Over the years, I’ve tried to live in the moment rather than in the past. But the longer you stay active in the sports media business, the more you recognize how important it is to appreciate the journey, and all of the ups and downs that come with it. Those good and bad experiences play a big part in your professional development.
As I write this column with 2020 lurking around the corner, I’m fond of what I experienced between 2010 and 2019. It is without a doubt, the best decade of my professional career. Granted, I’ve only been in the industry long enough to enjoy 2.5 decades, and there’s still plenty of road left to travel, but the past ten years have given me a newfound respect and love for the business that I chose to enter in 1995.
The decade started for me in St. Louis, where I was fortunate to work for a first class GM named John Kijowski. I was hired as PD to build 101 ESPN. We launched the station in 2009, and made progress, but it was 2010 when the brand took off and became a top rated juggernaut. We had a great lineup, investments in play by play and key contributors, but most importantly, we were having fun and growing together.
It was at 101 where I developed my leadership style. I introduced monthly meetings with the programming staff which would include a lesson or two, offer a deeper look into the state of the station, and end with a couple of laughs and staff recognition for whoever earned our employee of the month award. I felt it was important to bring the group together to laugh, learn, voice their opinions, and gain a better understanding of our results and why certain decisions were being made. It was a vital part of creating a winning culture, and though I left the station in June 2011, 101 ESPN has continued winning throughout the decade, building on what we started.
The reason I left the radio station was due to receiving an incredible opportunity in San Francisco. I was hired to build and develop 95.7 The Game, working for another great GM, Dwight Walker. The difference with this situation was that it was in market #4, and included the challenge of taking on one of America’s best performing sports stations, KNBR.
I signed a four year deal with Entercom, knowing that the likelihood of winning the ratings battle the first few years would be difficult, especially without a major play by play partner driving additional cume. Don’t get me wrong, I wanted to win badly and drove the team hard to help us unseat the competition, but I knew that the real goal was to build a sustainable brand. We came out of the gate far back in 27th place, but over the next 4 years climbed to as high as 3rd right before I exited in June 2015. After I left, The Game landed the radio rights to the Golden State Warriors, and it’s helped make the battle for Bay Area sports radio supremacy even more interesting.
Similar to my time in St. Louis, the years spent in the Bay Area will always be important to me. I loved living there, and working with a ton of talented people. I helped grow two program directors in that building, and helped others earn on-air opportunities which have since changed their lives. Like every job, it had its pluses and minuses. The GM change two years in wasn’t easy. Neither was going from working with a budget to having constant conversations about every personnel decision. But when I weigh the pros vs. the cons, I look back fondly at the experience. To see the station, and many who I worked with still doing well, shows me that we created something that local people, teams, and advertisers value.
The crazy part of reflecting on the past decade is that this is just the midway point. I had no idea the back half of my journey would include a return to NY, gaining custody of my son, and launching a business as an independent consultant. It took a lot of adjusting, but I dove head first into this space in September 2015 by listening to stations, hitting the road to work with brands, building the BSM website and a stronger social media presence, hiring a writing, web, and social team, and creating the annual BSM Summit. It’s hard work, and not a path for everyone, but I’m thankful that I took the plunge when I did.
As we enter this next decade, many familiar faces who we’ve come to know, trust, and depend on for support the past few decades will exit the industry. Someone has to take the baton and move this business forward otherwise the work those folks have done will have been wasted. As stations look for help to navigate a complex sports media picture, I want to be the person they turn to for guidance.
Looking at the business today, one area where I know we can improve is in keeping more of an open mind. There are far too many assumptions made about who people are, how they operate, and what we think works or doesn’t work based on our prior experiences. The problem with that is the future is different than the past, the sports media landscape is more competitive than ever, and the only way to know what someone stands for and how they fit in your operation is to talk to them and form your own opinion.
Case in point, I was on a visit this fall when someone told me a corporate person told them to be careful of what they share with me because I could spin their ideas as my own to gain favor or talk them out of their initial idea in order to push my own agenda. I was stunned because that’s not how I work at all. But to know that, you’d need to know me or have worked with me. It annoyed me to hear that a corporate person was offering an uneducated opinion on me, but it also reminded me that I have a lot more people to win over. And I will.
I tell my clients all the time, I’m in the suggestion business. They’re in the solution business. I’m a resource who’s focus is on helping them grow their business. To do that, I listen, do research, and offer my opinions just like anyone else. When the final call has to be made though, it belongs to the client. Sometimes my work involves leading a recruitment search, other times I’m designing a podcast or social media strategy. One day I’m on location leading a sales meeting, the next I’m in a conference room working with a show and PD. There’s no one size fits all formula in my world. Much depends on what each station/market needs and values most.
If I can make two personal requests for the next decade, the first would be for more people in our industry to lead the charge on changing the narrative about the radio business. We’re quick to embrace podcasting and social media, but haven’t done a great job of pounding the drum for radio. The last time I checked, radio was still a big part of people’s lives, even if some want to label it a thing of the past. Be proud of the business you’re in instead of apologizing for it. Many would kill to be where you are.
I get that our industry doesn’t have a great image in the eyes of the business world. Decision makers see the other media options, the frequent cuts made at stations across the country, and radio’s revenue projections, and it lessens confidence. That’s why it’s up to us to educate advertisers, teams, media partners, and fans about the cool things we do, and the successes we have doing it. That makes others want to be part of it. If your story isn’t familiar to them, why would they look past all of the other danger signs?
My second request is to see more women and minorities given opportunity to manage sports radio brands. I’ve written about it, and highlighted it at the Summit, but here we are entering 2020 with less than a handful of sports radio PD’s being female or non-white. There isn’t one valid argument to be made for why the status quo should continue. Our ability to make progress on this front has been embarrassing. I certainly hope that at the end of 2029 I’m not writing a similar paragraph.
As for myself, I love what I’m doing. Just last week I was recognized by Sports Illustrated’s JohnWall Street as one of the Top 100 sports business follows on Twitter, and my knowledge and understanding of the business has grown leaps and bounds over the past 4 years. I’ve had a chance to meet and listen to a lot of great people, while expanding my knowledge of social media metrics and strategy, website performance, podcasting data, audience behavior, and of course, radio ratings. I never want to stop challenging myself to grow, and nothing fuels that fire more than what I’m doing now.
I’ve been asked many times if I’ll return to a building one day. I never say never, but it’s highly unlikely. I’ll always take a phone call because that’s just smart business, but I won’t be the guy chasing down job openings. During my 4 years of running BSM, I’ve taken two meetings, and neither were for PD gigs. One was to run an entire sports operation for a major audio company. The other to work with a well known sports television talent and company on building a new online platform.
In both cases, the timing and fit wasn’t right, and I returned to doing the job I love most, this one. I’m fortunate to work with a lot of great brands and people, and tell stories that others care to read or listen to. I also like having my family nearby, and my son in my house, although that’ll end next year when he goes to college.
My goal moving forward is to become an even better resource for the media industry, and increase awareness and interest in our online brand and the BSM Summit. There are a lot of companies I haven’t had the privilege of working with yet. With a new decade in front us, I’m hoping to change that.
I do have one thing in development that is going to be pretty cool, but I’m not ready to share the details just yet. What I can tell you is that I expect to add more media professionals to this website as writers in the future. If interested, email me at JBarrett@sportsradiopd.com. We’re also planning to put a few merchandise items on the site at some point. I think you’ll dig some of the sayings and designs we’ve been working on.
As long as sports media remains important to people, I plan to write, report, and podcast about it. If over the next decade I can help and influence a few more brands and people, and help my staff advance in the industry, that’ll make my work even more rewarding. Whether you’ve read this website, listened to one of our podcasts, interacted on social media, retained me for a business project, or attended a BSM Summit, I want to thank you for your support. All of it matters, and is greatly appreciated.
On behalf of our entire crew, I wish you a Happy New Year. Be sure to take a few minutes today to reflect on your own experiences from the past ten years. It’s what makes the journey worthwhile. Just don’t celebrate too hard tonight, because your next decade of challenges and opportunities starts tomorrow!
