In Part 2 of Boardroom’s conversation with NFL RedZone host Scott Hanson, we discuss how much more the seven-hour program has become than simply a football telecast.
If you read the first part of Boardroom’s wide-ranging conversation with Scott Hanson, you’d already know how chaotic it is to produce a non-stop seven-hour show like NFL RedZone. It’s a commitment so far deep that Hanson changes his Sunday diet to avoid any bathroom breaks.
Thus, when you look beyond and talk to your football-loving friends about RedZone, then you understand how we’re so easily attached and carry these things into life. For Hanson, he claims he knew the NFL show would be successful, but he certainly didn’t expect the cultural space it eventually occupied.
“I thought the show had a chance to be a huge hit, just listening to the description of it. Every touchdown from every game, all the best parts from all the games, no commercials, seven hours, like, what’s not to love about that!” Hanson told Boardroom. “I felt like if we did the show well — myself, the production staff — did it the way that I visualized that we could do it, then the fans would love it. So yes, I thought it would be a big hit.”
“Big hit” is one thing. But even that is underselling the reach the show now has.
“Did I ever think that there would be people dressing up as me for their Halloween costumes, people naming their dog Octobox, or Tom Brady and Josh Allen telling me that they both love and watch the show when they’re playing on Monday or Thursday Night Football? I didn’t necessarily know it would get that big, but I’m thankful for it,” he said.
One of the concepts of the show that has become a rallying cry, of sorts, is its famous Witching Hour — when wins become losses and losses become wins. It’s the climax of the show, typically in the final hour of the afternoon and evening games when, as Hanson would say, games get absolutely hectic.
How did Hanson and Co. come up with the popular segment?
“The Witching Hour is an urban legend as to how it got that nickname. I know that we named it such because it just seemed to fit,” Hanson said. “It was like this hour of sports television, the late third quarter and entire fourth quarter of the early window of games is one of the craziest hours in not only sports TV, but in all of television. Everything seems to flip, change, get crazy, get wild during that hour.”
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Hanson claims he doesn’t exactly know where the name came from specifically. But he might’ve had competition from old-school radio talk show host Mike Francesa.
“Now there’s the old New York radio broadcaster Mike Francesa who claims that he and Brent Berg used to call it the ‘witching hour’ back on the old CBS Sunday morning preview show back when Brett Berger was hosting it. This is like in the 1980s and the early ’90s. I believe maybe they called it that, then the guys at Barstool Sports also said that they called it the witching hour. I was trying to come up with a nickname for it, and man, I must have come across it on social media. I’m like, ‘yeah, okay, you know what? It’s one hour long. Let’s go with the witching hour,'” Hanson said of the process.
The term even stretched across political lines. Leave it to Hanson to bring much-needed comedic relief during a very tense US election night in 2020.
People dressing up as him for Halloween, naming their dog after a graphic, NFL stars complimenting him. Hanson thought he had seen it all when it comes to RedZone touching the lives of people who watch the show.
But then, Hanson saw something new that baffled him. He saw clothing apparel that featured the Witching Hour.
“It’s crazy, it’s weird, it’s wild,” Hanson said with endearment.
Indeed. You know what else is crazy, weird, and wild? Standing for seven hours and not being able to use the restroom. But Hanson will do what it takes for the sake of the show and his fans.
While his expertise is providing the best scoring highlights of the week, Hanson knows football. When asked about his Super Bowl predictions, Hanson rattled off multiple NFC teams that he simply cannot get enough of.
“I think it’s like throwing five teams in a bag, shaking it up, and seeing what pops out,” he said. “I think the Bucs have a good chance. The Rams still have a good chance to get back. I think the Niners with Jimmy Garoppolo. I don’t think that they’re hurting as much as people may think they are because Trey Lance got injured and is done for the year.
“Green Bay could figure it out finally, you know, they were a perennial high seed in the playoffs, but can they figure it out and finally punch through? Yeah, I think that’s possible. And hey look — the Eagles have been a bit of a surprise early on. Would it be a shocker if they’re in the Super Bowl in February? No, I don’t think so.”
So, Octobox King. What is your final answer?
“Give me the Bills and then … eh. It’s Tom Brady’s last year. Give me the Bucs one more time.”
You heard it here first, folks.
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