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Why Blackballing a Local Team Is a Bad Bet

Jason Barrett

Published

6 years ago

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Rarely do sports radio brands take drastic measures to blackball sports teams from being covered and discussed in local markets. Even when a particular radio station doesn’t hold the rights to a local franchise, if the audience possesses an appetite for the team and content, hosts make the team a regular part of their programming.

But in Las Vegas, Nevada, CBS Radio had a different point of view. The station was preparing to institute a plan to ignore the city’s first ever professional sports franchise, the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights, until cooler heads prevailed and an initial decision was reversed.

Until 2017, Las Vegas has never had a professional sports team. The arrival of the Golden Knights should excite the community, and the local passion for sports will only increase in the future when the Oakland Raiders relocate to sin city.

Before CBS officials adjusted their stance, they had sent out a memo to their staff, asking them to eliminate conversation about the local hockey team on all of the cluster’s radio stations. Below is the email.

Tue 8/8/2017 8:57AM

King, JB

Las Vegas Golden Knights

To: @CR Las Vegas All Employees

Just wanted to pass along this info….a decision has been made that effective immediately, there are to be no further mentions of the Las Vegas Golden Knights hockey team on any CBS/LV radio stations or any of our social media platforms. This includes, but not limited to, on sale ticket mentions, player/coaches interviews, plugging locals to sing national anthem, TV broadcast schedule, etc. It is now the responsibility of the Golden Knights’ chosen radio partner to help accomplish their goals, not ours. We are asking you to include ‘show’ pages, as well. We need to show a united front on this issue. If you have anything already planned around the team, please cancel. If you have any ‘best of’ bits around the team, please do not air and find another piece of content.

I am out of the office this week, but will answer any questions next week when I return. For any immediate questions, please see Tony.

Thanks, Have a great week.

JB

Upon reading the internal response, I was surprised and disappointed. When a local market is excited about a new team, and a radio group’s personalities share that enthusiasm, it doesn’t make a lot of business sense to restrict them. There isn’t much to be gained from taking that position.

The e-mail went on to include a line from King which said, “We need to show a united front on this issue. If you have anything already planned around the team, please cancel.”

But for the employees inside CBS Las Vegas who didn’t agree, what was their recourse? They were left with two choices. A) Ignore the memo and share in the same local experience with the audience, risking their employment in the process, or B) follow the mandate, and risk losing your audience because of an inability to connect with them on a story they’re excited about.

In analyzing the situation from afar, I don’t think local executives took into account the public relations hit they’d take for making that move. Content conversations about what to focus on and ignore do come up from time to time but rarely are they conveyed in email with an entire cluster being directed to pay no attention to a market’s brand new franchise.

Sticking to that plan could have affected future future negotiations and ad buys with the Knights. It would have sent a bad message to the Oakland Raiders, who will soon be in the market and looking for a strong radio cluster to do business with. It may have also created employee dissatisfaction, leading talented people to look elsewhere for opportunities.

Above all else, it would have penalized the audience. When listeners tune into their local stations, and are excited to hear about their new hometown team, they should be able to hear about them. The goal is to serve the community, and by preventing specific content from getting on the air, it creates a negative image for the company, giving listeners a reason to reject brands and personalities who otherwise are deserving of their time.

To CBS Las Vegas’ credit, rather than standing the course and allowing the frustration of not landing the Golden Knights radio deal to impact future business, they took a step back, evaluate the situation, and resolved it.

After initially telling Ron Futrell, “We have a lot of other things to cover, the Knights don’t work into our coverage. We support their (the Golden Knights) success in the marketplace, but that will depend on their partnership that they’ve already developed”, SVP/Market Manager of CBS Radio Tony Perlongo took a bold step by admitting a mistake. He could have stood his ground and insisted in keeping even the smallest of details such as Golden Knights scoring updates off of his radio station’s airwaves, but instead made the right call for the betterment of his brands, clients and the audience.

In a statement sent to BSM, Perlongo said, “With six radio stations in Las Vegas we have always prided ourselves on informing, educating and entertaining listeners and supporting the local communities we serve. However, we missed the mark in an internal email that instructed our stations to no longer report on certain aspects of the Golden Knights, the city’s first and only major league sports team. This was an error in judgement on our part and we deeply regret it. We will of course cover the team, first and foremost on Sports Radio 1140 and on our music and news/talk stations as it makes sense for those formats and audiences. We apologize to the Golden Knights, their fans and our listeners and look forward to rooting the team on when the puck drops in a few weeks.”

I tip my cap to local officials because not every group can check their ego at the door and reverse a controversial decision. As a company, CBS Radio doesn’t operate this way in other cities. If they did, the outcry in cities like New York, Boston, Philadelphia and Detroit would be intense. And don’t think for a second that a few advertisers wouldn’t bail after the public backlash caught up to the brand.

At times, business decisions can become personal. That’s especially true when a group loses out on a potential partnership opportunity. CBS bid for the rights to the Golden Knights, and the team chose to partner instead with Lotus Broadcasting, so it’s understandable if there was a lot of internal frustration, especially after the company made what local sources said was a strong offer.

I’ve been in that situation before and it’s emotionally taxing. A lot of time, thought, money, and strategy goes into trying to secure an opportunity to grow your radio station and when it doesn’t work out, it stings. But regardless of how bad it hurts, you’ve got to be able to process the situation, and do what’s best for your company, advertisers, and audience.

A local radio station has a responsibility to serve its local community, the same way a steakhouse is expected to provide steak to those who walk thru the door craving it. By ignoring topical content, especially during a franchise’s first season in the city, CBS Las Vegas would have been denying their customers an opportunity to eat. The city of Las Vegas has waited so long to become a professional sports city, and ALL local media outlets should be invested in making sure the team succeeds because if they do, it benefits everyone.

When opening night takes place, and the entire city is buzzing over the arrival of the Golden Knights, it’s good to know that listeners won’t be forced to turn off a local CBS radio station because the company’s business negotiations caused a stir and prevented them from hearing about their local team. I don’t often advocate hockey talk on the air, but this is one of those times where the rules go out the window. The arrival of the NHL in Las Vegas is exciting and there is a lot more money to be made in the future by working in tandem rather than against the city’s newest sports team.

Now we can all raise a glass and celebrate life and the impact of good decision making. I was starting to wonder if the next call would be to eliminate music from the music stations if disputes came up with recording artists and record companies. Fortunately we won’t have to worry about that.

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Rachel Nichols and Baron Davis Headline Final Speaker Announcements For the 2023 BSM Summit

“I’m sure Baron and Rachel will have all eyes and ears focused on them when they take the stage together next Tuesday at 2:45pm PT.”
Jason Barrett

Published

1 day ago

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March 16, 2023

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The 2023 BSM Summit schedule is set. After months of planning and talking to everyone across the industry, I’m ecstatic to roll out next week’s agenda including making one final announcement involving seven great additions to our conference.

For starters, it is a pleasure to welcome Showtime’s Rachel Nichols to the BSM Summit. I’ve admired her work on television for years, and am thrilled to have her guiding a session which I think many in the room are going to really enjoy.

Rachel’s guest will be former NBA star Baron Davis. Baron runs his own company, Baron Davis Enterprises, and he has been active in investing in media brands, and exploring ways to evolve the industry. Among his areas of passion, athletes taking more control of their brands, and the media industry needing to improve its track record with diversity. I’m sure Baron and Rachel will have all eyes and ears focused on them when they take the stage together next Tuesday at 2:45pm PT.

Also joining the Summit are a few longtime industry friends. For starters, VSiN’s program director Jon Goulet is someone who I’ve known and worked with, and he understands the sports betting audio space extremely well. Jon and BetQL VP of Programming Mitch Rosen will spend time with another industry friend, Bryan Curtis of The Ringer. Collectively they’ll examine the state of sports betting audio on Tuesday March 21st from 3:35p-4:10p, and what they look for when it comes to sports betting talent, and how they determine what is and isn’t success in the sports gambling content world.

With Mitch taking part in the sports betting panel, Jeff Rickard of WFNZ in Charlotte steps into The Programmer’s Panel alongside Jimmy Powers, John Mamola and Raj Sharan. The session is scheduled for Wednesday March 22nd from 9:10a-9:45a PT. Ironically, all four of these programmers work for different companies, so it’ll be interesting to hear how they differ and where they align while navigating through a few sports radio programming topics.

Next, I’m excited to introduce a social media session with Karlo Sy Su of ESPN Los Angeles and Matthew Demeke of AM 570 LA Sports. If you look at the performance of their brands on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and Facebook, they’ve each delivered strong audiences and engagement. I’m looking forward to hosting this one and learning about their processes, how they decide which platforms to focus on most, what they consider a social media win when analyzing social statistics, and how they develop their content process. Given our location, we’re calling the session ‘Social Media Goes Hollywood‘. It’s scheduled for Wednesday March 22nd from 3:35-4:10 PT.

I realize you’re not going to remember all of these session speakers and times off the top of your head, so to make it easier, log on to BSMSummit.com and scroll down past our speakers. That’s where you’ll find our detailed list of sessions/times and activities planned each day. We have eighteen sessions, two awards ceremonies, and two parties. Our kickoff party is presented by the WWE and takes place Monday March 20th from 7p-9p at the 1880 Founders Room. The ESPN Radio After Party takes place Tuesday March 21st from 6p-8p at the Lab Gastropub. Both party locations are in walking distance of the USC Hotel and our conference venue.

As an added bonus, thanks to the generosity of our friends at WWE, we will be giving away a pair of tickets to the first night of WrestleMania, and a WWE title at our kickoff party. WrestleMania takes place this year in Los Angeles at Sofi Stadium on March 25-26. You must be present at the kickoff party to win either prize.

We’ll have more to share next week including providing an ongoing blog with session news and notes for our readers. We’ll also have a ton of content available on our social media channels so if you’re not following @BSMStaff on Twitter, @BarrettSportsMedia on Facebook or @BarrettMedia on LinkedIn, what are you waiting for?

The focus now shifts to finishing our creative for next week’s show, sending information to our speakers for their sessions, and finalizing our attendees list. For those who are attending, we’ll be sending out an email on Friday or Saturday with a complete list of names of who’s coming so you can plan meetings in advance.

If you forgot to buy your ticket after seeing months of promotion about the event and meant to do so, you can still do that, but it costs more. Students on the other hand can take advantage of a low rate established for college kids at https://bsmsummit.com/registration.

Putting this event together isn’t easy, but I’m extremely pleased with how it’s come together. We have a lot of smart, talented, and accomplished people making time to be part of this, and I appreciate each and every one of them for doing so. Now, it’s all about the execution. Hope to see you next week in LA.

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Sports Broadcasting Icon Al Michaels To Be Honored at the 2023 BSM Summit

“This is a man who has spent more than five decades on your television screen calling the biggest games, and producing some of the most iconic moments sports has to offer.”
Jason Barrett

Published

1 week ago

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March 10, 2023

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If you work in the sports media industry you’ve likely heard someone along the way utter the phrase “don’t bury the lead“. I’m usually good about following that advice but I didn’t do that at our 2022 BSM Summit.

We introduced the greatest tandem in sports radio history, Mike Francesa and Chris ‘Mad Dog’ Russo and it was a special half hour. Mike and the Mad Dog were reunited after seven years apart and every individual at the event knew they were witnessing something magical on stage. I created a Mike and the Mad Dog Award for the event, which went to Felger and Mazz, who were the absolute right choice to win it. Even Chris remarked ‘that’s the right call‘.

But I learned quickly that although the intention was right in honoring the industry’s current top performing show, when you have legends in the room and they’re in their element, the last thing you want to do is overcrowd them. The connection Mike and Chris had on the air became the gold standard by which we measure successful sports talk shows, and they didn’t need an award created to deliver a special moment, just two mics and 20-30 minutes of stage time.

As I began thinking about the 2023 BSM Summit, I knew there was an opportunity to build on what we started last year with Mike and Chris, and after talking to a few people who I trust and respect, the decision of who we would recognize became crystal clear. I believe it’s important to honor the greats in our business because those who leave a permanent mark on our industry deserve it. The man we’ve selected has spent more than five decades on your television screen calling the biggest games, and producing some of the most iconic moments sports has to offer. He’s worked with the best of the best inside the booth, has helped elevate the presentation and execution of in-game content for ABC, NBC and Amazon, and his call of the Miracle on Ice, the US Olympic hockey team’s 1980 gold medal win over Russia remains one of the best calls in the history of sports.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I am honored and privileged to share that Al Michaels will join us on Wednesday March 22nd at the 2023 BSM Summit for our awards presentation, where we will present him with BSM’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

Michaels is one of America’s most respected sports broadcasting voices, known for his exceptional work on Monday Night Football (1986-2005), Sunday Night Football (2006-2022) and Thursday Night Football (2022-Present). He’s called the Super Bowl, World Series, NBA Finals, Stanley Cup Finals, Hagler-Hearns, the Olympics, the Indy 500, Horse Racing’s Triple Crown races, College Football and Basketball games, Golf, and more. He’s even held roles as the voice of the University of Hawaii, the Cincinnati Reds, and the San Francisco Giants, and was in the booth in 1989 when an earthquake rocked the Bay Area during Game 3 of the A’s-Giants world series.

The Brooklyn native turned Los Angeles resident has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and owns a ton of hardware including five sports Emmy’s, three NSMA Sportscaster of the Year honors, the 2013 Pete Rozelle Radio & Television Award distributed by the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and the 2021 Ford C. Frick Award given out by the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame. Though his trophy case may be full, we’re excited to add another to his collection to show our appreciation and respect for the impact he’s made on the sports media business.

A quick reminder, the BSM Summit takes place on Tuesday March 21st and Wednesday March 22nd at the Founders Club at the University of Southern California. Tickets are on-sale at BSMSummit.com.

Be advised, we have started adding sessions and times on the website. As always, the schedule is subject to change. Our final agenda will be posted by the end of next week. In addition, attendees will receive an email by next Friday with details of who will be in attendance. We hope to see you there.

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Rob Parker, Brian Long, Sean Thompson and Matt Fishman Join The BSM Summit Speaker Lineup

“I’m excited to welcome a few folks who have enjoyed success in different parts of the country, and in different areas of the business.”
Jason Barrett

Published

2 weeks ago

on

March 3, 2023

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As we gear up for our 5th annual BSM Summit on March 21-22, 2023, I’m starting to get a better feel for how the final puzzle may look. When this process starts I have no idea how it’s going to turn out because so much depends on who says yes and no. Many who’ve attended over the years have complimented our lineups, and I appreciate it because I put a lot of time and effort into featuring a strong mix of professionals from different areas of the industry. Though I’m proud of the work we do and the schedule we deliver, there are so many things pursued leading up to the event that I can’t help but wonder ‘what if this or that had worked out?’

One thing that some folks don’t understand if they haven’t been to the show before is that this is not a talent conference. It’s a sports media business conference. That means we feature radio, TV and digital executives, programmers, researchers, sales professionals, and yes, talent. I believe on-air performers are vital to the industry’s success and I want the best of the best sharing their wisdom with everyone in the room, but we’re also not going to do two full days of on-air conversations. Being successful in sports media requires understanding the on-air side and the business side, and we do our best to offer a blend of both.

For today’s announcement, I’m excited to welcome a few sports media pros who have enjoyed success in different parts of the country, and in different areas of the business.

First, Rob Parker is someone who has made a name for himself as a radio host, writer, TV commentator, and teacher. He’s currently heard weeknights on FOX Sports Radio, teaches students at USC Annenberg, writes for Deadspin, and is helping MLBBro gain awareness and a bigger mainstream media presence covering Major League Baseball. He’s experienced, smart, and never short on opinion. I’m looking forward to having him join Mitch Rosen of 670 The Score/BetQL, and Scott Shapiro of FOX Sports Radio for a session titled “Aircheck On Campus“. They’ll take the stage together on Wednesday March 22nd from 2:10-2:45.

My next three speakers, all come from the sports radio programming department.

Matt Fishman is the Director of Content for ESPN 850 Cleveland. Fishman has been with the brand since January 2020 following stints at SiriusXM, 610 Sports in Kansas City, and 670 The Score in Chicago. He even wrote for BSM for a few years.

Sean Thompson is responsible for programming decisions at Arizona Sports and ESPN 620 AM. He joined the well respected Phoenix brand after more than a decade in Atlanta at 92.9 The Game. Sean has also worked in affiliate relations for Westwood One, and on the air and as a programmer in music radio for Good Karma Brands in Madison, WI.

Brian Long is the program director of both San Diego Sports 760 and KOGO 600 in San Diego. In addition to guiding two of the top talk brands in his market, he has also managed Seattle Sports 710, and served as the Assistant Program Director for ESPN LA 710.

Matt, Sean, and Brian will be part of one of our final sessions on day two of the Summit. The Last Call which yours truly is hosting, will explore unique revenue opportunities created by local brands, and examine a few new ideas and missed opportunities that brands and managers may want to take advantage of in the future.

As of today, the Summit has more than forty accomplished professionals taking the stage at the Founders Club at USC’s Galen Center on March 21-22, 2023. I’ve got a few others still to announce as well, including a few cool giveaways planned for the WWE’s Kickoff party.

If you haven’t bought a ticket and wish to be in the room, visit BSMSummit.com. The last day for ticket sales will be Monday March 13th. I’m hoping to release our final schedule of sessions on Tuesday March 14th. Hopefully I’ll see you in the city of angels.

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