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Broadcasting School Advice From Jeremie Poplin

Tyler McComas

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One of the great things about the sports radio business is that everyone seems to have a different story to how they ultimately achieved success in the host seat. Some, such as Darren McKee of 104.3 The Fan in Denver, had the privilege of a diploma from a high-profile school such as Syracuse attached to his resume in his early 20’s. Others, such as Christopher Gabriel of 940 ESPN in Fresno, bounced around with odd jobs and an acting career before finally pursuing his passion of sports radio.

Jeremie “Pop” Poplin is another that has his own unique story in sports radio. However, he may be one of the few that’s done it via a broadcasting school. In college at Tulsa Community College, Poplin will honestly tell you he was interested most days with the afternoon sports talk in town, rather than his upcoming classes for the day.

“I got bit by the radio bug early,” said Poplin. “Like, I can remember Chris Plank wasn’t in radio for very long and doing his afternoon show here at The Buzz in Tulsa. I would make it a point to listen to that non-stop. I was a huge Art Bell fan at night and Jim Rome during the day. Man, I would skip class, would skip algebra to listen to Rome in the parking lot. I was just fascinated by it. I was young and got to the point where I was done with school and saw a commercial on television for American Broadcasting School. I was like, you know, let’s just go for it and see what happens.”

There’s not just one particular avenue an individual must take to get into sports radio. That’s the beauty of it. Poplin is a living example that you don’t have to go to Syracuse, Missouri, Northwestern, or any other major 4-year institution to achieve success in the field.  His rise to show host and PD at The Buzz in Tulsa shows that attending a broadcast school can certainly get you into the business. But with that being said, does it mean it’s still the right way to go?

Maybe you’re 34 years old and have a family but want to finally explore the sports radio format. Or, you could be an early college student like Poplin was when he decided to attend a broadcast school. No matter your situation, this article is intended for the ones that have thought about going with the alternative option of a local broadcast school. Is it worth your time? Can you get a job out of it? Will you learn the necessary tools to be successful? To learn all those answers I asked Poplin himself how much the school serves its students.

TM: Why do you think going to a broadcasting school was the best for you at that time?

JP: At the time? Man, that’s a good question. It’s tough, because I felt that’s what was consuming me. I had this want and this desire…maybe it was ill-sided because I wanted this fast track, you know what I mean?

I wanted it so bad and I knew that once I got involved with it that I was going to be all the way in. I wanted that to encompass everything I was doing. I just wanted a fast track at the time, I was always a talk radio guy and the thought of being on the air on living that life was a magical thing to me. Even when I was in school, I thought that even the music route would be okay, but I always wanted to be in the talk format, specifically sports.

TM: How hands-on was the broadcasting school early on? Did you have to wait long to be doing the things you wanted?

JP: At first, it was a lot of technical stuff, like you’re trying to learn FCC rules and regulations. But then, they basically put you in a production room and you would pretend you were coming out of a song, do a stop set and then throw it back to music. Obviously, for the first week you’re going to be terrible, but you were in front of a mic before a couple of days. To get completed and done didn’t even take an entire year, in a lot of ways it was like a vo-tech.

One thing they did say is that they would help you with job placement, which they never really did at all. The thing is, I figured out once you got in there that the curriculum is driven by all music stuff. You basically had to go and create a scenario to where you would do anything other than music, so I would go in and basically fake like I was in a sports talk produced commercial. I would write my own copy for commercials like that and it’s what got me more comfortable in the talk format. But yeah, everything was pointed towards music.

TM: Did they have quality equipment and professors on hand?

JP: They had equipment, it was pretty basic though because I was learning on CD’s and carts. They would give you a cassette and you would record on it for your air checks. It was very basic at the time, but keep in mind that right before I turned 21, that’s when internet radio was just starting and they had one studio that would broadcast 24 hours a day over the internet and that was it, because that was on the very forefront of that. That kind of gives you an idea.

I was learning on carts and everything else, and that was older technology. When I got my first job, I quickly realized nobody used carts anymore at all. It was just very basic. They had seven studios you could go in, you had a curriculum throughout the day where you did have instructors. But there was just so many people there, that it was hard for the instructors to give anyone individualized instructions. From what I remember, there seemed to be only one instructor that really put time and the effort to make you feel comfortable with the progress you were making. You were really kind of on your own. They left you to your own and would air check you once a week.

TM: So, the idea behind going to a broadcast school at that time was to be able to skip all the entry level classes at a college and move right into hands-on work?

JP: Yeah, it was. Don’t get me wrong, I made the most important relationship of my life at the school when I met my wife there. She was in radio, too. I don’t want to skip over that process, because that changed my life in meeting her there. But, at the time, yeah that was exactly it.

I would go to a regular class in college and think, what am I doing? This isn’t fun and I was just burned out. I saw the commercials for the broadcast school and it just felt right.

Now, revisionist history. Clearly now I regret not going the other route, but yeah at the time, it was definitely the thought. It was, I’ve already had enough history, I took speech classes at the time that intrigued me, but I wanted to get to it and do it right away.

TM: Do you know of any other successful people in sports radio that were either in class with you at the same time, or went to the Tulsa branch at some point?

JP: No, I mean I know other people in radio that went there, but sports talk wise, no I don’t of any at all.

TM: For instance, let’s say you’re 34 years old, have a family, and wanting to finally pursue sports radio for the first time. Would a broadcast school be the perfect route to go?

JP: I think it’s different, I mean I know there’s the Ohio School of Broadcasting and the Connecticut School of Broadcasting. But I don’t know what the experiences are like at those two places and how different the curriculum is. I’m just going off what my experience was and I feel like it would be okay to get your foot in the door for more of a music format, if you want to go that way. But if you’re just looking a talk format, man, I learned probably more in my first year working at a real radio station than I did my entire time at the broadcast school. Because, quite frankly, I walked into a great situation as an entry level board op, learning and watching guys that have the reputation of being incredible on-air performers.

Guys like Michael DelGiorno who made his name in Tulsa and is in Nashville currently. I still say today that Chris Plank on the air is one of the more incredible talking talents and interviewers that I’ve ever been around. I had a chance to sit back and learn from incredibly talented hosts and really learn the talk format. I learned more as a board op and paying attention than I did at the broadcasting school.

TM: You’ve risen to become a show host and PD at The Buzz, so let’s say you have a position open with two younger candidates. One went to a 4-year college and the other went to a broadcast school. Under this scenario, their talent level seems very similar on an air check. Do you favor hiring the 4-year graduate in that case?

JP: Honestly, I think it comes down to their personality and how they do face-to-face. I’ll you this, I’m not going to sit there and say I’d lean one way or the other if their air checks are similar. I do feel like now there’s no more advantages of coming out of a 4-year university with all the resources they have. What we have in our state with what Oklahoma State and Oklahoma does with their programs, I mean, you get a pretty incredible leg up, in my opinion, now, much more than ever.

I think it’s changed so much in the past 10-15 years. I do feel those kids have a leg up, but by no means anyway geared in favoritism towards someone who comes out of a 4-year. A lot of it for me is still going to depend on worth ethic, drive and personality.

TM: Let’s go back to the kid that wanted to go to the car in the school parking lot and listen to Jim Rome instead of going to class. What would you tell him now? Would you tell him to do it all over again? Yes, your wife was involved, but just in terms of a career aspect.

JP: There are two ways to look at it in my opinion. Obviously not changing anything because I met my wife, but I think now that I have a daughter, and my wife and I have talked about this before, I would tell him to go back into class at TCC. There’s plenty of time for that and there’s some unbelievable things coming down the road, as far as the platform itself. So yeah, I would absolutely tell that person to go back in class and pay attention. Just because you feel like that in the short-term, I think you would benefit much more in the longer run from doing that.

I will always carry it with me that I didn’t finish a 4-year and it’s a chip on my shoulder that fuels me to work harder, but it’s kind of a double-edged sword that’s helped me in so many ways. But yet, I still feel like I carry this giant hindrance that I didn’t do it.

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How to Help Your Clients with Low Website Conversions

Don’t assume there isn’t enough traffic; focus on optimizing user engagement once visitors arrive on the site.

Jeff Caves

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Graphic for how to increase website conversions
Credit: WPDesigner.Biz

Are your clients dealing with low website conversions? Whenever a marketing campaign is run, and the goal is to convert website visitors into leads, the temptation is to blame low traffic, amongst other issues, for low form fills or appointments being generated.  Just spend more money, you may think! Sometimes, you must look at at least four other potential issues to tackle poor conversion rates. Here are some actionable steps using the IT services industry to increase website conversions.

IT Solutions specializes in providing products, services, or solutions related to technology, particularly in areas such as software development, hardware sales, IT consulting, cybersecurity, cloud computing, networking, and digital transformations. They faced challenges with their website conversions. Despite driving substantial traffic through Google Ads and other SEO tactics, they struggled to convert website visitors into form fills for appointment requests. A 2% to 5% conversion rate could be considered reasonable. Of course, conversion rates can vary based on various factors, such as the competitiveness of the local market, the quality of the website (and radio stations help most to fix that) and its user experience, the effectiveness of marketing campaigns, and the reputation and offerings of the IT solutions business. Focusing on improving the quality of leads and providing exceptional customer service can be just as crucial as achieving high conversion rates. Don’t blame EVERYTHING on the marketing tactics! 

The Diagnosis

Upon thorough analysis, several critical issues were identified with IT Solutions’ website:

1. High Bounce Rate: Nobody was checking out the business. If 70% or more of website visitors only visit the landing page, that is an issue.  It could be slow loading times, irrelevant content, poor user experience, or unclear calls-to-action that prevent them from wanting to know more about IT Solutions. You can check the bounce rate on the Google Analytics page for the website in the left-hand sidebar, click on “Behavior” to expand the menu, then click on “Site Content,” and finally, click on “Landing Pages.” You’ll see a list of landing pages and their respective bounce rates.

2. Complex Navigation: It was hard to move around the website to find relevant information about IT services, and it was unclear who they were initiating contact with and for what purpose.

3. Unclear Calls-to-Action (CTAs): The website lacked clear and compelling CTAs guiding visitors toward requesting an appointment. Simply stating “click here for an appointment” is like asking for a meeting whenever or without establishing value. Here are 28 CTAs for free.

4. Lengthy Forms: The appointment forms were long, without qualifying information, and requested excessive information upfront, deterring potential leads from completing them.

Action Plan

1. Optimize Landing Pages:

   – Redo high-traffic landing pages with clear messaging and compelling CTAs.

   – Showcase IT Solutions’ services as benefits, making it easier for users to request appointments, thereby increasing user engagement and conversions.

2. Simplify Navigation:

   – Reorganize the menu and add more action-oriented links.

   – Provide additional options for users to access relevant information, such as “Get a free IT Solutions 15-point checkup NOW” and “Take this 5-question survey to diagnose your IT issues,” motivating them to book appointments.

3. Enhance CTAs:

   – Utilize concise and persuasive messaging throughout the website.

   – Encourage visitors to take action, whether requesting a free download about “5 things you can do to solve your IT issues on your own” or “get a free pizza for booking an appointment.”

4. Improve the Form Fill:

   – Add a further line about the number of employees who qualify for incoming leads.

   – Highlight the value of leads based on company size, prioritizing forms with higher potential impact.

Review landing pages, navigation, CTAs, and form experience to address website conversion issues. Don’t assume there isn’t enough traffic; focus on optimizing user engagement once visitors arrive on the site.

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‘NHL on TNT’ Gives Hockey Fans the ‘NBA on TNT’ Treatment

Watching Albert and Olczyk call a hockey game is like watching Picasso paint and da Vinci sculpt. They are masters of their respective crafts.

John Molori

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NHL on TNT studio

Let’s play a little word association, sports media style. If I say TNT, what is your response? Chances are it will be a three-letter abbreviation of your own, namely, NBA. Over the years, TNT has built a reputation as arguably the premiere network to telecast the National Basketball Association.

The NBA on TNT pregame and halftime shows have become the gold standard with stars like Ernie Johnson, Jr., Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley, and Shaquille O’Neal. Still, it’s not just this quartet of roundball royalty that has fortified TNT’s hoops coverage.

The rep was also built on tremendous play-by-play announcers like Bob Neal and Kevin Harlan, color analysts like Doug Collins and Reggie Miller, and courtside reporters like the late Craig Sager and current sideline star Allie LaForce.

Indeed, TNT and the NBA have become synonymous, but I have some news for you. This network is not just about professional basketball. This past week I went off the grid with TNT looking at their in-game and studio coverage of the NHL.

On March 24, the NHL on TNT provided coverage of the Pittsburgh Penguins at Colorado Avalanche matchup. Kenny Albert did play-by-play with Eddie Olczyk on color. Albert is not as noted as his legendary broadcasting father Marv Albert, but he has certainly staked his claim as one of the best in the business – able to cross over to multiple sports with equal aplomb.

Hockey is a strong suit for Albert. His rat-tat-tat, drama-building style draws viewers in and keeps us on the edge of our seats. Similarly, Olczyk is one of the top four or five NHL game analysts in the business. His style is understated, providing calm and clear analysis of key plays. They work really well together.

Albert eschews any kind of hackneyed and trite catch phrases for his goal calls. An emphatic, “He shoots and scores!” is plenty enough.

Hockey is a different beast when it comes to play-by-play. Unlike basketball, baseball, football, or even soccer and tennis, there is a minimum of breaks in the action. With hockey, a play-by-play announcer has to know the names of the players like he or she knows her kids’ names.

To me, it is the hardest sport for play-by-play and equally difficult for a color analyst. In basketball, after a team scores, the play-by-play announcer will keep silent and give the color analyst time to talk until the play crosses center court. In baseball and football, there is ample room for commentary.

Hockey does not offer such space, but Olczyk gets the most out of the minimal amount of time. Watching Albert and Olczyk call a hockey game is like watching Picasso paint and da Vinci sculpt. They are masters of their respective crafts.

Coming back from a break in the game, Albert and Olczyk provided on air commentary and then tossed to ice level reporter Brian Boucher who has grown into a tremendous asset to the TNT broadcasts. Boucher provided real talk about Colorado’s objectives of staying on top of their division and vying for the top seed in the Western Conference.

The Penguins, squarely in a rebuilding year having dumped talent at the NHL trade deadline, surprisingly jumped out to a 2–0 lead in this game, and the TNT between periods studio crew was all over it. The excellent Liam McHugh hosted alongside Colby Armstrong, Anson Carter, and Keith Yandle.

Armstrong was especially entertaining. With Pittsburgh outshooting the Avs 16-4, Armstrong noted that it’s the best he’s seen Pittsburgh play in a long time. His reasoning was that teams get geared up for playing Colorado even if it’s out of fear. Great stuff.

Both teams tallied two goals in the second period giving Pittsburgh a 4-2 lead heading into the final frame. When Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon set up Jonathan Drouin for a goal to make it 4-3, Albert and Olczyk showed their strengths.

Albert called the pass from MacKinnon and one-timer goal from Drouin, and immediately noted that MacKinnon now had a point in all 34 of Colorado’s home games this season. On the goal replay, Olczyk showed how the play developed pointing out how McKinnon allowed Pittsburgh’s Evgenii Malkin to come in close before making the past to Drouin.

The TNT production team then showed a graphic displaying that McKinnon is now second all-time in longest home points streaks trailing only Wayne Gretzky. This was a sublime sequence of symmetry between talent and technicians like a songwriter, musician, and singer creating beautiful music.

What was supposed to be a blowout win for Colorado had now become a hockey barn burner, and the TNT crew was up to the task. Every goal and key play was followed up with replays from multiple angles showing the genesis of the action.

TNT has certainly taken to the velocity of the hockey broadcast with movement that challenges directors, graphics professionals, and videographers.

When there were breaks in this non-stop action, Olczyk was at his best. No hockey analyst draws on his experience as a player and explains that experience better to viewers. The TNT broadcast also lets Boucher freewheel and join in the flow of discussion without having to be introduced.

TNT does not merely rely on the traditional wide shot of the entire rink. We see close-up shots of each goaltender after a great save and the sweat of players on the bench or in the penalty box.

When McKinnon tied the game at 4-4 with 4:38 left in the third period, we got a series of tremendous crowd shots showing the Colorado fans going absolutely berserk. The sage Albert and Olczyk wisely remained quiet for several seconds, letting the cheers do the talking.

When Drouin scored the game winner at 4:06 of overtime, Albert exercised controlled enthusiasm, raising his voice on the call of the goal, but not becoming the show and overshadowing the play itself. He is definitely in the mold of Dan Kelly, Gary Thorne, and Sean McDonough, announcers who enhance but do not supersede the game.

Putting a cherry on top of this hockey Sunday, TNT showed a graphic that the Avalanche now led the NHL in comeback wins this season with 25 and that they were riding a 9-game winning streak. In analyzing the goal, Olczyk opined that the altitude of playing in Colorado was prevalent as the Penguins seemed to tire as the game progressed – really interesting insight.

In the postgame show, Anson Carter made a great point that the chemistry between Drouin and MacKinnon stems from the fact that they have been playing together going back to junior hockey. McKinnon joined in from the arena for a postgame interview. The analysts asked solid questions and even did a funny MVP chant together as the interview ended.

The NHL on TNT takes no back seat to its elder NBA sister. The broadcast provides viewers with flash, dash, and serious hockey talk from every angle – in studio, from the broadcast booth, and on the ice.

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Kim Mulkey Now Has Everyone Anticipating Washington Post Story

I can’t imagine what headline, under normal circumstances, the Washington Post would have to put on a Kim Mulkey story to make me want to read it.

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photo of LSU women's college basketball coach Kim Mulkey
Credit: Dailymail.co.uk

The Washington Post, you might’ve heard, has a story coming out about controversial LSU women’s basketball coach Kim Mulkey. The reason you might’ve heard is because Kim Mulkey told you. The Tigers coach read a fiery prepared statement just before her team started the Women’s NCAA Tournament. In the statement, Mulkey threatened to sue The Post for defamation before the first word was even published.

Now, I’ve never run a public relations firm but that did not seem like a good idea. The Washington Post story on Mulkey is one of the bigger stories in sports right now and nobody even knows what’s in it. The reason the story, apparently unflattering to Mulkey, is even on anyone’s radar screen is Mulkey herself.

It all started with an innocuous social media post by Sports Illustrated’s Pat Forde right in the middle of the most anticipated two days in sports, the NCAA Tournament Round of 64. On his X account, Forde posted: “Hearing some buzz about a big Washington Post story in the works on LSU women’s hoops coach Kim Mulkey, potentially next week. Wagons being circled, etc.”

You know what generally will go unnoticed at 4:00 on the first Friday of the NCAA Tournament? A post on X about a women’s basketball coach. But don’t tell Mulkey, she saw Forde’s post and decided to fight fire with nuclear weaponry. The result: the average person like me now is really interested in what has Mulkey so incensed. By “average person like me” I mean that I can’t imagine what headline, under normal circumstances, the Washington Post would have to put on a Kim Mulkey story to make me want to read it. Maybe:

“LSU Women’s Coach Discovers Ark of the Covenant”

Or:

“Mulkey Reveals True JFK Assassin(s)”

Perhaps:

“Famed Women’s Basketball Coach Reveals the Mystery Behind Slow Drivers in the Left Lane”

Literally any of those catch my attention more than whatever will likely be the Washington Post headline about Mulkey. But now Mulkey is “Mad as Hell and is not going to take this anymore” so I now have an interest I would never before have had in this story. It has been fascinating to watch the online speculation about the subject of the article and all we really know, as of now, is that it will be written by Kent Babb. This is a dream come true for Babb; he writes an article that is, presumably, not flattering about Kim Mulkey and, before it is even published, she gives the article the greatest commercial anyone could give it. Babb couldn’t have entered into a business agreement with Mulkey and had this turn out better for him.

For those who don’t follow Babb, he is a former NFL reporter who now is an award-winning writer for the Washington Post. In his 14 years with The Post, he has written sports features and authored a couple of books. One of those sports features stories was a deep dive into what he viewed as a large inequity in the level of pay for LSU head football coach Brian Kelly and his LSU players. It is this piece Mulkey described as a “hit piece” and, based on that piece, referred to Babb as a “sleazy reporter.” Babb, and many others, resented the fact his story was labeled as a hit piece. In fact, Babb essentially confirmed he was the author Mulkey was referencing when he shared the original article on X with the comment: “Hit piece?”

Whether a printed piece or a recorded interview, I can’t imagine a better promotion for it than the subject of the interview threatening a libel/slander lawsuit, especially before it is even released. That simply screams “This piece is salacious!!” Also, libel and slander suits get settled all the time, right? Of course they don’t, they seem to never even get filed. That little thing called discovery is a scary thing for most public figures.

The NCAA Tournament has been very entertaining, and I think the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight will be terrific. For only the fifth time ever, the top two seeds have advanced to the third round which sets up for a remarkable weekend. For me, I guess it will now include a Washington Post article, not a sentence I’d normally say.

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