Barrett Blogs
Gordon Borrell Gets The Radio Business…and So Do I
If you work in a sports radio programming department, chances are you haven’t heard of Borrell Associates. They’re a local media research outfit fronted by Gordon Borrell. Gordon’s resume includes VP of new media for Landmark Communications, helping to establish the first TV, newspaper, cable and network TV websites which he later split up and sold to Earthlink and the Gannett Company, and being a sought-after speaker and media industry analyst, often quoted in The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Ad Age, Forbes, etc.
I’ve never met Gordon but have read a number of his thoughts on our industry and find them fascinating. Many are similar to my own. If you haven’t had a chance to read his interview with Forbes, I strongly urge you to do so. It hit many of the notes that I just touched on in Chicago when speaking to a room full of sports radio programmers.
Among the highlights that grabbed my attention were his comments on the industry needing to find a clear vision for the “new” industry that it’s looking to create. Borrell says that vision should involve being part of a bigger business than terrestrial radio and creating a marketing powerhouse.
Included in that analysis was radio’s inability to sell the right products. He said the industry is heavily reliant on website banner ads and spots in their streaming, neither of which is in high demand by advertisers. To produce solid digital revenue the radio industry must offer other digital services that more directly complement radio campaigns.
What I love about those comments is that I just stood before some of the brightest minds in the format and when I asked which brands were selling merchandise, none were doing so. I informed the group that Clay Travis, Craig Carton, and Crossing Broad were all selling products on their websites. The WWE makes merchandising a critical part of their business strategy. Bleacher Report partners with StubHub to sell tickets. Barstool Sports CEO Erika Nardini says merchandise represents a third of their business, and if sports gambling gets legalized, it’s likely that sports betting brands will accept bets thru their apps, websites and phone lines.
Speaking of Barstool, they provided my favorite example. If a New York sports radio fan wants to show off their admiration for Mike Francesa, guess where they purchase a ‘Numbah One’ or ‘Can’t Spell Francesa without FAN’ t-shirt? Barstool’s website. WFAN? Sorry, they’re not available.
RedBubble also sells a Francesa ‘Mount Rushmore’ shirt. In fact, I went on The Fan’s website last night and guess which ad showed up at the top of their page? RedBubble’s did. The company is promoting the Francesa shirt and reaching its most likely customer (The WFAN listener) by buying banner ads which appear on The Fan’s website. That’s a smart move by RedBubble, but it also highlights a missed opportunity for The Fan.
One brand I observed recently which did a nice job and was on the right track but still missed out on larger opportunities was KFAN in Minneapolis. The Minnesota sports station sold custom t-shirts at the Minneapolis State Fair and from all indications they were popular. KFAN has sold shirts at the state fair for a number of years now. Except when the fair was over, they didn’t continue making those products available for purchase on their website.
What’s the downside to allowing people who didn’t attend the fair to continue purchasing your product? If the demand is strong, why not sell them all the time? In addition to generating additional revenue, the brand also receives free marketing. Isn’t that the point?
Ask yourself this, why are your radio station’s airwaves valuable enough for advertisers to purchase time on to sell products but not good enough to sell your own? You sell content every time your hosts speak. You sell podcasts, social media pages, events, games, etc. All of these items are given promotional time because they’re seen as a benefit to the audience. Why we wouldn’t capitalize on merchandise too is beyond my level of comprehension.
And before you get defensive and tell me “it costs money to create shirts, cups, hats, etc.” let me remind you that there are local and national services available where you only pay for products once they’re ordered. You also have digital and marketing people inside your buildings creating website and social media images and powerpoint presentations to help your sellers look good on client pitches. There’s no reason logos, slogans, catchphrases and on-air incidents can’t be turned into slick looking products sold on your platforms.
It’s pretty simple, if there’s no demand, you don’t place an order. But having them readily available and promoting them across your brand’s platforms should be a no-brainer. The last time I checked, radio was looking behind every door to find new money. Whether you make 25K or 250K thru merchandising, I don’t think we can afford to not take advantage of it.
Borrell also mentioned digital advertising and that’s a hot button issue for me. I see stations bombard their websites with banner ads, creating bad user experiences and nothing productive for the client. It’s happening on social media too. Scroll thru a station’s Facebook or Twitter page and look at how they promote a sponsor. It’s often an image of the client, a few sentences of text talking about something that has zero value to the person following the brand, and do you know what it produces? Minimal likes, shares and engagement.
Now put yourself in the advertiser’s shoes. The rep walks in touting their ratings, personalities and social media following, looking for you to renew. Except when you review the five social posts that went up promoting your company, you discover that the audience didn’t like you enough to respond, share or even press the thumbs up button. That not only makes you question the page’s value, but it can be embarrassing too. I’d be asking “is my brand that big of a turnoff to your listeners?”
What should you be doing? Creating branded content. Involving your talent in unique ways to make the client look good. Check out this example of Patrick “Seton” O’Connor of the Dan Patrick Show. Or this one from Barstool Sports. There’s also this one by Cricket Wireless which was a massive hit.
The bottom line, if you think recording a video endorsement or putting an ad on a social page is going to entice people, good luck. You’ve got to be creative. Try that approach with a tire dealer who’s looking to offer a discount on a new set of tires and nobody will care. Involve your talent in a video where they’re changing tires, competing against one another and having fun busting the chops of the mechanics inside of the garage and people remain interested. That interest becomes conversation which inspires the client to continue buying your brand.
The next piece of feedback that Borrell offered was radio needing to understand that its role isn’t to sell spots but to leverage all the marketing tools at its disposal–spots, events, digital advertising, and marketing services — to help its customers sell products and services. If the industry doesn’t adjust Borrell warns that it won’t be able to grow and thrive.
I don’t disagree one bit. One of my biggest concerns is radio’s failure to adapt in a rapidly changing environment. This is often due to the industry’s ‘proceeding with caution’ mentality and fear of not hitting the bottom line.
Think about it, how long did it take before your operation started hiring digital and social media content creators? Some of you may still have only one person trying to tackle the work for 3-4 brands. If you talk to sports teams, digital businesses or other media operators, there are groups dedicating 5-10 people just on the social/digital experience alone. That’s what it takes to excel and position yourself for future success.
When was the last time you created and monetized a huge ticketed event? Wing Bowl and Ticket Stock are two great examples of stations spending money to make money, but most brands don’t roll the dice that way. Do you think ESPN barters everything to execute the ESPYS? If you want to create impact and non-traditional revenue from buzzworthy events then you have to invest dollars in making those events worthy of buzz.
The final part of Borrell’s interview which I want to weigh in on were his points on radio’s biggest threat being myopic leadership. He said the business is in a period of remarkable growth and opportunity, yet so many leaders believe their job is to defend “radio.” Rather than investing time worrying about the industry’s defense, a better approach would be to spend more time and energy pursuing growth opportunities.
Those opportunities include dashboards, podcasts, and smart speakers, which some industry folks have considered to be threats. Borrell doesn’t believe they are. He continued by noting that industry leaders spend too much energy trying to hold onto their hairy-eared listeners and not enough time trying to figure out how to reach the pink-eared ones.
From where I sit, there’s never been a better time to be in the audio business. People are listening to millions of pieces of content each day. Whether it’s consumed live or on-demand thru a phone, computer, tablet, smart speaker or car stereo is besides the point. It’s the industry’s problem to figure out how to measure it but the enthusiasm for the content is there. I’d much rather walk into a client’s office with a huge splintered audience across multiple platforms than without one.
However, Borrell is exactly right about smart speakers, podcasts and digital dashboards being opportunities, not threats. The reason they’re not warmly embraced is because we tend to ease into things rather than leading the charge. I’m sure NBC, FOX, the NFL and YouTube would’ve preferred sticking to their prior ad models but when audience consumption patterns change, brands must respond.
That requires more training, recruiting, experimenting, and strategic adjusting. It can also mean a financial setback in the short-term to maximize long-term growth. You can get upset by the way the world’s changing, but if you want to avoid becoming Blockbuster Video, a Taxi company, the Newspaper or the next “going out of business” retail outlet, you better read the signs and take action or you’ll pay for it.
Here’s a good lesson. Take a few minutes today and use your smart speaker to listen to a few sports stations. Ask for the host/show names, specific content or even the brand name itself. You’d be surprised by how many stations don’t even come up by their actual name. I’ve been using a smart speaker for the past year and you’d be stunned by how how hard it is to even locate some brands, not to mention, the amount of times where I’m led to listen to stations via TuneIn or iHeartradio instead of the station’s app.
What if your brand uses the moniker The Fan, The Game, ESPN Radio or FOX Sports Radio in its branding. Do you know how many stations exist with those names? What do you think is going to happen when the listener says “Alexa, play The Fan”? They’re going to be sent to whichever station Alexa recognizes first. It’s no different than a Google search. You don’t want to appear on Page 3. The more complicated it becomes (trying to find stations by call letters, cities, website addresses, etc.) to find you, the quicker the audience moves on to something else.
As far as myopic leadership is concerned, I think it’s unfair to place all managers and companies under one umbrella because they’re not all the same. I’ve been fortunate to work with some outstanding leaders and groups, and I’ve encountered a few bad apples too, especially since launching BSM two and a half years ago.
I do become puzzled when I interact with an executive or market manager and they ask for a favor or information, and I reach out afterwards and they can’t even take a few minutes to respond to an email or call. That’s even more likely to occur if the mere mention of doing business together comes up. In this small world of radio where relationships matter, people talk, and your reputation is everything, I think that’s a bad way of operating. Guess what happens when they reach out again asking me for another favor? I stop helping.
One of our industry’s biggest challenges is failing to adjust our viewpoints. Many are consumed by numbers, set in their ways, and see the world thru the inside of their hallways rather than from the outside looking in. They reject the social space because it’s a tougher sell, even though it’s where their audience lives. They turn a blind eye towards diversity and youth development because it requires doing things differently. Mention the idea of charging for digital content and you’re hit with the old school response “people expect radio to be free.”
Because of that logic, 13% of M-F hosting roles in top 20 markets are occupied by minority voices. We ignore the fact that 38% of those cities are populated by minority people, and when you look at the makeup of listening (92% ‘Other’/White and 8% Black/Hispanic) you can see where the growth opportunities lie.
Let me share one of my favorite examples. If you ask an executive what I do, they’ll say “he’s a consultant.” Ask them what that entails and they’ll list off the same description of what consultants did 10-20 years ago. Their impression is that I sit in my office, listen to the radio, analyze the ratings and give advice on content and how to increase numbers.
That’s certainly part of the job, but there’s much more to it than that. I’m a mentor, influencer, connector, teacher, analyst, creator and researcher. If you asked the room of people who spent time with me last week in Chicago, they’d tell you I explored a lot more than just clocks, content and ratings. I traveled to visit with a client this past September for 2-3 days and that entire trip had zero to do with their brand’s on-air execution and everything to do with digital/social analysis and strategy.
My point is that it’s a different world and it requires expanding your horizons.
Along those lines, the idea of charging for digital content may feel awkward because we’re so conditioned to giving it all away, but that shouldn’t deter you from considering it, especially if the audience demand is high for your programming. Good Karma in Cleveland wasn’t afraid to take the risk. Neither was The Athletic. Or ESPN. Or Barstool. Or Bleacher Report. Or the multiple TV and print outlets calling on their fans to help fund their efforts.
I don’t know about you, but I pay $10 per month for the WWE Network and never have buyer’s remorse. I feel the same way about subscribing to The Athletic and Radio Ink. My fiance pays for Netflix and Amazon Prime and is more than satisfied with what she receives each month.
When you add up the amount of hours and resources put into creating digital content and the return on investment associated with it, most brands struggle to turn a profit. It’s why we’re living with an antiquated system of airing 14-20 minutes of commercials per hour on our stations. We’d rather have 100,000 listeners paying zero instead of 10,000 listeners paying $5-$10 per month.
But is that audience truly valuable if it isn’t monetized? We can blame the sales team for not selling it but if demand for your content is high, why wouldn’t you charge for it? What’s better, 10,000 paying supporters or 100,000 free ones that provide no financial impact?
The world is constantly evolving. The user is in control and willing to pay for premium content and experiences. They’ll buy your podcast if it’s unique. They’ll purchase your merchandise and market your brand without needing to be asked. They’ll buy tickets to your events if you make them worthwhile. They’ll also reject your attempts to push things at them in an intrusive way.
Between Gordon Borrell and myself, you’ve been given plenty to think about. I should be taking my own advice and charging you just for reading this. But since I’m a nice guy, I’ll just wait for that follow up call or email that I’m sure you’ve been working on. Since the likelihood of that happening though isn’t very high, I’ll just settle for a free t-shirt or podcast subscription.
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].
Barrett Blogs
Barrett Media Names Dave Greene Chief Media Officer, Adds Perry Simon, And Reveals 2024 Plans
“I’ve spent most of the past 8 years reinvesting in content, staff, events, etc. and with Dave Greene on board, I’m confident we’ll take bigger steps in the right direction.”
Apologies in advance for the length of this column. Today is both exciting and important for yours truly. I’ve spent months analyzing every part of our business, interviewing candidates, and I’m anxious to share with our partners and readers what’s on the horizon for BSM and BNM as we get ready to enter 2024 and look ahead to 2025.
When I wrote my eight year anniversary column in September, I alluded to 2023 being a tough year. Business wise we’ve been strong but managing staff, content, and workload has been harder. Just yesterday I had to deal with a writer bolting without notice. It’s a pain in the ass. Creating and installing a content plan is easy, but if the algorithms change and your team isn’t passionate about the work or in the right roles, growth stalls. You either make changes or accept not being able to reach your goals. For me, the latter is not an option. I’m far too driven, invested and excited by what I do to accept the status quo. I expect us to grow, work hard, make a difference, and enjoy it. If it means having to rattle a few cages to get to where we need to be, then that’s what I’ll do.
The hardest part of 2023 has been knowing we had to move through the present to get to the future. I’ve had to be more protective of my time this year, saving it for clients, partners, staff, Summit planning, content analysis, creating advertising packages, and meeting with potential partners, attending business functions, recruiting staff, and taking a greater role in day-to-day content management. I’ve missed out on calls with friends who wanted to chat about the business, and reduced my writing and podcast involvement because it was necessary. BSM and BNM are both healthy, and as others vacated the space or slowed down, we’ve ramped up and continue to invest in strengthening our coverage.
Before I get into the specifics of what lies ahead, I want to recognize Garrett Searight, Alex Reynolds, Andy Drake, and Stephanie Eads for helping to keep the brand on track during the past few months. I also want to thank all of our writers for continuing to create great content. After the BNM Summit concluded in Nashville, there was so much to do and not enough time. Though it forced many of us to take on more than we wanted to, we got through it, and grew our traffic and impact. That’s a credit to our team, and the trust we’ve built with our audience.
Having set the table now, let me share what’s on the horizon, what’s ending, and where we’re hoping to go in 2024.
Chief Media Officer: I’ve gone through a long, extensive process to identify the right leader to help us grow Barrett Media. The conversations started in May and ran through November, and I had a chance to meet a lot of smart, talented people, and learn a lot about the way our brands are viewed by professional candidates. To everyone I had a chance to interact with along the way, thank you for the interest. It was a pleasure connecting with all of you.
But in the end, there was only one job to offer, and I’m excited to announce that we found exactly what we were looking for. It is my great pleasure to introduce Dave Greene as Barrett Media’s new Chief Media Officer.
The experience Dave brings with him to this position is extensive. He’s been an integral part of building the Podcast Heat Network alongside talented pro wrestling podcaster Conrad Thompson. The company has created, distributed, and monetized podcasts featuring star talents such as Ric Flair, Kurt Angle, Eric Bischoff, Jim Ross, Mick Foley, Jeff Jarrett and others. Before joining the Podcast Heat Network with Conrad, Dave spent two decades in the radio business, working as a VP/GM, GSM, PD, Owner, and and On-Air talent. He has worked for Audacy, Townsquare Media, Cumulus Media, and Flinn Broadcasting. Among the sports and news brands he’s had the pleasure of helping include KMOX and 590 The Fan in St. Louis, 610 Sports in Kansas City, The Ump and WVNN in Huntsville, and KHMO in Quincy. He’s also served as co-owner and publisher of St. Louis Sports magazine, and was one of our first weekly columnists when we started adding writers in 2017.
When I made the decision to add someone to help me manage the content and grow the company, I knew I’d be looking for a unicorn. I initially sought an Executive Editor but as this process moved along, I realized I needed a leader who provided more than just writing and broadcasting skills. They needed to be adept at content and sales, have a passion and ability to write, connected across the industry, experienced in event creation, and equally as important, they had to know our brands and see growth potential in our business the way that I do.
I took my time with this hire because it was too important to make a rushed or bad choice. Since launching BSM in 2015 and BNM in 2020, I’ve seen other comparable media outlets earn seven to eight figure valuations. We’re not at that level and may never be but I believe we’re on the right track to larger success. Though I have zero interest in selling BSM and BNM, and plan on running this company for 15 more years, it only makes sense to make our brands the best they can be, and elevate our value with each passing year. I’ve spent most of the past eight years reinvesting in content, staff, events, etc. and with Dave on board, I’m confident we’ll take bigger steps in the right direction.
Dave’s immediate focus will be to learn the staff, manage the day-to-day workflow, find and write news stories, add a weekly column, contribute on special projects, and execute our editorial calendar. Additionally he’ll work with Stephanie to improve our sales operation, and collaborate with me on new ways to grow events, traffic, newsletters, and audience data. After previously competing against each other in St. Louis, I’m looking forward to being on the side and working together to maximize the full potential of Barrett Media.
Internal Promotions: In addition to strengthening our team with Dave’s addition, I am equally excited to announce three internal promotions. First, I’m thrilled to elevate Alex Reynolds to the role of Digital Director of Barrett Media. Alex has served as our social media coordinator since August 2022, playing a key role in executing our social media strategy. Moving forward, he will continue overseeing our social media plan, while getting further involved in affiliate marketing, website/content partnerships, newsletter creation, podcast/video production, data analysis, and audience growth strategies for our social channels and newsletters. He will also write a brand new original series, ‘Social Studies‘, which debuts in January on BSM.
The second internal promotion I’m pleased to share involves Derek Futterman. Derek is being officially promoted to the role of Sports Media Reporter. Since joining BSM in May 2021, Derek has learned a ton as a Contributing Editor and News Writer. He started by occasionally writing stories, got further involved with daily news, and in the past few months, has taken on the challenge of writing features on executives and broadcasters. He’s covered industry events, the BSM Summit, established relationships, and continues to grow. I’m eager to help him take another step by having him produce three features per week, contribute to special projects, involving him as our backstage interviewer at the BSM Summit, and having him contribute to daily news, while additionally managing BSM’s Jobs section.
The final internal promotion involves Garrett Searight. Garrett joined us in August 2022 as an Editor, and worked his tail off but learned quickly, this is different from working inside of a radio station. Over the past few months he’s raised his game, and I’m pleased to promote him to Managing Editor of BNM starting January 1st. Garrett will report to myself and our Chief Media Officer while writing daily news, and two weekly features for BNM. He’ll also become the point person for our BNM columnists and features writers. We’ve seen BNM make major strides over the past year despite not having a dedicated leader. I can only imagine how much better the brand will be with Garrett fully focused on it. One thing that isn’t changing, he’ll continue to write his weekly sports media column for BSM, and manage BNM’s Jobs section.
Website Redesigns: You’ve likely noticed that BSM and BNM look different today. We have modified both websites to make it easier to find content. Our main pages are often filled with news stories, making it hard to find things. These new layouts allow us to feature six stories in the main sections, and nine in each of the key lower sections, sports/news radio, sports/news TV, and sports digital/media business. The site will also display better on mobile, and we’ve added a sports betting bar on BSM, conference calendars to the lower right of articles on both sites, and we’ve retained the media stock ticker on BNM. All are available for sponsorship. We’re also turning on the comments to allow readers to chime in on our stories.
BSM Writers: To help us elevate BSM in 2024, we’re adding a few new writers, adjusting roles of a few of our contributors, and saying goodbye to a few of our teammates.
Starting with the additions, I’m excited to welcome Moses Massena as a weekly columnist. Moses is a sports television veteran, who spent 14 years at MLB Network, working as a researcher, segment producer, and producer, winning 7 Sports Emmys for his contributions to “MLB Tonight”. He has also worked a producer at MSG Network, and served as a researcher for FOX & ESPN. His professional television career began with SNY from 2007-2009.
Next, I’m pleased to welcome Jeff Kotuby to BSM as a daily sports television writer. Jeff has written content for many broadcasting and pop culture sites, including The Streamable, eBaum’s World, Twin Galaxies, and more. He has already begun diving in on BSM, and I’m looking forward to our readers becoming more familiar with his contributions in the future.
Moving to the internal adjustments, starting in January, Jordan Bondurant will take on a more defined role writing news stories each night on sports digital matters. Garrett Searight will add local and national sports radio content until Dave has a handle on the daily content, and Peter Schwartz and Demetri Ravanos will continue writing weekly features and helping with original projects. Peter will also add a new monthly feature, ‘Where Are They Now?’, which will run the last week of each month starting in January.
Though most of the news is good, we do have to unfortunately share some bad. Brian Noe and Ricky Keeler will be leaving us at the end of December. Both have been with BSM for a long time and have done a great job for us. In Brian’s case, he was one of the first writers to join BSM in August 2017. We wish both of them well, and appreciate all of the contributions they’ve made to our coverage along the way.
I am still looking to add another weekly sports media columnist to BSM. The ideal candidate will have industry experience, a track record of success, and a passion to write about the business. If you or someone you know fits the bill, send a resume and writing sample to [email protected].
BNM Writers: BSM has earned a strong reputation in sports media circles, and we’re determined to make sure BNM is highly regarded as well. To help us continue making progress, we’re excited to announce a few additions. First, please join me in welcoming Perry Michael Simon to BNM as a weekly columnist. Perry’s column will be published every Thursday on the site starting on December 7th.
Perry served as VP and Editor/News-Talk-Sports/Podcast for AllAccess.com after previously working as a Program Director and Operations Manager for KLSX and KLYY in Los Angeles and New Jersey 101.5 in Trenton. His contributions to All Access were excellent, and his knowledge of the industry, and his willingness to challenge it helped many broadcasters learn, adjust, defend, and grow to appreciate his point of view. After a well deserved break following the shutdown of All Access, Perry is refreshed, refocused, and ready to offer his smart, snarky, and strong opinions on the media business. I can’t wait to see what he has in store for our readers.
In addition, BNM is pleased to announce the arrival of Krystina Alarcon Carroll. Krystina joins us in a hybrid role, writing two weekly features and adding a weekly column. She freelances currently for WPIX in New York and previously worked on live, streamed, and syndicated TV programs at NY1, Fox News Digital, Law & Crime Network, and Newsmax. We’re excited to add her to our team, and you can read her first story today on BNM.
As our readers recently learned, we’ve unfortunately had to say goodbye to Jim Avila. Jim did an excellent job for BNM but a great television opportunity came his way, and we wish him nothing but the best moving forward. Ryan Hedrick has also exited. I’m accepting resumes and writing samples from industry pros who have a passion to write daily news TV stories and weekly features. If interested, click here. We have more evaluations to make in the next month to make sure we’re built for success entering 2024. One thing for certain, we are going to keep building BNM and make sure news/talk media professionals have a daily destination to visit and enjoy reading about their format and business.
Two New Newsletters: Another exciting addition coming in 2024 will be the introduction of two new daily newsletters, the BSM Press Pass, and the BNM Wrap Up. We will distribute both starting on January 2nd. The BSM Press Pass will be delivered daily at 5pm ET. The BNM Wrap Up will go out at 6pm ET. We’ll have a different look and approach for both, which I think media folks will enjoy and find useful at the end of the work day.
With the arrival of the Press Pass and Wrap Up, we will continue sending out the BSM 8@8 at 8am ET. The BNM Rundown though will move to an earlier time, going out each morning at 9am ET. The same look, structure and valuable content will be available in both. If you haven’t signed up for BSM’s newsletters, go here. If you wish to receive BNM’s newsletters, go here.
Editorial Calendar: When BSM was born, I wrote and created a lot of features and original stories. From 5 Podcasts in 5 Days to the Sports Radio Draft, the Greatest SportsCenter Anchor Tournament, and a full-day spent with Mad Dog Sports Radio, creative pieces performed well for us. But as day-to-day news grew and our staff expanded, we got away from some of that. We’ve still done things like Meet The Podcasters and Countdown to Coverage, and they too have been well received, so in 2024, we’re going to put more focus on original projects on both BSM and BNM. We have an editorial calendar ready for 2024, and will begin reviewing plans on Tuesday during a zoom call with some of our staff. We’ve got some great things planned for BSM and BNM, so keep an eye out for it.
Member Directory: Since April 2020, we’ve featured the BSM Member Directory to help industry professionals and aspiring broadcasters display their work to PDs, agents, executives, etc.. All members receive jobs listings by email a few times per month, get featured in the BSM 8@8 newsletter, are promoted in content when they have career news to share, and our annual subscribers get a 20% discount on BSM Summit tickets. Memberships are $14.99 per month or $149.99 per year. For 2024, we’re going to explore new ways to deliver more value and grow our member base. Dave, Alex and I will be brainstorming ideas this month in hopes of introducing new benefits to existing and future members during Q1.
Jobs Listings: We’re often asked to post Jobs for companies due to our ability to reach the right people. Knowing how hard it is to find good help, and having used LinkedIn, Indeed and other sites myself, I know it’s not cheap. Other trades charge a few hundred dollars per month to promote openings, and starting today, we’re going to do the same except we’re keeping costs low. For $99 per month companies can now promote open positions through our websites. If you click on the Jobs tab on BSM or BNM, you’ll see the latest listings. If you use the dropdown menu and select ‘Place An Ad on BSM/BNM‘ it allows you to submit an ad and get it posted on the site within 24-hours. I’m hoping it’s helpful.
Ratings Reports: I know the ratings matter to PDs, hosts, and executives. Yet many get upset with the ups and downs of measurement. Maybe it’s not perfect, but this is your report card, and whenever we highlight the industry, it benefits broadcasters, advertisers and listeners. We’re going to write quarterly ratings reports next year for both sports and news/talk radio. We will not do monthlies. All I ask is that we receive the PPM Data reports for each quarter so we can be fair and accurate to all. We write these reports to showcase the strength of two valuable formats, and to recognize all who contributed to each brand’s success. Nielsen is still the king when it comes to measurement, and our stations don’t benefit if they don’t promote their wins to the rest of the business world. My thanks to Harker Bos Group for supporting these stories. I look forward to digging into the data to highlight those who are making an impact in 2024.
JB Column and Podcast: I acknowledged earlier that writing columns and hosting podcasts became harder in 2023. That said, I realize I have a voice that matters. Starting in January, I will begin writing a weekly column on BSM. I will also be bringing back The Jason Barrett Podcast for 26 episodes next year. Half of those episodes will focus on sports media. The other half will explore the news/talk space. We will also video the shows and make them available through the Barrett Media YouTube page. If I was going to do the podcast, I wanted to add a new layer to it. I think this will help us do that and I look forward to hosting it in April 2024. It’s possible that we’ll add other podcasts and video shows in the future, but for now, we’re going to take it one show at a time.
Return of Guest Columns: BSM and BNM have featured guest columns before from Craig Carton, Erick Erickson, Dan Zampillo, Mo Egger, and Bo Thompson just to name a few. I’d like see more media people use our platforms to highlight issues or causes that are important to them. Whether you’re an owner, executive, PD, salesperson, media buyer, host, agent, imager, producer, podcaster or social media director, if you have knowledge to share, and interest in writing a one-time guest piece for BSM or BNM, email [email protected].
BNM Top 20/BSM Top 20: Our two biggest traffic drivers of the year, the BSM Top 20 and the BNM Top 20 will continue to serve the sports and news/talk radio industries. A huge thanks to Steve Stone Voiceovers for signing on as the exclusive sponsor of the BSM Top 20, and JJ Surma Voiceovers for coming on board as the exclusive partner of the BNM Top 20. The BNM Top 20 of 2023 drops December 11-15 and December 18. Voting for industry executives expires later today. The BSM Top 20 of 2023 will be released February 5-9 and February 12. Voting for that series will start in late December, early January. We’re also looking at a few additional projects to recognize the best in the industry. More to come on that in 2024.
BSM/BNM Summits: The BSM Summit returns to NYC on March 13-14, 2024. We’ll be live at the Ailey Theater both days, and have announced 16 top speakers so far and have more still to come. You can purchase tickets to the show here. For those in the news/talk world, we’re going to host our second BNM Summit in September 2024. We’ve chosen the host city and venue and hope to announce our plans after wrapping up this year’s BNM Top 20. Running our next show two months before the election is going to be excited. Stay tuned!
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For eight years, we’ve grown traffic, influence, events, consulting clients, and our writing team by following a simple philosophy, focus on serving the right audience, not the largest. When you commit to quality over quantity and refuse to chase clicks at the expense of relationships, you land in a much better spot. We are where we are today because of our consulting clients, advertising partners, and earned trust and respect with our readers and industry professionals.
That said, while we have proven our value to top talent, executives, agents, and media buyers, some marketing folks have been harder to reach. Stephanie Eads and I have attended many zoom calls and in-person meetings to share our story, and we’ve created packages large and small to accommodate all budgets. I’m hoping that as we enter 2024, those who have been slow to respond or who have stuck to doing the same things repeatedly, take a chance to discover why BSM or BNM should be part of their media mix.
In closing, I am ecstatic about adding Dave Greene to help us grow BSM and BNM. We have a lot of work ahead of us but I’m confident progress will be made. I appreciate everyone who visits our websites, receives our newsletters, attends our Summits, follows and shares our content on social media, and let’s others know about of our existence. Most importantly, I’m grateful to our consulting clients and advertising partners who give us the support we need to be able to continue doing this. We can’t raise the bar without you, and I’m fortunate to be in this position serving an industry I love, respect, believe in, and root for.
Here’s to Barrett Media’s future. 2024 is going to be awesome, and I’m glad to have you along for the ride!
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].
Barrett Blogs
Nick Wright, Danny Parkins, Andrew Fillipponi and Omar Raja Join The 2024 BSM Summit Lineup
All four of these men are extremely talented and accomplished, and I’m grateful to each of them for making time to be with us.
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].
Barrett Blogs
6 Speakers Added To The 2024 BSM Summit Lineup
“Two of these individuals have built successful careers as on-air talent. Four remain involved in management and programming roles.”
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].
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