Charlotte’s afternoon sports voice Kyle Bailey checks in on the 4th episode of Season 4. Over the span of thirty plus minutes BSM President Jason Barrett dives into Kyle’s background in broadcasting, learning and appreciating the challenge of selling in smaller local markets, organizing content for an audience comprised of transplants and homegrown residents, the host-PD-GM relationship, and much more.
ISSUES EXAMINED WITH KYLE:
How he was drawn to sports radio and got his break
Where he got his start and what his early duties required
Moving his way up the ranks and taking on new tasks
Becoming a salesperson and whether or not he enjoyed it
The biggest sale he closed and why the client came on board
Moving to a few locations before eventually landing in Charlotte
How he’d describe WFNZ to someone who hasn’t heard it before
His approach to content when reaching different audiences
What he learned while working alongside Frank Garcia
Hosting a show with rotating co-hosts and guests
Being able to separate a few negatives from what everyone thinks
Avoiding the label of being a homer on a brand which has PXP rights
What he seeks when being managed by bosses
The areas he has to improve at with his bosses
Quick Hits: Good vs. Great hosts, Charlotte sports radio, Best host in the format, Who’s taught him most about radio
We’re in Atlanta for episode 3 of Season 4 of the BSM Podcast. President Jason Barrett spends time chatting with 680 The Fan afternoon drive host and syndicated sports radio personality Chuck Oliver about the challenge of doing two different styled shows, earning acceptance from his peers after initially getting in the door by winning a contest, the rise and fall of 790 The Zone, preparation and show structure, and more.
AREAS EXPLORED WITH CHUCK:
How perfect timing led to his entry into sports radio
Gaining acceptance as a host as the guy who won a contest
Why buying in St. Louis led to 790 The Zone’s downfall
Who gave him the nickname “The King of College Football”
Making the jump to 680 The Fan and why he did it
Balancing preparation for two different type of shows each day
The growth of his syndicated show ‘Southern Sports Today’
What a typical day is like for Chuck & Chernoff
Why it’s important for stations to have fun between shows
Not allowing criticism and public noise to effect his approach
The reason he thinks Atlanta doesn’t get the respect it deserves
Having less of a concern over ratings and a focus on revenue
How he knows if things are working
Quick Hits: One pet peeve about sports radio, The local team winning which would excite the market most, One piece of advice to young broadcasters, Best Atlanta sports talk show host
The 2nd conversation of Season 4 of the BSM Podcast takes place in Denver, Colorado where BSM President Jason Barrett visits with Altitude Sports Radio and TV personality Vic Lombardi. Vic reflects on the start of his career, working for different programmers, navigating criticism, having a presence around your local teams, and more.
SUBJECTS EXPLORED WITH VIC:
What inspired him to want to pursue being a sports broadcaster
How he got his entry level introduction to the industry
The employer which gave him his first on-air break
Landing back in Denver after working elsewhere
Expanding his profile by adding radio to his TV work
How sports radio has changed in Denver over 20-30 years
Why ex-athletes in Denver have done well moving into the media
What he learned working for Tim Spence and Nate Lundy
The keys to a team show having consistent success
Enduring negative reactions over one of the NFL’s misfires
Succeeding in Denver if you’re not from the market
Why it’s important to get out regularly to cover local teams
Altitude’s decision to move to FM and why it matters
Discussing all of the market’s teams not just the Broncos
His first impressions of new program director Dave Tepper
Being fair and honest even if working for a team owned station
Quick Hits: Best/Worst Denver athletes to cover, Favorite local host to rib on social media, Best host in Denver, Nuggets or Rockies title
On the debut episode of Season 4, BSM President Jason Barrett travels to Minneapolis to sit down with SKOR North’s Head of Content and afternoon drive co-host Phil Mackey. The discussion explores Phil’s entry into the sports radio industry, the growth of podcasting, ways to improve as a talent beyond sports radio, and much more.
TOPICS COVERED WITH PHIL:
How he got his start in the sports radio business
Getting into Minneapolis and working for KFAN
The changes at 1500 ESPN over the years
How podcasting has become a huge hit for his brand
Being active in social content creation
Why attending conferences has been beneficial to his growth
The value of working on your craft beyond the radio station
Making an on-air relationship work over a lengthy period of time
Quick Hits: MN sports Mount Rushmore, Best career advice, 5 Years from now how people will listen, Younger self wisdom
Mark Willard is heading home. The Bay Area native has been hired by KNBR to join their weeknight lineup starting Monday February 18th. The sports radio veteran will be heard weeknights from 7p-10p PT on the early edition of “KNBR Tonight”.
To make room for Willard, Drew Hoffar will move back a few hours to host the later version of “KNBR Tonight” from 10p-Midnight. Hoffar has hosted on KNBR for over three years, first as the primary host of “The Audible” morning show on KNBR 1050, then as the lead host of “KNBR Tonight” on KNBR 680.
Jeremiah Crowe, Program
Director, KNBR, said: “I’m extremely excited to welcome Mark back to
the Bay Area and into our KNBR family. “KNBR Tonight” is about connecting with
fans as the games are being played, and Mark will excel in that arena across
all KNBR platforms. Listeners now also get to hear Drew shine as a solo host in
his own time slot. “KNBR Tonight” will continue to serve as THE nightly
destination for local sports talk, and I can’t wait to hear these two dynamic
personalities back-to-back on The Sports Leader!”
Willard is a Foster City native who comes to KNBR following a midday hosting stint at XTRA 1360AM in San Diego. He had been teaming with Rich Ohrnberger on the ‘Mark & Rich Show’.
Prior to moving to San Diego, Willard hosted shows in Los Angeles for FOX Sports Radio, ESPN LA 710, and ESPN’s SportsNation. He also worked earlier in his career for Sporting News Radio alongside sports radio legend Tony Bruno.
Willard said: “It is an absolute dream come
true to come home and join KNBR. My primary career goal has been to have
the opportunity to connect with Bay Area sports fans, so listeners can rest
assured, I will never take the relationship for granted. I want to thank
Jeremiah Crowe, Doug Harvill and Cumulus’ corporate leadership team for their
vision. And I want to thank my wife and kids for supporting me through
this adventure!”
Recently, I was driving down a highway when I saw one of the worst billboards in the history of billboards. It was for a fitness company and it had several pictures, three different offers, words of all different sizes, and then, in the upper right-hand section, it didn’t have the name of the business, but the initials of the business.
After seeing it once, I ended up seeing it a couple more times on my way to a soccer game. On the way back, I tried to play a game with myself and see how much of this billboard I could truly see in one passing, if I stared at it the entire time (not remotely safe, of course). In the end, I never could quite catch all of the offers. I asked several other people if they saw the billboards and two people said they did, neither one of which could correctly identify the company that was being advertised. One thought it was for a labor union and another thought it was for a nutrition store.
Nothing I can’t stand more than bad advertising.
There’s an auto dealership in the Midwest who has the worst television commercials in America, but they aren’t the kind where they’re supposed to be bad. We’ve all heard some things over the years that are so bad, they’re good. This is bad that is really, really bad. And not only is the creative horrific, the commercials are mostly inaudible. They sound like they’re recorded off the microphone of a really bad video camera from 1996. And they run on TV all the time.
What a waste of money.
I share these advertisers with you to follow up a point I’ve made many times in this space, which is the importance of creative and being a full marketing consultant to your clients. Do not ever let your clients be an example of bad advertising.
Think of the best commercials you can remember and emulate those someway, somehow. Perhaps it’s the creativity of GEICO, the storytelling of Anheuser-Busch, the unforgettable jingles beat in your head from McDonald’s, or the Hardee’s commercials with the dripping burgers (you know the ones).
What about those types of commercials makes them memorable? First off, the repetition. Our local direct customers will tell us they don’t have McDonald’s budget, but regardless, it underscores the principle of frequency of message. Secondly, they bring out an emotion. They might make you laugh, make you a little sad, make you excited enough to sing or however it is those Hardee’s commercials are supposed to make you feel, but something triggers.
Running an ad for your client’s new sports bar that says they have “the best burgers, the best-looking wait staff, the baddest happy hour specials and the coldest beer in town,” kills any chance of that advertiser succeeding with their marketing. Make a listener feel like that juicy, mouth-watering, cheesy burger on that made from scratch, warm bun is going to be the best thing they ever put in their mouth, and they’re on their way to see your client.
Creativity is such a huge part of the sports radio sell and that should extend to the spots we air for our clients. Radio advertising is mostly about the formula of what your message is, multiplied by how many times your message airs. The rest is all in the creativity. It’s kind of like the saying, ‘give a man a fish, you feed him for a day, teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.’ For us, it’s more like ‘sell a schedule to a client, you might keep them for a bit, help a client create a memorable, creative ad campaign, and you keep them forever!’
This week I want to talk about one of my least favorite subjects: ratings. “Growing up” in AM sports radio in the mid-90’s, the ratings weren’t really much of a factor on the programming side of things as we were the only sports station in town at the time. The sales management and team wanted to have them to use, then got them, and then they wished they didn’t have them. Especially in the diary system, once you were intimately aware of how the process worked and really studied the numbers, you saw just how fickle they could be. Plus, I saw a few examples that really had no explanation.
At the first cluster I worked in the mid-90’s, we had an AC station that owned Soft Rock and Women 35+. If you wanted to hear Air Supply, Chicago or Dan Fogelberg, this was your place. And a lot of times you didn’t have a choice, because it was on in every office and store in town. The morning show had been in place for a long time, delivered a consistently above-average show with a few laughs, a lot of music and your typical weather, news and traffic. The midday, afternoon and evening slots were all manned by familiar voices in the market and, quite frankly, not a whole lot ever really changed on the station. Except the ratings, which were all over the place. How could something so consistent have such fluctuation in audience? It made absolutely no sense.
Fast forward several years and I’m heading up a cluster in Alabama where one of our formats was a News-Talk station. In one ratings book, our midday show’s core audience vanished. The show was Rush Limbaugh, who if anything, is one of the most consistent hosts in broadcasting. As I recall, the drop was nearly 50% (this was during the Obama years, by the way), which is practically impossible, especially when you consider the audience returned a few months later.
These examples and several more I’ve encountered over the years always led me to always proceed with caution when it comes to ratings. Yes, when you have good numbers, they’re a great support tool to use for the right clients, but what happens when they go down? After all, the only thing we know about ratings that go up, is that they’re eventually going to go down. So, if you can avoid it, why not have a great idea, concept, or plan for a client and get them results so you don’t ever have to try and explain to someone why, all-of-a-sudden, a significant portion of older women in your area decided they didn’t like Michael Bolton for a few months.
We all know, however, there are still many sellers who rely on the numbers and use them not as a tool to support a great idea, but more a way to try and get in with the client (“Hey! Look at us! We’re #6 with left-handed men who golf and plan to purchase a vehicle in the next 6 months, want to talk?!). To me, this is crazy and setting yourself up for failure. Whether it’s someone in sports, like us, or music, talk, whatever the format, there has to be something other than numbers you can use to present your brand. Remember, we want to be thinking about the renewal and if ratings are what gets you the sale, and those ratings drop, what now?
In addition, today, we see more and more markets where the separation between station #3 in the market and station #12 is hardly anything, so the numbers can’t really separate you from the competition. In a way, it forces people to get more creative than just throwing the ranker in a proposal and calling it a day. What really separates you from the competition? What makes your station special? And what can you create for a business that they aren’t going to get somewhere else?
The ratings system is what it is. Your ratings could be sky high one book and then the next book, half of your conservative audience decides Rush just wasn’t for them.
If you live by the ratings, you will die by the ratings. After all, nobody has ever seen a rating point walk in to a business and buy something. People who listen to sports radio stations and hear creative messages, repeated the proper amount of times, they go in to businesses and make purchases. Deliver results and you won’t ever have to rely on the numbers.
In sports radio, December thru February often represents a slower time of the year. The NFL remains a top priority due to the start of the playoffs and the Super Bowl, but the holiday ratings book matters less, key personnel take vacation breaks, and the intensity of competition subsides until the NCAA Tournament, MLB’s Opening Day, the NFL Draft, and the NBA & NHL Playoffs begin.
For BSM, the opposite is true. This 90-day stretch is when we begin making final preparations for the BSM Summit, recording and editing the next season of the BSM Podcast, and finalizing the process for the BSM Top 20 series. Each of those items are added to our plate while still trying to listen to clients, handle normal business, adding new contributors, and creating content for the website.
The BSM Top 20 series can feel thankless at times. I spend my entire Christmas/New Year’s week vacation gathering the final ballots, adding up the results, creating images for each category, show, brand and individual, writing press releases, and preparing columns for the website. I don’t sell sponsors into it (although I will in the future), and I purposely refrain from voting because of my personal and professional relationships.
No matter what the results are, there will always be a few personalities who take issue with the results. I don’t have a problem with that. It means a host has confidence in what they do. I’ve had some promote their appearance on the list, and then once their names don’t show up, they’re either firing jabs or asking not to receive future BSM updates. It’s cool. They’ll eventually get over it.
Others like to call on their army of trolls to be a nuisance on Twitter (thank you Jack for the Mute and Block buttons) and email. It’s usually the same crew who doesn’t understand how they stack up against others in the format. They just think that because they exist and operate a product that it entitles them to special treatment.
But the hardest part is not being a voter, and tackling the process independently. I love gathering the panel each year, adding up their choices, and seeing where things land. If a client wins or loses, it’s a reflection of how the industry views their product and people. I may agree or disagree with the result, but I didn’t create the BSM Top 20 series to showcase friends or paying clients. I did it to recognize who industry leaders view as sports radio’s best. My friend Don Martin tells me ‘stay real’ and that’s exactly what I try to do.
For sports radio folks who are grinding away inside the studio, I hope this project matters to you. Nowhere else does the format have representatives from thirteen companies and thirty US cities participating to present a collective snapshot of what executives think of the format’s best. Over the span of six days we highlight the sports radio industry, giving brands ammunition to forge deeper connections with listeners, employees, and existing and potential clients.
Since starting the BSM Top 20, I’ve seen the results appear on national television shows, local sports radio programs, in major newspapers, and on Twitter and Facebook timelines of some high profile people. To those who have promoted our work I greatly appreciate it. It tells me they value the input of industry executives, and respect the BSM brand. That alone is what provides the satisfaction and motivation to do it year after year.
As far as the 2018 results are concerned, I do have some thoughts to share now that the process is complete. I’ve laid them out in bullet point form so they’re easier to consume.
Winners: Industry voters placed 98.5 The Sports Hub and 101 ESPN on a higher level than most. Across the board those two brands were well received across all categories. Their consistent success is a big reason why both were nominated for Marconi Awards the past two years.
Top Companies: In the Major Markets, Beasley won three (3) awards, ESPN claimed two (2), and iHeart/Premiere secured the top National spot. In Mid Markets, Hubbard led the way with two (2) awards, and Emmis, Cumulus, and Entercom all gained one (1).
Top Story: Michael Kay’s win in PM drive was the biggest headline this year. Voters cared more about the quality and chemistry of Kay’s show than who won the local ratings. They also seemed fatigued by Mike Francesa winning the award the last 3 years. Francesa earned just one (1) 1st place vote, far different than recent years. Were voters turned off by his retirement, quick return, and the in-fighting with other WFAN shows? It appears that way.
The Left Out: I feel for the folks creating great radio in Miami, San Diego, Tampa, Houston, and Atlanta. Voters don’t seem to place shows in those cities on the same level with programs in NY, Boston, Detroit, Philadelphia, Chicago, San Francisco or Dallas. We’ve seen shows in Denver, Phoenix and Minneapolis cut thru so it’s not like you can’t get noticed if you’re not in the northeast, but you’ll need to create and share a great story consistently to change minds if you work in one of those cities.
PD’s: Mike Thomas and Mark Chernoff have taken turns owning the top spot for the past 4 years. Those in spots 3-20 really have their work cut out for them if they want to ascend to the top position. It was great to see Ryan Haney of WJOX earn the respect of his peers for the great work he’s done in Birmingham. There are some damn good PD’s working in Mid Markets who I’m sure will earn future looks from Major Market cities.
Mornings:Craig Carton‘s controversial exit hurt WFAN in the voting last year, but the addition of Gregg Giannotti alongside Boomer Esiason has been a hit with industry voters….the loss of Kirk Minihane in Boston resulted in a dip for WEEI. They won the category last year….the move from Brian Hanley to David Haugh resulted in the loss of a spot for 670 The Score but if their ratings remain as strong as they were in the fall that should change next year.
National:Colin Cowherd, Dan Patrick, Dan Le Batard, and Jim Rome have owned the top of the national rankings for the past few years. They deserve to. But two things surprised me: ESPN Radio‘s shows don’t own the top spots like they used to. Some of that’s due to lineup tweaks in recent years. Some is due to FSR improving their product. Two other noticeable items, CBSSR’s D.A. Show has strong support from industry execs. More so than a number of national drive time shows. That’s also true of Mad Dog Sports Radio’s Nick Wright. The FS1 ‘First Things First’ personality cracked the top 14 despite not entering the national sports radio picture until September.
Noteworthy:Dallas had 3 local midday shows appear in the top 6 which was extremely impressive. San Francisco had 3 midday shows crack the top 20 too, another quality feat. Perhaps more surprising given how the market gets overlooked, Houston had three morning shows register in the Top 20. Not bad.
Original Sports Podcasts: I had no issue with the Top 5. All of them are well supported by fans and media professionals. What I did think about though is ‘which podcast in local sports radio is going to cut thru and make an impact equal to one of these five shows?’ That should be a focus and challenge for every sports station across the country.
Where the Voters Got It Wrong:Grant & Danny have been crushing it in Washington DC for the past few years and deserved to be higher in middays than 18th. The same is true of their boss Chris Kinard who led The Fan to a tremendous 2018…WIP’s Jon Marks & Ike Reese also deserved better. They’re in a tight race with Mike Missanelli who was voted 8th. Are Marks and Reese 13 spots worse? That’s debatable…I was surprised to see 1620 The Zone get less support this year. Their challenge is to make sure folks remain aware of their success because they’re still having it. Sharp and Benning in particular had a strong enough year to be included in the Mid Market morning category..I’ll say the same about 1280/97.5 The Zone in Salt Lake City, another great station with consistent ratings success that deserved better in the Mid Market Sports Station of the Year voting.
I want to thank all who contributed to this year’s voting, as well as each person who visited the website to see the results. A special thanks to All Access, Inside Radio, Radio Ink, Talkers, the NY Post, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and every sports radio and television station and on-air personality, producer, and programmer who promoted the BSM Top 20. There are many talented people creating great sports radio programming across this country, and we’re honored to shine a light on the work they do.
We’ll now close the book on 2018’s Top 20, evaluate what worked and needs improvement for next year, and turn our attention to the upcoming 2019 BSM Summit. This is a great time to remind you that if you work in the sports media industry, our event in Los Angeles is one you should be at. It takes place on February 21-22, 2019 and tickets will be on-sale thru February 15th. Click here if you wish to attend.
In the meantime, BSM extends its congratulations to all who were recognized as part of the Top 20 of 2018. We wish you the best of luck for 2019, and may the meters be on your side!
The day after the Super Bowl is when we roll out our final awards each year, recognizing the top sports stations in America for the previous calendar year. One difference this year though, we’re also including the Top 5 Original Sports Podcasts, so keep an eye out for that list too.
Before you scroll down to see who cracked the list, remember that voting for this series is done by fifty one radio executives from thirty cities and thirteen companies. BSM president Jason Barrett does not vote. He simply assembles the panel and presents their collective opinions.
We ask our committee to consider the criteria below when judging programs. That said, each voter has different tastes, which makes this a subjective process. No list is going to please everyone, but the BSM Top 20 is unique because it offers a collective snapshot of the sports format’s best shows as decided on by industry executives.
Strong ratings in 2018
Important shows/brand connection with local listeners
Exceptional talent and content provided on a consistent basis
Makes a major difference for its local community
Points are given for each spot (EX: 20 for 1st, 1 for 20th)
Moving on to the rankings, standing on top this year is 98.5 The Sports Hub in Boston. This is the 3rd time in 4 years The Hub was voted the sports format’s top station. It regains the top spot after giving it up last year to WFAN in New York.
We extend our congratulations to Mike Thomas and his staff, and now present to you The BSM Top 20 Major Market Sports Stations of 2018.
Additional Notes:
98.5 The Sports Hub finished forty six (46) points ahead of Sports Radio 1310/96.7 The Ticket. The Hub also recorded the most 1st place votes with sixteen (16).
The tightest races saw KFAN hold a 3 point advantage over 97.1 The Ticket, and ESPN LA 710 nip 92.9 The Game by one (1) point.
AM 570 LA Sports finished 21st, 9 points behind 97.5 The Fanatic. 22-25 was occupied by Sports Radio 950 KJR, WQAM, WDAE, and Xtra Sports 1360.
10 of the 33 stations eligible for consideration received a 1st place vote.
The day after the Super Bowl is when we roll out our final awards each year, recognizing the top sports stations in America for the previous calendar year. One difference this year though, we’re also including the Top 5 Original Sports Podcasts, so keep an eye out for that list too.
Before you scroll down to see who cracked the list, remember that voting for this series is done by fifty one radio executives from thirty cities and thirteen companies. BSM president Jason Barrett does not vote. He simply assembles the panel and presents their collective opinions.
We ask our committee to consider the criteria below when judging programs. That said, each voter has different tastes, which makes this a subjective process. No list is going to please everyone, but the BSM Top 20 is unique because it offers a collective snapshot of the sports format’s best shows as decided on by industry executives.
Strong ratings in 2018
Important shows/brand connection with local listeners
Exceptional talent and content provided on a consistent basis
Makes a major difference for its local community
Points are given for each spot (EX: 20 for 1st, 1 for 20th)
Moving on to the rankings, we have a repeat winner. 101 ESPN in St. Louis has earned the award for the 2nd straight year. 104.5 The Zone in Nashville won the award in 2016.
We congratulate Chris “Hoss” Neupert and his team on their well deserved recognition, and now present to you The BSM Top 20 Mid Market Sports Stations of 2018.
Additional Notes:
101 ESPN ran away with the top spot this year, holding a 59 point advantage over runner up 93.7 The Fan. The St. Louis sports station also secured the most 1st place votes with ten (10).
The tightest races were all decided by 1 point. WJOX nipped WHB, WFNZ held off 107.5/1070 The Fan, and 102.5 The Game edged 107.5 The Fan.
107.5 The Fan in Green Bay finished 21st. Spots 22-25 went to Sports Radio WNML, Sports Radio 1140 KHTK, 1010XL and 1280/97.5 The Zone.
12 of the 47 sports stations eligible for consideration received at least one (1) 1st place vote.
