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Deneroff Still Gets A Rush When The Red Light Goes On

“I still love being there. There’s nothing like going to the ballpark, stadium or arena for a big game. I’ll never take that for granted.”

Brandon Contes

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Unless you work in the sports broadcast industry or consistently listen to radio credits, you might not be aware of the name Howard Deneroff.

As the Executive Producer of Westwood One Sports, Deneroff has been on hand for three decades worth of the world’s greatest sporting events, playing a vital role in how they sound to the listening audience.  Not only has he hired some of the most recognizable voices in sports, but he’s in the booth himself, contributing to Super Bowls, the Olympics, Final Fours and other prestigious events. 

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Howard’s rarely in the spotlight, but he’s been near it for the last 30 years and that’s how he wants it to stay.  He might not enjoy talking about himself, but Howard Deneroff loves discussing his job. Filled with great stories and insight from the inner workings of a sports broadcast, Deneroff exudes the passion that all diehard sports fans and audiences share.

Brandon Contes: Westwood One for 30 years, you’re the Executive Producer give a quick scope of work because you’re well known within the industry, but when I tell my wife I’m interviewing Howard Deneroff today, she says who’s that?

Howard Deneroff: [Laughs] She doesn’t listen to the credits enough.  It’s technically nine years with CBS Radio Sports (different from today’s CBS Sports Radio) and 21 years with Westwood One, but it’s the same entity.  My role is in charge of the play-by-play division of Westwood One, all of our broadcasts for the NFL, NCAA, NHL. We also broadcast the Masters, the Triple Crown of Horse Racing, the Olympics – it’s a full schedule.  I’m in charge of the overall sound, talent and production. I’m also part of the negotiation team for broadcast rights of all our events. 

It’s my job to make sure all of our broadcasts sound up to network standards.  We want people to hear a broadcast and know this is Westwood One. If you hear something wrong, it’s my fault, if you hear something right, everyone else gets the credit [Laughs], which is the way it should be, but hopefully you never hear anything wrong.

BC: Are you surprised about radio’s longevity as someone who’s been in the business for over 30 years?  It’s outlasted CDs and iPods, it’s going to outlast newspapers, maybe even cable.

HD: We use the term audio more than radio now, because you can hear us online, on your phone and a lot of devices.  We’re radio primarily, but people consume audio in a lot of ways, which is part of why the demise of radio has not occurred, despite many people predicting it.  I entered into this business because I love sports and broadcasting and the combination of the two was my way to get into sporting events for free [Laughs].  There are plenty of people that still can’t watch games, for whatever reason, whether they’re at work, in the car or visually impaired.  

There’s still an audience out there and we’re going to produce the best broadcast possible for them, even though we recognize the younger generation isn’t as glued to the radio as I was at their age.

BC: Did you ever have an interest in doing local radio?

HD: When I first started, my goal was to do live sports.  I would have taken a job with any team or local broadcast, it just so happened that I got this network job out of college.  Literally – graduated Sunday, drove Monday, started Tuesday. Not at the level I’m at now, but it was as a production assistant with CBS Radio Sports.  They had broadcast rights to Major League Baseball and the NFL. At the time they just started the Spanish language division to broadcast the World Series and Super Bowl in Spanish.  Spanish was my best subject in school and my grandmother lived in Cuba before coming to the United States, so I learned the language growing up. I don’t speak it fluently, but I’m conversant enough to produce a broadcast in Spanish.

BC: During those early years, were you trying to get on-air or did you quickly realize you liked being behind the scenes?

HD: I did some on-air work in college at Syracuse, but to be fair, I was in college at the same time as Mike Tirico, Ian Eagle and a bunch of talented broadcasters.  Probably 12 to 15 people doing on-air work and I was 15th out of the 15.  We had a great group of broadcasters and I recognized that I was the worst guy there.  We didn’t know Mike Tirico and Ian Eagle were going to be two of the greatest broadcasters of all time.  While I was the 15th best there, I may have been the 16th best in the country, [Laughs] we’ll never know. 

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Nobody wanted to lug equipment and produce.  No one really knew what producing was. But I started to think I might not make it as an announcer, so I went behind the scenes more and from the first time I did a game as a producer – a women’s basketball game, I never wanted to go back on-air.  I did on-air work throughout college, but it was never a priority anymore. Production was perfect for me. I’m organized, I know how it should sound and I can help people get there.  

People like Ian didn’t need a ton of help, but I enjoyed the planning of, ‘let’s do this for four minutes, then take a break and we’ll place this interview here’.  I could still help by knowing it was the first time something happened in a game since 1982 or who holds this statistical record, but producing just felt right for me from the start.  I like making decisions, but I never needed to be the front-man. I never need credit, I just want a good broadcast and that’s my reward.

BC: How many announcers, analysts, reporters, on-air personalities do you hire in a given year?

HD: It’s about 12 broadcast teams for men’s and women’s NCAA basketball, six for the NFL, college football is two or three, and between everything we do with the NHL and all other sports, it’s about 50.  Then in an Olympic year it’s another dozen. I get a lot of requests and audio demos sent to me that are good, but I can’t hire everybody. I love the NCAA tournament because I get to hire a lot of people, but I still might only be hiring 12 people in the entire country!  I hate having to tell people no, that’s the bad part of the job. I love being able to hire people, to tell them yes and find new talent. Out of 365 days of the year, there is probably no more than 15 days in the year that I don’t get tape or an email sent to me inquiring about a position or asking me to listen.

BC: Do you enjoy critiquing audio?

HD: I love it, I wish I had more time for it.  I remember when I was graduating college, there were no smartphones, email or links, so you would send out cassette or videotapes and it was very hard to get a response.  When I was sending tapes, I didn’t like not getting responses, so I always try to respond, even if it’s just saying I might not get to this for six months or apologize because I don’t have an opening right now.  But it’s important to me to at least send a note. 

BC: How much of a tape do you like to listen to?

HD: People say you know quickly if someone is good and sometimes you will within a few minutes, but I listen to a full game or at least a half of a game.  Somebody could be good for three or four minutes and then just go off the rails. If I’m considering hiring someone, I definitely listen to the full game, but even if a student sends me a tape, I’ll listen for at least a half.  Too many things happen in a game where I like to listen to more than just a few minutes.

BC: Is it fun to find younger broadcasters and watch them grow?  Just like a general manager of a team drafting and developing their own talent or even as a listener, I remember hearing Kevin Burkhardt on the FAN and then seeing him on SNY.  Now he’s a top broadcaster in the country and I get excited when I see him because it was fun to hear and watch that progression.

HD: Yeah and there’s no question you never want to swing and miss.  Have I done that? Yes, nobody’s perfect, but you recognize it quickly.  You want to hit a homerun, you want broadcasters that will never have the listener thinking ‘how did this guy get on-air?’  I’d like to think our track record is pretty good and we’ve had very minimal complaints from affiliates regarding talent. Talent is still only one part of it.  I’m a producer at heart and producers are very important, engineers are hugely important. Without the right equipment, it doesn’t matter who’s on-air. You can have Mike Tirico and the best analyst, but if the mic isn’t on, it won’t matter.  A good broadcast encompasses everything. Having good talent helps to navigate through tough times. Look at the end of this year’s Kentucky Derby when they’re waiting to see the decision on the winner. There’s no road map for that delay, there’s no plan for a blackout in the Super Bowl.

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BC: You were in the booth for that Super Bowl, Ravens and 49ers?

HD: Oh yeah.

BC: Did you think you hit the wrong button?

HD: [Laughs] The front row of the booth is Kevin Harlan, Boomer Esiason, a spotter, a statistician and me.  The second row is our pregame and halftime show hosts, Jim Gray, Larry Fitzgerald and our producer for that and the third row is engineering and equipment. 

I go to grab a cue card for Kevin, so I turn away from the field and my headphones go out which happens occasionally if I turn too far and the headphones get pulled out of the socket.  That’s what I assumed happened. I turn back to plug them in and look at my box that has all my buttons to talk with everyone, it’s like a mini intercom system and it’s dark. “Oh Crap.”

Kevin starts hitting me and banging his headphones to signal he has nothing, I look down and see he’s dark and now it’s “oh s***”

Keep in mind this is all within three seconds!  I turn around to yell for an engineer to see what’s going on and I see complete darkness and we have racks of equipment that should be lit up!  Now the expletives get worse. Within those first few seconds, I’m thinking it’s us. Once I look out and see the whole stadium is out we realize, okay this is everyone.

My first year at CBS Radio was 1989, my first World Series was in the Bay Area, which of course had an earthquake during our pregame show.  I was a rookie and let everyone tell me what to do, but I never thought 20, 25 years later I would go back to that experience. You’re not a sports broadcaster anymore, you’re now a news reporter, because at this point we don’t know if it’s the stadium, the whole city of New Orleans, terrorists or what.  Thank God the stadium had one bank of lights on so everyone inside wasn’t in a panic. 

We have an emergency phone that we actually call the “oh s*** phone.”  I call the studio and they tell me we’re in a commercial break which is what we’re supposed to do.  After the break, I hand the phone to Kevin Harlan so he can explain to our listeners what’s going on.  Kevin then hands the phone to Boomer and they go back and forth on-air.

BC: So you’re now doing a broadcast during the Super Bowl through a landline telephone?

HD: Right, which is exactly what they did in 1989 (during the earthquake).  First, they try to explain what happened, what they heard, what it looks like.  One of our engineers worked at our radio affiliate in New Orleans, WWL. He called them to find out if the outage is the entire city.  Once we find out its isolated to the stadium, we report that. We keep trying to find out information and report, because even the PA system was out and the 70,000 people in the stadium have a radio at their seat, so they’re learning what happened by listening to us.  But those unusual things are the beauty of live broadcasting. That was probably a bigger adrenaline rush than anything I’ve ever done.

We probably received more positive feedback about those 36 minutes than all of the Super Bowls I’ve worked combined. 

BC: There’s certainly a different rush with anything that’s live.

HD: I love it and that’s when I’ll know it’s time to stop doing this, unless they tell me first because you don’t control your own fate.  But when that red light goes on, I still get an adrenaline rush and until I no longer get that rush, why would I want to stop doing this job?

BC: Were there other things from earlier in your career that you didn’t foresee being helpful, but later on you were able to look back on.  Similarly to how the earthquake broadcast helped you know how to handle a Super Bowl power outage?

HD: When I first started at CBS, I used to walk upstairs to the television studios and watch how they would do the NFL Today because halftimes for games start at different times and they only have one studio show.  How does one show do all of the different games when each halftime overlaps? I was fascinated to watch because it’s a jigsaw puzzle, but I never thought it would be relevant for me. 

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In 2003, we take over the NCAA Tournament and we have individual basketball games that start and break at different times and they all overlap. So 14 years later, I knew how to jump back and forth and arrange it.  It’s the crux of how we do the tournament because we’re doing every game, and while fans of a specific team can hear the game in its entirety online, we have a RedZone style broadcast for terrestrial radio.  You always need to watch and learn around you because you never know when something will come in handy.

BC: Who’s in charge of the RedZone style broadcast that you hear on WFAN and terrestrially around the country?  Who decides what game to play and when to switch to a different game?

HD: That’s me and (WFAN afternoon host Mike) Francesa kills me every year on-air [Laughs].

I’m watching every game simultaneously and making those judgements and there’s a lot that goes into it.  There could be a three point game where a 12 seed is beating the 5 seed and it’s at the 4 minute, 28 second mark.  Fans might see the score and want me to switch to that broadcast, but I’m not going to that game when they have an automatic TV timeout at 4 minutes.  You’ll hear 20 seconds of action and then a break. Why not stay with action (of the first game) and wait until after they have a timeout? If you’re just looking at the score, you want us to go to that game because it’s a 12 beating a 5 with less than 5 minutes to go.  Trust me, I’m getting there, but there are a lot of factors with timeouts, commercials and live reads. You want to join cleanly. My goal is to give fans the most action possible, with the least amount of interruption.

There are times you pick wrong.  We can have two close games and need to choose which one is going to have the better ending.  There’s no question I’ve made mistakes in switching off a game. It’s an impossible task, but we joke every year – and guess what time we’ll start getting criticized for not switching to a different game.

BC: Where are you doing that from?

HD: Our New York studios, which is the CBS Broadcast Center.  It’s in the same building, so we can have our eyes on everything TV does, which is great.

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BC: How often are you at games and in the broadcast booth?

HD: I’m on the road 200 to 250 days a year, depending on if we have the Olympics or something like that.  It’s less than I used to be, but it varies depending on what rights we have. I used to do more events, but we have very qualified people to do the job without me in the booth.  I still love being there. There’s nothing like going to the ballpark, stadium or arena for a big game. I’ll never take that for granted.

BC: When you are in the booth, are you ever critiquing the announcers?  Or is it mostly making sure everything sounds smooth and you’re hitting commercial breaks on time?

HD: Let’s be honest, the most important thing on any broadcast is that the commercials play properly, whether I want to admit it or not.  Without commercials, none of us have jobs and I get that, but there’s more to it. What are you going to talk about, for how long and in what order during a broadcast.

BC: So you’re also developing topics for pregame and in-game conversations?

HD: Yes, and when you hire top talent we usually know what they’re going to talk about, but there are times you’ll have a great sound bite or highlight to incorporate that’s relevant to the game.  Once the puck is dropped or kickoff happens, most of the time it’s left up to the announcer because we have the luxury of hiring the best of the best. There are times I’ll prompt the announcer or analyst.  It could be as basic as saying in their ear ‘hey coach, would you go for it on 4th down or not?’

It could also be like Super Bowl XL – Marv Albert’s doing the game with Boomer Esiason and it was the second or third play from scrimmage in the second half.  The Steelers have the ball and Willie Parker breaks through for what ends up being a touchdown run. It was clear from about 10 yards past the line of scrimmage he’s going to score, so I tell Boomer in his ear to ‘layout’ – don’t say a word, don’t jump on Marv.  I rarely say that to an announcer, so if I do, they know it’s for a good reason. 

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I then yell out to my statistician ‘how long will this run be?’  He tells me 75 yards, and I ask if he’s sure, 100% sure? He said ‘yeah, why?’  Because the record is 74 yards, Marcus Allen. So right after Marv says touchdown Willie Parker, I’m in his ear saying ‘longest run in Super Bowl history.’

Marv then regurgitates, “The longest run from scrimmage in Super Bowl history.” (Howard said this doing a decent Marv Albert impression)

I tell the studio to cue up the Marcus Allen highlight from Super Bowl XVIII, which we have ready to go just in case and I want that coming out of the commercial break.  Next, I tell Jim Gray, Marcus Allen is in the MVP suite because he was honored at the game as a previous Super Bowl MVP, go ask him about his record being broken. 

Sometimes you need the stars to align, but there’s also the preparation of having that Super Bowl XVIII highlight ready to go.  You want the broadcast to be entertaining. If you don’t have it, is anybody listening saying, ‘why don’t they have that highlight?’  No, but I think people like hearing those old highlights that pertain to and enhance the broadcast.

BC: Have you ever gotten a tape that someone sends and you don’t think they’re ready yet and then years later you hear them with another company and now they are ready for network?

HD: I can give you a specific example.  We like to have different calls from NCAA Conference Tournaments for potential Cinderella teams.  We already have a lot of the larger schools because some of those tournaments are on our network, but we don’t do all of the smaller conference tournaments.  In 2008, we wanted a play-by-play highlight from the University of Evansville and with smaller schools, they don’t have a producer or anything, we have to contact the announcer directly.  We get a copy of a game winning call from their play-by-play voice, Brandon Gaudin.

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It was a nice call, nothing earth-shattering.  After the tournament he sends a thank you note and asks if I would listen to and critique some of his tape.  I gave him a list of probably 10 notes, comments such as you didn’t give me the shot clock here, I’d like to know the free-throw percentage or this was too much information with the starting lineups, simple concrete items like that. 

A couple years later Brandon gets the Butler job.  He reaches out again and asks for another critique.  Then Butler gets to the Final Four and now he introduces himself in person and asks, ‘Can you listen again?  I think I’ve really improved.’ I give him a few more pointers and he asks if I’m closer to working for Westwood?  I said ‘you’re getting closer, but still need a couple more things.’

Then he gets the Georgia Tech job.  After a year, he asks me to listen again and now he’s really close, he needed one more year.  He worked on a couple of things that year and then I hired him. It was a progression of around six years.  I liked his persistence, he never just said, ‘I’m good I should work for you.’ He just wanted to get better.  I’m happy to listen, I like listening. I find it funny that people trust me on it, but I think I hear things differently than people.  I can’t call games the way others can, but I know how it should sound.

BC: You mentioned things like not giving the shot clock or free throw percentage, but when you listen to a broadcaster from a small school, how much do you factor in that they might not have a producer, statistician or someone in the booth helping them give the right statistic at the right time?

HD: In 2003, I was in Omaha for the College World Series and Kevin Kugler, who worked there locally at the time, asked me to listen to a tape.  I forget the exact game in the tape, but it was a football game between two teams you never heard of, Division II or III. The quality of the tape was HORRIBLE.  It was distorted, it was windy, it was terrible and my first question was ‘who’s your engineer?’ He said, ‘I’m the engineer’ – so I told him, ‘well I’m never hiring you for that.’ [Laughs]

But in the tape, he says, ‘That’s a 17-yard gain. He now has 4 catches for 78 yards. They’re 3 for 7 on third down.’  He gave instant numbers like that throughout the entire game, so I asked ‘who’s your stat guy?’ He said, ‘I don’t have a stat guy,’ so I asked ‘well who’s your spotter?’  Again, ‘spotter? I don’t have a spotter.’ I was so impressed that he could handle all of that. We hired him for the network within a year after that and he’s been a great addition ever since.

The answer is yes, I recognize the resources are different.  I tell people NFL games are easy compared to Division II games, because you have a statistician, spotter, all the press notes you want, all the information and video you want.  If you can do a high school football game well, you can do an NFL game. That doesn’t mean I’m giving someone from high school an NFL gig, but I don’t want anyone to ever be discouraged in saying ‘I know I’m only doing high school or Division III games,’ because it’s not that far of a leap. 

BC: I compare sports talk radio in the way it’s changed to Major League Baseball because it used to be, put the mic on and take calls; baseball used to be throw the ball, hit the ball.  Baseball has gotten so specialized with analytics and everything in radio is now analyzed and debated should we take calls, should we use guests or radio bits, how much audio and music beds should there be.  Both have modernized. Similarly, how have play-by-play broadcasts changed?

HD: Great question.  I don’t know that it’s changed as much, but if you listen back to old broadcasts; World Series, NBA, Super Bowls – the game ends, they give the final score and throw it right to a break.  The Super Bowl ends and they would just go right to a commercial! What I would say changed the most is the pre and post-game shows being longer. We get everybody we can to talk about the game.  If you’re a fan, you want to hear from the players to know what happened, what did it feel like? And you want that from the losing side too, which never would have been done in the old days.

Part of the reason for longer pre and post-game shows is bigger rights fees.  In order to pay for those, you need a certain number of commercials. But when I first started, we would go on-air for the Super Bowl at six o’clock for a 6:18 kickoff – we had an 18 minute pregame show.  Then we expanded it to start at 5:45 – a half hour pregame show! 

Super Bowl XXXII in San Diego – the story is John Elway’s last chance at winning.  We talked to him at the hotel and he gave us 14 minutes. To this day, I think it was the best interview we’ve ever done, but I couldn’t air more than six minutes of it!  We had to air the parts talking about how can they beat the Packers and the road to the Super Bowl. I will tell you, the half of the interview that did not air was better than the half that did, but we needed to prioritize specific quotes.  I was so frustrated by that, so I went to our bosses and told them they need to give us more time. They have to be able to sell the Super Bowl and let us do a longer show. So for Super Bowl XXXIII, we added a one-hour optional pregame show called Super Sunday to see if affiliates would take it and it was awesome, but we still didn’t have enough time!  Super Bowl XL, we added another hour and then XLV, we added another hour, XLVIII we added another.  Now we have six hours of pregame, but as little as 21 years ago, we had less than 20 minutes, which is crazy.

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The fans are also smarter because of the access to information they have.  They know the game better, so you can be more technical on the broadcast. When we do a broadcast, we’re blacked out in the cities of the game, so if we’re doing a Jacksonville-Tennessee game Thursday night in December and you’re listening in Seattle, you’re a diehard fan.  You’re not a casual fan. We can be more in depth and technical. We can say “Cover 2” or the “A-gap.” It’s still important to teach, but the audience is smarter than they used to be with the information they have.

There are also many more former players and coaches on the broadcast than there used to be.  They give a different perspective and take the audience into the huddle. Also, audio technology has changed – you can hear the puck hit the post, a thunderous dunk or the swoosh of the net at the buzzer, and we incorporate that into our broadcast.  It’s all part of today’s audio experience. 

BC: You mentioned that Seattle fan listening to the Titans and Jaguars game in December, they might be a diehard fan, but they also might have money on the game.  What’s the thought on bringing sports wagering into a broadcast?

HD: For the first 29 years that I’ve done this, gambling was completely off limits for every sport.  It was never a discussion. Now the NHL has a team in Vegas and the NFL is going to Vegas. The NFL just sent us revised guidelines for advertising because for years, we weren’t able to take advertising dollars from casinos and now all of a sudden we’re allowed to.  I don’t think we’re at the point where on the broadcast we’re going to talk about the line or the over/under. At some point, it looks like there will be in-stadium betting and once the NFL opens it up, we’ll open it up. There’s an audience that cares about it, but they’re not tuning into us to hear the spread.  They tune in to hear what’s happening. They want to know the score, but they don’t need us to tell them the betting line is 4.5. At some point? Maybe, but not yet. We might eventually decide we could sell a show specifically to gambling, but in terms of within the play-by-play, I don’t think we’re there yet.

BC: Do you do mock broadcasts when trying to pair an announcer and analyst?

HD: Very rarely.  It’s difficult budget wise, but generally because we’re the network and we can be more selective, everyone who I will consider hiring already has a tape.  It’s very rare that we hire someone who hasn’t already done the job somewhere. Occasionally, television will do a mock broadcast and let me see it, but to see how two people will work together, I’ll put them on a less important game to start.  I won’t put a pair on the NCAA Tournament together if they haven’t worked in the regular season together. We’ll take a Tuesday night regular season game in February to see how a pair will mesh, but I have the advantage of choosing from the cream of the crop.

BC: Can you tell after one game?  Do you need to hear a full season to see how broadcasters will develop together?

HD: If I don’t think they mesh together after one game, it’s unlikely they’ll have a second game together. Chemistry can develop, but if it’s bad, I don’t think it’s going to get fixed and there’s no need to try when I know they’re each good enough to work with someone else.  There’s really not a lot of that because we have the luxury of hiring from some of the best in the country. They don’t need a lot of coaching. Some guidance, but the critiques I give to the people I’m hiring is different from the critiques I give the people I’m not hiring. 

BC: How important is it to have a play-by-play announcer with personality?  Ian Eagle, Kevin Harlan they’re funny, they have personality, is that something generally you look for?

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HD: Personality is more important on TV than radio.  Description is more important for radio than personality.  Relay the information, describe what’s happening, get excited about what’s happening.  Passion is more important than personality. Personality can help and can make you better, but we don’t need a comedian.  The analyst needs to have personality more so than the play-by-play voice because the play-by-play announcer is there to describe what’s happening, while the analyst needs to relay the information with an entertaining delivery.  A play-by-play announcer can have all the personality in the world, but if I don’t know where the ball is, it’s irrelevant for radio.

It needs to sound fun because at the end of the day, it’s sports.  If we’re not having fun, the listener knows. We’re at a football game, basketball, hockey game.  We take this seriously and dead air is terrible. A commercial doesn’t play, that’s terrible [Laughs].  But big picture, sports is a release and putting it into perspective, the worst day at our job is better than the best day for a lot of people at their job.  It’s an awesome job. I like talking about the job, I don’t like talking about me [Laughs].  I think I have a very good ear, but it’s not a skill like a heart surgeon, so I get uncomfortable talking about myself because someone else can do this job well.

BC: But you do influence what millions of people hear on the radio in a given year, so there is an interest in how you go about the job.

HD: I never thought about it that way.  That’s interesting, but I consider myself part of that target audience.  I’m a diehard sports fan, so when I’m working on a broadcast, I just try to think about what is it that I would like to know.  

Brandon Contes is a freelance writer for BSM. He can be found on Twitter @BrandonContes. To reach him by email click here.

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Day Spent With: The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz

“What a beautiful gift to have the ability to make something that is about you; your imaginations; your principles and have it reach and imprint someone else.”

Derek Futterman

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Day Spent With – The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz

We’ve reached the end of BSM’s ‘Day Spent With‘ series. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading these pieces as much as we’ve enjoyed creating them for you. I want to thank all of the brands, companies, and professionals who made time for Derek Futterman during the past two months. None of these projects work without help from a lot of quality people.

Our goal from the start of this series was to shine a light on what a day entails inside each workplace. Whether folks work in radio, digital, television, voiceover/imaging, media buying or management, consistent success can not be achieved if all departments aren’t working in sync. Fortunately, we’ve got a lot of good ones continuing to raise the bar across the sports media industry.

To close things out, we sent Derek to South Beach to spend a full day with The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz. My thanks to Dan, and the entire crew for making time for us. I also want to thank Bimal Kapadia for putting the wheels in motion. We don’t travel a lot for projects, but when this idea came up, I thought it’d be a great way to put a bow on an awesome series. I’m sure as you read the piece, you’ll agree that it offers a great peek into life on the pirate ship. I just hope Derek didn’t bring home an eye patch or lose a hand in the process.

Jason Barrett

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A loud bell rings two minutes before the top of the hour, signifying to all those within the facilities that the show is about to begin. This tone, albeit fleeting in its duration, has a resonance that rings true throughout the entirety of The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz, but it is hardly the catalyst for the natural energy and congeniality exhibited inside the studio walls. There is a calculated verve and mental calmness that permeates the space combined with an inherent awareness of the expectations and commitment to its audience.

Although there are elements of improvisation and joviality within the three-and-a-half hour show, hosts and contributors do not simply enter the studio without a plan. Personnel arrive at the Meadowlark Media studios in Miami in two waves with a cognizance of news across a variety of topics. In an office space with the Port of Miami and Kaseya Center visible in the distance, the cast brainstorms potential talking points and informs those involved in audio and video production of any content they might need. Of course, part of the job is also remaining prepared for a deviation off script depending on the discussion percolating or breaking news off which to react.

Co-hosts Dan Le Batard and Jon “Stugotz” Weiner have been working together for nearly two decades, first at 790 The Ticket in Miami. The local version of the show quickly flourished through its blend of sports and other worldly discussion. There have been several different permutations over the years. Consistent through it all is knowing and accepting their roles, and embracing the sublime to the ridiculous, while enjoying content selection freedom.

“I would say that we’re following our curiosities, so I want the show to have range, but I’m going to say [it is] a sports show in costume; a sports show in disguise,” Le Batard said. “I want it to be about other things and it also has sports, but I don’t want it to be limited as a sports show.”

Le Batard and his team do not hesitate to address divisive issues head on, adopting a direct approach rather than espousing their opinions in a indirect manner. There is both deliberate and indirect self-effacing comedy within the show, which begins with a “Local Hour” broadcast streamed live on YouTube weekday mornings at 9am ET.

Consumers wait for the countdown to commence to showtime, which is set to a pulsating theme song with its wide array of cast members engaging in different activities around the facility. Conversely, Weiner is stuck in Miami traffic trying to arrive at the studio on time and dashes through the door to arrive just on time. Abstaining from the pre-show meeting, however, is usually part of the plan in how he executes his infamous “Stugotz” character that has been cultivated for nearly two decades.

“In terms of what’s going to be thrown at me, I really have no idea, and there are many, many times I don’t know what my response is going to be to some of the topics of the day until it’s actually asked to me by Dan,” Weiner said. “I’d rather just not know where I’m going to go and just go with my gut.”

On this particular version of the program, Weiner is not in the studio and in the midst of taking vacation. Miami Herald sports columnist Greg Cote is live for his weekly appearance on the program in a tradition that has become a favorite among colleagues and listeners. Le Batard opens on a somber note, discussing the sudden collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, disclosing that the program was not going to show the video of the incident.

Cote believed that the video should be shown one time just as it is any calamity, prompting Le Batard to explain his opinion on how the footage will likely be promulgated by the internet. The program then moves on to discuss Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, who had his properties raided by authorities as part of a federal investigation pertaining to sexual assault, sex trafficking, firearms and illegal narcotics.

Over the years, industry professionals have frequently associated the word ‘pontificate’ with Le Batard, referring to how he expresses himself and often spans beyond sports. During his time at ESPN, the program had to clear certain creative elements or segment ideas with upper management. Many people began to foresee a split between Le Batard and ESPN approaching, and that resolution was eventually reached. Le Batard thinks critically and objectively about different topics, outlining his opinions about various matters on the air, and he always desired the ability to possess more creative control.

“Our show is just meant as an audio experience in a family-like environment, creating laughter and weirdness and pretending like it doesn’t know a lot of people are watching,” Le Batard said. “That needs to be protected, and we’ve thrown a lot of change at it.”

In the last several years alone, the program has enacted alterations in its process pertaining to the studio, cast members, clock, visual elements and start time. At the same time, Le Batard’s brother, David, was battling brain cancer and later passed away, but he did not want to give his audience the vulnerability associated with the hardship. Le Batard considers the creative process to be sacred and values the intimacy of their communication medium.

“I allow our most passionate fans to have strong opinions that make me reconsider mine,” Le Batard said. “I like a community that has sparks in it even if we get accused of being an echo chamber, but I would say that over the last couple of years, I have found fewer and fewer spaces where the criticism is constructive enough to be heard over all of the poisonous devices [and] rhetoric that is now internet spaces that are covered in acid and fire.”

When radio show producer Chris Cote was included in layoffs at ESPN in November 2020 without Le Batard’s knowledge, Le Batard immediately re-hired him as his assistant and offered to pay his salary. For Cote, the act was unsurprising because of Le Batard’s loyalty to his staff members and something he believed precipitated his exit from ESPN.

“That was an interesting time,” Cote recalled. “I would say I’ve made the joke on the air before that people like to blame me and say I’m the reason we left ESPN. I think what happened with me was the final straw that led to the divorce.”

Cote knew Le Batard from the time he was young since he worked with his father, Greg, at the Miami Herald. During those visits though, he did not realize Le Batard could one day be his boss. He now views it as funny that things ended up unfolding in this manner. Le Batard hosted this edition of the show with Greg Cote, someone he originally wanted as his partner on the air.

“If he and I had chosen to do the show with 20 years of reps, it would have felt like Larry David and the late Richard Lewis,” Le Batard said. “It would have been a chemistry because our friendship is real. It’s not borne of television; it’s not borne of broadcasting.”

“My dad brings that special sauce that Stugotz brings to the show where we’re talking about sports and then he says something, and the next thing we know, we’re spending 10 minutes just making fun of something he said,” Cote added. “My dad is like the gift that never stops giving. He’s just a gold mine for random stuff that has nothing to do with the conversation we’re trying to have, and he’s a content factory.”

The character of ‘Stugotz’ is not as much acting as it is an exaggerated version of who Weiner genuinely is in his life. On the show, he tries to represent how most people consume sports, affirming that Le Batard does it in a different manner. Part of his inspiration came from Christopher “Mad Dog” Russo, longtime radio host at WFAN and SiriusXM. Weiner believes that things clicked when he started to mock him rather than try and successfully facsimile his approach.

Part of the allure and mystique around ‘Stugotz’ is in his absences and fans not knowing when he will be on the show. As time has progressed, the character has appeared on other programs such as the God Bless Football and STUpodity podcasts, but he has long been synonymous as Le Batard’s sidekick who is relatable and intriguing. When he is missing from the program, the show rebrands its graphics to read “The Dan Le Batard Show without Stugotz” and plays off the aura of the personality.

“I wish it was my idea, I’m upset that it wasn’t my idea and this is the first I’m finding out about it,” Weiner said. “You’re telling me they do this every time I’m not there? Well two things – it shows, (a), how much attention I’m paying to the show when I’m not there, which is slightly less than I am when I am there, and No. 2 is my reaction to it. Me laughing is what makes our show our show. I’m pissed that I didn’t come up with the idea; I am proud of them for coming up with that idea and executing it. It’s laugh-out-loud funny.”

Le Batard and Stugotz broadcast their show facing a pane of transparent glass, behind which lies an addendum to the studio space. Chris Cote is part of the group within the “Shipping Container,” a room containing different producers and contributors who operate audio equipment, coordinate guest appearances and frequently contribute to the conversation. Both areas are adorned with artwork and sports memorabilia from the city of Miami. Mike Ryan (Ruiz) has been part of this labyrinth for several years, especially when he served as the show’s executive producer. In the present moment, this role is filled by several different personnel who rotate depending on schedule and show needs.

“The best shows are when there’s a lot of creative energy bouncing off one another [and] a lot of workshopping because this is basically a writers’ room where we trade off ideas and we try to figure out, ‘Who’s the best vessel for this joke?,’” Ryan said. “Sometimes we feed it to one of the talents; sometimes someone else says it here.”

Joining Ryan in the Shipping Container during this show were Billy Gil, JuJu Gotti and Anthony Calatayud. The live-streamed “Local Hour” is packed with topics and news the show discussed beforehand. Every hour of the program averages approximately 40 minutes on the podcast side and contains two breaks, each with a two-minute duration. Once the hour ends, Le Batard and the staff usually take a 15-minute intermission before resuming the show.

“We have a show that is kind of imperceptible when Dan isn’t driving a show,” Ryan said. “It’s this amorphous ensemble, and the trick is to not let anybody really know that there is a perceived leader – that it’s all just a free-flowing conversation – and I think that that’s a delicate balance that comes with time and developing chemistry.”

Gil was responsible for executive producing this edition of the show, running the audio board and coordinating with the television producers. When Le Batard mentioned Alan Thicke, Gil sifted through audio archives to track down something related to the topic. Additionally, he was taking notes to denote different titles and descriptions for segments geared to be released in podcast form.

“A lot of times, we’re trying to come up with jokes for Stugotz,” Gil said. “There’ll be days where naturally just bits will form, so then we’re getting sound for the bits; having voices done for the bits; kind of putting that together so there’s opens [and] closes. If a top-five or something comes up naturally, figuring out the top five. There’s a lot of in-show production and things going on that if you’re listening, we’ve gotten away with people being like, ‘Oh wow, that’s a lot of prep,’ and it’s like, ‘It happened on the fly.’”

Le Batard and former ESPN president John Skipper founded Meadowlark Media in 2021, a content studio with a wide array of programming and partnerships spanning sports and entertainment. The move was liberating to many show members and has been built out through The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz and other programs available in both audio and video formats. Le Batard’s show in particular has significantly expanded the staff situated within its Shipping Container with young and dynamic talent.

JuJu Gotti, for example, landed the job as the show’s social media manager through a friendship he forged with Ryan. Gotti gained attention when he revealed to Mike Golic and Trey Wingo that he had a tattoo of Greg Cote and was later featured on the program. Even though he does not live in the area, Gotti travels to the city once every two weeks where he provides his opinions and monitors social media platforms. Later in the day, Gotti participates in several meetings with the Miami-based Meadowlark Media team and continues his other work.

“I look at it like it’s a blessing to wake up every day, so anything beyond that is triple exciting because the people who are in the Shipping Container with me [are] not necessarily bad people at all,” Gotti said. “I enjoy hanging with them and talking to them, so it feels wonderful.”

After working as a video producer for Sports Illustrated, Jessica Smetana joined Meadowlark Media in its early stages and is on the verge of her third year with the company. Growing up as a devoted fan of ESPN and Le Batard’s program, she understands that there are diversified interests and opinions. Smetana does not hesitate to present her perspectives on different matters, such as the demise of Sports Illustrated amid uncertainty towards its future with a change in publishers.

“I don’t want to regret not saying what’s on my mind a month from now when I see a bunch of my friends out of jobs,” Smetana explained, “so I think it just comes from not wanting to hold anything back when some of those topics come up.”

Meadowlark Media and DraftKings agreed to a distribution deal in 2021 where The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz, along with programs across the “Le Batard & Friends Network” are disseminated to a variety of different outlets. Ninety minutes of Le Batard’s show airs live on DraftKings Network every day as part of a two-hour programming block, the final 30 minutes of which is a replay of selected material from earlier in the show.

Within the ensuing hours of the show, which includes interviews with journalists Jemele Hill and Tim Kurkjian, Le Batard poses interview questions to his guests surrounding current events and new projects. The show also welcomes Amin Elhassan to the studio, who occasionally fills in as a host while also growing his Oddball podcast.

Le Batard, Cote and Elhassan are in the main studio and speak with those in the “Shipping Container” through the glass. Weiner believes the wide array of voices and perspectives keeps the show young and relevant as he and Le Batard continue to grow older. In watching the show evolve over time, Le Batard evinces that the new cast members coerce the audience to face unpredictability and leads to the show deviating from doing things in the exact same ways as it had previously.

As the newest member of the program, Lucy Rohden splits her time between the Shipping Container and reporting around the country. She was recently in Iowa covering the first round of the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Tournament, including watching her alma mater Iowa Hawkeyes and star guard Caitlin Clark.

“I found that traveling and creating content on the road is what I enjoy doing most, and so if that means sacrificing time on the show to get to do that, that’s sort of worth it for me,” Rohden said. “But it’s still something I’m balancing and learning how to do, and it’s something that the show is also balancing and learning how to incorporate because they haven’t really had an on-the-road correspondent before, so it’s still a work in progress, but lots of caffeine.”

Smetana and Rohden are the only two women who are in the Shipping Container. They have developed a friendship while working together. When Rohden first joined the show, Smetana helped her assimilate into the program and a new city. Both realized how important it is to include women on the show, especially with the proliferation of women’s sports.

“It’s always disheartening for me when I’m watching a sports show and I’m looking for someone who looks like me or who I relate to,” Rohden said, “and so I think it’s really great for (1), just rounding out the show, and Jess is unbelievably funny and talented, and I believe I do the same.”

“Obviously women’s sports has exploded in the last five years and it continues to explode, and I think there’s still a huge number of really popular sports shows in the U.S. that don’t have any women on them, which I think is crazy,” Smetana added. “But I still think even though I’m on the show now, we obviously could still do better.”

Part of the allure of the program for Weiner is in the unknown of who will be in the Shipping Container on a given day. The show has several contributors and content creators who follow changing schedules, and many of them partake in other projects both related to and outside of Meadowlark Media. Roy Bellamy, for example, started working with the program as an intern at 790 The Ticket and has been involved through various iterations over the years.

During the show, Bellamy focuses on his work and carefully selects when he will speak. A passion for hockey has led him to create a new podcast, titled The Hockey Show, which he recently debuted with co-host David Dwork. While Bellamy reviews metrics and other performance-related information, being able to interact with the fans and hear their opinion on the show is meaningful and keeps him motivated.

“I would say there are a lot of people that come up to us on the street and tell us just how much their lives have been bettered or change or how they got through issues, such as the pandemic, just based on listening to our show,” Bellamy said, “so the impact is there, and the impact is felt and it’s huge.”

Unlike a preponderance of live radio shows, the program does not usually implement callers and instead reviews messages in chat rooms or on social media during the episode. Those in the studio and Shipping Container can communicate with one another through microphone talkback and/or between segments, allowing them to integrate different show components in real time. In Las Vegas, members of the show stayed afterwards for a meet-and-greet session with the audience, providing them a chance to thank their fans. The experience resonated with producer Anthony Calatayud, who recognizes how the show has withstood internal and external changes to realize widespread societal acceptance.

“I think the personal touch in the community that the show has created with people that don’t know each other from all different parts of the globe – that they’re able to sit down and be like, ‘Oh, you get the show? Perfect, I get the show too,’ and have a camaraderie about that is something that can’t be measured with numbers, with money or with anything like that,” Calatayud said. “I think the impact of that is lasting.”

As the show reaches its conclusion within its postgame hour, it continues its ‘March Sadness’ bracket by reviewing entries within the ‘Greg Cote division.’ Preceding this segment was a review of a basketball take from ESPN host Mike Greenberg and another version of ‘Back in My Day’ with Greg Cote.

Once everyone involved in the show emerges from the studio and subsequent control rooms, there are more meetings to be had throughout the day about new content ideas, initiatives and other business matters. Audio and video editors are simultaneously diligently working around the office to deliver the final product en masse. Jeremy Taché is the primary audio editor for the program and also contributes within the Shipping Container a few days per week.

“I have to stay focused on the show every day and plugged in, whether I’m on the air or not,” Taché outlined. “I also write our titles and descriptions for our podcast episodes, so I’m always kind of trying to think, ‘What are the biggest jokes? What are the ones that landed?’”

The Meadowlark Media facility in Miami has an additional production studio that is used to record various podcasts and other audiovisual content. There are days where the studios are packed with shows moving in and out, whereas other afternoons are relatively quiet in terms of new productions.

Meadowlark Media has offices in New York City as well, and signed deals with companies to continue moving into the content space. The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz, for example, is available to stream on Max with the B/R Sports Add-On. All The Smoke Productions also agreed to a strategic content partnership with the company for its flagship podcast hosted by former NBA players Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson.

“We all dream-build over here at Meadowlark, and we’re hoping that it can go to really, really impressive places,” Ryan said. “I don’t mean to sound like we haven’t already accomplished some pretty impressive things so far. The company is growing in great ways, and adding All The Smoke, those are two really reputable talents that give us something in our locker that we didn’t really have before – players’ perspective and a real, true name that you can put up in the marquee there next to Dan’s show.”

Weiner believes that his time on the show is finite, asserting that he does not believe he or Le Batard will want to continue in their sixties. Projecting outward, they want to ensure they provide a professional working environment where employees can create and thrive in the job they want. There exists a possibility where they could one day take over the show, which will be moving to a new location in a few years. For now though, everyone involved is trying to enjoy the ride and help precipitate continued growth.

“I’ve always said the key to our show is Dan’s happiness,” Weiner conveyed. “He’s the straw that stirs the drink, and so in an odd way as frustrating as I can be and as frustrated as I make him, he’s a creature of habit, and having me next to him makes him more comfortable, and I think he would probably acknowledge that. Our staff knows how to produce me in a way that they don’t know how to produce anybody because they’ve been doing it for 20 years.”

“What a beautiful gift to have the ability to make something that is about you; your imaginations; your principles and have it reach and imprint someone else,” Le Batard said. “To be able to express yourself freely is something that my parents fled Cuba so that their kids would have the ability to be a writer in one case, and in the case of my late little brother, an artist. Freedom of expression and freedom in general is why I live in this country.”

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‘NHL on TNT’ Gives Hockey Fans the ‘NBA on TNT’ Treatment

Watching Albert and Olczyk call a hockey game is like watching Picasso paint and da Vinci sculpt. They are masters of their respective crafts.

John Molori

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NHL on TNT studio

Let’s play a little word association, sports media style. If I say TNT, what is your response? Chances are it will be a three-letter abbreviation of your own, namely, NBA. Over the years, TNT has built a reputation as arguably the premiere network to telecast the National Basketball Association.

The NBA on TNT pregame and halftime shows have become the gold standard with stars like Ernie Johnson, Jr., Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley, and Shaquille O’Neal. Still, it’s not just this quartet of roundball royalty that has fortified TNT’s hoops coverage.

The rep was also built on tremendous play-by-play announcers like Bob Neal and Kevin Harlan, color analysts like Doug Collins and Reggie Miller, and courtside reporters like the late Craig Sager and current sideline star Allie LaForce.

Indeed, TNT and the NBA have become synonymous, but I have some news for you. This network is not just about professional basketball. This past week I went off the grid with TNT looking at their in-game and studio coverage of the NHL.

On March 24, the NHL on TNT provided coverage of the Pittsburgh Penguins at Colorado Avalanche matchup. Kenny Albert did play-by-play with Eddie Olczyk on color. Albert is not as noted as his legendary broadcasting father Marv Albert, but he has certainly staked his claim as one of the best in the business – able to cross over to multiple sports with equal aplomb.

Hockey is a strong suit for Albert. His rat-tat-tat, drama-building style draws viewers in and keeps us on the edge of our seats. Similarly, Olczyk is one of the top four or five NHL game analysts in the business. His style is understated, providing calm and clear analysis of key plays. They work really well together.

Albert eschews any kind of hackneyed and trite catch phrases for his goal calls. An emphatic, “He shoots and scores!” is plenty enough.

Hockey is a different beast when it comes to play-by-play. Unlike basketball, baseball, football, or even soccer and tennis, there is a minimum of breaks in the action. With hockey, a play-by-play announcer has to know the names of the players like he or she knows her kids’ names.

To me, it is the hardest sport for play-by-play and equally difficult for a color analyst. In basketball, after a team scores, the play-by-play announcer will keep silent and give the color analyst time to talk until the play crosses center court. In baseball and football, there is ample room for commentary.

Hockey does not offer such space, but Olczyk gets the most out of the minimal amount of time. Watching Albert and Olczyk call a hockey game is like watching Picasso paint and da Vinci sculpt. They are masters of their respective crafts.

Coming back from a break in the game, Albert and Olczyk provided on air commentary and then tossed to ice level reporter Brian Boucher who has grown into a tremendous asset to the TNT broadcasts. Boucher provided real talk about Colorado’s objectives of staying on top of their division and vying for the top seed in the Western Conference.

The Penguins, squarely in a rebuilding year having dumped talent at the NHL trade deadline, surprisingly jumped out to a 2–0 lead in this game, and the TNT between periods studio crew was all over it. The excellent Liam McHugh hosted alongside Colby Armstrong, Anson Carter, and Keith Yandle.

Armstrong was especially entertaining. With Pittsburgh outshooting the Avs 16-4, Armstrong noted that it’s the best he’s seen Pittsburgh play in a long time. His reasoning was that teams get geared up for playing Colorado even if it’s out of fear. Great stuff.

Both teams tallied two goals in the second period giving Pittsburgh a 4-2 lead heading into the final frame. When Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon set up Jonathan Drouin for a goal to make it 4-3, Albert and Olczyk showed their strengths.

Albert called the pass from MacKinnon and one-timer goal from Drouin, and immediately noted that MacKinnon now had a point in all 34 of Colorado’s home games this season. On the goal replay, Olczyk showed how the play developed pointing out how McKinnon allowed Pittsburgh’s Evgenii Malkin to come in close before making the past to Drouin.

The TNT production team then showed a graphic displaying that McKinnon is now second all-time in longest home points streaks trailing only Wayne Gretzky. This was a sublime sequence of symmetry between talent and technicians like a songwriter, musician, and singer creating beautiful music.

What was supposed to be a blowout win for Colorado had now become a hockey barn burner, and the TNT crew was up to the task. Every goal and key play was followed up with replays from multiple angles showing the genesis of the action.

TNT has certainly taken to the velocity of the hockey broadcast with movement that challenges directors, graphics professionals, and videographers.

When there were breaks in this non-stop action, Olczyk was at his best. No hockey analyst draws on his experience as a player and explains that experience better to viewers. The TNT broadcast also lets Boucher freewheel and join in the flow of discussion without having to be introduced.

TNT does not merely rely on the traditional wide shot of the entire rink. We see close-up shots of each goaltender after a great save and the sweat of players on the bench or in the penalty box.

When McKinnon tied the game at 4-4 with 4:38 left in the third period, we got a series of tremendous crowd shots showing the Colorado fans going absolutely berserk. The sage Albert and Olczyk wisely remained quiet for several seconds, letting the cheers do the talking.

When Drouin scored the game winner at 4:06 of overtime, Albert exercised controlled enthusiasm, raising his voice on the call of the goal, but not becoming the show and overshadowing the play itself. He is definitely in the mold of Dan Kelly, Gary Thorne, and Sean McDonough, announcers who enhance but do not supersede the game.

Putting a cherry on top of this hockey Sunday, TNT showed a graphic that the Avalanche now led the NHL in comeback wins this season with 25 and that they were riding a 9-game winning streak. In analyzing the goal, Olczyk opined that the altitude of playing in Colorado was prevalent as the Penguins seemed to tire as the game progressed – really interesting insight.

In the postgame show, Anson Carter made a great point that the chemistry between Drouin and MacKinnon stems from the fact that they have been playing together going back to junior hockey. McKinnon joined in from the arena for a postgame interview. The analysts asked solid questions and even did a funny MVP chant together as the interview ended.

The NHL on TNT takes no back seat to its elder NBA sister. The broadcast provides viewers with flash, dash, and serious hockey talk from every angle – in studio, from the broadcast booth, and on the ice.

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How to Help Your Clients with Low Website Conversions

Don’t assume there isn’t enough traffic; focus on optimizing user engagement once visitors arrive on the site.

Jeff Caves

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Graphic for how to increase website conversions
Credit: WPDesigner.Biz

Are your clients dealing with low website conversions? Whenever a marketing campaign is run, and the goal is to convert website visitors into leads, the temptation is to blame low traffic, amongst other issues, for low form fills or appointments being generated.  Just spend more money, you may think! Sometimes, you must look at at least four other potential issues to tackle poor conversion rates. Here are some actionable steps using the IT services industry to increase website conversions.

IT Solutions specializes in providing products, services, or solutions related to technology, particularly in areas such as software development, hardware sales, IT consulting, cybersecurity, cloud computing, networking, and digital transformations. They faced challenges with their website conversions. Despite driving substantial traffic through Google Ads and other SEO tactics, they struggled to convert website visitors into form fills for appointment requests. A 2% to 5% conversion rate could be considered reasonable. Of course, conversion rates can vary based on various factors, such as the competitiveness of the local market, the quality of the website (and radio stations help most to fix that) and its user experience, the effectiveness of marketing campaigns, and the reputation and offerings of the IT solutions business. Focusing on improving the quality of leads and providing exceptional customer service can be just as crucial as achieving high conversion rates. Don’t blame EVERYTHING on the marketing tactics! 

The Diagnosis

Upon thorough analysis, several critical issues were identified with IT Solutions’ website:

1. High Bounce Rate: Nobody was checking out the business. If 70% or more of website visitors only visit the landing page, that is an issue.  It could be slow loading times, irrelevant content, poor user experience, or unclear calls-to-action that prevent them from wanting to know more about IT Solutions. You can check the bounce rate on the Google Analytics page for the website in the left-hand sidebar, click on “Behavior” to expand the menu, then click on “Site Content,” and finally, click on “Landing Pages.” You’ll see a list of landing pages and their respective bounce rates.

2. Complex Navigation: It was hard to move around the website to find relevant information about IT services, and it was unclear who they were initiating contact with and for what purpose.

3. Unclear Calls-to-Action (CTAs): The website lacked clear and compelling CTAs guiding visitors toward requesting an appointment. Simply stating “click here for an appointment” is like asking for a meeting whenever or without establishing value. Here are 28 CTAs for free.

4. Lengthy Forms: The appointment forms were long, without qualifying information, and requested excessive information upfront, deterring potential leads from completing them.

Action Plan

1. Optimize Landing Pages:

   – Redo high-traffic landing pages with clear messaging and compelling CTAs.

   – Showcase IT Solutions’ services as benefits, making it easier for users to request appointments, thereby increasing user engagement and conversions.

2. Simplify Navigation:

   – Reorganize the menu and add more action-oriented links.

   – Provide additional options for users to access relevant information, such as “Get a free IT Solutions 15-point checkup NOW” and “Take this 5-question survey to diagnose your IT issues,” motivating them to book appointments.

3. Enhance CTAs:

   – Utilize concise and persuasive messaging throughout the website.

   – Encourage visitors to take action, whether requesting a free download about “5 things you can do to solve your IT issues on your own” or “get a free pizza for booking an appointment.”

4. Improve the Form Fill:

   – Add a further line about the number of employees who qualify for incoming leads.

   – Highlight the value of leads based on company size, prioritizing forms with higher potential impact.

Review landing pages, navigation, CTAs, and form experience to address website conversion issues. Don’t assume there isn’t enough traffic; focus on optimizing user engagement once visitors arrive on the site.

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