Courtesy of Brien Rea
Late last week, the Missouri Tigers sports program dominated the sports talk radio conversations in St. Louis, with the basketball and football teams both dropping players due to legal issues, at the same time that a report was coming out regarding the university’s handling of a former female student athlete’s suicide and prior rape claims. Of the trio of stories, none had quite the same impact as that of Dorial Green-Beckham, the talented-but-star-crossed, (ex-) wide receiver on the Tigers football squad.
True to their brethren up-and-down the two radio dials, his dismissal from the program dominated the programming at CBS Sports 920, the AM affiliate controlled by Tim McKernan’s insidestl.com website and its linked media operations. The station’s afternoon program, “The Drive Home,” in particular, was all over the story, with rotating hosts Joe Strauss, Bob Ramsey and Brian Burwell all weighing in on the topic. With Burwell ill, in the studio, too, was the show’s “point man,” Brien Rea, who serves “as executive producer of CBS Sports 920 and insidestl.com. I manage the day-to-day operations of what’s going on at the station and co-produce ‘The Drive Home’ and fill-in when one of those guys is out.”
Because of their other work needs, one of the three primary hosts is frequently called away, with makes Rea a pretty steady presence during that time slot; the trio’s recent responsibilities have been so heavy that in recent weeks a fifth voice, that of former KMOV reporter Jeff Abeln, has been a regular part of the mix. Early on, as the station rolled out its permanent afternoon drive show, it was a Strauss-Burwell-Rea lineup. But, as is always true in this particular slice of the radio market, change is the only constant.
“It was an interesting dichotomy with the show,” Rea says. “When it was me, Burwell and Strauss, they were newspaper writers first and foremost, and that duty pulled them away quite frequently. Jeff Abeln has always done a great job of filling in; he’s always been that first guy out of the bullpen. When Bob Ramsey became available, it created an opportunity. Rammer’s been in the market for a number of years, and added an element of credibility when he joined the program, which turned it into a four-man rotation. It actually created an element of consistency, with four personalities on the show. On the off chance two of them disappear, Jeff Abeln slides in from the wings. Tim had talked to me about this well in advance of it taking place; he wanted me as a producer behind-the-scenes. Then, they brought me in to be part of the show, which changed my responsibilities.
“It’s interesting,” he adds. “On a three-man show, you obviously have three voices. You can have three perspectives on a topic. With our shot, that is always nice. I’m kind of the resident hockey guy. Strauss is the resident expert on baseball and Burwell’s our football guy. Bob Ramsey knows college basketball. All of us have been living and working in St. Louis for a long time. All are knowledgeable on most sports and can speak eloquently on all topics. But you need to have an anchor guy, to steer all the different perspectives and opinions; if Burwell and Strauss get into an argument, I can sit back and let that happen. With a two-man show, that’s a different dynamic. My primary job is to run point, keep the show moving, stay on-track with the details and basic elements of running a radio show. Then they can be more freewheeling, while I’m watching the clock and looking out for details.”
The particular dynamic of this show is interesting, though, in that all the hosts have plenty of opinions, meaning that the oxygen of the room can get in short supply. Ramsey, throughout this tenure on sports radio, has possessed a bit of bulldog persona, not giving up on a semantic argument, while tossing in a bit of pop cultural fun. Burwell calls upon his roots in DC frequently and wades into national issues more than the rest; he’s also good for a daily stemwinder, or two, with his ability to passionately filibuster on par with your average state senator. Strauss, meanwhile, is on-hand to stir the pot, more laconic that his peers, but prone to peppering in his go-to terms like “doubling-down,” “narratives” and “BFIBS”; if you’re not already familiar with some of the shorthand lingo of the show, Strauss’ cryptic quips can be tricky to dissect.
Which makes Rea’s ability to keep the flow-moving key.
“There’s no set formula,” Rea insists. “Each segment will last a certain amount of minutes. We have our key stories of the day, laid out in the kind of order we’d want to talk about them. Then there’s a potpourri of stories that you can go to, as you need. There’s maybe a bigger story of the day, one that’s trending nationally.”
On the same show that was dominated by the DGB ejection at Mizzou, the show ended with an entire segment dedicated to the news that Stephen Colbert was being tabbed to replace David Letterman on the CBS “Late Show.”
“We’re a sports talk station first,” Rea insists, parsing out a difference between 920 and competitors like 590 The Man. “When I brought up Colbert and Letterman, I’d just seen in pop up in front of me (on my computer screen). I thought I’d ask Ramey about this, since he likes movies and TV shows. So do Strauss and Burwell, but with Ramsey, you can always throw a story and opinion (about pop culture) out.”
A pragmatist, Rea says that the feedback provided by listeners through all forms (calls, text, Tweets, etc.) help the shows move in any direction.
“Another way to look at it,” Rea says, “is that a radio show is entertainment. A radio station is a business. Do you bring something to the table that adds to revenue and new business? That business element is always there.”
It’s not secret that many hosts take on a certain “shtick” when they take to the sports talk airwaves. Some become stat-heads, others become buffoons. Talking to some off-air, you’d not certain that you’re in the presence of the same person you’re hearing on-air. A serious, hyper-professional type, Rea’s not only one to distance himself from having a shtick, he even distances himself from the topic, suggesting that he couldn’t know if a host was taking one on, or not.
“My personality’s the same,” he says. “The jokes I crack on-air are the same that I crack off-air. I’d never try to force something. I’d be uncomfortable doing that and everyone would know. It wouldn’t work. There are different kinds of listeners and different kinds of shows. And all kinds of gimmicks and material that you’re working with. A program director may look for one type of element of a lineup and that’s always been a very subjective art, a very subjective part of producing radio.”
The 31-year-old St. Louis native says that he’s content in serving as the chief lieutenant on the still-newish 920 airwaves and plans on being at the station for the near future. That said, there’s a long-standing itch he’d like to scratch. His work in minor-league hockey’s taken him to a few markets: Odessa, TX; Austin, TX; Prescott Valley, AZ; and Denver, CO. He moved back to his hometown in July of last year, to work with McKernan’s web-and-radio efforts.
“I spent six years pursuing a broadcasting career in hockey,” he says. “And that’s a dream that I have no given up on or let go of, yet. I’m at a point in my life when I wanted to do something differently. There was an opportunity here and I’ve enjoyed it very much, doing all these different [tasks]. I couldn’t tell you where I’ll be in five years, or exactly what I’ll be doing. But one dream is to broadcast in the NHL, as a radio play-by-play guy. If that hockey dream takes me somewhere away from here, who knows?”
Until that progression comes to pass, Rea’s been the most progressive addition to the local sports talk ranks in years, a fresh voice in a market filled with veterans, many of whom have circulated through a dozen different frequencies over the past two decades. And if he’s not quite ready to give the warts-and-all interview on that field yet, it’s understandable: he’s going to be in the industry for a long time, with a pretty steady climb ahead. He’s good. He’s knows it. And ain’t time yet to rock the boat.
For more on Brien Rea, visit brienrea.com and insidestl.com.
