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Into the Deep with Graham Bensinger showcases stories of the famous, infamous and personalities on the ascent. The 35-year-old, Emmy-winning journalist podcast, (which gets an average of 2.5 million digital views per episode) has Tom Hanks, Bob Costas, the late/great Kobe Bryant, Mike Tyson, and too many other A-Listers to, well yes, list.
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The midwesterner’s dad often recalls the time the kitchen phone rang, when Graham was a teenager, only to hear Hall of Fame infielder, Ernie Banks, on the other end, call his son back for an interview. Then there was the viral moment when Bensinger interviewed former NFL receiver, Terrell Owens, and branded himself the pinnacle of ESPN’s. Sports Center†
Love what you learn
“After I was fired from NBC Sports, I realized no one was going to give me the opportunity I was looking for and figured out how to do it on my own,” Graham recalls. “I was lucky that the landscape was changing and there was more receptivity to new ways of storytelling.”
Bensinger is grateful to have the opportunity to travel to so many interesting places in the world while even having meetings Lake interesting personalities.
“We are fortunate to have the opportunity to profile some of the most notable figures in the world, whether that be Matthew McConaughey, Richard Branson or Lewis Hamilton,” added Graham, who sits across names in bold and learns more about their life path. “They are larger-than-life figures who have achieved great success.”
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Selling the telling
Most of Bensinger’s time is spent preparing, setting up both interviews and profits.
“I see my work mainly as sales,” says Graham. “I’m on the road 250 days a year to work, meet business partners, close a major distribution deal, advertise or book an important guest – it’s all sell, actually.”
When thinking about future growth, Bensinger is all about staying true to quality.
“We mainly have athletes or people with some connection to sports,” notes the host. “I’d like the show to feature someone like President Obama one week, Julia Roberts the next, and a well-known athlete the next.”
Bessinger seems to be evolving at the pace of new media while expanding operations and accessibility.
“We have the linear product broadcast on television and cable,” he adds. “There’s the digital products and we’re developing a streaming product, where everything goes in the OTT space.”
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Expect the unexpected
“One of the challenges of building a business is getting used to the uncomfortable,” Bensinger says. “Over time, you have to work with so many different personality types and egos.”
Graham states that an interviewer’s job is to put the person at ease first.
“I go in hoping to ask the person about their deepest, darkest moments in life,” Besinger adds. “So it’s up to me to put them and their representatives at ease, otherwise I’m not doing my job.”
Running after Forrest
“I tracked down Tom Hanks’ contact information and sent him an occasional email for over four years,” Bensinger recalled of a recent recording. “The process went something like this: no response, occasional response, scheduling, reschedule, canceling a few times, and then it happened.”
Bensinger exudes a calm confidence and remains the banner of perseverance that pays off.
“Tom was willing to allow an hour and a half for the interview, but ended up giving us almost three because he genuinely appreciated that we had done our homework and were willing to dive into topics not often covered by other journalists. Graham recalls. “It turned out to be one of the most enjoyable experiences.”
Something in Bensinger encouraged a path that deviated from the traditional media networks and established a new content paradigm driven by his efforts.
Though quiet and reverent, Bensinger’s confidence seems to bubble to the surface. Perhaps the 1965 framed photo of Muhammad Ali standing over Sonny Liston, behind Graham’s desk, is meant to indicate that the mogul has mastered his own right hook.
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