What can I say? Owing to vacation, a vehicular mishap during the Memorial Day flood, Astros stories, other news updates and general ennui, I’ve gotten way behind on radio ratings updates. Sorry about that.
Let’s catch up with the Nielsen Audio ratings for Houston radio for the period April 23-May 20 and for May 21-June 17.
As always, we start with 6 a.m. to midnight (Monday through Sunday) among men 25-54, which is the key demographic for sports radio. For the first time I can remember, KBME (790 AM) led in the weeklong numbers over KILT (610 AM) for June. As you’ll see later, the Astros accounted for a big part of that improvement.
Earlier this week, at the new studios of 105.3 FM The Fan, Ben and Skin were critiquing a top-10 ranking of the best space movies of all time.
Inside 103.3 FM ESPN’s studio, Steve Dennis and Mark Friedman were discussing how they consume more than one sporting event at the same time.
At 1310 AM and 96.7 FM The Ticket, the guys from BaD Radio we’re doing a hypothetical on whether 10,000 zombie-like fans could come down from the stands and overwhelm 50 professional hockey players.
It’s July. Cowboys training camp is still three weeks away. The NBA and NHL seasons are over. If you try to fill an entire show with only sports talk, it’s going to be a struggle.
“This is the tough time of year, where you start to run out of those things,” said Ben Rogers, co-host of the Ben and Skin show, on 105.3. “But the thing I love about the playbook here at 105.3 The Fan, they allow us to do non-sports.”
“I think it really lets some of the things shine that we’re really good at,” said Dan McDowell from BaD Radio on The Ticket.
In sports radio, each hour is divided into segments, and every radio host knows how many segments he needs to fill, every day. For BaD Radio, it’s eight. For longer shows, like Dennis and Friedo and Ben and Skin, it’s 16.
How to fill those segments is something that consumes these guys every waking moment.
“24-7,” said Mark Friedman, co-host on ESPN’s new midday show, Dennis and Friedo. “But it’s not hard. It’s not like you dread having to think about the show. It’s a great thing to have to have to deal with.”
“All the time, we’re always thinking about something to do for the next day’s show,” McDowell said. “If you think of something, you might write it down in your phone: ‘This might be a good segment.'”
“You never turn off what you’re going to do for the show,” said Jeff “Skin” Wade from the Ben and Skin show. “You think about it constantly, which is one of the reasons why my wife hates my job. I can never put the phone down, I can never stop reading the internet.”
Filling those segments is exponentially harder this time of year, when the only major professional team in-season is the Texas Rangers. Some of the segments that make the cut in July would never be considered during football season.
“I love it way more this time of year, because you can be creative, you can have fun,” said Bob Sturm of BaD Radio. “You can train a chicken – a really talented chicken – but a chicken to do Cowboys talk the day after a game.”
The real challenge is the worst sports week of the year, the week of the Major League Baseball All-Star game. After that game ends Tuesday night, there are no more games, at all, until Friday. Sports talk radio hosts either have to get even more creative, or just go on vacation.
“Absolutely,” Rogers said. “Planning your vacation around the All-Star break is the most coveted time you can get.”
“Here, there’s always something in play. There’s never a down time,” Sturm said. “My wife tells me when I say, ‘I’ll do it in the off-season.’ She says, ‘There is no off-season! You know that!’
“It’s great to be in a four-sport city.”
It gets even greater when the Cowboys get going again.
“Oh, I’m already counting down, late in July,” said Landry Locker, who produces the Dennis and Friedo show. “Two more weeks, training camp starts. It’s perfect.”
Credit to WFAA.com who originally published this article
I was reading Richard Deitsch’s column on Sports Illustrated when I stumbled onto something that got my juices flowing. It was a response from Yahoo Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski as told to Jason Smith on Fox Sports Radio about his approach on why he puts out information on draft night before the actual announcements are made on television.
Wojnarowski said “Nobody allows me to do it, I’m going to do it. No one is going to tell me what to do. I’m not going to ever work at a place where I could be told [otherwise]. Listen, this is what it is. When I have news, I’m going to report it. I don’t care about ESPN’s television show, I could care less about it. The draft is a ceremony; the decision to draft a player has already been made. Should I sit around a wait for teams to send out press releases when they’ve traded for a player or signed a free agent? I’d be out of work. So I just look at the draft as an extension of free agency or the trade deadline. When I have the information and it’s accurate, that’s when I’m going to report it, whether or not they’ve had their ceremony where they announce it. I can’t even imagine not reporting news when you have it or being told by somebody. I don’t know how they do in the NFL, but come on, if you have news, you report it.”
Anyone who follows Wojnarowski on Twitter knows that he is hands down one of the best reporters in the sports business and his information on the NBA dwarfs his competitors. He clearly works hard to develop relationships and trust and gather information inside NBA circles that is accurate, and he’s built up a connection with his followers where they trust him.
From where I sit, I respect his view and approach and I think we need more of it in today’s media world. What Adrian is saying and doing is right, and as a consumer of content, fans appreciate this and want more of it which is why he has over one million followers despite not having the promotional power of the ESPN machine. Adrian’s main objective is to inform his audience and because he makes serving them his number one priority, they reward him by reading, posting, commenting and promoting his work. That’s the ultimate relationship between a content generator and a consumer of content.
The reason his words stand out to me are because I’ve watched our industry make a number of giant mistakes in dealing with professional sports franchises, leagues and athletes. For example, when multiple media outlets surrendered power to the NFL on draft night to not release draft information on Twitter, that was wrong. Not only did they cut their own reporters legs out from under them, but more importantly they failed to superserve their fans. If someone doesn’t want to know what’s happening, they’ll simply not follow along on Twitter and stick to watching the television show. But if they’re on Twitter during the NFL Draft, they’re there because they want to learn more information about what’s happening.
If a television network or radio company is going to partner with a team or league to air games on its channel, one of the first things that should be understood is that the media company can not and will not compromise its integrity to break news and deliver accurate information. Issuing policies to deny reporters the ability to do their jobs or sending down mandates to prevent personalities from talking candidly about their feelings on specific subjects that might not be comfortable, only creates a bigger divide and strains the relationship. We are in the business of entertaining and informing and nothing should compromise our ability to do that.
Secondly, if a media outlet is going to pay large sums of money to carry these games and give up massive amounts of inventory, shouldn’t they have the right and the ability to decide what they do inside the remainder of their own programming? When did the league or team become the program director of the rest of the media company’s programming? They didn’t but because our business is reliant on delivering ad dollars and making budgets each month, those who are battling to keep our companies profitable on the business end, often don’t want to take on the challenge of dealing with a frustrated franchise owner and risk the possibility of losing a team’s rights or bruising the relationship. While I understand the trepidation, there are sometimes where you’ve got to defend the lifeblood of your company’s existence.
Somewhere along the way, media groups began giving back too much power to those who they are supposed to be business partners with and if it doesn’t change down the road, quality talent will be lost and audiences will eventually go elsewhere where the content isn’t compromised. Think that’s rubbish? ESPN has the most powerful sports platforms on the planet yet when it comes to the NBA they get beaten by TNT on the television side and by Adrian Wojnarowski on the news breaking side. You can have the platform but if the content isn’t as strong, audiences will go elsewhere to find it.
Take for example what Apple is about to do to the music industry. It’s exciting, refreshing and based on the company’s track record, likely to be a smashing success. On Monday the company announced they wouldn’t accept traditional advertising and instead would focus on weaving sponsors in through the use of spoken word sponsorships. Think that might be keeping a few CEO’s up late tonight?
What a novel concept – hire great talent, deliver high quality programming, limit the amount of interruptions, connect the sponsors in ways that make them sound part of the brand through the use of DJ endorsements and created content, and keep the focus on serving the listener. By standing up to the advertising community and setting a tone for what will and won’t be permitted, Apple has placed a huge focus on the audience and I’m willing to bet that they’ll be rewarded for that approach in very large numbers.
Currently, Spotify has seventy five million people using their service, Pandora has eighty five million and YouTube has over one billion. Why are people flocking to these services? Because they’re content rich and focused on serving the user. They’re not forcing fifteen to twenty minutes of spots per hour on listeners and they’re putting the advertising in places where it sounds natural and does minimal damage. They’re also not letting others dictate their content offerings or company’s policies. Coincidentally they continue to grow their audiences.
This is no different than why sports fans who love the NBA rely on Adrian Wojnarowski. They enjoy reading his columns because they’re packed with information and insight and they read, favorite and retweet his tweets because they get fast accurate information about their favorite players and teams and in turn that leads them to seek out more of it. They also know that they can get this quality content without it being compromised with ads or forced agendas from outside forces.
As the media world turns over the next few years it’s going to be interesting to see how media outlets respond to these increasing pressures from teams, organizations and advertisers while the audience grows even more interested in digital, mobile and social programming. A brand is only as strong as the talent it employs and the content it delivers, and fans today want exceptional content from dynamic personalities and they expect it in rapid fashion. If you’re not clicking on all cylinders consistently, then be prepared to watch your fan base decrease in the weeks, months and years ahead.
If you saw the movie “The Social Network” you may remember the scene where Mark Zuckerberg and Eduardo Saverin meet with Sean Parker to discuss the future of Facebook. In the scene, Saverin talks about Facebook’s early growth and how he wants to explore taking advertising while Zuckerberg is against it. They ask Parker’s opinion of who’s right and he tells them that ads aren’t cool and based on where they are as a company, it would be a bad move. In the future when they’ve built a great product that people love and support then you can explore that option but concentrate first on the product.
Now ask yourself this, does your operation approach things this way? I’ve been in four different buildings over the past nine years and while some definitely put a stronger focus on content and appeasing the audience than others, most are focused first and foremost on advertising dollars and minimizing expenses. That’s just the way the business operates.
While those problems are worrisome, there are some ways to be ahead of the curve. The first step starts with doing a brand analysis and creating a gameplan to make sure you’re doing things to create strong engagement with your audience. By doing so you develop fans, and when you gain a strong level of loyalty from your listeners, they usually stick around for a long time. Long lasting connections between a brand and its audience is critical to having sustained success. If you don’t come out of your brand analysis with the understanding that the listener is your top priority, re-do the exercise. You will not be relevant, important and profitable for the long term without them.
You can concentrate your efforts on satisfying advertisers and partnerships first and they’ll appreciate it but when audiences begin to flock to other outlets in the future, those good feelings will vanish because in the world of business, it’s about results, and advertisers want their messages heard in places where they can reach the largest amount of people for the best possible price. You can decrease rates, offer more spots, take them to games or jump through other hoops but if your audience isn’t strong and with you for the long haul, neither will be your clients or bottom line.
The second part that we need to do a stronger job with, is standing up to those who we partner with. There’s power in the word “No” and sometimes you’ve got to use it. Broadcast companies are spending millions on signals, licenses, operating space, employee salaries, state of the art equipment and lord knows what else so the least we can do to justify their investment is stand up and support our talent and programming decisions even when it’s not comfortable. If you’re willing to give away content time on your platforms for things that don’t appeal to the audience, it will cost you. Content options are stronger than ever and people don’t want to their time listening to things that don’t serve their needs.
I once heard Oakland Raiders play by play voice and 95.7 The Game host Greg Papa say something that really stuck with me. He said “At the end of the day, my boss isn’t Jason Barrett, our GM or even Entercom Communications – it’s the audience. If they don’t like what I’m doing it then it’s my job to change it. They’re the ones that matter“. That type of thinking is very true and vital to any organization’s success.
Your local teams aren’t wrong in asking for you to give them more positive content or encouraging you to avoid talking about their competitors or criticizing them. It’s your job though to know when to say no and do what’s best for your station and most importantly, your audience. Adrian Wojnarowski has taken that approach in his career and judging by the results, it seems to be working pretty well. When you deliver high quality content and focus on serving your audience it’s impossible to lose! That’s not rocket science. It’s just good business!
Congratulations is in order for former Detroit Sports 105.1 Program Director Jason Dixon who’s been hired by Sirius XM as their Director of Sports Programming for their College Sports Nation channel in Washington DC. Dixon announced the news earlier today on his Facebook page.
Because I know all of you have been on pins and needles wondering where we are going to go next, I figured it was time to let the cat out of the bag. I will be joining SiriusXM Radio as the Director of Sports Programming for the Washington, D.C. based channels. Stacy Eichmann and the boys are thrilled to be moving to our nation’s capital (technically Arlington, VA). I can’t wait to get to work with the team of incredibly creative and talented people at SiriusXM. So you deadbeats who only use SiriusXM during the free trials, it’s time to get off your wallet and subscribe! A brother needs to feed his family!
In every radio station across America, I’d bet everything I own that an optimist, pessimist and realist can be found inside each building. And despite what your personal feelings might be towards each of them individually, every one of them is necessary to their team’s success.
By definition, an Optimist is someone who usually expects a favorable outcome. A Pessimist is a person who habitually sees or anticipates the worst or is disposed to be gloomy. And the Realist is a person who tends to view or represent things as they really are.
One of the hardest things to do in this business is recognize how much better you become by being surrounded by people who think and act differently and challenge your thoughts process. Is it annoying at times? Yes. Is your instinct to be around people who operate the same way that you do? Yes! But when you step back and allow yourself to be tested, you realize that different viewpoints from your teammates are essential to your own growth.
One common mistake that a lot of programmers and personalities make is trying to hire their friends or colleagues who they know won’t challenge them. Sure it might be more comforting and less challenging but does it bring out the best in you? The question I try to answer when hiring someone is “will this person challenge us to be better or just blend in and go with the flow“?
I believe you get better by adding smart talented people who have your best interests in mind yet aren’t afraid to tell you when you have a bad idea or have executed poorly. As a matter of fact, some of the best radio shows and television sitcoms in our lifetime have happened as a result of people from very different backgrounds with very different ideas coming together to create one unified presentation.
As it applies to a radio station’s setup, I think all three types of these people matter because they provide a great blend and allow you to better understand your listeners. Let’s face it, the audience is very diverse and they have a wide variety of thoughts on the subjects you’re talking about so the more input you have from your colleagues, and the more open minded you are to the different levels of a conversation, the more prepared you’ll be for what you’ll encounter during the course of a show.
Those who have worked with me know that I’m passionate and I want to win. I make no apologies for pushing my teams to deliver results. However, while I’m busy offering my views in an intense and realistic way, it’s equally important for me to have my producers and Assistant Program Director offer something opposite of my personality. If there were four or five of me inside the building at the same time, people would likely struggle.
Knowing yourself and how you’re seen by others is very important, especially when you’re managing or hosting a show. If you’re a light hearted personality, you’re going to want a producer, board operator or other contributing member on the show to provide a little more edge so there’s a good understanding of when it’s time to have fun and when it’s time to be serious. If you’re a manager who’s seen as too tough or soft, understanding that perception allows you to play to your strengths while working on ways to improve your weaknesses. It also helps you with figuring out which approach is needed for the different members of your team.
As for myself, I’d like to think of myself as a realist because I’m not the glass half full guy who never sees the negatives but I’m also not a glass half empty guy who thinks the radio station is going to come up short. I want to hear the truth when we perform poorly and then I want to place my focus on the solution to helping us win. If the news is positive, I want to know what we did to make it happen and then I want to get back to work to try and duplicate that feeling.
To add to that, I believe it’s important to deliver honest messages to your team. Some folks in our industry fear sharing the truth because they worry that the room will get dejected or advertisers will spend less but based on my experiences, most professional people can handle it. They want to know where they stand so they can continue making improvements. If you only share the positives or negatives with an individual, you’re unlikely to see them continue making adjustments and pushing harder to deliver better results.
To bring this to a close, if you really want to see a team come together and find out what its made of, put a bunch of talented people together who come from different backgrounds inside of a room, and listen to them share their views on how to make your radio station stronger. You’ll see the positive, negative and realistic points of views emerge and you’ll be thankful to have three different points of view to consider.
In today’s world where we’re faced with a constant pressure to succeed, there’s a huge benefit to adding different perspectives. The more people feel valued in the communication process and the more you surround yourself with different ideas and opinions, the better your operation becomes. So open your mind, take it all in and appreciate the variety of options you have around you. They often lead to a thriving work environment and results that an entire team can be proud of.
This is it. The final day has arrived. When the work day comes to a close, I’ll be walking out of the offices of 95.7 The Game for the very last time. That doesn’t mean I won’t visit in the future, because this place has been a huge part of my life for the past 4 years. I have a deep respect, admiration, and love for many people inside these walls, but like with many things in life, all good things must eventually come to an end.
It’s funny how when you know you’re leaving somewhere, you start to pay closer attention to some things that you might have taken for granted previously. For example, I love taking BART each morning and grabbing a coffee at Peet’s at the Montgomery Street exit. Sean, Chris and the rest of the crew are always in a good mood, they treat their customers right and they make it a point to get to know you. It’s hard not to see that group of upbeat friendly people working together as a team each day, and not recognize how important that is in what we do as a radio station.
I also started to realize recently how much I enjoyed driving into work and parking in our garage on Hawthorne during my first 3 years here. The reason why, KNBR was right next door (they’ve since moved to another location). I don’t need much to motivate me, but walking out of our garage and seeing that KNBR sign stare me right in the face each day absolutely fired me up and got me ready to go to work and try to make an impact.
There are a number of great things about this place that I’m going to miss. From walking the Embarcadero, to dining out and shopping in Walnut Creek, to experiencing the views of San Francisco from the top of the Fairmont Hotel and the hills above the Golden Gate Bridge. Wine tasting in Livermore and Napa Valley was also a personal highlight. But as great as all of those perks are, it’s the people you work with who occupy most of your time, and I’ve been fortunate to form a few relationships that will always matter a great deal to me.
When I reflect back, I can’t say that it’s gone according to plan from start to finish. Yes there are things I would do differently, but when I think of my entire tenure and everything I’ve learned, gained and experienced here, I couldn’t be more proud of what we accomplished as a team. To go from 27th to 3rd in less than 4 years is a remarkable feat in the #4 market in the country. That’s a tribute to everybody who’s ever worked here, and to every local person who listened, supported, connected and rooted for us to succeed. Thanks for sticking with us!
It may seem simple but as someone who’s done it a number of times, I can tell you that adjusting to a new city is not easy. It takes a good amount of time to get up to speed with local teams, players, media people and fans and that’s not even taking into account which pieces of content connect best and which ones have a lesser importance.
Next, you have the challenge of learning the area and how local people think and live and if you’re not fully willing to embrace your new surroundings and learn from those you work with, it won’t end well. I didn’t even mention the pressure you feel to perform immediately because the company is depending on you or the internal and external criticisms you have to put up with because of the fact that you were born and raised someplace else.
I didn’t come to the Bay Area trying to change people, but I did try to teach, coach and push them to become better at creating strong, compelling and entertaining radio. While there was a previous standard in place for how sports radio was done in San Francisco, I also believed that there were other ways to create interest in the format too. Some of it worked and some of it didn’t, but we created our own path and did it our way. Bill Parcells and Tony Dungy can both win you a Super Bowl! You’ve just got to decide which identity suits you best.
I will always remember this time fondly and I’m honored to have had the opportunity to build this radio station from scratch and work with a number of amazing and talented people. To see people like Damon Bruce, Guy Haberman, John Middlekauff, John Lund, Greg Papa, Flight 957, and every other member of this team, have the success they’re having is very rewarding and well deserved. My successor Don Kollins is walking into a great situation, and I will be rooting for him and everyone inside this building from 3,000 miles away.
I wanted to touch on a few things I’ve learned that have made it interesting, unique, enjoyable and challenging to work here the past few years. The Bay Area is a 2-team market which can be hard to navigate at times because you’re always going to piss off at least one fan base. For what it’s worth, these are my views on the local dynamics, and some will disagree, but isn’t that part of what makes sports radio great in the first place?
Giants vs. A’s – The Giants fan doesn’t care or mind if you talk about the A’s but when the situation is reversed, the A’s fan views it as the biggest slap in the face. On the field, the A’s have been a great story the past 3 years. The only problem is that the Giants have stolen their thunder every single time. 3 World Series championships in 5 years is impressive and yes I’m aware that the A’s have won more titles in their franchise’s history but we live in a “what have you done for me lately” world and right now, the market belongs to the Giants. Yes they’ve created a number of silly gimmicks and slogans, and maybe if you don’t have kids you could care less about the oversized Coke bottle in left field, but Larry Baer and his group are phenomenal marketers and they run their business well.
On the other hand, Billy Beane is one of the best in baseball at his job and as long as he’s in Oakland, the A’s will always be in the mix to contend. His decisions may not be popular but he’s great at his job. He’s also pretty great on the radio too! There are three areas though where I disconnect from the A’s. The first is when Lew Wolff speaks about stadium situations and spending money to win. The second is when A’s fans invade Twitter or Facebook with negativity because the Giants were talked about on our radio station. I understand their passion for wanting more, but just because one station only talks about the Giants, doesn’t mean the other one is going to only talk about the As. Third, the stadium is awful. The fans in the stands are great, and they provide some extremely funny and clever chants and comments throughout the game, but the limited space in the concourse, the Mount Davis backdrop, and the troughs in the bathrooms, make for a less enjoyable experience. MLB wake up – the A’s and their fans need a new stadium! Get it done!
Raiders Misconceptions – When you watch TV, you’d assume every convict who ever escaped prison showed up at a Raider game wearing face paint and carrying a ball and chain. It’s not true and it’s unfair. Are their some bad apples in the crowd? Yes. But what football fan base in America doesn’t have some? What I learned about most Raiders fans is that they’re knowledgeable, passionate and hungry to win. The one negative, they drink the kool aid way too quickly. One sign of hope and they’re ready to print off Super Bowl tickets. However, for all the negative things I heard before I moved here, I’ve never once not had a great experience at a Raiders game.
While it’s fair to criticize the team for their win-loss record over the past decade, their fans do care deeply. Just because someone puts on face paint on Sunday, does not mean they possess a rap sheet. I’ve have had a tremendous relationship with a number of people who work for the organization and I’ve found them to be fair, objective and easy to work with. That wasn’t always the case in the past. My only area of concern for the future is the black cloud that hangs above their head with regards to staying in Oakland or heading to Los Angeles. I’m really hoping they remain in Oakland for a long time. It’s where they belong.
49ers Misconceptions – I know Levi’s Stadium has its fair share of critics but I’m not one of them. My game day experiences there were very good. I will though point out that the parking situation is frustrating and closing the museum on game day makes no sense. The food choices are excellent, the space on the concourses are great and the video boards and audio quality is outstanding. If there’s one other item though that bugs me, it’s how the TV networks present the team and where they are. If you’re watching a game you’ll see pictures of the Golden Gate Bridge, Bay Bridge, Napa Valley, Lombard Street, etc. None of that is even remotely close to where the Niners are.
That said, while Jed York and Trent Baalke are under the gun right now for running Jim Harbaugh out of town, they have built a very successful franchise which has played meaningful games for 3 of the past 4 years. I also have a high level of respect and admiration for a number of people who work for the 49ers organization and they’ve been one of the better local teams to work with for most of my time in the Bay Area.
Golden State Warriors – I’ve never been in a louder NBA arena in my life and the way Joe Lacob and Peter Guber operate their organization is extremely impressive. They want to win and will do anything it takes to be successful. The only criticism is that they can be overly confident and smug with their comments (especially about Mark Jackson). I’d rather have a brash owner though who puts it all on the line to win, than someone who treats the team like a personal trust fund.
I’ve had the pleasure of doing business deals with David Lee, Klay Thompson and Bob Meyers and all three were excellent to work with and as the past few years have passed by, I’ve legitimately become a fan of the team. The people in the organization on the court and behind the scenes are first-class, which makes it even more enjoyable to root for them to succeed. Now go take down King James and bring that trophy home!
Sharks/Hockey Talk – You won’t find a better person, broadcaster or promoter of the sport than Dan Rusanowsky, the voice of the Sharks. His passion and love for hockey is impossible to ignore and I enjoy hearing him call Sharks radio broadcasts. The “Shark Tank” is an awesome place to watch a game and it was the first venue I saw a game at when I was being recruited to work here. I loved it then and I love it now. The only negative surrounding the Sharks for our business is something beyond their control. Hockey as a whole, generates less sports radio listening.
That doesn’t mean the radio station couldn’t do a better job talking about bigger stories that take place, but when you’re in a market like this with the Giants, 49ers, A’s and Warriors all experiencing massive success, it becomes harder to discuss what the Sharks are doing. If the job is to entertain the most people possible, and those other stories generate higher interest, then you’ve got to provide the content that interests the largest available audience. However, when it comes to model franchises in the NHL, they’re at the top of the list in my book.
As I get ready to exit stage left, it’s well documented how much my son Dylan means to me. I can’t wait to return to New York and be closer to him on a regular basis. I’ve been on more than 400 flights during the past 9 years to make sure I stayed active in his life while balancing my professional aspirations. Now though it’s time to go home, and I’m very excited about it.
Equally as important in my life is my girlfriend Stephanie. She’s experienced every up and down with me over the past 9 years, and she too has had to live in my world and endure 7-8 days alone per month while I’ve gone back and forth to NY. That’s not including the countless times when I’ve come home from work, had a quick bite and then went back to work to finish other things. For every professional decision I’ve made, she’s been my sounding board and moral compass and kept me sane. To say that I’ve been exhausting at times would be a giant understatement.
Although my departure from San Francisco and relocation to New York is aimed at being closer to my son, I’m also gaining the addition of more time with her which she very well may regret in the next month or two! Sometimes in this business I can’t enjoy the wins because I’m so focused and driven by what has to be done next. Luckily I’ve had her by my side to slow me down and remind me of what’s been accomplished. I’m thankful for her support, love and trust because without her, this would have been impossible to execute by myself.
It’s been one hell of a roller coaster ride. Far from perfect, but definitely interesting. I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way!
Entercom Communications announced today the hiring of Don Kollins as Program Director for 95.7 The Game. Don joins Entercom as a proven leader in the sports radio field with many years of programming success and a track record of innovation. He succeeds Jason Barrett who is relocating to New York.
“After an exhaustive search, the best choice was north of us – way north – in Canada” said Steve DiNardo, Market Manager of Entercom San Francisco. “We are excited to have Don join the Entercom San Francisco Programming team. He brings a wealth of experience to Entercom as a proven leader in the sports radio field, having lead Sportsnet 590 to its present status as Canada’s number one sports radio station. Under Don’s leadership I am confident that he will continue to build on the successes that Jason Barrett has achieved during his four-year tenure as Program Director” added DiNardo.
“I am thrilled to join the team at Entercom San Francisco” said Kollins. “Jason has built a great radio station and I am honored to pick up the programming torch for 95.7 The Game and continue the winning tradition. See you soon”.
Kollins will begin his new position at Entercom on June 12th!
WHAT: THE ROAST OF 95.7 THE GAME P.D. JASON BARRETT
WHEN: WEDNESDAY NIGHT MAY 27TH AT 8PM
WHERE:COBBS COMEDY CLUB, 915 COLUMBUS AVENUE SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94133
WHO: JASON BARRETT, DAN DIBLEY, DAMON BRUCE, GREG PAPA, JOHN LUND, RISE GUYS, BILL ROMANOWSKI, CHRIS TOWNSEND, RUDY ORTIZ, BRODIE BRAZIL, MATT STEINMETZ.
TICKETS: $20 FOR GENERAL ADMISSION; $30 FOR V.I.P – V.I.P TIX ARE LIMITED & INCLUDE A SPECIAL MEET & GREET WITH SOME OF OUR ON-SITE CELEBRITIES & ROASTERS.
TO PURCHASE TICKETS CALL COBB’S AT 415-928-4320 OR VISIT THEIR WEBSITE COBBSCOMEDYCLUB.COM
If you’re like myself and most other sports fans on the planet, you spent last night immersed in NFL Draft coverage. Whether you were glued to ESPN, the NFL Network, Twitter or another media outlet, the draft had your undivided attention and you couldn’t get enough of it. As the process unfolded, you found yourself playing arm chair General Manager as you second guessed a number of decisions. Then, you drifted off to fantasyland where you questioned what you would’ve done had you been given the responsibility of making selections for one of the 32 professional sports franchises.
When it comes to the sports talk radio industry, the role of a Program Director is similar to that of a NFL General Manager. Yes it can be fun to pick the talent that will reflect your brand’s vision but with that responsibility comes a number of different options and pressures. Before any critical decision is made, a myriad of factors must be taken into account and every stone must be unturned. Once the decision is made though, then the PD’s job is to do everything in their power to support the choice and turn it into a winning situation.
Most programmers that I know, go through a hiring process which includes asking a number of questions and talking to a wide variety of different people who can provide additional insight on a potential candidate. Questions are asked such as “Can this person generate ratings? Will they be a good teammate? Will they work with the sales team to help generate revenue? How will they interact with fans and critics? Are they coachable? What’s their work ethic like? How do they relate to the audience? Do they attend games and develop relationships? What are their strengths and weaknesses?
The PD will also analyze past performance, review how a host conducts themselves in the social space, listen to the host’s show numerous times to make sure it’s consistently great and spend time with the individual to see how they conduct themselves outside the work place. Once the process is completed, then it’s time to trust your gut and make a call, knowing that there’s a 50/50 chance of being rewarded or criticized.
While there are many parts of the job that a PD must focus on, nothing is more important than making good hiring decisions. Much like an NFL GM, one false step can cost your team and organization dearly if you misfire. When it comes to professional football I believe a GM and scout have one job to do when it comes to selecting talent – be right! The same rule applies to a PD when hiring talent.
The process can be extensive and at times exhausting but the more information you gather, the better your percentages are at hiring someone who will do a good job for your radio station. While nothing in life is guaranteed and anybody can be fooled, you owe it to yourself and your brand to be as thorough as you can be. Then you have to hope that the person you’ve given your trust and commitment to, returns the favor and performs favorably.
While I was watching the draft last night, I kept wondering, what if the sports talk radio format held an annual draft and every PD in the country had the chance to better their brand by selecting the best talent available. I’ve always enjoyed lists and debates so when media outlets like Radio Ink and Talkers put together their annual “Best Of The Sports Radio Format“, I’ll read them and do what everyone else in our industry does – agree with some and disagree with others. My only issue, is that I never know who’s part of the process or what the criteria is for measuring each show and personality.
I decided to try something fun and interesting by tracking down 32 programmers who I respect in this industry, and having them take part in the first ever sports radio draft. Using ground breaking technology (32 names in a hat) and a list of every single sports radio personality working on a local station or national network, I challenged each PD to select a personality who they found to be compelling, informative, entertaining, opinionated and someone they could win with if they had them on their airwaves.
I encouraged the group who took part in this process to avoid choosing someone based on past ratings history, revenue generated, market size, personal friendships, internal jealousies or annual salaries because if we are building a radio station and focused strictly on winning in the present and the future, then it’s all about identifying great talent who we think can make a difference. I also asked each person to identify individuals rather than shows because while some shows are strong as a whole, the best personalities in the format can adapt and thrive in any situation.
I want to thank all 32 programmers who took part in this exercise and put their names behind their selections. I also want to congratulate those on-air personalities who were thought highly enough by some of the best programming minds in the country to make our list of 32. While each programmer has a different perspective on what makes a sports radio personality great and various markets and networks operate differently than others, the process for identifying great talent and developing strong shows is very similar to what you see transpire in the NFL.
Currently, there are hundreds of people delivering sports talk radio shows all across the country each day and some are very good and some need more seasoning. But just like an NFL Draft, beauty is in the eye of the beholder and selecting great talent is an inexact science. There will be can’t-miss talents who live up to the hype, others who have all the tools but can’t put it all together and hidden gems who weren’t seen as more than adequate role players yet have proven that even the brightest minds in our business miss sometimes. That’s what makes hiring people interesting, challenging, rewarding and devastating.
And on that note, it’s time to unveil the 32 selections in the 2015 Sports Radio Draft! Let the debate begin!
