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	Sports Commentaries
		Round the Horn - 9/11/07
		...with Bruce Gilbert. Q & A BMS asked one of the most important men in Sports Talk Radio some candid questions about the state of the biz and how talent should approach the advancing of their careers. The former ESPN Radio GM had a lot to say...
		BMS: What's your definition of a successful sports talk show? BG: You have to have credibility in the topics you’re discussing. You have to have a pretty deep knowledge of sports and know what the fans are talking about. Beyond that, you need to be a real person. Real is the word that matters the most. This plays into the likeability factor. Listeners will say, ‘’Sure, he knows a lot about sports, but do I like him or her?’’ A lot of times people mistake the fact that they’re popular if people agree with their opinions. Nothing could be further from the truth. It’s not about whether the listeners agree or disagree with you, it’s whether they can relate to you? BMS: As a follow up, what would be the top three qualities that a talk show host must possess? BG: Sports credibility, self-deprecation, and being opinionated. BMS: What are the most common mistakes made by talk show hosts that drive you crazy? BG: For starters, being ill-prepared. You can tell when a person walked in two minutes before their shift and decided to just wing it. What those shows lack is an easy to follow road map. They lack an ability to carry the listener from quarter hour to quarter hour. Another pet peeve is talking about stuff you don’t know anything about. There are times when the PD or producer tells the talent to talk about a particular story and the talent doesn’t know anything about the story, hasn’t researched the story, or doesn’t care about that story. This is a business built on passion and you can tell if a host is passionate about what they’re talking about by the way they present it. If you’re not passionate about something you’re better off not talking about it at all. Thirdly, the Know-It-All Syndrome is another huge mistake. The old "’I’m on the radio and you’re not, so I know it all’’ comes across as arrogant, smug and someone who can’t relate. BMS: How do you find the balance between too many guests and not having enough guests? BG: I think we spend too much time worrying about balances and percentages. If it’s good radio, it’s good radio and every host needs to determine what works best for them. There are far too many people who have guests on just to fill segments and that’s incredibly apparent. BMS: What makes for a great interview? BG: An extreme sense of curiosity about the subject matter that the guest is bringing to the table. Typically the excessively curious host is going to ask the question that I never expected to be asked, or he’ll ask all the questions that I would ask if I were the one sitting there. You want to ask the right question, frame them well, get out of the way and let the guest have the spotlight. Don’t try to hog the show or try to prove that you know more than the guest. . BMS: Are there a certain number of phone calls that you want to hear in an hour? BG: Topic has to drive everything. Certain topics call for phone calls. As an example, the topic has to be the main course, and then you have to determine which side dishes are appropriate. Sometimes the side dish is the interview; sometimes the appropriate side dish is the phone call. If you are going to use phone calls, they should only be used to move the talk show host’s agenda forward. They should be strategically utilized to drive the host’s points of view, not for listeners to pontificate or take over control of the show, or for listeners to be interviewed. They’re calling to react to something you said. They have their initial reaction and after that they’re worthless. It’s not the listener’s job to kill time on your show. It’s their job to react to what you’re saying, and it’s your job to either agree with them, shoot them down, tell them they’re crazy or whatever you believe is appropriate to move the show forward. BMS: How long is too long to keep a caller on-air? BG: I’ve never been one to limit the number or length of calls because there are exceptions to everything, however if you hold me to a time, then two minutes is way too long. I believe, if you’re lucky callers have a good 15-20 seconds in them. Usually their first burst is what they have. Once they get that first burst off their chest, they’re done. That’s what they had, that’s why they called, time to move on. BMS: Do you subscribe to the theory that you should keep a topic on-air as long as the calls are coming in, or do you agree with those PD’s who believe a topic should never last more than one or two segments? BG: The topic determines this. I’m a big believer in playing the hits and if the hit record is Michael Vick and you have a three hour show, you should be able to figure out how to get three hours out of Michael Vick. The secret is you don’t approach each segment in those three hours the same way. Segments may include; how does this effect his NFL career, how does culture effect this behavior, why did he not understand the potential harm he was doing and what it would mean to him personally if he were ever caught, why does he hang out with these guys and do you think he’s willing to give up those friendships, how much jail time do you think he should serve, and if he doesn’t get jail time what should happen to him. There’s a way to talk about Michael Vick for three hours without being redundant. However, you do need to have innate ability to know when a show is going backwards. If that happens you’re cheating the audience. BMS: Some PD’s believe a host should never talk for more than two or three minutes at a stretch before adding a sound element, which could be a co-host, guest, sound bite or caller. Do you agree with that philosophy? BG: Yea, I think I do actually. I don’t think it’s any secret that most successful shows in sports radio are team shows. You do need to break it up. Pretty soon the same voice sounds like a monotone note that’s just humming in the background, and you’re not soaking in the context or the topic matter because of the voice. In today’s quick cut society, people need sound bites, they need sound effects, they need different voices, and they need a contrarian point of view, something to stimulate their senses and emotions as they listen to a product. BMS: What advice do you have for people doing a two person show? BG: I can’t take credit for this: I first heard this from a guy in Dallas named Tommy Kramer, who said ‘’Shame on you if you don’t help the other person.” Your job is to pump the other person up and make them sound great. BMS: What are your thoughts on remotes? BG: Remotes have changed a lot over the years. The key to remotes is having a strategy. If you have the right strategy, there can’t be too many. If the remote is strategically done to elevate the presence of the host or station then remotes can be a great thing. I will say this, if sales are driving the bus on remotes, it’s probably a bad idea. If programming is driving the bus, you probably can make it work and sales can make money. BMS: Finally, is there any hope for the over 35 crowd that is having a mid career crises and want to break into sportscasting? BG: It’s a long shot, but if you want a shot, you have to find a way to get on-air, even if it means hosting the midnight show on Saturday. Go to the lowest ranked AM station you can find and get yourself in the door. There’s hope, but you must be on-air. Bruce Gilbert spent 4 years directing ESPN Radio as its GM. He now is the CEO of Red Zebra Broadcasting. Gilbert joined ESPN Radio in 2003. While there, he helped expand its broadcast properties. He was also involved in the management of ESPN Radio stations in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth and Pittsburgh. More tips from Bruce (everything from building your audience to keeping your audience) can be found on the Chicago Seminar CD set. Click Here for details on downloading your copy today.
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