Marks has been hosting evenings (6p-10p ET) on WIP since February 2017. Prior to joining the radio station he enjoyed a lengthy run with crosstown rival 97.5 The Fanatic.
With Marks moving up in the lineup to host afternoons, his former timeslot gets turned over to Joe Giglio. In addition to hosting evenings, Giglio will also anchor weekday Phillies pre-game and post-game coverage. Since joining WIP, Giglio has hosted every daypart, being heard most at night and on the weekends.
“I’m really excited to be part of the station I grew up listening to,” said Marks. “I’m thrilled to be able to work alongside Ike Reese, a guy I admired on the football field and have such respect for as a radio host. What a great time to get started as the Eagles and Carson Wentz have their eyes on the Super Bowl.”
“We’re lucky to have Jon Marks here and moving into afternoons on WIP. He’s honed his craft and worked for this for a long time, and we’re excited to have him team with Ike and take us into the future. He’s the real deal,” said Spike Eskin, SportsRadio 94WIP Program Director. “Having Joe Giglio in evenings gives us a guy who is smart, informed, funny and has a fantastic work ethic. I’m glad we can finally give Joe the chance he deserves to shine on a nightly basis.”
Giglio added, “It’s an incredible time to be around rising teams and great stories in Philadelphia sports, and I couldn’t be more excited to talk to the most passionate fans in the country on a nightly basis. In my four years at WIP, I’ve worked every shift and with every show. I’m now thrilled at the opportunity to be a full-time member of the station, and want to thank Spike and David Yadgaroff for this opportunity.”
Beginning November 16, the weekday line-up on SportsRadio 94WIP will be as follows:
5:30-10:00 AM: Angelo Cataldi and the Morning Team
Just less than a year ago Barstool teamed up with SiriusXM for a national radio show, Barstool Radio aired daily from 12-2pm ET on channel 93. Yesterday, Barstool founder Dave Portnoy announced channel 93 will soon be Barstool Radio 24/7.
“We went from one show to an entire channel in one year,” Portnoy said. “It’s further validation that there is insatiable demand for unique Barstool content. Having our own 24/7 channel will be a great way to continue to grow our brand and strengthen our grip on the 18-40 year old demographic.”
The current 12-2 show hosted by Portnoy, Kevin “KFC” Clancy and Caleb Pressley is expected to continue in the same timeslot. Additional programming will include Portnoy’s Barstool Tailgate Show co-hosts, former NFL punter Pat McAfee and Julie Stewart-Binks, as well as ex-MLB pitcher Dallas Braden. Barstool’s most popular podcasts will also join the new SiriusXM channel.
During yesterday’s Barstool “Emergency Press Conference” from SiriusXM studios, Portnoy said they have no boundaries in their search for new talent to fill the new channel. “If you have funny guys at other stations that are floundering, be like, ‘Hey, we want this guy on Barstool.’ I’ll call him up and hire him, because that’s what I do.”
Some thought their recent quick dismissal from ESPN could hurt Barstool, but Portnoy made it clear that won’t be the case, stating, “Everyone’s taking shots at the crown lately, being like, ‘Is this the end of Barstool?’ No, no, no. No, no no. This is just the beginning… You think we’re going down? We’re growing.”
The new Barstool Radio channel 93 on SiriusXM will launch January 15, 2018.
Brandon Contes is a freelance writer for BSM. He can be found on Twitter @BrandonContes. To reach him by email click here.
Episode 13 of Season 2 includes a fifty minute conversation with San Diego sports talk show host Mark Willard. The discussion focuses on Willard’s experiences in sports radio in Southern California, the difference in strategy between FOX Sports Radio and ESPN brands, the reasons behind Los Angeles not being a higher rated sports radio market, the pros and cons of working with a former athlete, how to handle social media, reaction to the Mike Felger commentary on Roy Halladay, whether WFAN and ESPN are still as desirable as they once were, working for PD Brian Long and much more.
Also, Jason runs thru this week’s 5 in 5 by sharing his thoughts on the end of Mike and Mike, the approval of the CBS-Entercom merger, another round of layoffs at ESPN, Mike Felger’s critical remarks of Roy Halladay following his death and Barstool Sports gaining its own channel on SiriusXM.
TOPICS EXPLORED WITH MARK WILLARD:
Growing up listening to KNBR in the Bay Area
Getting his first break to be on-air and call a game
Landing a big opportunity with 690 in San Diego
Being paired with Tony Bruno and how it helped his career
How to judge if your approach is working or not on a national show
The differences in LA radio between FOX Sports and ESPN
What the benefits and challenges were working at 710 ESPN LA
Why Los Angeles sports radio doesn’t rate higher
Adjusting back to San Diego after working in Los Angeles
How the loss of the Chargers has affected his content strategy
Working with a former athlete and the pros and cons to it
Navigating social media as a talent and his advice for handling it
Reaction to Mike Felger’s commentary last week on Roy Halladay
If WFAN and ESPN are still highly attractive sports media jobs
Working for Brian Long and how their relationship has evolved
Quick Hits: Best SD host, Best radio teacher, SD or LA, Texting baby
It happens in sports all the time. Legendary players treat us to decades of success and heartwarming moments before reaching the end of the line and paving the way for the next crop of superstars. Sometimes teams move on without missing a beat. Other times they go into a funk for a sustained period of time. It’s what separates good and bad organizations.
To prepare for those situations, teams dedicate time and resources to identifying future stars. No matter how much preparation is done though, until the moment arrives and a new talent is on the field, court or rink, you won’t know how mentally tough they are or how effective they’ll be until they face the music.
As a lifelong Yankees fan I was recently reminded of how important planning for the present and the future can be. When Derek Jeter retired, Didi Gregorious stepped in. As Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira moved on, Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez became the new faces of the franchise. Coincidentally, the Yankees surpassed expectations and were one game away this season from playing for the World Series. That was a testament to exceptional scouting, talent development, managing and a roster coming together and developing great chemistry.
In radio, the same challenges occur but when they do, it can be difficult for programmers and corporate executives to roll the dice on the unknown. Too often we gravitate towards established commodities because of the instant pressure of sustaining ratings and revenue. Rather than bet on the better long-term play, we’ll flock to someone who can ease the immediate pain. It doesn’t matter if the wound gets reopened next year, if we can put a band aid on the cut, that spares us from having to go to the doctor and deal with potential surgery.
Think about it for a minute as it relates to sports. Two years ago, some Yankees fans would’ve dealt Aaron Judge to land a pitcher who could’ve helped the team contend faster. Can you imagine how badly the franchise would’ve been setback if Judge had been traded for someone like Johnny Cueto? At the time it would’ve sounded good considering that Cueto was an ace and Judge was in Triple A and nowhere near the home run machine we now know him to be. The organization might have won a few more games that season, but had they taken that approach, they would have spent the next 10 years paying dearly for it.
We’re at a point in time where some of the best in the sports media industry are starting to fade away. Over the past few years, play by play legends like Vin Scully, Brent Musburger and Verne Lundquist have moved on. Familiar faces on sports television like Chris Berman, Tom Jackson, John Saunders, Ron Jaworski, Ed Werder, John Clayton, Stuart Scott and Craig Sager have left our screens. In sports radio, local stars such as Terry Boers, John Dennis and Terry Foster have all exited stage left.
Before you know it, Al Michaels, Bob Ley, Dick Vitale, Lee Corso and Bob Costas will vanish. So too will be Angelo Cataldi, Joe Beningo, Norm Hitzges and Gary Radnich. All of these broadcasters have been extremely successful. Some may even stick around longer than expected, but father time remains undefeated and eventually even the best step aside at some point. When they do, that’s when you learn a lot about a brand and its programming team.
In thinking about some of these situations over the past few years, I’ve seen a number of them turn out positively. When CBS moved on from Phil Simms, Tony Romo took the ball and ran with it. After John Madden left Sunday Night Football, Chris Collinsworth moved in and delivered an immediate impact. In fact, NBC has already prepared itself well for Al Michaels’ exit with the addition of Mike Tirico. ESPN also did a fantastic job years ago elevating Buster Olney and Adam Schefter to their top MLB and NFL insider roles continuing the great work done previously by Peter Gammons and Chris Mortensen.
A few others I’d add to the list were FOX Sports’ choice to install John Smoltz opposite Joe Buck on MLB playoffs/World Series broadcasts after previously using Harold Reynolds and Tom Verducci, and David Ortiz taking over for Pete Rose on FS1’s postseason baseball pre and postgame coverage. Although Skip Bayless created more buzz and made more headlines with Stephen A. Smith on ESPN’s First Take, you can also add Max Kellerman to this list since he’s played his role well on the show and helped continue the program’s success.
On the radio side, despite losing established stars like Terry Boers in Chicago and John Dennis in Boston, 670 The Score and WEEI in Boston continued to excel. Each station developed future solutions in advance, so when Boers and Dennis left, Jason Goff and Kirk Minihane were ready to take on bigger roles. Both men were familiar to the local audience, and adequately tested before being trusted in bigger positions.
The flipside of this situation has been the reception to the changed strategy of the 6pm SportsCenter on ESPN and Sam Ponder’s ascension to host of Sunday NFL Countdown. Maybe in time fans will come around to both shows but so far the immediate reaction hasn’t been strong. We’ve also seen the Reynolds and Verducci combo fail to deliver for FOX Sports the way Tim McCarver did previously, and CBS Sports’ NCAA Tournament coverage hasn’t created the same level of noise and intrigue as it did when Billy Packer was involved.
I’ve gone down this road because in the next thirty days, both ESPN and WFAN will go thru the biggest adjustments to their brands in quite some time. Both Mike Francesa and Mike and Mike will end their shows, leaving both companies under the microscope. Francesa vacates The Fan after thirty years, twenty eight of which have included hosting afternoon drive. The Mikes sign off after waking up listeners all across the nation on America’s largest sports radio network for the past seventeen years.
In ESPN’s case, Golic will stick around and be joined by longtime football host Trey Wingo. The two men have chemistry from working together on NFL Live and although some may deem the choice as safe or predictable, ESPN isn’t under the same ratings pressure with their radio show the way local stations are. Network officials say Wingo and Golic will be given a chance to ease into the show, find their groove and provide stability. They also take pride in the fact that despite breaking up a highly visible and popular morning show, they’ve only lost one top 20 market affiliate, and it was on a station which was already planning to go local in morning drive.
For WFAN this is a much different conversation. Replacing Francesa is a tall order. He’s arguably the most successful sports radio host to ever work in New York City. For each media member who gripes about his show being outdated, the New York sports radio host’s ratings and revenue have remained strong for nearly three decades. That’s a feat that few can lay claim to.
Making the story even more interesting, is that WFAN will go in an entirely new direction with Francesa’s replacement. According to the New York Daily News, Chris Carlin, Bart Scott and Maggie Gray have been selected as the station’s new afternoon show, instantly making them the most scrutinized local program in the entire nation.
The new show will be a complete departure from Francesa’s style. Scott and Gray add an African American (plus former player’s point of view) and female perspective, and the station will feature three hosts in afternoons opposite Michael Kay’s program on 98.7 ESPN NY which also features a three member cast. Adding to the curiosity are the list of names who were reportedly contacted by WFAN and offered the job yet turned it down. Adam Schein, Max Kellerman, Chris Simms and Kim Jones all declined, and Chris Christie, Mike Valenti, and Evan Roberts were given drive time auditions. Prior to re-signing with SiriusXM, Chris Russo had expressed interest in being considered, and former WFAN personality Sid Rosenberg was interested but his contract with WABC prevented that from becoming a possibility.
In Carlin’s case, he returns to the big apple after a solid but short stint in Philadelphia at WIP. When I asked Chris just two months ago if he envisioned pursuing this opportunity and giving up a great gig in Philadelphia, he said he wanted WIP to become his permanent home. To be fair, I’m sure at that time he didn’t expect this job to be offered. Besides, we’re all entitled to change our minds, especially when prime real estate at one’s former station is offered.
After this story broke, I was bombarded with texts, emails and social media messages, most of which felt The Fan had made a grave mistake. From the outside looking in it does feel different, and the odds of it working aren’t as high as the chances of the show being a miss. We’d likely say that though about any show that goes in after Francesa. When you replace a legend, it’s more likely you turn out like David Lee Roth after Howard Stern than Colin Cowherd after Tony Kornheiser.
Having faced these challenges before, Mark Chernoff (WFAN’s programming czar) has shown that when his back is against the wall he usually does his best work. He hit a homerun by rolling the dice on Boomer and Carton after Imus, and when Chris Russo left afternoons, he could’ve installed a new partner with Francesa, especially with the show being over five hours long, but he trusted his workhorse to succeed solo, and that’s exactly what he did.
If Chernoff feels this show can succeed, then he’s earned the benefit of the doubt to try it. If he’s wrong, some will question if Mark still has the magic touch. But considering how many reportedly rejected the opportunity, it does leave a few questions. Is this the move Chernoff really wanted to make? Does he have complete confidence in the show being WFAN’s next big hit? Or is WFAN putting forward its 5th best option and the one they had the best chance at getting a deal done with?
It’s easy to throw darts from the sidelines and blast a radio station for its decision, but unless you’ve walked in those shoes and put your name on a call, supported your choice and dealt with the arrows flying in your direction, you won’t understand how hard it is. These type of moves determine if a station will continue winning or losing and it’s the ultimate test in conviction and measurement of a programmer’s vision and decision making.
Having developed professional relationships over the years with Chris and Mark, and having grown up as a listener to The Fan, I’m rooting for them to succeed. I don’t know if the new afternoon show will excite an audience to tune in daily but it’s their challenge to find a way to do so. We’re in a different world than we were 10-20 years ago and content options are greater than ever before. I applaud The Fan for going outside the box and attempting to freshen up the look and sound of its product. Whether it’s the right call or not can only be determined by the audience. Hopefully additional surgery isn’t necessary in the future.
After spending the past 19 years at New Jersey 101.5 FM, Eric Johnson is ready for a new challenge. The veteran programmer is getting that opportunity in Philadelphia as the new Director of Sports Content at 97.5 The Fanatic. He starts his new role on December 4th, filling the seat previously occupied by Matt Nahigian.
Prior to joining 101.5, Johnson worked in sports radio. He served as the APD at crosstown rival Sports Radio WIP. He was also the PD of Philadelphia Top 40 station Y-100.
“Eric Johnson has the perfect skill set and experience to help continue the growth of 97.5 The Fanatic,” said VP/Market Manager Joe Bell. “He’s a Philly guy who understands that Philly sports fans are the best in the country and he can deliver a product with as much passion and knowledge as they have.”
Johnson added, “I am very excited to be joining the impressive team at Beasley Media Group. My thanks to Joe Bell, Buzz Knight, Justin Chase and Bruce Beasley for the tremendous opportunity! I am really looking forward to working with the talented staff at Beasley Philadelphia, a group of stations I have admired for a very long time. As a lifelong Philadelphia area resident with a sports radio background, I truly understand the passion of the Philly sports fan and the important role that 97.5 The Fanatic serves in giving those fans a powerful outlet. I can’t imagine a better time to be involved with Philadelphia sports radio than right now!”
This week’s topic is digital. Or as some media sales reps call it “the D word.”
I recently ran into someone I knew in media sales who said: “I hope everyone in our business knows how important it is we are selling digital, because it is the future.” I told him I had news for him, the future is now.
We have all read the numbers, we have all seen the reports. Traditional media is getting less and less of the spend and more dollars are being shifted into digital. If you are of the mindset that “digital is the future” as if to suggest it is something you should be preparing for now, you are behind, way behind.
The beauty of digital for the sports format is that it all boils down to targeted advertising. Figure out who you are trying to reach and go after that specific audience. Sounds familiar, right? Mainly because that is what we have been selling in the sports format for twenty-five years – targeted marketing at the male 25-54 demo.
So, the format that should be able to take the most advantage of digital is ours. Selling digital is no different than selling any of your other core radio products – it’s about ideas. In sports radio, we are often looking at ways to tie our advertisers and prospects into programming, but now with digital, that programming platform can expand.
I have seen some great examples of local digital programming that are being created in our space. As I researched WEEI for my interview last week with Matt Hochman, I ran across what the station is doing with their podcasting. Whereas some stations consider podcasting to be the replays of content that already ran on the air, WEEI is creating unique content that gives the listener more of a host’s personality, or their passion where they focus on one singular team or sport.
101 ESPN in St. Louis is doing high school football games through their website and Facebook Live. As part of a partnership with a local production company, they’ve been doing a game of the week throughout the football season. The games aren’t aired on the station, it is completely a digital product with the support of station and social media promotion.
Both ideas are great ways to tie in digital sponsorships while extending your programming to your local website or social media outlets. Other stations are having hosts do long form interviews if they have someone who excels at asking questions and getting the most out of a guest, or they are allowing hosts to branch out of sports and tap into other passions such as food and beer.
Additionally, almost all of us have digital extension products we can sell and that brings us into a whole new ballgame. Now, we can sell any audience a client is looking to reach, and we can tie your radio advertising and your digital advertising together. If you’re working with a business that sees a need to reach a pro or college sports team’s audience with radio spots, they probably would be served well by doing a geofencing or conquesting campaign around the same team’s stadium on game days.
No matter what it is, it once again all boils down to how good of an idea or campaign you help create for the advertiser, and then the execution of what you come up with. The real “D word” is dollars, and as those shift to other platforms, our ideas and solutions are how we can keep the money with us, both now and in the future.
We’ve all heard the saying “less is more”. Apparently though, Twitter doesn’t agree with that phrase. The company has decided to adjust its position on the length of tweets, giving users the chance to extend their comments from 140 to 280 characters.
On one hand, you can understand and appreciate the company’s flexibility. If users want the freedom to write longer and avoid being placed inside of a box on the platform, they should be able to do that right? After all, if the user isn’t satisfied, they don’t use the platform, and without customer activity and engagement, the social media giant is in an unenviable position.
But what about the rest of users who enjoy writing short and prefer reading bite-sized comments? They’re now forced to sift thru longer messages, which means that unless they extend the amount of time they spend on the platform, they’re going to see less tweets.
In situations like these, there are always pros and cons. It’s no different than starting a sports radio show and deciding which of two topics to lead a show with. But the challenge is trying to decipher if a strategic adjustment is critically necessary.
When Twitter first burst onto the scene, it was instantly noticeable how the company positioned itself opposite Facebook. Twitter wanted people to use their platform and present short and precise comments in order to continue conversation. Essentially the goal was to become social media’s sports bar, where patrons came together to watch and discuss games, movies, TV shows, etc. Then as the brand grew, the noise began to increase about having flexibility to write longer.
With any decision, there’s going to be vocal displeasure. But a brand has to decide who they are, what their unique point of entry is, and then reinforce that position again and again. The public loves to be heard, and feedback should be evaluated, but sometimes companies introduce change to satisfy a vocal minority rather than taking into account the feelings of the majority. As we’ve seen many times, the public can also push for change but when their convictions are tested, you find that they’re easily influenced to reverse their current position.
Was Twitter’s 140 character length the reason why people were or weren’t using the platform? I don’t think so. But from a competitive standpoint, the social media company is going to highlight the massive amount of users on other platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat, and in order to reach a larger amount of people they felt a need to try something different to increase activity.
As I considered the benefits (the user has more control) and risks (does anyone like the idea of President Trump doubling the size of his tweets?) of Twitter modifying its strategy, I began to realize how it connected to the world of sports radio. Having listened to more shows and stations around the country than most, I hear certain things that remain problematic. Many hosts examine their content plan and execution through their own lens, not necessarily thru the audience’s. They live in their rundown and approach their content with the mindset of “we have 3-4 hours to get this all in” rather than taking into account that the average commute in most cities is 25 minutes and what’s happening in the moment is the only thing a listener truly cares about. What you do in an hour or two has little importance to them, only the present.
How many times do you listen to a host hit the airwaves and at 3pm they start telling you everything they have planned later on? “We have special guest A at 4:30, a caller segment at 5:00 and our favorite feature at 5:30”. Ask yourself this, when was the last time you changed what you were going to do in 90-120-150 minutes based on what a radio host told you they had planned? I stand a better chance of regrowing a full head of hair than you do of convincing an audience to change their lives for the satisfaction and benefit of your show.
But do you know when you do have a chance of stealing their time? Right now! If someone has the equivalent of two quarter hours of time to spend with you, your best shot at stealing a third quarter hour is by getting into their head immediately. You do that by not wasting your words and time and providing a strong content experience.
Let’s look at how that applies to Twitter’s switch from 140 to 280 characters.
First, let’s look at the start of a segment. This is the difference between spending your first 60-90 seconds sleepwalking thru your opening comments as opposed to attacking the air with a defined purpose – 140 vs. 280. Once the liner is done and the music is playing, you should be right into your topic and opinion. That’s how you maximize the audience’s time and earn their trust. The excuses of “we like to build up to things and ease into the conversation” sound good to the host because you’re looking at your road map and challenge of performing for 3-4 hours. What you’re not doing is respecting the person’s time who is listening to you right now.
So much of earning ratings credit is about grabbing five minutes of listening in a quarter hour. You help yourself by drawing people in quickly rather than wasting time and assuming they’ll stick around for your good stuff later on. Another part of this is understanding the importance of executing the most topical and relevant content every single hour. What you did at 3pm has no value to the listener who gets in their car at 5pm. If a big trade has happened, a high profile sports figure has sounded off, or an important game is taking place that night, the listener expects to hear about it, not your fourth story of the day because you’re mentally talked out of the big story.
Secondly, think of how these Twitter changes apply to a tease. 140 characters requires a short focused message. Grab my attention immediately, and make me interested enough to click on the attached link in your tweet or engage with you in dialogue. That’s what a radio tease is meant to do. Can you climb into my mind and make me curious enough to sit thru a few minutes of commercials or return after your break, so I can hear the answer?
A tweet that is 280 characters in length is the equivalent of a host who wanders into their breaks. For example, “We’ve still got plenty to do, Jim, Fred and Jose hang on the line we’ll get to you shortly, we’ve got tickets to giveaway to this Sunday’s game, there’s news about Colin Kaepernick possibly being brought in for an audition, Peter King of Sports Illustrated in about 15 minutes, plus I want to weigh in on this Ric Flair 30 for 30 documentary, so stick around we’re back in just a few.”
As you read that last example, I’m sure you thought of a few hosts who execute that way. To be honest, there are some hosts who are excellent on the air or have built up longevity in their markets that they can get away with it. But guess what, not everyone has those skills or advantages and good habits are good habits, and bad ones are bad ones. To me it’s simple, whether you’re on the air for a year or have hosted a show for twenty, what gives you a better chance to keep a listener around to the next segment, promoting what’s next in a way that makes people think or not mentioning anything specific?
If your audience has minimal time available to listen, and they’re being separated from your content by a five minute commercial break, 60-90 second sports update, :15-:30 seconds of liners/music and possibly an audio clip leading back into the segment, not to mention if your station runs anything else such as traffic, weather, stock reports, etc., that means they have to wait nearly seven minutes to hear your next piece of content. You assume they’ll be back because they love sports talk and have limited local options, but you don’t know if they just pulled into their driveway, approached a tunnel and lost reception, scanned the dial and found something else, took a phone call or simply got bored and turned off the radio.
In each of those situations, there are two options. You’ve either invaded their head space enough to want to hear what’s next or you’re just noise in the background. Maybe they’re exiting the car but because you intrigued them they’ll head into their home and use Alexa or the app on their phone to hear more. Maybe they’ll download your podcast later because although they’re busy now, they still want to hear the payoff. But if it isn’t short, sweet and intriguing, good luck earning additional tune ins.
There is another side of this debate too. 280 characters is definitely more valuable than 140 on a sports talk show when it involves extending a topic. Diving into a segment with a plan and teasing what’s next are what I often refer to as “ins and outs”. When you skip past those formatics (the last :15 seconds before your break and the first :60 seconds starting off a segment), the way you keep people engaged is by being compelling, opinionated and entertaining in your presentation with a topical story. Storytellers with strong positions, timely humor and solid evidence to support their convictions make people laugh, learn and think. When you get the audience into that frame of mind, you’ve hit the right notes.
Essentially a host is a lawyer making a case, and trying to convince the jury to see it their way. The guests, calls, sound and bits are props that add to the discussion. If you’re masterful in the way you frame your content, the listener turns up the volume, listens closer, and begins to argue or agree with what they hear thru their speakers. If it’s informational, offbeat and lacking creativity, direction and suspense, they’ll disconnect quickly.
The other angle worth highlighting in support of 280 characters over 140 involves adjusting a brand strategy. Hardcore fans will clamor for what they know (Ex: Bring back Mike and the Mad Dog, SportsCenter hasn’t been the same since Dan Patrick and Keith Olbermann, etc.) but to stay ahead in business, you have to evolve, take risks and be unafraid.
In Twitter’s case, the proof is in the pudding. They’re trailing their social media competitors in revenue, relevance, reputation and routine. By switching to 280, they’ve created immediate buzz, which should lead to a short-term increase in activity. If people have a good experience, then it could lead to an uptick in users and/or activity. Twitter owns a niche but wants more, and to get it, sometimes you have the analyze the competition, the behaviors of the audience, your brand’s strengths and weaknesses, and modify your approach.
Which brings us back to the debate of 140 or 280 characters. In my opinion short tweets and long tweets can both be effective, but you’ve got to understand their purpose. If you’re trying to lead people to other platforms or develop dialogue, less is more. If you’re breaking news or providing opinions on important issues or personal matters, additional perspectives can be helpful. But if every thought that pops into your head becomes social chatter, you’ll not only waste the audience’s time, but you’ll make them question how important it is to follow you. And whether it’s on Twitter or sports radio, if you don’t have loyal fans spending time with you, you’ll soon be broadcasting to an empty room.
When you look for a sports media seller to profile, you might as well start with one of the most experienced. Matt Hochman started in media sales in 1987 and has been in the sports format, with WEEI in Boston, since December of 1995. For the math challenged, that’s thirty years in radio and coming up on twenty-two years in the sports format. That’s a lot of time and a lot of knowledge to tap into:
DG: Take me all the way back, how did you end up in radio?
MH: I started in radio in 1987. I graduated from UMass-Amherst and went to New York City for my first job which was going to be a buyer for Macy’s and I was going through their training program. I spent a year there and had my store set on fire by customers three different times, which was quite entertaining. After about a year I realized retail wasn’t something I wanted to do. I was contemplating my next move. I had done some stand-up comedy in New York and thought maybe radio would be something I might like.
DG: What did you know about radio at that point?
MH: Everyone I talked to about radio as a possible career painted this horror show, that it was a tough way to make a living. You are selling an intangible and it is really difficult. My first interview referred me to a gentleman at a talk radio station which was WRKO, right after they had the Celtics, for a number of years, with (Larry) Bird and (Kevin) McHale winning championships. So, I sold talk radio and the station was bought and sold by CBS and then Entercom. Since then, it has been pretty much all sports radio for me with talk shows, Celtics and Red Sox play by play and specialty programming for the Patriots.
DG: If someone asks you what you do, what do you tell them?
MH: Twenty years ago, it didn’t matter what type of format you were in, if you sold radio, you were a radio salesperson. Now, it is so different, with so many companies wanting to get involved in sports and brand their company with sports play by play, and with all the digital assets.
WEEI.com, over the course of a 24-hour period, can deliver over a million impressions on some days. The digital end is so big. I really feel like myself and my colleagues are really sports marketing professionals. There are so many different components to it that it really does need a little more clarification with what we do. Our industry isn’t that simple.
DG: How has selling radio changed since you started in 1987?
MH: It has changed immensely, but I tell you, I would not be in this business right now if I was not involved in sports. I feel so fortunate and I try and instill this to the folks I work with, especially the less experienced people, how fortunate we are to be in this marketplace where sports is so important and relevant. To be able to talk to companies now about a sports platform and have those companies understand the combination of sports radio with play by play and the digital aspect, it is so much more than just marketing, it’s a real relationship and partnership.
DG: Why are you good at what you do?
MH: There are others that have had successful runs and the common denominator for those of us in Boston that have been doing it so long, is the attrition rate is very minimal. When I am trying to do business with someone I am not talking about coming on board for two weeks and then let’s see what happens. Too many people that are involved in radio feel either a pressure, or they are scared, and they make a sale and the sale didn’t have an opportunity to work because there wasn’t enough thought put behind it to have something that was measurable. So many times, I think people in our industry don’t try and find out what the expectations of the client are and when the campaign is over, they aren’t on the same page as far as if the campaign was successful. I try to, minimally, put together a six-month program, and I feel very confident in the assets I have as well as the support people behind me that we are going to execute and deliver the deal.
DG: Why do you think so many people fail at media sales?
MH: I think sometimes we in the industry don’t put enough emphasis to our new people on the creative aspect of what we do. Somebody could know all the statistics about how many people are listening and where the reach is, but the magic is what’s coming out of that speaker. I try to get across to new people that it’s the creative end. I know that the biggest part of my success is because I am creative. I am not an analytical person, at all, but I can write a commercial in my sleep. If I can take a great piece of production, and we have great production people, to a client and say “how do you think this would sound on a Monday morning, fifteen minutes after Tom Brady has done his weekly appearance on WEEI?” Then I hit play and I’m quiet.
I don’t think that we in the industry emphasize that it really is simpler than we think. It’s the creative aspect, it’s the imagination, that’s the magic and I think that’s what we need to encourage people to keep doing more of.
DG: What’s your secret to prospecting and finding new business?
MH: The first thing, you have to know who your audience is. Part of prospecting is being able to share with a prospect, what you had in mind. The days of calling and saying you just want to come in and talk about their business are over. People don’t have time. The internet gives us a big advantage over those that started many years ago. Now, we can learn more about their business and we can have more of a valid reason for calling.
When you go in, these people are busy and are getting bombarded by all kinds of media. You have to get to the point and go in with a purpose. Many times, I have gone into a first call already with a spec commercial based on a conversation I may have had with the individual on the phone and then any reading I did about the company online.
DG: What advice would you give to a new seller about the keys to having success in our industry?
MH: You only get one chance to really prove yourself. I believe people can read through “bs” in a heartbeat. You are judged by clients and prospects more when something goes wrong. It is about how we in our industry respond, whether it be to an incorrect spot running or if a talent says something that isn’t overly complimentary of an industry or about a particular company. How quickly we are able to respond and make the situation better, that is how we get judged. I believe my clients know that I am a member of their team as well as the company that I represent. They know that when something goes wrong, which can happen, they won’t hear me blame anyone, I will be responsible and I will fix it.
The successful people are the ones that display great integrity and if you say you are going to do something, you do it. That’s so easy to say, but so many people don’t do it. People have so many options and they are buying you, the individual. We all have fine products and they can make a number of choices, but they have to feel comfortable with the individual before they start writing out checks.
Also – it’s all about treating people with respect. It doesn’t matter how new someone is to the company or what their job is, everyone needs to be treated with respect, dignity and appreciation. In our business, we need so many people behind the scenes to make things happen. Without all the support that I have had, I wouldn’t have been anywhere near as successful. This is not an “I” business, we can’t ever take the other people for granted.
DG: What is the creative idea you are most proud of?
MH: I once invested my own money on my radio station and bought my own advertising campaign for about four months. I did that because what better way to show potential prospects that I believe in what I represent than by putting my money where my mouth was. Now, I gave myself a great rate, but I spent thousands of dollars of my own money and recorded my own messages that were running on WEEI. To this day people still ask me about running those commercials.
What They Say:
“Matt is a rock star. I’m amazed by his continued energy and enthusiasm in this business after 30 years. More importantly, he is a good soul and an all-around good human being that people respect and look up to. He is gracious to everyone in our building. His clients trust him implicitly, 90% of his business is direct, and to date, he has achieved 10 out of 10 of his monthly goals. He is simply, the best of the best.I couldn’t be prouder to work alongside him. – Kelly Sutton, General Sales Manager, Entercom Boston
Clay Travis says Bomani Jones’ radio show was canceled by ESPN because it was hemorrhaging affiliates. Others say Jones asked for the show to end. Regardless, ESPN Radio is changing direction in afternoon drive.
Jones’ show has occupied the 4p-7p ET time slot since September 2015. He joined ESPN Radio in March 2015, hosting evenings. His ascension at the network over the past two years has included an increased presence on television. A new daily show featuring Jones and Pablo Torre is expected to debut this spring.
According to reports, Jones’ television duties have nothing to do with this decision. Bomani remains interested in creating a daily show, except his belief is that presenting his show in podcast form would be better for him and his fans as opposed to terrestrial radio. No word yet on what the network will offer in afternoons as a permanent replacement.
For the past decade, Matt Nahigian ran the programming department for 97.5 The Fanatic in Philadelphia. During that time, the radio station moved from AM to FM, added established local personalities such as Mike Missanelli, Tony Bruno and Anthony Gargano, secured the broadcast rights to the Flyers and 76ers, and surpassed market leader Sports Radio WIP in the ratings on a number of occasions. The radio station’s performance was strong enough to warrant a nomination for a Marconi Award.
Now, Nahigian is hoping to duplicate that success on the opposite coast.
95.7 The Game in San Francisco has announced it’s reached an agreement with Nahigian to become the station’s new program director. He fills the vacant seat which had previously been filled by Don Kollins. Nahigian is expected to arrive in the Bay Area for internal introductions and meetings on Thursday. He confirmed the new opportunity earlier tonight on Facebook.
In 2016, Nahigian was ranked 9th overall among the nation’s top sports radio program directors by radio industry executives. He finished 10th in 2015. He becomes the first programmer hired by new San Francisco market manager Susan Larkin.
Ironically, Nahigian was the third programmer hired by Greater Media in Philadelphia to lead The Fanatic. He now becomes the third programmer hired to lead The Game in San Francisco. In each of those situations, BSM president Jason Barrett served as the radio station’s naugural PD.
