Sports Radio News
NFL Draft Coverage Plans Across Sports Radio
Jason Barrett is the owner and operator of Barrett Sports Media. Prior to launching BSM he served as a sports radio programmer, launching brands such as 95.7 The Game in San Francisco and 101 ESPN in St. Louis. He has also produced national shows for ESPN Radio including GameNight and the Dan Patrick Show. You can find him on Twitter @SportsRadioPD or reach him by email at [email protected].
Sports Radio News
Dan Le Batard Mourns Damian Lillard Trade, Calls Dan Patrick a ‘Dirty Trickster’
“I was not expecting for people to say this is a journalistic, objective guarantee.”
Sports Radio News
Boomer Esiason: ‘Don’t Know Why’ ESPN Reported Taylor Swift Would Be at ‘Sunday Night Football’
“I’m fascinated by the whole thing; you know that.”
Sports Radio News
Ken Carman: People Bored With Thursday Night Football ‘Just Going to Tweet About Al Michaels’
“The guy called the 80 Olympics. You think he’s going to sit there and try to put lipstick on that hog of next week’s game between Chicago and Washington?”
Sports Radio News
NFL Draft Coverage Plans Across Sports Radio
As the NFL Draft takes center stage tonight on sports radio stations across the nation, most brands will capture the excitement from the comfort of their own backyard. There’s less of an emphasis being placed on broadcasting live from the site of the draft and more attention given to using the evening to extend local relationships with fans and advertisers.
In my opinion, that strategy makes perfect sense.
The main reason so many will be deeply connected to sports radio stations tonight is because people want to hear who’s being picked by each team. Where the content originates from carries less importance. If listeners have a say in the matter, they’ll take hanging out and interacting with their favorite sports radio personalities at a local event over hearing them broadcast from hundreds or thousands of miles away at the host city of the NFL Draft.
That said, if stations feel it’s worth the expense to send their crew to Philadelphia to broadcast live, and it results in a ratings and revenue increase, then that too makes sense. There’s nothing wrong with that approach, as long as it works. My only counter is “would the brand achieve the same ratings and revenue gain if it didn’t make the trip?”
Some sports radio stations with baseball play by play deals will have no choice but to miss out on the on-air opportunities provided tonight by the NFL Draft. Those who aren’t blocked by local games will seek to take advantage of the three day stretch by creating original programming and trusting their best on-air talent to bring it to life.
To give you an idea of what you can expect across the dial, I’ve assembled a detailed layout of what a number of sports stations are planning for their 2017 NFL Draft coverage. My thanks to all of the programmer’s who took the time to pass along their information. Be advised that there are many more stations who are doing the same things so if I didn’t include the local station in your town in this column, be sure to check out their Twitter or Facebook page to find out how you can celebrate the evening with them.
This is a great night for the sports radio format. If you love this form of programming and live in a city and can’t show your support for your local station by attending their NFL Draft event, help them another way – put on the radio and say awhile. I promise you it’ll be an enjoyable listening experience.
FOX SPORTS RADIO:
FOX Sports Radio is broadcasting live from the Hard Rock Café in Philadelphia. Coverage starts tonight at 8pm ET. FSR’s programming will be hosted by NFL insider Jay Glazer, FOX Sports’ lead college football game analyst Joel Klatt and FOX Sports NFL and college football analyst Chris Spielman. Anthony Gargano, FSR’s weekend host and the morning man for 97.5 The Fanatic in Philadelphia, will also host a two-hour pre-Draft show on Thursday starting at 6pm ET.
ESPN RADIO:
ESPN Radio will broadcast Rounds 1-3 of the 2017 NFL Draft from Philadelphia. Dari Nowkhah will host the network’s coverage alongside Pro Football Hall of Famer and NFL Front Office Insider Bill Polian, NFL Insider John Clayton and former NFL star and current ESPN New York 98.7FM host Chris Canty. The first night’s broadcast is scheduled to start at 7pm ET. Friday night’s program will begin thirty minutes earlier at 6:30pm ET.
SIRIUSXM NFL RADIO:
All three days of the draft will be presented on SiriusXM live from Philadelphia. Coverage airs Thursday and Friday night from 6pm-midnight, and Saturday from noon to 7pm ET. Listeners will be treated to the live announcements of all 32 teams’ selections through all seven rounds, plus interviews with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and dozens of draftees, general managers and coaches.
SiriusXM NFL Radio’s on-site broadcast team will include host Jason Horowitz, and former NFL executives and players Gil Brandt, Pat Kirwan, Jim Miller, and Phil Savage.
SIRIUSXM COLLEGE SPORTS NATION:
SXM College Sports Nation Channel 84 will air two nights of NFL Draft coverage starting at 7p ET Thursday and Friday night. David Moulton will anchor coverage along with former Tampa Bay Buccaneers GM & SiriusXM NFL analyst Mark Dominik & former college coach, SEC on CBS analyst, & College Sports Nation host Rick Neuheisel.
CBS SPORTS RADIO NETWORK:
The morning team of Gio and Jones will host a 4-hour draft night special for round 1. Coverage begins at 8pm ET. Prior to the draft show, Bill Reiter will host his evening show and set the scene for draft night from 6pm-8pm ET. Scott Ferrall takes over at Midnight to put a bow on the evening’s developments.
97.5 THE FANATIC:
The Fanatic is seizing the opportunity of having the NFL Draft in town by presenting two 3-hour shows for the draft’s first two nights. The station will go live from the site of the draft from 6p-9p with Geoff Mosher, Adam Caplan, and Joe Tordy. The trio of Devon Givens, Michael Bradley and Seth Joyner take over from Sugarhouse Casino from 9p-midnight. Additionally, former Eagles RB Brian Westbrook and afternoon host Mike Missanelli will take part in an exclusive ticketed event at Chima Steakhouse on Thursday night. The event runs from 7pm-9pm ET.
SPORTS RADIO 94WIP:
The Eagles flagship station will have a heavy presence on site at the NFL Draft. For round 1, former Eagles Ike Reese and Jamaal Jackson and Glen Macnow will contribute to the on-air coverage. A few special guests are expected to stop by during the course of the show. The station also plans to broadcast on location during days two and three, and says they’ll be heavily active capturing fan experiences and key draft day moments on Facebook Live.
FOX SPORTS RADIO 920 THE JERSEY:
With 920 being located just outside of Philadelphia, the radio station will take full advantage of the draft’s local proximity and send the Zach Gelb Show to broadcast his afternoon program on-site on Thursday and Friday. Gelb’s show will air 4pm-6pm ET both days.
97.3 ESPN:
The Atlantic City sports radio station will dedicate a big chunk of their programming time to covering the draft. Mike Gill’s afternoon show will also be live on location on Friday for an NFL Draft Party to recap round 1 and look ahead to the mid/late rounds.
SPORTSTALK 790:
The Houston sports radio brand may not have the Texans, but they do have a host with a connection to Philadelphia – Josh Innes. 790 will look to create a spark by sending Innes and former NFL defensive end Sean Jones to Philadelphia to broadcast live on location. Jones will be involved in middays with Adam Clanton, and Innes will host the afternoon show. Given Josh’s history in the city it should be an interesting few days.
WQAM:
In Miami, the home of the Dolphins will be dedicating six hours of coverage to the draft’s first night. WQAM plans to provide live cut ins from the Dolphins War Room in Davie (the team facility) while broadcasting on-site from the official team draft party at Hard Rock Stadium.
WBAL:
The flagship station of the Baltimore Ravens will broadcast from the Ravens Under Armour facility in Owings Mills. The station will have a talent on hand at the Ravens Draft Party for Round 1 providing live cut ins. On Saturday WBAL will provide on-site support from M & T Bank Stadium. The station says in total it will deliver 15 hours of coverage over all 3 days.
1010XL:
With the Jaguars picking 4th in this year’s draft, their local radio station plans to fire up the local fan base by hosting a joint broadcast with the team from Everbank Field. The event runs from 6pm-10pm ET on the first night of the draft. In addition, 1010XL will send a reporter to Philadelphia to provide on-site reports.
DENVER SPORTS 760:
iHeartmedia will lend support to the Denver Broncos by developing draft night coverage on two of its stations, Denver Sports 760, and flagship station KOA. Both brands will originate their programming from Centennial Lanes, the site of this year’s draft party. A minimum of 20 Broncos players are expected to be present at the event.
KFAN:
With no 1st round pick in this year’s draft, things should be less chaotic for the Minnesota Vikings. As a result, flagship station KFAN is easing into its coverage. The station usually broadcasts live from the Vikings draft party on the first night, but this year they’ll provide studio support for round 1. KFAN will add an on-site presence at US Bank Stadium on Saturday for the final day of the draft.
107.5/1070 THE FAN:
The Fan has a big draft party planned at a local venue in Indianapolis. Afternoon host JMV will lead the station’s coverage alongside midday host and former NFL player Big Joe Staysniak, Colts analyst and former NFL/college football coach Rick Venturi, and on-air host and station program director Greg Rakestraw. The show runs from 7pm-10pm CT. Colts players Jack Doyle and Darius Butler are scheduled to appear and sign autographs and pose for photos with fans.
790 THE TICKET:
The Ticket may not be the official radio partner of the Dolphins but that won’t stop them from acting like it. 790 will send a reporter to Dolphins HQ to provide cut ins, and broadcast live from Dave & Buster’s for round 1. To help their coverage stand out, The Ticket will utilize former Miami Hurricanes and current FIU coach Butch Davis, and former Hurricanes and NFL star DJ Williams. Both men have been frequent contributors to the station’s programming.
105.3 THE FAN:
Being the home of the Cowboys has its privileges. One of those perks includes broadcasting from the Star in Frisco on draft night. In addition, The Fan will also be heavily involved hosting draft parties throughout Dallas in conjunction with Pluckers wing bar. The station will be active at seven locations with on-air personalities making appearances at different locations.
SPORTS RADIO 1310 THE TICKET:
The Ticket will provide wall to wall coverage of the 2017 NFL Draft from start to finish. Norm Hitzges and Donovan Lewis will be live in Philadelphia broadcasting their midday show. Bob Sturm, David Newbury and Corby Davidson analyze the action from the Ticket’s studios, and David Moore and George Dunham will stake out positions inside the Cowboys Star in Frisco. Coverage times for The Ticket’s shows are 6:30pm CT on Thursday, 5:30pm CT on Friday, and 10:30am CT on Saturday.
93.7 THE FAN:
The Fan will host a live draft show from a remote location from 6p-midnight on the first night of the draft. Hosting the program will be Andrew Fillipponi, Dorin Dickerson and Paul Zeise. The Fan says they will also use a live podium feed to air each pick. Additionally, Filliponi will host a draft focused program on Saturday from 1pm-5:30pm ET.
104.3 THE FAN:
Denver’s sports radio leader is hosting a local draft party with afternoon hosts D-Mac and Big Al anchoring their coverage. Broncos safety Justin Simmons will make an on-site appearance and sign autographs for fans, and the station will have two insiders on location at the Broncos facility, and another stationed in Philadelphia providing on-site reports. The Fan will also dedicate studio and on location coverage for the second and third days of the draft.
SB NATION RADIO/ESPN HOUSTON 97.5:
Gow Media’s national network will provide live programming from Philadelphia in order to keep fans across the country informed of the latest selections during each round. On the local level, ESPN Houston 97.5 will send The Blitz with Fred Faour and AJ Hoffman on location to broadcast their show from the Saloon Door Brewery. Fred and AJ will be on site from 4pm-7pm CT and then it’s time to celebrate with local fans when each selection comes in.
SPORTS RADIO 930:
The Jacksonville sports station isn’t broadcasting live, and instead plans to capture the excitement of the draft’s first night differently. 930 will Facebook Live with fans inside of Everbank Stadium, offering instant reaction following the team’s 1st round selection. The station employed this strategy last year and felt encouraged by the results. You can learn more by checking out this link. https://www.facebook.com/SportsRadio930/videos/1034078463306115/
MIGHTY 1090:
Despite the Chargers bolting to Los Angeles, 1090 will host a special draft party from the Tilted Kilt in San Diego. Scott and BR will kick things off with a live broadcast of their afternoon show, before turning the airwaves over to Dan Sileo and Burt Grossman. The station will give listeners an opportunity to win a big screen TV at the event.
97.1 THE FAN:
Columbus’ sports radio station will take over Brew Brothers at Scioto Downs and turn it into their draft night headquarters. Beanie Wells, Tim Hall and Jeff Thitoff will broadcast a special NFL Draft pre-show from 6pm-7pm ET before the madness of the first round begins.
107.5 THE FAN:
The Green Bay sports radio station will camp out at Lambeau Field on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday to make sure Packers fans are updated on the latest NFL draft developments! Part of the plan includes on-site giveaways, live coverage of each pick, and on-air analysis, insight and opinion on each Packers move from Bill, Rookie and Marques.
SPORTS RADIO 610:
The radio home of the Texans will broadcast 1st round coverage live from NRG Stadium, the site of the Texans annual draft party. Players and cheerleaders are expected to be present. The event is already sold out.
104.5 THE ZONE:
Nashville’s radio home for the Tennessee Titans will be on site broadcasting live from the team’s draft party at Nissan Stadium. Coverage airs between 6pm-9pm and in addition to keeping fans up to date on what the Titans do with their two first round selections, other perks will be available on site including locker room tours, inflatables, and appearances by Titans alumni.
105.7 THE FAN:
The Milwaukee sports radio station will celebrate the first round of the NFL Draft by broadcasting live from Cue Cub of Wisconsin. Afternoon hosts Gary Ellerson, Steve “Sparky” Fifer and Ramie Makhlouf will broadcast their program followed by an NFL Draft special that runs from 6pm-10pm CT.
Jason Barrett is the owner and operator of Barrett Sports Media. Prior to launching BSM he served as a sports radio programmer, launching brands such as 95.7 The Game in San Francisco and 101 ESPN in St. Louis. He has also produced national shows for ESPN Radio including GameNight and the Dan Patrick Show. You can find him on Twitter @SportsRadioPD or reach him by email at [email protected].
Sports Radio News
Dan Le Batard Mourns Damian Lillard Trade, Calls Dan Patrick a ‘Dirty Trickster’
“I was not expecting for people to say this is a journalistic, objective guarantee.”
Following a blockbuster trade that sent All-NBA guard Damian Lillard to the Milwaukee Bucks, The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz mourned that the Miami Heat had lost the sweepstakes for the superstar player. For much of the summer, reports had indicated that the Heat were the frontrunners for Lillard, considering that he reportedly had the team at the top of his wish list upon requesting a trade from the Portland Trail Blazers. Broadcasting the show from Miami, Fla. and growing up just outside of the city, Dan Le Batard was crestfallen that a deal never came to fruition. Moreover, he now had to address his discourse over the last few months on the hit digital program where he adumbrated that the Heat would end up with the guard.
Le Batard had appeared on The Dan Patrick Show earlier in the week and began his appearance with praise of Patrick, who is retiring upon the completion of a new four-year contract. The former ESPN SportsCenter anchor has had a long and distinguished career in sports media, highlighted by his choosing to leave the “Worldwide Leader” and build his own platform from scratch. While Le Batard admires what Patrick did, he emitted a much different tone to begin his abbreviated appearance on Friday.
“You are a dirty trickster that now, I resent deeply,” Le Batard said to Patrick. “….For 20 years basically, Dan Patrick – maybe not 20, but 15 years – he calls me when a [Miami] Dolphins offensive line coach does cocaine off his desk and sends a romantic video to an exotic worker in Las Vegas; or some such Miami calamity to talk about the Dolphins, usually only something they’ve done wrong. I go and I make a bunch of people at ESPN mad by never asking permission to go on your show and just doing it anyway.”
As he continued his soliloquy, Le Batard said that Patrick invited him on the show last week to discuss the Dolphins, who are 3-0 and considered a legitimate Super Bowl contender by many football experts. The interview was proceeding well until Patrick concluded by asking an unrelated question about another Miami sports team, the Heat, and their pursuit of Lillard.
“Dan Patrick calls me and tricks me into talking about the Dolphins for a while,” Le Batard said. “Then at the end, what does he do? He asks the question that makes me publicly a larger fool [and] more wrong than I’ve ever been about anything in front of a worldwide, intergalactic audience.”
Le Batard answered the question by guaranteeing that Lillard was coming to Miami, something that is partially true, according to Patrick. It is just that he will be visiting the city as a member of the Milwaukee Bucks rather than playing for the reigning Eastern Conference champion Heat. The entire occurrence has left Le Batard and the cast of his show moribund enough to hold a eulogy for the anticipation they had for Lillard to play alongside South Beach.
“I was wearing an actual Heat mouthpiece as I did so,” Le Batard said of his comments. “I was not expecting for people to say this is a journalistic, objective guarantee. You could barely understand me; I was muffling it through an actual Miami Heat mouthpiece.”
“You used to be a journalist; now you’re an entertainer,” Patrick replied. “You’re an entertainer.”
Le Batard did acknowledge that he is indeed an entertainer on his program and has had discussions about the role of genuine journalism in today’s sports media coverage with the cast of his show, along with ESPN featured commentator Stephen A. Smith.
“[I am] a sanctimonious, self-important entertainer who gets things profoundly wrong in a way that echoes from sea to shining sea,” Le Batard asserted.
“That should be the name of your show,” Patrick replied. “It’s a little wordy, but that should be the name of your show from now on.”
“Because of you, it’s going to be the thing on my tombstone,” Le Batard said.
Sports Radio News
Boomer Esiason: ‘Don’t Know Why’ ESPN Reported Taylor Swift Would Be at ‘Sunday Night Football’
“I’m fascinated by the whole thing; you know that.”
Over the course of the week, several reports have stated that Grammy Award-winning music superstar Taylor Swift is expected to be on hand to watch the Kansas City Chiefs play the New York Jets on Sunday Night Football at MetLife Stadium. Swift unexpectedly appeared at last week’s Chiefs home game from GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium against the Chicago Bears, and she was seen exiting the facility with star tight end Travis Kelce afterwards. In the ensuing weeks, there had been reports that she and Kelce were communicating and potentially exploring dating one another, noise that was only amplified after Sunday’s occurrence. Boomer & Gio have been on the case, discussing the topic several times this week.
WFAN morning co-host Boomer Esiason is infatuated by the situation, slipping in references to Swift songs throughout the week on the show. Conversely, his co-host, Gregg Giannotti, has had enough of the entire situation and wishes that everyone could just focus on football. Even so, NBC Sports is preparing a specialized broadcast open and will likely show her on camera, even though director Drew Esocoff would “bet the under” on doing so for a total of 22 times. Esiason, interested in the situation, decided to try to uncover information as to just what may be occurring at the stadium this weekend.
“There’s no official, ‘Taylor Swift is going to be at the game,’” Esiason revealed Friday morning on WFAN. “Everybody’s assuming, and I don’t know why ESPN went with this earlier in the week.”
Since reports of Swift’s attendance were released, ticket prices for the matchup have steeply risen with fans doing anything possible to get a glimpse of the superstar. While the logistics of such an appearance still seem to be in the process of being planned out, Esiason decided to try to figure out she could be sitting. Reviewing options from the visiting team suite to the New York Giants home suite, Giannotti interjected that the venue will find a place for her one way or another, even if it means displacing fans.
“They’ll definitely figure it out,” Esiason said. “Plus, obviously she just had her tour there, so they’re very tight with the stadium authority.”
Esiason’s daughter is a fan of the artist and has informed her father about the history behind her dating life. The information has led him to assert that her fans are happy that she is “actually dating a real man” this time around, with many “Swifties” hoping that it works out.
“I’m fascinated by the whole thing; you know that,” Esiason told Giannotti. “I don’t know why.”
Sports Radio News
Ken Carman: People Bored With Thursday Night Football ‘Just Going to Tweet About Al Michaels’
“The guy called the 80 Olympics. You think he’s going to sit there and try to put lipstick on that hog of next week’s game between Chicago and Washington?”
Social media may enjoy ripping Al Michaels for not showing a lot of enthusiasm on Thursday Night Football, but Ken Carman appreciates the broadcast legend’s honesty.
Friday morning on 92.3 The Fan, the Cleveland sports talker listened back to audio of Michaels casually promoting next week’s game between the winless Chicago Bears and the Washington Commanders, who just lost a game by 34 points. Fans online began mocking him as disinterested or too old.
“I don’t like ripping on Michaels. I think he’s a legend. I’m not going to rip Al Michaels,” Carman said. “I think that people are just looking for something entertaining, so they’re just going to tweet about Al Michaels because it’s a 27-3 football game at that time. But Al Michaels…the guy called the 80 Olympics. You think he’s going to sit there and try to put lipstick on that hog of next week’s game between Chicago and Washington?”
Thursday night’s game between the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers was not particularly close. Carman said that Michaels could be forgiven for not sounded particularly connected during the broadcast.
He joked that while his radio partner, Anthony Lima, would be happy to oversell a bad game, Al Michaels isn’t going to do that. He wondered why that is a problem for fans.
“Ryan Day gets to be honest, Coach Prime could be honest, Dan Lanning. Everybody can be honest. Why can’t Al Michaels be honest? Let Al Michaels be honest. He could not wait to get out of there. And, by the way, that’s fine.”
Lima noted that Michaels is reportedly getting $15 million per year from Amazon. Carman said that does not change his mind.
“He deserves every penny of it. I don’t mind him taking that, And I don’t mind him telling you the absolute God honest truth. ‘I’m a legend of 78 years old, and if you don’t like what I have to say about this football team, to hell with you. I don’t care.’”