Brendan Johnson and Jeremy Otto co-host latest podcast from the Archdiocese of Detroit

DETROIT — Brendan Johnson is excited to talk about Catholic High School League sports — so much that he’s taking it beyond the bounds of the AM/FM radio dials.

Johnson, the associate director of alumni relations at De La Salle High School in Warren and the school’s Broadcast Club moderator, is one of the co-hosts of “Inside CHSL,” a new podcast launched in December by the Archdiocese of Detroit.

Together with partner Jeremy Otto, the duo spotlights the league’s top stories of the week in a 30-minute program recorded and produced at Sacred Heart Major Seminary. New episodes are available on Fridays on the Spotify, Google Play and Apple Podcasts platforms.

A podcast stretches the typical model of broadcasting, Johnson said.

“It’s talk radio at your convenience,” he explained. “You can listen to it at work, at home, wherever it’s convenient for you. A podcast is something that’s captivating — it’s fresh, it’s new and it commands that attention. On conventional radio, they’re going to talk about the professional sports teams or things that are in the news nationally. (On “Inside CHSL,”) these are unique stories. They are new and fresh.”

While the basic concept of broadcasting hasn’t changed, podcasts are more flexible and don’t have the same restrictions as conventional radio. Listeners can download, pause in the middle of the show, replay segments, fast-forward and save the program permanently.

“A podcast is a great way to tell a story,” Johnson said. “When you have a radio show, there’s typically a timeline, there’s commercial breaks, it’s like there’s pressures. With a podcast, you get to slow things down and you can tell a terrific story.”

“Inside CHSL” was in the planning stages throughout the fall. The duo did a couple of dry runs before the program was formally launched in the first week of December, to coincide with the start of the winter sports season.

“It’s a work in progress, but I think we’re off to a pretty good start,” Otto said. “We've done a pretty good job of touching base with a number of sports. We want to get on the sports that are always covered, but it’s also an avenue for us to cover sports that don’t get as much coverage. In addition to the basketball, we’ve talked about hockey and wrestling, We want to recap the big achievements, the record breakers, and call attention to the events coming up.”

Each episode has a fixed format. The show kicks off with highlights from the previous week, then moves into an interview with a featured guest. The podcast also has a historical feature called “Since 1926,” spotlighting Catholic League greats of the past, and concludes with a preview of events to look for in the coming days.

“We plan to keep it pretty consistent so people know what to expect,” Otto said.

“We spotlight a good mix of coaches, student-athletes, administrators and officials,” Otto added. “It’s just promoting the league further in a way it hasn’t been promoted before.”

Johnson agrees.

“The Catholic League is the best league in the state of Michigan — it has tremendous schools, coaches and most of all, the kids,” Johnson said. “You get to tell a story about these kids. Most of the time you may see a game write-up, but you don’t get a big feature. We need to tell their stories to add value and depth, and promote the significance of a Catholic League student-athlete.”

The Archdiocese of Detroit has two other podcasts: “Open Door Policy” with Fr. Stephen Pullis and Danielle Center, featuring guests who are joyful missionary disciples, and “Eyes on Jesus” with Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron, Mary Wilkerson and Mike Chamberlain, which promotes the archdiocese’s “Unleash the Gospel” initiative.

Even though “Inside CHSL” is just getting off the ground, its co-hosts have a similar vision for it — to grow awareness and build an audience.

“We need to promote it,” Johnson said. “We will get buy-in from the schools and the coaches. The goal is to get an appreciation from the schools, the athletes, the coaches and the parents when they see it as a positive thing.”

“As much as you can share it on social media, that’s the way this thing is going to grow,” Otto said. “It is an avenue for people to share, and word of mouth is a good way to promote it. The more people share the word about it, the better our chances are of telling those stories that need to be told.”