BSM Writers
The Remote: A Love Poem

Published
4 years agoon
By
Dave GreeneThis week I wanted to write about the positives and negatives of selling a live remote broadcast. The older you are the more likely you are to remember a time when these were a really big deal, no matter the format. Rock stations would set up at a shoe store on a Saturday and the line would be down the street to meet the DJ and have a chance to spin the “wheel of prizes.” If the store wasn’t packed full of customers and having one of their biggest days of the year, it was a disappointment.
As time has passed and the world has changed, so too has the live remote broadcast. No longer can a client purchase a two-hour show on a weekend afternoon and expect that people are going to stop what they’re doing and run to meet the DJ. Obviously, with social media and other advances, the DJ’s, or in our case show hosts, aren’t as much of a mystery as they used to be. Additionally, people’s lives are busier than ever and that 3-night trip to Mexico you’re giving away isn’t going to change anything.
In my almost twenty-five years in the business, I‘ve had a love-hate relationship with remotes. From the early days of having to set them up or even run them technically, to hosting them to selling them, I feel like I’ve seen and done it all. There’s been great ones that were very memorable and there’ve been terrible ones where I wanted to forget quickly they’d ever happened.
I am very much a believer that the live show on location has value if done correctly and if the proper expectations are set up front. They can enhance something already happening such as a golf tournament or grand opening and they also have the added bonus of being a marketing vehicle for the station. With that said, they can also be an enormous pain in the butt and most of the time the expectations are that people will flock through the doors because our station is there, despite our best efforts.
Yep, been there done that with remotes. I got to thinking back on it all and jotted down this little ode to the live remote:
Oh live remote broadcast, how we’ve been through it all
Via Comrex, Tieline, Marti or when everything failed, a call
You used to be desired all of the time
We’d give away prizes and down the street people would line
Listeners would meet the hosts, finally see the face behind a voice
And if the place was full, we’d all sit back, take the credit and rejoice
But things have changed, remotes can now be a real grind
When I think of what they’ve become, here is what comes to mind:
The promos ran, the eblast went out, we couldn’t have promoted it more
Now please, please, please will some people come through that door
Last night I was worried sick and hardly got any sleep
Why oh why did I sell this (bleepity bleep)
I said be here at ten, and nobody showed until ten thirty
The banners are all wrinkled and the logo’d tablecloth is dirty
The on-air hosts are whining, complaining and won’t listen to me
And all they keep worrying about is when they’ll get their talent fee
And then another moment of despair
The remote tech just jumped up and yelled, “I think we’re off the air!”
The store owner is pacing and doesn’t look calm
Please, lord don’t let this one be a bomb
But oh, lookey here, what’s that I see
The host got up and started schmoozing the client for me
And now what through the door should appear
Listeners, who said they heard us and just had to get here
The place started to fill and the cash register was ringin
The owner started to look pleased with the people we were bringin
It’s all turned around, I think this remote actually went well
Maybe it wasn’t such a bad thing to sell
Live remotes, they are truly a necessary evil
I think if we stopped selling them, there’d be an upheaval
Some accounts still love them and are willing to pay
And nobody’s turning down the money, not in this day
We’ll keep hoping they go well and from each one we’ll learn
Until one day soon when we can sell remotes without (too much) concern
Remotes, it’s been a heckuva ride, as I take a deep breath
And truly hope you’re not the cause of my early death.
Dave Greene
Dave Greene is a former sales columnist for BSM. He works as a General Sales Manager for Audacy St. Louis. He can be reached by email at DGreene@Audacy.com or find him on Twitter @DaveGreene34.
BSM Writers
Being Wrong On-Air Isn’t A Bad Thing
…if you feel yourself getting uncomfortable over the fact that you were wrong, stop to realize that’s your pride talking. Your ego. And if people call you out for being wrong, it’s actually a good sign.

Published
11 hours agoon
June 24, 2022By
Danny O'Neil
In the press conference after the Warriors won their fourth NBA title in eight years, Steph Curry referenced a very specific gesture from a very specific episode of Get Up that aired in August 2021.
“Clearly remember some experts and talking heads putting up the big zero,” Curry said, then holding up a hollowed fist to one eye, looking through it as if it were a telescope.
“How many championships we would have going forward because of everything we went through.”
And Steph clearly remembered what Kendrick Perkins and Domonique Foxworth had to say on August 3rd, 2021 about Curry's chances of winning another NBA title.
— First and Pen (@firstandpen) June 17, 2022
To his credit, Big Perk owned up to it. 3/4 pic.twitter.com/O6h0jIg2Cn
Yep, Kendrick Perkins and Domonique Foxworth each predicted the Warriors wouldn’t win a single title over the course of the four-year extension Curry had just signed. The Warriors won the NBA title and guess what? Curry gets to gloat.
The funny part to me was the people who felt Perkins or Foxworth should be mad or embarrassed. Why? Because they were wrong?
That’s part of the game. If you’re a host or analyst who is never wrong in a prediction, it’s more likely that you’re excruciatingly boring than exceedingly smart. Being wrong is not necessarily fun, but it’s not a bad thing in this business.
You shouldn’t try to be wrong, but you shouldn’t be afraid of it, either. And if you are wrong, own it. Hold your L as I’ve heard the kids say. Don’t try to minimize it or explain it or try to point out how many other people are wrong, too. Do what Kendrick Perkins did on Get Up the day after the Warriors won the title.
“When they go on to win it, guess what?” He said, sitting next to Mike Greenberg. “You have to eat that.”
Do not do what Perkins did later that morning on First Take.
Kendrick Perkins is in Shambles today 😂😭 pic.twitter.com/KmkpbSnXHd
— Hoes Made Part IV (@HellaADZ) June 17, 2022
Perkins: “I come on here and it’s cool, right? Y’all can pull up Perk receipts and things to that nature. And then you give other people a pass like J-Will.”
Jason Williams: “I don’t get passes on this show.”
Perkins: “You had to, you had a receipt, too, because me and you both picked the Memphis Grizzlies to beat the Golden State Warriors, but I’m OK with that. I’m OK with that. Go ahead Stephen A. I know you’re about to have fun and do your thing. Go ahead.”
Stephen A. Smith: “First of all, I’m going to get serious for a second with the both of you, especially you, Perk, and I want to tell you something right now. Let me throw myself on Front Street, we can sit up there and make fun of me. You know how many damn Finals predictions I got wrong? I don’t give a damn. I mean, I got a whole bunch of them wrong. Ain’t no reason to come on the air and defend yourself. Perk, listen man. You were wrong. And we making fun, and Steph Curry making fun of you. You laugh at that my brother. He got you today. That’s all. He got you today.”
It’s absolutely great advice, and if you feel yourself getting uncomfortable over the fact that you were wrong, stop to realize that’s your pride talking. Your ego. And if people call you out for being wrong, it’s actually a good sign. It means they’re not just listening, but holding on to what you say. You matter. Don’t ruin that by getting defensive and testy.
WORTH EVERY PENNY
I did a double-take when I saw Chris Russo’s list of the greatest QB-TE combinations ever on Wednesday and this was before I ever got to Tom Brady-to-Rob Gronkowski listed at No. 5. It was actually No. 4 that stopped me cold: Starr-Kramer.
Somehow Mad Dog managed to put out a more ridiculous list than last week 🤦🏾♂️ Brady to Gronk is No. 5? Smh pic.twitter.com/ikhwDqlEGR
— Antwan V. Staley (@antwanstaley) June 22, 2022
My first thought: Jerry Kramer didn’t play tight end.
My second thought: I must be unaware of this really good tight end from the Lombardi-era Packers.
After further review, I don’t think that’s necessarily true, either. Ron Kramer did play for the Lombardi-era Packers, and he was a good player. He caught 14 scoring passes in a three-year stretch where he really mattered, but he failed to catch a single touchdown pass in six of the 10 NFL seasons he played. He was named first-team All-Pro once and finished his career with 229 receptions.
Now this is not the only reason that this is an absolutely terrible list. It is the most egregious, however. Bart Starr and Kramer are not among the 25 top QB-TE combinations in NFL history let alone the top five. And if you’re to believe Russo’s list, eighty percent of the top tandems played in the NFL in the 30-year window from 1958 to 1987 with only one tandem from the past 30 years meriting inclusion when this is the era in which tight end production has steadily climbed.
Then I found out that Russo is making $10,000 per appearance on “First Take.”
My first thought: You don’t have to pay that much to get a 60-something white guy to grossly exaggerate how great stuff used to be.
My second thought: That might be the best $10,000 ESPN has ever spent.
Once a week, Russo comes on and draws a reaction out of a younger demographic by playing a good-natured version of Dana Carvey’s Grumpy Old Man. Russo groans to JJ Redick about the lack of fundamental basketball skills in today’s game or he proclaims the majesty of a tight end-quarterback pairing that was among the top five in its decade, but doesn’t sniff the top five of all-time.
And guess what? It works. Redick rolls his eyes, asks Russo which game he’s watching, and on Wednesday he got me to spend a good 25 minutes looking up statistics for some Packers tight end I’d never heard of. Not satisfied with that, I then moved on to determine Russo’s biggest omission from the list, which I’ve concluded is Philip Rivers and Antonio Gates, who connected for 89 touchdowns over 15 seasons, which is only 73 more touchdowns than Kramer scored in his career. John Elway and Shannon Sharpe should be on there, too.
Danny O'Neil
Danny O’Neil is a sports media columnist for BSM. He has previously hosted morning and afternoon drive for 710 ESPN Seattle, and served as a reporter for the Seattle Times. He can be reached on Twitter @DannyOneil or by email at Danny@DannyOneil.com.
BSM Writers
Money Isn’t The Key Reason Why Sellers Sell Sports Radio
I started selling sports radio because I enjoyed working with clients who loved sports, our station, and wanted to reach fans with our commercials and promotions.

Published
11 hours agoon
June 24, 2022By
Jeff Caves
A radio salesperson’s value being purely tied to money is overrated to me. Our managers all believe that our main motivation for selling radio is to make more money. They see no problem in asking us to sell more in various ways because it increases our paycheck. We are offered more money to sell digital, NTR, to sell another station in the cluster, weekend remotes, new direct business, or via the phone in 8 hours.
But is that why you sell sports radio?
In 2022, the Top 10 highest paying sales jobs are all in technology. Not a media company among them. You could argue that if it were all about making money, we should quit and work in tech. Famous bank robber Willie Sutton was asked why he robbed twenty banks over twenty years. He reportedly said,” that’s where the money is”. Sutton is the classic example of a person who wanted what money could provide and was willing to do whatever it took to get it, BUT he also admitted he liked robbing banks and felt alive. So, Sutton didn’t do it just for the money.
A salesperson’s relationship with money and prestige is also at the center of the play Death of a Salesman. Willy Loman is an aging and failing salesman who decides he is worth more dead than alive and kills himself in an auto accident giving his family the death benefit from his life insurance policy. Loman wasn’t working for the money. He wanted the prestige of what money could buy for himself and his family.
Recently, I met a woman who spent twelve years selling radio from 1999-2011. I asked her why she left her senior sales job. She said she didn’t like the changes in the industry. Consolidation was at its peak, and most salespeople were asked to do more with less help. She described her radio sales job as one with “golden handcuffs”. The station paid her too much money to quit even though she hated the job. She finally quit. The job wasn’t worth the money to her.
I started selling sports radio because I enjoyed working with clients who loved sports, our station, and wanted to reach fans with our commercials and promotions. I never wanted to sell anything else and specifically enjoyed selling programming centered around reaching fans of Boise State University football. That’s it. Very similar to what Mark Glynn and his KJR staff experience when selling Kraken hockey and Huskies football.
I never thought selling sports radio was the best way to make money. I just enjoyed the way I could make money. I focused on the process and what I enjoyed about the position—the freedom to come and go and set my schedule for the most part. I concentrated on annual contracts and clients who wanted to run radio commercials over the air to get more traffic and build their brand.
Most of my clients were local direct and listened to the station. Some other sales initiatives had steep learning curves, were one-day events or contracted out shaky support staff. In other words, the money didn’t motivate me enough. How I spent my time was more important.
So, if you are in management, maybe consider why your sales staff is working at the station. Because to me, they’d be robbing banks if it were all about making lots of money.
Jeff Caves
Jeff Caves is a sales columnist for BSM working in radio, digital, hyper-local magazine, and sports sponsorship sales in DFW. He is credited with helping launch, build, and develop SPORTS RADIO The Ticket in Boise, Idaho, into the market’s top sports radio station. During his 26 year stay at KTIK, Caves hosted drive time, programmed the station, and excelled as a top seller. You can reach him by email at jeffcaves54@gmail.com or find him on Twitter @jeffcaves.
BSM Writers
Media Noise: BSM Podcast Network Round Table
Published
11 hours agoon
June 24, 2022By
BSM Staff
Demetri Ravanos welcomes the two newest members of the BSM Podcast Network to the show. Brady Farkas and Stephen Strom join for a roundtable discussion that includes the new media, Sage Steele and Roger Goodell telling Congress that Dave Portnoy isn’t banned from NFL events.
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