BSM Summit, Day One: Sports Radio Faces Its Future

Summit, Day One

The BARRETT SPORTS MEDIA SUMMIT arrived at the GRAMMY MUSEUM in LOS ANGELES THURSDAY (2/21) for the first of two days of sessions curated by consultant JASON BARRETT. The first day’s agenda included several looks at how the industry is approaching changes in media consumption and public tastes.

The View From The PD's Office

The opening panel, featuring iHEARTMEDIA/DODGERS Sports KLAC-A (AM 570 LA SPORTS)/LOS ANGELES PD and FOX SPORTS RADIO EVP DON MARTIN, ENTERCOM Sports WSCR-A (670 THE SCORE)/CHICAGO PD MITCH ROSEN, and ESPN Sports KSPN-A (ESPN LA 710AM)/LOS ANGELES PD DAN ZAMPILLO. The trio addressed topics as perceived competition (MARTIN said that the competition is anything that takes attention away from the programming rather than other sports networks; ROSEN pointed to his competitor (ESPN's WMVP-A (ESPN 1000)) as spurring him to try to figure out how to do better), and the value of looking at the content as multiplatform (MARTIN noting his AM station's approach is to reach younger listeners via podcasts and social media, leading to the station's top-10 revenue ranking despite its AM status, while ROSEN pointed to the need for total line reporting to combine streaming and broadcast numbers).

The rumors that the BOSTON RED SOX would try a "talk show" approach to game coverage and TNT's "Players Only" NBA coverage prompted a discussion of the future of play-by-play ("our marketing campaign," ROSEN asserted), with ZAMPILLO suggesting that play-by-play talent introduce entertainment and personality into their calls. MARTIN added that while he can bring younger listeners to DODGERS games on AM because of the lack of coverage on TV for much of the market and with cross-promotion on iHEART's FM signals, once the young audience arrives, "you'd better be cool."

What The Research Tells You, and What The Future Holds

COLEMAN INSIGHTS' WARREN KURTZMAN (a huge METS, VIKINGS, CAROLINA HURRICANES, and TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR fan), chronicled the changes in the sports media landscape in his presentation, from the SPORTS PHONE days to the advent of ESPN and sports radio, leading into a discussion of philosophies and ideas arising from research into sports radio. Stressing the need for "outside thinking," the value of looking at a station the way listeners do as opposed to the internal "boardroom" approach. KURTZMAN said that the listeners don't care as reply about radio as the people working in it do, are not paying close attention to the medium, and cannot, contrary to the perception from inside the business, be easily manipulated.

Stations, KURTZMAN advised, need to first get on a listener's radar, at least to the extent that they mention the station when asked to list stations they know. He explained COLEMAN's "image pyramid" analysis as it applies to sports radio, starting with the base position of not only being the sports station but the station with the right kind of sports talk for the market, then personality, specialty programming, contests, marketing, a source of news, and identification with the local community. The elements, he added, need to be wrapped in a strong brand essence, whether it means straightforward sports talk, "guy talk," or something else.

KURTZMAN's presentation included a look at sample market research for an unnamed client on the base position -- the importance of finding out what topics are strongest with the target audience -- and personality approaches, plus matching a station's strongest images with what listeners think is important. And KURTZMAN offered some numbers on sports gambling and esports in one market, finding that while listeners are showing increased interest in actually gambling, interest in listening to talk about gambling is much lower, and despite low interest in esports overall, the numbers showed strong interest in attending an esports event and participating in esports, leading the client to increase marketing for esports events rather than adding talk about esports on the air.

AMPLIFI MEDIA's STEVEN GOLDSTEIN focused on the future in his presentation, but warned that, like ADAM CONOVER on "ADAM RUINS EVERYTHING," he would use the session to debunk some of the conventional wisdom about both smart speakers and podcasting. Using his adult son BEN as an example, he told the assembled sports radio figures that BEN does not listen to much sports radio despite being a big sports fan, instead listening to BARSTOOL SPORTS and "HOUSE OF HIGHLIGHTS" podcasts instead. The challenge, he said, is to find a place in an audio landscape likely to be dominated by on-demand listening and voice-controlled smart speaker and smartphone listening, with the next step being voice control in the car. But he disagreed with the idea that smart speakers are "the new radio," pointing to the fact that younger people don't own radios and got rid of them for a reason: they don't want or care about radio. The smart speaker universe, he noted, is still in the experimental phase, with 90% of skills abandoned by users after initial use. Radio, he said, needs to understand that the command to launch its skills must be easy and the content must be tailored for the different medium, preferably bite-sized content.

As for podcasts, with only 17% of Americans listening, GOLDSTEIN stressed the need to educate the target audience on how to hear podcasts; he also did the math to show how a repurposed radio show doing 100,000 downloads per month actually represents a small number of listeners.

What Makes Mason And Ireland Tick

ESPN Sports KSPN-A (ESPN LA 710AM)/LOS ANGELES middayers STEVE MASON and JOHN IRELAND sat down for a chat with iHEARTMEDIA Sports KLSD-A (XTRA 1360) and News-Talk KOGO-A/SAN DIEGO PD BRIAN LONG to talk about their long-running partnership and how they remain relevant, with IRELAND crediting the fact that "we disagree on almost everything but we're still friends" for the show's success. The discussion covered how IRELAND's status as radio voice of the LAKERS affects the show (while IRELAND may be restricted in what he says about the team, MASON feels no such restriction), how the show evolved from guest-driven to host-centric (prompted by former PD MIKE THOMPSON), how the team works with their producer to put together their show with IRELAND often on the road with the LAKERS), and the story behind MASON coming out on the air ("I don't want to be the gay spots talk host, I want to be a sports talk host who happens to be gay").

Making Money The New-Fashioned Way

PODCASTONE's NORM PATTIZ moderated a panel on the business of selling advertising for podcasting and streaming, with ESPN's PATRICK POLKING (pinch-hitting for TRAUG KELLER, who was called away for a family emergency), WESTWOOD ONE's KELLI HURLEY, GOOD KARMA BRANDS' EVAN COHEN, and CAA SPORTS' MATT KRAMER on the panel. HURLEY described pitching JIM ROME and BEN SHAPIRO as "influencers" on multiple platforms; COHEN explained how Sports WKNR-A (ESPN 850)/CLEVELAND has created a subscription service for its podcasts and streaming and also uses the site as "the minor leagues" to try out new talent and content. PATTIZ likened podcasts more to TV than radio, suggesting that measuring the podcast audience needs to follow more of a television than radio model, and added that podcasting's "monster" growth is "nowhere near its inflection point... yet." HURLEY added that the podcast business needs to grow beyond its present audience, noting that the current practice attracts listeners for new podcasts from listeners to other podcasts.

Kraig Kitchin Honored With Jeff Smulyan Award

The JEFF SMULYAN Award was presented to RADIO HALL OF FAME Committee Chairman and PREMIERE NETWORKS co-founder KRAIG KITCHIN by EMMIS CEO SMULYAN himself, introduced by EMMIS' RICK CUMMINGS, who recounted how SMULYAN proposed the idea of the first all-Sports radio station, WFAN/NEW YORK, met by resistance at first. SMULYAN, joking that PATTIZ told him that having an award named after him means "you're old," reminisced about daydreaming the sports radio idea while a student at USC and the low-ratings, money-losing early days of WFAN. "As life becomes more complicated, people need a break," SMULYAN noted, redoing KARL MARX's assertion by adding that "sports is the opiate of the people."

KITCHIN, described as a "talent whisperer" by SMULYAN, called winning the award "a humbling event" and cited developing JIM ROME into a national figure and the creation of FOX SPORTS RADIO as among his proudest achievements.

The Business According To Cowherd

FOX SPORTS RADIO's COLIN COWHERD offered a look at the method to his outspoken act in a post-lunch talk with BARRETT, including how he decides on topics ("I have terrible instincts," he insisted, adding that the addition of television has made his show "much more reductive" with shorter segments that play better on camera), his persona ("I'm in the interesting business, I'm not in radio or TV... I just try to be interesting"), and his digital work ("I'm not as high on podcasting as everyone else. Did Howard Stern get rich off podcasting?... My job is to take care of my radio bosses, my digital bosses, my TV bosses"). COWHERD, dismissing the revenue possibilities of podcasting, responded to BARRETT's question regarding COWHERD's own podcast network and how to build it into a success by shrugging, "hell if I know." However, he also professed not to be loyal to a platform or topic, adding that he reduced talk about college football ("too regional") and regular-season baseball ("who gives a sh-t?").

eSports On The Rise

The LOS ANGELES TIMES' ARASH MARKAZI led a panel on how sports media covers esports, with ACTIVISION and BLIZZARD (OVERWATCH LEAGUE)'s DANIEL CHERRY, IMMORTALS' ARI SEGAL, the HOUSTON ROCKETS' SEBASTIAN PARK, and ECHO FOX's JARED JEFFRIES offering their perspective on how their category can be covered by reporters and outlets more used to "regular" sports. CHERRY noted that the structure of OVERWATCH LEAGUE mirrors traditional sports leagues, with teams, playoffs, and a championship game; PARK, asked about traditional sports dipping their toes into esports with efforts like the NBA's 2K LEAGUE, was supportive of the moves (although the ROCKETS do not have a team in the 2K LEAGUE) but was concerned that his organization does not have the personnel to participate for now.

As to why sports radio might not match up with esports, SEGAL pointed to esports fans' desire for active participation, with the "chaotic" comments on TWITCH streams as an example, rather than the passive experience of listening, and CHERRY suggested that radio could engage those fans with additional elements like chat.

Women, Sports Radio, And Representation

BARRETT noted that there appear to be no female PDs in the Sports format and only a relative handful of female lead hosts, which he called "embarrassing." The opportunity for women in the format was the topic for ESPN's AMANDA GIFFORD, former FOX, ESPN, and BARSTOOL SPORTS personality JULIE STEWART-BINKS, the WASSERMAN agency's DEBBIE SPANDER, and ENTERPRENEUR's LINDSAY MCCORMICK, who pointed to the plethora of new platforms as creating more opportunities than ever for women in sports. GIFFORD advised that women not try to be a woman in sports radio but rather just be the best sports host, but SPANDER warned that opportunities for women remain limited in traditional sports media and BARRETT pointed to NIELSEN numbers showing women make up only 13% of the 25-54 sports radio audience, offering possibility for growth but also limiting the number of women looking to break into the format. Still, GIFFORD voiced hope that with more women in the format, more will be attracted to working in it; STEWART-BINKS, applauding the success of JEMELE HILL, RAMONA SHELBURNE, MICHELLE BEADLE, MINA KIMES and others, noted that she did not have similar role models while growing up in CANADA and instead was inspired by wanting to be equal with male hosts like COWHERD.

STEWART-BINKS asked the male PDs in the room to change how they think about women in sports radio, getting past looks to "open up your minds... we can all be the same and we can work at the highest levels." "There are talented women out there... give people a chance," a frustrated SPANDER added.

A Wider Perspective

A late panel expanded on KURTZMAN's "Outside Thinking/Inside Thinking" dichotomy, with SIRIUSXM's JASON DIXON hosting FOX SPORTS RADIO's SCOTT SHAPIRO, ESPN RADIO's JUSTIN CRAIG, BONNEVILLE News-Talk KTAR-F-Sports KMVP (ARIZONA SPORTS 98.7)/PHOENIX's RYAN HATCH, and ENTERCOM Sports WJFK (106.7 THE FAN)/WASHINGTON's CHRIS KINARD in a discussion stressing the importance of using an outside perspective, such as CRAIG going outside radio to replace MIKE GREENBERG with TV anchor TREY WINGO as MIKE GOLIC's on his network's morning show. SHAPIRO recounted a meeting with staff that used photos of listeners to prod producers to appeal to the audience rather than their own tastes and pick topics and book guests accordingly.

KINARD pointed to the need for hosts to avoid assuming too much familiarity with their shows, like referring to regular guests by first name only rather than by full name; he also pointed to radio's need to reconfigure staffing and resources in light of the need to produce content for multiple platforms, perhaps cutting promotion staff and street team in favor of hiring social media and digital production staff. The additional work is also impacting hosts on a national level, but SHAPIRO said he has found no reluctance on hosts' behalf to picking up additional work on digital and social platforms. HATCH added that in a business in which one or two PPM panelists can substantially change the ratings, stations need to move away from traditional ratings and embrace additional platforms as part of their overall business.

Betting On The Future

The legalization of sports gambling in many states has the potential to change the sports media game as well, and the final panel of the day brought some of the pioneers in creating a sports gambling media sector together, including THE ACTION NETWORK's CHAD MILLMAN and ViSN's BRIAN MUSBURGER, joined by moderator ENTERCOM Sports KGMZ (95.7 THE GAME)/SAN FRANCISCO morning co-host JOE FORTENBAUGH and FANDUEL's KIP LEVIN. The discussion raised issues like in-game wagering and what MUSBURGER noted would be the difficulty of covering such action due to latency for non-rightsholders, advertising (LEVIN said FANDUEL is heavily advertising in the NEW YORK and PHILADELPHIA DMAs, covering the NEW JERSEY sports books, and that radio is working very well for his company), terminology and listener education (FORTENBAUGH saying that while gambling pros want him to use "total" rather than "over/under," his general audience is less likely to understand, and MILLMAN agreeing that the audience may not be as conversant in the terminology -- "you gotta speak to the 90%" while balancing the appeal to pros), and competing with the ESPNs, FOX SPORTSes, And BLEACHER REPORTs of the industry (MILLMAN countered, "I don't think you do," and suggested that his and ViSN's target would be a more specialty appeal, with the larger networks not likely to be offering as much or as specific content geared towards gamblers).

Inside The Jungle

CBS SPORTS RADIO's JIM ROME closed out the day's agenda, joking that if nobody in the audience asked any questions, he could get everyone to the bar in 40 minutes. "They pay me to talk about sports and talk about junk and interview celebrities... this is a really good job," ROME told BARRETT. The conversation covered keeping relevant, handling negative input ("you'd better have thick skin... not everybody's going to be happy to see you," he said, adding that he does not want his staff to think they have to tell him what he wants to hear), localizing the syndicated show ("you want (affiliates) to be excited about carrying the show"), the importance of doing local hits on affiliate morning shows (he does weekly hits on DAN SILEO's show on ENTERCOM Sports KWFN (97.3 THE FAN)/SAN DIEGO because the market is personally important to him), and more.

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