Joe Buck explains why he doesn’t like 3-person broadcast booths

Before Joe Buck and Troy Aikman staked their reputation as arguably the best NFL broadcast booth working today, they were two-thirds of a trio.

Fox combined Buck and Aikman alongside Cris Collinsworth from 2002-04, when both retired NFL stars were just getting their start. The booth brought a ton of star power, but it wasn’t equal to the sum of its parts on gamedays.

In an appearance on Stugotz and Company ahead of Week 2 of the NFL season, Buck explained why he believes Aikman hit his stride once he was able to be the only analyst voice on-air, and more broadly, why he prefers a two-person booth for live sports.

“Three-man booths are so hard,” Buck said. “What I have never understood, and I stand in the booth with the other two guys, how they know when they’re gong to talk and how they know when the other guy is going to talk. It’s a lot.”

On a technical level, Buck believes that a second analyst tips a broadcast past the point where true communication can happen. When you add in the producers and director in the truck, the combination of analysis given on-air and interaction with the crew makes it very difficult to keep track of the flow of conversation.

With just one analyst, Buck said there is a more natural rhythm to the broadcast.

“There’s very little listening between the two that’s happening in real time,” Buck said of three-person booths. “And then it’s even harder on the truck, because they’re serving one analyst by the replay, and now they’re listening to (the other). It’s like, where is your intention? So when it gets down to two people, you can have a conversation.”

The one way to salvage a three-person game call, Buck added, is to make it all about listening. Rely less on highlights and breakdowns and stories and focus on the other people on the call.

“If everybody’s in their own silo, it’s just A, more talk. And B, there’s no real interaction,” Buck explained.