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WTIC’s Brian Schactman Wanted To, And Has Done, It All

Then a chance meeting with a producer at ESPN.com sparked what became a globetrotting television and radio career at ESPN, NBC Connecticut, CNBC, MSNBC, NBC10 Boston and NECN.

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“On my bucket list was a World Cup soccer game and seeing a game show,” Brian Shactman says.

“I graduated from college in 1994, and my buddy’s mom had a place in Southern California, so we went out there to work” Shactman explained. “We went on the last day of taping for The Price is Right. We were out drinking for most of the night before, but we sobered up and went to Television City at like five in the morning.”

Shactman said when you entered the studios, you were greeted by the producers of the show. They ask you a single question.

“I’m guessing they put you in a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ pile,” Shactman said. “When they asked me a follow-up question, I knew it was ‘on’. When the producer came out before the show, we locked eyes and I knew I was going to be a contestant. Mine was the fourth name called.”

Johnny, tell him what he’s won.

“I won a refrigerator, which I sold. I won a cabinet, which I gave to my brother for his wedding. And I got two recliner chairs. I gave one to my buddy, and I had the other one until 2014 when my wife told me it was time to part with them. It was the chair or her.”

Shactman has done so much television since the game show appearance, it’s hard to believe there was a time he was nervous in front of the camera. “Here I was with Bob Barker. I used to skip school to watch him. It was surreal. The studio is a lot smaller than you’d think. It felt like I was on a sitcom.”

Shactman is no slouch in the education department. He attended Phillips Exeter Academy, and later Amherst College.

“Amherst is very different today than it was in the early 90s,” Shactman says. “It’s a liberal arts college in New England. Very politically correct. But it was small. Our student body was about the same size as one class in a bigger college. There were a lot of smart people around all the time. It was rather humbling. Many have gone on to do some great things. The captain of our hockey team went on to become a surgeon. I wasn’t used to not being one of the smartest guys in the room.”

All Shactman did growing up was play sports. His mom wanted him to diversify a bit.

“I think my mom started freaking out and began taking me to museums. I was so focused on hockey in high school, even though I wasn’t as good as I thought I was.”

The family loved the Red Sox, though Shactman never went to games as a kid. His first professional games were at the Boston Garden in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, where he remembers watching the Bruins and a classic Celtics- Sixers playoff game.

“Once the Red Sox won the Series in 2004, things changed for me,” said Shactman, who still has season tickets but only goes to a few a year now. “I saw the team win three more World Series, but it’s not the same for me anymore. Some of the grittiness is gone. I like to cheer, but now people look at you like you have three heads. I still like to take my kids to some games though.”

His one time love of the game and team rubbed off on his wife. But not right away.

“When I met my wife, Jess Matzkin, she was working in education. I’d go to bed at 9 pm, and she would start watching the Red Sox games as background noise. Then she started to get to know the players. In the 2004 ALCS, we went to Game 3 together (where the Sox were routed by the Yankees), and we had two tickets to Game 4. I couldn’t go, and she couldn’t find anyone to go with her. Finally, after the fifth or sixth ask, Jess got someone to go. And it was one of the greatest games ever.”

His first job was teaching at The Taft School, a prep school in Connecticut. Then he went back to coach hockey at his alma mater, Amherst College.

“(After that) I didn’t think I wanted to coach anymore, so I enrolled in graduate school to study English Literature. By my third day in graduate school, I realized that wasn’t for me. Then I started covering sports.”

Then a chance meeting with a producer at ESPN.com sparked what became a globetrotting television and radio career at ESPN, NBC Connecticut, CNBC, MSNBC, NBC10 Boston and NECN.

Shactman currently is the host of Brian & Company from 5:30-9 am on WTIC NewsTalk 1080 in Connecticut.

“I was on TV in Boston when my wife took a job in Connecticut at Loomis Chaffee School in Windsor, so I was commuting back and forth. I didn’t want to do TV in Connecticut again. This opportunity at WTIC just came my way.” His biggest break was back in 2013 when he took over as regular host of Way Too Early on MSNBC when Willie Geist had moved on to the Today Show.

Why is Willie Geist so likable?

“Willie in real life is a very confident, witty, accessible guy,” Shactman says. “You never feel like he’s condescending. My wife likes him, too. He’s smart, self-effacing. We used to watch his father Bill Geist when he did his humor pieces on CBS Sunday Morning. Bill’s pieces were always fun. Willie may have gotten some breaks because of his father, but he also worked his way up.”

Shactman said during the Great Recession, Morning Joe came to the forefront and changed TV news.

“It was a show that I wanted to be on,” Shactman says. “A guy who worked on the show was from Hartford. I told him when Erin Burnett, Jim Cramer, or Dylan Ratigan couldn’t do it, to use me. Joe and I are both Red Sox fans so we sort of hit it off.”

At ESPN, he worked on SportsCenter, ESPN.com, and ESPN Radio.

If he had it all to do over again, Shactman actually said he wishes he’d done more acting.

“In high school, I started appearing in plays. Senior year, I was going to be on the lacrosse team, but I knew I wasn’t going to play in college, so I auditioned. I was in two really somber plays, but I loved it. If I had the guts, I would have gone into acting.”

He said so much of his personal identity was as an athlete. Shactman was afraid not to be an athlete.

“That’s why I went to boarding school. I’m glad I took that chance. I loved the way audiences responded. I don’t think I had the range to be a professional, but it was a fantastic experience.”

Reading A Separate Peace by John Knowles made Shactman want to go to boarding school.

“I had to read Moby Dick twice. Once in college and once in graduate school.”

My sympathies.

“If I would sum up my literary leanings, I’d have to say historical fiction and American History. I gravitated to Ivan Doig in graduate school.

Shactman wrote his masters thesis on the American West. He explored immigration in Montana. He looked at the sweeping history of the West and the Mountain Man era.

“It was so dangerous back then,” Shactman said. You could turn the corner and someone could kill you.”

Shactman said violence is and was a part of our fabric in this country.

“We have some horrible things going on in our country right now,” Shactman says. “Looking back, violence has been a huge part of this country’s history.

He’s obsessed with American History, and right now, he’s listening to the Revolutions podcast by Mike Duncan.

“There were 13 colonies that really had nothing in common. It’s amazing they ever united in the first place. It was Thomas Hobbes who said man’s natural state is a state of war. I’m a pacifist, and at war, I’d be dead in a minute.”

He said he’s not extremely social, but does belong to a Dude’s Book Club.

“We’re reading All God’s Children. It’s about how the tradition of Southern violence and racism has long affected and still haunts one black family. The guy was in prison without parole because of his violent actions. They trace his family’s history to show you the foundation of violence in his life.”

Shactman only registered to vote for a party once. He’s an independent and tries to avoid getting into politics on his show. He said it doesn’t go anywhere.

“I tried to get the two silos to talk to each other, and thought it would work. But it didn’t. People only hear what they want to hear. Both sides hated me at the same time. I don’t know, maybe we’re on the back nine as a country.”

Back at the beginning at ESPN, Shactman aspired to be the Peter Gammons of hockey journalism and said there were a few journalists he looked to for inspiration.

“I always admired Brian Williams. He lied and was held accountable. When he took over the evening news though, he was visiting the affiliates and our whole news crew had lunch with him. He’s unnervingly funny and smart. What sold me on him was after the BP oil spill in Louisiana, I watched him start NBC Nightly News, live in person. He was 100 yards away from the camera, and he didn’t have a notepad or teleprompter. But he gave this amazing 45 second opening that was poignant and smart. I remember thinking I could never do what that guy just did. He delivered the goods.”

“I don’t like it when people lie to my face. Look me in the eye and lie. People can be evasive, that’s one thing. But don’t lie to me just because you can. When Roy Williams dressed down Bonnie Bernstein. It was her job to ask the question, and he was so awful to her.”

Roy, shape up. Try to be more like Brian Shactman.

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BNM Writers

News is the Only Thing Missing From Election Coverage

Coverage of the election is, as we’ve discussed, still very horse-race-centric, and there’s been, of course, coverage of the various Trump court cases, but where is the coverage of exactly what the candidates plan to do if elected?

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The first thought I had when I heard NBC had hired Ronna McDaniel as a commentator for $300,000 a year was to wonder how many actual journalists they could have hired for that money. Then, I recalled that NBC had laid off dozens of news staffers just a few months ago. Then, I remembered that I had just recently written a column decrying news organizations throwing pretty much anybody on the air as a “pundit” and this….

This was worse. It’s one thing to grab some rando who happened to be a minor functionary for the Executive Branch. It’s another to hire someone whose job was to promote election denialism and pretend that her opinion is something valuable for viewers. And, yes, it’s just as ridiculous when news organizations hire former presidential press secretaries (that’s you, Jen Psaki and Sean Spicer), their very jobs were to spin everything in their bosses’ favor and now you’re going to pay them big salaries for, um, what? Because they “have a name” or you’re afraid someone else will snap them up? Why them?

The McDaniel deal lasted five days, one completely unilluminating interview, and one unexpected Chuck Todd spine-growing outburst, so it’ll all blow over soon enough. The problem is, though, the part about having fired several news staffers, and what it means in an election year on both the national and local levels. If you have the money to hire an alleged pundit – any alleged pundit – you have the money to hire reporters, and I don’t mean anchors or opinion show hosts.

Coverage of the election is, as we’ve discussed, still very horse-race-centric, and there’s been, of course, coverage of the various Trump court cases, but where is the coverage of exactly what the candidates plan to do if elected? Who’s probing Project 2025 and why isn’t it front-page, first-segment news? Who’s pressing the Biden administration on Gaza? Is anyone reporting on the candidates’ record on climate change?

Beyond prescription drug prices, is anyone digging into the broken healthcare system and demanding answers from the candidates about what they’ll do to fix it (and not letting Trump get away with “I’ll have a better plan, a beautiful plan” without a single specific detail, like they did in 2016)? Why didn’t anyone focus on, for example, the GOP candidate for governor of North Carolina and his incendiary past comments well before the primary?

Pundits are not going to do the legwork on the issues; they’ll just talk about swing states while John King and Steve Kornacki point at their touchscreen maps. We need reporting on the things that matter (and can affect that horse race, even if most people have made up their minds). It shouldn’t just be Pro Publica and scattered independent journalists doing the dirty work.

Honestly, I don’t want to hear the complaints about the quality of the candidates or how this is a rerun or any of that. (We’ll leave that to The New York Times.) We are a horribly underinformed electorate and we got the horse race we deserve. It might just be idealists like me who think that, just maybe, the news media can play a role in educating the public and bursting the bubbles and echo chambers. This country has survived and prospered for a few centuries with the press shining a light on injustice and corruption.

Now, when we need that most, they’re more concerned with what they think will bring them ratings and money (although someone will have to explain to me who thought having Ronna McDaniel as a paid commentator would draw a single viewer to NBC).

Here’s a thought: Don’t lay off reporters, especially in an election year.  Assign them to dig deep on issues that matter to the voters.

Let the pundits talk about that.

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8 Ways to Take Your Commercials From Drab to Fab

Our main source of income is derived from commercials. There are a lot of bad commercials.

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Another reason to read this column, I often add an Easter egg. We are in the advertising business. Our main source of income is derived from commercials. There are a lot of bad commercials. Frequently, clients write these ads. You can excuse it if the spots suck. But when the commercials are written by Account Executives or the production department at the station, it is kind of unforgivable.

I am going to share the most meaningless phrases in commercials.

Locally Owned and Operated

Customers do not care. If customers cared about a business being locally owned and operated, Walmart would not exist. People want service, selection, and value. They do not want to get soaked. When you purchase something, are you willing to pay 20% for a local company? If you say yes, you are wrong. People want a deal.

The Phone Number

Doing 70 down the 405, John slammed on the brakes to write down the phone number for an amazing HVAC Company. That is not how it works people. HVAC companies rarely have or should have regular customers.

Normally, your AC is out. You call the HVAC Company that you are familiar with. Radio advertising allows people to have “TOMA”: Top of Mind Awareness. There are stats that show when a company is advertising on your radio station, their website shows an increase in traffic. When you needed a service for your home, you hit Google and choose the company that you’ve heard of. It’s that simple. I actually heard a commercial asking listeners to add a businesses phone number to their contact list. That is a moronic use of advertising real estate.

Street Addresses

“Tequilaberry’s Prime Rib is located at 106 East Governors Drive in Peoria.” 

The people listening cannot process that detail. You could say “Tequilaberry’s Prime Rib is on Governors Drive just off 10th in Peoria.” That is almost digestible. That creates a picture of where it is.

Trust me, people interested in prime rib will Google you and load the address in their navigation system. Spend that precious spot time selling the experience of the restaurant.

Always Using the Company Owner/Founder in Commercials

Sometimes, it is amazing when business owners are their spokesperson. They have passion and are natural salespeople. Some business owners are terrible at speaking about their product.

When you have a business owner who is a natural promoter, they can drag listeners into their business. I once worked with a family who owned a couple of hardware stores. They spoke about the benefits of visiting their stores. It was heartfelt and real. They promised that their employees can help solve any problem in your home. If you went to that store and had a simple or complex problem, the employees helped you out.

I once worked with a man who owned a really nice flooring company.  For whatever reason, he thought that he was funny. He had spots written by him, his wife, or a kid. The ads were dreadful. They were not funny at all. Account Executives need to talk these clients out of doing commercials like this. Nothing says wacky hijinks like flooring.

Overuse of Numbers

“We have grapes at 99 cents a pound, Chuck steak at $1.99, two-for-one zucchini.”

Trust me, no one driving in city traffic can keep track of that. “The 2025 Chevy Chevette is back with 45-mpg efficiency and amazing 18-inch tires. Prices start at $19,999…  The New Chevy Silverado starts at $32,999.”

It gets really confusing fast.

WWW.

Yes, I hear commercials saying check us on the internet at “W-W-W dot business name here dot com.”

WWW is assumed and not needed anymore unless you are running a Commadore-64 with the latest floppy disc technology.

Yellow Pages Ad

“Check out our new ad in the Yellow Pages!”

OMG, no one reads those damn things anymore. Most people born after 1960 just toss those suckers in the trash. There was a time when the Yellow Pages were the largest revenue generator in advertising. Yes, a book of ads. Like Facebook, without your buddy’s political, vacation, or food posts. It was just ads. Zero content.

I had stuffed salmon tonight that I engineered myself. I would make Sydney Sweeney quite the trophy husband. Set us up. Hey, I am single. It was not that long ago that you would hear a radio ad that promoted a coupon in the Sunday paper.

Well, that copy should be deader than a doornail.

Amateur Theater

A husband and wife discussing their lawn and how she heard about Telly’s Lawn Service from her friend Stacy. 

Those commercials are obviously contrived and not interesting at all. 

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Open every commercial must have an attention-grabbing opener. “Totally Jammed…  The floor covered with the guest towels. Fearing the horrific consequences of another flush…  I did the right thing. I called ABC Plumbing. Quick service, a great price, and peace of mind.”

The next time that the plunger is failing to get the desired results, the listener of that commercial will identify with the very realist scenario.

We are in the advertising business. Use radio as it was meant.

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The Lost Art of Using Sound as a Springboard

Use sound it wherever you can. All you need is a loyal, capable and willing board operator, to go along with a conscientious host.

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Jon Stewart was the first guy to do it — take a politician’s words from the news of the day or week. Search his or her entire past and find a sound byte saying the exact opposite.

It became an art form – and a great way to keep people accountable.

Most radio operations don’t have the resources necessary to consistently do something like that, but truth be told, that kind of journalism isn’t really the point of this week’s column.

It’s an example of the simple power of sound. We need to use it more within our shows. Use sound it wherever you can. All you need is a loyal, capable, and willing board operator, to go along with a conscientious host.

Speaking from experience, not doing it is lazy.

Doing it takes minimal effort and helps conversations tremendously – especially when it’s in real-time. I know. I’ve been there – missing opportunity after opportunity because I didn’t think of it, ask for help or just do it myself.

Put simply, good sound is a better springboard to a question than just a question.

Just the other day, I realized how well it works and how little I’ve been doing it.

Here’s what happened.

We have one particularly heated congressional race in our state. The Republican candidate is running for a second time after narrowly losing in 2022 in an election where Connecticut’s gubernatorial candidate from the same party got smoked, and the Republican presidential candidate lost the state as well.

This time around, there’s a struggling Democratic President with real doubts about the economy and the country’s standing in the world.

Put simply, the Democratic congressional incumbent has a massive task ahead to get re-elected.

On my show, I try to be consistently independent and be a place for both parties to appear with the expectation that the conversations will be fair and honest.

The Republican candidate came on the show earlier this month, and we went through a number of issues. Connecticut is a relatively strong Democratic stronghold, where the party controls the legislature, the Governor’s Mansion, and the entire congressional delegation.

Having said that, the largest voting block is unaffiliated, so appealing to independents is crucial for either side to win. I asked the Republican candidate twice about whether he will support Donald Trump, and both times, he equivocated. I asked the follow-up, we were on the record, so I moved on.

The following week, his opponent, the Democratic incumbent, was scheduled to appear on the show. Before her arrival, I realized the Trump Q&A should probably be replayed for her. Duh.

My producer found it, clipped it, and had it at the ready. I felt that I should have realized it sooner and not put some added strain on my partner’s morning routine. He was fine, but it definitely added unnecessary work within the show.

Lesson learned.

The sound byte worked well. I played it. She responded. We moved the story forward, and it was compelling – as you might imagine, the topic of Trump vs. Biden is pretty compelling these days.

By no means did it create a “wow” moment. That would be a little much. But it did make the show better, using the opponent’s own voice as opposed to my paraphrasing something. That lends credibility, not only to the topic but also to the show. He gave this important answer on our show, and she gave her response … on our show.

My final thought on this is that we (I) need to look for more places to utilize sound as a springboard to conversations, as opposed to simply raising the topic and discussing it. Maybe you’re already good at it and do it all the time, but this past week, I realized I need to push myself to do it more.

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