I turned 50 this week. I don’t know how that is possible, but that’s what it says on my driver’s license. I started in sports media at 20 years old, so this also marks 30 years in the industry. The actual anniversary would be this June, as my first days in the business were as a summer intern at a station I would eventually become the operating partner and part owner of starting in 2008.
I was one of those lucky ones who always knew what industry I wanted to be in. My first goal was to do as much play-by-play as I could do and I had the chance to do many games. I never envisioned being a talk show host but was lucky enough to get to it for 8 years, mostly in my hometown.
Ultimately, I was destined to be on the business and management side of things and had my first real opportunity in 2002 at 28 years old when I had the chance to program WHBQ in Memphis. The station was owned by Flinn Broadcasting and the ‘sales manager’ for the station also oversaw sales for the top hip-hop station in town. Since the managers’ dealings on that station, at the time, meant dealing with a lot of clients that were paying cash for short-term advertising, his main responsibility was sitting in his office waiting for clients to come by to buy their schedule.
When I realized this and saw that the manager wasn’t ever going to actually go out and sell anything or spend time with the sports sellers, a reality hit me. I could program the greatest sports radio station in the history of the world but if nobody was really selling it it wouldn’t matter.
So, I taught myself how to sell. I had an advantage because I was still doing an on-air shift and that is really a different experience. When you are the one who is not only selling the ads, but also could be doing the ads, you realize you can sell in a completely different way. It makes a hard job just a little bit easier.
This is why I have told any air talent who will listen, they should be selling their own content. Many do not realize it but that’s what good content creators do anyway, they sell their content to their listeners. All day, every single day. They don’t necessarily realize this while it is happening, but that is exactly what is going on.
Most of the time it is simply a mental game. When radio talent is in a soundproof booth with just a microphone, they are as confident as can be. If they have the ability to take just some of that confidence into a sales call, it makes the whole process that much easier.
When I realized this my philosophy changed to wanting to have the right air talent with me on as many sales calls as possible. The other thing I figured out was that it is a lot more difficult for the client to say no in front of the air talent they admire.
But like any other job, what I really learned in my early days of managing was that a lot of it comes down to work ethic. Whether it is working hard or working smart, it comes down to working. For those who read my sales columns, I talk about this all the time. A big part of the battle is just doing the job – the whole job.
If you are in sales that means doing all of the steps of the sales process and if you are in content it is about entertaining and engaging an audience, which has now become a 24/7, 365 job. If you are in management, it is about making your team better and dealing with the most important issues each day, not just the easier things that need to get checked off the list, that is what evenings and weekends are for.
I have done a lot of reflecting as this big birthday neared. My career is very important to me and is a big part of my identity. I pride myself on having been someone where nobody has ever needed to worry they weren’t going to get my best efforts each day. As someone who has owned my own businesses, I truly try and be someone who works as if I own a part of any company I do work with.
We all know how much the business has changed over those thirty years. Heck, when I started, the commercials were played off cart machines and there was still a news wire connected to the station fax machine. Shortly after I started in the business, all the computers we had were littered with spam from all of the illegal music being downloaded on them!
It has been a crazy ride over these 30 years in the business and I expect more of the same as I look to the back half of my career. I am grateful for the journey and enjoy documenting much of it here in this space each week.
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The Best/Worst Thing I’ve Heard/Watched/Read Recently
It has really been hitting me recently as more and more of the great voices of sports are winding down their careers. One of those legends getting ready to hang up the microphone is Sam Rosen, who is one of the best to ever call the game of hockey.
The longtime voice of the New York Rangers did a sit down with New York Post Rangers beat writer Mollie Walker for their YouTube channel. Throughout the 40-minute talk, Rosen discussed Madison Square Garden, the magical Rangers’ 1994 Stanley Cup run, and being beloved by Rangers fans. A fun watch/listen for sure if you are a Rangers fan, but even just to appreciate one of the great voices in sports we will soon be without.
You can view watch the full interview by clicking here.
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In Case You Missed It
Derek Futterman had the chance to talk with Dave Sims, the new radio voice of the New York Yankees. You can feel Sims’ passion for this new position come off the screen as you read through the feature. I have also noticed how Sims talks about his friendship with Suzyn Waldman in all of his interviews. It seems like the two are going to have a lot of fun working together.
I liked what Sims said at the end of the piece, “I want to do my job, be the best I can and wherever the old chips [are] going to fall [is] wherever they’re going to fall,” Sims said. “What I have control over is doing a damn good job. Anything after that, I got no control over.”
Just a baseball guy calling baseball games but now getting to do it at home.
You can read the full feature by clicking here.
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