When I was a daily drive host on ESPN Radio I was always asked “who will be the famous guest today?” I was asked this so much that indirectly there was an enormous amount of pressure to deliver for the folks in house. I think over time I would start questioning the value of this process. I had always believed that the listening audiences of sports radio just wanted to be entertained for the brief amount of time that the radio host had their attention. Understand that most radio listeners are either in their car or are in some form of transit. New outlets such as satellite radio have really hit hard with more genres making the daily commute more individually driven. Ipods and MP3 players have also cut down on the amount of time radio broadcasts generate. If you can listen to a podcast of your favorite show in your available or down time why wouldn’t you?
These factors led me to try something different on my daily radio show “Sports Journey with Lake Lewis”. First and foremost my listeners have always been able to hear A-list guest ranging from Boxing Promoter “only in America” Don King to Hall of Fame Quarterback Joe Namath. Having in the past worked with super stars of today like Orlando Magic Center Dwight Howard I found out that it was never about me. In other words today’s radio suffers from egos that ten to fifteen years ago one could argue was needed. Radio personalities were at one point the direct link between fan and athlete. What went on in the game and afterwards in the locker room was usually discussed in length to listeners’ on their respective local stations. In the new millennium things have taken a drastic change. Athletes through the emergence of social media outlets are setting the record straight whether good or bad. They have become more accessible albeit indirectly accessible because of instant media. There has never been a time where information about any athlete was more readily available than today. As the world progresses even further with technology, creativity will be even more paramount to grabbing and holding a listening audience. In my opinion if radio does not go along with the times they will severely fall by the wayside. Don’t be fooled, radio advertising is at an all time low and this was starting to happen before the economy took a turn for the worse. The growth of the internet and smart phones, have allowed people news and sports information options that they otherwise would not have access.
I thought the way to get to the listeners and fans of today was to create an outlet that would bring the truths about events directly from what we watch sports for. The Athletes! Come on be honest – we follow sports because it is the single most important form of entertainment in the US. When teams win its therapeutic for the moral and the pulse of the cities in which they play. It’s easier to get up for work when your team has been victorious over the weekend. It is easier for me as a journalist to report and cover teams that are winning. The adage that everyone is a front runner at heart could not be more true. There is a bigger underlying question here that I wanted verification from our readers. That question is would you prefer to hear your favorite on air personality or your favorite athlete? Let’s be sure of one thing. The athlete that comes on Sports Journey or host their own shows on our network are not told to keep it straight and narrow. We want them to be sharp, charismatic, and witty. To show the fans another side to their personality that they may not have been aware of off the field. Also knowing a lot of pro athletes that are great family people, I wanted to dispel the stereotype of them not being adequate orators and lacking in people skills. This is what I envisioned when I started Sports Journey. Out of the box sports talk radio with veteran talent and pro athletes. With that said would you prefer to hear myself or another on air personality of your choice or an athlete who is stepping out of the box? This is a brand new approach that we think is at the forefront of radio and internet sports talk. Will it prevail as we go forward? Only time and you the sports talk listeners will determine that.
Lake Lewis is the President and CEO of the Sports Journey Broadcast Network.