As NBC Sports presented the Kentucky Derby for the 25th time in its history, the “Run for the Roses” delivered its largest audience for the company in its history with an average of 17.7 million viewers tuning in across NBC and Peacock. For the race as a whole, this marks the largest Kentucky Derby average audience since 1989 and is representative of a 6% year-over-year increase.
Viewership peaked at 21.8 million viewers during the 7-7:15 p.m. EST quarter-hour concurrent with when the race aired live on the broadcast network and streaming platform, up 8% from the previous year. The overall viewership average marks the most-watched Saturday program from NBC since the NFL Wild Card Playoffs in January 2024, excluding coverage of the Olympic Games Paris 2024.
Peacock registered the largest streaming audience for a horse racing event in the history of NBC Sports, accruing an average minute audience of 959,000 viewers. This is indicative of a 34% increase from last year and nearly triples the total from two years ago when the platform secured an AMA of 371,000 viewers. NBC Sports has averaged more than 15 million viewers across all of its platforms during its coverage for 10 of the last 12 iterations of the Kentucky Derby held in the month of May.
Jon Lewis of Sports Media Watch reports that only two sportscasts over the past year have garnered a larger audience than the Kentucky Derby, excluding football and the Olympics, and both were games that decided champions. The fifth game of the World Series between the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers averaged 18.2 million viewers on FOX, FOX Deportes and FOX streaming services. Furthermore, the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball National Championship Game last month featuring the Houston Cougars and Florida Gators averaged 18.1 million viewers on CBS.
NBCUniversal is currently operating under a media rights deal with Churchill Downs Incorporated that runs through 2032 and renders it as the first media company to present the horse racing event for three decades. Larry Collmus also became the first commentator to call the Kentucky Derby for 15 straight years and narrated the moment where Sovereignty took the lead over Journalism down to the final one-sixteenth of a mile to ultimately win the race.
NBC Sports and Peacock will be presenting the 150th running of the Preakness Stakes on Saturday, May 17 from Pimlico Racecourse in Baltimore, Md. with Sovereignty trying to secure the second portion of the prestigious Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing last won by Justify seven years ago.
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.
Carmelo Anthony, a 10-time NBA All-Star and newly elected member of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2025, will join NBC Sports as a studio analyst when the NBA returns to the network and debuts on Peacock this October. The announcement aired Saturday during NBC Sports’ coverage of the Kentucky Derby, where Anthony was interviewed by host Ahmed Fareed at Churchill Downs.
Anthony, who played 19 seasons in the NBA, is best known for his time with the Denver Nuggets (2003–2011) and New York Knicks (2011–2017). Over the course of his storied career, he amassed a long list of accomplishments, including a scoring title in 2013, six All-NBA selections, and a spot on the NBA 75th Anniversary Team. Notably, he set the Knicks and Madison Square Garden single-game scoring record with 62 points against the Charlotte Bobcats in 2014. He currently ranks 10th on the NBA’s all-time scoring list with 28,289 points. In addition to his stints in Denver and New York, Anthony also played for the Oklahoma City Thunder, Houston Rockets, Portland Trail Blazers, and Los Angeles Lakers.
“Watching the NBA on NBC growing up shaped my love for the game,” Anthony said in a statement. “Now, I’m thrilled to join the NBC Sports family. I’ve always used my platform to help grow the game, and I’m excited to bring fans a fresh perspective as we usher in a new era of NBA coverage and programming.”
Anthony will begin his studio role at the start of the 2025–26 NBA season. He is expected to appear one or more nights per week throughout the regular season and playoffs.
“As a Hall of Famer, a college national champion, and one of the most decorated basketball Olympians ever, Carmelo will bring a superstar perspective to our studio coverage,” said Sam Flood, Executive Producer at NBC Sports. “He competed against or was the teammate of many of the players we’ll be covering, allowing him to watch the game and observe league happenings through a fresh-off-the-court lens that will bring viewers closer to the action.”
Beyond the NBA, Anthony enjoyed a standout international career. He won three Olympic gold medals—in Beijing (2008), London (2012), and Rio (2016)—becoming the first man to do so. He also earned a bronze medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics, making him the first man to compete in four Olympic basketball tournaments. Upon retiring from international play after the 2016 Olympics, Anthony was the all-time Olympic leader in games played, points scored, and rebounds for Team USA. He still holds the U.S. record for most points scored in a single Olympic game with 37 against Nigeria in 2012, a performance that included 10 three-pointers in just 14 minutes.
Anthony’s basketball legacy began at Syracuse University, where he led the Orange to their first NCAA championship in 2003 during his lone college season. He was named the NCAA Final Four’s Most Outstanding Player and earned Second-Team All-American honors. His No. 15 jersey was retired by Syracuse in 2013.
Since retiring from the NBA, Anthony has expanded his reach as a media personality and entrepreneur. He hosts a weekly podcast, 7PM in Brooklyn with Carmelo Anthony, where he discusses NBA headlines and shares personal stories from his career. Additionally, he co-founded a wine brand, VII(N) The Seventh Estate, focused on amplifying diverse voices within the wine industry.
Anthony will be enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in September.
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.
I’ve tried to connect and educate media professionals for nearly ten years. Barrett Media covers the ins and outs of the business on this website, promoting content across social media, and through two weekday newsletters to over 25K people including a few thousand advertising industry professionals. We’ve also held conferences in New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago, attracting hundreds to each room.
With so many areas of the business intersecting, I’ve always felt it was helpful to know who’s involved, what their challenges are, and how everything works. The more knowledgeable we are of each other’s priorities, the better we can help each other in business.
But I’m not sure if advertising industry leaders share that point of view.
I’ve been to other events where ad agency leaders have expressed a lack of faith in radio/audio, and little interest hearing how their clients can benefit from working with audio brands. Let me be clear, I’m referring to media buyers, advertising agencies, and local/national advertisers not radio/TV/digital sellers, executives, and consultants.
We are hosting our 9th event for industry decision makers later this week in Chicago. In September we will add our 10th show in New York City. Hundreds of top talent, executives, and brand leaders are present at our shows, but advertising professionals are less represented. It isn’t for a lack of interest or trying. I make many attempts to bring people into the room, both on stage and in attendance.
We’ve had support from Katz Media, Direct Results, Ad Results, the RAB, and others, including some who will join us this week. If the content or audience at our events wasn’t relevant, I’d understand, but it is. Yet similar to what radio/audio leaders and salespeople experience, often we run into a brick wall.
It’s led me to question my approach a time or two. I’ve tried email, phone, social media, ticket contests for agencies to receive free tickets, direct conversations at industry events, connections through business consultants, the RAB, NAB, media companies, etc., and the results are the same. If advertising pros in three cities don’t value in-person connections with their counterparts in the media industry, and learning how those they do business with think and operate, then what are we supposed to do? Eventually you just move on and focus on those who do see the value in being present.
I’m not a fan of generalizations that suggest an entire industry is or isn’t supportive. There are advertising folks who have been good to me, and I value those relationships. This is simply a call on others in the advertising world to take a second look, and consider spending a few hours learning and connecting with others who can help improve their client’s businesses.
I can’t bring the Summit to your office, but if we’re in your city, join us. There’s little to lose, and a lot of knowledge and benefits for your clients to be gained. That’s certainly worth a few hours of your time. If you prove me wrong in the process, that’s just icing on the cake. Email me at Jason@BarrettMedia.com if you work in advertising, and would like to experience the 2025 BSM Summit this week.
The End of AI Ashley?
Alpha Media in Portland generated massive attention in June 2023 when the company introduced AI Ashley, the world’s first radio station DJ. The AI/synthetic version of Ashley Elzinga was installed in middays at Live 95.5, using Futuri Media’s Radio GPT software to deliver broadcasts. Industry opinions were split, but media coverage by and large promoted the move as revolutionary.
Well, Live 95.5 recently changed direction, announcing the hiring of Tamara Dhia for middays. Alpha’s choice to go back to local in middays raises many questions. Yet if you sought deeper examination of the issue from media outlets, you were left unfulfilled. My call on Friday with my music editor Jeff Lynn was all about this.
Don’t industry professionals deserve to know what inspired the change? What did and didn’t work for local listeners, advertisers, and staff? Does Alpha have a different plan for AI Ashley on Live 95.5? Would the company do it again in another market? Is there a better fit for AI voices if weekday slots aren’t the answer? Will the company seek to use the AI model strictly for broadcasting content in other languages?
I went on Live 95.5’s website to see where AI Ashley was moved to, and under Ashley Elzinga’s profile it says ‘AI Ashley will ‘fill in’ when Ashley takes a rare vacation’. Moving an AI voice from a 5-day per week daypart to not even appearing on the station is a major reversal. That’s big news. It deserves to be covered.
I’ll never fault a company for taking risks. I applaud Phil Becker, Bob Proffitt, Dylan Salisbury, and Ashley Elzinga for taking a shot. If AI Ashley was a huge success, others would follow their lead. But when major moves like this occur, and outlets say little, it raises as many questions about journalism as the change itself.
Barrett Media Promotes John Mamola to Sports Editor
John Mamola joined us in February as a columnist, chipping in features and news stories as well. His ability to quickly learn our process and people, and get a feel for what works has gone smooth, so I’m excited to officially announce his promotion to Sports Editor.
John and I will work closely to improve our sports media coverage, with Derek Futterman playing a key role as well. His work on our Meet The Podcasters series was excellent, and I’m looking forward to collaborating with him to produce even more original material in the future. He becomes the fourth editor for our brand since we entered the space in 2015. Be sure to congratulate him later this week if you’re at the BSM Summit.
BNM Summit Tickets and Speakers
Once our sports media summit ends, my focus shifts to building our news media summit. I’m excited to bring the BNM Summit to New York City for the first time. My thanks to Newsmax for serving as our presenting sponsor of the event. I don’t like to overhype things, but this one is going to be BIG. If you work in news/talk radio, put it on your radar now. You’re going to want to be here.
The conference is set for 9a-5p on Wednesday September 3rd, and 9a-12p on Thursday September 4th. A special post-event on the 4th is also planned, more on that next week. Tickets go on-sale Monday May 12th on BNMSummit.com. Discounted tickets will be available for $249.99 through June 30th to help folks save money. The regular price of $349.99 goes into effect on July 1st.
I’ll be announcing a big addition to the show, our first speaker, on Tuesday May 13th. I’ve already lined up a CEO, a number of top personalities, and some of news/talk radio’s most accomplished programmers and executives. Look for announcements throughout the month of May.
Unlike past events, I won’t be seeking speaker submissions. We have high interest in involvement across the news media industry, and assuring we deliver a premium event for our attendees is a top priority. This isn’t just a talent show or programming conference, it’s a news media summit designed to examine key issues on-air, in sales, in advertising, in digital, in programming, and in leadership. More to come starting next week.
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.
“It doesn’t have to be old to be a Classic.” At one time, that liner frequently played next to new songs from Classic artists on Classic Rock stations. That’s going back to when the format and the artists were younger. There was a lot of new music being released by the format’s core acts. Conventional wisdom was that playing these songs helped keep stations with a gold-based playlist sounding contemporary.
Over time, the prevailing wisdom changed. With the advent of Nielsen’s PPM system, the idea of turning a spotlight on new music from Classic Rockers became less appealing. With ratings tracked on a minute-by-minute basis, and every element being scrutinized by programmers for potential tune-out, playlists were tightened, and new, unfamiliar songs were elbowed out.
But what makes sense for stations today when it comes to new music from Classic artists? With the advent of streaming, social media, and other distribution channels, radio is no longer the gatekeeper of what listeners hear.
It used to be that if stations didn’t acknowledge new songs from Classic artists, most consumers would never encounter them. It didn’t seem like stations were missing anything. That’s no longer true.
Which brings us to today, where a new Sammy Hagar song, “Encore, Thank You, Goodnight,” and a new Alice Cooper song, “Black Mamba,” both recently landed on Program Directors’ desks. Each of these has an interesting backstory.
Hagar’s song is a tribute to Eddie Van Halen, expressing his gratitude for the time the two played together. Alice Cooper’s new song is the first from an album that brings together all the surviving members of his original band for the first time in fifty years.
That’s a lot of great content for stations that are trying to sound contemporary while playing songs ranging from twenty-five to sixty years old. On the other hand, these aren’t exactly core artists. According to Mediabase, in 2024, Alice Cooper was the 78th most played artist at the format, and Sammy Hagar ranked 119.
To get some perspective about playing new songs from Classic Rock artists, I spoke with Program Directors and record label people about these projects.
Gary Jay, Founder and CEO of Landshark Promotion Studio, who is working Alice Cooper to radio, is quite passionate about Classic Rock stations embracing opportunities like these, saying it makes the stations more interesting and vibrant. “I can stream my Spotify commercial-free 24/7,” says Jay. “That means Classic Rock stations better offer something more compelling than 40 songs in rotation and 15 minutes of commercials every hour.”
Working with Sammy Hagar, Allison Smith, VP Promotion for Big Machine Records, points out that these projects don’t just appear in a vacuum. As the Hagar song got to radio, he was also launching a residency in Las Vegas and had feature stories lined up with several major publications.
That sort of attention makes it much harder for Classic Rock stations to ignore the release and, in this case, led to several of the big radio chains setting up special features to highlight the song on release.
Talking to David Moore, OM for Hubbard Phoenix, who oversees 100.7 KSLX, he says it’s very much a case-by-case basis for songs like this. For example, Alice Cooper lives in Phoenix, and 100.7 KSLX carries his syndicated show at night. With Cooper promoting his new song heavily on social media, the station would be missing out by not giving the song a few spins while it was topical and timely.
In the case of Sammy Hagar, Moore says he has always struggled to get good research scores on any Hagar song, so we he was far less inclined to play the song. He did, however, arrange for an interview with afternoon host Karen Dalessandro. The entire interview will be available online, and Dalessandro will feature a few short clips on the air. That’s when she will play the song.
At 95.7 The Fox FM in Fresno, Director of FM Programming Jason Squires says they did acknowledge both songs on air with host content, but focused even more on social media and online posts. “It was a solid way to try to engage with the audience on those platforms. Online exclusives, so to speak, mostly on Facebook, which is where we see the KJFX audience engaging the most.”
In my humble opinion, stations can’t ignore new releases from the remaining, vibrant Classic Rock artists. Engagement through digital outlets and social media is the minimum requirement for keeping your station contemporary and respecting the listeners who love these artists.
Airplay is a more difficult question, but if the song is good, finding the right opportunities to play it — adjacent to clips of an interview with the artist, as the second song in a two-for-Tuesday block, as part of a music news feature – can have a lot of value.
But it’s crucial that those plays are properly set up and the song is introduced by a host. These songs can’t just come and go between other records. Then they are no longer a station benefit, just one more unfamiliar song.
So, to answer the question, no, it doesn’t have to be old to be a Classic. But it does have to be old to be in regular rotation.
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.
Howard Kroeger is President and CEO of La Salle Manitoba based Kroeger Media. In 2002, Kroeger created and launched the Variety/Adult Hits format at BOB-FM “The ‘80s, ‘90s and Whatever.”
The format launched in Manitoba, Canada, and has been a huge success across North America since. This led to the creation of HANK-FM, a Classic Country format. HANK-FM “Plays the Legends of Country.”
I had the chance to catch up with Kroeger and pick his brain about the popularity of Classic Country music and what makes HANK-FM tick.
“It’s very interesting because I experienced this when I created the BOB format, and what happened was that we seem to look back two decades, and that’s when our nostalgia really starts to emanate from our pores. You think back to the ’70s, we were fixated on the ’50s, ‘Happy Days,’ and ‘American Graffiti.”’
“You go back to the ‘70s with a fixation on the ‘50s, in the ’80s we had this fixation on the ‘60s, in the ’90s we had this fixation on the ’70s, and all of a sudden, 2000 comes along, and you’d think it would be looking back 20 years, but peer to peer came along, it really kind of screwed things up.”
Kroeger believes that the current Country music contributes to the passion for the music and is a point of entry.
“I think Young Country has maybe become an ambassador for Classic Country. But I really think that a lot of it has to do with looking back, and I think it’s that nostalgia. When we look back, it just happens to be that the ’90s were that period of time when the music was great. The interesting thing is that it’s taken us a bit longer to get there than usual. I swear, if we didn’t have the internet, or we didn’t have digital, the fascination with Classic Country from the ‘90s would have happened a little sooner.”
“Streaming has changed everything. Because in the streaming era, music composition is not linear anymore. A 45-year-old might be streaming Luke Combs and George Strait in the same session. A 30-year-old male or female might binge on early 2000s Rascal Flatts, just like they came out last week.”
“In some ways, life groups and age demos don’t mean what they used to. People’s musical identities now stretch across eras and formats, and it’s shaped more by personal playlists than traditional timelines, and that’s one of the things I’ve observed. I’ve taken that, and that’s how we program HANK. We want to program HANK-FM in a way that reflects how people consume and feel music today.”
Part of HANK’s soul is imaging. Something that Kroeger Media provides for affiliates.
“The imaging has personality, it’s wry, funny, and a little sarcastic. It’s never too polished, and that voice that we have speaks directly to the audience without pandering. There’s a bit of rebellious charm in it. Kind of like your buddy at the bar with good taste and a lot of opinions.”
“That irreverent tone makes HANK stand out. I hate to say it, but there are a lot of vanilla brands out there. We have taken advantage of that. I think the other thing that we’ve done too is that we’ve taken advantage of, in a good way, and we really hang our hat on the one thing we can do better than a streaming service.”
“The things that we come up with in between the music, it’s great imaging, and it’s pass-alongs to things the audience might not know in bite-sized chunks. In that way, we’re all storytellers, and that challenge is to get that story and the imaging across, evoke some emotion, and get back to the songs.”
Kroeger sees parallels between Classic Rock and Classic Country.
“Classic Rock could learn from what we do on HANK and BOB as well. Like I said, we live in the streaming age, there are so many songs that are getting a second life that were maybe never played or weren’t big hits on the radio before. But they’re great songs, one of them that comes to mind is a song like “Spilled Perfume” by Pam Tillis. It wasn’t a streaming hit, but man, that sounds good when it comes on the radio.”
“There are so many good songs out there, and the other thing is that people are consuming music differently. As my friend Sean Ross would say, it’s a digital jukebox, and everything is available. We’re always looking for those songs, which, by the way, we also test.”
“Aside from being an artsy guy, I’m also a science guy. I came up through the ranks working for Chum Broadcasting in Canada, and we worked with a research group out of Seattle the whole time I was there. I had some magnificent teachers. So, the science is very important as well.”
Is there a musical center to HANK?
“I would say, yes, absolutely. The ‘90s, that’s the heart of the format. It’s interesting because we do music research, two big tests every year, and what is interesting is that some of the ‘80s songs, the scores on these songs are just amazing. I’m talking about songs like the theme from ‘The Dukes of Hazzard.’ Another one that blew me away was Alabama, ‘The Cheap Seats.”’
“In this huge test that we do, there’s usually about 100 or so ‘80s tracks that just blow everything out of the water. I would say 60% ‘90s, 20% ‘80s, and 20% 2000s. The analogy I always use with the ‘80s stuff and how well it does is like somebody going to a Ruth’s Chris steakhouse for the steak, but all of a sudden they realize they really love the lobster. They just don’t tell anybody.”
I wondered if, aside from local imaging, the HANK in Seattle is the same as the HANK in Las Vegas or Salt Lake City?
“We have quite a few stations across the country, in the larger markets like Seattle, Vegas, Tucson and Salt Lake City. I have built everything for the clients, and they take it and then run with it. I guess it’s a traditional consultant-type relationship. The only difference is that we do the creative work for it, too.”
Even though this is primarily a Country piece about HANK, I couldn’t let Kroeger get away without hearing about the pioneering BOB-FM format.
“BOB has fed my family for 23 years, which is kind of crazy. The first BOB was in Winnipeg, Manitoba, my hometown, on March 4th, 2002, and it’s done well. Now, the irony about that is that Bell, who ended up buying CHUM, rebranded the BOBs as Bounces here in Canada, I have BOB in the U.S., and it’s done very well for us. HANK is probably the Country version of BOB, if that’s a good analogy.
“The whole idea is with both formats, it’s about playing great music. It’s about putting a smile on people’s faces. About not taking yourself too seriously. It’s about trying to create a radio station that has a personality before any announcers get on the station. The personality is based on somebody you like to hang around with. It’s just kind of like a good dude.”
I suggested that Kroeger likely loved his radio “children,” BOB and HANK, equally.
“They can get unruly sometimes. It’s worked out well. What makes it easy is that it’s fun to do. We do have a good time and get joy out of sounding good. Our motto has always been, it doesn’t matter if you’re in Los Angeles or Walla Walla, Washington, you should sound good. It should be good production, good elements, good everything.”
“I believe that we are on the right path. We’re not satellite. We’re not cookie-cutter. We try to come up with a unique solution for every market we do. So yeah, that’s my story.”
To find out more about HANK and BOB, contact Kroeger Media.
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.
Prior to attending Media Row in New Orleans, La. ahead of Super Bowl LIX, Mike Golic knew that his time with DraftKings Network would soon be coming to an end. The company informed him of its decision not to renew his contract as it settled on plans to cease in-house production, diminishing the amount of proprietary content that would appear on its free ad-supported streaming television channel. In addition to Golic, several other on-air talents were affected by the decision and have departed the network, some of whom include Jessie Coffield, Trey Wingo, Claudia Bellofatto. Golic’s son, Mike, also did not have his contract renewed and signified the denouement of GoJo and Golic after less than two years.
“We had done the last few months knowing that our end date was at the end of March,” Golic said. “There’s no sense in saying, ‘Oh, I wish this didn’t happen,’ or complaining about it because it’s, ‘I don’t have a choice,’ we didn’t have a choice. They were going to end the show, so we just had to move on and find something else.”
Sports betting in the United States accrued $13.7 billion in revenue last year, representative of a 24.4% year-over-year increase in this regard. States continue to hold regulatory power over the legalization of the practice authorized through the U.S. Supreme Court overturning the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act through judicial review, and Golic discerns that the wagering is never going to vanish. DraftKings Network continues to air sports content outsourced by different companies, some of which include Meadowlark Media, All The Smoke Productions and Ross Tucker Media, but it faces competition from other gambling companies who are continuing to invest in owned programming.
Golic and his son wanted to continue working together and ended up garnering options for their next move. In the end, the duo decided to sign three-year deals with FanDuel Sports Network, the cluster of 15 regional sports networks owned and operated by Main Street Sports Group, and will be hosting a new two-hour afternoon show leading into regional coverage of baseball, basketball and hockey. The program, titled Golic & Golic, is slated to premiere in June and will air on weekdays across the RSNs, and it came after questioning the company about its dedication to having sports content within its oeuvre.
“They were very receptive to saying, ‘We want sports content. This is something we definitely want to be part of our portfolio,’ Golic recalled. “So Mike and I had a few choices out there, and we ended up with FanDuel because it’s a strong brand and they are committed to sports content, so that’s something we really like.”
Formerly known as Diamond Sports Group, the company emerged from Ch. 11 bankruptcy this past January upon the approval of its restructuring support agreement and currently holds regional broadcast rights for 29 professional sports teams. Within the process, the business successfully eliminated approximately $9 billion of pre-petition debt to $200 million and is now owned by groups of creditors rather than operating as a subsidiary of Sinclair, Inc. On top of that, the company also reached a naming rights deal with FanDuel applying to its RSNs and digital platforms as well.
“Mike and I have a lot to do with what’s said on the air, and people are going to listen to us or not listen to us by how we present ourselves and what we say,” Golic outlined, “but there are resources that need to be given to us – from equipment to marketing to guests to bookers to get guests – that FanDuel is all in on providing us to make it an impactful show.”
Golic evinced that working on a live show airing in afternoon drive may have been “close to the deciding factor” in this transaction. The duo will bring shrewd insights and authentic rapport to the daypart with the new program, and he foresees the venture being more entertaining and less regimented than the previous arrangement. Prior to announcing the show, Main Street Sports Group recently altered its managerial structure under new president of production and programming Norby Williamson, someone whom Golic worked alongside during his days at ESPN.
“He’s got a proven track record at ESPN, and I always got along with him, was treated fairly by him, and I can’t say that about everybody there, but I can say that about Norby,” Golic explained. “My personal dealings with him have always been good, so I trusted him. I had good dealings with him working together, and I trust what he says about the future at FanDuel Sports and the sports content.”
With an abundance of regional matchups airing throughout the year, there will be no shortage of conversations in which Golic can take part, and the show will also implement analyst perspectives, in-person guests and interviews with athletes and personalities. Golic foresees topic selection being an independent process for the duo, approaching the project as a regular sports show examining national topics. In addition, he will not be deviating from his preparation process but stay cognizant of the time change and how that could change the cadence and timbre of discussion.
“They’ll be bigger games than others that we would normally talk about if we were just in a national show not affiliated with a regional network and teams, so we would choose the bigger games just like we would in a regular show and talk about those,” Golic said. “That will be no different – to go along with the other national topics that we’ll talk about, whatever the hot topics are for the day.”
What’s Old is New in the Afternoon
Even though there have been alterations in the platforms of dissemination over the years, Golic is going to be approaching the program in the same manner. In the end, he recognizes that his employer will decide how the show is distributed, and it will be up to him to present his distinctive style and passion to the airwaves. As someone who has been in the business for more than three decades, he considers himself “too old to change,” but he will nonetheless enjoy the challenge of hosting in the afternoons for the first time in his professional career.
“I’m looking at it as a glass half full,” Golic said. “I get the best of both worlds. I still get to talk about what happened the night before to a point, but then also get to talk about what’s coming up in just a couple of hours from the end of our show [with] whatever sports are going on.”
Golic’s son, Mike, has hosted in the afternoons before and is excited to return to the timeslot for the first time since his days at ESPN. The father-son combination has proved to be a formidable duo over the years, first collaborating on the national airwaves alongside Wingo in morning drive on ESPN Radio. The program lasted for three years before ending in 2020, but the duo ended up reuniting a few years later to host together on DraftKings Network. Golic had been previously working with Jessica Smetana on a podcast, but he concluded his tenure with the company hosting alongside his son once again and continuing to resonate with viewers.
“While I’m a bit old school, I understand the new-school ways. He kind of helped bring me into the new-school way of thinking, not that I was the old man on the front lawn saying, “Get off my lawn!,’ but there are old-school values that I still hold that are different today. Mike kind of brings that out of me as well, so they’re really good discussions along that part,” Golic said.
“But I definitely have to make sure I catch myself and not take for granted that I’m doing a show with a co-host who is named Mike Golic Jr., but appreciate the fact as I’m finishing my career, I get to do it working with my kid, which is a very cool thing.”
The End of ‘Mike & Mike’
And now, we present the final “This, That and the Third” song, courtesy of @brandonjnewman_ 🎶 🎤
Whereas Golic acknowledges that his son can both host and provide analysis, he realizes that the different dynamic that existed in his longtime national radio program alongside Mike Greenberg. The Mike & Mike show lasted for 18 years, finishing as the longest-tenured morning program in the history of ESPN Radio, and he considered the offering to proffer an entertaining verve with the yin-and-yang motif. Realizing that they were complete opposites, one of the promos for the show was modeled after “The Odd Couple,” and they remained cognizant of their audience and sought to be family friendly.
“We weren’t going to be a show moms had to turn off for their kids when they were driving their kids to school, and we were proud of that fact,” Golic said. “We really kind of entertained. Through ESPN, obviously, we got really good guests and had good conversations with them, but I think it was just a good, entertaining show.”
Golic’s last few months with ESPN took place during the global pandemic, and he ended up hosting the program from the couch of his basement. When his tenure officially concluded, he found himself as a guest on numerous programs, leading his wife to urge him to get back to work and divulging that he had too much to say. Since that time though, he has been partnering with larger companies despite having an opportunity to leverage his brand equity to create his own network. Golic decided against the proposition to ensure he would be able to spend time with his family and be present in the lives of his grandchildren.
“I figured it was going to be… a real full-time job preparing or building a network like a Colin Cowherd did or a Dan Patrick did, and those guys are unbelievably impressive for what they have done, and maybe I could have,” Golic surmised. “Maybe I sold myself short on that. Quite honestly, I may have. But you know what? I’m 62 now – I don’t think I’ll start to do it now. I had my chance to do it, but I just chose to be with the family as much as I possibly could.”
A Different Style for a Different Generation
Golic values the personal connection fostered through radio and has witnessed the instantaneous pace of feedback, although he does not always listen to users on social media platforms. Conversely though, he recognizes how the content ecosystem is replete with nuanced choices for consumers, a state that can render it more difficult to gain a proverbial foothold in terms of market share and reaching total addressable audience. As Golic remains attuned to the media landscape, he realizes there has been somewhat of a shift in style within the existing landscape.
“One thing I’ve never, never wanted to do is make myself part of the story, and that seems to be kind of an in thing now when someone on the show makes themselves part of the story,” Golic said. “It’s just a different [thing], and maybe that’s part of so many people involved in it, they’re trying to stand out, and you know what? If that’s what they feel they need to do, I understand it because there are so many options out there – so many options – that people need to find a way to stand out, so, ‘How are you finding your way to stand out?’ is something that only each host can decide.”
In addition to the new show with FanDuel Sports Network, Golic remains open to what the network wants them to do, such as guest appearances and traveling to marquee events. With this new venture, he hopes that he and his son will be able to construct a loyal audience who looks to tune in and takes a vested interest in what they have to say with no end in sight.
“I would never put an age on when I would stop doing anything,” Golic said. “It’s just how much I enjoy doing it, and I’m about to have my fourth grandchild. How many grandchildren are here that, at some point, I’d rather play with than go do a show.”
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I get it. You resent any tax money ending up in the hands of public broadcasters. You think it’s unfair competition, that public radio and television get their funding guaranteed from people who may not even watch or listen, while you, the commercial broadcaster, have to battle for every dollar against infinite competition. The government shouldn’t be involved in media ownership, you believe (although many prominent public media entities aren’t owned by their state or city). Directing the CPB not to fund “biased” public broadcasting seems like a logical move to you.
Let’s look at it another way. If the argument is that, format aside, every share point collected by a non-commercial station is a point taken away from commercial radio, who’s to say that those listeners would ever listen to commercial radio if public broadcasting didn’t exist? What Morning Edition listener is likely to switch to Buck and Clay (or Clay and Buck, I never get that right)? Did Dan Bongino’s listeners flock to Fresh Air when he joined the Department of Defense?
Arguing that public radio and television are competing for the same audience assumes that there’s some crossover between the two. You’re doing different things. And since you would never, ever do public radio-style programming on your commercially-licensed FM, or devote a commercial TV operation to educational programming for a niche audience, public broadcasters are providing a service you won’t do.
Should they get funding, even indirect and relatively small amounts, from the government? There’s the argument that without that support, public broadcasting and the distinct style of content that they air would not be able to exist, and if so, they don’t have any more right to government protection than commercial operations.
But if society has decided that it wants that content, and the ratings indicate that there’s a large-enough segment of the population that does, it makes sense for the government to make sure it’s part of the regulated broadcasting system by throwing a relatively microscopic portion of the federal budget towards PBS, NPR, and the other public broadcasting entities. (There’s more money in adverti… er, “underwriting,” of course, but the tax money doesn’t hurt, especially in funding regional newsrooms, some of our last, best hopes for journalism.)
If you’re still not seeing a good reason for the U.S. to offer any funding for public broadcasting (or, for that matter, any cultural entities), look outside the States. Canada has the CBC on radio and television, plus TV Ontario. The U.K. has the BBC (and a mandatory license fee – a tax!– to fund it). Australia has ABC (not that ABC) and SBS. Japan has NHK, Germany has ARD and ZDF, Ireland has RTÉ… there are a lot more, but the common thread is that most of the countries on Earth have determined that there’s a benefit to publicly-funded broadcasting.
Of course, some of them do it because they want state media to unfailingly support the regime in power, but a lot of them are at least attempting to be neutral or even critical of the government. In the U.S., the plethora of broadcasting (and podcasting, and streaming) voices from across the political and social spectrum makes the “state media” possibility unlikely. (And the current networks that have been accused of being “state media” tend to be commercial entities anyway.)
I don’t listen to much public radio – I live in what must be the largest market without its own full-market NPR affiliate, depending on a rimshot from Miami and a translator – and I don’t watch much PBS. I don’t mind, however, that some pennies of my tax payments go to WLRN or South Florida PBS. Public broadcasting is part of a strong, diverse media landscape. We’d miss it if it was gone. Besides, there are only so many tote bags you can offer for donations. Do they still give tote bags to donors?
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Democratic National Committee Vice Chair David Hogg is quite the polarizing figure. Both sides of the political aisle have found fault with the young, up-and-coming liberal advocate. He made an appearance with WGN Radio afternoon host Lisa Dent last week, and I wondered how she tackled her discussion with the figure.
The very first question of the conversation was, perhaps, the most authentic question I’ve heard asked in to begin an interview since I’ve started dissecting them for this piece.
Dent told Hogg that the show preceding here in the WGN Radio lineup is hosted by John Williams. She shared an anecdote that Williams said he’s never seen Hogg smiles. She followed that up by stating, “There’s literally always someone on your ass, David. So, do you experience happiness and joy?”
That’s not an open-ended question. But it is certainly one that I can’t imagine Hogg was prepared to answer. I’d venture to guess that Hogg had a pre-determined idea of what he’d like to opine in during his discussion on the state of the Democratic Party, and having to answer a question about whether or not he ever feels happiness or joy wasn’t something he was prepared for.
Now, this is something that I generally will champion during the middle of the interview, rather than at the start but I love when interviewers use this card in their deck. The “Throw them off their game question.” The overwhelming majority of interviews — especially bad interviews — include boring, non-answers where the subject talks about what they want to talk about rather than answer the question.
So, what do you do? You throw them off their game and toss in a question they couldn’t possibly be prepared for.
For instance, when I was hosting an afternoon sports talk show, we would have a weekly segment with local high school football coaches. It wasn’t groundbreaking radio by any stretch of the imagination, but it was sponsored and people tuned in because there are few people as influential to their community in Western Ohio as the town’s high school football coach.
Anyway, every week, we’d have a local coach on the air, and he would — and this is not an exaggeration —say the exact same thing, week after week. We could have replayed his answers from the previous week and no one would be able to tell the difference. It became a running joke behind the scenes. So one week, I said “Screw it. We’re gonna throw him off his game.” And after he made his weekly spiel about how he respects the program the other coach has built, the opposing quarterback has the ability to beat you with his arm and his legs, and that winning the field position battle will be of utmost importance in the most monotone, uninterested-sounding voice imaginable, I simply asked him: “Coach, what’s your favorite ice cream?”
I’ve never heard someone physically light up through the phone quite like this guy to talk about how much he loves butter pecan ice cream and that he actually has a superstition that he has to eat it for breakfast on gameday.
That question that he couldn’t possibly have been prepared for disarmed him. It made him drop his guard. He was forced to re-evaluate his approach to the discussion and really, truly, think about his answers.
And that’s what Lisa Dent did here. She threw David Hogg a curveball right off the bat that he wasn’t prepared for, and knocked him off his feet a little bit. It isn’t a strategy I’d recommend to us frequently, but if you have it in the “Break Glass In Case of Emergency” case, it’s a wonderful tool.
She then followed up by asking about Hogg’s relationship with famed Democratic strategist James Carville. If you hadn’t seen the news, Carville — an 80-year-old — called Hogg — a 25-year-old — a “contemptabile little twerp” as Hogg has sought to upset the proverbial Democratic apple cart in recent weeks. However, Carville had since changed his tune, praising the liberal activist for his work after his comments went viral.
The WGN Radio host asked Hogg what it was that turned Carville around. There was one thing I liked and one thing that I didn’t in the lead-up and asking of this question.
First, I’ve mentioned before that I dislike using outside audio and other media in the approach of a question just because I feel as if you haven’t set up the question in such a way to ask it without that clip, is your audience intensely aware of the topic? Probably not. And if they’re not aware of the topic, should you be asking it? I also generally think the point can be made without that external sound, but that’s just a personal preference.
On the flip side, asking a question like this leans into conflict. You know what people love? Conflict. Younger generations like millennials will shy away from conflict in their personal lives, but will consume virtually any media that includes conflict and confrontation. Boomers — who undeniably make up a large portion of the news/talk radio audience — virtually thrive on conflict and confrontation in their personal lives. So by leaning into that aspect of the inner workings of the Democratic Party, you’re checking a lot of boxes.
Conservatives will want to hear about the infighting from the opposition. Others will want to hear about the conflict behind the scenes. Another portion will want to hear about how it was resolved. On the surface, it doesn’t feel like a deep question. But when analyzed further, it is a query that will keep virtually everyone tuned into the conversation. And isn’t that the goal?
Other questions during the conversation included asking about the historically low approval ratings for the Democratic Party, its aging leadership, how the party can win back voters in the future, and what the message from the political left will be going forward.
Overall, I thought Lisa Dent did a masterful job managing the conversation. She didn’t let Hogg go off on tangents, didn’t really let him ramble about whatever he wanted to talk about, and she asked pertinent questions that a broad, diverse audience could be interested in.
This isn’t an easy conversation to navigate as someone might expect her to “take the fight” to Hogg, while critics might argue that the convo was too friendly to the DNC Vice Chair. But, isn’t the old saying that if both sides of the political aisle are upset, you probably did something right? I think that applies here.
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Jon “Stugotz” Weiner, the longtime co-host of The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz, is stepping back from the program and in the midst of negotiating a deal under which he would make a certain number of appearances on the show for the year, Barrett Media has confirmed with multiple sources with knowledge of the situation. Weiner, who previously helped build 790 The Ticket in Miami, has been working with Le Batard for the last 20 years and has contributed programming within the Meadowlark Media brand as well.
A source told Barrett Media that Weiner is taking his podcasts with him as well, although the exact shows are unknown at this time. It has been publicly revealed that Jonathan Zaslow will be appearing on the show through the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Zaslow has been on several episodes of the program in recent days discussing local teams such as the Florida Panthers and Miami Heat. Attempts to reach Dan Le Batard, John Skipper and Jon “Stugotz” Weiner were unsuccessful.
Earlier on Friday, news broke of Meadowlark Media co-founder and chief executive officer John Skipper leaving the company after four years. Barrett Media learned from a source with knowledge of the situation that Skipper’s job does not exist in the same way as there have been changes to the economy with scripted/unscripted programming. Nonetheless, he will continue taking part in The Sporting Class podcast with David Samson and Pablo Torre.
Weiner previously made his return to the show after a protracted absence and revealed that he was launching his own YouTube channel. Since that time, he has been adding videos to the page within the Shorts category. Weiner also recently detailed how he recently underwent surgery for a dental emergency and missed several days of the program. Yet he was on the Friday edition of the show from the Miami studios for the last two episodes of the show as it celebrates its 20th year.
DraftKings previously signed a three-year contract with Meadowlark Media to serve as the presenting sponsor of programming. Le Batard stated on a March edition of his show that the deal was ending in “a few months” and did not provide further details surrounding the situation. Outside of Le Batard’s show, the company is involved in other podcasting ventures and records shows from studios in Miami and New York City.
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NBA insider and media personality Chris Haynes is joining the BIG3 broadcasting team for its eighth season as a sideline reporter. Under the new role, Haynes will be joining DeMita with the sideline reporting responsibilities for live coverage of the league airing on CBS and VICE Sports. Haynes will be working his first assignment on June 14 at the season opener from Allstate Arena in Chicago, Ill. The news comes as Haynes continues to produce Haynes Briefs independent venture and breaking news around the Association on various social media platforms.
“We’re more than happy to welcome Chris to the BIG3 Family,” Ice Cube, chief executive officer of BIG3, said in a statement. “He is the best in the business; not only is he loved by fans and players alike, but he also has a deep understanding of the US basketball landscape and the perfect balance of hot takes and insightful commentary.
“We see this as the next step in our ongoing relationship – one that even saw him make an appearance on the court in our 2022 Celebrity Game. His path into journalism is even more impressive than it is unorthodox, and we are honored to be a part of his journey. We know that together with Rachel DeMita, he will provide BIG3 fans with the sharp and entertaining coverage he’s known for all summer long.”
Before joining the BIG3, Haynes worked for TNT Sports as a sideline reporter and also contributed content to Bleacher Report platforms, both of which are owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Haynes has also covered the NBA for Yahoo Sports where was an insider and followed the Golden State Warriors as a beat reporter for ESPN. Amid his formative years in the business after graduating from Fresno State University, he covered the Portland Trail Blazers for free at Slam Magazine and also worked as a high school security guard.
“I want to thank Ice Cube and Jeff Kwatinetz for this amazing opportunity and I’m beyond thrilled to be joining the BIG3 family,” Haynes said in a statement. “I’ve covered this league from its inception and it continues to push the boundaries of innovation in basketball, giving fans an up-close and personal look at legends of the game and elite competition. Ice Cube and the entire BIG3 team have built something truly special, and I’m honored to bring my storytelling and coverage to this rapidly-growing league. I can’t wait to hit the court, connect with the players, and share the energy and emotion of every moment with the fans.”
Haynes and DeMita will be part of a broadcast team that includes Brian Scalabrine, Jim Jackson and Avery Johnson broadcasting coverage throughout the season. The full lineup of on-air talent will be announced in the coming weeks and could include “some familiar faces from previous BIG3 teams.” The league has also made several signings to its roster of athletes, including former NBA players Dwight Howard, Kemba Walker, Montrezl Harrell and Wesley Johnson.
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