Charting the Success of Dan Patrick and ‘The Danettes’

Despite the fact that Howard Stern has built an empire around the daily rote of interacting on-air with a colorful bunch of studio workmates, Dan Patrick met with resistance when he first pitched a similar radio show format after leaving ESPN in 2007.

As he tells Joe Flint of the LA Times, his new bosses were none too thrilled with the idea, but he held firm and today, his daily joshing with the “Danettes” – executive producers Paul Pabst and Todd Fritz, operations director Patrick “Seton” O’Connor, and Sports Illustrated blogger Andrew “McLovin” Perloff — is a key reason why the program has amassed a combined weekly radio, TV, and online audience of around 2.5 million. Patrick shares an interesting Hollywood comparison for his “Man Cave” ministrations:

“I don’t like it to be labeled a sports show,” Patrick said. “We’ve created almost a Truman Show, where you’re looking into this little world we’ve created, and we let you look in, warts and all.”

The Dan Patrick Show is also arguably in sync with a couple of other Hollywood reference points: Adam Sandler, who kibbitzes on and off screen with a bunch of regulars (including Patrick, on set again this past weekend), and Jimmy Kimmel, whose good-natured interactions with cousin Sal, Guillermo, Uncle Frank, and a band led by a former Vegas neighbor lead to similarly sweet weekday music.

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