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Reel Talk with Rich: Seth Markman · Reel Talk with Rich: Stories in Sportscasting

• Rich: Welcome again, everybody, to Reel Talk with Rich Stories in Sportscasting. This week I have a conversation with the sports version of The Wizard of Oz. Seth Markman is vice president of production at ESPN. He is in charge of football at ESPN. So every football show you see, he's got his hands on. The content, what they talk about, how they talk about it, and who talks about it Seth has been at ESPN ever since he graduated Syracuse. And full disclosure, Seth and I have been friends ever since he was at Syracuse. We had many classes together. At New House, the class of 93, along with some other illustrious New House members. Scott Hanson from NFL Red Zone comes to mind. Chris Licht, who used to be the head of CNN, and before that, he was the showrunner for the Late Show with Stephen Colbert. We all shared classrooms together at New House at Syracuse back in the early 90s. But Seth and I have been in touch for years. It's an honor that. He would come on and share his thoughts. But for all the aspiring sportscasters who are watching and listening right now, He is a decision maker. And he shares a lot of his opinions and thoughts on how he makes those decisions that impact people like you and me. We get into a lot of fun stuff in this edition. Here is my conversation: Reel Talk with Seth Markman Welcome to Reel Talk with Rich Stories in Sportscasting. This is a podcast about sports, media, and the intersection of both. I'm your host, Rich Hollenberg. I'm a veteran play-by-play announcer, anchor, and reporter at the top levels of this business. And I'm also the host and founder of the Break It and Breakthrough Sportscasting Cohort, a program designed to reach the next generation of top talent who have the passion and potential to chase their dreams. Each conversation will make you better in front of a mic by taking you behind the scenes. No bull, no fluff, just the straight scoop on sports casting. This is Reel Talk. Syracuse class of 93 reunion begins now. Seth Markman, Vice President of Production at ESPN. It is great to see you again, my friend. Seth: it's the best to see you, man. It just brings me right back to those those cold days, those snowy days where we hung together for all those years. And you know, I love seeing your success, man, and I'm proud of you. So it's awesome. Rich: Thank you. Thank you. The feeling is quite mutual. Let's start off with this because this podcast is heavily stilted toward people who are in front of the camera. But I am really interested in hearing from people behind the camera, and namely people who are the decision makers, And whether you want to admit it or not, dude, you are one of those people and you've been that for a long time. So With your current title and your current job responsibilities at ESPN, what's a day to day type of thing like for Seth Markman? Seth: Yeah, the best part, Rich, I think for me, and and this is why I love this this job and this business is that there really is no you know, typical day, which which is great. And and in fact, there are days that, you know, I leave my house and I go in and I look at my calendar and I'm like, this is not a bad day today. This is not that busy, or I don't have that many meetings, or, you know. And then it turns into a day that I'm I'm here for twelve hours and all heck's breaking loose and it had nothing that the plan going in had nothing to do with what actually happened that day. And I think I think that's the beauty of the business is like there is no nine to five. You know, there is no you know, my wife sometimes will say to me, What time should I expect you home tonight? And I'll say, Yeah, I don't know. You know, like it could be six o'clock, it could be nine o'clock, you know, it sort of depends on how the day goes. And, you know, I do have certain responsibilities, obviously, that are that are important and that I have to deal with. But I think for me, honestly, my favorite days are the ones that that just they go off script, meetings happen and and breaking news happens. And, you know, I'm one of the shows I'm in charge of, luckily, is NFL Live, which I'm super proud of. And, you know, I get to be in on the the day to day planning of the show and and so many days it's like we have a plan at a certain time in the morning and then by the time four o'clock rolls around, like throw it out the window. And and and I like to be involved in the content. That's still my favorite thing. That's what gets me charged up is is being in the content. And, you know, days where I can kind of feel like I can make a mark and stuff like that are are are still my favorite days. Rich: And it's funny you say that, Seth, because we were talking before we started recording how we wish we had some type of evidence that we were in Syracuse at the same time, in the same classrooms. I mean, literally, you and I and Scott Hanson was there, Chris Licht was there. What were your career goals at Syracuse? Because Seth: Yeah, fine. Rich: I always remember you wanting to get into production, but what were you thinking or dreaming of when you were at Syracuse getting into the new house situation? Seth: Well it's funny, I I wanted to be what you were, what you do now. Like I like going in, I think we all did. We all sort of had the same goals, which were to be on TV, you know, Rich: Mm-hmm. Seth: or to be on radio. In those days, you know, with all due respect to radio now, I f I think those days radio was just more robust, you know. It was, you know, it was still really, really big for for whether it was talk radio or or local broadcast of baseball, you know, so So that was my ultimate dream going in. But the best thing that happened to me, and and I'm not sure if we were in the same class, and I wish I remembered the number and all that stuff, but I took a class, and again, maybe you were in that one with me, where we did like each week we put on like a news broadcast. Yeah, you remember that one? yeah. I don't yes, yes. Rich: Yes. Yeah. I I don't remember what it was called either, but we had a different job in that newscast every single week. Seth: Yes, yes, yes, yes. That was the class. So we were together. And honestly, I remember like we rotated right jobs and positions. And I think the first one I did was like weather and and I was brutal at that and trying to do the green screen and all that. Like that wasn't for me. But a couple of weeks in, Rich, I was able to get the producer role. You know, the professor said, This week you're the producer. And honestly, I had no idea what that even meant. Like zero idea. And I remember saying to him, Well, what does the producer do? And he said, That's the boss. Like the producer is in charge. The producer decides what's in the newscast, who's doing what, how much time is devoted to everything. You make cuts on er and I was like, Now that's interesting. Like that's I never thought about that. Let me and that week doing that job, I enjoyed it so much. And I literally remember leaving that class that day and saying, I'm changing my entire career focus. Like I no longer want to try to be on TV or on the radio. And everybody wants to do that, by the way. And I was like, the competition's gonna be fierce. I Rich: Mm-hmm. Seth: said, but being a producer, which I didn't even know existed a couple days ago, like I wonder if that's a better career path for me. And I wound up talking to a few people and and And people were like, yeah, like you could work at ESPN or CNN at the time was big, you know, their sports was big at the time, or a local, or you can work for a team, or and I was like, you know what? What do I let me get on this path? Like, let me how does that what does this look like? You know, and then, you know, I think we all knew at the time was like if we wanted to be on TV or radio, you're really gonna have to pay your dues. You're gonna have to start somewhere really small. You know, in a part of the country you might not be familiar with. And at least producing, I I thought I had a better shot of being somewhere I might want to be, you know, whether that was New York or Los Angeles or Bristol, Connecticut, as it turns out. but yeah, like I think I I I think it all changed for me during that that class, that that week, in fact. Rich: The light bulb went off. And we're all Seth: Yeah. Yeah and I and Rich: we're all better for it now, thirty-three years later. Seth: Well, I really don't think I would have made it in the way you've made it. you know, it's funny, we all we all came from like our own areas. I was from New Jersey, where everyone was like, you're gonna be a TV star, you're gonna you're the sportscaster, you you're the encyclopedia. And then when we got to Syracuse and we got to New House, I don't know if you felt the same way that I did, but I was like, man, I was looking around and I'm like, Boy, like Mike Tirico was just here. And and when I was a freshman, I got to work with Ian Eagle a little bit on at the radio station and literally was carrying his like equipment as a freshman. And you heard the Ian Eagle voice, and you're like, yeah, this is this guy is gonna be big time. And like I didn't have that voice, you know, like I it was the greatest thing that happened. It set up, you know, I was blessed to have a really good career, still do. And I don't regret the decision at all. Rich: Yeah, I I just remember waking up in the mornings to walk to WAER from my fraternity house freshman Seth: Yes. Yeah. Rich: or sophomore year, first semester, and I spend one semester doing it. And I said, I guess I'm not gonna be a play-by-play announcer. And now you fast forward, I'm going into my 18th season calling games at ESPN. Seth: Yeah, and I knew you had the talent. I remember, like, I it was easy for me to see. Maybe that was the producer in me at the time, but like I could tell you or Scott, Hanson, or Ian at the time. Like you just knew. You just knew. Like, you know, like you could you could hear it in your delivery, your voice, your command, all you guys. It was like you could just you could put a finger on there were some people, I won't say names, that I came into contact with that I was like, they're not gonna make, you know, they're not. They don't have it, you know, they don't have it. You could just you can tell. Rich: But that's a good character trait of yours. I mean, part of what makes you an excellent producer is your eye for talent and how to work with that talent. And I wanted to ask you about that. you obviously come across the best of the best, whether you're working directly with them or peripherally. If you could boil it down to a few different components, Seth, what do you think makes the best? Sportscaster. Seth: Yeah, I think there's two different things here. I think, you know, I get to work with people, you know, like yourself that that didn't play, no offense, that didn't play the game at the highest levels. And then, you know, the ex players that I deal with a lot, the former players and coaches. And I think I I'm more responsible with my current job of finding those people, finding the the the former players and coaches and and and you know, less in the the play by play or the host role and stuff like that. So I think there's two different things. And I'll start with the the former players, but I I think, you know, for them, you know, I look for a few different things. I think, you know, obviously name recognition is still going to be the first thing. That that's what gets them in the door. You know, that's what that's the phone call I'm gonna take. That's the meeting I'm gonna take. You know, if they have a gold jacket, they're gonna get a meeting, you know, like there's no doubt. And that's gonna help them get their foot in the door if they want to do that. but honestly, it doesn't it doesn't really matter sort of once they start working, it it you're you're that really doesn't matter anymore that what your career resume is versus like maybe a backup quarterback or you know like I two of the best people I personally work with right now that that I helped bring here are Dan Orlovsky and Tim Hasselbeck. And if you go back and look at both of their careers on the football field They were backups. They were clipboard guys, you know. But Rich: Pedestrian. Seth: yeah. But but on TV, you know, phenomenal. And Dan has really made a a a name for himself. you know, with how hard he works and his film study and the video and and and that's that's sort of the first thing, Rich, is just how much effort you're gonna put into the job. And I think, you know, the the players that have failed, the ex players that have really failed at this. I think they just thought it was going to be easy. You know, I think they thought, well, I played, I know the sport, so I can just I'll just be on TV afterwards, you know, I'll do some broadcasting. And like that's a recipe for disaster. And it has been, is all of a sudden they realize after they've been out of the game a little bit that they don't necessarily know the players anymore, the coaches anymore. And if you're not working hard, if you're not studying, if you're not watching film, you know, it's gonna get away from you pretty fast. The second thing for them, honestly, is like, are you not afraid to have a strong opinion? You know, like that, that's that's the hardest transition that these guys make is you know, and I'm not looking like on our shows, honestly, Rich, I really don't look for hot takes or I want you to rip a guy or like I just want honest, authentic television. Can you explain a little more? I need a little more out of you, you know. And then I think the obvious things that you know are, you know, just the command of anybody on TV, the energy level, the enthusiasm for the job, I think is underrated, you know, is just like this is sports we do. Like, this isn't politics, you know, this isn't, you know, some crucial thing in the world. This is a release for the most part. So like I still think when fans turn turn into our show, tune into our shows, excuse me, that they want to be entertained and they want to feel like these people really like the sport that they're talking about. Like not, you know, I think we went through a stage, not just at ESPN, but in our industry where there was a lot of negativity about sports. And and, you know, I think that was heavy and I think it was too much. And I think it was like I think we forgot at times of like, People love sports, the connection of sports, the feeling of rooting for your team, and the feeling of being in the stands, watching a football game. They don't want to necessarily be reminded of all the things that are going on that's bad in the world at the same time. you know, do you have an enthusiasm for the sport? is it do you look like someone on TV that I'd want to hang out with at a bar and have a beer with and and you know, like I know I said a lot there, but these are all the kind of things that go into the decision making, I think, in finding people. Rich: Yeah. And a lot of that is consistent throughout the generations, let alone our generation growing up and the people we admired either in front of the camera or behind the camera. But it brings up an interesting point. The industry in general, Seth, and you are a humongous part of this. The industry is changing. Like I keep telling people it's like seismic shifts under our feet as we're talking about. Whether it's streaming or rights negotiations or any number of things, it feels like there is more change in sports casting and sports television than there ever has been before. How have you been able to not only survive all those changes, but thrive in those situations at ESPN? Seth: Yeah. I think a couple of things. I think for me, one of the things that's super important for me is to, you know, we have a great place here. We have a great group of people here that work here. And I always tell people I don't have all the answers. I never did and I never will. But I I especially now, I think it in my mid fifties are we're in the same age. I think I lean more and more on the younger employees. all the time. And I think, you know, in meetings and show meetings and and you know, I think there's a a a lot of times younger people here and in our industry will say, Well, I I don't want to speak up or I, you know, I've only been here for a couple of months or a year and Seth's been here for 33 years. So he he knows everything about everything. And it's like honestly, I I think it's the opposite. Like I think it's Yes, I may know how to get certain things done. I you know, I mean I can lean on some historical things and background and I've seen a lot more over the years. But like when it comes to like connecting with a younger audience, which is a mass massive challenge for us, massive. Or it comes to the streaming or social media or things like that, like I've gotten more great ideas and more tips and more things that we've actually implemented from People that are 22, 23, 24 years old. And I think that is really important for executives is to don't be shy about like asking people for feedback and asking people, you know, I I remember going into a a Syracuse a classroom at Syracuse a couple years ago to speak, and I couldn't believe it was the first time I said basically in the classroom, how many of you guys have cable? You know, and like One hand went up, I think, out Rich: Huh. Seth: of like 30 people. And I was like, I came back here and I was like, this is a massive issue. Like, you know, like it wasn't like they weren't watching ESPN. They were watching ESPN, but they were watching on their phones, they were streaming it. they were finding other ways at the time to to watch it. And I was like, you know, like. Man, we've been doing the same thing here for a long time without really adjusting. And we're seeing our audience like, you know, God bless the people of our age group or the people in their 60s and 70s, but like that's not sustainable if your audience is always gonna be 55-year-old white males. Like that's 55's gonna turn to 65 and 75 and and beyond that, which we don't want to talk about. So like How do we find the 20 year olds? How do we get more women? How do we get more diverse audiences to watch and stuff? And honestly, like I've like I said, it's the younger people that have come here to work that, you know, have come up with a lot of those ideas And I think you just gotta be open-minded and the best idea might come from the guy that works in the cafeteria, and that's okay. Like there's no shame in wherever you find a good idea or someone that works for you. and you gotta be like, you gotta create an inclusive environment where people feel comfortable enough to say, hey Seth, I know you said we were gonna do this, but I don't think that's gonna work. I think there's a better way to do that. And I'm proud to say that I think people that work under me on shows do feel comfortable enough to like challenge me or think they have a better idea or so 'cause I I honestly welcome that. I don't need credit, you know, like I I've been doing it for a long time. I'm fine, I'm happy to dish out credit, but like I just want I'm selfish. I just wanna know where the best ideas are coming from, you know, and implement Rich: It's funny, there's a saying that comes to mind when I'm hearing what you're talking about. The more I know, the more I know what I don't know. And the fact that you are comfortable enough, I mean, obviously 33 years at the same place gives you that that foundation of that feeling. But the fact that you can lean into that, and by virtue of doing that, you're empowering so many young people who normally would be. Intimidated and cowering in the corner, not wanting to stick their head out for fear of it getting chopped off. So I I salute you for that because I think that's a telltale sign of a great leader. But I do want to circle back because I want to pin you down, unless you don't necessarily have this experience with people who want to be, and I'll use someone who you obviously work closely with now, a good friend of mine, Laura Rutledge, who is at the pinnacle. Seth: Fantastic. Rich: Of anybody who is what we call forward-facing talent. She's as good as it gets. Seth: Yes. Rich: When you open up your laptop and look at your inbox, and you have any number of people who are like Seth, you should take a look at this person or Mr. Markman. I'd love for you to look at my demo reel. What Seth: Yeah. Yep. Rich: stands out to you as people who at least have potential? If not, this is someone I want to have a conversation with. What are those markers? Seth: You know what's funny? A lot of times it's just there's and and this is a frustrating answer, but it's a it's a feel. It's just a like when I see when I saw Laura for the first time on TV, I I just said she has it. You know, like she has it. She she has this this command and this you know, she looks like she was Born to be doing this on TV. She has an enthusiasm for her for her role, her job. She has a curiosity. Like that's you can't teach the curiosity, like as a host. And that you have to do the, you know, I I feel like I'm telling you stuff you already know, but like as a play-by-play guy, like with it with a a color commentator sitting next to you, like it. That's the number one skill you can have is the curiosity. Like, you know, to be able to ask the right questions to the person next to you that you genuinely want to know the answer to, you know, that you genuinely care about their opinion. And I could see that in Laura, and I could see it in the best people. And they can bring the best out of their analysts. Like Laura, it's amazing. Like when you see her on NFL Live. Whoever she's sitting next to, she makes them immediately better and more comfortable, asks the right questions. She doesn't have to be a producer writing down questions for her. No, she's got it. You know, like so I think curiosity is something that's super important for people that are getting into this business that want to be, you know, a host or want to be a play-by-play person. You know, there's there's some people I've worked with over the years, and I think. It's frustrating because they get to a certain point where they're like, I already know the answer. Like, why am I asking the question if I already know the answer? And I'm like, You really don't though. Like you think you do, but you really can't be in the shoes of a person that's walked into the arena and and had these experiences. You know, like you and I know a lot about sports. We've done this for a long time. We can have opinions about sports. Certainly. But you and I could never say, What does it feel like to take the field for the Super Bowl? Like we can't. We're never gonna know Rich: Mm-hmm. Seth: that, you know? But when you can pull that out of somebody and get sort of that, you know, them to give you those feelings and stuff like that, it's a special skill. It is, let alone like You can put someone out there like Laura in any situation. she was in the middle of that terrorist attack in New Orleans a couple years ago on New Year's Day at the Sugar Bowl, the way she handled herself in that. There's countless examples of like things that you don't learn in college. You know, like I don't know about you, but this is not a knock on Syracuse. They did a great job. But like I think I've learned so much more in real life experiences that you just can't teach in a classroom. There's Rich: Yeah. Seth: no like there's no textbook that tells you how to handle, you know, we're coming up on the 25 year anniversary of 9-11 as we're as we're sitting here. And I produced Sports Center that day on the six o'clock sports center on 911. I produced it with Bob Lee and Trey Wingo. Rich: Mm. Seth: And let me tell you something. Sitting there that day, sports was, you know, just a footnote in the day. Like nobody really cared. But we're ESPN and we wanted to do a show in the right in the right way and talk about you know, obviously paying respects to what happened, but also, you know, there were realistic issues of like, is the NFL gonna play that week? Is college football gonna play? Is Major League Baseball gonna play? And there was no there was no textbook for to to teach you how to produce a show on a day like that. You know, it was just living and learning and and and doing your best in that moment, you know, and and trying to make the right decisions. And Rich: Yeah. Seth: you know, the the people that are out there, it's the same thing. Like, you know, you can you can work on your college radio station and your college TV station and nothing will will prepare you necessarily for what you're gonna face. When in real life. Rich: Yeah, gotta get out there and do it. I love the we boil it down to the two C's. I love them both, command, which you mentioned multiple times, and curiosity. Those are Seth: Yeah. Rich: the two big ones for anybody who's listening or watching right now and wants to figure out what could set you apart as a sportscaster. outside of football, because I know you've been to a gazillion Super Bowls and all that great stuff. Outside of football, what's the best? sporting event you've ever attended. Seth: That's a good question. I I guess I'll be a little biased on it. I grew up a Yankee fan. I'm still a Yankee fan. And when I first got to ESPN, I worked on on baseball. Before I got to football, I worked on baseball. And in 1996, I was on baseball at I was an associate producer, and my my responsibility for the month of October was to follow the Yankees. On the road to the World Series, which they eventually won against Atlanta. And basically, I was assigned to them, you know, from the first playoff game all the way through and got to travel with them. And I was going to follow them everywhere. So like Derek Jeter was a rookie. Mariano Rivera was like in a second year. He was a setup guy. and I got to know those guys. John Well was the Rich: John Wetland. Seth: closer. I got to know those guys at an age that we were all similar age at the time. And like I remember grabbing those guys for interviews after they won a few games. I remember grabbing Marion Rivera after a playoff game, and he spoke very broken English at the time. And we wanted to interview him. And he was like honestly super nervous. And he kept saying to me, I don't know if I should do, I don't know if I can do this. I don't know. I don't know. Like, like really nervous. Not the Mariano Rivera that we know now. And then, and this is sort of the the the the people think our jobs are so glorious all the time, and they're not necessarily at times. So the Yankees, they're in game six of the World Series, the game they eventu eventually win to win the series. And I'm in the press seats with you know Peter Gamons and Harold Reynolds and Carl Ravich watching. And you know, they're beating Atlanta, but it's close enough. And it's like the eighth inning. And they're like, you know, my boss at the time's like, you gotta go, you gotta go down and get ready to go on the field for when the game ends. And I'm like, that's right. Okay. So they direct you to a tunnel. And I'm standing in this tunnel under Yankee Stadium, and it's the top of the ninth inning. And John Wetland's on the mound trying to close out the first Yankee World Series. You know, since nineteen seventy-eight, I think that they had won ninety-six. So it's almost twenty years. And I can't see the game at all. I can't see it. I can't hear it. I have no there's a bunch of us standing there. And nowadays, I will tell you, nowadays the stadiums all have like TVs under and Rich: Right. Seth: but in those days in the old Yankee Stadium, there was nothing. So you're just standing there, just literally waiting. There's a door closed with a security guard. I hear like you can tell something happened because you're under the stadium and you hear like just fireworks, it sounds like going on. And I'm like, I think they just won the World Series. I'm not sure. The door swings open, you go up these steps and you're on the, you know, the field, and you see like at the time there's like cops and horses and you know, the whole, but you have no idea what just happened. You know, you're like asking like, did did did did they score any runs in the night? Like what was the final score? What was like, you know, trying to do your postgame coverage. So it's funny, it's like that's my greatest kind of non football memory. But I also I had to go home and actually watch the the main thing, Rich: Ha ha ha. Seth: you know, because I never saw it. And, you know, I've had a couple of Super Bowl experiences the same way where I was like underneath a stadium somewhere. before. And I I I I bet you you've had some where you cover games and you're just like, you know, that that's sorta the process. It's not you know, like it's not like you're standing on in the dugout to watch the ninth inning. You're you're in some you know Rich: 100%. It it takes me back to Tom Brady's first Super Bowl against the Rams in New Orleans at the Superdome. And I remember they herded us all down off the field in a tunnel. And everyone's just waiting and looking around and not and it was funny because there's this eerie silence. No one really knows if they Seth: Yes. Yes. Rich: should be talking. And if they do, you feel like you gotta talk in a whisper. Seth: Yes, yes. Rich: And all of a sudden the game ends and it's like, boom, time to go. Lights are coming on, showtime. And Seth: Yeah. Rich: you just go by your instincts and what Seth: That's it. Rich: you've learned and to your point, the experiences you've had to that point. Seth: I'll give you another real quick example. I was at the Super Bowl when the Giants beat the Patriots. And we were underneath the same spot, fourth quarter, no TVs, can't really see what's happening, can't hear what's happening. You're not texting people in those days, you know. And by the way, even if like you never get re as you know, you never get like Wi-Fi Rich: Right. Seth: or reception. It's terrible. The game ends, the Super Bowl ends. We see like the confetti. And we see like that the Giants won the Super Bowl, Super Bowl champions, New York Giants. And I'm like, wow, that's that's a big upset, you know. Like, wow. We go out on the field, and I see all of these reporters on the field around a giant receiver that I didn't really know who he was, to be frank with you. And it was David Tyree, obviously. And Eric is Rich: Syracuse's own David Tyree. Seth: known David Tyree. And I had no idea, and a bunch of us had no idea, like, why are they all interviewing David Tyree right Rich: Yeah. Seth: now? Like, why isn't like Eli had some people around him and some others, but it was like so many people around David Tyree, and we didn't know that he had made the famous helmet catch in the fourth quarter because we were under the stadium, you know? So I don't know, it's just one of those funny things that people think it's so glamorous, all these jobs at times, and at times it is, like, I'm not complaining. But it there's certainly you know, times where you're like, Yeah, like I'm under a stadium right now or I haven't eaten in eight hours or you know, whatever the case. Rich: There's as much griminess and grind as there is glamorous. That's that's how I would put it. That's great. Seth: That's right. Yep. Yep. Yep. Rich: so I want you've been in this industry a long, long time. You were at New House before that. Is there one or two pieces of advice, Seth, that you've received way back when you were just starting out from someone who was a mentor to you that Seth: Yeah. Yep. Yep. Rich: you still look back on and think. Is relevant today as relevant as it was when you first heard Seth: Yes. Rich: that advice. Seth: The two pieces of advice that I think that I got that I still think about all the time are one, I was very young. I was a production assistant. I was 22 years old. I was here with a a lot of other production assistants that were at the same age. You know, excuse me. And and I think we were all trying to figure out like how do you separate yourself? Like how do you get noticed? How do you, how do I move up here? Like I'm just I'm just another 22-year-old from New Jersey that went to Syracuse that, you know, thinks they know everything about television and doesn't, you know. And I remember someone saying to me at the time, make yourself available all the time. Make yourself like one thing that's going to separate you from your peers potentially is tell them that you want to be the first call whenever they need somebody. You know, tell them that. You know, this is the time in your life, and I and I remember thinking it. You're not married, you have no kids, you have no strings attached here. so I went to my supervisor at the time and I said, Look, I want to work as much as possible. Like I got I got nothing else. I'm in Connecticut. I have no life. Like, I'm trying to work my way up. I'm trying to get more experience. So I said, just do me a favor. You know, I know I'm already working five days a week. I'm happy to work more, but also if somebody calls in sick or if you need somebody else, if it's a holiday, if it's a weekend, if it's a night, make me your first call. Like, put me at the top of your list. And and I remember the woman, she seemed shocked by that. Like that she had never heard somebody say that before. And I was like, just just Just do it, you know, because I know when people call in sick, it's a pain in the ass. You got to try to find somebody, you know, just just call me, you know, odds are I'm I'm gonna come do it, you know. By the way, I also had another goal here is I was trying to make more money at the time too. So I was like, if I can get a little overtime or whatever, Rich: Right. Seth: like that's good. But I think it helped me in the early days here because people knew they could count on me and people knew that like. If there was a staffing issue or if they needed to find somebody else or someone to stay late or whatever, like we can count on Seth to do that. So that I think helped separate me at the very beginning. Then the other piece of advice that I got that I really appreciated was a little later in my career when I was like trying to figure out what I wanted to work on. And a guy named John Walsh, who's a legendary executive at in television, ESPN and other places, said to me at the time, he said. You always want to work on something that's the most important thing to the company that you're working at. Like, so if somebody asks you what you want to do, ask them, turn it on them and say, Well, what's the most important thing to you guys? Like, what's your most important property? And I remember at the time I said, clearly the NFL is the most important property at ESPN. So when people were asking me, Where do you want where do you see yourself? What do you want to do? I would say, well, what's the most important thing at ESPN? They'd say the NFL is the our most important thing. I said, that's what I want to work on. That that's what I want to be on. And I think that's what's helped me over the years is like, I know the importance of the NFL, ESPN, you know, and I know how important the relationships are to build with the league and the teams and and stuff like that. So this isn't to say like, People that work on other sports are not important. They are. Everything we do is important. But for me, that piece of advice stuck with me. It was like, at least as a goal, try to say, I want to be on something that you guys think is really important. And I think that people can use that as well. Rich: That's great advice. Both of those things. okay, I want to end with a couple of kind of quick fire type questions. Nothing too deep, nothing too challenging. But you obviously have a huge NFL season that is unfolding before us right now because it ends with the SPN's very first airing of the Super Bowl. So do you foresee a time in our lifetime, Seth, where the Super Bowl. will be on a pay-per-view type of a situation, whether it's on a streamer as a standalone event that people are going to have to pay a one-time fee out of pocket for. Seth: I do not. again, could be wrong. I do not. I do think I could foresee it being on a streaming platform at some point. and I do think there's a good chance of that. So I wouldn't I guess I'm what I'm trying to say is I don't think it would be a one-time pay-per-view like a boxing event, you know, or something like that, or UFC. Sorry, Rich: UFC. Seth: UFC. the way they do pay-per-view. But I think could I see it on like a Netflix or like a YouTube or at Amazon? Yes, I think you know, we've seen the NFL as you know is definitely interested in there's playoff games on streaming on streaming TV. There's there's a game, you know, in Australia on streaming TV. So I think I'd see it streaming. I don't I I could be wrong. Like I said, I just don't think the league. would ever want to be in a position where they were like, hey, if you want to watch the Super Bowl as a one time event, you gotta pay a hundred bucks to watch it or something like that. Again, people would probably pay and make money, but I think the league has always cared a little bit about the perception that we're we're still over the air. You know, we're still for the most part available to the average consumer. so again It's a little bit splitting hairs here because you'd if a Super Bowl was on streaming, you'd have to buy the the service, but I don't think you'd have to buy a separate Super Bowl as an event. Rich: Right. That's good to hear. As a sports fan, that's comforting to hear. being in your position, you talked about how you are more hands-on with NFL Live, maybe, than other properties. How much time do you spend with those other properties? Monday night football, college game day, so on and so forth. Seth: Yeah, I think I I try to be hands-on with everything. You know, my fall is is super busy. Just the NFL stuff keeps me you know, my schedule is it's tough. Like, you know, I'm not again, no one's crying for me. I love my job, but you know, I had my last true day off the other day, at Labor Day, that I took off and I said, that's probably my last true day off until February 15th. You know, and again, that's part that's what I signed up for. You know, I wouldn't want to trade with anything, but it's sort of daunting when you like look look at and and you know, there's days where I'm not traveling or I'm not in the office here that I stay home, but you know, my phone is constantly ringing, my emails, my texts. so what I try to balance the best I can, Rich, in the during the season is like, am I spending time with the NFL live group to try to help. them am I spending time in New York with Sunday countdown to try to you know be any kind of help to that group and then I travel the Monday nights a lot and try to work with them. So again I I think it's partially just my job to be around and be available. And then you know I like to think that I still can make an impact. You know, like I I you know if I if I didn't think that then I wouldn't be doing this. So the more I'm available and in person and around to answer questions, like I think it's helpful. And again, I think I said it earlier, but the greatest part of my job is the content, you know. The the the thing that that I love more than anything is a producer asking to get my opinion on something. Like it it seems crazy, but that's like absolutely my favorite thing is to give feedback or to look at a rundown that's my favorite thing. Like I I, you know, there's a lot of other parts of my job that that I have to do that quite frankly are not as exciting for me, like budgets and paperwork and things like that. Nobody loves doing that stuff. But it's the it's the time I can spend with the people that actually do the shows that, you know, I'm I'm glad to give my time to that. Rich: Yeah. What kind of notes do you give Joe Buck? Seth: None. Joe Buck's perfect. Rich: Ha ha ha ha. Seth: No, he's the best. And I, you know, I'm just glad that I get to work with him. And and and honestly, like just as a fan, like I'm sometimes I just stop and think wow, we have Joe Buck and Troy Aikman on Monday Night Football. and as you know, for years we were trying to find different combinations that would work and and we had some really good people, but not Joe and Troy. You know, like and and on pregame, you know, all the people I work with and the hosts, you know, Laura you mentioned and and Mike Greenberg on Sunday and Scott Van Pelt on Monday. And I got to work with Reese Davis for many years and and like my God, like like I just got blessed, you know, like it's just they make it easy for me. Rich: Super talented people. And Seth: Yeah. Rich: you are the well as well. I'm gonna leave you with one final question, Seth Markman. New Jersey zone, Seth Markman. Bruce Springsteen concert. Seth: Yeah. Rich: What's your dream opening song and your dream closer? Seth: Okay. So I always you know, I've been to a lot of shows like you have and stuff like that. And I I actually I loved it when he opened with My Love Will Not Let You Down. You know, the like I I I I always think that's like a really good opener. like it has to be it has to be a rock opener. It has to be Rich: Yeah. Seth: like like I've seen him so many times, and sometimes he opens slow. Like I saw him at Mohegan Sun once. He opened with Racing in the Street, which is awesome. Like great song, but that to me is like a middle of the show kind of song, you know? Rich: Right. Seth: you know, something it's gotta be, it's gotta get you going right away, you know? And the closing song. You know, it's funny, he closes a lot of times with things like, you know, land of hope and dreams, But like again, I I prefer like years ago I saw him close with Born to Run, and I'm like, how do you how do you not just end there? You know what I mean? Like to me, that's like But he hasn't done that in a long time. I feel like it's always born to run and then other stuff. You Rich: Right. Seth: know, it's like to me it should be like born to run or bad lands or something where you're just like, okay, I've seen it all now. You know, I've seen him close with Rosalita. That's great. You know, like that can't Rich: That's pretty special. Seth: really beat that. But anyway, we could talk about that. Could be a whole nother podcast. Yeah, yeah. Yep. Rich: That I was just thinking the same thing. I'm gonna start a whole new podcast for that. well, I really appreciate your time. I know you're busy. Have a fantastic rest of the football season and enjoy whatever few moments that you get to come up for air and take a deep breath and visit with your family again. But we'll be watching Seth Markman and we know that your fingerprints are on this entire NFL season for ESPN. Thanks so much for being on the show. Seth: My pleasure, Rich. Thank you, man. Rich: Well, that was fun on a personal level because I've known and been friends with Seth Markman ever since we roamed the hallways of New House School at Syracuse University together 30 plus years ago, but also because I've been able to stand on the sidelines, so to speak, and watch him from day one when he entered the workforce at ESPN work his way up to where now he is one of the most powerful and influential executives. In all of television sports, not just at ESPN. I mean, he's in charge of the Super Bowl this year. super proud of him, and he shared so much great behind the scenes information in this conversation we just had. I hope you got as much out of it as I certainly did. But my three biggest takeaways from my conversation with ESPN's Seth Markman, number one, When we talked about what he looks for in on air talent sportscasters, he said he looks for two things command and curiosity. do you have the it factor? Are you able to be the quarterback of the show and make everyone around you better because of your performance? I thought that was really telling because he works with the best of the best. And the other thing, which is also a letter C, is curiosity. And I think that's a really great balance to have in your arsenal. If you have command, you also have to have that curiosity, the ability to say, hey, tell me more about that. I'd like to learn more about what you're talking about. Don't come into a room or a show or a broadcast feeling like you know everything there is to know. Sometimes the dumb questions get the smart answers. And if you lead with curiosity, that is a great balance to strike for a broadcaster. Command and curiosity. My biggest takeaway number two, Well, his story, Seth's, took place inside the walls of ESPN when he was just a PA. That's how everyone starts there on the production side. And he was looking to set himself apart. And so he went to his boss, his supervisor, and said, I want you to call me first whenever you need someone at the last minute in an emergency. If someone calls in sick, I want to be the guy who you call first. And it's not just that just say yes attitude. It's another thing I talk about all the time. The best ability is availability. And Seth Markman lived that when he was coming up through the halls of ESPN. And it got him to where he is because people knew they could count on him. They knew they could rely on him. And he would always do the job to the best of his ability. So that was number two. And number three, look for your boss's top priority. And lean into that. If you want longevity in this business, figure out what's most important to the place where you're currently working and lean into that. Make sure you tell them that. Three amazing takeaways from Seth Markman. Another three things I want you to do subscribe, rate, and review. Make sure you do that so we could keep this podcast rolling. If you can give me five stars, I would love that. But most importantly, I want you to subscribe to this podcast. So every time we come out with a new guest, you'll be among the first to hear. You could also be among the first to see these shows. Because we're on YouTube as well. My channel is YouTube.com slash at Rich Hollenberg B I B T. I thank you as always for being part of the Reel Talk with Rich experience. Here's to more stories and sports casting. We'll see you next time.