The Southern Ontario/WNY Radio-TV Forum / Do TV Play-By-Play Announcers Talk Too Much?

**Posted by RadioActive** **Online!** July 27, 2025 6:00 am

Some veteran sportscasters believe silence can sometimes speak more than words.

Including longtime play-by-play man Joe Buck.

“Don’t be afraid to not talk. Insecurity breeds overtalking. I can make the case that with the advancements that have been made in audio, there is no more dead air. If I don’t talk, you’re going to hear Aaron Rodgers calling out signals at the line of scrimmage or just good natural sound.”

Do TV Play-By-Play Announcers Talk Too Much?

**Posted by g121** July 27, 2025 6:34 am

RadioActive wrote:
Some veteran sportscasters believe silence can sometimes speak more than words.

Including longtime play-by-play man Joe Buck.
“Don’t be afraid to not talk. Insecurity breeds overtalking. I can make the case that with the advancements that have been made in audio, there is no more dead air. If I don’t talk, you’re going to hear Aaron Rodgers calling out signals at the line of scrimmage or just good natural sound.”
Do TV Play-By-Play Announcers Talk Too Much?

*chuckles* I understand the sentiment but that's a terrible example to demonstrate the point. Anything that silences Aaron Rodgers pompous bloviation is a good thing !!

**Posted by Shorty Wave** **Online!** July 27, 2025 7:24 am

I think certain Play-by-Play announcers do tend to talk too much, and it especially bothers me when they go completely off topic and go on about something that has nothing to do with the game you’re watching. Twice this year I have turned down the volume as they were going on about an irrelevant topic, played music for a few minutes instead, during a Jays game no less!

**Posted by maybo** July 27, 2025 12:21 pm

Radio play-by-play announcers should talk more than their TV counterparts, to describe things like defensive alignments, batting stances and ballpark conditions (baseball), both offensive and defensive alignments (football), etc. But you can overdo it. I remember listening to Ernie Harwell on radio as a kid. He would often stay silent between pitches and the ballpark sounds would come through the speaker. In my mind, that put me inside the ballpark, which was the whole idea.

**Posted by The Weed** July 27, 2025 1:19 pm

There are times when shutting the mic off is the best - and only correct - thing to do:

Espn Turns Off Mikes, Lets Pictures Do Talking

And while not as long as that epic silence, the legendary Vin Scully, who only called baseball alone in the booth, gave masterclasses in how to use the crowd. Two come to mind: Kirk Gibson's improbable home run in the 1988 World Series and Bill Buckner's unbelievable error in the 1986 World Series.

**Posted by Shorty Wave** **Online!** July 28, 2025 8:02 am

Yesterday I watched the UEFA Women’s cup final between England and Spain and their sportscasters didn’t talk all the way through the game. I found the natural sound quite refreshing, as I was also keeping an eye on the Jays, where there was wall to wall commentary, I really noticed the difference between the two in that respect.

**Posted by maybo** July 28, 2025 10:27 am

The Weed wrote:
And while not as long as that epic silence, the legendary Vin Scully, who only called baseball alone in the booth, gave masterclasses in how to use the crowd. Two come to mind: Kirk Gibson's improbable home run in the 1988 World Series and Bill Buckner's unbelievable error in the 1986 World Series.

There was a time when Vin would simulcast radio & TV for the first three innings and then do just TV for the rest of the game. It was like watching a master at work. The first three innings he would say something like, “Kershaw gets his sign, and the 2-2 pitch is on its way.” Then in the fourth, it would simply be, “the 2-2…”