This past Monday I was privileged enough to witness the taping of the John Beilein Radio Show for the Michigan Sports Network, located at Pizza House on Church Street. Not only was the pizza outta this world, but host Doug Karsch and Coach Beilein put on a pretty good broadcast as well. With a basketball program as popular as Michigan's, it is very important to keep the fans informed, and this show gives them an excellent chance to hear directly from the leader's mouth.
For the most part I thought Karsch and Beileing worked very well with each other on air. Clearly the show was semi-scripted, meaning Karsch knew exactly where he needed to steer the show and at what times. However, the two certainly did not script word-for-word what they would say on air. The host had his questions ready and knew them well, but this was not a trial where one question was fired after another. Karsch's next question usually depended on what Beilein previously said, making the conversation more detailed and analytical. It was obvious that Karsch has several years of radio experience, as he kept the program fluid and seemed to ask the right questions, those that most fans would be interested in hearing an answer. Discussion topics ranged from specifics about Sunday's win over Northwestern to predicting the team's future to general information on different players. This show being the only to cover UM Hoops in-depth, I thought the program did all that it needed to do and then more: it covered the basics of the games themselves, but then added coaching notes and strategies, not to mention tidbits and insider information on the team. For huge Michigan basketball fans, I would consider this radio show a must listen.
I thought John Beilein handled Karsch's questions easily, not really faced with any 'tight corners'. My guess would be that over the show's two seasons Karsch has grown an understanding of where he should and should not go with his questions; or maybe they agree before the show where to set any boundaries. In any case, part of Beilein's job and that of all NCAA coaches is to deal with the media, and coaching in his 31st season should mean that he has got media relations down pat. The coach knows how to go about answering questions without giving away things he feels are private to the team. He knows how to tippie-toe the hottest of subjects. It's what he's paid to do. Nonetheless, I think Beilein was very comfortable with Karsch, very comfortable with the environment. As I was sitting there I couldn't help but think somewhere inside Beilein must be thinking how great his current coaching opportunity is here at Michigan, enjoying the pride and support that he is greeted with every show from fans. This is the best coaching job Beilein has ever had, and I got the feeling just from being around him that he truly loves where he is.
Finally, I thought Pizza House made an excellent location for a local radio show--it has the atmosphere inside with multiple televisions and Michigan flavor all over, plus the restaurant is well-regarded throughout the region, aligning the radio show with a proven quality product. On top of that, I think everyone knows Pizza House, has eaten there and knows it's good, just giving that much more reason to come to the live show. I think more people would show up at the live taping if they got the same deal I got: free breadsticks, free pizza, free beverages! While I'm sure this was just a special promotion for my class that was there, it would definitely help attendance if menu discounts or specials were created just for the John Beilein Radio Show. In fact, I question why Pizza House has not developed such specials in 2 years; with economic times the way they are, what family wouldn't mind saving money at a quality restaurant and get to see the UM basketball coach up close and personal? Pizza House was crowded when I was there this past Monday, but what did it look like previous weeks when the class wasn't present? Anytime something of value is offered for free or discounted, people will come!
Truthfully, talks of increasing listeners or getting more people to the live taping at Pizza House all revolve around one thing: popularity. Radio listenership will never come close to approaching the levels it was at some 70 years ago and will only continue to decline as new mediums take over. Therefore, since the radio seems to be so unpopular these days, how can more listeners be drawn? Quite impossible. More and more are drifting away from radio, so the only thing the Michigan Sports Network can bank on is that this show be as good as it can be to draw in the largest percentage of radio listeners, knowing full well how few these numbers really are. Secondly, popularity must also exist around the product, in this case UM basketball. Last year I don't know who was listening to Beilein's weekly show. Who cares what the coach of a 10-22 team has to say? This season the team has turned things around quite a bit, but I still don't think locals have UM Hoops on thier brains the way they did say 15-20 years ago. Even with their improvements, I still would not call this a quality product since they haven't won anything yet. Thus, the number of radio listeners Beilein's show can draw every week already has a cap on it due to medium constraints, but it's just a matter of the team getting good enough so that this cap can be filled to capacity.
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