Watch the Media with John Shrader

Episode:MIKE’L SEVERE has been in the Omaha media market fornearly a quarter century. He worked as a local TV news reporter (KETV) and a sports talk host (1620 the Zone.) He is now the Executive Director of the Jet Award Foundation, which raised money for students in community colleges who want to work in the technical trades. The foundation isnamed after Johnny “The Jet” Rodgers, a Heisman-trophy winning Nebraska football legend and Omaha native. In this conversation, John and Mike’l talk about the foundation’s work, covering Nebraska sports, specifically football, the media market, and much more. Recorded October 23, 2025THE SHOW:Features interviews with sports media people from around the country, regionally and in Nebraska. John Shrader is an Emmy-award winning sports broadcaster and journalist who teaches Sports Media and Broadcasting at the University ofNebraska-Lincoln. His career includes more than 30 years in San Francisco, 15 years at KNBR Radio, the home of the Giants and the 49ers. He was the voice of the San Jose Earthquakes on radio and TV for 15 years; and spent about a decade as voice of San Jose State football and basketball. He was the primary 49ers reporter for KNBR for most of those 15 years. John is a free-lance writer for Soccer America and hosts and produces the weekly Soccer Media Podcast.For more information and inquiries about John's free lance work, go to www.ShraderMedia.com.

EPISODE NOTES:DOUG DUDA has been doing radio in Kearney, Nebraskasince 1997. He’s the program director for ESPN Tri-Cities (Kearny, Hastings, Grand Island), hosts a talk and interview show “Doug and Daddy” 11-12 daily and does play-by-play of college and high school sports in Central Nebraska. He andJohn talk about the groove of doing hundreds of broadcasts a year, the decision-making process of what games to carry on the radio station, and much more. Recorded October 13, 2025THE SHOW:WATCH THE MEDIA with John Shrader is an interview-stylepodcast focusing on sports media people – reporters, broadcasters, editors, podcasters and more. John is Associate Professor of Sports Media and Broadcastingat the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He was a radio and television sports broadcaster in San Francisco for more than 30 years. He produces more than 30 new episodes a year. Season 11, Episode 36

KENT PAVELKA first started broadcasting Huskerssports in 1974, three years out of Journalism school at Nebraska. He worked with legends Lyell Bremser and Jack Payne. He was the third voice in the football booth and the play-by-play voice of men’s basketball and then ascendedto the football play-by-play role in 1984. He’s had ups and downs, highs and lows, but along the way he has broadcast well over a thousand men’s basketball games, and still waiting for an NCAA tournament win. He has a special familyconnection to one of the great Willa Cather books. We talk about these things and more. Recorded October 8, 2025

JOHN BISHOP has been the co-host of the radio show Unsportsmanlike Conduct at 1620 The Zone in Omaha since 2012. The show is heard 2-6 p.m. CT Monday through Friday. He and Josh Peterson have been co-hosts since 2014. John is also the long-time radio voice of Creighton Universitymen’s basketball and baseball.  He’s a graduate of the journalism and broadcast program at the University ofNebraska-Lincoln. Bishop was a play-by-play announcer and radio host at KLIN in Lincoln for nearly 20 years.  We talkhere about the value of radio today, preparing for the show, the role of podcasting, the approaches to doing the show, the audience, and much more.Recorded September 24, 2025

VICTOR ROJAS spent nearly two decades as thetelevision voice of the Los Angeles Angels. He’s been in baseball for much of his adult life; he also worked at the MLB Network and spent two years as the General Manager of the Double-A team the Frisco Roughriders in Frisco, Texas. He is now the new baseball coach at Hastings College, in Hasting, Nebraska. We talk about the transition to college coaching; also, his life in baseball as the son of former big leaguer Cookie Rojas; coaching his son, his Cuban heritage, his work at ESPN (which will continue) and much more.  Recorded September 19, 2025

JEFF SHELDON and LINCOLN ARNEAL are the hosts and producers of the podcast Volleyball State, focused on Nebraska volleyball. It’s part of the I-80 Club team of podcasts. They are veterans of covering volleyball for the Omaha World Herald, and now write as well for Husker Max, an online site focused on Nebraska sports.  They talk here about putting the podcast together; about the importance of volleyball in the state; about their history as reporters; and much more. Recorded September 3, 2025

JOHN BAYLOR first called Huskers volleyball on theradio in 1994. He is now is in his 32nd year calling those games. He was on the mic for five national championships and is now working with his third coach. He talks about the first coach Terry Pettit and his contributions to the program; also, he talks about calling games in his unique style; about working with former coach John Cook's daughter Lauren and her unique style; and about his ‘real job’ as owner of On to College, and much more. Recorded August 28, 2025

Chris Aumueller is the Founder and CEO of FanWord, a sports technology company based in Lincoln, Nebraska that helps athletic communication departments create content. The company provides AI tools to help make this work better and more productive. Aumueller is a former college tennis player at Nebraska who turned his interest in storytelling and entrepreneurship into this venture in 2018.Recorded August 21, 2025

PHIL BERGMAN is a former television sportscaster whois now the Associate Athletic Director at UIC, Creative Content and Broadcasting. He has added a couple of other things to his portfolio as well. Phil talks about the media content produced on college campuses, for the department and by young people. He also talks about NIL, about which he teaches a class; about storytelling in the 21st century; how media are consumed and delivered, and much more. The University of Missouri journalism grad worked in local television in both Lincoln and Omaha before getting a master’s degree in sports management, and before Chicago he worked at the U.S. Naval Academy. Recorded July 22, 2205

SARAH SPAIN is the host and manager of the daily podcast Good Game with Sarah Spain, from IHeart and, and heard on Apple podcasts. It is the only daily podcast dedicated to the coverage of women's sports. Spain is also the author of the new book Runs in the Family. She is a former radio host and reporter for ESPN who writes for ESPNw. Sarah talks here about the state of journalism, especially regarding women in sport, and shares the advice she gives young women who want to be in the sports media business.  She also talks about women in sport historically, and how she approaches the content of her show (hint: it’s about journalism.)Recorded July 23, 2025

The Herd with COLIN COWHERD Is heard weekdays on FoxSports Radio and seen on FS1; it’s also on a number of other places including Premiere Radio. Cowherd’s podcast company is The Volume. Among his high-profile hosts are Draymond Green, Richard Sherman, and Colin Cowherd. He’s from a small town in Washington and says that has had an impact on who he is.  It’s audio, not just radio. Podcasting is different than good old-fashioned terrestrial radio. It’s all part of Colin Cowherd’s ecosystem. Recorded April 18, 2025

JOSH PETERSON is the co-host of the “Unsportsmanlike Conduct” radio program on 1620 The Zone in Omaha, weekday afternoons. He’s a graduate of the University of Nebraska’s College of Journalism and Mass Communications. He and John Bishop have done the show for more than 11 years now – entering their 12th football season together. Josh has a growing podcast and Patreon effort, I-80 Club. He and Jack Mitchell of KLIN Radio do regular podcasting, they have a podcast series “Groin Kick Chronicles” (you need to listen to get the full context), and they have a volleyball podcast (with Jeff Sheldon and Lincoln Arneal.) Radio, podcasting, writing, entrepreneurship and more. Recorded July 18, 2025

MITCH SHERMAN enters his seventh season coveringNebraska athletics for The Athletic. Mitch is a Nebraska native who before his time with the New York Times owned publication worked at the Omaha World Herald and ESPN. He is a native Nebraskan, a graduate of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Journalism and Mass Communications. He talks here about his job covering the biggest sports brand in the state as well as Locked on Nebraska, the daily podcast he co-hosts with Omaha radio talk show host Connor Happer of 1620 The Zone. Recorded July 15, 2025

MARTY LENZ has for eight years been the co-anchor of Colorado’s Morning News on KOA Radio in Denver. The 100-year-old, 50,000 watt radio station puts it programming on AM, FM, the IHeart app, as well as Alexas and Siri. Such is the business in 2025.He talks about what they do, how they work to reach younger audiences, to keep the older, more established audience and do it with the same kinds of news standards in place for many of those 100 years. Recorded January 27, 2025

CHRIS MYERS has been a play-by-play announcer andstudio host at Fox Sports for about 25 years, after spending a decade at ESPN. He does the NFL, NASCAR, Major League Baseball and hosts the Westminster Dog Show. Among his jobs at ESPN was four years as host of the interview show Up Close. His book That Deserves a Wow was published in 2024 by William Morrow. He talks passionately about many experiences of his life, both professional and personal.Recorded June 19, 2025

MICHAEL BRUNTZ has been with Husker247 for 14 years now. As Senior Writer he covers baseball, football, recruiting and whatever else comes up. He started a Husker baseball podcast in 2025. He talks here about what the Men’s College World Series means to Nebraskans and particularly the people of Omaha; the new direct payment of athletes, covering the Huskers baseball program; the 12-month, 24/7 nature of covering Huskers football; and much more. Recorded June 18, 2025

DAVID BERRI is professor of economics at Southern UtahUniversity. He researches and writes about sports economics. His latest book is Slaying the Trolls, co-authored with Nefertiti Walker, focused on women and sports. About 75 percent will go to football, 15 percent to men’s basketball and the other sports will divide what’s left over. Berri says there will be victims of the new world, most likely starting with coaches’ salaries.Questions remain about the impact this will have on facilities, women’s sports, and the so-called Olympic sports.  Recorded June 10, 2025

STEVE SIPPLE has now been with Husker Online for nearly three years after more than three decades with the Lincoln Journal Star. We catch up on a few things here: Matt Rhule’s tenure at Nebraska, covering the Huskers 24/7 and 12 months a year, three hours of radio every day, the grind of doing daily journalism, and much more. He drops in a tidbit about Scott Frost and why he probably should not have taken the Huskers job, and the relationship he had/has with many other Huskers football coaches.Recorded June 5, 2025

SEAN CALLAHAN is the owner and publisher of HuskerOnline, which is a media company covering Nebraska football, affiliated with the On3 Network.  We talk here aboutcovering Huskers football, which is the biggest and most popular game in the state; about the access issues all journalists are dealing with; about his new book; Scott Frost and much more.   Callahan is a native Nebraskan who also covers Huskers football for other outlets in the state, including KETV, KFAB and NPM. Interview conducted May 29, 2025

TYLER CAVALLI has worked for the Nebraska Rural RadioAssociation [NRRA] for more than a decade. He has anchored news, done sports broadcasting and is now operations and programming manager in Lexington. KRVN and 14 other stations are owned by the NRRA, which is owned by farmers and ranchers in Nebraska. Tyler talks here about what he does, the values of rural radio, and how radio can and should be innovated.Interview conducted January 29, 2025Posted May 15, 2025