California Baptist University athletics has launched a new podcast, aiming to give fans a closer look at the stories and people behind the Lancers’ sports teams.
The podcast, hosted by Pep Fernandez, Fox sports radio host and TV anchor, and co-hosted by senior journalism and new media major Brett Rosen, made its debut just before the start of the fall 2024 semester. The show covers everything related to CBU sports, including interviews with athletes, coaches, and athletics staff.
I sat down with Fernandez, Rosen, and Jason Stephenson, CBU’s assistant athletic director for media production and creative services, to discuss the launch of the podcast and what listeners can expect.
The podcast, currently in its soft launch phase, is expected to gain more traction as basketball season approaches. According to Stephenson, “Once that season starts, we should have enough traction that people look to us for the latest interviews with the updates from coaches and players.”
For Rosen, co-hosting the podcast was a unique opportunity that came up over the summer.
“This past summer, a day after my birthday, I got a call from Jason [Stephenson]. I thought he might ask me about doing play-by-play, but instead, he said, ‘We want to do a podcast with athletics. We have a host, we need a co-host, and we’d like you to be that co-host,’” Rosen explained.
Rosen eagerly accepted the opportunity, mentioning his previous experience with podcasting as a motivating factor. “I had a podcast a while ago that ended, so I figured, why not start one here?”
The show has been a rewarding experience for Rosen, particularly in terms of engaging with the campus community.
“A very rewarding part of it is being able to interview the coaches and the athletes and get to know them a little more,” Rosen said. “I work in admissions too, and hearing some of my bosses come up to me and say, ‘We heard the podcast, it sounds great, we love it,’ has been really rewarding.”
For Fernandez, hosting the podcast allows him to take a more flexible approach to storytelling compared to his background in local television news.
“I’d say it’s different because in the past, my background is local television news where a lot of it is scripted—like 90% is scripted—and this is not scripted,” Fernandez said.
Instead, the podcast relies on organic conversations and adapting to what the guest says.
“I want to keep it organic and be able to listen and let it just kind of organically happen.”
Both Fernandez and Rosen believe the podcast is tapping into a growing trend in media.
“Podcasts are the thing right now, so I think it just made sense for all the cool things that the teams here at CBU are doing, to roll out a podcast,” Fernandez said. “That’s how a lot of people are consuming their information, and we’ve got so many teams doing big things here on campus.”
Looking ahead, Rosen and Fernandez hope the podcast will become a lasting fixture in CBU Athletics.
“The hope and future is to get it growing, and hopefully this becomes a staple for CBU Athletics for the long haul,” Rosen said.
