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Time & Perspective Quote by Mike Tirico

"The best broadcasters are curious, about people, about places, about what makes a moment matter"

About this Quote

Curiosity is Tirico's quiet flex: a reminder that broadcasting at its best is less performance than reporting with your eyes open. In an era when sports media often prizes hot takes, brand-building, and algorithm-friendly outrage, he frames the craft around a simpler, older virtue. Not trivia-hoarding. Not opinion laundering. Curiosity as an ethical stance: the willingness to treat athletes, cities, fans, and even the so-called meaningless midseason game as worth understanding on their own terms.

The line works because it smuggles a standard for legitimacy into a compliment. "Best broadcasters" isn't just about vocal polish or catchphrases; it's about attention. Being curious "about people" pushes against the flattening effect of celebrity coverage, where players become avatars for narratives prewritten by networks and sponsors. "About places" nods to the idea that events aren't floating content; they're embedded in local history, weather, politics, grief, joy. Tirico has spent years on the road for ESPN and NBC, narrating everything from NFL Sundays to Olympic ceremonies, where place is not backdrop but storyline.

Then he tightens the aperture: "what makes a moment matter". That's the real job - not to manufacture importance, but to locate it. The subtext is humility. The broadcaster isn't the main character; they're a translator of stakes, context, and texture. Curiosity becomes a safeguard against cynicism, and an antidote to the modern broadcast's temptation to talk over the moment instead of listening to it.

Quote Details

TopicCareer
SourceCareer advice comments in media interviews about broadcasting and storytelling (various profiles).
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Citation Formats

APA Style (7th ed.)
Tirico, Mike. (2026, February 5). The best broadcasters are curious, about people, about places, about what makes a moment matter. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-best-broadcasters-are-curious-about-people-184930/

Chicago Style
Tirico, Mike. "The best broadcasters are curious, about people, about places, about what makes a moment matter." FixQuotes. February 5, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-best-broadcasters-are-curious-about-people-184930/.

MLA Style (9th ed.)
"The best broadcasters are curious, about people, about places, about what makes a moment matter." FixQuotes, 5 Feb. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-best-broadcasters-are-curious-about-people-184930/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.

More Quotes by Mike Add to List
Curiosity as Craft: Mike Tirico on What Makes a Moment Matter
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About the Author

Mike Tirico

Mike Tirico (born December 13, 1966) is a Journalist from USA.

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