Rob Brown is on the move in South Carolina’s Upstate region. He announced this morning that his show is moving into morning drive on The Fan Upstate.

With Damon Amendolara announcing his exit from CBS Sports Radio earlier this week, it left a hole for the station to fill. Operations Manager Mark Hendrix chose making drive time local for Greenville and Spartanburg residents over Maggie & Perloff, which moves to mornings on the network.

“Our big boss down the hallway, Mark Hendricks, called Lonzo and I down into the the real meeting room,” Brown told listeners Friday morning. “Not even the office like the actual meeting room, and he offered us the opportunity to become the new morning drive show here on The Fan Upstate.”

It is the second time slot change for Brown since he first joined the station in March of 2020. He was initially hired to be on from noon until 3. When the station dropped ESPN Radio for CBS Sports Radio, his show moved to 9 am to noon to make room for Jim Rome.

Brown called morning and afternoon drive “the two crown jewel spots” of a radio lineup. Being elevated to one of those spots comes with meaning that is not lost on him.

“It is something that, no matter what market you are in, by earning one of those two spots, it tells you that you have become not just a voice in that community, but an important one or a respected one,” he said.

Brown’s show includes producer Lonzo Writesel. He is making the move to mornings along with Brown on Monday, October 2.

We know that the NFL dominates television, but a new study from Nielsen shows the league’s radio ratings are no less impressive. 

Inside Radio published the results of the survey, which show that if radio audiences were measured by show (as TV audiences are) as opposed to day part, NFL games are outperforming the highest rated stations in markets around the country. The data used reflected listening for persons 25-54. 

During the 2022 season, Patriots games on 98.5 The Sports Hub in Boston scored a 23.9 share on average. That is significantly higher than the average share for Magic 106.7. The Audacy AC station topped the market during that time frame with a 7.4.

Even in what was a mediocre season for the team, New Englanders still flock to Patriots broadcasts in numbers that dwarf anything else on radio.

The same was true in Pittsburgh. There, Nielsen compared Steelers’ radio broadcasts on WDVE and ESPN Pittsburgh to the most popular morning shows in the market. 

Randy Baumann, who is also heard on WDVE, leads the way with Men 25-54 with an AQH rating of 1.1. Steelers games drew an AQH rating of 1.9 with the same audience.

As you might expect, the best team delivered the best results in the study. In Kansas City, the Super Bowl Champion Chiefs averaged a 39.8 share with persons 25-54. That is nearly a 500% increase over market leader KC 102.1, which averaged a 6.8 share with the same audience.

Amongst men, the share was even larger. Chiefs’ games on 106.5 The Wolf averaged an astounding 46.1 share with many games topping a 50 share according to Nielsen.

“While these examples are far from a complete analysis of the NFL games on the radio, it does shed light on the dominance of the NFL on radio,” John Snyder, Nielsen Senior VP/Sales Director says. “Just because a fan can’t be staring into a screen during game time doesn’t mean he or she isn’t following along. And if broadcast radio pivoted to selling shows rather than dayparts, it’s a safe bet that like TV, the top-rated shows would largely consist of play-by-play broadcasts.”

Have you ever tried to sell a new show, promotion, or event out of the box? Have you ever done it before a skeptical buyer looking for the negatives in what you are selling? Read on. 

In 2007, smartphones could access the internet, type messages, and still act like a phone. Many of us used Blackberries and carried iPods for music. It was a little clunky, but the combination worked. 

One person thought to change the world forever and combine all this technology into one device. His pitch sold us on ditching multiple devices. He explained why Nokia phones were clunky and hard to hear and the expensive Blackberry had no integrated camera or audio player. It was also horrible for lefties. 

Sixteen years ago, he sold a picture of a world where his smartphone would simplify life and change how we communicated, worked, and played. The audience he was presenting to was in Silicon Valley and was loaded with techies, journalists, industry insiders, and hustlers. He told a compelling story. He didn’t give some lackluster demo. He showed off how sleek the product was, its intuitive touch-based surface, and how easily it could surf the web. He even called a person in the audience and showed off the quality of the phone with an impromptu call. The audience roared with laughter. 

He knew he was getting the audience to invest in the product emotionally. He spoke about how his company had reinvented the phone, emphasizing their commitment to design and innovation. He created a sense of anticipation and excitement that captured the room. As he reached the climax of his presentation, he uttered the now-famous words, “Today, we are going to reinvent the phone.” 

The audience erupted in applause and the anticipation was everywhere in the room. Then, Steve Jobs unveiled the iPhone, and the crowd was in awe. 

More than 1 billion consumers currently use iPhones. 

Jobs gave a masterclass in salesmanship. He didn’t just sell a product; he sold a vision of the future. He made people believe they needed something they didn’t even know they wanted. It all started with Jobs’ ability to sell innovation like no one else. If you are still on the fence about selling the future of radio- get on board the digital train. Start selling the future of radio and make money right alongside it. Digital revenue is skyrocketing. Revenues will increase by 6.5% in 2023, 6% in 2024 and over 5% per year from 2025 until 2028. So, for every $10,000 of digital you sold in 2022, you will sell $13,720 in 2028. That’s a 37% jump in 5 years. The future is now! Get on The Energy Bus for Digital Radio sales. Sell the future.