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Scott Anez Has Lasted Decades In Radio For Being a Good Guy

“I’ve been in the same building for 33 years,” Anez said. “That just doesn’t happen. I attribute that to being decent at what I do. I’ve always done my job.”

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Orlando Sentinel

The man has been at WDBO Orlando for 33 years. Not dog years, human years. That’s longer than most marriages, nearly two cicada cycles and the lunar moon cycle. On the radio, it’s probably more uncommon than those events. So how did he do it? Partly because he’s a good guy.

“I’ve been in the same building for 33 years,” Scott Anez said. “That just doesn’t happen. I attribute that to being decent at what I do. I’ve always done my job.”

Anez has stayed under the radar; he refuses to create waves. 

“In this business, many people have large egos, but I never wanted to be that person,” Anez said. “I would hope if you asked my coworkers if that’s the way I was, they’d say yes.”

Anez has worked in the same building off North John Young Parkway since 1989. He interned at Channel 9, the local ABC-TV affiliate while attending the University of Central Florida. Today he is at the helm of Orlando’s Morning News, 5-9. 

“When I first moved to Orlando, it was still a small southern town. This was in the early 80s, and the NBA Magic did a lot to change the area. We finally had a big-time sports franchise. From that time on, Orlando transitioned to become a major metropolis. When I moved here, they were still calling me a Yankee in school.”

Unfortunately for Anez, not a ball-playing Yankee. 

Born in Rhode Island, Anez and his family moved to Orlando when he was 14 years old. At Lake Brantley High School in Altamonte Springs, he was a varsity starter in basketball and baseball.

His father owned the Pawtucket Red Sox, the Triple-A minor league team of the Boston Red Sox, from 1975-1976. 

“It wasn’t a money-maker,” Anez explained. 

In those days, few minor league franchises made a profit. 

“Dad lost his shirt. But as a sports-crazed kid each summer, I was living a fantasy. I was a bat boy for my heroes. This was shortly after the Jim Rice and Fred Lynn era. I did spend some time with Bo Diaz. He was the first Venezuelan to play catcher regularly in the Major Leagues.”

His focus switched from being in the games he loved to covering them. 

“I took my first accounting class in college at the University of Central Florida, and knew it wasn’t for me,” Anez said. “My father told me to do something I loved and could feed a family.”

Anez took his father’s advice and strolled across campus to the radio station, WUCF, and decided to pursue the play-by-play dream. Then, as now, those jobs aren’t easy to come by. 

“I’ve had the opportunity to do some with the Orlando Magic. Those jobs on a full-time basis were and still are very few and far between.”

After graduation, he decided to stay in Orlando and wore a bunch of different hats at the beginning of his career.. 

“Because of my love of sports, I think I’ve always seen the work environment as a team environment,” he said. “A team atmosphere. Sports teaches you a lot about teamwork, and I applied a lot of that thinking in the work I did. 

Anez said he had had a unique opportunity early to travel with the NBA’s Orlando Magic basketball club. On the road, he’d have to broadcast from local stations, and it’s there he noticed a distinct difference from home. 

“Sometimes, just walking in the door of the station, I could feel a different vibe,” Anez said. “That’s something just wasn’t right, like a ‘Debbie Downer’ ambiance. Then I came home to Orlando and felt entirely the opposite. I liken this building to that shining city on a hill. In this business, if you find something good, you stick with it.”

He loves Central Florida and knows what an anomaly he is in terms of longevity at a station. “Even though Orlando has changed greatly over the years, my roots are here. In this business, that’s difficult to find. I’ve done so many things here, and versatility is the spice of life.”

He’s been referred to (by WDBO’s website) as opinionated, fair-minded, and entertaining.

If you’re one of those folks who like to flap your gums and sputter your opinions, Anez said his show has got just the thing. He said with the contentious nature of the country right now; he’s come to realize how salty people have become in their opinions. 

“We run an open-mic segment where people can record their thoughts or, in some cases, rant,” Anez explained.

“We immediately get their comments on tape. Sure, we have to bleep something out now and again. But they’re done on the fly, and make germane content fodder for the show. Sometimes a comment can carry us through an entire segment and beyond. A comment may cause you to see an angle you’d never thought about before. It’s also exciting because you can’t control what they say. You can choose not to air it, but it’s raw content. I think doing something like this is vital to staying connected with the community. I tend to use the bites as liberally as possible.”

Podcasts have opened up an entire new avenue for Anez. When his podcast  Anez Sez originated, he went into it kicking and screaming. 

“My morning show is information-based more than anything,” he explained. “I didn’t really want to be known as an opinion guy. The more I got into it; I realized I had carte blanche to convey a lot of my thoughts, whereas I couldn’t do that as much on the morning show. We’ve done about 275 episodes so far, and It has been cathartic. Rarely do you get to espouse your opinion and get paid for it.”

With his podcast, he said he could figuratively let his hair down, and it feels great. 

While covering sports, Anez said he got to know some of the members of the Magic.

“I knew Shaquille O’Neal from day one, right after he signed his first deal,” Anez said. “As O’Neal walked in, he hit his head on one of the speakers. He was just about 22 years old, a great kid.”

He said Shaq always wanted to be ‘the man” on the team. This was a recurring theme with Penny Hardaway, Dwayne Wade, Kobe Bryant. He always wanted Kobe to be the Robin to his Batman. 

“On one of our shows with Shaq, we must have done an hour. He got his first endorsement for a company that made desks. This happened right in front of us, and now he’s America’s pitchman. 

Since that tiny deal with a desk company in Orlando, O’Neal has worked out endorsement deals with companies such as IcyHot, Buick, The General, Macy’s, Zales, Arizona Beverage Co, Papa John’s, Epson Printers, and Carnival Cruises.

What about the sparks between O’Neal and Charles Barkley on Inside the NBA?

“I think it’s real,” Anez said. “I think Barkley knows how to get under Shaq’s skin. It’s marvelous. I like Barkley. I don’t agree with everything he says. But whenever I see Barkley on the air, I have to stop whatever I’m doing and watch. He’s very genuine. 

“It’s always challenging to get to bed at a decent time,” Anez said. “My wife is working, and dinner is almost always at 8:00 pm. I always wanted to make my schedule doable for my wife. So she has some kind of home life. I know this business has destroyed a few marriages. 

His daughter has left the house, and Anez has pondered whether his nearly constant schedule has affected her development. 

“I ask her a lot,” he said. “She said it hadn’t affected her negatively.” He’s grateful for that. “For me, it’s God, then family, then work.”

The man doesn’t have a lot of time to relax or for recreation. But he loves a game called pickleball. At 56, he had to give up playing competitive basketball, so why not pickleball? It’s a combination of tennis and racquetball on a smaller court. 

 “I love to compete. Five or six years ago, I had knee surgery, and I had to find something else.”

After playing pickleball for a year and a half, he and his racquetball-playing partner went to Michigan for a tournament. 

“My playing partner Bryan Lafferman and I have a good time together,” Anez explained. “We played a couple of tournaments closer to home.” 

Just last week, he said a friend invited them to stay in his home for a tournament in Michigan. 

“We figured we’d see how we’d do, even though we had to step up a weight class. 

Collapsing more than the 1969 Cubs, a newspaper headline following the tournament would have read: ‘CHOKED.’ That’s putting it as succinctly as possible.

“There were three sets in the first match,” Anez said. “We lost the first, won the second set. We were up 8-3 in the final set and got beat 11-9. We should have beaten them. My buddy and I pored over each point, asking, how could that have happened? The team that beat us went on to win the whole thing.”

But that’s not the end of the pummeling. 

“It gets better. We moved on to the consolation round, and some severe weather was coming in, and we knew we had better get a move on,” Anez said. “You can only win if you’re on serve. We needed just one point to win, leading 14-9. We lost 17-15. Bryan had a clear overhead shot. The ball nicks the net and goes sideways out of bounds. Again with the headline: ‘CHOKED.’

Somewhere, Leo Durocher must be having a good laugh. 

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BNM Writers

News is the Only Thing Missing From Election Coverage

Coverage of the election is, as we’ve discussed, still very horse-race-centric, and there’s been, of course, coverage of the various Trump court cases, but where is the coverage of exactly what the candidates plan to do if elected?

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The first thought I had when I heard NBC had hired Ronna McDaniel as a commentator for $300,000 a year was to wonder how many actual journalists they could have hired for that money. Then, I recalled that NBC had laid off dozens of news staffers just a few months ago. Then, I remembered that I had just recently written a column decrying news organizations throwing pretty much anybody on the air as a “pundit” and this….

This was worse. It’s one thing to grab some rando who happened to be a minor functionary for the Executive Branch. It’s another to hire someone whose job was to promote election denialism and pretend that her opinion is something valuable for viewers. And, yes, it’s just as ridiculous when news organizations hire former presidential press secretaries (that’s you, Jen Psaki and Sean Spicer), their very jobs were to spin everything in their bosses’ favor and now you’re going to pay them big salaries for, um, what? Because they “have a name” or you’re afraid someone else will snap them up? Why them?

The McDaniel deal lasted five days, one completely unilluminating interview, and one unexpected Chuck Todd spine-growing outburst, so it’ll all blow over soon enough. The problem is, though, the part about having fired several news staffers, and what it means in an election year on both the national and local levels. If you have the money to hire an alleged pundit – any alleged pundit – you have the money to hire reporters, and I don’t mean anchors or opinion show hosts.

Coverage of the election is, as we’ve discussed, still very horse-race-centric, and there’s been, of course, coverage of the various Trump court cases, but where is the coverage of exactly what the candidates plan to do if elected? Who’s probing Project 2025 and why isn’t it front-page, first-segment news? Who’s pressing the Biden administration on Gaza? Is anyone reporting on the candidates’ record on climate change?

Beyond prescription drug prices, is anyone digging into the broken healthcare system and demanding answers from the candidates about what they’ll do to fix it (and not letting Trump get away with “I’ll have a better plan, a beautiful plan” without a single specific detail, like they did in 2016)? Why didn’t anyone focus on, for example, the GOP candidate for governor of North Carolina and his incendiary past comments well before the primary?

Pundits are not going to do the legwork on the issues; they’ll just talk about swing states while John King and Steve Kornacki point at their touchscreen maps. We need reporting on the things that matter (and can affect that horse race, even if most people have made up their minds). It shouldn’t just be Pro Publica and scattered independent journalists doing the dirty work.

Honestly, I don’t want to hear the complaints about the quality of the candidates or how this is a rerun or any of that. (We’ll leave that to The New York Times.) We are a horribly underinformed electorate and we got the horse race we deserve. It might just be idealists like me who think that, just maybe, the news media can play a role in educating the public and bursting the bubbles and echo chambers. This country has survived and prospered for a few centuries with the press shining a light on injustice and corruption.

Now, when we need that most, they’re more concerned with what they think will bring them ratings and money (although someone will have to explain to me who thought having Ronna McDaniel as a paid commentator would draw a single viewer to NBC).

Here’s a thought: Don’t lay off reporters, especially in an election year.  Assign them to dig deep on issues that matter to the voters.

Let the pundits talk about that.

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8 Ways to Take Your Commercials From Drab to Fab

Our main source of income is derived from commercials. There are a lot of bad commercials.

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Another reason to read this column, I often add an Easter egg. We are in the advertising business. Our main source of income is derived from commercials. There are a lot of bad commercials. Frequently, clients write these ads. You can excuse it if the spots suck. But when the commercials are written by Account Executives or the production department at the station, it is kind of unforgivable.

I am going to share the most meaningless phrases in commercials.

Locally Owned and Operated

Customers do not care. If customers cared about a business being locally owned and operated, Walmart would not exist. People want service, selection, and value. They do not want to get soaked. When you purchase something, are you willing to pay 20% for a local company? If you say yes, you are wrong. People want a deal.

The Phone Number

Doing 70 down the 405, John slammed on the brakes to write down the phone number for an amazing HVAC Company. That is not how it works people. HVAC companies rarely have or should have regular customers.

Normally, your AC is out. You call the HVAC Company that you are familiar with. Radio advertising allows people to have “TOMA”: Top of Mind Awareness. There are stats that show when a company is advertising on your radio station, their website shows an increase in traffic. When you needed a service for your home, you hit Google and choose the company that you’ve heard of. It’s that simple. I actually heard a commercial asking listeners to add a businesses phone number to their contact list. That is a moronic use of advertising real estate.

Street Addresses

“Tequilaberry’s Prime Rib is located at 106 East Governors Drive in Peoria.” 

The people listening cannot process that detail. You could say “Tequilaberry’s Prime Rib is on Governors Drive just off 10th in Peoria.” That is almost digestible. That creates a picture of where it is.

Trust me, people interested in prime rib will Google you and load the address in their navigation system. Spend that precious spot time selling the experience of the restaurant.

Always Using the Company Owner/Founder in Commercials

Sometimes, it is amazing when business owners are their spokesperson. They have passion and are natural salespeople. Some business owners are terrible at speaking about their product.

When you have a business owner who is a natural promoter, they can drag listeners into their business. I once worked with a family who owned a couple of hardware stores. They spoke about the benefits of visiting their stores. It was heartfelt and real. They promised that their employees can help solve any problem in your home. If you went to that store and had a simple or complex problem, the employees helped you out.

I once worked with a man who owned a really nice flooring company.  For whatever reason, he thought that he was funny. He had spots written by him, his wife, or a kid. The ads were dreadful. They were not funny at all. Account Executives need to talk these clients out of doing commercials like this. Nothing says wacky hijinks like flooring.

Overuse of Numbers

“We have grapes at 99 cents a pound, Chuck steak at $1.99, two-for-one zucchini.”

Trust me, no one driving in city traffic can keep track of that. “The 2025 Chevy Chevette is back with 45-mpg efficiency and amazing 18-inch tires. Prices start at $19,999…  The New Chevy Silverado starts at $32,999.”

It gets really confusing fast.

WWW.

Yes, I hear commercials saying check us on the internet at “W-W-W dot business name here dot com.”

WWW is assumed and not needed anymore unless you are running a Commadore-64 with the latest floppy disc technology.

Yellow Pages Ad

“Check out our new ad in the Yellow Pages!”

OMG, no one reads those damn things anymore. Most people born after 1960 just toss those suckers in the trash. There was a time when the Yellow Pages were the largest revenue generator in advertising. Yes, a book of ads. Like Facebook, without your buddy’s political, vacation, or food posts. It was just ads. Zero content.

I had stuffed salmon tonight that I engineered myself. I would make Sydney Sweeney quite the trophy husband. Set us up. Hey, I am single. It was not that long ago that you would hear a radio ad that promoted a coupon in the Sunday paper.

Well, that copy should be deader than a doornail.

Amateur Theater

A husband and wife discussing their lawn and how she heard about Telly’s Lawn Service from her friend Stacy. 

Those commercials are obviously contrived and not interesting at all. 

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Open every commercial must have an attention-grabbing opener. “Totally Jammed…  The floor covered with the guest towels. Fearing the horrific consequences of another flush…  I did the right thing. I called ABC Plumbing. Quick service, a great price, and peace of mind.”

The next time that the plunger is failing to get the desired results, the listener of that commercial will identify with the very realist scenario.

We are in the advertising business. Use radio as it was meant.

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The Lost Art of Using Sound as a Springboard

Use sound it wherever you can. All you need is a loyal, capable and willing board operator, to go along with a conscientious host.

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Jon Stewart was the first guy to do it — take a politician’s words from the news of the day or week. Search his or her entire past and find a sound byte saying the exact opposite.

It became an art form – and a great way to keep people accountable.

Most radio operations don’t have the resources necessary to consistently do something like that, but truth be told, that kind of journalism isn’t really the point of this week’s column.

It’s an example of the simple power of sound. We need to use it more within our shows. Use sound it wherever you can. All you need is a loyal, capable, and willing board operator, to go along with a conscientious host.

Speaking from experience, not doing it is lazy.

Doing it takes minimal effort and helps conversations tremendously – especially when it’s in real-time. I know. I’ve been there – missing opportunity after opportunity because I didn’t think of it, ask for help or just do it myself.

Put simply, good sound is a better springboard to a question than just a question.

Just the other day, I realized how well it works and how little I’ve been doing it.

Here’s what happened.

We have one particularly heated congressional race in our state. The Republican candidate is running for a second time after narrowly losing in 2022 in an election where Connecticut’s gubernatorial candidate from the same party got smoked, and the Republican presidential candidate lost the state as well.

This time around, there’s a struggling Democratic President with real doubts about the economy and the country’s standing in the world.

Put simply, the Democratic congressional incumbent has a massive task ahead to get re-elected.

On my show, I try to be consistently independent and be a place for both parties to appear with the expectation that the conversations will be fair and honest.

The Republican candidate came on the show earlier this month, and we went through a number of issues. Connecticut is a relatively strong Democratic stronghold, where the party controls the legislature, the Governor’s Mansion, and the entire congressional delegation.

Having said that, the largest voting block is unaffiliated, so appealing to independents is crucial for either side to win. I asked the Republican candidate twice about whether he will support Donald Trump, and both times, he equivocated. I asked the follow-up, we were on the record, so I moved on.

The following week, his opponent, the Democratic incumbent, was scheduled to appear on the show. Before her arrival, I realized the Trump Q&A should probably be replayed for her. Duh.

My producer found it, clipped it, and had it at the ready. I felt that I should have realized it sooner and not put some added strain on my partner’s morning routine. He was fine, but it definitely added unnecessary work within the show.

Lesson learned.

The sound byte worked well. I played it. She responded. We moved the story forward, and it was compelling – as you might imagine, the topic of Trump vs. Biden is pretty compelling these days.

By no means did it create a “wow” moment. That would be a little much. But it did make the show better, using the opponent’s own voice as opposed to my paraphrasing something. That lends credibility, not only to the topic but also to the show. He gave this important answer on our show, and she gave her response … on our show.

My final thought on this is that we (I) need to look for more places to utilize sound as a springboard to conversations, as opposed to simply raising the topic and discussing it. Maybe you’re already good at it and do it all the time, but this past week, I realized I need to push myself to do it more.

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