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10 Questions with ... Josh Cohen
September 24, 2020
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BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:
Creator and Host of Josh Cohen & The HomeTeam 9/99-4/12 (Real Radio-WZZR-FM / WCZR-FM) On-Air Host, Host of Josh Cohen & The HomeTeam 1/13-present (ESPN West Palm / ESPN 106.3FM).
Prior: TV sports studio host and on-air reporter in Philadelphia and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, PA markets via FOX 29 and FOX 38, respectively
1. What got you into radio in the first place? Why radio?
Honestly, I never imagined that I’d wind-up as a career “radio guy.” Not even as a Mass Communication major in college. I always thought I was going to be a Don Draper from “Mad Men” type: the idea guy in advertising, branding and marketing. In college, I’d emcee our fraternity parties and events, and I had a part-time job when I was in school emceeing liquor company parties at bars and clubs everywhere from the seediest strip clubs on Baltimore’s infamous “Block,” to the hottest politico watering-holes in D.C. It wasn’t until my senior year of college when I agreed to audition as a sports anchor on the campus TV station that I even considered a life on the air. And it wasn’t until I first heard the The Love Doctors by chance that I even considered radio as a career possibility.
2. One of the striking things about you is that you seem to be everywhere in the market, appearing at and emceeing events of all kinds, which is the kind of engagement with the audience that was more common before social media. First, what benefits do you get from being out there at charity and other events, and second, with the pandemic, how have you been keeping the engagement with the audience going?
The benefits of being involved with so many great charitable, philanthropic and social causes and events are far too numerous to detail here, but I’ll say this: I believe that all of us have an obligation to do our part to help make the lives of others better somehow. We all have something to contribute. We all have the ability to make a difference. And If by publicizing, promoting, and or participating in an event somehow helps, that’s the very least I can do. I’m not married, I don’t have kids, and my schedule is not nearly as busy as most fans might assume. If we can have a good time for an even greater cause, why the hell shouldn’t we?
As for remaining engaged with the audience(s) during the pandemic, that’s where establishing and maintaining interactive social media platforms over the past decade plus paid enormous dividends. I say “audienceS” -- plural -- because I’m well aware that many of my Instagram followers do not listen to my show, and that many of my Facebook followers don’t follow me on Instagram or Twitter, and that many of my Twitter followers aren’t completely sure of exactly what I do for a living. Each of my platforms; my daily radio show on ESPN-FM, my Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and SnapChat accounts has a different audience that needs to be targeted and served as such. But what I’ve found is that universally, people really just want to engage, be amused, feel, and even more so these days, they just want to be heard.
3. You were part of the lineup from the beginning of the talk format at Real Radio in West Palm before moving to ESPN 106.3. How different, if at all, is the show you do now versus the show you did as part of the "guy talk" format? It's always involved sports, but did you take a different approach in the former format or is it the same basic show on a different frequency?
The early days of the show and the “Real Radio” format were WELL beyond what people refer to as “pushing the envelope”. The things that were said and inferred on-air by the hosts and callers alike would NEVER make it on the air these days. The things that happened in the studio, on those live event stages, and in public with management’s knowledge, consent, and even prompting could never take place these days. So let’s make that very clear at the top. It was like the Motley Crue biography and biopic “The Dirt”, except it was happening five or six days a week, every week. Sometimes I think back on that entire era and wonder not only how we got away with that stuff, but how we managed to be paid tremendous appearance fees and bonuses to engage in it.
But as the FCC rules and enforcement changed literally the moment Justin Timberlake committed the “wardrobe malfunction” upon Janet Jackson during halftime of the Super Bowl in 2004, so did the format, rules, and content of the “FM Hot-Talk” radio world, and we were no exception. The good news is that our show was always memorable, relatable, compelling, funny, and real regardless, so we could continue to succeed and later thrive in the new world of conservative crack-down, best-behavior radio. While we always did exceptionally (and surprisingly) well with the female demographic, the show has always been “guy-talk.” It was Barstool long before Barstool existed, and then it was toned down considerably. Moving the “HomeTeam” brand to ESPN West Palm and Good Karma Brands was a simple and natural transition. At its core, the show was always in-line with the core beliefs of our parent company GKB: serve the fans, serve the adverting and marketing partners, always over-deliver for all involved, and be a contributing member of the local communities. The show is actually a better fit here at ESPN West Palm, than anywhere.
4. You're obviously the lead host on your show, but you do have your team, so... what roles do Ken and Din play on the show? Did you define roles as they joined the show, or do those roles evolve from the interplay as you go along?
I never believed in assigning roles, and especially not in having anyone “play” a role. That’s not genuine. That’s not authentic. That’s not real. And what I’ve come to learn is that genuine, authentic, and real always wins. I’ve always believed in exaggerating the compelling and memorable traits of the show members. At the end of the day, it’s the entertainment business right? People just want to be entertained. In my opinion, Ken is by far the most relatable member of the show, and I actually think he’s low-key the star of the show. He’s married with two toddler-aged daughters in a South Florida bilingual household, with a daily commute that’s way too long, in-law drama, several side-hustles for extra income, and the frustration that comes with not being exactly in his professional life where he imagined he’d be. I’d say a majority of the audience can relate to most, if not all, of that, and therefore they can relate to Ken. Much of the laughter during the show comes unintentionally from the things that Ken says.
And then there’s Din. Din is the former UFC fighter, current UFC coach, and Dana White’s costar on his reality TV show “Dana White Lookin For A Fight.” Din’s our actual “Man in the Arena,” but he’s also a real-life Renaissance man, and he’s fascinating because of it. Din studies improv, belongs to several improv comedy performing troupes, acts in independent short and feature films, and he reads philosophy. He’s also one of the most charismatic, universally / instantly likable, and naturally gifted comedic talents I’ve ever known. Din didn’t have or need any radio or broadcasting experience. He’s been my closest friend for years, and it was always obvious to me that he is all of the things that I am not, and those are the things that people are drawn to.
We don’t have a script for the show. We don’t discuss a rundown in advance. I’ve always believed that unscripted, unscreened, anything can and will happen, live, REAL, without a safety net, personality driven radio is compelling, relatable, and memorable, and that just works.
5. You can usually know in advance what kind of sports radio is going to work in a market. You know that in, say, New York, it's mostly Giants talk. Philadelphia, it's the Eagles. Throughout the South, it's all SEC football. West Palm is adjacent to the Miami-Fort Lauderdale market but it's not exactly the same market; is there an overriding topic that dominates local sports talk in the Palm Beaches or is it less focused? Is it Dolphins-centric, or do you talk more about other teams and sports? And since it's one of your specialties, how does MMA/UFC talk go over?
It’s funny, because in this market there are far more people that care a whole lot more about the teams, players and stories of NY, Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago, Texas, etc sports than they do the LOCAL teams, players and stories. Because this is such a transplant market where people came to live and work from all over the country, as a show, and as a station, we really do function as local guys talking about NATIONAL sports. For every guy that wants us to talk Dolphins, there’s four that want us to talk Cowboys, Giants, and Eagles instead. We do national sports radio from, and in, these local markets.
6. What would surprise your listeners the most about the real-life Josh? What's something they wouldn't know about you from just listening?
Probably that I’m a much nicer, more compassionate, sentimental and sensitive human being than I project. And that my life is a lot more simple and relatable than what they hear on the air, or see on social media or in the magazines. That I’m a complicated soul living a fairly simple, quiet, little life.
7. Who have been your influences, inspirations, and/or mentors in the business?
When I was a kid I’d hear Brother Wease and his morning circus on the old 96.5 WCMF out of Rochester, NY on my way to school, and I remember being engaged by it. They were just shooting the sh%t, and yet it was so compelling to me. Then late in my college years I found Stern. What more can you say about Howard Stern? He invented the format. He invented reality-radio. He realized, and proved, that moderating a ten-minute on-air fight between a crew-member and his wife on the phone over why she was mad at him and wouldn’t have sex with him the night before was WAYYY more compelling and memorable than some zany, wacky prefabricated morning radio skit.
8. Of what are you most proud?
The thing that I’m most proud of is when people tell me how the show somehow made a difference in their lives. When people tell me that they scheduled their chemotherapy around the show so they wouldn’t miss it, or so that they could listen and laugh and be distracted while puking their brains out from the treatment. I’m proud of when people tell me that because of the show they decided to get counseling and help for their PTSD, or addiction, or abuse. I’m most proud of when people tell me how the show changed or saved their life because something that was shared during the show made them realize they weren’t alone, that they had a friend, and that others cared. Those are the things I’m most proud of, and nothing else is even close.
9. Fill in the blank: I can't make it through the day without _____________.
...my phone and social media. As sad as that is, it’s the truth. I won’t even pretend it’s not an issue.
10. What's the most important lesson you've learned in the business since you started?
That it’s much tougher to stay at the top than it is to get there. That if you don’t evolve and reinvent, just as Las Vegas or Disney World constantly do, you’ll fail. That it’s really not that complicated: get and grow an audience, give them a reason to listen, and get them to listen for as long as possible, and over-deliver for your advertising and marketing partners by whatever means necessary; on-air, via social media, word of mouth, or simply by giving them your business. That if you treat the job and these opportunities just as you did when you wanted it, you’ll never have a problem. You don’t got to work on Monday. You GET to work on Monday. And finally, that if you’re blessed to work with and for decent, kind, caring human-beings as I am with KGB, you really can’t ask for anything more.
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