Dollars and sense is a column about sports business and media in Chicago.
Adam Delevitt spent the last three months going through the last 21 years of his life. You’d be amazed what you find cleaning out your office after spending the majority of your post-college life at one job.
“It was crazy,” said Delevitt, who was quietly told in mid-September that he was being let go from his job as program director at ESPN 1000 with Good Karma Broadcasting taking over the station from ESPN Radio. “It took me more than a month, going through papers and files. Literally the greatest thing is you find an old piece of paper, like an invoice from you or you find an old plane ticket for Hawaii for a Pro Bowl. Boy, everything is a memory and a story. And I kept a bunch of shit. Because it’s a great part of my life. I don’t want to forget that stuff.”
Advertisement
He found demo tapes from people like Adam Amin, a former ESPN 1000 intern, Shae Peppler, a Fox 32 reporter who fills in on David Kaplan’s show and Nick Friedell, who moved to the Golden State Warriors beat.
“Shae reminded me I interviewed her when I was the (assistant program director) and she was just out of college and I went with Sarah Spain instead of her,” Delevitt said.
After cleaning out his office at 190 N. State, he finds himself at peace.
“It’s not really bitter, it’s pretty sweet actually,” he said.
Hirings and firings always dominate these kind of year-end reviews and while 2019 didn’t have the fireworks of the previous year in sports media, Delevitt’s departure from WMVP-AM is worth noting. The core of that station has been there for two decades, with John Jurkovic, Marc Silverman and Carmen DeFalco on board from the beginning.
And now things are changing.
Craig Karmazin, founder and CEO of Good Karma Broadcasting, had taken over the station from ESPN’s radio business in Bristol. Starting in January, Mike Thomas, who was coming over from The Sports Hub in Boston, would be doing the job that Delevitt and Jim Pastor did for years.
No one is quite sure what is going to change at ESPN 1000 in the years to come, but only that change is inevitable.
Tom Waddle and Silverman, who make up the popular afternoon show, are up in 2022. DeFalco’s deal is up this spring. Jurkovic and David Kaplan recently got one-year extensions to take them through 2020.
Jeff Dickerson, the longtime Bears reporter, was off the station for most of the season as he tried to hammer out a new deal with Good Karma. (His old ESPN deals were split between digital and radio.) They eventually got it done, just in time for the Bears to make it semi-interesting.
ESPN radio never ran the local station with a cold obsession with ratings, but rather as a marketing arm for the “worldwide leader.” Chicago is where they launched the idea of local sports websites in 2009.
Advertisement
(ESPN shut down that idea in 2015, which led to me and Scott Powers being available to launch The Athletic’s first site in January 2016.)
Delevitt was surprised at the timing, but not shocked that it happened.
“Dallas and Pittsburgh, we used to own those stations and those were sold,” Delevitt said. “I kind of saw the landscape moving. I didn’t think it would be crazy if it got sold. I didn’t know if it was going to happen this year or not, but I wasn’t totally shocked. I thought I’d weathered a few storms and I thought maybe I could weather this storm too. But you know what, god bless ’em they wanted to do their own thing. Jim Pastor retired. I knew a great ally and great friend of mine wasn’t going to be there anymore.”
Delevitt spent the last 10 years as the program director of the station after rising from producer to assistant program director. After college, he was an intern at WGN Radio, taking feeds from Silverman, the Bears reporter, and working on the evening Sports Central with Kaplan and Waddle.
Longtime ESPN 1000 producer/executive Adam Delevitt (second from the right) was part of the original Mac, Jurko and Harry show, which took a lot of promo pictures in its heyday. (Courtesy of Adam Delevitt)“Silvy came to me one day and said, ‘Hey, they’re starting this new station, ESPN, at the old AM 1000,” Delevitt said. “He said ‘I’m going there to be a Bears reporter’ and he said they want to hire producers. He said meet with this guy Mitch Rosen. I met with Mitch and he hired me to be a part-time producer, nights and weekends with this guy Bill Simonson and that’s where I started.
“My first show with Simonson, I’ll never forget, I booked two guests, he wanted Blair Kamin, the architecture critic from the Tribune, and Goldberg, the wrestler. And I booked both of them and Goldberg came on and I don’t remember what happened, whether it was late or it was a bad interview, but I remember after the show Simonson took a stapler and literally, across the studio, chucked it at my head. It missed me and hit the wall.”
Advertisement
Then Bob Snyder put together ESPN 1000’s first impactful show with Dan McNeil, John Jurkovic and Harry Teinowitz. Delevitt was one of their producers with Dickerson, who went on to be a Bears reporter, while Silverman started hosting.
Delevitt never wanted to host. He froze, he said, when the red light went on. Plus, he liked controlling the action from the booth, writing scripts and keeping the tempo.
“Adam was an outstanding producer,” McNeil said when I interviewed him for the oral history of the Afternoon Saloon. “Little Delly. I used to call him Little Capone. He struts around. ‘I may fire an intern today!’ Cocky.”
Now Delevitt finds himself looking for new opportunities in Chicago and elsewhere. It’s been a long time since he’s had to look for work and he says he feels blessed by the stability.
“I haven’t had a resume since my senior year in college,” he said. “Seriously. Camp counselor wasn’t on there anymore, but I did three internships in college that were on there. One was WGN TV in the summer of ’97. Harry (Caray)’s last year. I got to intern in the truck with Arne Harris. That’s what I wanted to do. I wanted to be Arne Harris.”
While the market isn’t great for talent wanting to earn big bucks anymore — not like the Afternoon Saloon days when Mac and Jurko would get ratings bonuses that eclipsed the annual salary of a producer — there are opportunities for people like Delevitt.
The Cubs’ new TV station, Marquee Sports Network, needs to make a slew of hires quickly. Every casino is looking to create studios with sports gambling on line in Indiana and starting soon in Illinois. Entercom is putting a lot of money into their podcasting network, radio.com.
What’s next at ESPN 1000 is one of the biggest stories to follow in local sports media. Will they do a morning show to compete with Mully & Haugh on The Score? Good Karma owns an ESPN affiliate in Milwaukee that runs a local show starting at 7 a.m. Could that be a blueprint? The suits in Bristol wouldn’t be happy, but do they have a choice?
Advertisement
While Mike Greenberg, who started his career in Chicago, is well-liked here, everyone at ESPN 1000 wished they could’ve competed with The Score’s morning show years ago.
One change you’re likely to see: without ESPN’s disapproval, you’re likely to hear more low-budget commercials for gambling, questionable CBD products and of course, the most awkward dick pill ads in the world.
While everyone is waiting to see if Good Karma cuts costs in the next year, don’t be surprised if Karmazin goes hunting for a rights deal. And the Cubs’ very expensive deal with Entercom is up after the 2021 season.
After years of build-up the all-Cubs, all-the-time Marquee Sports Network will launch in February. Can they get all their hires made in time? It’s coming down to the wire. Expect to hear about some new hires after the first of the year.
The Big Lead’s media reporter Ryan Glasspiegel is reporting that NFL Network anchor Cole Wright is going to host pre- and postgame shows on Marquee.
But what about Kelly Crull, the Cubs reporter who parted ways with NBC Sports Chicago this fall?
“I’ve been enjoying some much-needed downtime,” she told me recently.
Now, usually, when someone doesn’t have a job and they tell you that, it’s bullshit. But in Crull’s case, it’s actually true.
She had just finished an 18-month stretch where she worked the 2018 Cubs season, the 2018-19 Bulls and the 2019 Cubs season. The only off time she got was when she didn’t travel on the road.
“It is a hell of a schedule,” she said. “When you enjoy, it’s still a blast. But I do think that year and a half, from what I can remember in my career, was the most draining physically, and in a way emotionally, because you’re so locked in, night and night out. Honestly I do not think I’ve taken a vacation of more than a four- or five-day span for 18, 19 months. I think the break came at the perfect time.”
Will Marquee Sports Network bring back Kelly Crull to Cubs broadcasts in 2020? (Quinn Harris / Getty Images)Crull isn’t asking for sympathy. But while most would-be sportscasters say they’d kill for such an opportunity to cover the Bulls and the Cubs, the people who actually do it are usually drained at the end of a season, let alone three in a row.
Advertisement
“There were days where the under the eye makeup had to be added double for me,” she said. “But it was really fun to get to know people on the Bulls beats versus the same characters on the Cubs.”
Crull was the in-house candidate to be pre- and postgame host for Bulls games, but she didn’t immediately accept when it was offered during the baseball season. When her agent went back to management, they had cooled on the idea and eventually hired Jason Goff.
With the Cubs moving to Marquee, and the Bulls hiring the Tribune’s K.C. Johnson in the most surprising move of 2019 and shifting Leila Rahimi to the Bulls as well, Crull was a reporter without a beat.
Will she end up at Marquee? She doesn’t know, but she is confident she would be the right choice as their baseball reporter.
“I’d really love to continue my career on the North Side,” she said. “There’s a new manager in David Ross who I have a rapport with. That would be incredibly valuable to them. The trust I’ve established in the clubhouse and within the organization could be extremely useful.”
Otherwise, she’s looking at opportunities in other cities. Crull previously worked covering the Thunder in Oklahoma City and the Padres in San Diego.
Crull has nothing but good things to say about her former company NBC Sports Chicago, but good vibes were not abundant as the station jettisoned popular talent like Luke Stuckmeyer and pushed Mark Schanowski into a smaller role.
Kaplan signed a new deal, despite the Cubs leaving the network. Given the lowered expectations of the team, maybe it was perfect timing. Sources said the Sinclair-backed station, which is being run by Mike McCarthy and Mike Santini, is thinking about simulcasting The Score’s morning show of Mully & Haugh, which makes perfect sense. Given that The Score is the radio home of the Cubs, team executives always go on with Mike Mulligan and David Haugh to announce things and give their spin on negative news. Cubs president Theo Epstein also makes contractually obligated appearances on the show. One industry source said there’s also interest in simulcasting ESPN’s Waddle & Silvy show as well.
I imagine Marquee will try to program against Kaplan’s early evening “Sports Talk Live” show as well.
Advertisement
With Crull gone, NBC Sports Chicago is down to one woman in a full-time, on-air role. In recent years, Jen Lada left for ESPN, Ayanna Cristal’s contract expired and they let go of Siera Santos, who is now working on a per-diem basis at Fox 32. Santos had considerable value as a bilingual reporter covering the White Sox. Michelle McMahon was also let go as a freelance reporter covering the Blackhawks. She remains a reporter and host for the Chicago-based Big Ten Network.
NBC Sports Chicago has spent considerable money filling out its Bears after-show with ex-players, hiring Johnson away from the Tribune where he had been for three decades, adding Goff to the rotation and re-upping Kaplan and keeping him from leaving for Marquee. But while it has increased diversity with recent hires, it’s turning into a boys’ club.
Will Marquee be more of the same?
Tony Gill was part of one of the success stories of 2019 as the producer for Laurence Holmes’ newly moved show, which has found success from the newly created 12-2 p.m. slot at The Score.
But left the show this fall to try out a new gig running podcasts at NBC Sports Chicago. He started earlier in December.
How did he find out about this gig?
“Actually Sean Highkin texted me about it,” Gill said of the former Athletic Bulls writer, who is back in his hometown of Portland. “I had no idea about it, but Highkin said, ‘I think you would be good at this.’”
Does that assist qualify Highkin for “Bulls point guard of the future” status? Who can say, but Gill got the job.
While Gill isn’t a bold-faced name in Chicago sports media, his rise is worth noting, because producers do so much of the work behind the scenes, often for very little pay. Gill, who interned at the station after going to the Illinois Media School, said it took him time to have confidence in himself as Holmes’ producer, that he was worthy of chiming in like more experienced peers and that he was capable of running a daytime show.
Advertisement
“(Holmes) trusted me with the show because he trusted my instincts,” he said.
When he’s not dressing up as a lumberjack to cover Bears games, Tony Gill enjoys the art of conversation. (Jon Greenberg / The Athletic)Holmes’ show is often centered around interviews and conversation, which prepared Gill for his new job.
“It showed me the importance of conversation,” he said. “People love hearing good conversation, especially the in-studio aspect of conversation. Sports radio phone interviews are a dime a dozen, but making that extra effort, that extra time to ask somebody to come into the studio, it’s super important.”
The significance of a daytime radio show in Chicago with a black host and producer wasn’t lost on Holmes.
“The idea that they’re promoting two black men is pretty significant in our sports radio climate,” Holmes said.
Without highly rated Cubs programming, NBC Sports Chicago needs to diversify its media offerings, which makes Gill’s hiring important. NBC’s burgeoning podcast department, while likely not a significant money-maker right away, has already had some success with news-making interviews, particularly from the White Sox Wonder Twins, Ryan McGuffey and Chuck Garfien, who do great work on the beat.
After a tumultuous 2018, The Score settled into a groove in 2019, and with Jimmy deCastro leaving after shaking up the station lineup, it’s up to Rosen to figure out what the next moves are. Ratings-wise, The Score had a clear lead, but that didn’t stop deCastro from booting Brian Hanley off the morning show last year.
Dan McNeil made it through a full year after a tough start to his 2018 return because of problems with his voice. McNeil and Parkins have the toughest ratings battle with ESPN 1000’s Waddle & Silvy show, with each side claiming victories.
“We’re fortunate to have two brands in Chicago, so people have a choice,” Rosen said. “And people have made a choice overall to listen to our brand a lot more than other brand. But it’s great to have a choice in the market.”
Advertisement
Rosen is pleased with the addition of Holmes’ show in the middle of the lineup.
While Rosen praised it, the one show that could be vulnerable is the mid-day pairing of Dan Bernstein and Connor McKnight, though I think it’s grown considerably and is pretty entertaining.
Several of the hosts are working with the streaming side of Entercom, radio.com, with Joe Ostrowski and Danny Parkins getting their toehold into the gambling side.
If you’ve noticed an influx of FanDuel commercials on the station, you’re not imagining things.
With sports gambling up and running in Indiana and possibly, finally close to launching in lllinois, get ready for even more commercials for apps for online betting. Remember the awful FanDuel/DraftKings commercial wars? This might be worse.
Both The Score and ESPN 1000 are angling to get into the gambling space. Delevitt gave ex-Score legend Mike North a Friday night slot to talk gambling with DeFalco. North’s bluster is good for gambling talk. Much better than the paid “sharps” who guest on the stations.
The Score’s Bears pregame show is sponsored by an Indiana sports book.
News, notes and predictions: Condolences to my friends Jeff Dickerson and Fred Huebner for the losses of their wives to cancer this year. Caitlin Dickerson passed away in February and Patricia Huebner in October. … Tough news that Nexstar Media, the new owner of Tribune Media, is doing away with CLTV, which has a proud history among sports journalists in the area. Mike Greenberg and Peggy Kusinski are among those who cut their teeth there, and more recently, it’s been the home of Sports Feed, hosted by Josh Frydman and Jarrett Payton. They put a lot of local sportswriters on TV and hopefully WGN keeps the show going in some capacity. After all, without Sports Feed, where else could “White Sox Dave” chew gum and pontificate at the same time? … WGN isn’t going anywhere, but it’s done carrying live sports. It was a finality that was overdue given the state of the industry, but it was still sad nonetheless. To many, WGN equaled the Cubs. … ABC 7’s Mark Giangreco re-upped his deal this year. He started on air in Chicago in 1982. That’s so long ago, John Paxson wasn’t even the Bulls’ GM yet. … Kusinski started a podcast with her son, burgeoning sports writer Jason Kinander, this spring. Peggy has long been one of the best interviewers in town. … One local expert believes the next TV talent to go national is Shae Peppler. Her husband Jordan Cornette left his local work behind to work for ESPN’s ACC Network. … Have you purchased Melissa Isaacson’s new book about her high school basketball team at Niles West? You should. … Will Perdue has become even more strident on the Bulls’ postgame show as he critiques bad basketball most nights with Kendall Gill and Jason Goff. Jim Boylen’s postgame press conferences are becoming must-watch programming. … If Good Karma decides to add a fourth show to the daily rotation on ESPN 1000, they could do a lot worse than pairing Jeff Dickerson and Jonathan Hood, who have hosted together for the national network at night, on a show. They are highly entertaining when matched up. Hood is currently doing his evening show, “Under The Hood,” and just wrapped up a college football show with Adam Abdalla and Chris Bleck. … Matt Spiegel could be available as well. His deal, which was signed when he was The Score’s mid-day host, is up. … CBS 2’s Ryan Baker stepped away from the sports desk this year, and the station is currently looking for a replacement. NBC 5’s Siafa Lewis has started doing some fill-in news anchoring as well. … The Tribune finally hired a replacement for Johnson on the Bulls beat, with former MLB.com writer Jamal Collier moving back to Chicago. … Last but not least, it’s been a great fourth year for The Athletic Chicago. We added Adam Jahns to the Bears beat, Dan Pompei is now a full-time writer with the company and the future is bright. If you haven’t subscribed to them yet, check out all of our Chicago podcasts: Laz and Powers, Hoge & Jahns, Onto Waveland and White Sox Business.
ncG1vNJzZmismJqutbTLnquim16YvK57kG1vcGpjZXxzfJByZmpqX2eDcLDOpaOaqqNirq%2BwjKycp6uVYsamrdFmoKdloprDqrHWZq6irJhiu6bDjKaYp5mXmrqmutNmmKudXZe2qHnCoZinn5WoeqS7zKKloGWRqXqmv8%2BnZGpoYGV6qrqMa2draF8%3D