cbs radio

Brian stops by to talk some football, & also has some marriage advice for all the men in the H lolol.

Kelly Sutton, '92, is the first female general manager in the history of WJPZ.  And, like many of us, the station launched her into a prolific media career.

This Buffalo native went to Syracuse, in part, because of the opportunity to double major in both Newhouse and business.  And when a local radio owner back home promised a summer job, she knew she needed experience.  By the spring, she found Z89, and folks like Scott Meach, Hal Rood, Dave Gorab, Dave Roberts, Dave Morgan, and more. 

Despite doing an overnight shift, she knew she wanted to work off-air, and she worked her way up to promotions director, and also doing sales (there was a commission structure in place at the time).  Kelly was encouraged to run for General Manager, which she did, and won.  While she didn't see it as a big deal at the time, she's certainly proud of the legacy of strong female leaders at the station since.

After Syracuse, Kelly returned home to Buffalo where she worked in various sales and management roles.  Soon, she got her "major market" opportunity to head east to Boston.   She relied on the advice of some lifelong JPZ friends to make the move, and the first person she met at CBS Boston also had JPZ roots.  The conversation starter of "where did you go to school" was the beginning of a lifelong friendship with Julie Bruno.

After a succesful run at Boston's rock station WBCN, she was recruited to head over to then-Entercom, and sports station WEEI.  We spend some time on what the sales side of sports radio looks like.   Do wins and losses matter?  What happens when a personality crosses the line?  Or an advertiser THINKS they did, but got bad information?

The radio industry is tough, and Kelly prefers to be in the sales side over the management side - through COVID, corporate mergers. and more.  (The Entercom/CBS merger in Boston was so complicated, the DOJ took Kelly's laptop at one point!)  We talk about what it takes to be successful today in radio, from both an an on and off-air perspective.

We close the conversation by getting very personal.  Kelly has a special needs son, Devin.  When she moved to Boston she was a single Mom, and certainly had a lot on her plate.  That first encounter with Julie Bruno resulted in a piece of advice from Julie that Kelly says changed her life.   It's one of our favoirite JPZ'er-helping-JPZ'er stories yet. You'll hear about that today, as well as the inspirational young man Devin is, as well as Kelly's other son, Brady.

The WJPZ at 50 Podcast Series is produced by Jon Gay, Class of 2002, and his podcast production agency, JAG in Detroit Podcasts.

Sign up for email alerts whenever we release a new episode here: jagindetroit.com/WJPZat50

Want to be a guest on the pod or know someone else who would? Email Jag:  jag@jagindetroit.com.

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BANQUET 2024 WILL BE MARCH 2ND! Get your tickets here before prices go up!  https://bit.ly/3RmN0V4

EPISODE 247: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN

A-Block (1:42) SPECIAL COMMENT: Why did Trump imply he was quote “being charged under the Insurrection Act?” Why did Trump put that out THOSE words – “Insurrection Act” on his social media propaganda site and then delete the post within half an hour and replace “Insurrection Act” with “Espionage Act”? Is there a chance somebody has told him that he may actually BE charged under the Insurrection Act? Could Jack Smith be prosecuting him under the Disqualification Clause of Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment? Could the Special Counsel try to get Donald Trump DISQUALIFIED from ever again holding office in this country?

The very thought of it is breathtaking.

“No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States… to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof." Any person will make tens of thousands of mistakes with words in his life and Trump, more than that, but almost all substitution mistakes – you MEAN one word but SAY or WRITE another – have one minimum threshold: the person who substitutes the one for the other – the person who writes “Insurrection Act” when he INTENDED to write “Espionage Act” – has been thinking about The Insurrection Act. The word “insurrection” did not fall off a shelf and hit Trump in the head and he suddenly wrote it when he MEANT to write “Espionage.”

If I haven’t been clear let me state this explicitly: I don’t have a source in the Special Counsel’s office. I don’t have a cousin whose meter maid’s twin brother’s spiritual advisor’s uncle’s nephew types up the daily notes. Nor have any of the people I actually DO know who MIGHT have those kinds of sources said anything. Nor is there anything – ANYTHING – from any of the solid dozen or so reporters covering the coming Trials of Trump that suggests… anything. Nobody has said Smith is think about prosecuting him on Insurrection. And yet I am still sitting here wondering why he wrote what he wrote and I am absolutely convinced Trump has been thinking about the Insurrection Act. So setting aside the one thing you and I most WANT to be true – that even some of Trump’s idiot legal advisers including the non-lawyer ones have told him they may charge him with it… what else could it be?

B-Block (20:50) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS: Tucker Carlson goes off the deep end and as he attacks six presidential contenders to their face it finally dawns on me whose career his has always reminded me of: it was the top American political commentator of 1938. He too was fired while at the pinnacle. He never returned - and he was dead six years later. (27:33) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: The Michigan GOP bank account is down to five figures, Eric Adams is still rhetorically beating up the 84-year old holocaust survivor, and Steve Bannon makes me an offer I cannot refuse.

C-Block (33:00) IN SPORTS: A brilliant idea! Bring in an aging ex-GOAT from another country to finally make MLS a big deal. Sure it didn't work the first 50 times but Messi's different. Isn't he? And the Buck may not stop here as the Mets near a purge (36:30) Meaning I have to tell the story of the day 30 years ago next month Buck Showalter locked all his players in the trainers' room at Yankee Stadium to teach me a lesson and blame it on them. And I LIKE Buck!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today's episode is a must-listen, especially for those of that are sports fans or ever had aspirations to get into the field.

Howard Deneroff, WJPZ Class of 1989, is the EVP and Executive Producer of Westwood One Sports.  He's been with the company since immediately after graduation, and has worked the Super Bowl, World Series, Final Four, Stanley Cup Finals, and more.

Like many of us, Howard decided on Syracuse because he wanted to be as involved with sports as possible.  He went to WAER, writing for the likes of Mike Tirico and others.  But when it became clear that he could get much more hands on experience at WJPZ.  This proved true his sophomore year, when in addition to calling women's sports and minor league baseball, Z89 was able to cover an undefeated SU football team (wow that seems like a long time ago), and a basketball team that made it to the NCAA Championship game.

Additionally, their Saturday morning show "The Press Box" morphed into coverage of Central New York high school football. Staff would call the games, interview coaches and players, and bring the cassettes back.  Then the real work began, splicing highlights on reel-to-reel decks until 3 or 4am, to have them ready for air the next morning.  This is where Howard says he really learned the skills, attitude, and perfectionism that carried him to where he is now.   This really came to fruition when working on a piece commemorating the 50th anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier.  The desire to always make his work better led to Howard getting some unbelievable audio and previously unheard stories for the presentation.

In addition to talent and hard work, sometimes you need to be in the right place at the right time.  We hear a wild story of coincidence, and how a chance meeting turned into a job at Westwood One upon graduation, and a three-decades plus career there.

Deneroff started at CBS Radio in 1989, working on baseball and football, where his encyclopedic knowledge and preparation quickly impressed his coworkers.   He also learned how to think quickly on his feet - when he was in studio for an Earthquake during the 1989  World Series.  He's worked with everyone from Jim Nantz to Greg Gumbel, Brent Musburger, John Madden, Terry Bradshaw, Pat O'Brien, Vin Scully, Ernie Harwell, and more.

Howard tried to learn from the best, and take pieces from folks he's worked with - this led to his "index card system" used in the booth for broadcasts - color coded index cards for promos, sponsorships, and commercial breaks.  If you are into the behind-the-scenes of broadcasting, you'll geek out of this like we did.

Despite the responsibilities that come with his current title, today's guest still loves producing radio broadcasts.   He still gets the adrenaline rush and tries to do at least one game a week.  We spend some time talking about the magic of radio, and the advantages it has over television.  We also talk about the future of audio.

Deneroff has made it a point to give back to Z89, after the station gave him so much.  He's airchecked play-by-players. provided internships and more.  He firmly believes what he learned at the station got him to where he is now.

We close with a couple of funny stories.  Will Howard confirm Lippy's story about shaking a spatula at him?  And you won't believe Mr. Deneroff's reaction when Howie came home and played him a tape of his first sportscast.

Join Us in Syracuse for Banquet on March 4th: https://bit.ly/WJPZ50BanquetTickets

The WJPZ at 50 Podcast is produced by Jon Gay '02 and JAG in Detroit Podcasts

BANQUET 2024 WILL BE MARCH 2ND! Get your tickets here before prices go up!  https://bit.ly/3RmN0V4

In this special episode, while Myriah is off finishing the school year off with her boys and packs up for a new move, Jerry & Producer Char spend some time together to chat about life, career choices, podcasting, life changing moments, and Jerry's sobriety. 

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This Podcast is Produced & Edited by Charlene Goto of  Go-To Productions

Looking back, other than the rights holding Motor Racing Network, no other national outlet did more spot news and features from Daytona than Westwood One and CBS Radio featuring George McNeilly.

Interview in advance of his match with Mike Tyson on Nov 9, 1996.

In March of 1988, the legendary radio broadcast "The World News Roundup" turned 50.  The weekly CBS Radio program "Newsmark" devoted an episode to honoring the WNR.