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Brian Windhorst Is A Trusted Source Off The Court

“We are sharing information, sharing sourcing and, as a result, sometimes when there’s a news break, it’s actually like 3-4 people who are involved in the production.”

Derek Futterman

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Brian Windhorst

Oct. 29, 2003 – LeBron James makes his National Basketball League debut for the Cleveland Cavaliers against the Sacramento Kings. As the No. 1 overall pick of the 2003 NBA Draft and a consensus superstar, James took the court in front of a national audience on the back half of an ESPN Wednesday doubleheader. Even though the Cavaliers lost the game 106-92, James compiled 25 points, nine assists, six rebounds in four steals while playing all but six minutes of the game, a load quite uncommon for most rookies today. Brian Windhorst was there, and he had to file a story mere moments after the final buzzer.

“They started the season on the West Coast,” Windhorst said of the Cavaliers. “That doesn’t happen anymore; they don’t have teams start the season on long road trips, but they did that year. I remember at the end of that road trip – coming back going, ‘I don’t know if I’m good enough. I don’t know if I have what it takes.’”

20 seasons and 38,363 additional points later, James is the NBA’s all-time scoring leader and recognized as one of the best players to ever step on the harwood. A four-time NBA champion with three different franchises, he has been one of the defining stars of the league since his debut, and a compelling personality for journalists to report on.

Oftentimes, Windhorst has been associated with James not only because of his time as a Cleveland Cavaliers beat writer, but also since their backgrounds are somewhat intertwined. Through it all, endurance and perseverance has propelled James and Windhorst as respected figures in their industries; ones who have made an inextricable impact on basketball in different ways.

“I remember sitting in the studio at the lottery in Secaucus, N.J. in May 2003, and they did the lottery and went to commercial break,” Windhorst said. “Denver, Memphis and Cleveland were in the last three, and I remember sitting there… thinking, ‘Well, it’s possible my life is going to radically change here in this next five minutes.’”

James’ initial tenure in Cleveland may have been at the mercy of an entropic selection process based on odds and the logo displayed on one ping-pong ball – but it took talent, hard work and determination for him to even reach that point. The same can be said for Windhorst, a reporter who spent years developing versatility and fostering professional relationships to become a bonafide source of information.

The softball field was a familiar setting for Windhorst in his youth. As a native of Akron, Ohio, he was well within driving distance of Cleveland, a metropolis with a bevy of professional sports teams. One of his earliest experiences working in sports media came in keeping the scorebook for the high school softball team at St. Vincent-St. Mary, coached by his mother Merrylou.

Windhorst was no stranger to athletics and competed in golf as a high school student, yet he found enjoyment in being around the environment rather than playing in the games themselves. As a result, he landed a part-time job as a clerk with the Akron Beacon-Journal where he was responsible for documenting scores and assisting reporters in compiling statistics for their stories.

“I was working 5:00 to 11:00 PM shifts… sort of sitting on the periphery but watching the newspaper get put together on deadline three or four nights a week,” Windhorst explained. “That’s where I got my start.”

When it was time to apply for college, Windhorst received admissions offers at journalism schools around the country. Being in the industry through high school and having no desire to leave his job at the Akron Beacon-Journal, he decided to remain close to home and enrolled at Kent State University.

His prudentiality paid dividends when he was afforded the chance to cover games and write 300-word recaps in college for high school basketball, wrestling and other sports. It altered his perspective on working in the industry, divulging changing trends and means of coverage that may have gone unnoticed had his formative application of journalism been solely focused in the classroom.

“I was in these classes with these professors teaching me about the alleged newspaper industry and I was going, ‘Maybe that’s the way it was when you worked in it 10 years ago, but it’s not like the way it is now,’” Windhorst recalls. “I was way real-world-ing it over the school.”

By the end of his college career, Windhorst had six years experience at the newspaper, but unfortunately had to sacrifice his social life in the process. The first Kent State football game he attended was as a reporter, and he never had the chance to engage in regular college activities because of his stringent work schedule and unrelenting inclination to succeed. The newspaper also represented an external outlet to hone his craft, especially since Windhorst struggled to get opportunities elsewhere, applying for over 80 internships and receiving none of them.

“I’m sad to say that I didn’t make any lifelong friends in college,” Windhorst said. “I definitely traded that because I would come back to Akron three or four nights a week to work on the desk and cover games.”

Through repetitions came invaluable experience and a trial run at the age of 25 as a traveling beat reporter covering the Cavaliers. Windhorst worked on a provisional basis, approaching his bosses when there was an upcoming road trip to ask permission to book plane tickets. Over his early days in this role, the newspaper was interviewing established reporters to eventually take over; however, once some time passed, management told him he had the job.

To begin the 2003 regular season, the Cavaliers had a three-game road trip with stops in Sacramento, Phoenix and Portland before their home opener against the Indiana Pacers. The buzz around the team was centered on James though, and as a reporter, Windhorst had to appeal to his audience insofar as properly covering the rookie phenom.

“I was, to a certain extent, paralleling LeBron,” Windhorst said. “My main job was to cover LeBron – and I covered the whole team – but he was going through all of the learning curves too. In a strange way, there was a parallel track there.”

Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Paul Silas, as any coach would, conducted regular media availability to update reporters on the state of the team. Yet Silas went out of his way for Windhorst, imparting wisdom and knowledge about the league and helping to catalyze his development. He continues to implement lessons Silas taught him and affirms that he learned more from him than he did in four years of college, by no fault of the school itself.

“Very often in the NBA – and I think even more so now than 20 years ago – there’s very much of an adversarial relationship between the coach and the beat writers,” Windhorst said. “It’s either adversarial or it’s too cozy. In this case, he was literally teaching me.”

Over his time with the Akron Beacon Journal, Windhorst traveled with the Cavaliers on its beat and excelled as a journalist. While he and James attended the same high school and knew each other’s mothers, he always ensured to maintain professionalism and covered him fairly. Conversely, Windhorst affirms that James never exhibited favoritism towards him but rather possessed an understanding of their shared backgrounds.

The advantage Windhorst held in their mutual understanding of one another, however, was a level of heightened trust. For example, Windhorst spoke to James on the night his son Bronny was born in 2004, and watched as his professional basketball career quickly evolved. Moreover, he covered his negotiations to land a shoe deal, which has since turned into a historical lifetime contract with Nike.

“It wasn’t like he was handing me sit-down one-on-one interviews four times a year,” Windhorst expressed. “I wasn’t going over to his house on Thanksgiving, nor did I want to. I always covered him straight, and a lot of what he did was very positive. The guy had a pretty spectacular career, and so I was writing about a lot of positive stuff.”

In 2008, Windhorst continued to cover the Cavaliers, albeit for The Plain Dealer, and the team where they continued a stretch of finishing first or second in the division for five consecutive seasons. James went on to capture back-to-back MVP awards for his regular season performances in 2008-09 and 2009-10 and proceeded to embark on a memorable, free agency tour.

It led up to “The Decision,” a televised special on ESPN where James famously revealed he was “taking [his] talents to South Beach.” By joining guard Dwayne Wade and forward-center Chris Bosh, James cemented a formidable “Big 3” and, in turn, took much of the national spotlight off of the Cavaliers. 

By the start of the 2010-11 season, Windhorst had been hired by ESPN and relocated to Miami to cover the Heat as its beat reporter. The decision to leave Cleveland was difficult for Windhorst just as it was for James; however, it was a chance to join a national outlet and report on a team with the potential to make history.

Despite joining a network with extensive content and programming based on linear television at the time, Windhorst strictly reported in the written word. He affirms there was no sense of animus towards him, but rather negligence regarding his role since it was relatively experimental at that scale.

“It was a new concept to have a team-based reporter at ESPN,” Windhorst said. “We just didn’t have much of it, especially for our really high-profile teams. ESPN reporters or the television reporters and crews would be coming through Miami, and they would never say a word to me. There would be plenty of SportsCenters going on and they never even knew my name.”

Once the Heat proved they were the team to beat in the NBA, Windhorst began occasionally appearing on television – but always alongside an experienced ESPN reporter, such as Rachel Nichols and Mark Schwartz. Direct talkbacks were prohibited, but eventually, the network began putting Windhorst on SportsCenter and other programming regularly. In fact, he was appearing on television every half hour on the hour during the team’s series against the Pacers, having received little to no formal training.

“I only had one suit jacket with me on the trip – it’s like a four-day trip – and I had to wear it 3-4 days in a row,” Windhorst said. “….I remember Rachel Nichols went over to Walgreens next to the arena and brought me my first makeup compact and said, ‘Here, you need to put this on your face; your face is red.’”

Windhorst was not initially hired to be on television, but as time went on his role began to gradually transition in that direction. Two years into his time at the network, he met with executives and asked for chances to demonstrate his versatility. The conversation resulted in his move to New York City where he worked on studio television programming and covering a larger scope of the NBA.

Moreover, he still covered the Heat during the team’s northeast and west coast road trips, along with attending select homestands in Miami, Fla. He also received proper coaching about how to appear on television from ESPN’s company headquarters in Bristol, Conn.

Four years and two championships later, James was once again a free agent and drawing interest from nearly all corners of the NBA. Windhorst, having covered the Cavaliers and Heat during James’ time, was assigned to work from Bristol, Conn. to give viewers inside information about the process.

“I had obviously been there to start doing some TV stuff, but I was there for so long that I ran out of ties,” Windhorst said. “The only place I could get a tie anywhere near there was a Target down the street from the campus. I went in there and I think they had four ties, and I brought all four of them because I was that desperate.”

The insatiable desire for information led to frequent on-air appearances by Windhorst, even amid the network broadcasting the 2014 FIFA World Cup, which received a 2.8 share in the ratings. During gaps between matchups, ESPN presented special editions of SportsCenter and maintained a large audience, helping augment the reach of his reporting.

“They would bring me on to those SportsCenters for LeBron updates because it was one of the most important things going on in the world of sports other than the World Cup,” Windhorst said. “I think some people who had never heard of me before or weren’t familiar with me before at the company saw me perform on those SportsCenters.”

Although James ended up returning to Cleveland, Windhorst remained at ESPN where he continued to report and write about the NBA. Additionally, he started to explore the audio space as a contributor to the TrueHoop podcast and member of the weekly ESPN Radio show, NBA Lockdown Insiders. Today, he contributes to a wide variety of network programming, including SportsCenter, Get Up, First Take and NBA Today, lending his analysis and expertise for viewers worldwide.

On any given day, Windhorst may wake up and attend a production meeting for a studio show, appear on the show and then move to prepare for the next television program later that day. Furthermore, he has written video essays specific to SportsCenter and will collaborate with its features unit to create an end product he narrates from a podcast studio. Additionally, he continues to podcast with his show, Brian Windhorst & The Hoop Collective, where he is joined by ESPN personalities and reporters to discuss the latest NBA news.

Aside from audiovisual work, Windhorst continues to write columns for ESPN’s website both independently and with colleagues. Some of the stories require more comprehensive reporting, while others, such as during the trading deadline or free agency, are more focused on breaking news. For Windhorst, it helps having a team of skilled reporters to accumulate information and quickly make sense of it all.

“Our reporters work together a lot,” he said. “We are sharing information, sharing sourcing and, as a result, sometimes when there’s a news break, it’s actually like 3-4 people who are involved in the production. Sometimes they get credit; sometimes they don’t, and none of us care about it.”

During the week before the NBA All-Star Game, for example, now-Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James broke the NBA’s all-time scoring record. Less than 48 hours later, the league endured a particularly active trade deadline, highlighted by blockbuster deals that sent Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving out of Brooklyn.

Windhorst and his colleague Ramona Shelburne had been working for approximately six to eight weeks on a story about James breaking the scoring record. On the other hand, the duo spent 12 hours amassing an in-depth piece on what led to Durant being dealt to the Phoenix Suns. As a multifaceted journalist in high demand, Windhorst only slept for three hours per night – and he estimates many of his colleagues received even less reprieve. It is in their relentless work ethic and passion for their work that Windhorst and his team are able to excel on multiple platforms of dissemination.

In essence, advances in technology and changes in consumption have rendered the NBA into a true, 24/7 entity. News could break at any given moment, meaning those who cover the league must stay ready to work and remain informed. It demands self-motivation, maintaining a high standard of work and finding opportunities to grow and never becoming complacent just because of prestige realized or merely inferred.

“When you get hired at ESPN, there’s a temptation to believe that you’ve made it because it’s high-profile and a lot of people get paid very well and you’re going to be maybe recognized – and everything like that – and get instant respect,” Windhorst said. “The real challenge is not getting to ESPN; it’s being able to succeed within ESPN.”

Early in Windhorst’s tenure with the network, some of its television reporters would garner general assignments, meaning that they could be covering both football and basketball in a week. Although they performed at a high level, the network began to transition towards specializing its personnel to cover varying sectors in the sports landscape, recognizing their value and ability to uncover specific information and convey it to viewers.

In utilizing its personnel to report in detail about specific teams and personnel to best appeal to its viewers, the network adopted new technology to provide coast-to-coast coverage. Windhorst was one of the first ESPN personalities to have TVU installed at his home in Omaha, a streaming solution that transmitted HD video back to the network to put over the air.

Initially, he had to contend with a three-second delay, but as the technology evolved, the process was streamlined and made more efficient. It gives Windhorst the ability to appear on several shows per day whether they be linear or nonlinear, along with recording his podcast and writing from home.

“It’s all just about content,” he said. “My job is to find and tell interesting stories, and to have an understanding of what’s going on around the NBA…. On any day, I can be working with multiple legs of the company and multiple platforms.”

Windhorst has covered the league for over two decades and continues to have an earnest desire to work hard and bring basketball fans unparalleled coverage of the sport. Over the years, things have not always worked out his way, but he has consistently found a way to appeal to his audience.

Leaving Cleveland was hardly facile, but it ultimately helped launch his career at the national level and across different means of communication. Being within a company as ubiquitous in professional sports as ESPN, there are only so many roles to fill and an ostensibly immense talent pool, meaning that standing out and persistently advocating for oneself is essential for growth. Part of growing, though, is recognizing that there are many talented people and demonstrating value to executives in areas outside of the craft.

In some ways, it is similar to LeBron James, who is often criticized for losing six of the 10 NBA Finals he played in. Windhorst saw him in tears of joy and tears of sorrow – in jubilation and lamentation – but observed that he always kept going. It is a mindset Windhorst applies in his own career, and one that has resulted in his rapid evolution as a media professional through adaptability and synergy.

“Sometimes you’ve got to take a loss,” Windhorst said. “Sometimes, something doesn’t go your way and you don’t understand it or it’s unfortunate and maybe you even think it’s not fair, but like LeBron, you keep going because you know there’s another game [and] there’s another season.”

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BSM Writers

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

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

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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