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Countdown to Coverage: College Football’s Best TV Booth

BSM Staff
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Countdown to Coverage: College Football’s Best TV Booth

College football season is nearly here.

Forget last Saturday. It’s called Week 0 for a reason. Do you really want to believe the first game of the 2022 season was 3-9 Northwestern and 3-9 Nebraska playing halfway around the world?

Here at Barrett Sports Media, we are celebrating college football from a media angle. All week long, our editors and resident college football superfans, Arky Shea, Demetri Ravanos and Garrett Searight, will be looking at the best the media has to offer in terms of college football coverage.

The entire schedule is as follows:

MONDAY: Best Local Show

TUESDAY: Best National Radio Show

WEDNESDAY: Best College Football Podcast

THURSDAY: Best TV Show

FRIDAY: Best TV Play-by-Play Booth

This one is the big magilla. With so many games on TV every Saturday, college football offers fans their pick of a variety of talented broadcast crews.

Diversity reigns in college football television. That isn’t just about the way the people on each crew look. It’s about style and presentation.

That’s what happens when there is no single governing body to dictate the tone they want set for their sport. Fans are the winners for that!

With so much to choose from, it makes sense we waited till the end to unveil our choices for the best TV crews in college football. Here they are!

BRAD NESSLER & GARY DANIELSON ON CBS by Arky Shea

No one calls a college football game better than Brad Nessler. Period. In a land of immensely talented play-by-play talents, Nessler sits atop. He has one of the rare voices in college football that comforts you because you know college football is happening and it’s happening on a massive stage. If Nessler is in the booth, it’s a big damn deal. It’s the biggest reason I was so thrilled that he was the guy that replaced Verne Lundquist on the SEC on CBS games. I never wanted Verne to leave but since he retired, Nessler brought the gravitas.

Gary Danielson is way more talented than he his given his just due for and honestly, I have not heard a single reason why he shouldn’t be considered at the top of everyone’s board. He’s smart, well-prepared and was predicting plays before Tony Romo told you all that was a thing. He uses his time on-air wisely and points out the biggest reasons a play did or not work while at the same time, readily admitting when something doesn’t make sense to him if that moment arises. He has been the lead game analyst for the best league’s best game since 2006. If you think that’s an accident, you’ve had one too many Boilermakers.

GUS JOHNSON & JOEL KLATT ON FOX by Demetri Ravanos

Someone long ago decided that sports were not fun and that if they involved amateurs, they were sacred and should sound like church. I don’t know who that someone was, but I hate their guts and hope they roll over in their graves every time Gus Johnson is on the call of Ohio State and Michigan.

College football is a fun sport. Johnson makes it sound fun. Add in Joel Klatt, and the duo form a team that balances excitement with insight. I’m not a fan of FOX’s pregame show, but each Saturday you can bet, no matter who is playing, I will always check out Big Noon Saturday. Johnson and Klatt can make even a 20-point Nebraska loss sound interesting.

CHRIS FOWLER & KIRK HERBSTREIT on ABC by Garrett Searight

I could him-haw around what I think or I can just come out and say it. So it’s option number two. Kirk Herbstreit is the best television sports analyst of all time. His ability to understand the game and put it into terms that John Q. Public understands is unrivaled. Often times while watching a broadcast, I’ll notice something the color commentator doesn’t. I don’t ever have those moments with Herbstreit. He sees everything, and sees it before the instant replay so he can convey what he saw to you. His ability to see the entire field and see everything on the field, plus his ability to diagram plays on the telestrator after seeing it live is a masterclass in football broadcasting. Chris Fowler isn’t the world’s best play-by-play announcer, but he knows his role is to set up Herbie to shine week after week. Mission accomplished.

I gave strong consideration to Gus Johnson and Joel Klatt. I can’t pretend to be unbiased there because, as an Ohio State fan, I see an awful lot of Gus & Joel. Gus yells a bit too much nonsense for my taste, but that’s what he’s best known for. I’m always appreciative of his energy, but the star of the show is Klatt. He teaches me more about the game than any other analyst. He’s fantastic. But he’s not better than Herbstreit.

Four Tips to Generate Sales Leads

Jeff Caves
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One of the most challenging things to do in our business is to keep that pipeline humming with new prospects. Increasingly, buyers are doing their initial research independently, making it more difficult to get meetings. 

Finding new clients is always easier with a compelling reason to listen to you. We just need to use our resources to come up with compelling ideas to discuss with new prospects. But finding new people to talk to doesn’t have to be a task you take on yourself. Finding some warm leads is very doable if you consider some of these four steps. 

#1 Talk it up with other salespeople. Make sure you are teaming up with other sales reps in your building. They can be a great combo to approach new clients with if you have female-leaning formats. Make sure you ask your best clients if they are on the air with competitors of your sister stations. You can devise a pricing plan to give them the proper incentive to get the appointment. Make sure you ask fellow reps at the other stations to do the same if they are in with clients who buy your competitor. Even if you add your more male-targeted station into the mix of a client, buying adults or females can be compelling. 

#2 Ask an expert. Approach anyone you know who is an expert at something i.e. plumbing, whatever. They could be clients, friends, or other sales reps in the building. They will teach you things they know about how business is done in their expertise, and you can approach others with it. There is nothing better than approaching a new prospect with a remedy to their pain point. Make sure you drill new salespeople in the building. Whatever industry they came from can be a good lead for you or insider info. And don’t forget to get the list of vendors your station does business with and ensure you are covering those folks! Look for leads close to the station, too; it may be that lots of employees eat, drink, or shop at places that want to return the favor. 

#3 Look back before going forward. Make sure you check back 1-3 years and see which accounts were on the air and aren’t now. Sometimes you will find out that nobody is calling on them because we all just forgot. Who knows, they may wonder what happened to your station and are just waiting for an invitation to come back. Work ahead and start looking now at November/December spenders in 2020-2021, look at their copy and come up with a different or better approach.  

#4 Call oldies but goodies. Circle back to former reps and employees with or not with your stations and get referrals from them. They may even invite you to sell the company they are now with.  

Matthew Berry Says Being Featured on Football Night in America Sealed the Deal

BSM Staff
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Matthew Berry left ESPN earlier this summer after 15 years to seek a new adventure and he found one at NBC.

Berry appeared on the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast and was asked why he left ESPN. Berry began by saying how much ESPN means to him. “The reason, Jimmy, you care about me and the reason that anyone is listening to this interview is due to the power of those four letters”.

Then Berry opened up about the multiple reasons that convinced him to jump to NBC which included not having to move his family and being able to use his expertise on multiple tentpole events for the network, but a major key that helped secure the deal was NBC’s plan to feature Berry prominently on its NFL coverage.

“NBC said to me, ‘We want to put you on Football Night in America,'” Berry recalled, “and not as a token, not as like… you’ll pop on with ‘here’s some sleeper’ for thirty seconds. You’re going to be an integrated part of this cast. You’re going to do multiple segments.”

Berry really liked that idea because he mentioned how he wasn’t featured on ESPN’s NFL coverage and this would be a welcomed change.

“I mean, it’s Football Night in America,” Berry perked up. “It’s the second-highest rated show, not sports show, the second-highest rated show in all of television. Second only to the actual game itself. There was a lot of other things at NBC… they recruited me and it was really, honestly flattering… [but] you had me at Football Night in America.”

Chris Stewart Says It’s “Bittersweet” to Fill-In For Eli Gold

BSM Staff
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Alabama kicks off its season this weekend in Tuscaloosa and on the radio call of the game will be veteran Alabama broadcaster Chris Stewart. While Stewart has been a stalwart on the men’s basketball and baseball broadcasts, he’s filling in for Eli Gold, the Voice of the Crimson Tide since 1988.

Gold will miss the beginning of the Alabama football season with an unspecified ailment. Leading up to the game, Stewart agreed to come on The Paul Finebaum Show to preview the game and before the two parted ways, Finebaum asked Stewart about how he felt getting to broadcast football for his honorary alma mater.

“I am trying to enjoy it,” Stewart began. “This is a special opportunity for somebody who grew up an Alabama fan. Who has lived always within 45 minutes of where I was born in Fairfield, just west of Birmingham. Who grew up listening to a dear friend of yours in John Forney. Who grew up and got to know Paul Kennedy who followed John. Who has been friends with and worked with Eli for basically twenty years in some capacity on Alabama football broadcasts. It should be very special, very enjoyable. It is more than tempered given the circumstances because I can certainly relate to what Eli is dealing with.”

Stewart, somber and respectful in his tone, then mentioned that while it’s an honor to call the game, it doesn’t come without a heavy heart.

“It’s bittersweet. It’s the opportunity of a lifetime,” Stewart added, “and yet it’s one I hope I don’t have for very long because that would mean he’s gotten well and able come back and take a job that’s rightfully his.”

Sports Media Reacts to Twitter Edit Button

BSM Staff
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Sports Media Reacts to Twitter Edit Button

Twitter announced on Thursday that it had begun testing an edit feature. The platform has never allowed users to edit posts in the past. If you were unhappy with the way you worded a statement, the only options were to edit, rewrite and repost or to simply live with the mistake.

An edit button has been the subject of much debate with the “very online” community coming down strong on both sides. The sports media, one of Twitter’s most active user groups, had plenty of thoughts. Most of them negative.

There are parameters for the new feature. The edit button has a thirty-minute window. After that, Twitter will not let users change their post. The rule is meant to make it impossible for misinformation spreaders and others that violate Twitter’s terms of service to claim they did not do anything wrong.

No timetable for the test has been announced. Twitter also has not made it clear what engineers are looking for in order to determine if the feature becomes permanent.

Chris Johnson and LenDale White Launch Podcast on Bleav

BSM Staff
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The Bleav Podcast Network is launching a new show featuring a pair of very notable college and NFL running backs.

Smash & Dash is the name of the show and will be co-hosted by former NFL rushing champion Chris Johnson and USC legend LenDale White.

Johnson won the rushing crown in 2009 and was the NFL Offensive Player of the Year. That season he broke the NFL record for most scrimmage yards while with the Tennessee Titans.

White was an All-American at USC in 2005 and was a teammate of Johnson’s during the 2009 season. White also hosts Bleav in USC.

“I’m thrilled to be partnering with Bleav to bring the Smash & Dash podcast to a reality!” Johnson said. “LenDale and I created Smash and Dash to generate a space to discuss all topics around sports culture, music, and society. It’s just our everyday conversations caught on tape.”

Bron Heussenstamm, CEO of Bleav, continues, “Chris and LenDale were prolific players on the football field. Their show is going to encapsulate all their expertise about the game and have a blast doing it. We’re thrilled to bring their show to fans everywhere!”

Amazon Prime Video Grabs Over 1 Million Viewers for Preseason TNF Broadcast

BSM Staff
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The first edition of Amazon Prime Video’s Thursday Night Football broadcast averaged 1.035 million viewers. That came from last week’s preseason matchup of 49ers-Texans

Earlier this month it was reported that stream’s numbers would be tracked and reported by Nielsen. The number reported also includes over-the-air numbers from the S.F./Oakland/San Jose and Houston markets.

The Thursday Night Football stream did have direct head-to-head competition from the NFL Network which was airing the Packers-Chiefs game. That game drew 1.804 million viewers (that game aired locally in Milwaukee and K.C.).

The 49ers-Texans stream drew 436,000 viewers among adults 18-49, and 511,000 viewers among adults 25-54. The median age was younger on Amazon vs. other NFL preseason games, with 49ers-Texans at 51.2 years of age vs. 56.1 for other NFL preseason telecasts.

The 49ers-Texans game is not the least-watched national preseason game this season. The NFL Network has drawn under 1 million viewers for three of its games.

Greta Van Susteren Given Award By Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy

BNM Staff
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Newsmax host Greta Van Susteren has been given the Order of Merit, III Degree by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for her working on Putin’s Atrocities: Horror in Ukraine, a weeklong series covering the war in Ukraine.

“I have been on the ground in Ukraine and seen this war with my own eyes,” Van Susteren said. “Once you see it with your own eyes, you can’t turn your back. The world needs to know what is going on… especially the atrocities. This is why I am at Newsmax — the opportunity to do these important stories with great colleagues.”

“Much of the mainstream media has focused on weapons and the billions in financial aid given to Ukraine by the global community to fend off Moscow’s aggression,” Newsmax said in a release. “Van Susteren’s series, though, took a different tack, exploring the savagery displayed by Putin’s forces. Intriguing segments looked at reports of POWs being tortured and executed, alleged war crimes by Moscow, and the Kremlin’s campaign of terror against Ukraine’s women and children.”

The Order of Merit, III Degree is awarded for “significant personal merits in strengthening interstate cooperation, support of state sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, significant contribution to the popularization of the Ukrainian state in the world”.

Jay Glazer Launches Mental Health Podcast

BSM Staff
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FOX Sports NFL Insider Jay Glazer is launching a podcast to discuss mental health.

Unbreakable with Jay Glazer: A Mental Health Podcast will be produced by iHeartMedia and Fox Sports Radio, will piggyback off of Glazer’s book on mental health.

He told The New York Post‘s Andrew Marchand “I want to take the shame out of it. For all the years, I didn’t know why I suffered and now I know I feel God blessed me with depression and anxiety to help others through theirs. I really want to be a leader in this.”

Glazer, who has been open and honest about his previous mental health struggles, will publish the first episode of the podcast next week. It features a discussion with Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay.

2022 ManningCast Schedule Revealed

BSM Staff
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2022 ManningCast Schedule Revealed

ESPN and Omaha Productions have revealed the schedule for the ManningCast of Monday Night Football on ESPN2.

The Emmy Award-winning production will debut for the week one contest between the Denver Broncos and the Seattle Seahawks.

Peyton and Eli will have alternate broadcasts for the following games:
Week 1: Denver at Seattle
Week 3: Dallas at New York Giants
Week 4: Los Angeles Rams at San Francisco
Week 7: Chicago at New England
Week 8: Cincinnati at Cleveland
Week 9: Baltimore at New Orleans
Week 13: New Orleans at Tampa Bay
Week 14: New England at Arizona
Week 15: Los Angeles Rams at Green Bay
Super Wild Card Weekend

All broadcasts will air on ESPN2, while the week 1, week 3, week 15, and Super Wild Card Weekend broadcasts will also be available on ESPN+.

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