Two months before The Audible hit the KNBR 1050 airwaves, the very first conversations I had with the talent and production staff revolved around the need to be omnipresent within the digital landscape. Every member of The Audible would need to make a full and sharp commitment to split their energy equally between terrestrial responsibilities 4a-9a (The Audible airs weekdays 6a-9a), and the digital elements from 9a-Noon. We ensured that all potential hires would be dedicated to the process and push their teammates to write, communicate and execute alongside our digital team to produce compelling content. I personally needed to hear this messaging repeated back several times to make sure my vision hit home with our crew before we started negotiating. This wasn’t a 3-4 hour a day job where hosts would show up while the show open was rolling and leave immediately after turning off the mics – it was a FULL 8 hour day. The team was all-in and the excitement was infectious when everyone got in the building late last July.
We are constantly preaching the importance of mobile in particular as the coveted 25-44 demo simply isn’t sampling the AM dial the way they used to. The Bay Area remains one of the top commuter markets in the country and young workers are finding creative ways to avoid traffic in the hopes of saving time getting to/from the workplace. This involves riding BART trains, MUNI, Cal-Train & Casual Carpools… all routes where terrestrial radio simply isn’t an option for most and speakers are exchanged for earbuds. Oftentimes a streaming connection can be lost in transit due to crowding, tunnels, cell service, etc and this where podcasting becomes the preferred and more reliable source of audio. On demand listening also enables these non-traditional commuters to multitask while listening in transit, an invaluable feature in such a tech-driven market.
If the new KNBR 1050 is truly going to own the mobile experience and draft off the KNBR brand name, we need to be consistently posting well produced audio content each and every day. This is where KNBR 1050’s Director of Content Daniel Ogden has been instrumental in pushing the station’s podcast material. After each show he is editing, posting and writing detailed headlines for 1) entire show podcasts, 2) three hourly podcasts and 3) a Best Of podcast. Daniel is a phenomenal guest booker, tirelessly working around the clock to build and maintain relationships with athletes directly, through agencies and their charitable foundations. Landing big name guests quickly distinguished The Audible from other sports shows and podcasts produced locally.
Of course, if our talent doesn’t make themselves available to shoot video and increase awareness across KNBR.com and our social media platforms, all of this work would be for not. That’s where hosts Drew Hoffar, Kevin Frandsen & Rudy Ortiz went above and beyond to consistently deliver original content. The key word there is consistently. Kevin brings a unique perspective being a San Jose native who played several seasons for the hometown San Francisco Giants, so we strongly encourage him to routinely post videos focusing on the team where he can provide insights no other local radio host would be able to match. Drew Hoffar bleeds Silver & Black, and his hometown Raiders went 12-4 last season, so Drew is regularly in our digital lab playing up his role as the common fan. And Rudy Ortiz is a well-known standup comedian here in the Bay Area, so after each show he is writing timely material to would take the edge off and make the audience laugh. It was important to define these roles at the outset, and the talent need constant reminders to stay in character as that’s what the audience has come to expect from them, similar to any network sitcom.
There is an eagerness to get upstairs and film after the show. We often refer to our local performance space, Levi’s Lounge, as our “playground.” These three hosts are enthusiastic, make a commitment to stick with their individual + group shooting schedules, dedicate ample time to properly prep their material, get the thoughts of other creative minds in the building, then execute at least 2-3 times per week. Some videos are better than others, however the truth is we never know what content has the ability to go viral until it’s shared with the public.
The continual collaboration and bond between our programming and digital departments has been a pleasure to see. On the back end of show interviews, Josh Lander, Sam Hustis & Kevin Jones regularly comb through The Audible’s content and lift quotes from those subjects. All three are strong writers who are capable of spinning sound into original written content for KNBR.com which can then be pushed out across KNBR’s Facebook (225k likes) & Twitter (90k followers) platforms – in turn, generating traffic back to the site and promoting the show. This recycling of audience and content has reached upwards of 1 million people in some circumstances where a KNBR.com article with newsworthy material has been picked up by a national outlet. On the programming side, we also hold up our end of the bargain with hourly sweepers & rejoins directing the audience to KNBR.com and the KNBR social outlets for additional show content.
Eclipsing 2 million podcast listens in just 10 months time is no small feat and I’m extremely proud of the efforts put forth by all involved. Cumulus San Francisco has an advantage over most with a robust digital staff, and that commitment by the company as a whole will go a long way into blazing the trail where Car Play integration, streaming & podcasting become the preferred platforms for listening. As a Program Director, I look around and see opportunity with every scheduled video shoot, facebook live stream, tweet or podcast post. This success story is a testament to what a new show can accomplish when everyone’s united and focused on developing a digital brand, the new norm for our sports format as we pioneer a new frontier where sports talk meets mobile.
