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Craig Carton Is Right – This One’s On You, Not Him!

“Radio is a results driven business. Executives have a ton of pressure on them to win, and they’re not going to pass on adding an elite talent to their roster, regardless of red flags, especially if they have a good prior relationship.”
Jason Barrett

Published

2 years ago

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Robert Kraft once said “Envy and jealousy are incurable diseases.” Though I’m sure he was thinking about a situation that related to the New England Patriots or National Football League, he may as well have been referring to the sports media industry.

If there’s one thing that this business struggles with it’s rooting for others to succeed. Media people are competitive and seek positions occupied by others, which makes it common for folks to tear others down rather than extend a sincere congratulations when good things happen to them. They’ll scrutinize an individual’s track record, on-air comments, social media posts, how they connect with co-workers, the way they interact with listeners and advertisers, and seek any advantage possible, convincing themselves that the reason they didn’t earn a shot and someone else did is because the system worked against them.

But landing big jobs in this business isn’t just about talent. It’s assumed that you’re going to have skill otherwise you wouldn’t even be considered for an opportunity. The true X factor is relationships. Many people think that their skills should be enough to warrant a look for the top jobs in the industry. That sounds good in theory but if you don’t have any connection to a local market, and the only time you talk to an executive and appear on their radar is when they have an opening at their station, you’re likely not getting the job.

The question you should be asking and prepared to answer is ‘why exactly would a hiring manager choose you over every other option?’ If it’s because you ‘think’ you’re more talented, get to work on a better answer. What have you done prior to the opening to build a connection with the people you hope to work with? Did you seek feedback on how to get better? Did you interact on social media? Did you congratulate them with a text or email when they had something positive happen to them or their brand? Did you show up and say hello at an industry event or station function?

It takes time, effort, and consistency to build relationships. Without them, the road to glory is full of obstacles. I’ve seen a lot of people bitch and moan on social media, the airwaves or to industry friends when jobs get filled in this industry, and in some cases, they may have a legitimate gripe. More times than not though, people look solely at situations from their own point of view rather than the other side.

Case in point, when Craig Carton was named the new afternoon drive host at WFAN, I saw everything from ‘Why would they hire a convicted felon?’, ‘The fix is in’, ‘Ridiculous’, ‘Chernoff and Oliviero never gave anyone else a fair shot’, ‘There were more talented hosts out there’, etc.. That sounds like a whole lot of sour grapes. Carton addressed the issue last Thursday telling his critics “I haven’t been on the radio in three years. I think Boomer said, 1,150 days. You had plenty of time to get better at what you do. You didn’t. That’s on you. That’s not on me. Got it? Good.”

His critics will lose their mind over those comments suggesting that they may have improved at their craft but didn’t earn strong consideration from Chris Oliviero and Mark Chernoff, the two men responsible for bringing Carton back to WFAN. It’s always more convenient for industry people to distribute blame and seek sympathy rather than give credit and understand why moves makes sense. Let’s look at Carton’s rehiring and I’ll explain why this was a no-brainer decision for WFAN.

Did you see how the majority of WFAN employees responded publicly when it was revealed that Carton was coming back? Most were ecstatic to have him back at the station. Positive additions equal an improved workplace culture, something every manager hopes to create. Secondly, people can take shots at Craig for his mistakes, and Carton knows that comes with the territory, but let’s not forget that this guy took over morning drive in the nation’s largest market on the sports format’s most iconic station, stepped in after Imus left a huge stain on the brand, built one of the most successful shows in the country from scratch with Boomer Esiason, and elevated WFAN to an even higher level. To ignore his massive prior success is foolish. In a business judged heavily by performance, Carton has won plenty.

Next, ‘The Michael Kay Show’ has been rolling, and winning the afternoon drive ratings battle. WFAN knew it had to make a bold move to try and energize the audience to reclaim the top spot in afternoons. Whether you like Craig or not, he’s a unique talent who makes people talk and listen, and he gives the station a stronger chance to regain NY radio ears and dollars than any other talent who’d have been available. You might be crushing it in another city or be the next big thing to lead the format forward, but this is market #1 where the stakes are high, and WFAN isn’t going to bet on potential when a proven commodity is there to be hired.

An underrated aspect of Carton’s game is that he’s also very good at getting the most out of his partners. Chris and Mark will be counting on him to do that with Evan Roberts. I admit I was surprised that Chernoff and Oliviero chose this pairing because Roberts felt like a strange fit, but if there’s one thing these executives do well, it’s put together winning combinations. When you combine Craig’s track record of success with his personal and professional history with Mark and Chris, you can see why the station rolled the dice to bring him back. I’d have done the same exact thing if I were in their shoes.

If you disagree with WFAN’s decision, that’s fine. This isn’t Chris and Mark’s first rodeo. They can handle the heat. But don’t forget, 97.5 The Fanatic was interested in Craig too. Had Carton been interested in relocating, I’m sure other stations would have entered the mix as well. That’s a reflection on how he’s viewed as an on-air performer.

When it comes to making decisions, programming executives will always face an army of critics firing bullets in their direction, and others praising their choices when they make a hire. These are high profile jobs sought after by hundreds if not thousands of people, and though there may be 50-100 truly worthy of the opportunity, there’s only one job to give. Results ultimately determine if a station got it right or not, and if a show succeeds, the executive in charge usually earns more trust and pay. If they fail, they risk being replaced.

Why Carton’s addition has anyone angry though is surprising to me. We talk about sports on the air every single day, examining players, coaches and executives and whether or not they deserve 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th chances while others with talent get pushed aside. Many times we even side with the franchise, crediting them for betting on the best talent and being willing to look past individual issues. Case in point, Antonio Brown, Kareem Hunt, Alex Cora, AJ Hinch, Tony La Russa, Carmelo Anthony, Ron Artest, Dennis Rodman, Darryl Strawberry, Jose Canseco, the list goes on and on.

Go look at some of those names and look at the franchises they’ve been connected to and who was in charge. Why did Tony La Russa land the White Sox job over other candidates? Because Jerry Reinsdorf had a relationship with him. Why did Antonio Brown go to Tampa? Tom Brady and Bruce Arians. Who lured Kareem Hunt to the Browns? John Dorsey, the former Browns GM who previously drafted Hunt in Kansas City.

It’s not much different in radio. Just like the world of sports, radio is a results driven business. Executives have a ton of pressure on them to win, and they’re not going to pass on adding an elite talent to their roster, regardless of red flags, especially if they have a good prior relationship. Many brand managers also have certain philosophies and priorities that influence how they build their station lineups, and nothing you say is going to change that. It’d be like a football player telling Bill Walsh during the glory days of the 49ers to move away from running the West Coast offense. That player may continue playing in the league but he’ll be wearing another team’s jersey before Walsh abandoned his coaching philosophy.

For example, maybe a program director doesn’t believe in hiring out of town talent. Maybe they place a premium value on feedback from other execs and when checking into your background they learn of a number of bad experiences others had working with you. Maybe they think the person being considered for the job has the wrong sound, attitude or financial expectations to fit inside their building. Or maybe they just don’t think much of your talent level and believe someone else is better.

Decisions will continue to be scrutinized and celebrated, but complaining doesn’t get you anywhere. In fact I can argue that doing it in public circles will only make other managers more hesitant to call you in the future should they have needs to fill.

The real issue you should be thinking about is what Craig said on the air last week – ‘You had 3 years to take the seat he now holds, so why didn’t you?’ Better yet, why were Evan Roberts and Bart Scott mentioned as the two leading candidates to work with Craig, and your name not included? Is Craig supposed to not take a job just because you don’t think he deserves it? Give me a break.

Before you tell me WFAN didn’t have a need or that it was impossible to get their attention, let me remind you that there have now been 5 different afternoon shows on the station during the past 3-4 years (Francesa, CMB, Francesa part 2, Joe & Evan, and now Carton & Roberts). If Carlin, Maggie, Bart, Joe and Evan could earn a shot, why couldn’t you? If you have elite talent, and a connection to New York, and let 1,150 days pass without building a professional relationship with Chris Oliviero and Mark Chernoff, you already know the answer why you were never in the mix. As Craig Carton said last week, ‘that’s on you’.

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Rachel Nichols and Baron Davis Headline Final Speaker Announcements For the 2023 BSM Summit

“I’m sure Baron and Rachel will have all eyes and ears focused on them when they take the stage together next Tuesday at 2:45pm PT.”
Jason Barrett

Published

2 days ago

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March 16, 2023

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The 2023 BSM Summit schedule is set. After months of planning and talking to everyone across the industry, I’m ecstatic to roll out next week’s agenda including making one final announcement involving seven great additions to our conference.

For starters, it is a pleasure to welcome Showtime’s Rachel Nichols to the BSM Summit. I’ve admired her work on television for years, and am thrilled to have her guiding a session which I think many in the room are going to really enjoy.

Rachel’s guest will be former NBA star Baron Davis. Baron runs his own company, Baron Davis Enterprises, and he has been active in investing in media brands, and exploring ways to evolve the industry. Among his areas of passion, athletes taking more control of their brands, and the media industry needing to improve its track record with diversity. I’m sure Baron and Rachel will have all eyes and ears focused on them when they take the stage together next Tuesday at 2:45pm PT.

Also joining the Summit are a few longtime industry friends. For starters, VSiN’s program director Jon Goulet is someone who I’ve known and worked with, and he understands the sports betting audio space extremely well. Jon and BetQL VP of Programming Mitch Rosen will spend time with another industry friend, Bryan Curtis of The Ringer. Collectively they’ll examine the state of sports betting audio on Tuesday March 21st from 3:35p-4:10p, and what they look for when it comes to sports betting talent, and how they determine what is and isn’t success in the sports gambling content world.

With Mitch taking part in the sports betting panel, Jeff Rickard of WFNZ in Charlotte steps into The Programmer’s Panel alongside Jimmy Powers, John Mamola and Raj Sharan. The session is scheduled for Wednesday March 22nd from 9:10a-9:45a PT. Ironically, all four of these programmers work for different companies, so it’ll be interesting to hear how they differ and where they align while navigating through a few sports radio programming topics.

Next, I’m excited to introduce a social media session with Karlo Sy Su of ESPN Los Angeles and Matthew Demeke of AM 570 LA Sports. If you look at the performance of their brands on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and Facebook, they’ve each delivered strong audiences and engagement. I’m looking forward to hosting this one and learning about their processes, how they decide which platforms to focus on most, what they consider a social media win when analyzing social statistics, and how they develop their content process. Given our location, we’re calling the session ‘Social Media Goes Hollywood‘. It’s scheduled for Wednesday March 22nd from 3:35-4:10 PT.

I realize you’re not going to remember all of these session speakers and times off the top of your head, so to make it easier, log on to BSMSummit.com and scroll down past our speakers. That’s where you’ll find our detailed list of sessions/times and activities planned each day. We have eighteen sessions, two awards ceremonies, and two parties. Our kickoff party is presented by the WWE and takes place Monday March 20th from 7p-9p at the 1880 Founders Room. The ESPN Radio After Party takes place Tuesday March 21st from 6p-8p at the Lab Gastropub. Both party locations are in walking distance of the USC Hotel and our conference venue.

As an added bonus, thanks to the generosity of our friends at WWE, we will be giving away a pair of tickets to the first night of WrestleMania, and a WWE title at our kickoff party. WrestleMania takes place this year in Los Angeles at Sofi Stadium on March 25-26. You must be present at the kickoff party to win either prize.

We’ll have more to share next week including providing an ongoing blog with session news and notes for our readers. We’ll also have a ton of content available on our social media channels so if you’re not following @BSMStaff on Twitter, @BarrettSportsMedia on Facebook or @BarrettMedia on LinkedIn, what are you waiting for?

The focus now shifts to finishing our creative for next week’s show, sending information to our speakers for their sessions, and finalizing our attendees list. For those who are attending, we’ll be sending out an email on Friday or Saturday with a complete list of names of who’s coming so you can plan meetings in advance.

If you forgot to buy your ticket after seeing months of promotion about the event and meant to do so, you can still do that, but it costs more. Students on the other hand can take advantage of a low rate established for college kids at https://bsmsummit.com/registration.

Putting this event together isn’t easy, but I’m extremely pleased with how it’s come together. We have a lot of smart, talented, and accomplished people making time to be part of this, and I appreciate each and every one of them for doing so. Now, it’s all about the execution. Hope to see you next week in LA.

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Sports Broadcasting Icon Al Michaels To Be Honored at the 2023 BSM Summit

“This is a man who has spent more than five decades on your television screen calling the biggest games, and producing some of the most iconic moments sports has to offer.”
Jason Barrett

Published

1 week ago

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March 10, 2023

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If you work in the sports media industry you’ve likely heard someone along the way utter the phrase “don’t bury the lead“. I’m usually good about following that advice but I didn’t do that at our 2022 BSM Summit.

We introduced the greatest tandem in sports radio history, Mike Francesa and Chris ‘Mad Dog’ Russo and it was a special half hour. Mike and the Mad Dog were reunited after seven years apart and every individual at the event knew they were witnessing something magical on stage. I created a Mike and the Mad Dog Award for the event, which went to Felger and Mazz, who were the absolute right choice to win it. Even Chris remarked ‘that’s the right call‘.

But I learned quickly that although the intention was right in honoring the industry’s current top performing show, when you have legends in the room and they’re in their element, the last thing you want to do is overcrowd them. The connection Mike and Chris had on the air became the gold standard by which we measure successful sports talk shows, and they didn’t need an award created to deliver a special moment, just two mics and 20-30 minutes of stage time.

As I began thinking about the 2023 BSM Summit, I knew there was an opportunity to build on what we started last year with Mike and Chris, and after talking to a few people who I trust and respect, the decision of who we would recognize became crystal clear. I believe it’s important to honor the greats in our business because those who leave a permanent mark on our industry deserve it. The man we’ve selected has spent more than five decades on your television screen calling the biggest games, and producing some of the most iconic moments sports has to offer. He’s worked with the best of the best inside the booth, has helped elevate the presentation and execution of in-game content for ABC, NBC and Amazon, and his call of the Miracle on Ice, the US Olympic hockey team’s 1980 gold medal win over Russia remains one of the best calls in the history of sports.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I am honored and privileged to share that Al Michaels will join us on Wednesday March 22nd at the 2023 BSM Summit for our awards presentation, where we will present him with BSM’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

Michaels is one of America’s most respected sports broadcasting voices, known for his exceptional work on Monday Night Football (1986-2005), Sunday Night Football (2006-2022) and Thursday Night Football (2022-Present). He’s called the Super Bowl, World Series, NBA Finals, Stanley Cup Finals, Hagler-Hearns, the Olympics, the Indy 500, Horse Racing’s Triple Crown races, College Football and Basketball games, Golf, and more. He’s even held roles as the voice of the University of Hawaii, the Cincinnati Reds, and the San Francisco Giants, and was in the booth in 1989 when an earthquake rocked the Bay Area during Game 3 of the A’s-Giants world series.

The Brooklyn native turned Los Angeles resident has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and owns a ton of hardware including five sports Emmy’s, three NSMA Sportscaster of the Year honors, the 2013 Pete Rozelle Radio & Television Award distributed by the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and the 2021 Ford C. Frick Award given out by the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame. Though his trophy case may be full, we’re excited to add another to his collection to show our appreciation and respect for the impact he’s made on the sports media business.

A quick reminder, the BSM Summit takes place on Tuesday March 21st and Wednesday March 22nd at the Founders Club at the University of Southern California. Tickets are on-sale at BSMSummit.com.

Be advised, we have started adding sessions and times on the website. As always, the schedule is subject to change. Our final agenda will be posted by the end of next week. In addition, attendees will receive an email by next Friday with details of who will be in attendance. We hope to see you there.

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Rob Parker, Brian Long, Sean Thompson and Matt Fishman Join The BSM Summit Speaker Lineup

“I’m excited to welcome a few folks who have enjoyed success in different parts of the country, and in different areas of the business.”
Jason Barrett

Published

2 weeks ago

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March 3, 2023

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As we gear up for our 5th annual BSM Summit on March 21-22, 2023, I’m starting to get a better feel for how the final puzzle may look. When this process starts I have no idea how it’s going to turn out because so much depends on who says yes and no. Many who’ve attended over the years have complimented our lineups, and I appreciate it because I put a lot of time and effort into featuring a strong mix of professionals from different areas of the industry. Though I’m proud of the work we do and the schedule we deliver, there are so many things pursued leading up to the event that I can’t help but wonder ‘what if this or that had worked out?’

One thing that some folks don’t understand if they haven’t been to the show before is that this is not a talent conference. It’s a sports media business conference. That means we feature radio, TV and digital executives, programmers, researchers, sales professionals, and yes, talent. I believe on-air performers are vital to the industry’s success and I want the best of the best sharing their wisdom with everyone in the room, but we’re also not going to do two full days of on-air conversations. Being successful in sports media requires understanding the on-air side and the business side, and we do our best to offer a blend of both.

For today’s announcement, I’m excited to welcome a few sports media pros who have enjoyed success in different parts of the country, and in different areas of the business.

First, Rob Parker is someone who has made a name for himself as a radio host, writer, TV commentator, and teacher. He’s currently heard weeknights on FOX Sports Radio, teaches students at USC Annenberg, writes for Deadspin, and is helping MLBBro gain awareness and a bigger mainstream media presence covering Major League Baseball. He’s experienced, smart, and never short on opinion. I’m looking forward to having him join Mitch Rosen of 670 The Score/BetQL, and Scott Shapiro of FOX Sports Radio for a session titled “Aircheck On Campus“. They’ll take the stage together on Wednesday March 22nd from 2:10-2:45.

My next three speakers, all come from the sports radio programming department.

Matt Fishman is the Director of Content for ESPN 850 Cleveland. Fishman has been with the brand since January 2020 following stints at SiriusXM, 610 Sports in Kansas City, and 670 The Score in Chicago. He even wrote for BSM for a few years.

Sean Thompson is responsible for programming decisions at Arizona Sports and ESPN 620 AM. He joined the well respected Phoenix brand after more than a decade in Atlanta at 92.9 The Game. Sean has also worked in affiliate relations for Westwood One, and on the air and as a programmer in music radio for Good Karma Brands in Madison, WI.

Brian Long is the program director of both San Diego Sports 760 and KOGO 600 in San Diego. In addition to guiding two of the top talk brands in his market, he has also managed Seattle Sports 710, and served as the Assistant Program Director for ESPN LA 710.

Matt, Sean, and Brian will be part of one of our final sessions on day two of the Summit. The Last Call which yours truly is hosting, will explore unique revenue opportunities created by local brands, and examine a few new ideas and missed opportunities that brands and managers may want to take advantage of in the future.

As of today, the Summit has more than forty accomplished professionals taking the stage at the Founders Club at USC’s Galen Center on March 21-22, 2023. I’ve got a few others still to announce as well, including a few cool giveaways planned for the WWE’s Kickoff party.

If you haven’t bought a ticket and wish to be in the room, visit BSMSummit.com. The last day for ticket sales will be Monday March 13th. I’m hoping to release our final schedule of sessions on Tuesday March 14th. Hopefully I’ll see you in the city of angels.

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