Around Thanksgiving 2019, Mike Bacsik visited the office of 105.3 The Fan program director Gavin Spittle. Bacsik, a fixture on The Fan’s G-Bag Nation show, heard through the grapevine about a potential opportunity at the station and wanted to let Spittle know that he was interested.
It wasn’t about Bacsik’s professional desires. This was about family. And it would help spur a second change that would revamp The Fan’s lineup as it sits atop the Metroplex sports radio ratings.
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Change had been in the air for months. The first significant move came in mid-August, when the station announced that two of their biggest programs, G-Bag Nation and the Ben and Skin Show, were going to flip time slots. G-Bag Nation, which Bacsik has been a part of since fall 2013, used to air from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. but would now become the afternoon drive show, from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. That shift brought drastic change to Bacsik’s world.
Roughly eight months prior to the change, Bacsik’s wife, Susan, started her own practice at Oak Cliff Pediatrics, with Mike offering his full support with family responsibilities. It was a change he was looking forward to and felt he owed her after a baseball career that ran from 1996 through 2007 — a journey Susan, who married Mike in 2000, made sacrifices to support. Now, Bacsik says, “it’s her time,” and for that to truly happen, Mike’s availability in the afternoons would be crucial. Susan’s duties at the practice routinely went until at least 6 p.m., sometimes stretching as late as 9 p.m.
“Going into that decision of her own practice was that I was going to be able to help,” Bacsik said. “I was going to be able to get the kids from school and get them to functions when they needed it … All of that changes (with the switch to afternoons), and I’m not able to help at all. We tried, and my wife kicked butt, but I felt bad. It was putting a lot of stress on our family. I was missing a lot of the kids’ stuff that I wanted to be there for.”
Then, late October brought a second significant change to The Fan programming. Ben Rogers and Jeff “Skin” Wade, along with Kevin “KT” Turner, announced they would be leaving the station. With no more Ben and Skin Show to fill the 10-2 slot, the K&C Masterpiece with Kevin Hageland and Cory Mageors moved from their night window into the midday opening.
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This move planted the seeds for a switch back to midday for Bacsik that finally came to fruition. Bacsik heard whispers that there may be a third host added to the two-man crew of K&C Masterpiece, and so he met with Spittle. Spittle expressed appreciation for Bacsik’s perspective and desire but also couldn’t promise that any change would come about. There was never any conversation in that meeting of Bacsik leaving The Fan, but in hindsight, if things didn’t eventually work out to restore Bacsik to his old midday window, there was a tough conversation waiting in the wings. Bacsik is also a host on Rangers Live on Fox Sports Southwest, and baseball season was approaching. Something was going to come to a head.
“It would have been a tough decision,” Bacsik said. “It might have come to where I would have to choose Rangers Live or working on 105.3 The Fan. Luckily, it never got anywhere close to that having to be a major decision, but it was definitely something that me and my wife were going to have to discuss if it was just, ‘Look, you’re working afternoons.’
“This is something that, for me and family-wise, it kind of had to happen. And Gavin Spittle and the team understood that.”
Starting February 17th, Bacsik will be on Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. with Hageland and Mageors. Bacsik’s journey at The Fan went through many hoops and hurdles in past six months, from the stability of G-Bag Nation at middays to the uncertainty of switching to afternoon drive and now back to middays with a different crew.
In the end, it proved to be a win-win.
Bacsik, who usually reports to his Rangers Live duties around 5:30 p.m. during the season, will be off the air by 2 p.m., enough time to take care of family matters in the afternoon and then get to his television job. Meanwhile, The Fan gets to keep a valuable asset to the station on their airwaves.
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But Bacsik moving back to middays was not an isolated announcement. It came in conjunction with the news of his replacement: longtime NFL scout and former DallasCowboys.com writer, Bryan Broaddus, who joins Gavin Dawson and Jeff Cavanaugh on G-Bag Nation daily from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m.
The Fan, flagship home of the Dallas Cowboys, has an affinity for Broaddus that dates back many years. He had already been on as a part-time employee while with DallasCowboys.com, regularly contributing to the station’s draft coverage and popping on as a frequent on-air guest.
“When the change (with Bacsik) happened, it was an opportunity, and we used that opportunity to have conversations with Bryan, and he’s been a part of our family,” Spittle said. “We really felt like it was a different position for him and just a natural fit. I would say it goes back actually a long way. We’ve always wanted Bryan to be a major part of this radio station, as much as he could. We think so highly of him.”
Broaddus’ path to this particular job at The Fan began on November 18th when he tweeted that he was no longer working for the Dallas Cowboys. The announcement came in the thick of the season and caught many off guard. Broaddus expressed nothing but gratitude for his time there but said it was just time to move on.
“I felt like I had pretty much run my course there,” Broaddus said. “I felt like I worked hard on the draft from January through April — it’s my favorite time of the year — but maybe I was getting a little stale with my other stuff. Some of my written stuff, I was trying my best to spice it up a little bit, be a little different, try to be a little more creative, but there comes a time where you say maybe a change is necessary.
“Maybe they needed a change from me, maybe I needed a change from them, but I couldn’t be more grateful for what those guys and ladies did for me over there at DallasCowboys.com and the Dallas Cowboys in general.”
Just days after his departure from the Cowboys, Broaddus was on air at The Fan as a regular part of the pre- and post-game coverage on Cowboys game days. Broaddus also began filling in as a host on regular shows, which required him to broaden his horizons. If things had previously gotten stale, this new stop was filled with new challenges. Although he’s dabbled in radio on a part-time basis and participated in many podcasts during his time with the Cowboys, Broaddus had never held a full-time job as a sports radio host.
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Additionally, this meant having to be well-rounded in all sports, not just football and the Cowboys.
“Absolutely, that is the challenge of this job. I do appreciate Gavin Spittle having the confidence in me,” Broaddus said. “The guys on G-Bag, Jeff and Gavin, they could have very well said, ‘No we don’t want to make any changes.’ They’re taking a chance here and I owe it to them to go out here and study and (be) at Mavs games, Stars games and Rangers games. I owe that to our listeners. I do not want to be a one-trick pony.
“If you’re working hard on these sports like I plan on doing, it’ll show through. All I can do is ask people to give me the opportunity, give me the chance to try and prove to you that I can do this because I do believe I can.”
Broaddus has started to attend Mavericks and Stars games over the past few months, and his enthusiasm in the non-football areas has bled through to his co-hosts.
“He’ll be an incredible teammate because for the last few months, he’s been calling me pretty much after every Stars game and Mavericks game, making sure, like, ‘I’m going to be doing sports radio, I’m not just going to be doing Cowboys,’” Cavanaugh said. “He’s watching every Stars game, asking about FC Dallas, so I think he’s ready for this. He’s going to bring the greatest Cowboys research on the planet but also a teammate that knows people care about all of the sports. He’s ready for that.”
Broaddus had always planned on getting into sports talk radio at some point. He said his goal was always to send his son, who is currently a sophomore in high school, off to college and then move to east Texas and work for the ESPN radio affiliate out there. But then, the aforementioned changes started taking place at The Fan.
“Once Ben and Skin moved on, to me, that’s where the wheels started turning that maybe I can start this a little quicker and get better full-time radio experience in the Dallas market,” Broaddus said. “It’s something I had a plan on doing. It’s just a couple of years earlier than what I thought.”
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The Fan finished 2019 with incredible momentum. According to Nielsen, 105.3 rated as the top overall sports station in all day-parts among men 25-54. The Fan entered 2020 as the market frontrunner, and it aims to stay there. But Dawson says that even with the two shows solidifying their chemistry with new additions, there’s no pressure. They are confident in their lineup and what they’ve built.
“I know how good Mike will work with K&C Masterpiece. I know that’s going to add even more to the show,” Dawson said. “And to be able to add Bryan Broaddus is like being able to add an ace pitcher. Not only does he have brand recognition and the entire listening audience and fanbase knows he’s awesome, but he really is the No. 1 Cowboys guest that you can get. I’m excited.
“My thought is more that other people should be nervous. I know that there are a lot of good sports outlets here in DFW that we’re competing against, but if I knew my competition had just added Bryan Broaddus, that would make me more nervous than a little bit of a shakeup between talented people in the lineup.”
Each show faces its own unique adjustment. Atop the list for G-Bag Nation, now with two Cowboys specialists in Cavanaugh and Broaddus, is hitting the balance of all sports. As a former MLB pitcher and, as Dawson describes it, “the world’s biggest Mavericks fan,” the balance may have come a bit more naturally had Bacisk remained on board. Cavanaugh says he isn’t worried too much about that, though, because of their show quarterback.
“Gavin Dawson is a huge part of that,” Cavanaugh said. “He works so hard to make sure that our show has balance and that we don’t drift too much into Cowboys or college football or NFL draft because it really is a glorious time right now in DFW sports with the Stars, Mavs, hopefully the Rangers, and the Cowboys will always be big.”
Preexisting relationships should help the show get to its best version sooner rather than later. Dawson and Cavanaugh have worked on air together since 2012, while Broaddus and Cavanaugh have developed a strong relationship in draft coverage over the past few years.
“I think that’s what radio is all about. If you’re legitimately friends with someone off the air, then on the air, everybody can make each other better,” Cavanaugh said.
Photo of Cory Mageors and Kevin Hageland courtesy of 105.3 The FanThe adjustment for the K&C Masterpiece will be inheriting Bacsik and making it a true three-man show. Hageland and Mageors did have a third voice chiming in while in their previous night slot, but it wasn’t the same as a third show host. As somebody coming from a show with three voices, Bacsik says the group has talked about it, and everybody is ready to make it work.
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“That will be the challenge,” Bacsik said. “We’re all really pumped up about it, and I know that it’s going to kind of be one of those things where we’re going to work through it … I think it’s going to end up working out great, but there can be times where we have to find our flow and our rhythm … I think we’re going to find it, hopefully really quick.”
Hageland says there will be an inevitable learning curve, not just because the voice goes from two primary voices to three but also just learning how the personalities will mesh and what the strengths are for each host. The reason he believes they have a successful future is the unselfish nature they operate with.
“I think the No. 1 thing that the quarterback tries to do is get everyone involved and play to people’s strengths,” Hageland said. “If you know someone’s strengths, you want to highlight it. Some people go out of their way to win the show or win the segment. What a bunch of nonsense that is. Do I care if people think that I am the best on the show? I care that people think the show is the best.”
Shan and RJ in the mornings have remained a constant for The Fan, and Spittle says the station is nearing an announcement on who will replace Hageland and Mageors as the permanent night show hosts. But after a season of change over the last few months, the moves involving Bacsik and Broaddus now solidify The Fan’s lineup throughout the day.
Kevin Hageland, Cory Mageors and Mike Bacsik will be on 105.3 The Fan Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Gavin Dawson, Jeff Cavanaugh and Bryan Broaddus will be on G-Bag Nation on 105.3 The Fan Monday through Friday from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Photo of the former G-Bag Nation (and Kristi Scales) courtesy of 105.3 The Fan
Editor’s note: Saad Yousuf is also a contributor to KESN, ESPN Radio in Dallas
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