Doing a Double Take

David Gow's message: From humble beginnings, our company has grown up

David Gow
Apr 1, 2019, 11:06 am
Gow Media

Last week the son of a good friend came up to our office. It had been a couple of years since I had seen him, so I still envisioned that he would be an 18-year-old high-school kid. But when he walked in the room, I did a double-take, as he was now a mature young man. The kid had grown up, and he was standing before me ready to talk business.

In some ways, the story illustrates Gow Media. Sometimes I come across people who will ask me: "How is 1560-The-Game doing?" We are not that young kid anymore. We have matured from a sports radio venture to a multi-platform media company. And we too stand before you ready to talk business.

Here's my update, with the following highlights:

  • ESPN 97.5 FM: Dominant sports ratings.
  • CultureMap: A large wave of growth.
  • SportsMap: New content and record traffic.
  • SB Nation Radio: Elimination of a competitor.
  • The Team: New faces in leadership roles.

ESPN 97.5

A year ago, we secured the No. 1 sports ratings position. This past quarter, we dominated. In the latest Nielsen book, we have the top four sports shows in the city, and five of the top six. The top four: (No. 1) John and Lance; (No. 2) The Blitz; (No. 3) The Usual Suspects; and (No. 4) The Charlie Pallilo Show. In morning and afternoon drive times, our ratings share was higher than our two competitors combined. And more good news: this quarter the Houston Press announced "The Best Radio Station" in Houston. The winner: ESPN 97.5FM.

CultureMap

Last week, more than 1,000 people in Houston turned out for our Tastemakers event, which sold out for the second year in a row. It is an amazing sight to see hundreds of folks line up early at the door. The turnout embodied the growth of Culturemap.com, where online traffic is soaring. Our Houston editorial team of Steven Devadanam, Eric Sandler, Ken Hoffman and others is on a roll. For that matter, the same is true of our teams statewide. We are experiencing double-digit growth year-over-year, yielding a very large and loyal following.

SportsMap

Our deep pool of sports experts has led to record traffic levels. One fun feature: we get to try new combinations such as videos featuring Raheel with AJ and Granato; Lance paired with AJ; Faour and Pallilo. Other must-see videos include Charlie Pallilo and Joel Blank (aka "one-take-Jake"). And we continue to get great written contributions from Barry Laminack, Joshua Jordan, Jermaine Every, Cody Stoots, Jerry Bo and, of course, SportsMap editor Fred Faour.

InnovationMap

Due to the collective efforts of many, Houston is experiencing a great wave of innovation. And now the city has a media outlet to tell the stories. Launched late last year, and backed by blue-chip sponsors, InnovationMap is off to a great start.

When we were planning the site, we were continually asked: who would be the editor? We found a good answer: Natalie Harms, whose fingerprints are all over the site. Last week Natalie was honored by AAF Houston, given the "Rising Star" award.

SB Nation Radio

In this business where we provide sports shows and updates for other stations across the country, we have faced a very competitive landscape the past four years. Finally, in January one of our competitors, NBC Sports Radio, withdrew from the market — enabling new growth and increasing our reach. Our SB Nation Radio Network is now heard on 600 radio stations across the country.

The Team

This has been an exciting season of growth for our people also.In the past quarter, we promoted Josh Jordan to assistant editor of SportsMap; Tyler Scott became assistant programming director. And, most notably, we tapped AJ Hoffman to become program director for 97.5 FM.

Most everyone knows Fred and AJ as leading show hosts, but they are proving to be far more. As Editor of SportsMap for the past 18 months, Fred has been a catalyst for our growth and success online. With AJ, we are tapping into his natural programming instincts and leadership. I have enjoyed watching their talents extend beyond the show and into management.

Let's give sage Ken Hoffman the last word. Some may recall that Ken was with us for a short while in the early 1560-The-Game days. Two years ago he returned to write for CultureMap -- so he has some perspective, having seen both our youth and maturity. The other day he wandered into my office. Looking at Gow Media, it appears Ken had done a double-take. He declared: "I have something to tell you. You have the best group of people and talent now. You really do. This is different than before. You are a real grown-up company now."

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WeatherMap Update

Houston weather: Heavy rain is possible later this week, but don't let colorful maps scare you right now

weathermodels.com

This is an odd time for a post, I know, but there is the potential for some very heavy rain later this week and I wanted to get word out before you are blasted with bright colors and doomsday scenarios on the local news later this evening.

I am going to keep this relatively brief and will not be adding much in the way of pretty maps right now as I do not think they accomplish much in terms of messaging at this juncture (Yes, there is a map at the top of this post but I had to put something there and the information on it will likely change). Here is the story:

Over the weekend you may have heard there was a "tropical thing" in the Gulf of Mexico that had a low probability of developing into an organized storm but that was heading in our general direction and would bring us some much needed rain later on this week. This is all still true, however early this morning computer models suddenly began ramping up the rainfall potential, with a few double digit rainfall bulls-eyes that were concerning. This is what raised the level of concern from "much needed rain" to "uh oh that may be too much rain."

The general parameters for a heavy rainfall event from late Tuesday thru Thursday look to be coming together with the aforementioned tropical blob slowly meandering towards and along the upper Texas coast, however I want to pump the brakes on the mild hysteria you may see from the local news. At this point we have less than 24 hours of model support for a concerning heavy rain event. If models remain consistent with this signal through tomorrow, we can begin drilling into particulars. However right now, it is impossible to give you exact when, where and who and how much answers when it comes to heavy rains and flooding concerns.

I will be digesting more information about this storm system this evening and will have an update posted tomorrow morning. Like I said though, I wanted to give a brief overview of the situation before you get whacked over the head with a bunch of red, purple, and white colors on a map.

As always you can find me on twitter @stephenuzick if you have any questions or want more information.

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