Today we’d like to introduce you to Chris McLean
Chris, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Growing up, I was always a huge football fan. Playing with friends or in high school, I loved the sport immensely. But in the 90s, college football was king in Florida. And I got the bug and never gave it up.
During my academic career, I participated in two internships in college athletic departments at two fairly large schools, Gardner-Webb University and University of South Florida in Tampa. USF was a part of major college football at the time, as they were a member of the Big East Conference. Being able to see the inner workings of college athletics was such a rewarding experience.
But the bug didn’t just hit me as a viewer of the sport and working in athletic departments. I would go onto play for three separate semi-pro teams, playing offense, defense and special teams. One of the teams I played for won the league title and was ranked one of the best teams in the country.
And that wasn’t enough either. So I decided to start Hater Radio in 2016. With just a Sound Cloud and Twitter profile, a free recording app and a $12 magazine, I was able to start something that tapped into one of my greatest passions. We were mainly an audio podcast for the first several years, but decided to jump into the video world last season. Which was a great decision as we were able to take advantage of my day job, as I am a union set lighter for Local 728 of IATSE here in Hollywood. With access to some of the best minds in Hollywood, I was able to bring about, what I feel at least, one of the best produced college football YouTube channels out there. Couple that with my co-host’s infinite knowledgebase and we have created a formidable force in the college football landscape.
We went from 2 subscribers to start the 2023 season, to 197 to start this season, to 7 weeks later having 710. Our goal is to get to 1,000 subscribers by the end of the season, which is definitely within reach.
But I am dreaming big and would love to eventually have live shows every week during the season at different major games throughout the country.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It has not. We struggled to get followers on Twitter for several years. But with the help of fellow Florida Gator fans, were able to start making an impact. Now we are up to nearly 1,300 followers. The audio podcast never truly took off like we had envisioned as well. Probably more to do with my naivete in advertising for it. We thought we had failed to resonate with an audience.
But two things happened: one, after we decided to go with video, I was able to lean on some of the best professionals in lighting, networking and camera set-ups. Two, the infrastructure for advertising for a YouTube channel is a well-oiled machine, that we have utilized to great results.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Hater Radio is a college football media brand that has a streaming show on all social media sites that airs Sunday and Wednesday 8pm EST / 5pm PST every week during the season and a website with comprehensive articles on national stories as well as the four teams we specifically cover: Florida Gators, USF Bulls, USC Trojans and UCLA Bruins.
We pride ourselves in knowing the most about the most amount of teams, not just the teams we cover. And we don’t shy away from our bias. We acknowledge the teams we root for and root against, instead of trying to shy away from those inherit biases.
During the season, we also will cover games in person and gather footage that gets put into short content for social media accounts. It is a real honor to hear people shout out our company name as I wear the brand’s t-shirt walking around getting video footage of fans going into the stadium.
One of our finer moments was during last year, which was the final year of the 4 team college football playoff. Florida State, with a 97% chance of getting selected, was undefeated but played a lack luster schedule and I felt like they were not deserving to be selected. I laid out my argument on social media platforms that other teams involved were more worthy of getting in instead of FSU and stuck my neck out that they would not get in. We did the show live while the selections were made that day and I was proven right. If I had been wrong, I’m sure a ton of FSU fans would have roasted me. But they never got the chance.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
My co-host, Ian Gibson, is in his last year at USF and was the videographer for the football team for their practices in 2023. He currently is the technical director for the Clearwater Threshers, the Single A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies. His knowledge of the entirety of college football is a major weapon that we have access to. He will know who the surprise G5 teams will be each year and will also know all about their star players. Ian is an amazing collaborator and has gotten better ever since he started with Hater Radio. He has a promising career in sports media and this is only the beginning for him.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://haterradio.com
- Instagram: @hater_radio
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/haterradiocfb
- Twitter: @hater_radio
- Youtube: @haterradio
- Other: https://tiktok.com/hater_radio
Image Credits
All images courtesy of Hater Radio
