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Bill Belichick, Michael Lombardi Join University of North Carolina Football Program

BSM Staff
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Bill Belichick, Michael Lombardi Join University of North Carolina Football Program

Bill Belichick, an eight-time Super Bowl champion and second on the all-time wins list among coaches in NFL history, has agreed to a five-year deal to become the head football coach at the University of North Carolina. Pending approval from the University Board of Trustees and Board of Governors, Belichick is joining the program to lead the Tar Heels as the team looks to win its first Atlantic Coast Conference title since 1980. Earlier in the year, Belichick and the New England Patriots agreed to mutually part ways after he had served a 24-year tenure as head coach of the team.

Throughout the NFL season, he has been contributing to sports media content, working with companies such as ESPN, Omaha Productions, Underdog Fantasy, NFL Films, The CW and SiriusXM. Belichick is familiar with the institution, attending team meetings and film sessions with his father, Steve, who was an assistant football coach for three years with the organization. It remains unknown whether or not Belichick will be able to continue working in sports media as he awaits approval from entities associated with the University of North Carolina.

“I am excited for the opportunity at UNC-Chapel Hill,” Belichick said in a statement. “I grew up around college football with my Dad and treasured those times. I have always wanted to coach in college and now I look forward to building the football program in Chapel Hill.”

Belichick is not the only member of the sports media industry heading to the Tar Heels with experience working in the NFL. Michael Lombardi, a three-time Super Bowl champion as an executive who spent over three decades across four organizations, is joining Belichick at the school to serve as its general manager. Lombardi has been a host with VSiN since 2018, taking part in programs such as The Lombardi Line and the GM Shuffle. Over the last several months, he has been co-hosting the program in the mornings alongside Dave Ross after previously working in afternoons with Stormy Buonantony.

“I’m excited to join Coach Belichick at North Carolina,” Lombardi said in a statement. “Although leaving my VSiN family will be hard, I’m excited to return to helping build a winning program. I’m forever thankful for all the great people at VSiN, especially Bill Adee and the Musburger family.”

Lombardi will finish out his time with VSiN over the next several weeks as he prepares to reunite with Belichick surrounding the world of football. NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport divulged that Lombardi was an “essential” part of bringing Belichick to the University of North Carolina. Belichick has referred to Lombardi as “one of the smartest people” with whom he has ever worked and someone who studies and knows the game of football very well. Outside of his time in the NFL, Lombardi has thrived in sports media, working with entities such as CBS Sports, NFL Network and Showtime, along with writing for NFL.com and Sports Illustrated.

“VSiN and its audience have been fortunate to have Michael Lombardi’s unmatched football insights at their fingertips for the past several years,” Brian Musburger, co-founder of VSiN, said in a statement. “We wish Michael all the best on this new adventure and congratulate him on this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The VSiN team looks forward to rooting for him and his new team.”

Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. To stay updated, sign up for our newsletters and get the latest information delivered straight to your inbox.

Al Michaels Expected to Return to Amazon’s ‘TNF’ Next Season: Report

BSM Staff
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Al Michaels Expected to Return to Amazon’s ‘TNF’ Next Season: Report

Sportscaster Al Michaels is expected to return to Amazon Prime Video’s Thursday Night Football announcing booth next season, according to a report from The Athletic.

Michaels three year deal expires at the end of the season but sources said the 80-year-old play-by-play veteran has decided to come back on a year by year basis. Michael gets an estimated $15 million a year for his services.

Last year, Michael was outspokenly critical of the quality of the games he was covering on TNF. This year the NFL gave Prime Video a schedule has featured better teams and matchups that have gone down to the wire. 

Michaels is scheduled to call an opening round NFL playoff game on Prime Video after the regular season concludes.

The Athletic said that Amazon and Michaels declined comment.  

Michaels began his network television career in 1971 with NBC Sports. He spent a year with CBS Sports in 1975 before joining ABC Sports in 1977. He returned to NBC Sports in 2006. 

In addition to his high-profile roles on Monday Night Football and Sunday Night Football, Michaels made the famous call when the U.S.A. hockey team beat Russia in the 1980 Olympics  Miracle on Ice and was on camer when an earthquake struck during the 1989 World Series.

Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. To stay updated, sign up for our newsletters and get the latest information delivered straight to your inbox.

James Brown, Bill Cowher, Nate Burleson, J.J. Watt and Matt Ryan Are Bringing New Life to The NFL Today on CBS

John Molori
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James Brown, Bill Cowher, Nate Burleson, J.J. Watt and Matt Ryan Are Bringing New Life to The NFL Today on CBS

The NFL Today on CBS was pro football’s first ever live pregame show, and from 1975-1993, it featured a bevy of talent including the now legendary cast of Brent Musburger, Phyllis George, Irv Cross, and Jimmy “The Greek” Snyder. That quartet made The NFL Today the gold standard of NFL pregame programming.

Today’s incarnation of The NFL Today is not the groundbreaking show that Musburger and company took to new heights. Still, the revamped current cast of James Brown, Bill Cowher, Nate Burleson, J.J. Watt, and Matt Ryan are truly reviving the broadcast.

The program does a really nice job of adding in video b-roll, graphics, locker room looks, interviews, and game highlights, but the strength of The NFL Today is its panelists. Brown is one of sports television’s all-time best maestros showing off his Harvard education with perfect diction and a vocabulary that would rival any Scripps National Spelling Bee or Jeopardy champion. He opened the show by describing Ryan as “perspicacious.”

The always affable Brown seems to be thoroughly entertained by his current cohorts, but I would definitely like to see more from Cowher. He does provide some on point coach speak in dissecting plays and players, but I want him to go deeper. As head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers from 1992-2006, Cowher was one of the most emotional and animated sideline presences of all time. I want to see more of this on The NFL Today.

Burleson has been compared to ex-Giant superstar Michael Strahan for his meteoric rise in television. Not only does he man the anchor desk on The NFL Today, he also is a co-host on the CBS Mornings daily news show. Strahan has similarly spread his television wings as a host of ABC’s Good Morning America, as well as several game shows. But let me make this clear, Nate Burleson is no Michael Strahan. He’s better.

Burleson has a way with words, always offers a clever turn of phrase, and combines ex-wide receiver savvy with tasty morsels of commentary in an almost poetic style. I’ve also been very impressed with the early returns on Matt Ryan in his broadcast career. The former Atlanta Falcons quarterback has transitioned seamlessly to TV. Perhaps only Tony Romo and Jason McCourty have made that tough transition more smoothly.

What really stands out about Ryan is his ability to put that quarterback intellect into words. He lets you know what the most important position on the field is thinking from play to play. He’s also developed a great affinity for narrating game highlights during The NFL Today halftime show. Honestly, it’s as if he is a seasoned sports anchor the way he calls the plays with rhythm and cadence. The producers of The NFL Today have done a great job in schooling all of the ex-NFL personalities in doing highlights – a skill that is harder than it looks.

The December 8 edition of The NFL Today was missing Watt, who has also taken to television quite quickly. The well-spoken, trustworthy, and enthusiastic Brown set the scene for the show as the NFL heads into the homestretch of games. Ryan cut through all the bluster over Lions’ head coach Dan Campbell’s multiple fourth down conversion calls in last week’s game vs. Green Bay.

Ryan said that it was the right strategy for that particular game because the Lions had to be aggressive. Burleson added a nice point that that Campbell is sending a message of confidence to his team that is “bigger than analytics.”

I like the way that each of the panelists plays off each other’s points creating a comfortable and conversational atmosphere. These days, it seems that every NFL pregame show has its own insider reporter. On The NFL Today, it’s Jonathan Jones with his Eye on the NFL segment. Jones provided an interesting morsel saying that, according to a source, ex-Titans head coach Mike Vrabel will definitely get an NFL or college head coaching job in 2025.

In this episode, Burleson left the anchor desk to do an interview with Romo live from Pittsburgh where Romo was calling the Browns-Steelers game. Burleson has become a skilled interviewer asking pertinent and concise questions.

Brown, Cowher, Burleson, and Ryan did a nice stand up analysis of the Seattle Seahawks’ defense focusing on Leonard Williams. Cowher lead the charge on this one tapping into his keen knowledge of NFL defensive schemes and letting that gruff personality flourish. Similarly, the normally charming and erudite Burleson has no trouble getting back into his NFL wide receiver personae delving deep into the X’s and O’s of the game.

The production values on The NFL Today are quite good. I’m talking about the look and feel of the broadcast. There is a relaxed calmness to the show. I really like the segment when the four panelists are seated on leather chairs away from the anchor desk just talking ball. Whether it is Burleson, Cowher, and Brown in fine suits or Ryan in a sport coat and buttoned up golf shirt, these guys look and sound great.

Later in the program, Ryan had a nice interview with Bucs’ QB Baker Mayfield live from Tampa. It was really good quarterback to quarterback repartée. Also in an interview feature, Cowher returned to his old stomping grounds in Pittsburgh for a sit down with Steelers’ quarterback Russell Wilson. The Q and A was interspersed with sound up video of Wilson in action. Following the interview, Burleson made the astute point that Wilson’s success this year and what he does moving forward in Pittsburgh will affect his legacy and perhaps even his Hall of Fame status.

The NFL Today crew was just as on the ball in the postgame, rifling through highlights and commentary of the early games this past Sunday. They adopted a totally different pace and tone from the pregame. The rapid fire back-and-forth points were fun to watch.

While Brown and Cowher bring a lot to the show, it is the combination of Burleson and Ryan that stands out prominently. These guys are really good. Ryan has a bright future in broadcasting with presence and analysis at a truly high level for a relative newcomer.

Brown, Cowher, Burleson, and Ryan do not have the longevity of FOX NFL Sunday’s Terry Bradshaw, Howie Long, and Jimmy Johnson. They don’t have the large-scale production of ESPN’s Sunday NFL Countdown, nor do they have the Hollywood hijinks of NFL Network’s GameDay Morning show. What they do have is a collection of football savants who focus more on content than comedy, more on savvy than self-promotion, and more on the games than goofing around – a solid strategy in carrying on a lofty legacy.

Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. To stay updated, sign up for our newsletters and get the latest information delivered straight to your inbox.

How Scary Is Stephen King’s Exit From The Radio Business?

Robby Bridges
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How Scary Is Stephen King’s Exit From The Radio Business?

I think I’ve seen about two dozen articles about Stephen King exiting ownership of his Bangor, Maine, radio stations, and each has been accompanied by some variation of “wow, even a celebrity can’t make a go of it financially in radio today.” (BMM 12/2)

It’s a truly extraordinary phenomenon, with the number of half-truths and opinions presented as fact and straight-up misleading information about the state of radio, particularly online.

I appreciated the positive coverage CBS News gave to Elvis Duran (though a millionaire nationally syndicated iHeart host is probably not indicative of the state of radio) while we live in an information echo system perpetuating the constant drum beat of radio’s death, failing, and demise.

At the risk of sounding like a conspiracy theorist, also so abundant online these days, I think there really is a narrative driven by digital media providers to paint traditional outlets as dying at worst or quaint relics at best.

Back to Stephen King, he’s one of a long line of celebrities who have owned radio stations, from Stevie Wonder to Pat Sajak and Buck Owens to Merv Griffin, all with varied success.

Today, like always, station ownership and management are major endeavors with lots of details and moving parts. If an owner isn’t going to be hands-on, they’d better find someone they can trust and still be available to that person.

Yes, radio faces listenership and revenue challenges (almost all of them self-inflicted), and King’s stations in Bangor are no different. Unlike larger Portland to the south, it’s not as cosmopolitan or growing as rapidly in its urban or suburban population.

That’s going to mean an extra level of intensity in finding ears and revenue, and national dollars (down everywhere as radio is so poor at showing Madison Avenue its true value proposition) are going to be next to nonexistent.

Further, from what I read, the master of horror no longer lives in town at least full time, and again, local radio ownership can be driven by relationships. Also, to the point, King is a vocal and outspoken liberal who has made no bones about his opposition to Trump and all things on the right, which can affect who does business with you locally, especially in a politically moderate city sitting in a ruby red metro area.

You and I don’t know King’s finances, personal life, health, or that of his closest associates, but I’d guess that as he nears his 80s, he’s not interested in what is necessary to run his cluster any longer and is not satisfied with the cash ROI he’d get from potential buyers. Turning in the licenses makes it easy for him to wash his hands of the situation quietly and cleanly.

Who knows.

But, as scary as the state of media and the economy feel at this moment, no, Stephen King getting out of radio ownership is not a perfect example of a larger problem. He’s just a guy who writes scary stories and, like the internet, likes to predict radio’s untimely demise.

Don’t believe it still? Check out the Wikipedia page on King that reads: “his advancing age and financial losses from the stations as reasons for the closure,” referring to the radio station sale.

Then click the New York Times article, which simply states, “King had the desire to get his business affairs in order.”

Big difference. See? Less scary with the lights turned on!

Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. To stay updated, sign up for our newsletters and get the latest information delivered straight to your inbox.

Big Sky College Football Draws Huge Ratings in Small Markets for Scripps

BSM Staff
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It’s not the Super Bowl, but in Big Sky country the annual Brawl of the Wild college football game between in-state rivals Montana and Montana State is the next best thing.

On November 23, the Montana State Bobcats beat the Montana Grizzlies at Bobcat Stadium. Now, the TV ratings are in, and as usual the numbers are staggering.

In the Butte-Bozeman market, KBZK-TV, the CBS affiliate owned by the E.W. Scripps Co., drew a 33.9 rating and 67.1 share for the Brawl of the Wild, according to Comscore, which provides local audience measurement for Scripps. That means that more than two-thirds of the televisions in use at the time in the market were watching the game.

“It’s the largest sporting event every year in Montana,” Brian Lawlor, president of Scripps Sports, told Barrett Media. 

“It’s massive out there and in many of those states, there’s no professional sports team,” Lawlor said. “So there’s no pro sports team in Montana and no pro sports team in Idaho. So when we broadcast their college football games, the audiences are huge and the Saturday before Thanksgiving is always Montana-Montana State.”

In addition to the Butte-Bozeman market, Scripps aired the game in four other Montana markets. Those stations averaged a 32.2 rating among adults 18 plus, and reached 109,092 households in the state.

Montana has been playing Montana State since 1897, making it one of the oldest rivalries in NCAA Division 1 football.. The game had been commonly known as the Cat-Griz game, or the Griz-Cat game, depending on where one lives or where one attended college.

In 1997, the game started to be promoted as The Brawl of the Wild. The winner of the The Brawl of the Wild takes possession of the Great Divide Trophy, which received that name because the schools are on opposite sides of the continental divide. Montana leads the series with 74 wins. Montana State was victorious 43 times and there have been five ties.

This year, Montana State won 34-11 as Adam Jones from Missoula ran for 197 yards and two touchdowns. The team finished its regular season undefeated at 12-0 and 8-0 in the Big Sky Conference. The victory helped the Bobcats earn the No. 1 seed in the upcoming FCS playoffs.. 

Scripps stations aired the Brawl of the Wild in several markets outside Montana including Tucson, Arizona, where it drew a 0.34 rating on KWBA. In Phoenix, the game was watched by 5,188 viewers on KASW, The game also appeared in Santa Barbara, California, Salt Lake City, Utah, and Denver, Colorado.

In total Scripps stations drew an audience of 129,753 viewers, including 116,720 in Montana alone.

Fans also tuned in to pre-game and post-game shows. The post game show for Montana-Montana State drew 57,455 adults 18 plus in Montana, the highest of the season.

Scripps launched its sports division in 2022 as cord-cutting made cable a less-attractive option for teams and leagues. Scripps has the WNBA and the National Women’s Soccer League on its Ion national network. Scripps stations in Las Vegas, Utah and Florida have the local TV rights to the NHL teams in those markets.

As it pursues more deals with big league teams, college sports in out-of-the way regions remain important.

“With these small conferences in places that don’t have pro sports, it seems like their college teams mean everything,” Lawlor notes.

When Montana State played U.C. Davis for the Big Sky championship, Scripps got a 28 rating across the state.

“In those markets, there are great rivalries and so much passion,” Lawlor said. “And the facts that we put that on over-the-air broadcast television, it’s a big deal. And we get some of the best numbers in the county.”

Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. To stay updated, sign up for our newsletters and get the latest information delivered straight to your inbox.

Promo Meeting: Ideas, Concepts And Thought Starters For Music Radio

Jeff Lynn
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Promo Meeting: Ideas, Concepts And Thought Starters For Music Radio

The holidays are here. This is the season when radio stations ramp up events and marketing related to charities, and this year is no exception.

One of the more clever charity umbrella names I’ve heard is from Saga’s WHQG, Milwaukee. This won’t work for everyone, but given that the station’s branding is The Hog, “Lend A Helping Ham” stands out and seamlessly reinforces the brand.

Remember the “Thanksgiving on The Mayflower” promotion, where stations filled a Mayflower van with food? Saga Communications KISM, Bellingham, Washington, put its spin on that with “Pack A Patrol Car.” Teaming up with the local police department, it filled patrol cars with toys, gift cards, and cash donations.

This should be easy to execute, and the sales team will love the idea because they can sell stops at clients’ businesses that can serve as collection sites.

Stations have long used the idea of breaking their format or playlists to raise money by holding a request-a-thon, allowing people to pledge money to have their chosen song on the radio.

A fresh twist is “Toys For Tunes.” Pledge a toy to get a song played. The more obscure or out-of-format the song, the higher the dollar value of the toy.

Kids and pets are the quickest way to bond with listeners. “The 12 Strays Of Christmas” allows your station to have a feel-good promotion with a local animal shelter to help get pets adopted. Approach a pet store or veterinarian to donate a service with each adoption. Adoptable pets create great visuals for social media.

It’s too late for Thanksgiving, but put this on your calendar. Star 102.5 in Des Moines has hosted “Operation Combat Hunger, Tanks for Giving” for many years. When I was competing against them in the market, I was always jealous of the promotional visuals.

They partnered with the local National Guard to acquire tanks and military equipment to create its giving encampment. Listeners could drive through and make their donations. All the time spent building the display made it look huge. It was guaranteed to generate TV coverage and raise money for a good cause.

If you have something unique that you would like to share or have highlighted, I would love to hear from you—email jeff@barrettmedia.com

Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. To stay updated, sign up for our newsletters and get the latest information delivered straight to your inbox.

The Watch: ‘Finnerty’ with Newsmax Host Rob Finnerty

Garrett Searight
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The Watch: ‘Finnerty’ with Newsmax Host Rob Finnerty

Newsmax moved morning host Rob Finnerty from mornings to primetime in October, and the move has immediately paid dividends for the network.

Finnerty — airing live at 8 PM ET — has eclipsed more than 400,000 viewers in recent weeks, besting shows from CNN in the process, despite having only been on the air for two months.

So, does the product match the hype? Let’s find out.

I watched the Tuesday, December 10th episode of the primetime show from Newsmax. The program began with Finnerty discussing — admittedly on a slow news day — the coverage of the acquittal of Daniel Penny from The New York Times, and how it relates to the incoming inauguration of Donald Trump. That then coincided with a clip of an MSNBC host discussing the topic with a guest.

Finnerty used the conversation from the competition as a jumping-off point for “how out of touch the rest of the media” is. Now, to be frank, I hate the “the mainstream/legacy/corporate media is lazy/dishonest/corrupt/etc…” talk that many in the industry perpetuate.

For instance, it’s often bandied about on The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show on news/talk radio. If you work for the biggest radio company, the biggest radio syndicator, and brag about how you have the largest show in America, I don’t think you get to talk about “the media” being corrupt, dishonest, what have you. You are the media. Rob Finnerty is the media. Again, this isn’t strictly related to him, but I feel like it’s an important thing to point out. It’s a low-hanging fruit topic nine times out of ten. The idea that “I’m the only person you can trust” is entirely too prevalent in conservative media today.

Finnerty then argued that the story was an attempt by liberal media outlets to stoke racial tensions as Penny, a white Veteran, was accused of killing a Black man on a New York subway. He then quickly pivoted from that angle to how “America is healing” after the contentious 2024 presidential election by showing a photo of Dr. Jill Biden sitting next to Trump at the re-opening of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.

I think this early portion of the show — all of which took place in the first two minutes and thirty seconds — highlights why Finnerty works. This isn’t the first time I’ve mentioned this in regard to the current news media landscape, but we live in an instantaneous world. It’s the TikTokification of our content. If you’re not moving quickly, making your point and then moving on, and bouncing around from subject to subject, you’re likely losing your audience.

And Rob Finnerty did a fine job of it in his opening monologue. Essentially hitting three different topics for less than a minute each is going to keep the attention of viewers. Despite Finnerty’s audience being compromised of viewers likely much older than the average TikTok user, attention spans still aren’t all that long in that generation, either. So the graphic changes, near-constant movement on the lower thirds, and the promotion of what’s coming up on the show keep a viewer’s attention.

Overall, Finnerty hit 14 topics or stories in the first 11 minutes of the program. Which one could argue is too much to tackle in such a short period of time. The argument being that if you don’t have more than 40 to 60 seconds to say on something, why are you covering it at all? I would call that outdated thinking. Because in an expanded media ecosystem — that now includes YouTube, YouTube shorts, TikTok, and Instagram Reels — that one cable news segment can now be 14 pieces of content that can be avenues of exposure to new viewers of the Finnerty show and the Newsmax brand.

The primetime show also featured a conversation with Alina Habba — the former attorney for Donald Trump and “Counselor to the President — that probed what her future inside the Trump administration looks like.

It began with a great question from Rob Finnerty about what exactly the role entails, how she views her role inside the Trump White House, and how she would define her position. It’s an interesting question because the title is such a broad one. And in a campaign that was adamant about providing government efficiency, it’s a completely fair question to ask of a political official.

Now, the conversation did wade into the conspiratorial waters Newsmax is widely known and chastised by other outlets for, as Finnerty asked Habba if she believed the July assassination attempt on Donald Trump was a “setup” due to the fact that we know more about the shooter of the United Healthcare CEO than we do about the would-be Pennsylvania assassin.

Habba did a relatively good job of side-stepping that question and instead answered by sharing her support for the Secret Service. Ultimately, however, she played into the “I’m just asking questions” tone of Finnerty by questioning why we “don’t have more answers” about the motives of Thomas Matthews Crooks.

After watching the hour-long show from Newsmax, I can understand why it has grown in popularity since launching in October. I can see why, especially after the wave of energy from conservatives after the election, they have turned to the program. Finnerty tackles a lot in a short amount of time. It can easily be viewed as the cliff notes version of what has happened or should matter to today’s conservative cable news viewer. And if that’s the mission of the show, I’d say it’s mission accomplished thus far.

Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. To stay updated, sign up for our newsletters and get the latest information delivered straight to your inbox.

Sean McLaughlin, VP of News for Graham Media Group, Worries About the Value of Vetted, Real Information

Krystina Alarcon Carroll
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Sean McLaughlin, VP of News for Graham Media Group, Worries About the Value of Vetted, Real Information

He’s a man on a mission to change the industry for the better. “Everything from what [news] is to how we do it, to how we present it and distribute it, is in the process of kind of being upended right now,” said Vice President of News for Graham Media Group Sean McLaughlin. “My job’s actually gotten easier because people can no longer argue with the reality, this business is in trouble.”

Always thinking outside of the box, McLaughlin’s passion for news began in middle school. “I knew in eighth grade what I wanted to do,” he said. “I was sitting in the living room, and my mom was watching the news, and I had to come up with a project for two weeks at school and thought it might be kind of fun to go follow a reporter around.” McLaughlin called KSTP the next morning and asked to shadow their reporter.

After some more schooling, his childhood dreams came true. McLaughlin said, “I got a reporting job after doing an internship in Austin, Minnesota.” He later got into anchoring and worked a political reporter beat in Springfield, Illinois before becoming a News Director at 27. “I was a rare news director that came out of the field, and I found that very helpful to me because for me, it’s all about the story,” he said. “As I sit here all these years later, it’s still all about the story, not the newscast which I think is kind of an antiquated relic that’s about to go by the wayside.”

The former Scripps Senior Vice President is now taking a fresh look on how to monetize the industry, which is rapidly changing. “One of the problems I think in the industry is the audience has changed completely but the way we do news has hardly changed at all,” he said. “I think that gap is causing a lot of problems.”

One major example he gave is the time newscasts are aired saying, “The local news times are not even close to convenient for the way I live my life. I get up in the morning, I go to the gym for an hour. I come home. I’m in a crazy rush the rest of the day until I get out the door. There is no way I have time to turn on the TV and watch the news in the morning.”

McLaughlin believes it’s more than a morning news problem as he adds, “I’m still at work [when the evening news is happening]. I end up watching the news as my job but if I was running a machine somewhere, there’s no way I’m watching the news at 5 or 6.”

He noted, “70% of the people who consume our content are consuming it off our platforms and in ways that we don’t get monetized for that. The days of us just relying on advertising revenue from TV stations and retransmission fees paid by cable companies, that train’s left.”

To future journalists looking to follow in his footsteps, McLaughlin put an emphasis on something he is very passionate about. “I was at the RTDNA board meeting in Los Angeles the last few days and we talked about the future of the industry and the future of journalism,” he said. “I worry young people don’t value journalism enough and vetted, real information. When I look at everything going on in society, there’s a lot of things that are f***ed up right now.

“When I look at what’s really f***ed up, and this isn’t political because I think you could talk to people on either side and they will both say this, there’s not trust in journalism anymore. Misinformation is a big, big problem. Multiple versions of reality exist in our space right now, which is not healthy or good or sustainable.”

With the onslaught of young journalists being quasi activists, he wants them to be aware of implicit bias saying, “I still need to be able to take a step back as a journalist or as somebody who makes decisions about journalism and make sure that we’re inclusive, that we’re telling the whole story, that we’ve covered it thoroughly because a lot of people think they’re covering things in a way that doesn’t show bias, when it can easily happen.”



McLaughlin added, “As happens in newsrooms, what are the predictors of bias right now or what are the predictors of political affiliation right now in education level? City versus rural income level will get into most newsrooms. Check, check, check, check. You’re going to absolutely have a liberal bias. It’s not intended. Nobody came in today and said, ‘let’s go to the left’. It’s just ingrained in everybody. And so, I think you need to be aware of what your implicit bias is.”

Most importantly McLaughlin said, “In the craft of journalism, you trade your ability to be able to blast your opinions on social media around controversial or complicated political issues. Otherwise, people aren’t going to believe you and people believing you is the currency. Your credibility is at the center of who you are as a journalist.”

Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. To stay updated, sign up for our newsletters and get the latest information delivered straight to your inbox.

NBC Sports Hires Frank DiGraci as Coordinating Producer for NBA Coverage

BSM Staff
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NBC Sports, staffing up for next season when it will be broadcasting NBA games, said it hired Frank DiGraci as coordinating producer for its NBA coverage;.l

DiGraci, who is now the coordinating producer/producer of Brooklyn Nets games for the YES Network, will oversee all production elements of NBC Sports’ game coverage and will serve as its lead producer, the network said. 

He will join NBC Sports in June 2025, after the current NBA season concludes.

DiGraci has been producing Nets telecasts for 26 seasons. At YES he has also produced Yanees games, studio programs and specials.

Earlier this year NBCU signed a $27 billion 11-year deal to carry NBA games that will appear on the NBC broadcast network and Peacock streaming service.

Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. To stay updated, sign up for our newsletters and get the latest information delivered straight to your inbox.

Jimmy Pitaro: ESPN Direct-to-Consumer ‘Could be Disruptive to the Traditional Ecosystem’

BSM Staff
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Jimmy Pitaro: ESPN Direct-to-Consumer ‘Could be Disruptive to the Traditional Ecosystem’

Although leaders at ESPN may have roles that delineate focus in certain areas of the company, there is synergy evident within conversations and contributions towards the aggregate. ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro and his colleagues converse in a mandatory weekly meeting in which they discuss the company’s annual operating plan, five-year plan and 10-year plan. Throughout his career, Pitaro has strived to surround himself with people who are smarter than him, and there has been an ostensible return on investment on successfully identifying and nurturing future talent.

On top of that, Pitaro’s direct reports know that he wants to be challenged, a regular part of meetings geared towards fulfilling its mission. The decisions made within the company are guided by four pillars of “Discuss, debate, decide, align,” and it has held true as the company prepares to launch its flagship direct-to-consumer product next fall. The ESPN Flagship platform will allow consumers to receive access to view network programming without a traditional cable television subscription.

“This could be disruptive to the traditional ecosystem,” Pitaro said on the Corporate Competitor Podcast. “Now, we’ve done more than just about anyone to protect that ecosystem. It has been very good to us, and it will be a priority for us going forward. This is parallel paths. At the same time, we see declines month after month, year after year, and you get to some point where you have to disrupt yourself, and that’s where we are right now.”

Over the last decade, the pay TV penetration rate has declined as more homes opt to cut the cord and subscribe to OTT streaming services. According to data from Nielsen Media Research released this past summer, ESPN is distributed in under 68 million homes, down from its peak of 100 million homes a decade ago. Continuing to invest in the traditional ecosystem, he explained, would be a safe thing to do that would simultaneously be short sighted. While ESPN is not deprioritizing traditional distribution, it is making its networks available à la carte amid changing paradigms.

“There are 50 or 60 million households right now that are not subscribing to the traditional ecosystem,” Pitaro said. “There’s an opportunity there, but it’s called direct-to-consumer for a reason. Get them in, and we will have access to the data. There’s no middle person there. We will know what our sports fans, what our customers are consuming, and as a result, we will have the ability to present to them a more compelling digital sports experience – a more personalized experience, a more interactive sports experience – and that’s exciting to me.”

While ESPN is not as widely distributed on linear television as in the past, its ratings for studio programming, live game broadcasts and digital ventures continue to proliferate. Pitaro acknowledged that there has been a shift of thinking, commensurate with record numbers of households watching programming spanning different genres within its overall portfolio.

“Last year in Fiscal ’24 – our fiscal year ended [at the] end of September – we saw the most linear television consumption in prime time since 2006,” Pitaro said. “We saw the most total day linear TV consumption since 2016. Just think about that. In a world where 8% fewer households are watching television – and again, I’m not talking about share; I’m talking about number of people, number of households watching this programming, it is up, setting records.”

As ESPN continues to produce, disseminate and facilitate the power of live sports, he acknowledged that there have been heated discussions surrounding taking its networks over-the-top. Moreover, there are still conversations surrounding the name of the venture, price point and its exact launch date. Through discussion, debate, decision and alignment, the process surrounding the platform has moved forward and will be available next year.

“My goal is to decide as a team, and oftentimes, we are able to do that,” Pitaro said, regarding his decision-making process. “If we can’t decide as a team, Bob [Iger] and the board pay me to decide. That’s my job, but more often than not, we are able to decide as a leadership team, and then the expectation is that you align.”

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