Had a debate with a friend today. When it comes to sports radio, do you listen more for the host or for the guests?
Me, I am all about the guests. With all due respect to the various hosts, none keep my attention long enough if they are solo. If Mccown isn’t talking to someone I am interested in, then I am not going to listen. Similarly, Bill Hayes could be talking to Brian Burke and it would be worth listening to simply because the guest is good and it’s something I am interested in hearing. My friend on the other hand believes the audience is more balanced, that a show has to have more of an ebb and flow to it.
For me it’s simple. A bad host with a good guest is listenable. A great host with a bad host isn’t.
I am alone? Where do you sit?
TSM
A great guest helps make a good host more often than the reverse
They are both important, but I would have to give the edge to guests……………..when a good guest is on (ie: Shulman) I will always listen, even if the host is uninteresting (ie: Faulds and/or Kelley)…………..but when an uninteresting guest is on (ie: the majority of athletes) I am less likely to listen, even if the host is good (ie: McCown)
I listen to McCown on podcast. I used to listen to the whole show every night when it was only the 6pm hour. With two hours I’m a bit more choosy, and having heard McCown’s stock arguments numerous times, I do tend to skip guests that I don’t find interesting. While the Phoenix thing (eg.) is very interesting, it is starting to wear me down.
It’s simple. There is no one on the radio who I listen to for their opinion alone. There is no radio show in sports anyway, to me that i have to turn into every day. So, while I don’t love the morning show on the fan (becuase I am not in love with their every day hosts), I will listen when they have someone on to talk about something interesting. I listen to the other shows on the Fan when I know there is something worth listening to. If I turn the radio on and the topic doesn’t interest me, I change the channel. It’s no different, if I have a music channel on and I don’t like the song, i flip. There is no one, Watters or Mccown included who’s opinion I value enough to listen to just them or their opinion. Mccown and Watters are best when they have good guests. It’s that simple to me. I rarely listen to Mccown off the top as I know it is him and callers. I am not interested in his response to callers. I am less interested when (and this is very rare) he talks to athletes. Watters is best when he interviews guests he doesn’t know. When he talks to an industry guy he is un-listenable. He spends so much time acting like the guests buddy that there is no substance. He is great when he talks to Bryan Colangelo and others he doesn’t know or know anything about. His talk about his wife, his kids or anything else isn’t worthy of my time 🙂
@TSM: re “His talk about his wife, his kids or anything else isn’t worthy of my time”
What was that you mentioned the other day about a certain bedwetter? 😉
I promise you, when I get paid for people to listen to me I won’t talk about little TSM’s bedwetting alarm! 🙂