Home Blog Page 849

How Nick Khan’s Passion and Risk-Taking Shape WWE

Jason Barrett
-
0
How Nick Khan’s Passion and Risk-Taking Shape WWE

I learned last week that WWE President Nick Khan was on ‘What’s Your Story?‘ hosted by Stephanie McMahon. The WWE/Fanatics show does a fantastic job featuring interesting stories and lessons with WWE superstars. For someone like myself who loves learning more about business, I knew I had to watch the episode because Nick always relays pearls of wisdom for folks in leadership circles.

I’ve been a fan of Nick Khan since 2016 when we first met during his time at CAA Sports. One of the most impressive things about him is that despite his position and stature, he’s very prepared and accessible. Anytime I’ve reached out over the years with a question or a comment, he responds. Most of the time, quickly. In fact, I emailed him last week to let him know that I enjoyed the episode, and within an hour or two he responded.

As simple as that sounds, many executives don’t do it. I’ve been guilty of that mistake myself. If the leader of the WWE’s billion dollar business can make time to respond with everything he has going on each day, there really isn’t an excuse for anyone else.

A fun story, in 2016, Nick reached out to introduce himself, and foolishly, I didn’t answer. A month later I was at media row in San Francisco during Super Bowl week when Scott Shapiro waved me over. He said ‘JB, you need to get back to Nick Khan. He’s good people. You’ll enjoy talking to him’. I told Scott, ‘I just started building a sports radio consultancy, and I thought it was another agent asking me to help them get their clients hired. I’ll follow up.’

I emailed Nick, told him I saw Scott, and offered to find time to chat. Less than an hour later I had an email back and a lunch meeting set for the next day. Nick and Matt Kramer joined me at a local restaurant. Matt and I worked together on a prior radio deal in SF so we knew each other a little bit, and after the early introductions and pleasantries, I asked Nick ‘how can I help you?’

Nick was very straight forward, sharing in great detail what he knew of my career, character, and skill. He knew things that made it clear he had done his homework. I appreciated his style and preparation. He then shared specifics of a project CAA Sports was working on, explained the challenges and opportunities involved, and told me he’d like to find a way to work together if the project came to fruition. A month later, I was in CAA’s New York City office for a video conferencing meeting with Matt and other CAA execs in Los Angeles. We discussed a few next steps, and I then waited for further feedback.

The project, which would’ve made noise across the industry, didn’t materialize, but the dialogue with Nick didn’t end there. He bought a few tickets for CAA employees to attend our first BSM Summit in Los Angeles in 2019, and since then, Nick, Chris Legentil and the WWE have become a partner of the BSM Summit. None of that happens if I don’t answer an email and take a meeting. It’s one of the best lessons I’ve learned since becoming a business owner in 2015. How they run their business makes it easy to encourage my son Dylan to get better at his craft to one day explore a future with WWE digital.

My story aside, you’ll learn a lot during Nick’s chat with Stephanie McMahon. He offers his views on effective leadership, the principles that shape successful careers, why he’s an avid reader, how it helps him in business, plus he discusses the changing landscape of the media business. I’ll cover some key takeaways in this article, but if you have an hour, watch the episode. Nick’s comfortability with Stephanie McMahon and her ability to lead him into personal and professional discussions makes for a great conversation.

Passion vs. Job

Nick Khan draws a sharp distinction between having a job and a career. A job, he suggests, is what pays the bills. A career is a lifelong pursuit fueled by obsession and passion. It’s why he sleeps less than 5 hours per day and works seven days per week. He loves what he does.

“If you’re career-oriented, you have to be obsessed with it every day for decades.” — Nick Khan

Most who work in TV, radio, podcasting, advertising, etc. do it because they love it. They can’t envision doing anything else. Winning in the media business is difficult to accomplish if you treat it as a job rather than a career.

Credit and Blame

When the team succeeds, credit goes to the entire group. If they fail, it’s the leader’s responsibility. That’s Nick Khan’s philosophy. It’s built around accountability and teamwork. He tells Stephanie that he and Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque fail every day. It’s why his use of the line, ‘the clock strikes midnight and resets for a reason’ is perfect. No matter how good or bad a day was, it’s over. The key employees are those who wake up the next morning ready for a fresh start.

Nick explains that by creating a culture of honesty, employees are less likely to be afraid to make mistakes and ask for help. If someone admits a mistake and needs support, Nick now considers it ‘our problem’. If they say nothing and screw up, he says “you better f*****g fix it or it could affect your tenure.”

@the.ankler

Live at @NAB Show , @WWE’s Nick Khan explained the phrases and behaviors he dislikes from employees and athletes #wwe #nickkhan #wwetiktok #wweuniverse

♬ original sound – Theankler

Nick also believes it’s important for leaders to genuinely care for their people. As he tells Stephanie, “In order to lead the people, you’ve got to love the people.” True leadership he says happens when no one is watching. Actions come from integrity rather than a desire for recognition.

Risk-Taking and Resilience

Risk-taking is essential for growth in Khan’s opinion. This is the part of the conversation I enjoyed most. I was always comfortable taking risks and didn’t let outside noise influence my decisions. Too many leaders worry about outside opinions, which I believe shows a lack of confidence.

During my programming days, if I made a move that raised eyebrows, others would ask me ‘what if it fails and you get fired?’ I heard that a lot when I put Joe Fortenbaugh in mornings and John Middlekauff in middays in San Francisco despite neither having done radio full time. Those guys had passion and an ability to make people think. What they did or didn’t do previously provided no guarantees for the future.

I believed then and still do that a company will replace you if they can find someone better who costs less. It’s the leaders job to be great and deliver results, and you can’t hit homeruns without taking swings. My outlook was always, ‘if I get fired, I go down doing what I believed in, and I head back to NY to spend more time with my son. Either way I win.’

Nick explained how he empowers the creative team to program for the masses rather than company critics. He believes that if the product is good, the money and the ratings will follow. When asked about finding strength in resilience, he quotes Game of Thrones: “What do we say to the god of death? Not today.” He also shares why being an outsider provides extra motivation to achieve.

The Future of Media is Global

Looking ahead, Khan agrees with UFC’s Dana White that we’re moving toward a world dominated by a handful of global platforms. Netflix operates that way now, and Khan and White believe the landscape will evolve to 5-10 platforms serving the entire world. The advantage is being able to expand the audience, and having a consistent interface available everywhere you go.

Stephanie mentions how Dana White has started exploring blockchain technology by putting Power Slap content on V Chain. Khan credits White for seeing around the corner before others do, pointing out that he was early to the game as well on podcasting. He also draws parallels between the growth trajectories of WWE and UFC.

  • WWE moved from niche channels like UPN and Spike to major platforms like NBCUniversal and Netflix.
  • UFC evolved from being labeled as “human cockfighting” to a global phenomenon on Disney-owned ESPN.

Copy the Best, Avoid the Worst

Whether in wrestling, boxing, or MMA, Khan sees star power as central to success. He praises talents like Cody Rhodes and CM Punk who have taken risks and built strong personal brands. Having been an agent for Manny Pacquiao and James Toney, he knows how to manage difficult talent. When people suggest that certain wrestlers or broadcasters are hard to work with he reminds them that they’re a walk in the park compared to Toney and Pacquiao.

His formula for success?

  • Follow the NFL’s best practices.
  • Avoid boxing’s missteps.
  • Keep earning your success — every day.

Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. To stay updated, sign up for our newsletters and get the latest information delivered straight to your inbox.

Why Classic Rock Stations Must Embrace Community-Building

Mike Stern
-
0
Why Classic Rock Stations Must Embrace Community-Building

Two weeks ago, my column focused on the idea that there is a generational split that isn’t driven by what content each generation likes but how they consume it. In our world Baby Boomers and Generation X are radio listeners while Millennials and Generations A and Z are more likely to stream their music. It’s not that the younger generations don’t have passion for Classic Rock music, we know that they do. It’s about what medium they use to consume it.

Evan Shapiro, who I interviewed for that column, said that the best way for Classic Rock stations to utilize the credibility of their brands to reach younger generations is to explore other media. Two that he suggested were podcasts, which I wrote about last week, and community building, which is the rabbit hole I’d like to go down this week.

In marketing circles community is a big buzzword these days. If you oversee a brand and haven’t run into the concept yet, I guarantee you will soon. And, while I have an excellent real-life example of building a community around a Classic Rock radio station to share with you, before I get into that, I wanted to start by exploring the concept and learning what it is and isn’t.

Seth Resler is the founder of Community Marketing Revolution. His goal is to help content creators, media professionals and event producers build communities. Even better, Resler is also a radio guy. He was my colleague at Jacobs Media for many years. Seth gave our clients advice on how to navigate the digital landscape. He also worked at WBRU in Providence, KPNT in St. Louis, KNDD in Seattle and others. Seth gets radio and he gets community, so I asked him to share some wisdom.

The first thing he explained to me is that audience and community are often confused and are not the same thing. Audiences are what stations build by creating content and sending it out into world, regardless of platform. On-air, online, even a station concert build audience, not community.

The difference is relationships.

Audiences consume content and sometimes communicate back to the creator. Communities have members that communicate amongst themselves. “It’s not a dialog,” says Resler. “It’s a polylogue” (go ahead, I’ll wait while you look that up.) He says you can tell if an event was for an audience or a community by the seating. If all the chairs are facing forward like at a concert or a lecture, it’s for an audience. If the chairs are facing sideways because attendees were communicating with each other, it’s for a community.

Communities also need spaces to coalesce. That can be a Facebook group, a Discord channel, or a physical meeting space. Think of building a community like throwing a party. You may provide some content, like a DJ, but what you are really creating at a party is a place for your friends or colleagues to spend time with each other. That’s community.

Resler also points out that communities are smaller than audiences but that doesn’t necessarily mean they are less valuable. That’s because with an audience if you stop creating content they will leave. A community, because of the depth of the relationships of the members, will find a new space to congregate.

What helps communities grow is a shared mission or purpose. One example is the fervor that surrounded the TV show Lost. At the peak of its popularity, message boards sprung up all over the internet with a shared purpose of trying to figure out the show. An in-person example is a group Resler started years ago called Mystery Meet. Each week one restaurant would create a prix fixe menu for members of this group. The location would be announced one day before, and the limited seats would always sell out. The shared purpose was bringing together adventurous eaters to have an experience they could share and it worked. A community came together.

Now let’s circle back to the original question, can a Classic Rock radio station create a community of fans that will help expand awareness of the brand beyond the existing cume and potentially reach younger fans of Classic Rock?

Resler goes back to a community needing a shared purpose. He’s not sure that just being fans of a radio station is enough. In the case of Classic Rock, it might be more effective to create a community of people who like to attend concerts by classic artists. It’s not as much about the radio station as it is about a shared purpose of enjoying these artists when they come to town.

However, there is at least one shining example of a station that built an enduring community based around radio and Classic Rock. Can it be duplicated? Come back next week and see what you think.

Why 1270 The Patriot Owner Buddy Shula Thought the Time Was Right for Conservative Talk

Garrett Searight
-
2
Why 1270 The Patriot Owner Buddy Shula Thought the Time Was Right for Conservative Talk

Last week, Buddy Shula — whose company, Radio One Buffalo, recently purchased the 1270 AM signal in Buffalo from Cumulus — announced the station was relaunching with a familiar format. 1270 The Patriot, a new conservative talk station, will hit the market on July 4th.

Earlier this year, Cumulus announced plans to shutter the 5,000-watt daytime signal as one of its underperforming brands. Previously, the station aired the Westwood One suite of news/talk programs, with no local presence in the market.

It wouldn’t be unreasonable to ask why conservative talk would be the choice for a new owner after a company like Cumulus was unable to make nationally syndicated news/talk radio work in the market.

But when asked why conservative talk made the most sense for his new station, Buddy Shula had a quick reply.

“There is no conservative station in Buffalo,” said Shula. “WBEN is not conservative. They’re going the other way.”

He said that on particular instance of listening to WBEN, the Audacy news/talk station in the market, led him to believe that there was “an open lane” for conservative talk in the city.

“I was thinking of a lot of formats for it … I was listening to WBEN one day — and this is honest — they’re talking about what kind of sandwich do you like? And begging for phone calls about what kind of sandwich do you like. The host is like ‘Well, ketchup is pretty good. Do you like pickles?’ and I’m like ‘Oh my god, this is ridiculous.’ I’m very serious,” said Shula. “That’s when I said ‘The lane is talk radio. Conservative talk radio.’

“Buffalo is pretty conservative outside of right in the city. Outside of that, it’s pretty conservative. However you feel politically, there’s an open lane,” he continued.

Furthering Shula’s stance that conservative talk radio was the way to go was the availability of The Sean Hannity Show in the market.

“Knowing he was available was the catalyst,” said Shula, who shared he was “somewhere in the middle” politically. “I watch everything — CNN, Fox (News), MSNBC. I just wanted names conservatives would know. And I worked with Premiere, they really came to the table. They had some great things. Glenn Beck is a name I knew. Clay (Travis) and Buck (Sexton) are a younger generation of conservatives that I knew their names … that’s how I picked.”

The station’s full line-up will consist of:
6-9 AM: Your Morning Show with Michael DelGiorno
9 AM-12 PM: The Glenn Beck Program
12-3 PM: The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show
3-6 PM: The Sean Hannity Show
6-9 PM: The Jesse Kelly Show
9 PM-12 AM: The VINCE Show
12-1 AM: No Spin News with Bill O’Reilly
1-6 AM: Red Eye Radio

The station will also feature a weekend show hosted by State Rep. David DiPietro (R), as well as programs from Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson, Tony Katz, Charlie Kirk, Chris Plante, and Lars Larson, among others.

Throughout the day, the station will broadcast news updates from Townhall and financial reports from CNBC and Bloomberg. Shula shared that he attempted to partner with Fox News Radio for news updates, but was rebuffed, saying he “was shocked and still scratching my head” noting that he believed that the investment of George Soros would make the network reevaluate its relationship with Audacy.

Shula has had success on the AM band in Buffalo. In addition to 1270 The Patriot, he also owns popular oldies station WECK, which is heard on 1230 AM in the market.

And while Buddy Shula gets set to put the new news/talk brand on the air, he believed the station’s strategy was a simple one that would lead to success.

“I just tried to cater to what conservatives like,” he concluded. “I feel like we have destination listening hosts. We’re gonna stick to the hosts that you know. The ones you know and the ones you don’t, that are the next wave of conservative talk.”

Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. To stay updated, sign up for our newsletters and get the latest information delivered straight to your inbox.

Candy 95’s Rob Mack Succeeds With Passion And Dedication

Jeff Lynn
-
0
Candy 95’s Rob Mack Succeeds With Passion And Dedication

Rob Mack is Operations Manager for Bryan Broadcasting in Bryan/College Station, TX. Additionally, he handles the day-to-day programming for Top 40 Candy 95, R&B and Throwbacks Magic 97.3.

Mack popped onto several people’s radar recently when he reacted quickly, turning the Taylor Swift getting her music back news into a station promotion. Or as I like to say, ceasing the moment.

“The Taylor Swift thing was really on a whim. It just popped into my head. My midday guy, Ryan, is always keeping tabs on what the artists are doing. He saw the post, and he came out and told me that.”

“My immediate response was, do we go back to playing the original versions? And he goes, I don’t know, that’s a great question. We left it at that. And I continued about doing some other things that I was working on, and I stopped, and I just kind of looked out the window at some point, and I thought, you know, we could do a Taylor take back weekend.”

“I try always to have a how do we capitalize on this mindset. Running everything through that filter. Whatever’s going on in the world, whatever’s going on with the artists, with pop culture in the community. If you can try to tie that back into your brand somehow.”

“It was literally on a whim. A fleeting thought. It turned into, well, it’s 1:00 pm on a Friday. Can we pull this off? I don’t know if we can pull this off. Long story short, we got it on the air by five o’clock that afternoon. I would have preferred to do it by three, but hey, five is still fine.”

Mack believes the job of the PD isn’t a nine-to-five gig.

“I think when we sign up to be a program director, we’re on call 24/7. It doesn’t mean we’re working 24/7, obviously, but you wake up on Saturday or Sunday morning, log in, and check the automation to ensure everything is on time. Something happened on a Sunday afternoon. We better post this up on our social media. So, yeah, sometimes there’s a lot of work involved, but it’s also a lot of fun, and it’s really rewarding.”

Rob Mack Photo Facebook

Does programming Top 40 in a market that is home to Texas A&M and 75,000 students create nuances?

“I asked that question when I was being interviewed here, and they said, we don’t actively program for the college students, but we certainly don’t ignore them. And in this town, you cannot ignore them at all. I mean, there are 75,000 college students here in this town.”

“The town revolves around the college. And what I mean by that is that if the college is on spring break, the public schools are also on spring break. And businesses don’t want to do remotes that week. They know that so many people are gone. And everybody knows when it’s game day.”

“Do we actively program for college students? Yes and no. I’m more cognizant in my music decisions here. I go earlier on younger leaning records than I would have in previous Top 40 stations because I know that the audience here is a little bit younger.

Mack has a big job with the brands of Bryan Broadcasting while staying on top of Candy 95 and Magic 97.3.

“I’m lucky to have a lot of people, more people than other similarly sized markets. I’m lucky to have program and music directors over all of them. They’re in charge and they’re responsible. They come to me if they have questions, concerns, problems or sometimes to talk things out.”

With all that goes into managing a cluster of that size, is Mack and his team utilizing AI?

“We use it kind of as an idea starter. My morning guy will use it to brainstorm names for the little bits or segments that he does. I know our salespeople have used it to brainstorm copy before as well.”

Back to Top 40 specifically and getting young people interested in radio again, where does Mack see the challenges and opportunities?

“One of the challenges for Top 40, for radio as a whole, and young targeted formats is getting enough 18 – 34 listeners. Twenty years ago, when I was getting into radio, I wouldn’t say it was the only game in town, because you still had downloaded music and CDs. YouTube was a new thing at the time, but certainly not like it is now.”

“The phone lines were lit up nonstop, and kids were on the phones. That doesn’t happen anymore. People don’t like talking on the phone anymore. Texting was in its infancy.”

“You have to want to have 18-34s, and I think you have to do a good job of reaching out to that audience and talking to that audience. Radio needs to do a better job of hiring personalities that look, talk and think like the audience that we want to target.”

And where do we go to get the next Ryan Seacrest, Elvis Duran or Howard Stern?

“We can teach the basics. We can’t teach personality. You have to find somebody who’s got personality.”

And sometimes they might be in your backyard.

“We reach out to college students, and we hire them. She’s unfortunately not with us anymore. But Mikaylee our morning co-host last year. She stumbled into the radio station from Texas A&M and was volunteering, I believe, at Aggieland Humane Society. Our morning news anchor was volunteering there as well.”

“The Humane Society had posted something with her from the radio station. She ended up coming up here and being hired on part-time to fill in on our news department. Which kind of quickly led to, hey, do you want to fill in on Candy 95?”

“Which sort of just led into, hey, do you want to come sit in with the morning show? And now you’re our morning co-host. All this while she was in her senior year at Texas A&M. So we hired her full time when she graduated, and I was feeling really good about it.”

“Five months later, she comes in one day and goes, I think I’m going to leave. She had a side business of photography, and she was like, yeah, I just, I kind of want to focus on that. She was managing some social media accounts for businesses. And I’m like, I get it, but whatever.”

In closing.

“Anybody that knows me knows that I’m really passionate about pop Music and Top 40 Music. I’ve been in the format since 2003, when I started in the business. And I listened to it from the time since I was five years old. I understand why stations do it, but leaning too heavily on throwbacks drives me nuts.”

“There are stations trying to masquerade as Top 40 stations, heritage stations that have started leaning on throwbacks. They still play three or four currents an hour. And they’re still on the panel reporting as Top 40 stations. In my opinion, if 50, 60, 70% of your playlist is songs from 15 and 20 years ago, you are not a Top 40 station.”

“If your brand is established in the market as the station for current music. Is the station for Top 40, for hit music, for pop music, and you turn it on and you’re playing old songs from T-Pain, Nelly and Pitt Bull. I don’t think any of the stations that have gone in this direction have done anything worthwhile in the ratings.”

“I’m not saying those songs don’t have a place once or twice, or maybe three times an hour. But if that is 70% of your playlist, I don’t think you’re meeting the expectations of the listener. I think that’s dangerous for Top 40 as a format. Because now in some instances, you’re taking the Top 40 station out of the market, and so the market only has a throwback station that happens to play two or three of the biggest songs every hour.

Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. To stay updated, sign up for our newsletters and get the latest information delivered straight to your inbox.

How News/Talk Radio Should Cover Potential War with Iran

Perry Michael Simon
-
0
How News/Talk Radio Should Cover Potential War with Iran

Well, I guess we’re at war now, or at least we’re involved in fighting someone else’s war. It involves nukes and crazy people. Besides providing a convenient distraction from the president’s no-good, very bad recent weeks, and putting a target on Americans worldwide, it will be material for talk radio and cable news for however long this thing goes on.

On the bright side, it gives us all a chance to say “yellowcake” again, which will remind us to go out and buy some Entenmann’s pound cake or maybe Tastykake Chocolate Juniors, as long as we’re not in a radiation zone and the Iranians aren’t targeting Publix or Wawa.

Wait, where was I? Oh, right, talk radio at war. Talk radio was different during Vietnam, and didn’t exist during previous wars; hosts were pretty much solidly in favor of the Iraq War, and should have learned some lessons on how to talk about war.

The difference today is that Americans are not going to be solidly in favor of sending missiles and, if it comes to that, troops to the Middle East. There’ll also be a lot of mixed responses, disapproving of American involvement while also in favor of destroying Iran’s nuclear development, and if Americans are indeed targeted for retaliation, that’s a whole other story.

The upshot is that audience reaction to talk shows about the war is not as clearly predictable as previous wars – it’s hard to generate a groundswell of patriotic fervor when the war didn’t even need America to be involved in the first place – and you, assuming you’re a talk host or producer, are going to find out what the public’s reaction will be on the fly. Ratings will probably go up, though. National crises will do that.

One thing, however, that you absolutely should do is to recognize that a lot of the news, or maybe all of it, that is generated by this conflict will be enveloped in propaganda. Everybody does it, some countries more transparently than others. Anything coming out of the Pentagon or White House will spin every incident as a win for America, Israel will do the same, and Iran will often be pumping out the exact opposite. All of them will be claiming that theirs is the truth and the other guys are lying. And they will send out their lackeys to spread their spin on your shows.

Try not to fall for it. Be suspicious if the government, any government, offers a spokesperson or official to call in to your show. All you’ll get from those interviews will be “The Official Story,” which often turns out to be less than the truth, and any tough questions will be deflected, because they’re experts in not answering the questions you ask.

The White House and Pentagon will answer any question with an irrelevant answer that includes some gratuitous Biden bashing. Israel will keep going back to the phrase “right to exist” and other survival material. The Iranians will claim that any attacks failed (“It’s only a flesh wound!”) and that there will be retaliation. After that, it’s going to be “we’re on to Cincinnati” time.

What we’re left with is a confusing tangle of information and disinformation. You’ve learned to “trust but verify,” but now you’ll be operating under “distrust if you can’t verify.” We won’t really know anything until well after the fact, if then. Meanwhile, everyone is going to a) have an opinion and b) be on edge. Wonderful, just wonderful. You know, I was hoping that retirement would be stress-free. This isn’t that.

Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. To stay updated, sign up for our newsletters and get the latest information delivered straight to your inbox.

The Watch: All In with Chris Hayes, MSNBC

Garrett Searight
-
0
The Watch: All In with Chris Hayes, MSNBC

MSNBC reset its lineup earlier this year. All In with Chris Hayes remained a focal point of the reset, however, with the network showing that it believes in the program.

Hayes occupies an interesting lane in the network’s ethos. He isn’t necessarily the firebrand that others at the network — or competitors — will feature in primetime. Furthermore, he doesn’t often catch the ire of conservative pundits as frequently as others — namely, Rachel Maddow and Jen Psaki — from MSNBC do.

I sat down to watch a recent episode of Hayes’ primetime program to get a feel for why MSNBC views him as such an important figure to its primetime success.

During Thursday’s episode of All In with Chris Hayes, I was struck by his monologue. Not the content, but the delivery.

It felt personable. The opening of the program didn’t feel as if Chris Hayes was talking into a camera. It felt as if he was talking to me. His mannerisms, his tone, and even at one point laughing out loud to accentuate his point felt like a somewhat foreign concept to other primetime shows I’ve watched in recent months.

I also didn’t feel as if the monologue was overproduced. Sometimes, the presentation of these lengthy monologues can feel like the producer has ADHD and just had Red Bull injected into their veins. The idea being that if we don’t make a camera cut or have a motion graphic every one and a half seconds, the viewers who also have the attention span of a brussel sprout will find the content boring and change to something else.

But that wasn’t the case for this MSNBC show. The pacing felt…normal? The monologue allowed Hayes to breathe a little bit. It wasn’t rushed or overly rehearsed.

However, it did feel like it stuck to an over-reliance on outside media to prove a point, rather than a poignant statement from the host, something I’ve decried about the cable news genre in the past. Furthermore, I felt as if Hayes had relatively the same point throughout a nearly 10-minute monologue: ICE — under the direction of Donald Trump — has gone too far. He accentuated that point by pointing out that the growing sentiment around the country agreed with the MSNBC host’s point.

That point was driven home — excessively, in my view — throughout the monologue.

Additionally, there was a portion of the show when Chris Hayes featured an update on what Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass had said in response to comments made by Vice President JD Vance about the state of unrest in the city regarding ICE raids. I thought it was a brilliant use of real-time information and breaking news that wasn’t solely reliant on Hayes’ view on the matter, as much as it was a showcase Bass’s.

Later in the program, Chris Hayes sat down for an interview with journalist Alistair Kitchen, who claims he was deported after reporting on the pro-Palestine protests at Columbia University. Before the interview, Hayes shared that U.S. Customs and Border Protection claimed that the Australian was deported for lying on an immigration application, in a nod to fairness.

Throughout the discussion, Hayes allowed Kitchen to be a storyteller, rather than an interview subject. I thought the MSNBC host allowed his guest to serve as the star throughout the conversation. The conversation didn’t hinge on Hayes’ ego as the star of the show or the world’s best interviewer. It was more centered on getting the story out. Which felt like quite the change for a cable news primetime show.

And that was my prevailing thought about All In with Chris Hayes. That Hayes was almost an ego-less figure that was more interested in the story, subject, and topic at hand rather than how much influence he could have on the audience — whether they be at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue or at 123 Main Street.

I understand why MSNBC views Hayes as a star. I sometimes watch these cable news programs through a strong lens of cynicism. This program renewed my faith in the medium.

Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. To stay updated, sign up for our newsletters and get the latest information delivered straight to your inbox.

Former Shamrock, NAB Executive Bill Clark Passes Away

BMM Staff
-
0
Former Shamrock, NAB Executive Bill Clark Passes Away

Bill Clark, former Chairman and CEO of Shamrock Broadcasting, passed away on Saturday. Clark was regarded as an exceptional executive, passionate advocate for the industry, and a mentor who touched countless lives.

In a post from Diane Sutter on Facebook, Clark was remembered for his ability to lead with trust and integrity. He joined Shamrock in 1979 initially serving as the company’s president of its radio division. He later became President, CEO and Chairman, remaining Shamrock’s top executive after its merger with Malrite Communications Group in 1993.

Clark was also the head of the National Radio Broadcasters Association (NRBA). Working alongside John Dille, then head of NAB Radio, he helped merge the NRBA with the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB). The merger gave radio one unified voice, strengthening its position in the broader media landscape.

The accomplished radio executive served for many years on the NAB Board and the Radio Advertising Bureau (RAB) Board. Clark received the NAB Radio Award in 1991, the California Broadcaster of the Year honor in 1992, and was named the 2019 recipient of the Lowry Mays Excellence in Broadcasting Award by the Broadcasters Foundation of America.

Known as a visionary with a great sense of humor, Clark championed radio’s interests for over four decades. He empowered his teams to best serve their audiences and communities. Even after Shamrock was sold to Chancellor Broadcasting Company in August 1995, Clark stayed connected to former colleagues. He’d check in regularly to remind them how much they mattered to him.

Bill Clark’s legacy lives on through the many industry professionals he mentored and the positive mark he left on the radio industry.

Dana White: UFC “Likely” To Have Multiple Partners With New Media Rights Agreement

BSM Staff
-
0
Dana White: UFC “Likely” To Have Multiple Partners With New Media Rights Agreement

Could the UFC have multiple suitors for their next media rights deals? There is a likelihood that could be the case, as President and CEO of the UFC Dana White told the Sports Business Journal that he hopes the media rights discussions will wrap up in the very near future—possibly by September.

The UFC and ESPN agreed to a five-year, $1.5 billion deal for domestic broadcast rights beginning in 2019, only to extend the agreement by two years in early 2019, adding pay-per-view streaming rights to the package. Now, with the UFC and ESPN in the final year of the deal, Bloomberg reported the UFC is seeking a price tag of a billion dollars annually moving forward. Furthermore, when asked by Sports Business Journal how the talks were going with the agreement wrapping up this year, White said he’s happy with the discourse so far.

“Everything is going well. We’re happy with the discussions we’re having,” said White to SBJ. The outlet followed up with a question if the UFC would end up with multiple suitors for the broadcast rights, to which White responded, “I don’t know yet, but yes, it’s likely.”

The UFC is owned by TKO Holdings, which also owns the WWE and has multiple broadcast arrangements with Netflix—potentially leading to speculation that the streaming giant may have a leg up on the competition. Additionally, PUCK Media reported earlier this month that ESPN was closest to earning a renewal, but at least four other companies were in the mix for what could turn out to be multiple packages for UFC content.

The reported other suitors in the bidding for UFC include Netflix, Amazon, Warner Bros. Discovery, and ESPN.

TKO President and COO Mark Shapiro earlier this year said that the UFC wanted to have multiple conversations before making what he termed “a smart, strategic decision that works best for our long term.” Speaking at the J.P. Morgan Global, Technology, Media and Communications Conference last month, Shapiro said the long term is not all about money.

“It goes every which way as it relates to these UFC rights. Who’s going to be around? Who’s going to stick around? Who’s got a long-term strategy? Who’s going to be good in just the short term? Can you divide it up into multiple packages and have your cake and eat it, too,” said Shapiro last month. “What’s the future of pay-per-view? Do you need pay-per-view? This is all stuff we’re analyzing and having conversations on.”

Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. To stay updated, sign up for our newsletters and get the latest information delivered straight to your inbox.

Rachel DeMita Reportedly Out from BIG3 Basketball

BSM Staff
-
0
Rachel DeMita Reportedly Out from BIG3 Basketball

After working as a courtside commentator on BIG3 Basketball broadcasts over the last year, Rachel DeMita is reportedly no longer working with the league. DeMita was appearing on the season-opening broadcast emanating from Chicago that was airing on CBS during which she tweeted about Indiana Fever superstar Caitlin Clark. DeMita shared a video of Clark making a three-point shot and wrote, “for those who questioned the hype..,” seemingly offering praise towards the WNBA guard.

Clark was playing in a matchup against the New York Liberty subsequently being televised on ABC, which ended up finishing as the third most-watched ESPN WNBA game to ever air on the network. Ryan Glasspiegel of Front Office Sports was the first to report the news, and he referred to this instance as the “final straw” that resulted in this split. The Big3 tried to sign Clark last year and made her a historic offer, according to league co-founder Ice Cube, who confirmed the news after it had been reported by TMZ despite intending to keep it private.

“I feel like for my entire career, I’ve never really been the traditional reporter type, and so I’m hoping to bring just some of my authenticity and how I host and my style of hosting to the BIG3,” DeMita explained upon landing her role last June, “and with that being said you guys, we are in a new city every single week. If you guys are in any of those cities, definitely come out, come say what’s up. I will be on the sidelines, I will be doing social content, hanging out with fans as well, so make sure that you guys come say hi, come to the games; they’re going to be so much fun.”

DeMita has held a variety of roles in the sports media business over the years, including serving as the host of NBA 2KTV where she anchored studio programming and interviewed star athletes. In 2018, she signed a content deal on Overtime under which she collaborated on new programs and live coverage for the outlet. On top of that, DeMita has worked with Whistle Sports, Meta and Adidas, and she currently hosts the Courtside Club podcast with Rain Delay Media. Through her work as a host and content creator, she has amassed a large following across social media platforms, including more than 1 million followers on Instagram.

Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. To stay updated, sign up for our newsletters and get the latest information delivered straight to your inbox.

Fred Taylor: LeBron James Criticizing ‘Ring Culture’ Is Hypocritical

BSM Staff
-
0
Fred Taylor: LeBron James Criticizing ‘Ring Culture’ Is Hypocritical

NBA superstar LeBron James caused a stir in sports media this week following some comments he made about “ring culture” on his Mind the Game podcast with Steve Nash. The Lakers forward criticized the discourse around the topic, saying that a ring is a “team accomplishment” and pushing back on the idea that any individual player’s greatness is measured by how many titles he won. These comments made their rounds on social media, as many believe the conversation is pointed at certain individuals who frequently contribute to the narrative of “ring culture.”

Meanwhile, former NFL running back Fred Taylor, who co-hosts The Pivot podcast with Ryan Clark and Channing Crowder, said on a recent episode that he can’t defend James’ critique of the discourse, arguing that it’s not relevant.

“I can’t defend it. It’s so multi layered. It’s one of those conversations that is never ending,” said Taylor. “Why is the conversation so relevant? It’s sort of an irrelevant thing, but it’s a great debate, right? But it’s kind of irrelevant, in a sense, because that conversation is just going and it’s dry and it’s unless you just love sports, it’s something for you to always come back to.”

Furthermore, Taylor compared the conversation about ring culture to the debate about the greatest of all time, noting that both are inherently biased. He said that in the sport of basketball, you can often narrow success down to a few players on a roster elevating greatness, which makes it easier to lead to championships.

“I really can’t defend LeBron’s comments,” said Taylor. “It comes across as hypocritical because of the actions that have followed him throughout his career, and I don’t even know why it’s even an important conversation?”

In response, Clark attempted to explain Taylor’s perspective by suggesting that the conversation itself stems from LeBron James’ insecurity about his legacy.

“LeBron James has a level of insecurity with people believing about him what he wants them to believe about him,” said Clark. “That conversation was purely about the G.O.A.T., his claim to it, and what he feels may keep him from having to claim it.”

Additionally, Crowder added to the conversation by saying he feels James is chasing a “ghost” that he will never catch in Michael Jordan.

Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. To stay updated, sign up for our newsletters and get the latest information delivered straight to your inbox.

1...848849850...2,895Page 849 of 2,895