You can't assume the double play in baseball. You also can't assume to have a rough idea of what a host's journey in sports radio has been like. Take Donovan Lewis for instance. He hosts at one of the most successful stations in the country, The Ticket in Dallas, Texas.
He must have started at a sports station, right? Nope, he began in news talk. Then sports radio? Nope, next he worked at a classic rock station. Hmm, conservative talk radio and classic rock; sounds like a white guy. Nope, Lewis is black. Well, being from Dallas he's probably a Cowboys fan. Nope, he was an Eagles fan growing up.
Donovan Lewis isn't predictable, which makes him and his journey so interesting. The Dallas native began his career at 570 KLIF in 1993. Lewis was a self-described, bottom-of-the-rung board-op who only worked about nine hours on weekends. Then he transitioned to the classic rock station 93.3 The Bone. Lewis occasionally got some airtime, but he was mostly a board-op and producer for nearly 13 years combined before landing at The Ticket.
Lewis talks about the biggest bump he's faced during his radio journey. He also mentions what it's like to host a show for nearly seven years with Dallas icon Norm Hitzges. Lewis touches on his love for a certain NFL quarterback and tosses in an epic story about Alice Cooper as well. Enjoy!
Brian Noe: Where are you from?
Donovan Lewis: I'm born and raised in Dallas. It's a little section of Dallas called Oak Cliff. My parents still live in the same house I grew up in, man. Nothing is ever going to change. I love the little neighborhood where I grew up. I went to school for radio and television; they always told us to be prepared to move anywhere and everywhere if you're really serious about this. I've been really blessed, man, not having to leave the city of Dallas to keep going with the radio game. I started here and I've never lived anywhere else but Dallas. That's pretty unusual in this business.
BN: Who were your favorite teams growing up and where do you stand with those teams now?
DL: It's funny because being from Dallas of course everyone thinks you're a Cowboys fan and I wasn't a Cowboys fan growing up because my dad was not a Cowboys fan. Of course I want to grow up and be like him. He didn't like the Cowboys so I grew up not liking them. But of course if you're going to do radio in Dallas, you're going to have to like the Cowboys somehow, someway.
Right now if you ask me what my favorite team is, now it's Dallas. But growing up, man, I loved and idolized Randall Cunningham. I was an Eagles fan for a while and wherever he went, I followed. That's my guy. That's who I was in love with when I was growing up. I considered myself an Eagles fan, but always been Rangers, always been Mavericks. Of course hockey came around here in '93, so I've always been a Stars fan. Yeah, it's pretty unusual, I'm pretty homegrown until you get to the football team. I wasn't a Cowboys fan at all.
BN: Did they give you a hard time because the Eagles -- it'd be one thing if your team was the Ravens, but a divisional rival? What was that like?
DL: Oh dude, it was not fun. I'll tell you that much. I think everyone understood, but it just didn't matter because my love for Randall Cunningham wasn't going anywhere. They just had to accept the fact that whatever team he was going to be on, that's who I was going to like.
I went to a game one time at Texas Stadium and I had my Randall Cunningham jersey on. My wife now, who was my girlfriend at the time, had a Cowboys jersey on when we went. I understand when you go to a rival's stadium how things can go, but man, that's the most afraid I've ever been in a stadium before in my life. I thought that was it. I thought I was done. I was like, 'I'm about to get beat up, they're going to take my girlfriend, they're going to take everything I have and leave me in a bloody pulp in this Cunningham jersey'. But I survived. It worked out.
BN: What led to you getting on the air at The Ticket?
DL: I was at The Bone and I was producing the morning show. It did include some on-air things, but not the whole time. Then Cumulus came in and bought all the stations in 2006. That's when they fired everybody at The Bone. I thought I was going to get fired too. They said there's an opportunity for you to slide over and see how it's going to work at The Ticket if that's what you want. I was like 'hell yeah, that's exactly what I want'. That's how it started. It was like May of 2006.
They kind of pushed me onto the show that was on from noon to 3. It was BaD Radio with Bob Sturm and Dan McDowell. They had been together for about seven years before I got there. So it was almost like okay, here's the third man, go make it work. They didn't really give us any direction or anything like that. Of course me being paranoid and all this other stuff, I didn't know how to fit in.
It's funny because right when I got in there with them is when the Mavericks made their first 2006 title run. Those guys were going on the road. They were in Miami for the Finals and I was back in the studio because I was so new and I didn't know what was going on. It was the weirdest time ever, man. I didn't think I was ever going to make it. I can't find my way. I don't know when to jump in. Those guys are talking to each other and I'm just kind of sitting back here supposedly the third man on the show in Dallas. It was a little awkward at first.
I had a conversation with Corby Davidson who's on The Hardline now. It was at training camp. It's 2006, it's July and we went to Oxnard for Cowboys training camp. We sat by the pool, man, and we talked for like three hours. He was a third man on a show and he was telling me hey man, get your footing, they wouldn't have you here if it wasn't for a reason. Once you find your voice it'll be fine, just be patient. I wasn't comfortable for a year, year and a half, you've been doing this for three months. It'll come to you. It'll come around.
He kind of talked me off the ledge a little bit. That's how it started ticking up on the roller coaster as far as that went. You find your footing. You find your voice. You get comfortable and then you just keep on pushing. It was a weird start to the beginning of me at The Ticket. I'm telling you, it was crazy.
BN: How did it work for you to co-host with Norm Hitzges?
DL: That was a little weird also because I was with Bob and Dan for like nine years. I'm comfortable, I know exactly what they expect from me. I know what to expect from them, we're kind of rockin' and rollin'. Now I'm going on a show with a guy that's been doing it by himself for 40 years. Now it goes from being pretty comfortable in your surroundings to I don't know how he's going to accept this. Is it going to be cool having a partner?
The thing that helped us out though is we did the Cowboys postgame show together. We had done it for eight years before I moved on the show with him. So we did have some type of knowledge of working with each other. Then once he said 'you know what, I'm cool with it, let's go with it', as soon as I got with Norm it was pretty instantaneous that I felt pretty comfortable being the co-host of my own show. It didn't take too long because he was really cool.
I told him one of the things I wanted was not to be Norm's show with Donovan sitting in; this is our show together. It's almost like starting brand new and trying to build something. I think that will benefit both of us. He totally agreed. You're going to have some elements of the things he's used to and then some new stuff that I incorporated in and it meshed pretty well really quickly. I was really surprised by that because somebody's doing something by themselves for 40 years can get quite comfortable doing it by themselves and not want to have some young whippersnapper in there thinking he knows what he's doing. That was a cool jump.
One of my professors at school, who is a real big mentor for me, used to tell me, "once you figure out what you want to do in your life, write down some goals on a piece of paper. And every now and then just look at it and see if you can check some of those off." One of those goals that I had written down was to have a show with my name on it. Bob and Dan, it was BaD Radio. That show didn't have my name on it. Now I get with Norm Hitzges and now this show has my name on it.
That was a pretty big milestone for me to check that goal that I had in 1993 off the list. That's really cool. Some of that stuff, we try to be all hard and take for granted and all that stuff, but when you kind of get one of those milestone moments that you've probably been wanting since you've been in college or something like that, is pretty dang special.
BN: What would you say is the biggest bump in the road you've faced over nearly three decades in your radio career?
DL: We had this one thing with our company; they wanted the people of color to let them know how it is working in that company being a person of color. I said sometimes I feel like I have to work twice as hard to get half as far. To try to let you know hey, I'm worthy of this position, just look at me. I don't think it's just this company specifically, I just think that's how this game seems to be.
Just being a brother in this radio game, I think sometimes had some of the bumps that a lot of people may not think it had. Trying to prove myself that I'm worthy of being on the air and not trying to be anyone else, just being myself, I think it's been the biggest bump.
When I was in school, one time I got kicked out of class because my professor told me when someone closes their eyes and listens to you, they shouldn't be able to tell whether you're white or black. I thought that was the dumbest thing I'd ever heard. It doesn't matter if you know whether I'm white or black as long as I'm speaking correctly, as long as I'm giving you the information you need, who cares?
It's about proving yourself. It's about the opportunity and sometimes you just don't get the opportunity to prove yourself. I've gotten the opportunity and I feel I've done a good job of proving that I do belong in this game. I've been here for a while, but a lot of people who look like me I don't think they've gotten the proper opportunities to showcase their talents just because of the perception of what sports radio is supposed to sound like. I think I share that bump along with some of my colleagues who look like me to try to change that barrier and say 'it doesn't matter what you look like as long as you know what you're doing and you sound good doing it', that's all that should matter.
BN: Has that feeling changed for you over the last couple of years, or has it stayed relatively the same?
DL: I feel like it is getting better, but it's not nearly where it's supposed to be. Sometimes, especially with some of the things that have happened across America in the last few years and me being the only African-American voice at my station, I'm almost carrying a bigger load as far as what you say and how you say it and how it's going to be perceived and all of that stuff. It's something that you have to be conscious about.
Look, I tell everybody, I don't speak for anybody but me. You may look like me and you may not believe a word that I'm saying and I'm okay with that because I'm not trying to speak for a race. I'm not trying to speak for anybody but myself and my opinion on whatever situation is out there. I think that's the beauty of our station because it's not just sports. They allow us to speak freely about a whole bunch of things, issues sensitive or not. You are allowed to say what you truly feel, what you truly believe without any consequences from the company. I do think that that's one of the better things about our radio station that allows us to do that.
I think it's a little bit of an extra burden when you are the only African-American voice and you're speaking on sensitive subjects like that. I take that responsibility seriously, man. I really do. You're going to get talked about badly by some people, some of your own people, some people that just disagree with you, all that. But that's the price of playing poker, man. That's the platform that you have and you have to try to use it to the best of your ability and try to do what you feel is right.
BN: [Market manager] Dan Bennett has been a big believer in you along the way. What has he meant to your career?
DL: He's meant a ton, man. He tells me all the time, he just walked into the cafeteria one time and he saw me holding court. That's when I was a board operator. It was lunch and there was a table full of people and I was holding court. He thought you know what, maybe that can work on the air. He's been really instrumental in allowing the opportunities for me to show myself where I think I may not have gotten those opportunities. He saw something in me and thought hey, let's put this on the air and see if it works.
He knew that I wanted more than what I was getting at that particular time. Once he knew I was willing to do whatever it takes to work up and try to prove myself, he allowed those opportunities to happen. And again, when Cumulus came in and bought The Bone, I thought I was going to get fired along with everybody else at that radio station. But he said let's see if this works at The Ticket. I think it'll be a good fit. I'm thankful to him for that big time because it worked out and we are where we are right now. He's played a huge part of where I am right now.
BN: Your story is crazy, man. Same city, didn't have to go to Iowa or whatever. From a classic rock station; it's wild, right?
DL: Yeah, from conservative talk radio to classic rock to sports radio. Because when I was in college, sports radio was just kind of a niche genre. It wasn't as prevalent as it is right now. I didn't think about sports radio as a job. I didn't even think about that. If I wanted to get into sports it was going to be doing games, sideline reporter or something like that. And now that that opportunity worked out. It just makes the story even better though. There's no way I thought I would ever work at a classic rock station and I almost didn't take the job because I don't know anything about the music.
I'll tell you a quick, funny story; when I got hired for the producer gig for the classic rock station, the weekend before I was going to start they had this big event. They said 'why don't you come out and check it out and then start on Monday, kind of get a feel for everything.' I was like, that's cool. They said 'hey, do you want to meet Alice Cooper?' I was like 'yeah, who is she?' They were like oh my gosh. You got a lot to learn buddy boy. [Laughs] You've got a lot to learn. That's how my classic rock career got started.
BN: Hey, Shannon Sharpe is going to be in town. Oh yeah? Is she pretty?
DL: Nikki Sixx. Oh, who is she? Yeah, you don't know anything about this. That's how the classic rock career got started by asking about Alice Cooper, who is she.
BN: Man, I'm sure you came a long way from that point.
DL: It didn't take long to realize that I've got a lot to learn. But it was four of the most fun years I've had in radio. It was really cool exploring that whole new world. Like these songs made in the '70s were new to me. So I'm like okay, I knew nothing about this and it was fantastic.
BN: That's cool, man. How about the future? Your piece of paper, do you have anything else written on it besides having your name on a show that you want to check off?
DL: I know I have it somewhere and I need to go and look at it and see if anything hasn't been checked off. Man, that's a great question because it's Dallas, it's a huge market, you have your own show with your name on it and it feels like I can get really, really comfortable right here. It's my hometown. I'm pretty sure there are going to be other things that I think of to say okay, this is something else I want to accomplish or get into. But right now, man, this is dream job one and it's been that way for a long time.
Just to try to do it as best as I can. It's been really cool. I think there are still some challenges in doing this job. That kind of keeps the blood going, it keeps the mind racing to try to think of different things, different segments, different topics and all that stuff. It hasn't gotten old yet. It feels like sometimes you may hit a wall and think okay, you want to do something else, but I really enjoy getting up every single day going into the office, working with Norm and trying to think of different ways to entertain the audience.
I wanted to be an engineer when I first went to college. I couldn't imagine being an engineer now, I'd be asleep right now. I'd be so bored with myself. No disrespect to engineers, but this is definitely a path that I saw. I didn't think it would be this wild and crazy or anything like that. But it's been fun as hell and I wouldn't change a thing about it.
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