On the 6th episode of the Barrett Sports Media Podcast, Jason Barrett analyzes the lack of diversity in sports radio and explains his approach to writing columns which deal with sensitive subjects. He also weighs in on Colin Cowherd’s comments about ESPN being at a disadvantage for attracting quality people due to being located in Bristol, CT.
Plus former ESPN and NBC Sports Radio and television host Erik Kuselias, who presently hosts a morning drive program for Genesis Communications in Tampa and Orlando, checks in to discuss the various stages of his media career and a number of issues relating to his on-air approach and the current state of sports media.
SUBJECTS EXPLORED WITH ERIK KUSELIAS
Getting his start on a small station with a limited signal
Unexpectedly gaining the attention of an ESPN Radio executive
Landing in afternoons on ESPN Radio with his brother & then flying solo
Moving from ESPN Radio to ESPN television as the host of NASCAR Now
Returning to ESPN Radio and dealing with the surprise of not being renewed
Being hired by the Golf Channel and the criticisms he and Gary Williams faced
Shifting to NBC Sports television and radio and why he welcomed the change
Outkicking his coverage and catching Holly Sonders’ eye, who he’s since married
The false reports that said he and Holly pitched themselves as an item to NBC & FOX
What made hosting locally in Tampa and Orlando appealing after working nationally
Why he welcomes political talk on his show & the sports media’s left leaning agenda
What he feels has improved and gone backwards in sports media over the past 5 years
His response to Colin Cowherd saying ESPN loses people because it’s based in Bristol, CT
Quick Hits – best career moment, #1 mistake, best in sports media, the state of ESPN
ESPN 1000 is making a minor change to its weekday lineup that it hopes will provide big dividends. According to a report from Robert Feder, the Chicago sports radio station is reorganizing its midday lineup by having “Carmen and Jurko” and “Kap and Company” trade places.
As part of the changes which will go into effect on April 3rd, Carmen DeFalco and John “Jurko” Jurkovic will host weekdays Noon to 2pm CT. Kaplan will start earlier, hosting weekdays 9a-Noon CT. One additional benefit for Carmen and Jurko is that they’ll have an opportunity to stay on the air for an extra half hour as part of a cross-talk segment with afternoon hosts Marc “Silvy” Silverman and Tom Waddle.
According to Feder, one key factor for the switch is Kaplan’s other job as host of the Chicago Cubs pre-game and post-game shows on CSN Chicago. With Kaplan involved on television, and the Cubs playing a large number of afternoon games, it can create situations where Kaplan is forced to leave his show early or miss it completely. By making the move to an earlier start time, it will make Kaplan more available to do both with minimal interference.
Since ESPN 1000 added Kaplan to its lineup, he has proven to be a huge addition. He’s enjoyed consistent ratings success including producing the second most listened to AM radio talk show for the first two months of 2017. The only talk show in the market with stronger ratings among Adults 25-54 and Men 25-54 is ESPN 1000’s afternoon program “Waddle & Silvy”.
In October, Chad Doing returned home to Portland and signed on with Rip City Radio 620 to host the station’s pre and post-game coverage surrounding Portland Trail Blazers basketball. Now after a few months, Rip City is ready to give Doing a heavier workload.
Effective today, Rip City Radio has added Doing to the afternoon show alongside Travis Demers. The Portland veteran enjoyed success as a member of 1080 The Fan and 750 The Game before taking a two year detour to host the morning show for 95.7 The Game in the Bay Area. His involvement as host of the station’s Blazers Warmup and 5th Quarter shows remains unchanged.
In addition to hosting the afternoon program, Demers also has a hand in managing the station’s programming. By adding Doing to the show it not only strengthens the program, but it gives Demers some flexibility to tackle other station business without having to worry about it compromising the show.
For more information on the Rip City Drive with Travis and Chad visit their website by clicking here.
The news trickled out in January and was made official today. The ESPN Radio network is adding ESPN New York Program Director Justin Craig to its management team as its Senior Director of Programming and Operations. Craig will report to VP of ESPN Network Content Dave Roberts.
With Craig shifting north to Bristol, CT, ESPN New York 98.7 FM is promoting Ryan Hurley to program director, and producer Jonathan Winthrop to Assistant Program Director. Winthrop will remain installed as Stephen A. Smith’s producer on his radio show which airs on ESPN Radio’s stations in New York and Los Angeles.
“Justin brings to this role a wide range of experience and winning results,” said Roberts. “He clearly understands the value of how the local and national networks can collectively create an even stronger culture of success. Bottom line: Justin Craig is uniquely prepared for this extremely important leadership role. He’s a winner.”
Having an in-depth conversation about diversity in sports talk radio is difficult. It’s a subject that makes many people uncomfortable and defensive, but it’s one that warrants further inspection.
To recognize the industry needs to do better is the first step. Working to improve it is the next. But progress only happens if the industry’s top decision makers believe it’s a critical issue.
Too often in our business, difficult subjects get addressed publicly, but once the questions stop being asked, it’s back to business as usual. The great Bill Parcells used to say “you are what your record says you are“. Well, if results are how we’re going to judge success and failure on the subject of racial diversity in sports talk radio, then thin-skinned members of the radio industry may want to stop reading, because they’re not going to like the evidence.
Before I continue, let me be candid for a second. I began writing this piece in January and almost decided not to publish it. It isn’t the subject matter I’m afraid to explore. I’ve already gone down this road before.
The reason why I considered keeping this column inside the vault is because our ability as a society to discuss race in a productive manner, especially as it pertains to sports media, has gone backwards in recent years. These days there’s an immediate outcry of racial prejudice whenever someone shares a different opinion or point of view about a particular story involving a high profile white or black personality. Social media for all of its positives, serves as a cesspool of negativity anytime a conversation arises that involves any inference of race.
First, nobody in the sports radio industry has gone on the record to explore this issue the way that I have. I do believe progress needs to be made, and what the business has presented collectively isn’t good enough. Let me make that crystal clear.
But despite pointing out the radio industry’s lack of diverse voices in weekday positions, and regardless of my track record of running brands and working with and hiring numerous minority voices, I’ve also been called out by people who read my website and have no knowledge of my background for ignoring black personalities in other columns I’ve written.
When I wrote the piece “Another 10 Talents You May Not Know But Should” I had a high profile TV personality respond by email adding “No blacks huh? Interesting”. It didn’t matter that the intent of the piece was to highlight people doing quality work in sports radio who didn’t earn a lot of fanfare, or that the people I selected to be featured deserved to be recognized. The simple fact of the matter was that none were black, therefore it was implied that I was ignoring minority voices.
Then in early February, I posted the annual Top 20 of the sports radio format. Over the span of 6 days I showcased who industry executives voted as the format’s top morning, midday, afternoon and national shows. Some of these categories included minority personalities. However, they were once again under represented.
That led to Howard Bryant suggesting that the morning drive airwaves were being controlled by white voices and influenced by white decision makers.
At first I was bothered by the tweet because it led to receiving a few hate emails for sports radio being dominated by white males, as if I created the problem. But after having an opportunity to process things I understood exactly where Howard and some of his supporters were coming from.
As a soon to be forty three year old white male, I don’t enjoy when I hear people criticize those who hold jobs in the industry and assume they have them because they’re white. That in my opinion is irresponsible. It ignores the fact that the employed white individual likely had some degree of talent that appealed to a hiring executive. If they’ve been hired to do a job, and have continued to do it well for an extended period of time, that should be enough validation for the hiring manager.
But it’d also be foolish of me to assume that there’s nothing wrong with a picture that shows every major and mid market local morning show being led by white personalities. This is what African American’s see when they look at a list which includes only two minority hosts, Rob Long in Baltimore and Damon Benning in Omaha.
The story was similar in middays where only 6 minority hosts were part of the nation’s top 40 shows, and in afternoons where 10 minority voices contributed to the top 40 shows in the country. It was more of the same on the national scene, where Stephen A. Smith, Bomani Jones and Tiki Barber were the only African American personalities to be included on the list of the nation’s top 21 programs.
I understand that if you’re a Caucasian male you may not want to hear this. You might even be offended that I’ve raised the issue, but I guarantee that you’d have a very different opinion if you looked at the nation’s top 140 shows and saw only 21 of 271 positions occupied by white personalities.
In order to avoid any confusion, I want to be clear that this article focuses on males and the ethnic composition that exists inside many of the nation’s leading sports radio brands. I will address the challenges facing women in the sports radio industry in a separate column. Although I could combine the two, I have found through previous experiences that messages get lost when you try to tackle too much in the same space, especially sensitive subjects such as this one.
Before I share my findings from this year, I do want to address a few things. The intent of this piece isn’t to suggest to folks on the outside looking in that all executives are against hiring minority voices. That would indicate that every single executive in a hiring position isn’t open minded to changing the look and sound of their brand. I don’t subscribe to that theory at all.
This column also isn’t intended to suggest that influence should be used to force minority individuals into high profile positions. I saw a column a few weeks ago on The Undefeated which took exception with Magic Johnson for not using his influence to make sure a minority candidate received consideration for the Lakers vacant GM position. It was insinuated that by not doing so, he failed to handle his responsibility as an African American executive. Not only do I disagree with that assessment, I feel it creates a further divide rather than progress.
Never mind that Jeanie Buss went to war with her family by firing her brother and GM Mitch Kupchak, but she also gave the keys to the Lakers kingdom to a minority (Magic Johnson) and gave him the freedom to hire the team’s next General Manager. Johnson chose Rob Pelinka (former NBA agent) who had an excellent reputation and relationship with many black players in the league, and great familiarity with the way the Lakers run their business.
Pelinka also had the blessing of another powerful minority (Kobe Bryant), who happened to be the best Lakers player of the past twenty years, and we’ve seen proof of agents (Bob Meyers) making the transition into NBA front offices and helping franchises have success. Magic did not nor should he have had to hire or pursue a minority candidate just to please members of his race. That’s the type of process I would like to see our industry avoid.
But that particular example is not what we’re here to discuss. I brought it to light because I want it to be clear that positions shouldn’t be filled based on a responsibility to pleasing one’s race, but rather in the best interests of the brand, company, and audience which each market serves.
In doing my research for this year’s piece, I focused once again on the weekday lineups of the nation’s Top 20 market sports radio stations and networks. Depending on how you look at it, we’re no better or worse than we were 12 months ago. Usually staying consistent is viewed as a positive, but in this instance, where progress is necessary, I don’t believe that does the trick.
Does this mean that companies and their executives aren’t aware of the problem? Not at all. As a matter of fact, if you flashback to ten years ago, many would say that the industry has made a better effort in adding diverse talent to its airwaves. But to expect sweeping changes or a 50/50 blend inside most brands is unrealistic, especially if a sports radio station is currently achieving success.
It’s also puzzling that minority’s rarely occupy management positions. There’s only one African American sports radio program director (Terry Foxx at 92.9 The Game in Atlanta) in a Top 20 market, and market managers, corporate executives and owners are also rarely non-white professionals. Are we really suggesting as an industry that there are no minorities capable of leading our operations? What type of message are we sending to minorities in our industry who have dreams about one day overseeing a company or sports radio station?
The real questions we must address are related to the processes being implemented inside of each station and company.
How are companies holding their executives accountable to make sure that minority candidates are given a fair look during the interview process? What checks and balances are being implemented to make sure stations place a greater importance on reflecting their communities on the air? How much involvement does a brand manager have in making sure the product is more attractive to non-white audiences?
Other questions that deserve to be asked include, is the radio station sending its leaders to speak at schools, job fairs or creating programs to invite individuals from different backgrounds to learn about their business? Are station executives analyzing their audience composition and working to make sure their brands have the right mix of personalities to reach and connect with their local demographics? Are executives looking for minority talent in different places besides colleges and other media companies? How are HR departments assisting executives to improve upon their shortcomings?
Many people love to point fingers, and express their frustrations with these type of sensitive issues, but when pressed for solutions and ideas they fire blanks. That does us no good in this conversation. Instead, we need accountability, action, and a long term strategy to make our business more attractive to people from different backgrounds.
And let’s be sure this next point is understood. As much as African Americans are underrepresented on sports radio stations, the percentage of on-air jobs that they hold is comparable to their overall population numbers inside Top 20 markets. They hold 12% of the prime sports radio positions, while representing 15% of the population from Top 20 cities.
If there’s a group with an even bigger reason to feel slighted, it’s Hispanics. They hold only 9 of 399 prestigious on-air jobs inside the Top 20 markets and national networks, which is slightly above 2%. Yet they make up 22% of the population from our larger cities, and 17% of the entire population in the United States, and that number is expected to rise in the future.
Similar to an office, locker room, federal government agency or restaurant, I believe that the more people you include from different walks of life, the more interesting your operation becomes. Certain conversations that some individuals can’t tackle on the air suddenly become possible due to the different personalities involved. The sound of a station changes too and becomes more distinct, and the more variety you can offer your local audience, the more likely they are to consume your future content. That in turn helps you expand your fan base.
But as we’re discussing this issue, and how to include more people from minority backgrounds in the process, we also have to recognize and acknowledge a few other important facts.
You can slice and dice it however you wish, but the reality is that the majority of sports radio listening comes from white male audiences aged 25-54. That demographic shouldn’t be tossed aside just because the other side is underrepresented. They are people too, and they equally love the content, and spend money supporting the radio station’s advertisers.
Let’s also not be naive to the bigger picture. Sports radio is a business. If the station and company are turning a profit, and the hosts who they employ are charged with producing ratings and they’re getting the job done, then why on earth would they alter their approach?
Most brands are measured by their ability to generate income and audience. Whether success comes from an Asian host, Hispanic host, black host, female host or a middle aged white male, isn’t as important to a company as an ability to fulfill and surpass company expectations.
I understand this issue is sensitive and personal to many. It’s impossible for some of us to see the world through each other’s eyes and skin. Speaking strictly for myself, I don’t believe that one’s ethnicity or skin color should determine whether they warrant an opportunity or not. If the white individual possesses more talent than the minority candidate, and is more equipped to produce results, then that’s who deserves the job. A major league baseball team doesn’t shape its roster based on fulfilling quotas to satisfy different races. A player either has an ability to pitch or hit and help the team win, or they’re not on the roster.
However, I also don’t think the radio business and major league baseball are an apples to apples comparison.
In sports radio, the words, actions, images and voices of our personalities determine how a brand is received by local listeners. If a station doesn’t offer a minority voice on its airwaves in a key weekday time slot, then it creates the impression to minority audiences that it’s going to take an act of god for someone from their background to gain a bigger opportunity on that brand’s airwaves.
Where it becomes even more challenging is when you consider how many positions exist on each station’s airwaves, how successful the brand is, and what level of interest is displayed from qualified candidates from minority backgrounds. Unlike pro sports where 25 men occupy a major league baseball team’s roster, and 53 suit up for an NFL team, and the entire country plays them at a young age and dreams of one day doing so professionally, some sports stations may only feature 2-5 people in their starting lineups. That’s even less than what an NBA team puts on the floor each night.
The other part of the conversation that remains a real issue is the lower level of interest from qualified minority candidates. I mentioned my personal familiarity with this issue when I explored it fifteen months ago, and after speaking to numerous executives for this year’s column, it appears that not much has changed.
Maybe the guy who works at Staples in the stockroom will turn out to be the next Stephen A. Smith, but when a programmer receives an application, and it includes no experience in the radio industry, no audio to judge someone’s ability, no mention of any type of work that would be related to the field for which they’re applying, and no references to anyone inside your operation who might know something unique and interesting about the candidate, chances are that application is going into the filing cabinet.
We can blame corporations and take issue with those who are in high ranking positions at radio stations across the country, but we also need to recognize that there’s a big issue with minority candidates not pursuing this industry as aggressively as whites. If the applicants pursuing work aren’t from a minority background, and those who do apply lack the skill level necessary to land an opportunity, what’s the hiring manager supposed to do?
These days you don’t necessarily have to be a radio veteran with stops in multiple cities, but you do have to provide something that gives a program director a reason to want to contact you. I may want to be the next President of the United States of America, but if I lack political experience, allies, a shortage of campaign funding, and possess little knowledge on the complex issues facing our nation, that opportunity isn’t going to be part of my future plans.
On second thought, maybe that makes me qualified after all.
But I digress.
Another issue that deserves to be raised is how smaller markets (where many people get their opportunities to learn and develop their skills) also have a shortage of minority on-air personalities. Is that because minorities are being ignored in smaller towns? Or is it due to a lack of pursuing entry level jobs in smaller regions and rejecting the idea of relocating and working for minimal pay?
Most small stations rely on young people who are willing to work for minimum wage salaries, and the trade off for low compensation is experience. Smaller markets should be even more open to giving people of color and different backgrounds a chance to learn the business, but it’s also incumbent upon minorities to explore these situations, and be willing to pay their dues because starting at the top in major markets isn’t a viable option.
I also don’t see a ton of minorities creating original content via podcasts, YouTube, Periscope or Facebook Live. These are all areas where an individual can practice their craft, build relationships with radio station executives, and develop an audience. And it costs next to nothing.
This issue is complex and it won’t be fixed immediately, but what’s critical is that the radio industry is making a collective effort to improve upon its shortcomings. Few can argue that the format is thin of minority voices. Nor can they suggest that enough training, outreach and internal accountability has been implemented to assure that brands take steps in the right direction to improve their diversity challenges.
Which means that each company has to decide if this is an issue they care deeply about, or if they’re content with their current standing. It also tells me that the current crop of minority talent on our sports radio stations can be part of the solution by getting further involved and encouraging people from different backgrounds to explore this industry.
The media business, and for that matter, the entire world, is a changed place. Image, sound, variety, and perception all impact a station’s ability to maintain and expand its business. What may have worked for the past thirty years isn’t necessarily going to work for the next thirty, which is why this is a subject that must be addressed.
Most radio industry leaders are good open-minded people with the right intentions, but the collective results we’ve delivered on this issue leave little to be desired. We can sweep it under the carpet, issue quotes to the radio trades, speak at conferences, and send out internal emails telling our employees how much we value being a diverse operation, but at some point, that noise must turn to concrete action, especially in desirable positions.
Keep in mind, I’ve only drawn to light the lack of minority voices in key weekday hosting positions. What do you think we’d find if we also shined the spotlight on update anchors, reporters and producers? Heck, is there one sports radio station in the nation that uses a minority as its main voice to position its brand? If so, I’d love to know. I study this format intently and I haven’t heard of any station doing that.
The late Michael Jackson said it best in his song “Man In The Mirror“. If you’re unfamiliar with the lyrics, they read like this:
I’m Starting With The Man In The Mirror
I’m Asking Him To Change His Ways
And No Message Could Have Been Any Clearer
If You Wanna Make The World A Better Place
Take A Look At Yourself, And Then Make A Change
Jackson may not have written that song with the thought of sports radio’s lack of diversity on the top of his mind, but the message rings all too clear.
Change starts in each city, building, company, and executive’s mind. If you care about growing your radio station and relating better to the community in which you operate, be willing to consider others who you may not have previously. Explore different avenues to identify talent. Get a firm understanding of where your brand’s strengths are, and what opportunities exist to make larger inroads in the marketplace. Don’t wait until your market’s demographics change. By then it’ll be way too late to make adjustments.
The collective improvement of diversity in sports radio won’t be resolved inside of a conference room by a group of executives joining forces to introduce wholesale changes across multiple regions and companies. But if better systems are installed, and one individual in one city takes action to make his or her operation more diverse, that becomes the first step towards making an entire industry look, sound, and feel better than it did yesterday. And that my friends is where progress begins.
On Tuesday night, Rachel Maddow of MSNBC had the entire world eating out of the palm of her hand. Except she forgot the most important item – the food.
Time and time again it’s been proven that Americans are suckers for hype. Networks and their on-air stars grace our airwaves and social media platforms, and tell us that they have something big, and immediately we start sharing, speculating and debating it with our friends, family and co-workers, working ourselves up into a frenzy prior to the big reveal.
But getting an audience to tune in one time for your content isn’t difficult. If you have something unique, and promote it effectively, people will stop by to see what all the buzz is about. The real challenge is delivering on what you promised when they show up, and rewarding them with a positive experience so they consider becoming repeat customers of your program.
If a restaurant in your neighborhood runs commercials and places signs in their windows hyping up that they have the best steak in town, you might consider eating there. But if you enter the establishment, and the wait staff ignores your table for a half an hour, and the steak they present is cold and tough to devour, then it’s unlikely you’ll return for a second visit.
This is what happened to Rachel Maddow on Tuesday night. She provided poor customer service, and a cold steak that few enjoyed eating.
I didn’t take the bait when I saw MSNBC touting they had Donald Trump’s tax return from 2005, because my immediate reaction was that the material was 12 years old (way before he entered politics, and the equivalent of three presidential terms ago), and I didn’t expect MSNBC to provide a fair and balanced discussion on the subject since they lean left. If the same situation unfolded and a democrat was president, I wouldn’t have turned to FOX News, because they do the same exact thing, except they serve the right side of the audience.
But when I saw my Twitter timeline begin to fill with emotional responses from many throughout the sports media, I became intrigued. The general consensus was that Maddow had promised something big, viewers tuned in for it, and were then strung along for a while before she provided a payoff, which was less than spectacular.
I then recorded the show to watch it afterwards because I was curious if she made the same tactical mistakes that ESPN did when they trotted out Jim Gray for the LeBron James special. If you remember that failed production, viewers (especially those in Cleveland) were put through an exhausting couple of segments, listening to LeBron talk about the ups and downs of his previous season, and his connection to the Boys and Girls club, only to learn at the end that he was leaving his hometown team to join the Miami Heat.
Although “The Decision” was awful, it did provide a big payoff. LeBron announced he was leaving the Cavaliers, and cameras captured immediate footage from Cleveland where people were visibly upset. Maddow on the other hand not only executed her show using the same failed playbook, but her grand finale was the equivalent of LeBron telling Jim Gray he still hadn’t made a decision on his future.
Rule number one if you’re a talk show host, never promise the audience red meat if you don’t have it. When you build your content around the President of the United States, a man who many will passionately defend or go to extremes to have impeached, and you tell the world you have exclusive information that’s going to interest them, you can’t then show up with only two pages of a tax return, one which shows that he paid a higher percentage of taxes than other presidents and candidates, and close to forty million dollars. That makes people angry.
Rule number two, if you have the smoking gun, and have convinced the world to stop by to hear about the evidence on your show, do not make the critical mistake of making the audience wait to try and gain one or two quarter hours of ratings credit. You might win this particular night, but you’ll never win another one. Word gets around quickly that you promise a lot, but deliver a little.
I saw a few of my industry friends on Twitter debating this issue Tuesday night, and I understood their points about Maddow playing the TV game to help her numbers. A few folks mentioned that she did her job to get people to tune in. Others commented that she created conversation about the show and was trending on Twitter because of her approach in making the audience wait.
There’s some truth in those commentaries, except there’s one critical point missing – she was already going to have a big ratings night because of the claim of having exclusive information on the President.
When you have the world’s attention, the way Maddow did on Tuesday night, you can’t afford to toy with the audience. Maddow chose to start her program with an extended twenty minute monologue, followed by a commercial break. She assumed that because she had information that nobody else did, that she could hold onto it for an extended period of time. But by operating that way, she not only pissed off the audience, but they were out for blood as soon as it was discovered that her evidence didn’t match up to the hype.
This is why people rejected ESPN for “The Decision”. It’s the same reason sports fans became upset with last year’s CBS Selection Sunday show. There are times when you play the quarter hour game, but not when you’re handed crucial information that the world is turning to you to learn about it.
When an opportunity of this magnitude lands on your plate, you have a simple job to do. Set up the story by providing insight on how you gained the information, and then provide the payoff. The sooner the audience gets it, the better, and the more satisfied they will be. You can add your analysis, post-monologue, guests, and other show elements afterwards.
Rachel Maddow’s biggest mistake on Tuesday night was that she thought more about her ratings, rather than the the people who actually provide those ratings spikes. When you execute that way, you lose every time. I’m sure MSNBC will see a boost in Maddow’s Tuesday night’s numbers. But that’s only one night. If the audience doesn’t return Wednesday, Thursday and beyond, then that tells you a huge opportunity was wasted.
Maddow can take solace in the fact that she was able to deliver her commentaries on Donald Trump to a large number of new viewers who might not have been familiar with her show or style. But turning those casual viewers into repeat customers was tossed out the window when she held on to the evidence too long, and then failed to produce material that would make the wait worthwhile.
On a normal night, she can execute a show that’s built for quarter hour viewing. The structure may involve a monologue in the first segment, a second topic or extension of the first topic in segment 2, and then a guest to offer analysis and opinion in the third segment. That plan makes sense most times.
But these situations follow a different set of rules, and require a different strategy.
If Barry Bonds agreed to come on your program and admit to the world that he used steroids, you wouldn’t wait 7 or 8 questions into the interview to ask him. If you did, the audience would turn on you. If you possessed a photograph proving that O.J. Simpson did in fact murder his ex-wife Nicole, you wouldn’t wait 20-30 minutes to show it, otherwise you’d earn the wrath of the audience.
In each of those examples, when you proclaim to have something exclusive, that will warrant the entire nation’s attention, it better be strong, and it better be delivered immediately. Rachel Maddow missed on both fronts.
Which is why the world is now talking about her failed performance, rather than the President’s taxes, something nobody could have believed was possible 48 hours ago. But when you ignore the audience’s demands for the betterment of your ratings, it carries lasting consequences. Rachel Maddow is now fully aware.
On the 5th episode, Barrett Sports Media President Jason Barrett shares his thoughts on the Infinite Dial study conducted by Edison Research. The Starting Point focuses on the positives and negatives of podcasting and why Jason believes the growth of digital audio could impact the way sports radio stations feature their content during the next 5-10 years.
Plus Mighty 1090 afternoon drive host, and longtime San Diego sports radio personality Scott Kaplan drops by for a conversation about the early days of his career in south Florida, landing a morning show in the big apple at the age of 30, heading west to San Diego, and all of the bumps, and ups and downs, he’s experienced along the way.
TOPICS COVERED WITH SCOTT KAPLAN
Developing the bug for sports radio while at the University of Pittsburgh
Working in television and discovering that the work didn’t interest him
Meeting Andrew Ashwood at WQAM and getting his first radio break
Learning alongside Hank Goldberg, filling in for him & working radio row
Getting a break at SportsLine USA & discovering radio host Sid Rosenberg
How Scott and Sid garnered the attention of CBS Radio executives in NY
The birth of “The Sports Guys” on WNEW and their 1-year run in the big apple
A bad ending in NY leads to a great opportunity in San Diego at XTRA 690
Auditioning with Billy Ray Smith, and how their first week of shows went
The keys to sustaining an on-air partnership for a long period of time
His short-term and long-term goals and prognosis for Scott & BR
Why he feels it’s important to be share your life on the air as a talk show host
Dealing with the ugly side of the business and why you can’t be afraid to take chances
Losing the Chargers and how their exit forces his show/station to change its strategy
Quick Hits – who taught him most, brand building, sidelines, SD sports, love of the job
Satisfying the wants and needs of the audience is a daily priority for every sports radio executive, host and employee. But when advancing the station-listener relationship beyond the airwaves comes into play, things become much more difficult.
One quote which I’ve grown fond of over the years is from Henry Ford, who said “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.” Ford was making the point that people fear change, but when you have a vision, you can’t be afraid to take risks and introduce new ideas which might make things better.
In 2017, most sports stations operate over the air, online and on mobile. They also have a Twitter and Facebook account, with some even extending their presence on Instagram and/or Snapchat. Social media platforms are where the audience reside each day, and where brands can further extend their relationships with their most passionate fans.
When you dig into a radio station’s social media account, you often find they post photos or links to stories, and occasionally a piece of audio or video from the station’s shows or hosts. You also discover just how inconsistent and far behind many brands are when it comes to using these platforms effectively.
These issues aren’t any one person’s fault. They’re a reflection of the industry not providing enough manpower or defined strategy to help their brands and people excel in a foreign space. Other companies outside of the radio business not only understand these areas much better, but they’re dedicating people, time, and resources to them, because they see the long-term benefits.
This is a big problem in our industry. When new opportunities arise, we assume that it’s a simple task, and try to solve it by tacking on more responsibility to the people inside our operations. If the audience seeks more written or video content, we just ask the talent to do more. If advertisers want a campaign built around the radio station’s digital and social media assets and our sales team doesn’t grasp the difference of the space, we just arm them with a presentation, and trust that they’ll get in the room and close the deal just as they would any other radio buy.
Except some of our top radio hosts aren’t great writers or equipped to perform on camera. And many salespeople who have spent years, and in some cases decades, selling traditional radio, don’t understand the complexities of selling digital and social media. Some also don’t see the financial upside in selling it. I’ve been in multiple places where it becomes a value added item for a client, or the account executive closes a radio deal and then shifts part of the total earnings towards social and digital so they can satisfy their budgets in those areas and keep their managers happy.
But if this is a space where people are investing most of their time, and advertiser dollars are shifting to it, then that should be enough cause for concern for the radio industry to invest more resources to becoming experts in it.
Here’s a sobering statistic from Edison Research’s 2017 Infinite Dial study. Did you know that 81% of all American’s use social media? That number has grown nearly 30% in the last 5 years, and 57% in less than 10 years. Altogether, an estimated 226 million people currently use social media.
If you consider that the average person sleeps 8.8 hours per day, that makes them accessible for 15.2 hours per day. This means that your brand has an opportunity to connect with the audience every 30.4 minutes, and a total of 30 different times per day on social media. More than a third of a person’s time is spent on social media, and each time they log on to check their account, your radio station is given an opening to present your content, personalities, promotions, and client messages to them (assuming they’re following your brand).
But now let’s look at the other side of this equation.
Inside most radio stations, people are consumed with the over the air product. They focus on ratings and revenue, and the thought of changing anything makes many uncomfortable, because it could disrupt the brands chances of earning a quarter hour of listening.
But once again, let’s look at some evidence.
First, the average person’s commute time in the United States is 26 minutes per day. This means that if they drive to and from work listening to your station, they will spend a total of 52 minutes per day consuming your content. That’s assuming of course that they never leave their car, make a phone call, play a CD or change the dial to sample another radio station.
Maybe they’ll also listen to your station while at lunch or at at work, but if we’re being realistic, most brands rely on in-car listening, which means that at best, you’ll earn 4 quarter hours of listening during a 52 minute drive. Even if I doubled that number of commute time for larger cities where traffic is heavier, that still only gives the radio station access to the audience for up to 2 hours a day, a total of eight quarter hours.
Meanwhile, the average person spends 50 minutes per day on Facebook, 25-30 minutes on Snapchat, 21 minutes daily on Instagram, and 17 minutes on Twitter. When you look at the younger demographic (18-29), the numbers are even higher. Most people now use a minimum of two social media accounts, and they’re investing more time before, during, and after work on these platforms.
Why should that concern you? Because soon these will be the people you’re trying to reach, except getting them to use your radio station will be as easy as convincing Donald Trump to stop tweeting.
Their parents may have grown up on radio, but they haven’t. That means you’ve got to play by their rules. Your entry point to them exists, except it’s not inside of a vehicle on a dashboard. It’s a place where they’re already established, and you too have a solid foundation. The big difference is that it dominates their life, while you consider it to be an afterthought – social media.
If the average person only hears 2-4 updates per day due to spending 52 minutes of total time in their car, and the reports themselves offer minimal original content and unique value (not to mention they’re often tied to a commercial break which causes further tune out), and we have key areas of our business performing poorly which require greater maintenance and focus, then what are we debating about? We’ve got to take a collective look in the mirror and ask ourselves, why we’re resisting efforts to serve the audience in the places where they’re most available.
We focus our time and energy resisting change to an antiquated update structure, which has a maximum potential of reaching our listeners 2-4 times per day, while the same listeners are engaged and accessible on social platforms 30 times daily and for the same amount of time as their daily commute. If you’re a gambler, would you bet on people spending more time on the radio and less time on social media over the next 5 years? If you answered yes, please email me. I have a bucket of steam, a left handed screwdriver and a wall stretcher that I’d like to sell you.
One of the biggest issues I see is that most sports radio brands don’t have dedicated digital and social media strategists inside of their buildings. Nor do they have a game plan or the knowledge of how to maximize the station’s relationship with the audience and advertisers in that space. They may receive corporate support from time to time, but even those corporate teams with great insights and strategies, are at the mercy of what each brand does on its own. That becomes increasingly difficult when overseeing the strategic efforts of more than one hundred radio stations, many of which broadcast different formats.
To excel in the social space, companies have to be willing to make larger investments to help their brands. This is vital to every station’s existence, relevance, and future growth. Before the company dedicates funds though, they have a right to question each operator about the dollars they’re already spending towards their on-air products. If resources are being used in areas that deliver minimal impact, then it’s worth exploring redirecting those dollars to further improve the brand’s social and digital media strategy and execution.
As it relates to the social picture, I did a study recently of twelve local sports stations to see how active and engaged their brands were on Facebook. The brands I chose for this project were WFAN and ESPN New York 98.7FM in New York, ESPN LA 710 and AM 570 L.A. Sports in Los Angeles, 790 The Ticket in Miami, 620 WDAE in Tampa, 1500 ESPN in Minneapolis, Arizona Sports 98.7FM in Phoenix, Sports Radio 94 WIP in Philadelphia, ESPN 97.5 in Houston, the Mighty 1090 in San Diego and Sports Radio 810 WHB.
I selected these stations for a few reasons.
I wanted to feature a number of different corporate groups. For this project, CBS, Entercom, ESPN, iHeart, Hubbard, and Bonneville were all represented.
I wanted to examine a few locally operated brands. Gow Media, Union Broadcasting, and Broadcast Company of the Americas all fit that description.
I wanted to see how stations executed on both coasts, in the north and south, and in the middle of the country.
I wanted to analyze a few stations with strong leaders who I know have thick skin, and who know that I don’t take personal shots and am only interested in helping our business improve.
I wanted to profile a few brands that I don’t have deep relationships with because it’s a little uncomfortable and forces me to be thorough and honest.
Over a period of 24-48 hours, I examined how often these stations posted, what time of the day their material went up, which content they featured, and the amount of response they provided to the audience’s feedback. I chose Facebook over the other platforms because it is the most utilized social network on the planet. The others aren’t even close. If you’re unsure about that, check out slides 1, 2, 3 and 4 courtesy of the 2017 Infinite Dial study done last week by Edison Research.
To see my full report for all 12 sports stations, click here.
Something that’s important to understand is that each platform requires different tactics. What you do on Twitter won’t work on Facebook, and what you do on Facebook won’t register on Instagram. You also need to understand which days and times the audience is most available, and capitalize on those opportunities. Fast Company conducted a study to share best practices and I recommend clicking the link to familiarize yourself with it.
An area of frustration for many radio stations is how Facebook uses sophisticated algorithms to limit a brand’s ability to reach their entire audience. But while it may fuel your desires to share a few expletive laced commentaries with Mark Zuckerberg, it’s the platform that delivers the biggest impact, and you can’t afford not to make this your brand’s top social media priority.
One thing you can do to help yourself, is make sure you’re posting material that doesn’t read as an ad. If it comes across as shareworthy content that’s even better. Anytime you attach a video or photograph to your posts, your odds increase of the content being viewed by a larger part of your fan base.
I noticed while researching this story that many stations tend to follow a similar pattern when posting material. They often update social media content during the weekday business hours when everyone is inside the building. However, when people are home from work at night or on the weekend, and actively engaging with a sports brand during a popular sporting event, the content dramatically decreases. They also tend to post content in off peak hours that isn’t as topical, which does little to help the brand.
Another area of concern, one which I consider the worst sin of them all, is the lack of engagement that most sports radio stations provide to their fans on Facebook. This is true for radio stations outside of the sports format too. Tons of comments are being sent to your brand each day, but they rarely get answered. Imagine if your audience kept calling your phone line to talk to your hosts, and sent in a flurry of texts to the air studio, but nobody ever acknowledged them. Eventually the audience would stop engaging. Well, this is the expectation you’ve created in the mind of your audience as a result of being absent on social media.
What happens in most cases on these pages is a one sided conversation. The radio station pushes out the content, hopes the audience clicks a link or gives the brand a like or comment, but rarely do they take the time to acknowledge the listener’s existence. What this tells the audience is that there’s limited upside for engaging with the brand, and they’re better off instead sending a text to the studio, an email to the program director or a tweet to the host. Why? Because in each of those three cases they have a much better chance of receiving a response.
Ask yourself this question, why would my audience engage with my radio station account? What is the upside in the relationship for the listener? Do they gain access to information they can’t get elsewhere by following the page? Are they earning any rewards for liking and commenting on your material? If they never gain a response or benefit, why would you expect them to continue supporting you in the future?
Here’s a few others to think about. If I asked you what your engagement percentage was on your social media accounts, would you know it? Do you know how many posts your band delivers each day? If your CEO called and asked, “how do we grow our Facebook likes by 10,000 over the next 12 months”, do you have a strategy to do so?
The term “social media” implies that you’re entering a public community where others will interact and share ideas, content and information. Except most sports stations aren’t doing that. The term that best describes our approach is “one sided media” because we focus solely on pushing content at people and not participating in the experience with them.
So how do we fix it?
It starts with each company, market manager, and program director taking a good hard look at the way they’re executing, and admitting that it’s a space they need help in. Most brand managers lack superior knowledge and vision in the social space because it’s unfamiliar territory, and still relatively new. But if this is where your listeners are most available, and advertisers continue to spend more on digital and social assets, then that should serve as a motivator to get it right.
Then what follows is exploring deeper ways to educate everyone inside each building. Whether that’s attending a social media conference to learn tricks of the trade, bringing a social media strategist into your building from a company unrelated to radio to share best practices with your crew or studying on your own time how to best use and monetize these spaces, it requires sustained effort and a lot of learning.
After that, each station has to review its internal structure, and figure out who inside their operation can help the brand improve its social media relevance, reputation, and response time. This may require reassigning people to new positions that provide a much bigger payoff for them and the company, and/or hiring non-radio people who are experts in the space to help lead the radio station’s digital and social media efforts.
But to those of you who would be tasked with hiring someone to lead the brand’s digital and social strategy, I want you to consider something. If this is an area you’re not skilled in, how do you know if you’re crafting the right job description, targeting the right candidates, and asking the right questions?
Too often in radio we assume that just because someone designed a website, wrote a newspaper column, or worked inside another media company’s digital department that they’ll be qualified to create the brand’s digital and social media identity and execute the vision to make it matter. But we learn afterwards that they’re not versatile enough. It’s easy to blame the individual for not doing the job, but the process also reveals a lack of strategy in our hiring, and an unwillingness on our end to go outside the box and look in different places for digital/social brand leaders.
When a radio station is hiring a program director, the market manager and corporate team work together to make sure they find a person capable of managing and leading the radio station’s on-air staff, strategy, and execution. In this case, the same line of thinking is necessary. You have to think of this person as the digital/social media programmer of your brand, and that requires a special set of skills. It’s not a job for the person with the least amount of hours in the promotions department or the handful of producers on your shows who are already spread way too thin.
Far too often in our business, there’s a lack of urgency for becoming masters in new areas. There’s this mentality that it’s simply enough to be strong on the air and present in the social space, rather than add people who are experts in it. Well guess what? It’s not enough.
Do yourself a favor today and take a few minutes to read this piece from Lori Lewis, who lists the various things that happen inside of an internet minute. This is what you’re up against every day if you’re not cutting thru the clutter and forming deeper relationships with your audience.
There’s no excuse to be invisible to the audience on your own page. If the audience is taking the time to like or follow your account, and they’re reading your posts, promoting it to their friends, responding to topics, and supporting your advertisers, the least you can do is acknowledge them. This will especially come back to haunt you with younger people who won’t be as patient or as loyal as your current P1’s might be.
If you saw the movie “Moneyball” you may remember the scene when Brad Pitt (playing the role of Billy Beane) tells his entire scouting department they need to think and act differently when replacing a few superstars who were leaving via free agency. Beane understood that the Athletics couldn’t match up against larger market clubs when economics entered the equation, and if they planned to compete, they were going to have to adjust their strategy. His message to the group was that they had a choice, either adapt or die.
Well, we’ve got to do the same if we want to take advantage of the social space.
Sports radio’s social media strategy may not be on the verge of extinction, but if we keep ignoring our fans, bombarding them with irrelevant material at the wrong times, and treating social platforms like an afterthought instead of a critical part of our business, we could miss out on significant opportunities to strengthen our relationships with our audiences and advertisers. Before we end up like dinosaurs, let’s educate ourselves, and make sure we’re positioned to ride this gravy train as far as it will take us.
Barrett Sports Media President Jason Barrett weighs in on the news of ESPN being tasked with eliminating on-air jobs as the network continues to experience a decline in subscribers and advertising revenues.
Plus CBS Sports Radio Network host Damon Amendolara chats with Jason about his sports radio journey, earning the wrath of WFAN’s Mike Francesa, his reasons for passing up opportunities in a few great sports radio markets, the method to his madness in approaching social and digital platforms, and much more.
TOPICS COVERED WITH DAMON AMENDOLARA
When he first became interested in sports talk radio
Landing his first radio job in Fort Meyers thanks to Thom Abraham
Moving to Kansas City to join 610 Sports and how the job came about
Adjusting to life and a new situation in the Midwest and how he did it
Leaving KC for WQAM and the challenges he faced working in Miami
Why he passed up an opportunity to join 101 ESPN in St. Louis in 2008
Mark Chernoff calls and asks him to join 98.5 The Sports Hub in Boston
How he developed a connection with his Boston audience as a New Yorker
What made it appealing to leave The Hub to join the CBS Sports Radio Network
Earning Mike Frances’s wrath for using his initials during the CBS Sports Minute
Why he believes it’s critical as a host to be active in social and digital media spaces
Zach Bye is leaving his position as co-host of “Big Board Sports” with Rodger Wyland on ESPN Radio 104.5 The Team in Albany, NY, for an on-air opportunity with 104.3 The Fan in Denver. He will join forces with former NFL wide receiver Brandon Stokley weekdays from 12p-3p MT.
According to the Albany Times Union, Bye signed his contract with The Fan on Friday. His final day at 104.5 The Team will be March 16th. His on-air debut with Stokley on the new “Stokley and Zach” show is expected to take place on March 31st.
“It’s more than a good opportunity,” said Bye. “I don’t even have the adjectives to describe it — top-20 market, one of 10 American cities with four pro sports teams, No. 1 station in the market. It’s insane. It’s absurd, is what it is.”
During the process, the radio station had the two hosts do an off the air audition together. Bye says that convinced him that this was the right professional situation for his career.
“It felt right,” Bye added. “It really did. It felt easy. He was humble and kind and considerate and doesn’t carry himself like a diva. He’s a normal guy. There was a natural back-and-forth with him.”
Stokley spent 14 years in the NFL, enjoying stops in Baltimore, Indianapolis, Seattle, New York and Denver. He had previously been working alongside Charles “CJ” Johnson before Johnson left the station for an opportunity outside of the radio industry.
One benefit of the new opportunity in Denver is that it reconnects Bye with program director Armen Williams. Williams had previously programmed and hosted for 104.5 The Team, and although the two men did not work together at the station, it’s where they first became familiar with one another.
