The 2024 iHeartRadio Music Festival, presented by Capital One, will be broadcast live across the U.S. through iHeartMedia's network of over 150 radio stations.
"We’re offering more opportunities for viewers to engage with our stories and inviting new audiences to experience the journalism and storytelling that defines us.”
The 2024 iHeartRadio Music Festival, presented by Capital One, will be broadcast live across the U.S. through iHeartMedia's network of over 150 radio stations.
"We’re offering more opportunities for viewers to engage with our stories and inviting new audiences to experience the journalism and storytelling that defines us.”
The 2014 World Cup in Brazil has shown the growing global interest in football, according to early broadcast figures released by the game’s governing body FIFA .
The first round of group matches have shattered TV viewing records worldwide and highlighted an increase in the amount of people watching football in countries that aren’t known for their ardent fanaticism.
Fans in countries such as the United States and Australia have tuned in in their millions to watch their national teams play in one of the biggest sporting events of the world.
This week in San Diego I learned so much about radio, my career, and how to present a tragic situation to listeners as a new host in a market.
Last Monday, the great Padre Tony Gwynn passed away. I was in the middle of my regular show when the news broke around 8 a.m. My great assistant program director Joe Tutiono was given the news of Gwynn’s passing. Joe has been in the market his entire life and was given the news by Gwynn’s agent. He was very affected by it.
All I knew of Tony Gwynn was from the many baseball cards I had collected over the years — some 14 of Gwynn’s cards. It’s funny: There are two sides to a card, the statistics and the face. That’s all I had ever known of Gwynn.
I’ve had Gwynn on my show in the past and knew of his greatness, with eight batting titles and 3,000 hits. But as Monday unfolded, I learned more. After my horrible 8 o’clock hour, my PD Mike Shephard asked me to pre-empt Jim Rome and do a three-hour show taking calls listening from Padre players and fans so they could talk about a man they so loved. Stories of meeting him at a burrito shop or seeing him in a hospital. ‘There was a 9-year-old kid named Noah who called Gwynn his hero.
I decided this past week not to do what every radio host would do and try to be part of the story. Instead I chose to listen to former teammates and people like Pete Rose talk about what a great person and player Gwynn was. I learned so much as a host this past week. My first notion was to somehow take all my experiences and apply them to the story. But I realized that is wrong: It’s better to let the fans and people who live in the market tell me their thoughts and help me grow in the market. Let the market come to me. They want to tell you how they feel.
For more visit Radio Ink where this story was first published.
This past week I was fortunate enough to be able to lead a group meeting inside the Oakland Raiders facility. I’ve been inside this building a number of times in the past and one of the first things I noticed and really appreciated was the attention to detail inside the location. From the carpets to the walls to the doors and to the frames that accompany every picture, there is a steady stream of white, silver and black and you can’t help but feel the connection to the Raiders franchise. It’s impossible not to recognize how much of a lasting impact Al Davis had on this organization.
On this particular day I had an opportunity to share the stage with Head Coach Dennis Allen. Dennis is heading into his third season and this is the first time since he’s been charged with leading the group that he has an actual team with some talent and some salary cap flexibility. To say he’s optimistic and excited about the club’s future and upcoming opportunities would be an understatement. During this meeting though I wasn’t interested in learning whether or not Matt Schaub would rebound from last season’s disaster in Houston or if Justin Tuck would re-discover his dominant pass rushing skills. What I was curious to find out was how building an organization in the football business compared to building a foundation in the radio business.
One of the great things about working inside of the sports radio format is that you can often come up with plenty of parallels between professional sports and what you do fairly regularly and when Coach Allen began talking many of the things he discussed struck a chord with me.
First Dennis was asked about creating a vision and getting people to buy in and what changes and what stays the same throughout all three years. His answer was right on the money. He said that while people’s abilities and attitudes may change and rosters will be adjusted the one thing that can never change are your beliefs in what you stand for. When Dennis talks about the Oakland Raiders he defines the player’s he wants on his team by four characteristics. To wear Silver & Black one must be Smart, Tough, Disciplined and Passionate. There is no compromising when it comes to these qualities if you want to play for Coach Allen and the Oakland Raiders.
Now Dennis will be the first to tell you that just because you check all four of those boxes doesn’t mean you’re going to stay on the field playing for the Oakland Raiders. You still have to have talent and fit inside of a financial structure and be open to coaching and getting better but just to get a look you must possess those traits.
The second thing that jumped out to me when Coach Allen spoke was his understanding of what his responsibilities are and how it impacts his future. In a business full of insecurity Dennis was very secure with himself because he knows that only one thing matters at the end of the day – winning. Dennis summed it up by saying “I’m in the winning business. We win and we all benefit from it. We lose and change is inevitable”. When he said that I couldn’t help but think about how it relates to the radio business. While I’d prefer to play a football game and know for sure that I couldn’t beat the other team, the Nielsen ratings game is the one we all play and fair or unfair we’re at the mercy of what the audience consumes most. It’s fun to work in sports radio and we are lucky to be able explore something we have a strong degree of passion for but we still are involved in business and it’s one that is measured by ratings performance. Like it or not, if you’re in radio today you too are in the winning business!
The final thing I’ll touch on was Coach Allen’s response when I asked him what he looks for out of an interviewer and what he’s hoping to accomplish during an interview. While Dennis wants to be treated with respect just like anyone else, his true interest in the conversation isn’t to please the fans listening or the host he’s talking to. The real purpose for his discussion is to send a message to his team. Coaching in the NFL is a tough job and everyone is always looking for an edge or a way to connect with players and when you have 53 men on a roster with very different backgrounds and personalities it’s tough to get through and spend enough time with everyone. However when the Coach speaks about his team every single guy in that locker room takes notice and whether Coach is pissed off, happy, disappointed, hurt or distant with his responses, the reality is that it’s well orchestrated in his head and every thing he utters has a purpose behind it.
That’s important for the interviewer to recognize too because sometimes we have expectations for what we want out of a guest and we do everything in our power to direct the discussion a certain way and generate responses that will satisfy our audience and ourselves but when someone is going to send you down a different path you have to understand that there may be additional reasons for it. Obviously we can’t compromise our questions and turn the floor over to the guest and let them steer us wherever they want us to go but at least when you head into a conversation and know the true meaning behind it, it allows you to create a game plan to help you be more effective.
To wrap this up I’ll highlight what I saw as the key takeaways. Some will apply to you and your business and some may not but in most cases you can see how radio and football intersect. While we both may enjoy that we get compensated for our labor of love, it still is a business and each is measured by one important word – winning!
Stand For Something – Your Core Beliefs & Values Should Be With You Forever
You’re In The Winning Business – It’s a Results Oriented Business; Win or Else
Know How To Reach Your Team – Have a Message and A Purpose For Each Situation
There’s an old saying when it comes to marketing a sports radio station “fish where the fish are“. For sports stations there’s a distinct advantage compared to other formats when it comes to trying to attract new people to sample the product. You simply promote your brand at stadiums, on television during game broadcasts, on popular websites and social platforms that are sports focused and on trains or buses that are going to be visibly seen around the locations where sports fans travel. I’m sure there are many other examples I could provide but you get the point.
So if placement is so simple then why doesn’t the marketing always work? Well the answer is different for each situation. Sometimes the creative just isn’t good enough. Other times it can be that the campaign wasn’t long enough or didn’t have any call to action behind it. The other reason that I believe is equally as critical is whether the message you’ve built your campaign around is in line with what your brand stands for.
Last year, my former station decided to do some marketing to try and further grow the brand. In the video sample below you’ll see that it’s pretty straight forward. We could’ve gone with a funnier spot or did something more outside the box and shocking that may have created a stir in the marketplace, but instead we took a simpler approach and focused on showcasing our people and what they were best known for.
That may not always feel as cool to those involved in the creative process, but when you’re battling for people’s attention I believe the most important thing you can do is provide something that gets them to take notice and can be executed on your airwaves.
In the video above the station focused on 4 personalities and the traits that made each of them unique. Passion defines what Damon Bruce brings to the airwaves. Insight is what Ric Bucher has provided during his 25+ years of covering professional sports. Access is what Greg Papa has more of than anyone in the San Francisco market and Game is a play on Aubrey Huff’s 13 year career in the Major Leagues and the swagger that he brought to the former morning show.
The station also wanted to illustrate that the crew have fun and enjoy being around one another because when it comes down to it, listeners want to feel like they’re attending a party with their friends on the radio. The reason I thought the spot worked was because it was a fair representation of who the talent were as individuals, and what the brand stood for, which made it easier to live up to audience expectations.
In looking at some other marketing examples, I noticed some different tactics which I also believe work effectively. Case in point this TV ad from Arizona Sports 98.7 FM. In this piece the radio station is trying to generate buzz for their switch to the FM dial and the use of different team graphics and the positioning of words such as “Insights and Opinions, Insider Access and the Biggest Games” all reflect what the station is able to provide once the listener checks out the product. Very short and sweet and absolutely effective.
The one thing I caution folks to avoid when marketing their brands is creating a position that isn’t a reflection of what they actually deliver. For example, you can tell the general public your station offers the most controversial personality on the planet, and they will stop by to see what the buzz is about, but if they turn on the radio station, and find Bob Costas hosting the show instead of Howard Stern, you’re going to piss a lot of people off because you’ve provided false advertising.
Risk taking is fun, and being creative keeps us all sane and invested in the concepts we create, but sometimes simplicity and showcasing your best assets in a way which is consistent with what you do and who you are is more important. It’s also more effective.
No better example of doing it the wrong way comes to mind more than the defunct football league, the XFL. It was the year 2000 when this league was created by WWE’s Vince McMahon and the marketing suggested that the league would be edgier, harder hitting, sexually graphic and much more extreme than the NFL.
The first game featured on NBC drew a huge 9.5 TV rating so one could say that the marketing didn’t do what it was supposed to, which was to get people to tune in and discover what the league was about. Except there was one major problem – the entire country showed up and came away with the same opinion – it was really bad football and not an accurate portrayal of what they were promised in the promos.
As a result, ratings dropped 60% from the first week to the second week. They then dropped another 40% the week after. A few weeks later, the league would become responsible for generating the lowest rating for a prime time program on a major network in television history.
Due to being rejected by the audience, the league folded after 1 season. The lesson learned was that you can lead a horse to water but if the water is dirty they’re not going to drink it. Here’s a sample of one of those XFL promos.
To summarize, here are my 3 key takeaways. Start with these simple rules and you’ll be on the right track to doing some smart and effective marketing to help your brand.
Don’t Promise Something You Can’t Deliver On
Keep Your Marketing Message Consistent With What You Stand For
Fish Where The Fish Are – Focus On Standing Out In The Right Places
Every day in the sports talk radio universe we find ourselves examining which stories to talk about, which angles to focus on, which guests best fit our subjects and which hard hitting opinions will elicit the strongest emotional response from our audience. One thing that sometimes gets lost though in the process is how production can factor into the daily plan to enhance the presentation. Over the past 10 years we’ve witnessed a strong number of sports radio stations migrate to the FM band which forever had been known as the destination for music. So if music is what people have come to expect on the FM band then doesn’t it make a little bit of sense to utilize the two together?
When it comes to the sports format we often see that a number of stations compete for the all-important demographic of Men 25-54 with classic rock, alternative rock and modern rock radio stations. In some markets you’ll even see Top 40, CHR and Hip-Hop enter the mix. When you dig deeper you find that many of your listeners whether they’re hardcore or casual fans, also spend times with music brands. They’re clearly telling you that they have other interests beyond your brand of content and when they’ve received what they need from you, they’re going to seek out other forms of entertainment. This is where opportunity comes in.
I believe the feel, sound and entertainment value of a radio station is critical. The messaging should capture the feel that the radio station is fun and in sync with what’s relevant in society. When it comes to music I want titles which are more current or popular over the past 10 years and I often look for them to be up tempo and instrumental. That’s because I want the pace to always be moving forward and because I want my hosts to be heard clearly without having to battle vocal harmonies and loud screams. Listen I grew up on Led Zeppelin, ACDC, Black Sabbath and Bon Jovi and some of those bands songs will always be cool to me but if the sound of your brand captures the feel of what mattered 30-40 years ago then I believe you’re at an instant disadvantage because the cool-factor of the radio station is gone.
When older titles from 30-40 years ago are featured it makes people feel old and out of touch plus the style of what you’re showcasing is targeted to the latter part of your demographic which makes you sound like “the older sports station for adults” versus the fun, hip sports station that is built for today and tomorrow’s audience. It can also damage your on-air personalities because it makes them appear out of touch even if they’re not. As a rule of thumb I believe the goal should be to connect with the 32-35 year old male. If he knows about it and thinks it’s cool, then that’s what should be on the radio station. When a popular movie comes out on DVD and I know it’s been well received by the public and people are using quotes from it in daily conversation then that’s something you should be looking at to utilize either in your shows or promo production. If a popular artist is coming to town, bumping into a segment with some of their tunes/intro beds or using one of their hooks for a creative rejoin makes you sound slick. It tells people you recognize what’s happening and you’re focused on satisfying their tastes.
One other area where production can be extremely helpful and at times even critical is when it comes to launching a new personality in a market or a brand new talk show. When change happens listeners immediately put up their guard. They want to often know “why was the other show removed, who’s this new personality, why should I listen to him/her and what’s this new show about“. Until the show hits the airwaves and an identity is understood, the only preview comes in the form of production via coming soon promos.
One brand that truly gets this and does an excellent job at it is the WWE. You don’t have to be a fan of professional wrestling to understand the concept. Simply put, their creative team develops a character behind the scenes and creates promos to capture who the character is. They then air those promos for weeks leading up to the wrestler’s debut and by the time the individual appears, the audience usually has a grasp on who they are. It’s about creating hype and interest and the WWE does it extremely well.
Case in point watch this video below. This is the promo for a group called “The Wyatt Family” which features a guy named Bray Wyatt as the deranged leader of a twisted cult. At the time this promo was launched the audience had no familiarity with the trio. As of today they’re one of the most popular factions on WWE programming. This is an illustration of great character development, strong production, consistent marketing and crisp execution.
Now some stations place little emphasis on the sound of music, production and relevant audio drops and that’s their choice and many have success doing it that way so there’s definitely more than one way to skin the cat. For yours truly though I’d rather play to the strengths of what I know the local audience is currently into rather than tell them to take what I give them or get lost. The reality is that we all like music, movies, comedy and sports and when a station can deliver great sports content and surround it with a presentation that’s youthful, fun, fresh and entertaining then you stand a better chance to connect.
To wrap this up I’ve attached a few audio samples below which will illustrate some easy ways to make people feel connected to your show/station better. I’ve shared these philosophies with numerous producers and hosts over the years and many have taken advantage of it to help improve their programs. I hope that by thinking of the value production can play in shaping your show/station identity, that it also serves you well in the future.
In most cases you can tell a story through promo production but there’s also other options to explore such as creating some forward momentum through creative rejoins and producing customized feature opens to lead into created segments. The style of what you use should always fit the story or content direction and in most cases it should be in line with the sound of the radio station. I assure you that by putting the extra time into your presentation will help you gain a deeper appreciation and respect from your audience as well as an improved listening experience and it won’t take long before they’re letting you know about it.
Promo – Coming Soon “The Damon Bruce Show” (courtesy of Jeff Schmidt)
On Thursday, June 19, Poker Night in America announced an agreement with CBS Sports Network that will see the new poker television show broadcast to a national audience beginning on June 29. The show has been scheduled to run for 26 consecutive weeks at 10 p.m. ET (7 p.m. PT) each Sunday night.
“We’re making poker fun again — that’s our real goal,” saidTodd Anderson, the creator of the show and president, in a press release. “We think poker players and fans have been looking for something new and fresh for a long time. We believe Poker Night in America will soon become must-see television for all serious players and fans. Our tag-ling says it all, ‘bringing personality back to poker.'”
Poker Night in America has held four events. The first event was at Turning Stone in Verona, NY, and that was followed by the second event at Peppermill Reno in Reno, NV. The third event held at Rivers Casino Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, PA was held at the end of 2013.
For more visit the Poker News where this story was first published
He’s never worked in sports-talk radio, and until last year he hadn’t worked in any kind of broadcasting. But Nick Trupiano has rocked St. Louis jock-talk radio like no one else in the 22-year history of the format. His recent on-air comments led to fists flying, the man who hired him ending up in a hospital — then resigning his job — and a guy he was criticizing on the air spending a night in jail.
That was just for starters.
Now the NAACP has notified his new boss that it is unhappy about racial comments Trupiano made on the air, and sources say the Federal Communications Commission has been alerted about of a vulgar word Trupiano used — the FCC can fine or take other actions against stations that violate its codes.
All this surrounds a 32-year-old guy who has an extremely colorful past and a vivid present.
“If I can survive this circus, I’m sure I can survive anything — especially the things that are coming to me lately,” he said this week. “I’m not a stranger to adversity.”
And controversy.
THE BACKGROUND
His father was Matthew “Mikey” Trupiano, whom Post-Dispatch columnist Bill McClellan has called “this city’s last mafia chieftain” who ultimately “went to prison for playing gin rummy.” That was after being busted in a game begin played at Lloyd Christopher Auto Sales, on South Kingshighway, in 1991. That building now houses a rental car facility.
The younger Trupiano and other family members have been in the headlines themselves, too, notably for battles with St. Louis officials over troubles with bars they have ran, including on Washington Avenue and in Soulard.
A few years ago Nick Trupiano was co-manager of the downtown nightclub that was known as Lure and later Amnesia, which was owned by his sister Aprille. They fought for their liquor license after police and neighborhood residents complained that club customers fought in the streets and dumped beer bottles on the sidewalks. The Trupianos eventually were out, and Nick said then that the fix was in.
“You’ve got a city judge who works for the mayor’s office, and serves at the pleasure of the mayor,” he said, and he and his sister added that Mayor Francis Slay’s Chief of Staff Jeff Rainford was out to get them.
They now run Social House, a Soulard bar that also has been under scrutiny of the local authorities. A Post-Dispatch story in late 2012 said the facility “has been on the city’s list of nuisance properties for about a year because of complaints of fights, noise, property damage and rowdy behavior.”
The family, including other siblings, has been involved in several other clubs through the years, too.
“It was a weird business to chose,” Trupiano said. “We never should have gotten into it, but now we are stuck.”
Trupiano also was stuck in a career morass before his radio opportunity suddenly developed.
He long has been an aspiring comedian, and his wisecracking as a 13-year-old was enjoyed by one of his dad’s buddies, who arranged for Trupiano to make a brief on-stage appearance at a local comedy club. One of his jokes: “My father is working for the government now. He should get off in about 2½ or three years with good behavior.”
“Everybody thought I was kidding — I wasn’t,” he said, adding that he drew a standing ovation.
For more visit STL Today where this story was first published
During my 20+ years in the sports media business I’ve learned from many great leaders, personalities, friends and rivals. I subscribe to the theory that you should always keep looking for ways to challenge yourself, and one area where improvements can be made in our business is when it comes to conducting interviews.
While spending 2+ years at ESPN in Bristol, CT, I had a chance to sit opposite Dan Patrick on a daily basis. I learned what a good interview should sound like. In my humbled opinion Dan is one of the best of all time when it comes to interviewing people.
Equally as important and even more of a factor on my growth were the training sessions I had a chance to participate in with the architect of interviewing John Sawatsky. Most people won’t know John by name or face but if you watch NFL Live, Baseball Tonight, SportsCenter or any other form of ESPN programming, his work is on display every single night.
John created a workshop built around eliminating what he referred to as the “7 Deadly Sins of Interviewing” and in this blog I’m going to take you through each of those sins and explain why his methods make sense. Most of what’s laid out below is what John passed on during the training sessions but I’ve since changed some of the audio samples and a few of the teachings to make it more adaptable to my style and those I’ve worked with.
Keys To Being a Good Interviewer
Interviewing is one area of journalism that has NOT improved over time. Everything else has, but this is one skill that has gone down. The question and interview are two different things and have different designs. Questions are very powerful and fragile and are in place to generate response and receive information. The interview as a whole is supposed to contain a series of questions which will help us better understand and learn new information about the individual or subject we are speaking with.
Yet often the broadcaster sleepwalks through interviews and throws any questions out there without a specific purpose. In certain situations the interviewer aims to become the star of the conversation and create conflict and visual drama which for the entertainment portion of television or radio may be good but for the purpose of the interview doesn’t deliver what it was intended to do.
Part I: The Question
We look at a car and we don’t know how it works. We like it until it breaks down. The mechanic knows how to fix it. The mechanic is professionally trained and knows about the moving parts. You are the mechanic for your interview. You need to know the moving parts for when your interview breaks down.
Why did CBS fall flat in interviewing Phil Mickelson after the Masters?
We blame the car — it’s a lousy car. “No one can make Phil interesting.”
The answers you get are a function of the question asked.
Every question has two purposes: big and little.
Your question is the only tool. No one HAS to talk to us. We have to rely on questions. We use the question to move it along from Point A to Point B. Each question is moving it forward. That movement is the Big Purpose.
The question’s small purpose is to gather information incrementally. But the big purpose and small purpose are separate. Like the transmission and engine of car. You need both, but they are completely different.
Simply defined: A question is an inquiry into something.
If you can name something, you can deal with it. The name “West Coast Offense” communicates meaning without having to describe the whole system. So we will define terms.
Question = Topic + Query
If you understand that, you can ask questions with amazing precision. Think of a non-digital camera. The lens determines what’s in the picture. The shutter makes the camera operate. Lens is your topic – what you’re looking at. Shutter is the query – what does the work.
DEADLY SIN #1 — NO QUERY
About 20 percent of what we ask doesn’t have a catalyst, an engine.
EXAMPLE – Barbara Walters with “The Crocodile Hunter” Steve Irwin’s Wife
Q: “You’ve lost him and you feel that you were blessed”
A: “I feel I was so blessed”
The query could be, “How can you feel blessed by losing the one you love most” or “Why do you believe you were blessed when you’ve just lost the one who mattered most to you”?
Both examples put the guest in a position to describe and explain rather than confirm or ignore. The content is a result of the process. Rapport is great, but it’s not necessary. A statement proclaims something. A question creates a demand. We have to make our questions do the work to get people to talk to us.
EXAMPLE – Texas Rangers OF Josh Hamilton on ESPN
Q: “When you were in the worst of the worst it just took over”
A: Consumed me. I was basically killing myself inside.
How could the question have been asked to get Hamilton to elaborate further?
EX: “What led to this disease getting the better of you?” “Why was this disease able to take control of you?” “How did this become as bad as it did?”
Once again, if the question asked is delivered with the intention of getting the subject to describe, explain and inform, we’ll learn more new information and deliver better results.
The query is akin to blocking and tackling. It’s basic to making everything work.
DEADLY SIN #2 — DOUBLE-BARRELED QUESTIONS
This is even more popular as a sin than the first deadly sin. This is when the interviewer elects to present the guest with two questions at once. Almost every time the guest is going to select the less challenging portion of the discussion.
EXAMPLE – Katie Couric with Barack Obama
Q: If you believe Afghanistan is the central front in the war on terror, why was this your first trip there and why didn’t you hold a single hearing as chairman of a sub-committe that oversees the fighting force there?
A: Actually the sub committee that I chair is the European sub-committee, and any issues related to Afghanistan were always dealt with in the full committee. Precisely because it’s so important. That’s not a matter that you would deal with in a sub-committee setting.
Obama goes to the one he prefers. People default to the safest, most favorable, least dangerous question.
EXAMPLE – Keith Olbermann with Hillary Clinton.
Q: What do you think of the draft Gore stories and do you think even after all this time that you’ll wind up facing him still in the primaries?
A: I’m hoping he wins and I’m waiting to hear the announcement from the Nobel committee and I hope that we give that well deserved honor to VP Gore.
We typically do this because we are in rush, want to narrow or broaden focus, want to get the story in, for dramatic effect (especially on TV). A single barrel question hanging out there doesn’t seem like that much. Often it’s because we are trying to overcome our own internal doubt about our first question. Sometimes it’s because we want to hear our own voice. And sometimes we just don’t know what the question is.
Those are only some of the reasons. Sometime you just build up too much momentum. You have to slow down before a stop sign. When we finish the question, our voice drops. Sometimes the second question is just to get the voice from 50 mph to 0. But the damage is done. The double barreled question gives the subject a ramp off the highway. You do not want to do that.
DEADLY SIN #3 — OVERLOADING
A question can’t support a topic that is too broad, or multiple topics. “What do you think about sports?” is just too broad. In the case of overloading, this is when the interviewer tries to jam 3-4 and sometimes even 5-6 questions into one exchange. Once again you’ll find the guest picks and chooses what part they wish to respond to.
EXAMPLE – Bill O’Reilly Interview of Howard Stern
Q: So 80-100 million a year go into your corporation. You go on Sirius the satellite radio channel. How are they going to make a profit? How many people are going to go over and what are they like, $50 bucks for a subscription?
A: Is it my problem if they make a profit? Is that my worry? They paid me to go there and entertain the people and that’s what I’ll do
Howard gets defensive and answers the first part and never addresses the challenges of expecting consumers to pay for the product or touching on what he believes the future growth of the company will be due to his arrival.
EXAMPLE – Steve Kroft’s interview with Bill Clinton after the Jennifer Flowers rumors surface
Q: You said that your marriage has had problems. What do you mean by that? Does that mean you were separated? You had communication problems? You contemplated divorce? Adultery?
A: I think the American people, at least those who have been married know exactly what that means.
Clinton is bombarded with too many things at once to address anything specifically so once again the guest gravitates to the area that’s easiest to deal with.
Overloading is a cousin to the double barrel. Using the pizza principle: Usually the more toppings the better, for more flavor. With questions, less is more.
DEADLY SIN #4 — REMARKS
This is the most common violation of interviewing. Any time you put remarks OF ANY KIND in a question then you are offering another off ramp to the highway you’re trying to stay on. YOU DON”T NEED REMARKS. If you feel like you need to make a remark, then the question is flawed. You need to break up the question into several questions.
Newton’s Law: every action creates an equal and opposite reaction. There are no neutral remarks. Everything makes an impact.
Think of a fax machine. It has two functions: send and receive. Don’t go into send mode — giving information — when you want to receive information.
EXAMPLE: Mike Francesa with Joe Girardi
Q: Everyone talks about a fast start. It’s been so hard for the Yankees to get off to a fast start in the last 4-5 years. It’s part of being a veteran team. I don’t think it’s that I think it’s just probably being lucky health-wise and also getting your pitching ready to be ready on opening day. When you think about getting off to a fast start which I know you’d like to do I think it’s about getting your pitching ready.
A: I wholeheartedly agree. We have to get our pitching ready and we need to make sure all of our starters are ready to go and our bullpen is healthy and pitching is going to keep us in games.
Francesa simply dominates the discussion with his opinion and doesn’t ask Girardi to enlighten him at all about the club’s lack of getting off to a fast start. Instead he’s looking for validation to his opinion from Girardi which he receives but the end result is :30 seconds of chatter with nothing new learned from the guest.
EX: “Why has this team had such a difficult time getting off to a fast start?” “What adjustments have you made to make sure this team doesn’t come out of the gate slow this season?”
EXAMPLE: Sean Hannity interview with Senator Chuck Hagel of Nebraska
Q: I am mad at the Republican party. As a matter of fact I am re-registering in NY as a conservative. I consider myself as a Reagan conservative. I predicted year out that they would lose power in 2006 because I believe they’ve abandoned their principles on spending. They haven’t given a solution to our energy dependence. They haven’t controlled our nation’s borders. The earmarks they’ve got worse than the democrats. If republicans continue down this path they deserve to lose don’t they.
A: Well sure because the power is in the hands of the party that controls the congress in the white house.
The final part of the question gives them an out. The power comes from focusing a topic and subjecting it to them. When people want to escape questions, they will resort to a volume answer — they will take on a different premise. In this question, all Hannity did was get Hagel to agree with his opinion. Not once did he ask Hagel to provide insight or opinion on how he viewed the republican’s efforts. He didn’t ask him how he felt they were matching up to the democrats in the eyes of the public. Instead he just sought validation to his opinion. The result = no insight learned from the guest.
DEADLY SIN #5 — TRIGGER WORDS
Often when we interview a guest there are certain stories that emerge that we have to ask about. If we don’t we compromise our credibility. When difficult areas of a conversation arise it’s extremely important to stay neutral. By leading your question in a specific direction you place yourself in a position to have the interview go south!
EXAMPLE: John Stossel interviews pro wrestler Dr. D David Schultz.
Q: I’ll ask you the standard question. I think it’s fake.
A:: [Smacks him hard, Stossel falls down] – You think it’s fake huh?
Who attacked whom? This was a physical attack from the wrestler. But Stossel instigated, and those can be lasting and deep.
EXAMPLE: Andrew Dice Clay on CNN (there is foul language in this clip)
Q: You were a headline guy and now you’re coming back
A: I’m still a headline guy
Q: For a while you popped out but now you’re coming back
A: Coming back? It’s what I do.
Q: You were running a gym for a while. Tell us about that?
A: Running a gym? You’re supposed to be a news guy, where are you getting your information from? This is ridiculous, I come on CNN and the guy doesn’t even know what he’s talking about.
Every question is made up of words that each have independent meanings. Sometimes people will react to the meaning of a word. The trigger word eats the question. It sets someone off. You put a trigger word in your question, and you can just forget that the subject will answer.
DEADLY SIN #6 — HYPERBOLE
What is hyperbole? This is what comedians do. It’s great at driving home a point.
Leno: It was so cold that the accuser at Duke changed her story, she now said it was the ice hockey team.
When you’re hungry, you’re starved. When you’re bored, you’re bored to tears. Really? No one takes it literally. We use hyperbole all the time. It can be useful as long as it does not mislead. Was the shot really heard round the world? No, but this makes our copy colorful and gets the point across, so there’s a role for hyperbole — and that hyperbole is when we are in “send mode. ”
Think about a voice over. It’s job is to paint a picture and excite you BUT Hyperbole is bad if you are in receive mode. If you put hyperbole in a question, you are done. The focus becomes the excess in your question. And that excess is the exit ramp. We are communicators. We receive and send. That’s all we do. The problem is that each are governed by opposite principles. What makes you good in one makes you bad in another.
TV –the journalists who are the most colorful are usually the worst interviewers. They can send but can’t receive. The great exporters are lousy importers.
EXAMPLE: Ed Bradley with Michael Jordan
Q: There were times when you’d elevate to take your shot and it was like you had another gear up there. Like you were flying.
A: Well we all fly. Some just fly higher than others.
What is Jordan supposed to do with that question? It’s small talk with no purpose.
EXAMPLE: Barbara Walters interviewing Jon Benet Ramsey’s parents
Q: They call Jon Benet a six year old Lolita, a pint sized sex kitten.
A: That didn’t come from Jon Benet.
What do you expect a mother and father to say when asked a question like that? If the question was “How does it make you feel when you hear people say that your daughter was a 6 year old pint-sized sex kitten”? This now makes it about their feelings towards the question instead of disagreeing with the characterization of their daughter and based on the question, you’re likely to get a strong response.
If you put hyperbole in your question, you will get understatement in your answers.
DEADLY SIN #7 — CLOSED QUERIES
This is the worst one and as John Sawatsky would say “it has a special place in hell.” We ask twice as many closed queries than open ones. A closed query is a yes/no question. A closed query only works with an absolute topic — a topic that, like a coin, can only be one or the other. Heads or tails. No in between.
EXAMPLE: Larry King Interviews Paris Hilton
Q: Purpose of jail is to teach a lesson. Did it work with you?
A: It was a very traumatic experience but I feel like God makes everything happen for a reason
Q: Think it changed you?
A: Yeah definitely
Q: Read a lot?
A: A lot. I received fan mail from all around the world. So many letters.
Q: Nicole Ritchie. How’s she doing?
A: She’s doing great
This interview with Paris was a classic case of having a flawed plan from the start. The easy response is to suggest that Paris isn’t a good interview but listen closely to the questions and you’ll find that she’s led to pointless places and never put in a position to have to provide detail. Of all the interviews I’ve listened to in my life this one ranks right up there among the worst of all-time!
When interviewers land big opportunities and fail to take advantage of them, it can lead to national criticism from other media outlets. The last thing you want is to be professionally embarrassed for doing a poor job. Take a listen to the O’Reilly Factor on Fox News the following night and how they reacted to King’s interview.
Great interviews are ones that bring surprises, something we didn’t already know or didn’t expect. What is the problem with using a closed query for a topic that is not absolute? First, let’s look at the moving parts inside a query that work together for an effective question. (Don’t think about this in terms of content — that’s the paint on the car. We’re talking about the engine).
Review: Topic + Query = Question
If a topic is not absolute, it must be relative. Almost all of our topics are relative. What we are trying to find out in most interviews is beyond absolute information. We want people to describe change that is incremental. A relative topic would be the position of a door. It could be open at different stages — half open, barely ajar. If you simply want to know if the door is locked or unlocked, then go ahead and use a closed query. Topics such as fairness, power, freedom, justice are matters of degree. Great reporters listen to what the person values and get them to go further than they have ever gone.
What poor interviewers do: when they don’t get answers, they blame the subject. But it’s the interviewer’s fault. Why not go for the confession? Isn’t that the best story to be gotten?
Here’s the danger of using closed queries with relative topics: The tougher the topic, the more your subject feels backed into a corner. You have given them only one extreme or the other. Morality is really good or really bad? No, there are many shades in between.
If you are trying to understand someone, especially on a sensitive subject, you must use an open query to create a safe zone for your subject to explain their side. With a closed query, a subject often answers a closed query with one of the two extremes offered. But once they have chosen their extreme — the yes or no — they can’t move. They’ll lose face. They are going to deny to protect themselves. They are not going to feel safe to explain themselves. This can even damage gathering information on a fluffy subject.
Conclusion
Have a game plan and ask open ended questions and put your guests in positions that require them to share their insights with you. The goal is to create an atmosphere which is neutral and invites the guest to speak about themselves and what they know while steering them in the direction you wish to take them in. Remember, you can still be tough with your questioning while being fair and you will always get a better response when asking questions that request an answer.
This is a game of percentages and while nothing is guaranteed, you will win more times than not by following these methods. Nobody bats .1000 but if a hitter could bat .400 instead of .300 they’d use the advantages every time up to the plate, interviewing is no different.
Here are two interviews that contain great questions and a smart strategy. You’ll find the momentum continues moving forward with each question, the guest is put in position to describe and explain and each interviewer keeps a neutral position which leads to gaining the information they seek.
Suzy Kolber of ESPN with former Cincinnati Bengals Wide Receiver Chad Johnson
John Sawatsky’s classic Beaver Interview example from Canada
Keys to being a better interviewer
The Primary Impulses
Safe
Favorable
Easy
The Intruders
Social
Professional
Personal
Communication/Journalism
Inputter Outputter
Interviewer
Micro Macro
Question = Topic + Query
Deadly Sin #1 = No Query
Deadly Sin #2 = Double Barreled Question
Deadly Sin # 3 = Overloading
Deadly Sin # 4 = Remarks
Deadly Sin # 5 = Trigger Words
Deadly Sin # 6 = Hyperbole
Deadly Sin # 7 = Closed Question
Verb Non-Starters = Do, Does, Did, Have, Has, Had, Is, Are, Was, Were, Will, Would, Can, Could, Should
Chart a Path
Set a Goal – Choose a direction
Locate the starting point – Before change/conflict/contrast
Connect the dots – struggle/reason
Select a route – When/What
Do It – Forward/Backward, On/Off, Enhance/Advance
Mop Up – U-Turns, Tangents, Less Important Stuff, Hunches, The Left Overs
Goal = To discover and scrutinize the change
Top 10 Questions
10. What’s an example?
9. How did you deal with that?
8. What were the options?
7. What was the turning point?
6. In what way?
5. How would you characterize that?
4. Why is that?
3. What is it like?
2. What do you mean?
1. What happened?
Honorable Mentions
What is the effect?
What are the implications?
What do you make of it?
How does it manifest itself?
How did you feel?
What went thru your mind?
What was your reaction?
How did you arrive at that?
How does that work?
Deion Branch has two Super Bowl rings and a Super Bowl MVP trophy that set him apart from many people looking for a new job.
Not when it comes to an NFL broadcasting gig.
There are plenty of ex-players with impressive resumes on the open market.
So, Branch tried to gain an advantage on some of the competition by participating in the NFL’s Broadcast Boot Camp this week.
“I enjoy this,” said Branch, a wide receiver who spent 12 seasons with the Patriots and Seahawks. “This is what I want to do so I’m going to give it my all. I come in here and I sponge because I want to learn everything and take it all in.”
The four-day boot camp held at NFL Films headquarters concluded Thursday. Branch was among 25 current and former players who participated in the annual seminar, now in its eighth season.
More than one-third of the 168 players who’ve attended the boot camp in the first seven years have earned broadcasting jobs as a result of their participation in the program.
Branch already has some experience. He hosted weekly radio shows in New England and Seattle. He’s still learning television.
“I find myself trying to be a little louder now as opposed to the past few years when I was more mellow,” he said. “I’m sitting upright, finding the cameras, doing the subtle things.”
Brady Quinn, a former first-round pick from Notre Dame, seemed like a natural in the studio. Quinn and veteran quarterback Dan Orlovsky debated which division will be the most competitive.
CBS host James Brown surprised both players with questions they didn’t prepare for, but each handled them well.
“One of the toughest parts is trying to fall in line with what they are looking for but also being an individual and trying to separate yourself from everyone else,” Quinn said.
Orlovsky compared broadcasting to playing quarterback.
“You go in with the mind-set that I’ve been playing football for 20 years so I can do it easily, not that it’s belittling the profession, but you just have this expectation of yourself that you know the game so well,” he said. “But then you realize how much work goes into it preparation-wise. It’s a lot like playing quarterback. You have to be a problem-solver more often than not.”
Both Quinn and Orlovsky are well-traveled guys who’ve played for quite a few teams.
They don’t have the star power of a guy such as Ray Lewis, who transitioned to a studio job at ESPN last year right after helping the Ravens win a Super Bowl in his final season. But they offer a different perspective because they’ve been around the block.
“It gives me a wider background to talk about different experiences, different coaches and different personnel,” Quinn said.
The bottom line is this: You don’t have to be a Hall of Fame player to thrive in the field. Just ask Glenn Adamo, the NFL’s vice president of media operations.
“Preparation, looking for a way to have their reports/stories catch your attention and stand out and, most importantly, how credible they are in presenting their opinion/story,” Adamo said when asked how a player catches his eye.
“Those that have the greatest command of the ‘Kings English,’ as James Brown would say, and speak clearly and at a conversational pace are able to better differentiate themselves initially, regardless of their stature in the NFL world.”
Players were trained in various areas during boot camp, including game analysis and sports talk radio. They received special instruction from on-air and production staff from each of the NFL’s broadcast partners.
For more visit the Fresno Bee where this story was first published
San Jose Sharks TV color analyst Drew Remenda won’t be returning to his spot in the broadcast booth next season.
“They decided not to renew my contract,” Remenda said Tuesday. “It wasn’t because of anything I did or anything wrong. It was explained to me they wanted to take the broadcast in a different direction. Honestly, we parted amicably.”
Remenda, who just completed his 13th season as television analyst alongside Randy Hahn, was an assistant coach with the Sharks from 1991 to 1995 before becoming an analyst. Prior to his TV spot, he was the radio color commentator working with Dan Rusanowsky.
“When I first got there as an assistant coach, they asked me what was my goal,” Remenda said. “I said I hoped I’d be there for five years. I ended up being there for 20. I would love to tell you there’s some big conspiracy there, but they’ve been great to me.”
Remenda said he had “kind of an inkling,” his contract might not be renewed, so hearing the actual words from chief operating officer John Tortora was not that difficult.
“The hardest thing is to think I’m not a San Jose Shark any more,” Remenda said.
Reached late Tuesday night, Tortora declined to comment on Remenda’s departure beyond a prepared statement that acknowledged the announcer would not be back and wished him well in the future. The statement offered no explanation for the team’s decision that was first reported by media blogger Rich Lieberman.
