MyTurn
by JIM DUCIBELLA
T
ake it from someone who dab-
bled in sports radio for a few
years, wisely not quitting his
day job: Success in the genre
relies heavily on routine. Not yours—
your audience’s.
It ’s a lso the conf luence of finding
someone they like, for whatever reason,
the time of day they’re available to listen
and the amount of time they’re willing
to devote to it. There are reasons why
the 10 a.m.-1 p.m. time slot is considered
“dead-man talking” in local sports radio.
There are reasons commercial breaks
come about every 20 minutes. Attention
span, folks, attention span.
That said, perhaps the greatest compli-
ment the golfing public has accorded Carl
Paulson, co-host of “Inside the Ropes” on
Sirius XM radio, is that they’ve followed
him around the dial.
The sun dial, that is.
Equally flattering, so have sponsors.
When he and Dennis Paulson—no rela-
tion—began ‘Inside’ about 10 years ago,
the show could be heard Monday through
Wednesday from 3 to 5 p.m. Then they
were moved to 11 to 1, then 12 to 3 and,
now, daily from 10 to 1.
40
Carl Paulson, known as CP on the show,
calls the time slot “absolutely perfect
for both of us.” The program is available
throughout the U.S. and Canada, and grabs
its share of Sirius XM’s 34.3 million sub-
scribers. You get West Coasters on their way
to work. You get the East Coast lunch crowd.
“The best advice I got was to
be myself. If people like you,
they’ll listen. If they don’t, it
won’t matter what your style
is. I’ll say this: It’s a lot easier
to be who you are.”
—Carl Paulson
The whole thing came about when
friend and fellow former PGA Tour player
and talk-show host John Maginnes told
Paulson he’d heard him interact with
players and that he’d be perfect on radio.
CP was intrigued. He phoned DP, they
approached Sirius, which conducted a
couple of test shows, let them fill in during
one Christmas and liked what they heard.
V I R G I N I A G O L F E R | N O V E M B E R / D E C E M B E R 2 0 19
There was, however, one obstacle: CP
and DP were both better suited to being
golf analysts. The show had no host, per
se. Swapping duties depending on the
day, or whatever, was awkward. Folks
at Sirius ultimately insisted that Carl
regulate the conversation, make sure
commercial breaks were hit on time and
guide the flow of the show.
It’s not as easy as it might sound. If the
Paulsons are having a robust discussion
on an issue, it would be a buzzkill to lead
into commercials by promising to take
listener calls on the other side, even if
that’s the plan at the start.
If you know or have talked to Carl, you
know the show is an honest reflection of
his personality—light, self-deprecating,
but also with a real thirst to learn the
business and to improve.
“I like to laugh and have a good time,”
he said. “I think it helps the show. People
are out there driving around in their
cars, or at work, and they’re listening.
You don’t want to hit them with a lot of
serious stuff. If you can make them laugh
once or twice a day, that’s a good thing.
“The best advice I got was to be myself.
If people like you, they’ll listen. If they
don’t, it won’t matter what your style
is. I’ll say this: It’s a lot easier to be who
you are.”
Paulson grew up in Virginia Beach,
and enjoyed an All-American and Hall-
of-Fame career at South Carolina under
fellow Beach resident and coach Steve
Liebler before hitting the Tour in 1995.
He played the Web.com Tour from ’97-99,
was the leading money-winner in ’99 and
earned Player of the Year honors.
Ultimately, a series of back injuries
scuttled his career, but set the stage for
his current foray in the business.
“It’s been a pretty easy transition,” he
said. “The knowledge base is there; obvi-
ously, you have to do a lot of prep work,
a lot of number-crunching and stuff like
that. But that’s all things I’m interested in.
“I mean, I freakin’ love radio. It’s the
best job in the world.”
vsga.org
For Virginia Beach Native
Paulson, Radio is Home