, Talent and Timing. Like it or not, Carton had all four on his side and now it’s up to him to make the most of his second chance. I’m rooting for him to do just that.
#5 – Timing is everything when it comes to creating an impact, and for ESPN, the decision to move up the release of The Last Dance was both smart and necessary. With sports shut down and networks relying on old games and programming that looked and felt different and unimportant, the arrival of the ten part series directed by Jason Hehir, highlighting Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls of the 1990’s, gave people a sense of normalcy and something to look forward to on a weekly basis. It was the most tweeted about show in 2020 and a heavy part of conversation on sports radio as hosts took to it like moths to a flame. Though the series had Jordan’s influence all over it and generated mixed reactions among former Bulls and sports media members, I enjoyed it. It gave people a reason to watch sports on television during a time when they were desperate for good content. Sometimes that’s more important than the facts themselves.
#6 – Four individuals earned my respect and appreciation for their social media creativity in 2020….Barstool’s Kevin ‘KFC’ Clancy created two digital hits with his social video series One-Minute Man and The Goddamn Jets. The Jets series delivered what you’d expect, the rantings and ravings of a pissed off Jets fan. As a Giants fan, I’m used to Jets fans being upset so that didn’t move me as much, but One-Minute Man was an absolute gem. The series features Clancy looking at trending sports and pop culture topics, it’s well edited, cleverly produced, and laughter is provided throughout each episode. Few talent understand how to reach and connect with younger audiences while still serving traditionalists like myself better than Clancy……another sports media star who created a social media impact was ESPN’s Katie Nolan who turned a Zoom call with ESPN friends into one of the coolest moments of the year. With the country locked down and looking for positive things to latch on to, Nolan used her creativity, connections, and media guests to turn a normal video chat into a special piece of content that was better than most of what aired on ESPN television during the same week…….since we’re on the subject of Zoom, Annie Agar arrived on the scene and used her creativity to show how certain scenarios would play out if the key parties involved were to take part in a Zoom call together. The originality of Agar’s work got the attention of ESPN’s Sunday NFL Countdown producers and landed her an appearance on the show. If Agar was able to make this quickly of an impression on social media in 2020, I’m curious to see what she has in store for us in 2021….but the best social video content I saw this year was more serious in nature. FOX Sports’ Emmanuel Acho tackled the issue of race in America with the introduction of Uncomfortable Conversations With a Black Man. The series was an instant success and has since been turned into a best selling book. Considering all we witnessed on our phone and television screens as city’s across America dealt with public unrest following controversial deaths involving police and black men, Acho leaned in to an important issue, and invited notable guests such as Matthew McConaughey, Roger Goodell and the Petaluma police department to explore ways to improve racial tensions in society. The all white backdrop to each episode made an immediate impression, and Acho’s ability to guide and advance serious discussions showed why he’s rapidly becoming a sports media sensation.
#7 – We heard mixed reactions initially when news broke that Pat McAfee was leaving CBS Sports Radio for SiriusXM’s Mad Dog Sports Radio. I was surprised because I couldn’t understand how Entercom and Westwood One could let a rising star like McAfee get away less than a year into a deal or why anyone would think McAfee wouldn’t fit in on the Chris Russo branded channel. From the start I thought it was a no-brainer decision for SiriusXM’s management team and am even more convinced now that Steve Cohen and his leadership group hit a homerun. McAfee is a star in every sense of the word. His style is better presented on satellite radio than on terrestrial, and his placement in the lineup between Adam Schein and Mad Dog is perfect. Does he deliver a traditional sports talk show? No. The great ones usually have their own style and ability to generate interest and McAfee does plenty of that whether it’s on television, radio, social media or inside of a wrestling ring. With his arrival on the channel, McAfee has added more star power, appointment conversations, and another reason to continue listening to one of sports radio’s best national channels.
#8 – I said it three years ago and believe it even more now at the end of 2020. Stations are going to use Virtual Program Directors in the near future. The majority of communication is done thru email and the phone. A good leader with creative ideas, strong technical skills, an ability to coach talent, industry relationships, and accessibility doesn’t need to be in an office to be effective. Most groups learned this during the pandemic. If talent can perform from their kitchen tables, so too can a PD inside a home office, whether living locally or elsewhere in the country. With brands looking for ways to reduce costs and maintain efficiency, and professionals seeking flexibility if asked to adjust their economic situations, don’t be surprised if this becomes a more popular trend down the line.
#9 – ESPN Radio ends 2020 in an unfamiliar position, having to regain trust and confidence from a large number of affiliates. Longtime executive Traug Keller departed in February, and months later a few other prominent execs, most notably Connor Schell, also exited. Since then the Bristol run network has made two major lineup changes, losing key people such as Mike Golic, Trey Wingo, Dan Le Batard, and Jon ‘Stugotz’ Weiner. The loss of those high profile talents and the reports in the press surrounding their departures, has left decision makers questioning if staying in business with ESPN Radio is in their best interests. ESPN executive David Roberts tried to alleviate some of those concerns during a conversation with yours truly, but if ESPN wants to retain a firm grasp on the successful business its built then it’s going to have to deliver results, offer more executive access to radio leaders, and provide lineup stability. Radio operators don’t do well with frequent change, especially on a national level where one tweak can affect hundreds of radio stations. It’s too early to say whether or not the changes made will make ESPN Radio stronger but most industry folks we spoke with aren’t optimistic about the network’s direction and feel FOX Sports Radio has become the strongest national product. It’s up to Roberts, Justin Craig, Norby Williamson, Tim McCarthy, Amanda Gifford and everyone else involved to prove the new path can be just as successful as the old one.
#10 – Since we’re on the topic of national sports radio, one brand I’m going to be keeping an eye on in 2021 is VSIN. The brand established itself well over the past few years, added to its talent roster in 2020, and has its sights set on expanding its terrestrial footprint in the new year after announcing its exit from SiriusXM. To help them do that they’ve expanded their partnership with IHeart and will soon announce the hiring of a Director of Audio. With sports betting gaining more political support across the country, the Las Vegas based audio/video brand is built to capitalize on it. The category itself is red hot in advertising circles, and given some of the changes and uncertainty surrounding some of the national sports radio networks, it’ll be interesting to see if a growing market and new relationships can help Brian Musburger’s brand ascend to a higher level. Based on what I see and hear, I’d bet on them making strides in 2021.
#11 – A position that doesn’t exist inside most sports radio stations which absolutely should is a Director of Merchandising. GM’s and Execs don’t like to pay off-air folks because they can’t attach dollars to their roles, but this is one position that absolutely can. Brands have 168 hours per week to use their airwaves, and unlimited opportunities on social platforms to market their products and generate revenue. Heck, stations use these hours to sell thousands of minutes of commercials to clients, stressing the value of the medium and its ability to drive sales. Maybe it’s time to take our own medicine and use the air time to move our own products. To do that, programmers are going to need to reevaluate the importance of a promo and work closely with the Director of Merchandising to better use promo time to grow business. This should easily be an annual six figure business for sports radio brands. WWE, Barstool Sports, ProWrestlingTees and others are making a fortune on merchandise, and sports radio should be doing the same. Before you bitch about the expenses associated with creating merch, save it. Ordering in bulk cuts costs and in this 2020 economy I’m sure local t-shirt shops would love to work with radio stations to stay busy and keep their doors open. You don’t make money without spending money and companies can’t afford to say no to adding six figures worth of revenues to their bottom lines. At this stage of the game, radio must rethink how it’s growing NTR and merchandise should be at the center of the discussion.
#12 – Why radio groups and advertising agencies throw large sums of money in the direction of Nielsen is beyond my understanding. 2020 should have been a wakeup call that when business survival is on the line, spending big for a flawed ratings service makes little economic sense. Yet most radio groups kept feeding the monster while absorbing financial losses and staff reductions. Kudos to Saga Communications, Midwest Communications and Townsquare Media who realized there are other ways to grow a company without relying on the service. I have nothing against Nielsen. I love research, examining listening trends, analyzing meter counts, and studying the game within the game. I also like a few people in the company who try to lend insight whenever I have questions. My problem is the information. First, streaming has been poorly captured. The company just finally started measuring headphone listening. Think that could be a problem when a pandemic hits, shutdowns create record unemployment, and less people are on the road? Now add to that consistently low meter counts which can see a market’s results affected by one individual. When a business is hurting, your ratings won’t be enough to convince them to buy advertising. The only thing that might save it is a relationship between the client and a salesperson or manager. I also didn’t like the way Nielsen announced their new ‘Subscribers First‘ policy. Although I can see why they’d want to stop providing information on brands that don’t use their service, they’re also providing less full market information to companies who are paying for the service. As expected, it produced reactions from a few media professionals. Click here, here and here to read some of them. Maybe one day radio’s measurement service will produce statistics and evidence that help executives trust and understand the listening patterns of their audience, but that day has yet to arrive. In the meantime, executives keep throwing money at the problem, worrying more about what they could lose rather than what they might gain by pursuing a different path.
Most people will likely remember 2020 as a year they’d like to forget. Between worrying about the health and safety of family and friends as a result of the coronavirus, watching the lights go out on the sports world for months, colleagues forced to work remotely and feel out of touch with society, and seeing businesses suffer the wrath of the pandemic, including the sports media industry, it’s been a year full of bad news. 2021 holds no promises of a bounce back year either, but given what we just endured over the past ten months, I think it’s safe to say that anything else is welcomed at this point.
I’m going to produce a column next week which will look back on some of the standout performers and moments from sports media in 2020, but I want to use this space today to share a few lessons I learned from operating a company during a challenging year, and pass along a few updates and thoughts related to our 2021 plans.
For starters, I discovered that there’s nothing more important than understanding how critical it is to pivot in business and not be afraid to be bold. So many in our business use these words in conversation and they look good when printed on a website but how many have actually followed thru and done it? It’s easy to wait for the stars to align perfectly to make decisions or stand pat because things are fine at the moment, but changing tomorrow’s outcome requires having a feel for what’s coming, and the conviction to act decisively. Not doing so can hurt your brand or crush your business. I wrote a story about this earlier this year, highlighting how a local florist reacted. If you didn’t have a chance to read it, you should.
Being completely candid, I wasn’t sure if BSM was going to survive in its current form back in early April. When the shutdown hit in March, I knew it could be bad. In late February we hosted a successful BSM Summit in New York City. One month later I was preparing for likely cancelations to my consulting business. I never assume that any of my client relationships will last forever. I know I’ve got to prove my worth every year. I also know that the cost for my services don’t appear on the first page of the budget, the sheet which identifies essential staff. That means I can deliver great value and have management’s complete support, but if a station loses 50-60% of their revenue, my phone may ring with bad news.
Sensing that the worst could be headed our way, I knew we had to make a bold move and go all-in on original content. In May, we did that by adding six writers to the staff including Jay Mariotti who has been a tremendous addition to our team. Though nobody gets rich here from contributing, the collective expenses do add up. Adding all of those folks made no economic sense whatsoever at the time, but I felt this website mattered to industry people, and I knew that if we were going to continue to serve the sports media industry that I’d have to look past the short-term financial setbacks and focus on building a stronger staff to help us elevate our content, and display strength during a critical time.
We began ramping up our content, launching the BSM Member Directory to help broadcasters seeking opportunities, debuted the ‘Managing The Crisis’ podcast to share insights with executives dealing with the downward spiral caused by the pandemic, placed a greater focus on selling advertising opportunities on our website, and tightened up our SEO strategy to have our content appear better in search. We also added a new layer to the company, announcing our entry into news radio consulting in September, and added the website Barrett News Media to begin serving the news media industry. We wrap up 2020 with fourteen people contributing and earning compensation from BSM and eleven being paid to help us on BNM.
By making those decisions, we were able to triple our website traffic, grow memberships to thirty plus people, add new advertising business from multiple partners, and kick off BNM with monthly activity similar to where BSM was two years into its existence. Keep in mind, BNM has only been a brand for 90-days. I dodged a bullet and only lost two clients during the pandemic. Though it stunk to end working relationships with some great brands and people, the hard work we invested paid off as months later we added three new clients.
As proud as I am of our ability to maneuver the business thru a difficult year, I endured a personal challenge in 2020 which I didn’t talk publicly about. I went thru a struggle with my voice from September to December. I kicked off Season 5 of the BSM Podcast with a few killer episodes (Sam Savage, Mike Greenberg and Chris Oliviero) but had to halt the show because I had days where I could barely talk. Though I hate starting and stopping projects, I knew that if I couldn’t rely on my voice being strong, I’d have to stop the podcast in order to save my energy for client calls. I learned I had a cyst on my vocal chords, which thankfully isn’t cancerous and is common among folks who speak a lot. My voice has been stronger over the past few weeks but I’m planning to get the issue addressed during the first quarter of 2021. For those of you who have enjoyed the conversations I conduct with industry leaders on the BSM Podcast and wondered why the shows stopped, now you know the reason. I’m hoping to dive back in sometime in 2021.
The news wasn’t all bad though on the personal front. Despite having to delay a wedding, cancel a WrestleMania trip with my son, miss out on opportunities to work with staffs in local markets, and battle vocal chord problems, I did finally buy a home. Having rented 16 different homes or apartments in 15 towns over a 22 year stretch, it’s nice to finally be settled in. If there’s any advice I wish I had been given early in my career it’s to expect to move around a lot and rent more than you buy. Now that I’m living where I want to be and running my own company, I’m not worried about where I may have to move to chase the next opportunity. One great perk of my new residence is that it has a large finished basement area. That will soon become the working office for BSM, and in time I will build out a video room and production studio for podcasting in order to create more content in the future.
I don’t have all the answers on how to survive a pandemic. A shutdown could hit in early 2021 and cause more damage, and I may be writing a different story then. I just did what any small business operator would, I tried to analyze the situation, examine which paths would and wouldn’t make sense to explore, and create new ways to keep the business alive. I also understood how vital it is to use my platform and relationships to help people. As a consultant (I still hate that title) I do everything from helping brands improve content, branding, imaging, structure and ratings, recruiting, social/digital planning and execution, conducting research, and making recommendations or introductions. What most don’t see though is how I can help on the sales end. A few brands who I think highly of earned advertising buys from agency friends of mine in 2020 as a result of my recommending them. These things don’t happen all the time and they may not always show up in a consulting contract but during a pandemic year when profits were evaporating, it helps having people in your corner who care about helping your business grow. BSM closes 2020 in good shape and is positioned well entering 2021. That doesn’t happen without great loyal clients. To all who stuck with us thru a challenging year, it’s sincerely appreciated.
Entering 2021, I’ve been asked a few times about the BSM Summit. Due to the uncertainty in the country, it’s on pause until further notice. Once America is back to normal we’ll begin planning for it because we know it is enjoyed, appreciated, and well attended by the industry, but to lay the groundwork for it without an idea of when things will be stable again would be a bad business decision. When we do start putting together the next event I can share that it will be hosted again in either New York City or Los Angeles. Moving it around will have to wait a bit. Until then, we’ll sit tight and wait until it’s safe to assemble a large group of people.
While we wait for the green light to gather and assemble another star studded conference, we are planning to host a virtual event in 2021. We have a few ideas in mind that we’re excited about. The key is making sure we can find the right video provider who can deliver a strong technical experience without bankrupting the company. I’ve had a few productive interactions so far and once we’re ready to make an announcement you’ll learn on the BSM website what’s coming and how to be part of it.
Additionally, the BSM Top 20 of 2020 will be released February 1-5 and February 7-8. We will reveal the Top 20 local morning, midday, and afternoon shows in both Major and Mid-sized markets. We’ll also unveil the Top 20 sports stations, program directors, national sports talk shows, and original podcasts. Similar to prior years, more than 50 executives will be involved in the voting process to determine the winners. Altogether 240 shows, stations and/or personalities will be recognized. We’ve asked our voters this year to rely on the ear test, and take into account originality, and a show/hosts ability to entertain and connect across multiple platforms when making their selections. If an executive wants to factor in ratings success when casting their vote, that’s fine too. The only thing that we insist on is a show finishing the year in the timeslot it’s up for consideration in. We do have one sponsorship opportunity available for the BSM Top 20. If interested, email JBarrett@sportsradiopd.com. This is the biggest thing we do each year on the BSM website.
Among my list of priorities for BSM heading into 2021 is finding more sales support to help us grow our online business. We reach a lot of decision makers and influential talent on this website, and our visitors and page views are higher than the monthly cume on some top sports radio stations. Our social media impressions are also consistently between four and five million per month. We’ve earned the industry’s trust and respect as a content outlet over the past five years, and I know we can help brands benefit from promoting their products on our websites. If you need a recommendation, ask Justin Dove of Core Image Studio how advertising with BSM has paid off for him.
Two other areas I’d like to dedicate time to in 2021 are developing our BSM merchandising strategy, and growing the BNM website. We will launch an official online store in the new year on BSM, and I’m also going to explore utilizing some talent for paid marketing to help us increase the awareness of the brand. I’ll also be looking to increase editorial support and add more writers to BNM to help us grow our presence in the news media space. If you or someone you know is involved in news radio and has a passion to write about it, email Jason@BarrettNewsMedia.com.
In closing, I want to thank each of our writers for consistently producing great content, but I especially want to recognize Demetri Ravanos for not only doing a great job as our editor, but for being a great partner and friend thru some difficult times. We have an outstanding crew at BSM, and though the faces and names may change when folks land opportunities, we keep finding ways to move forward with new talented people because Demetri and I never stop recruiting people who love this business as much as we do. If we can help our readers stay informed about the business, improve at their craft, develop relationships, or position themselves or their brand for future success, that’s what makes the work we do rewarding. It’s cool to see so many people interested in reading our content, and I could write a few more paragraphs about it but this column is long enough. Instead I’ll end it by simply saying, Thank You, Merry Christmas.
Since January 1, 1992, ESPN Radio has introduced listeners across the nation to some of the biggest and best personalities in sports media, while delivering ratings, respect, and revenue to hundreds of America’s sports radio stations. The Bristol run network has provided stability to radio affiliates by relying on a mixture of transparency, a powerful brand name, access to the network’s star studded talent roster, play by play of big sporting events, and a second to none lineup, which has been both consistent and talented.
If you say the name ESPN Radio to listeners and industry professionals, it carries weight. Some say it stands for sports and success. Others highlight talent and entertainment. Some point to credibility and quality. The bottom line, ESPN Radio has earned a stellar reputation due to a strong track record of satisfying listeners, rewarding partners, and featuring top notch talent and quality programming. It’s why affiliates continue to pay annual rights fees and give up large chunks of ad inventory to associate their stations with the biggest brand name in sports audio entertainment.
But a couple of recent lineup changes have radio affiliates nervous about the future direction of the network. Some of those concerns were shared last week on this website by ten anonymous program directors in a piece written by Demetri Ravanos. I’ve heard similar complaints and frustrations from market managers, executives and programmers. Some have even contemplated whether it was time to terminate their relationship with the worldwide leader, uncertain that a better lineup, consistency, and higher ratings are around the corner.
At the center of the conversation is ESPN’s Senior Vice President of Production David Roberts, who finds himself with the unenviable task of having to retain confidence of the network’s radio partners, while adding new voices with multi-platform experience to help ESPN Radio excel in a rapidly changing media climate. A seasoned executive who also manages ESPN’s daytime lineup of First Take, Get Up, Highly Questionable, Around the Horn, Pardon the Interruption, and SportsCenter, and recently added oversight of Jalen & Jacoby, ESPN podcasts and events, and production of digital studio shows and YouTube, Roberts understands that change is difficult for some. Though he knows questions may be raised initially of the network’s decisions, Roberts is hoping the introduction of new talent and a lengthy track record of on-air and sales performance will afford the network an opportunity to demonstrate it’s still capable of delivering strong results for its radio partners.
photo by Allen House Studios
In Roberts, ESPN has a leader who Stephen A. Smith has a high level of confidence in. During an interview with Front Office Sports in August, Smith said “Leadership comes in a variety of forms, varying from quiet, to no-nonsense, to in-your-face. No matter the category, the end result requires winning, and that’s precisely what Dave Roberts does: win. With practically everything he touches, because he’s excellent — and requires it. Because he’s accountable — and demands accountability. And because losing is never an acceptable option for him. That’s Dave Roberts in a nutshell. If you’re about winning, you want to work for this man.”
A ringing endorsement from one of ESPN’s most successful and hard working talents should strike a chord with some, but Roberts knows it’s going to take more than just positive commentary from high profile colleagues to make radio affiliates feel excited and confident in the network’s new on-air direction. What shouldn’t be lost on anyone is that many of the new faces and voices featured on ESPN Radio are diverse, have a presence beyond radio, and are committed to talking sports. Roberts and his leadership team see a big advantage in being able to expose their talent to fans across the company’s various platforms, and by placing an even higher premium on talking sports, one thing ESPN is best known for, they’re hoping to attract more eyes and ears to ESPN Radio’s shows, and lead the brand to its next decade of success.
Given the network’s recent changes and reactions across the industry, I thought it was important to provide balance to this story. I reached out to David Roberts last week and offered him an opportunity to have a candid conversation about losing Dan Le Batard, the multiple lineup changes, the network’s current relationship with radio affiliates, and his vision for ESPN Radio. To his credit, he accepted and answered every question. Whether you agree with the lineup changes or not, I’m sure you’ll appreciate his willingness to go on the record and offer some insight on where the network is headed.
___________
JB: I apologize in advance for aging you, but you’ve been around this game for a while. Over four decades in fact. Some industry folks are going to see your lengthy track record in television including your current list of TV management responsibilities and wonder how important radio is to you. You’re in charge of a brand, ESPN Radio, which has been successful for a long time, and is depended on by a large number of operators. For those who aren’t familiar with your radio story, when did you first take an interest in the medium, and where have you worked prior to assuming the lead executive role at the network?
DR: As a kid growing up in Detroit, I was fortunate to be around one of the great stations in the country WJR. Being a sports fan, I was connected to that radio station. They aired the games of my favorite teams and I listened a lot. I was actually lucky enough to be welcomed into the Tigers radio booth at 6 years old by Ernie Harwell, one of my inspirations to get into this industry. I became a student of radio first before I moved into television and have had a long appreciation for the medium. I then had a chance to venture into network radio with 98.7 ESPN NY. I managed the business of our NY sports radio station and worked hands on with content, sales, and play by play partners, and it gave me a chance to get familiar with our Bristol operation. I believe one of the keys to radio is to operate with a cross platform approach. That’s the way of the world in all of media today.
JB:The first place I want to focus on is the process of making changes. That’s a big topic of conversation right now in the industry due to the network changing up the lineup in August and recently announcing forthcoming changes again in January. When you’re deciding whether or not to switch something with a host or lineup, how do you decide whether or not to stand pat or pursue a new direction?
DR: The first key is to listen to your customers – the audience. And the affiliates of course too. Nobody makes decisions in a vacuum. It’s a matter of understanding the markets, analyzing the research, reviewing the ratings, and placing a focus on the importance of cross platform content creators. The days of being just a radio focused brand are long gone. You have to be focused on audio, video, digital. Those are the parameters you have to operate in.
Photo by Joe Faraoni / ESPN Images
JB:I’ll get to the recent news in a moment but I first want to go backwards to August because that’s when we first got a glimpse of ESPN Radio’s plans for the present and future. You brought in Keyshawn Johnson, Jay Williams and Zubin Mehenti to host the morning show. Greeny and Max were added between 12p-4p ET, and you launched a new show with Mike Golic Jr. and Chiney Ogwumike in afternoons. What was it that excited you about featuring Keyshawn, Jay and Zubin in morning drive?
DR: When we made changes in August and brought in Keyshawn, Jay, and Zubin, we felt these were three guys who not only worked on radio, but were appearing on major football and basketball franchises, along with SportsCenter. Each is different in their style which is what helps in making a great show. Keyshawn especially has a great, large personality and big opinions, and was very successful doing mornings in Los Angeles. If you’re going to have a vision for the next twenty years, you have to have a vision that’s different from where you were. When you build with people like Keyshawn, Jay, Zubin, Max, Greeny, Golic Jr., Chiney, we’re looking at the essence of diversity, and a renewed commitment to cross platform programming built around sports. We’re in the business of being interesting and these people are willing to do whatever it takes to provide star power to the affiliates across the country. They also know we have to work harder and be strategically smarter to build a new identity for ESPN Radio by using all of our platforms to help us.
JB: I want to ask you about the situation with Dan Le Batard. In August, his show got trimmed by an hour during the initial lineup remodel. Now four months later it’s revealed that he’s no longer going to be with the company. If this was where the relationship was heading, why not just move on in August?
DR: The timing would not have worked out in August to do that. We are in a stronger position now to move Mike into that slot. He reestablished himself on radio the past few months and the response to his show has been great. We believe by moving him earlier in the day it will allow us to build a stronger presence out west with sports being a huge part of our focus. We also now have Bart Scott and Alan Hahn joining the lineup which we also feel good about. The focus for us is on where we’re headed and making sure that we produce the best sports talk radio available to affiliates across the country.
JB:I know that Dan’s radio program wasn’t a big ratings performer and growing the affiliate base had its share of challenges. That said, he was a cross platform star with a large television presence, strong digital success, and he was liked and respected by many ESPN talents. I couldn’t help but notice that in his goodbye statement, he thanked nearly every ESPN employee except yourself and Norby Williamson. What was your reaction to that?
DR: I’m not going to get into that. I have no issue with Dan personally. He served the company well and I’m sure he will do big things going forward at his next stop. We just feel these moves will help us better serve our affiliates, grow our business, and focus more on talking sports. Don’t get me wrong, we will discuss non-sports issues when its appropriate, but we’re in a stronger position to do what we do best, which is talking about sports. People don’t tune into CNN for two to three hours of a format that isn’t consistent with news. We have an audience that expects us to deliver certain expectations and we want to be true to it.
JB:Let’s talk about your radio affiliates. As you know, we produced a piece last week which featured feedback from ten programmers who are very concerned about the multiple changes and future direction of the network. How do you plan to retain and regain their confidence?
DR: I try to make myself very accessible to the people who work for me and those who do business with us. We also have a great affiliate leader in Jeff Martindale who’s frequently in touch with our radio partners. But I want to hear feedback from our affiliates. I won’t provide spin lines or BS. If I like the idea, I’ll tell them. If we can’t do it or it doesn’t make sense, I’ll tell them that too. They can always email me at David.Roberts@espn.com. I hope they’ll take me up on that offer. As a network operator and programmer we know we can’t serve everyone 100% of the time but what we will do is listen to our affiliates. When we pass the Super Bowl, we’ll be at the six month mark of this plan. We’ll be creating a virtual town hall that will include some of our affiliates so we can get more input from them. I’m a believer that nobody has a monopoly on good ideas. We’re all looking to move in the same direction and win together and we want to be a valued partner to our radio stations. We’re going to continue making our talent more available to our radio partners. I know change is difficult for some, but if you’re satisfied with the status quo, you’re expecting to lose, and we’re not interested in losing. People have tons of options of where to spend their time and we want to make sure we’re in position to be one of their top considerations.
photo by Sports Business Daily
JB: I think it’s great that you’re willing to make yourself accessible to your customers thru email because these folks are important to your success, just as you are to theirs. I did speak to one executive last week who said that they’ve voiced their concerns about ratings challenges with the morning show but when the issue was raised it was dismissed by someone at the network who pointed to places where the show has done well. Though that may be true, if a station is struggling they’re not going to care much about another market that’s having better luck. You obviously can’t please each affiliate all the time but that specific example prompted the station executive to question if radio matters to the network’s brass. What do you say to that?
DR: Radio absolutely matters to me and our management team. We’re making these changes to grow our business, as well as the business for our radio partners. We have a lot of people on this roster, men, women, white, black, during the weekday and weekends, and we’re doing this to expand the audience and help everyone who’s part of our success. This is an intimate medium and we take this business seriously. But understand that these things don’t happen overnight. It takes time. Our focus is firmly planted on the future, and we are just reaching four months of this new identity of ESPN Radio. Our promise is to be transparent with our partners and advertisers, and to work harder, strategically smarter, and bring our effort and commitment 24/7.
JB:You’ve been an advocate for diversity and have made a number of changes to the lineup to introduce talent from various backgrounds to the audience and your affiliate partners. Why do you believe it’s important for the company to demonstrate it’s not only an all-inclusive company with strong values, but also to expand the listenership for ESPN Radio?
DR: We have a strong belief at ESPN that diversity is not only the right thing to do but a key part to growing any successful business. The depth of our African American/black voices on our radio network in prime dayparts clearly represents our commitment to demonstrating that you can and must do more than sit around and talk about diversity. You can and must take action and stop making excuses about how difficult it supposedly is to find “diverse” people.
JB:Stephen A. Smith left his radio show last January to focus more on his TV work. This year, Mike Greenberg and Max Kellerman returned to radio, and though their additions were welcomed because they’re both very good at hosting radio programs, there’s a little bit of concern out there that these are short-term moves rather than long-term ones. How do you assure your radio partners that these guys are here for the long-haul?
DR: Greeny and Max are not placeholders. They are solid building blocks for us now and in the future. You don’t commit to these type of names without saying to everyone, including those involved that this is important. Once people get to know our talent better I am confident they will grow to appreciate them more. I’m proud of where we are and where we’re going. I think we’re going to do a lot of great things with this brand and Max and Greeny will be a big part of that success.
JB: I’m sure you can understand though David that when big changes like this are made twice within a span of four months, there are going to be a lot of people in local leadership positions who are worried about it happening again in the near future.
DR: I do understand that, but throughout the course of my career I’ve tried not to worry about reactions to decisions. If you are in a leadership position it comes with the territory. The objective is to wind up with better programming than what you had on before. That’s no slight on those who were there previously. It just means we’re looking for ways to continue growing our product. We’re listening to the feedback, and appreciate it, even when it’s not favorable, but there’s a plan in place and we’re committed to it.
JB:If you look at the national sports radio landscape today, FOX Sports Radio has really strengthened its product. SiriusXM has a wide array of strong national content. You also have CBS Sports Radio, VSiN, and SportsMap who are in the space and vying for stations to carry their programming. How much attention do you pay to your competition and does it factor in at all when considering how you position your lineup?
DR: I have the utmost respect for our competition. There are some very talented personalities and brands out there. But I’m not focused on what they’re doing. I’m looking at how we can improve ESPN Radio. A key part of our strategy is making sure our platforms are connecting with one another. It’s why you see many of the people on our product today. That underscores the commitment we have to maximizing the strength of the ESPN brand to the depth of talent. That’s integral to our strategy and growth. Any decisions we make are going to be made with that being a key focus.
JB:Some may read that David and say ‘but that just means you’re not committed to radio people. You’re just putting TV personalities on radio.’ Does it matter to you if the on-air talent are or aren’t radio hosts?
DR: The media business has evolved. It’s a cross platform landscape. The days of being a ‘radio person’ have long ended. If you think otherwise you’re not being realistic. Today, you have to connect in multiple ways. That’s how you build a bigger brand. If we have partners who’d like me to explain my thinking on that further I hope they’ll reach out. I want to learn more from them too, and I hope they’ll be open to how we can help each other. We’re trying to create win-win scenarios.
JB:Every operator that makes changes to a product understands that there are going to be more eyeballs watching to see if the results improve afterwards. But in the network world, growth isn’t as simple as looking at ratings because you could be up 50% in two key markets, yet down 50% in two others. When you analyze these changes a year or two from now, how will you know if these moves produced success or a step back for ESPN Radio?
DR: For us, success will depend on a couple of factors. We’ll of course look at the ratings, and where we are in the growth cycle with affiliates, but our main focus is to position the network to be strong. This pandemic has created a lot of challenges for media operators and we want to provide a sense of normalcy for our audience. Our expectations are to deliver the strongest programming we can, using the best talent we have available. This is going to take a full team effort from myself to our staff, our affiliate partners and advertisers. We feel good about the direction we’re heading in, we believe in our people, and we will listen to our affiliates and deliver them a successful product.
We read about cutbacks and layoffs seemingly every day in our industry. It’s always a sad day to see talented people lose jobs through no fault of their own. The scene has played itself out numerous times during this pandemic, with companies downsizing due to revenue losses.
Many of these folks, especially in the case recently at ESPN, are not household names, they aren’t people you watch on SportsCenter or see doing play-by-play at a sporting event. 300 or so folks, extremely good at what they do, were let go by the network. Some had worked their for many years.
In a memo to staffers obtained by the Athletic, ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro wrote, “Prior to the pandemic, we had been deeply engaged in strategizing how best to position ESPN for future success amidst tremendous disruption in how fans consume sports”. After explaining that part of the short-term plan was to enact salary cuts for executives and on-air talent, budget cuts and furloughs to try and weather the COVID storm, Pitaro continued, “We have, however, reached an inflection point. The speed at which change is occurring requires great urgency, and we must now deliver on serving sports fans in a myriad of new ways. Placing resources in support of our direct-to-consumer business strategy, digital, and, of course, continued innovative television experiences, is more critical than ever”.
In other words, cutting jobs was a last resort.
The division that was said to have taken the biggest hit was ESPN’s remote production group. These are the folks that travel to various cities to cover games, behind the scenes staff that do a myriad of things to get a broadcast up and running.
The priority is saving money on travel now in this COVID era by not sending as big a contingent to each game and keeping the announcers in a studio or at home. We saw this during the baseball season, where home games were called at the ballpark and road games were broadcast from the home park or in a studio. Not ideal again, but a necessary evil.
To a casual fan, the loss of these individuals doesn’t immediately affect your viewing. Programming continues as if nothing has happened. They are not front and center “talent”, but the show has a hard time going on without them. Trust me.
Announcers and show hosts get the glory because you see them. But everyone in this business knows they are only as good as those working behind the scenes make them look that way. When doing TV, you as an on-camera talent, rely heavily on the control room, camera operators, producers, directors and stage managers. A television broadcast is heavily scripted, studio shows for sure and to an extent so are the games. Elements, graphics, opens, replays and features are all planned and inserted at key points of a game to enhance the broadcast. These essential in game extras don’t just magically appear. There are many talented men and women that build graphics, produce features, roll replays in package form and direct how you see a game.
As a play-by-play announcer on a television broadcast, you are completely reliant on their direction during a game. The producers will let you know when to read promos, when a replay is coming and most importantly give you a countdown into a commercial break. For the color analyst the folks in “the truck”, especially the replay folks are vitally important. When a critical play occurs, or a video review, the fan at home will get several angles on a replay. The analyst may talk to the truck via intercom to ask if there’s a better view, or if they can show that play one more time. In conjunction with the producer the replay operator will scour the raw feed to see if another camera operator caught a better shot. It’s all a coordinated effort and only runs smoothly when all parties are working together for the betterment of the broadcast.
Job cuts are a disturbing trend in the industry these days. The pandemic and the changing landscape in sports and broadcasting in general is making companies look at how they do business. Where should the spending be concentrated to get the most bang for their buck? Perhaps the lessons of this past year and the impact COVID will teach broadcast outlets how to better prepare for these ‘unforeseen’ problems that can arise. Hopefully that is the case, for the sake of the product and the people behind the product.
While you may not know their names, hopefully now you’ll understand better what these people did and will hopefully do more of in the future.
Many of us involved in selling sports radio have an athletic background. We played sports as a kid, in high school and maybe even college. It is not uncommon to find radio sellers who played on a successful high school or college team and then went into radio sales in that town. I think it is a good pool for sales managers to recruit from for new account executives. I have known quite a few who have been very successful and some I did not know but for what an impact they left on others
After I played college football at Boise State University, I moved into radio sales at KIDO AM/Q104 FM in Boise, Idaho in 1984. I was hired by a former Boise State football player, Larry Polowski, who had played for a few years in the NFL. I was replacing a former Boise State football player, Bob McCauley, who was moving out of state.
Bob was not only a former college basketball player at the University of Richmond, but he was also a star. In fact, he was an All American and the nation’s leading scorer during his senior season of 1974-1975, averaging 32.9 points per game. David Thompson of North Carolina St. had nothing, when it came to scoring points, on Bob McCurdy.
His Milwaukee Bucks career never happened because of injury, so Bob went right to work in sales at WLEE-AM in Richmond, Virginia. He went on to become the President of Katz radio, a Regional President for Clear Channel and finally, a VP for Beasley Media Group. He had an incredible 44 year run before he died July 29,2020 from cancer. He meant a lot more than that to many.
“Bob was a tremendous influence on many in the industry. His competitive drive, his thirst for knowledge, his discipline and his work ethic impacted everyone who had a chance to work with him.” – Beasley CEO Caroline Beasley
“Bob McCurdy led the way in using data to form compelling insights about the power of radio, American radio has lost its sales teacher, life coach, and fierce advocate of reading more, learning more and turning that knowledge into useful counsel for our clients.” – Cumulus Media Chief Insights Officer Pierre Bouvard
“Bob was always about preparation and practice…my favorite ‘Bob Rule’ was ‘work as hard on Friday afternoon as you do on Tuesday afternoon and you will be enormously successful.’ He also used to give out a gold coin which says ‘What ever it takes’ and when Bob and I were talking about a hard fought win we had in sales…he would always say ‘whatever it takes, Johnny. I still carry the coin.'” – John Sheftic, Dick Broadcasting Market Manager
Mike Agovino, a close friend, and co-founder of Triton Digital worked for McCurdy at Katz spoke at McCurdy’s funeral. He said “Bob spent 5 years dedicated to becoming the first real data driven storyteller in the radio business. He tirelessly dedicated himself to memorizing every individual radio station in the top 50 US markets. He stayed on top of every media trend, every technological threat, every strategy and established his thought leadership industry wide. In my opinion, Bob had a greater impact on establishing the value of radio advertising than anyone over the past 40 years.”
I never knew Bob but I can see the influences sports had on his approcah to working with others. He was a leader, inspiring, relentless, disciplined and effective. I hope you think about hiring a former athlete when you go recruiting for account executives. You may just find the next Bob McCurdy.
Even after the last week, Charles Payne is a well of optimism. While the official outcome of the 2020 Presidential Election will remain undecided for perhaps a month or more, one can bank on the fact that Payne will continue to rally for America’s economic rebound.
Payne is an unabashed champion of American prosperity. He has been a leading voice this year, promoting both the pre and post-pandemic economic boom, which has brought opportunity for citizens across the economic spectrum. He has been talking on air for years, explaining what needs to be done to ensure an all-encompassing rising economic tide.
Over the last few years, we’ve seen those policies come to fruition, bringing with them astounding economic growth. From boardrooms to warehouse floors, wages have risen and take-home income has grown for the vast majority of Americans. From Payne’s perspective, much of those advancements will be maintained for the foreseeable future.
Many Americans understandably fear the economic implications of a possible shift in policy. An assault on fracking and fossil fuels would have incalculable effects on the way many citizens make a living. In addition, new regulations on energy production or use would “naturally cause energy costs to skyrocket,” as predicted by former president Obama.
Regardless of the current investigations into election fraud and the eventual 2020 presidential election outcome, Payne urges many Americans to take a breath. Republicans surged across the country – in state houses, as well as the U.S. House – while maintaining control of the U.S. Senate. This red wave bodes well for the preservation of many of President Trump’s economic gains, and divided government, on the whole, usually sets the stage for solid stock market increases.
“Markets and economy (especially blue collar workers and farmers and so many others typically left out of economic booms) love President Trump,” Payne tweeted last Friday. “Now that most of his work cannot be undone is a major plus.”
On the whole, Payne feels that congressional gridlock will prevent any mass-elimination of the policies that have supercharged the economy over president Trump’s first term.
“The good news is there is no Biden mandate for full frontal assault on your industry,” Payne tweeted to an upset oil field worker, now scared of losing his job. “Voters in Ohio and Texas and Pennsylvania spoke loud and clear about their frustration, but there will be a lot of executive actions that won’t help.”
As a champion of the little guy, Payne is the epitome of the American dream, rising from poverty to success over the course of his life. His recent book, Unstoppable Prosperity, is a how-to for readers wanting to learn his philosophy of picking stocks. Through his on-air work, Payne has developed a bond with his audience based, first and foremost, on his unending optimism.
“My success has been built from my strong work ethic, augmented with fiscal discipline and investing,” Payne says in the book. “I never let being poor hold me back from acting on my dreams so I plunged into the stock market as a teenager.”
When he’s not writing books and tweeting about his grandkids, Payne hosts Making Money With Charles Payne from 2pm-3pm daily on the Fox Business Network. You may also catch him filling in or appearing with Neil Cavuto or another host on Fox News or the business channel.
As the legal challenges mount in our divided nation, Charles Payne remains hopeful. He has always been bullish on America. On our economy, but more importantly, bullish on our spirit.
We don’t know exactly what the future holds. What we do know is that Charles Payne will continue to have his eyes fixed on a bright, uplifting future for America.
This is not a paid political announcement. Thankfully huh?
You will not read about the Electoral College. There will be no mention of blue states or red states. However, I did hold an election, the voting machines all worked, there were no lines to stand in and it all went off without a hitch. That’s because the election I’m talking about took place in my living room. The candidates were selected by me and the winners were also chosen by, yes you guessed it, me.
I should probably explain. My election is all about all-time play-by-play announcers, both past and present. I selected who should be the “President” of each of the four major sports leagues, NCAA Football and Golf.
The undertaking was a little more daunting than I thought it might have been. In a couple of cases the choice was extremely clear and in others not so much. So, the criteria are, which announcer is the one in each of the mentioned sports that others would look to for “leadership and influence”. To make it easier on me, I’ve chosen a President and Vice President for each.
MLB
President: Vin Scully
Surprised? Vin Scully is presidential in the way he calls/called games. The style is friendly, yet authoritative. Scully had a command over a broadcast that was unmatched in the game. Working as a solo act most of the latter part of his career, his work became like a ‘fireside chat’ (for you millennials, google it).
Vin was so easy to listen to, because he spoke to his listeners directly and you almost felt part of the broadcast. Staying power was also in Scully’s resume, nearly 70 years with the Dodgers for one, plus countless network opportunities, calling baseball for CBS and NBC. Perhaps two of his most famous calls took place as a network broadcaster in the World Series. There was the 1986 call of the ball getting by Bill Buckner and the 1988 home run by Kirk Gibson off of Dennis Eckersley. Both were incredible in the moment and have lasted the test of time. He is the model all others look to as the standard in the sport. Oh, and did I mention he’s one of the best human beings to ever walk the earth?
Vice President: Jack Buck
This was not an easy choice, but Buck emerged as my selection based on longevity, network experience and being known for several calls along the way. Buck was a fixture with the Cardinals for 40 plus years and had that great deep and somewhat raspy voice that won fans over. His most famous call came in Game 5 of the 1985 NLCS when Ozzie Smith hit a walk-off homer, “Go crazy folks, go crazy!”. Buck worked in the NFL too and was the national radio voice of Monday Night Football alongside Hank Stram in the 1990’s.
Cabinet positions for (in no particular order): Red Barber, Curt Gowdy, Harry Kalas, Mel Allen, Ernie Harwell, Jack Brickhouse, Harry Caray, Bill King, Bob Costas, Marty Brenneman, Jon Miller, Milo Hamilton, Dan Shulman, and Bob Uecker.
NFL
President: Pat Summerall
In the late ‘70’s and most of the 80’s, Pat Summerall was the voice of the NFL. If it was a big game in football, chances are pretty good he was on the call. Summerall worked his way up the ranks and became the network’s lead NFL voice, paired first with Tom Brookshier and then of course with John Madden. The latter pairing worked together for 22 years on both CBS and Fox.
Summerall called 16 Super Bowls on TV. He was perfect for television, complimenting the pictures on the screen with a baritone name of the player, then the result of that play. Summerall subscribed to the “less is more” theory and it proved successful in his career. He had a great way of making his partner the focal point.
I’m sure as a former player he knew a lot about the game, but as a great play-by-play guy, he deferred in many cases. Summerall was named the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Pete Rozelle Radio and Television Award winner in 1994. He proved a versatile broadcaster as well, serving as CBS’s lead announcer on its PGA Tour coverage.
Vice President: Al Michaels
What can’t this guy do? This “presidential” race was close. While Michaels might be best known for his “Do you believe in miracles?” call in 1980 when the US beat Russia in hockey, he’s been a mainstay in the NFL.
Michaels took over Monday Night Football after the Howard Cosell era and kept that ship afloat. He then moved to NBC, teaming with John Madden and then Cris Collinsworth on Sunday Night Football. So, you’ll probably notice that Michaels appears in several of these sports’ top tiers, doing baseball and basketball in addition to his football work. One of the more well-known broadcasters of several generations is certainly more than qualified as the VP in this category.
Cabinet positions (in no particular order): Jim Nantz, Dick Enberg, Curt Gowdy, Joe Buck, Jack Buck, Howard Cosell, Dick Stockton, Frank Gifford, Charlie Jones, Lindsey Nelson, Ian Eagle, Kenny Albert and Greg Gumbel.
NBA
President: Marty Glickman
When I wrote an earlier piece on Marv Albert, the name Marty Glickman came up a lot. Marty was a mentor to Marv and many other soon to be broadcasters. Glickman entered broadcasting in 1939 with a job in radio. In 1946 he became the radio voice of the Knicks, a post he held for decades. He also was the play-by-play man for the New York (Football) Giants, the Nets, the Jets, the Dodgers (Brooklyn) and Yankees. Pretty impressive resume.
Perhaps the most “presidential” thing he did in his storied career was to mentor young broadcasters. I already mentioned Albert, but he also served in the same role for Bob Costas, Bob Papa and Ian Eagle among others. Glickman is credited with coining the basketball terms, the lane, key, midcourt stripe and swish. That’s called leaving a mark on a sport.
Vice President: Marv Albert
It only seems fitting that the student follows the teacher in this category. Albert’s voice is unmistakable, his excitement with every call, that wit and of course the catch phrases, including “YES”. He’s among the best to ever call the sport, but again we deferred to the teacher, followed by the protégé.
Cabinet positions (in no particular order): Mike Breen, Chick Hearn, Jim Durham, Kevin Harlan, Johnny Most, Ian Eagle, Dave Pasch and Dick Stockton.
NHL
President: Mike Emrick
As I wrote last month, Mike “Doc” Emrick is as good as it gets in a sport. Doc announced his retirement after nearly 50 years of calling hockey as a professional. His command of the English language and hockey is unmatched in a broadcaster. Not only was he the top of the heap in the booth, everyone you talk to, feels he is the top of the mountain as a human being. To this day he listens to young broadcasters’ tapes to give them pointers, nurturing the next generation of announcers. You knew it was an important game when Doc was on the call.
Vice President: Bob Miller
Miller wrapped up a legendary career with the LA Kings a few years ago. Miller was with the Kings since 1973, so you know he became THE credible source for hockey in Southern California. Being around that long affords you the opportunity to speak your mind. Those that listened to him, understand he wasn’t afraid to tell you what he thought. Miller also had a great reputation for telling great stories with his easy going style and personality he really made it work well for many years behind the mic.
Cabinet positions (in no particular order): Gary Thorne, Lloyd Petit, Jiggs McDonald, Mike Lange, Dan Kelly, Bob Cole, Foster Hewitt, Dave Strader, Sam Rosen and Howie Rose.
NCAA FOOTBALL
President: Keith Jackson
“Whoa Nellie!”, “Fum-BLE!” and “Hold the phone” were just a few of well-known expressions uttered by Keith Jackson. He missed just one college football season in his 50-year career, because he was doing play-by-play for the inaugural season of Monday Night Football in 1970. He was the ultimate in “big game” college football announcers in his day. Big weekly matchups and big bowl games were his calling card.
The voice was folksy and warm and the catch phrases weren’t contrived, they fit the style and seemed so natural. How can he not be “president” when he basically renamed Michigan Stadium, “The Big House”, giving it the nickname that it’s still known by today. Jackson is also credited with naming the Rose Bowl, “the Grandaddy of them All”. The stadium’s radio and TV booths were named “The Keith Jackson Broadcast Center” in 2015 and a statue of him was erected outside the stadium earlier this year. Talk about an impact. Jackson was also well known for calling Major League Baseball, the NBA, NFL and contributed to ABC’s Wide World of Sports.
Vice President: Vern Lundquist
Our VP has quite his own resume. He was the radio voice of the Dallas Cowboys until 1984, calling legendary games like the “Ice Bowl” and several Super Bowls. He moved to ABC calling a few college football games, but the talent pool made it difficult for him to ascend. He moved to CBS to call college basketball, golf and the NFL. After a brief departure to Turner Sports, Verne returned to CBS and became its voice of the SEC.
Lundquist called many a huge game, but he’s quoted as saying the best one was the 2013 Iron Bowl when Auburn beat Alabama on a 109-yard return of a missed field-goal attempt with one second on the clock.
Cabinet positions (in no particular order): Lindsey Nelson, Brad Nessler, Chris Fowler, Brent Musburger, Ron Franklin, Chris Schenkel, Sean McDonough and Gus Johnson.
GOLF
President: Jim Nantz
“Hello friends…” Jim Nantz has been a fixture in the 18th tower during CBS’ coverage of the PGA Tour. Hard to remember a time when he wasn’t the anchor of the coverage.
I wrote in my “Anatomy of a Broadcaster: Jim Nantz” on July 2nd, “He’s got that perfect tone for the tower on 18. Nantz has the ability to paint a picture with his words, even though you can see those pictures on your television. That’s not easy to do. He sets scenes at the beginning of each day’s golf coverage and it almost sounds like a song. It’s on the melodious side and ear pleasing as well.” My thoughts on that haven’t changed, he’s the standard to me in golf broadcasting. Can’t wait for the Masters to fire up here soon!
Vice President: Dan Hicks
Hicks has served as lead play-by-play host of NBC Sports’ PGA TOUR Golf Channel on NBC tournament coverage since 2000. He’s been part of NBC’s coverage of the U.S. Open, the Ryder Cup, the President’s Cup, and dating back to 2007, two World Golf Championships, all a part of network television’s premier golf package. Like Nantz, Hicks sets the stage well and does a great job of handling the reins on an interesting group of characters on the telecast. That broadcast includes David Feherty who is always quick with his wit and unique sense of humor. Also keep in mind, Hicks worked with Johnny Miller who always kept him on his toes.
Cabinet positions (in no particular order): Pat Summerall, David Feherty, Terry Gannon, Verne Lundquist, Dottie Pepper, Gary McCord and Peter Kostis.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/58315475/134917712.jpg.0.jpg)
