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Blasting fellow radio hosts used to be par for the course. That isn’t the case as much in 2024, and Buck Sexton says he falls firmly in that group.
During The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show, Sexton shared that bickering with fellow radio hosts is just something he isn’t interested in.
“I subscribe to a philosophy of ‘No enemies to the right’,” Sexton shared. “I like to praise the work of good conservatives out there and people who are also doing radio shows, podcasts, or TV shows. They’re doing good work. I’m glad they’re on our team. I’m not like a radio feud guy. That was an old thing that used to happen. But I have my limits.”
Sexton’s comments come after nationally syndicated host Jesse Kelly, as well as Sexton’s co-host, Clay Travis, mocked him for eating a pistacho creme brulee after Republican nominee Donald Trump won the presidency last week. Both Kelly and Travis joked that eating the dessert made Sexton “elitist.” with Kelly joking that nuts don’t belong in dessert.
Buck Sexton concluded by jokingly returning serve to Kelly by sharing a story that the Premiere Networks host once ordered a $75 shot of tequila while Travis was picking up the bill. He said that that made Kelly’s criticism null-and-void.
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The Los Angeles Dodgers have named former player Luis Cruz as their new analyst for the team’s Spanish-language radio broadcasts. Cruz will begin his new role for the 2025 season. Cruz will take over for Fernando Valenzuela, the former Dodgers star who passed away in October.
“We are thrilled to welcome Luis to our broadcast team,” Dodgers executive vice president and chief marketing officer Lon Rosen said in a statement. “Luis’ passion and knowledge of the game make him a natural fit for this role. During his time with the Dodgers, he quickly won fans over, and we look forward to the energy and insights he’ll bring to the booth.”
Cruz will join Pepe Yñiguez and José Mota on the Dodgers flagship station KTNQ 1020 AM and the Dodger Latino Media Network. The team said Cruz, additionally, is going to engage with Dodgers fans and support various community outreach programs throughout the season.
“I’m very excited about this opportunity,” Cruz said. “There’s a saying, ‘Once you’re a Dodger, you’re always a Dodger.’ Starting in 2012 when I played here, the fans embraced me and made me feel really comfortable. Now, to be a part of the Dodger organization again and be with Pepe and José, I look forward to giving my all to make our broadcasts the best they can be.”
During his MLB career, Cruz played for the Pirates, Brewers, Dodgers and New York Yankees in parts of five seasons at the Major League level. Cruz last was in the Majors in 2013.
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Raleigh, North Carolina’s Rialto Theater will host ‘The Basketball Jones with Bomani Jones‘, a variety show celebrating North Carolina’s college basketball tradition on January 31, 2025. The show will take place one night before the Duke Blue Devils host the North Carolina Tar Heels in the season’s first matchup between the rivals.
Jones, who has hosted shows for ESPN and HBO and is a regular presence on CNN and TNT, spent ten years in the area. During that time, he taught classes at both Duke and UNC. He also hosted shows on the now-defunct radio stations 620 The Bull and 850 The Buzz. He can currently be heard three times a week on his podcast The Right Time with Bomani Jones.
“When I think of my career, the Triangle will always be home,” Jones said. “I can’t wait get back to where it all started for a fun night talking about basketball.”
Members of UNC’s 2009 National Championship team, Marcus Ginyard and Tyler Hansbrough, will join Jones on stage. Also scheduled to appear are Joe Ovies, Joe Giglio and Rod Morrow. Lauren Brownlow will be the event’s MC.
‘The Basketball Jones’ is produced by September Creative. The company staged the first annual Sports Podcast Festival presented by Breeze Thru at The Rialto in August 2024.
“Bomani has been my friend for a long time. He is also someone the Triangle knows and roots for,” September Creative founder Demetri Ravanos said. “I don’t know if people appreciate how much he loves college sports, but they are going to see a human encyclopedia of the Duke/Carolina rivalry on that stage!”
Tickets for ‘The Basketball Jones with Bomani Jones’ will go on sale on Saturday, November 23rd via eTix and The Rialto’s website.
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As ESPN embarks on a new fiscal year, the sports media company will seek to execute key developments in its multiplatform content and distribution strategy, part of which will be powered by leveraging enhancements in technology and driving innovation. In a quest to keep serving the sports fan anytime and anywhere, it has developed broadcasting initiatives realized on linear television, web-based platforms and digital media outlets. The ESPN Edge Innovation Conference, which showcases the previous and forthcoming work of the company and its innovation partners, exhibits a shared commitment to ideate and establish groundbreaking applications of significant advancements, such as artificial intelligence, large language models and virtual reality, redefining traditional industry paradigms.
The conference marked the second in-person convocation of leaders in media and technology and featured immersive exhibits and experiences for attendees. Jimmy Pitaro, chairman of ESPN, took the stage from Pier 17 at South Street Seaport just hours after The Walt Disney Company reported its fourth quarter earnings. For the most recent fiscal quarter, Disney’s sports segment generated $3.86 billion in revenue, a 1% year-over-year rise, and the conglomerate reported 25.5 million subscribers to ESPN+. Furthermore, Disney divulged that an ESPN direct-to-consumer product, currently known as Flagship, remains on track to launch next fall. Pitaro explained that the conglomerate will unveil the platform with elements of interactivity and more personalization and customization.
“We are going to do so with significant product enhancements, and so we have a team of world-class engineers and product people that are working on this every single day, and I’m meeting with them almost every single day,” Pitaro said. “This is one of my passion areas is ‘product,’ and I don’t think I’ve ever been more excited than anything I’ve been attached to or worked on, primarily because I’m a sports fan, and everything I’m seeing from the team is resonating with me as a sports fan.”
ESPN+ helped streaming verticals within The Walt Disney Company finish the third quarter in the green for the first time, momentum that continued in the ensuing three months to $321 million in segment operating income. Pitaro is proud of how the OTT streaming service has performed, along with some of the alternate broadcasts it presents under its existing media rights deals. The enterprise recently inked a new 11-year contract with the National Basketball Association set to commence next season, along with a new six-year deal to continue presenting games within the College Football Playoff, properties where it has experimented with secondary presentations.
A new animated broadcast featuring The Simpsons will air on Monday, Dec. 9 through Disney+ and ESPN+ when the Cincinnati Bengals face the Dallas Cowboys, utilizing the Disney portfolio of assets to create a unique event. Combined with the success of its traditional game telecasts and studio programming, Pitaro is optimistic that the company is ready to reveal Flagship to its customer base and enhance the aggregate user experience.
“We are well set up now for Flagship,” Pitaro said. “If you look at what you really need for Flagship to be successful, you need the content – we’re good. You need the product – we’re good. And we need the enhancements to the product. Again, ESPN+ is the foundation.”
Courtesy: Derek Futterman, Barrett Sports Media
Some of these enhancements are actualized through innovation partnerships with companies such as Accenture, Microsoft and Meta, all of whom signed multiyear extensions to keep working with ESPN. The organization is in the midst of working with Accenture on research and development testing for a generative AI avatar that will convey data and insights on SEC Nation. Microsoft has created AI-powered close captioning on programming and could create an AI operating system through adding semantic kernels to workflows.
Meta also revealed an ESPN Tailgate headset environment will be available in December, a sports playground featuring minigames and a unique First Take-branded experience. Kevin Lopes, vice president of sports business development and innovation at ESPN, understands the benefits of these partnerships and how it ultimately helps all parties involved.
“We are in the partnership business, whether it’s sports rights or media rights, and we have a world-class technology organization that’s incredible,” Lopes said, “but it’s also smart for us to partner with leading third parties and accelerate our growth and accelerate our ability to serve sports fans.”
The Simpsons broadcast will utilize key characters from the show and blend them into a distinctive game presentation. Mike McQuade, who was named executive vice president of sports production under a recent restructuring of ESPN’s content organization, elucidated the history of alternate broadcasts and emphasized that the ManningCast has set a standard for what they can be. At the same time, this broadcast will coincide with the traditional Monday Night Football presentation; however, it will display parts of The Simpsons broadcast as a means of cross-platform promotion. ESPN equipped this system for its Big City Greens animated hockey broadcast this past March.
“[Earlier this year], what we would do is we could back out of break and show how the goal was scored on Big City Greens,” McQuade said, referencing the approach on the traditional telecast, “and we’ll do the same sort of thing on this as well.”
Courtesy: Derek Futterman, Barrett Sports Media
Recent insights measured by the company’s strategy team conveyed that people ages 18 to 34 view ESPN as a digital-first brand. Pitaro has communicated that ESPN has sought to establish itself amid these platforms and that leaders at the company take pride in the clear understanding of priorities among employees across the country. In fact, he correlates this perception towards digital media towards being associated with innovation, leading to more engagement within the product domain.
Yet as ESPN moves forward with its plans to remain accessible to consumers, Pitaro and his team know they cannot yield to inertia or complacency. Innovation continues with efforts to implement artificial intelligence in select processes, evoking transparency while retaining a core built on humanity. For example, a partnership with WSC Sports enables ESPN to generate highlights based on customized queries to streamline its processes and resources. The AI platform has worked with ESPN for close to five years and plans to expand its capabilities to include text-to-video functions and other game elements.
“What I said was that there are ways for us as an enterprise to really benefit from AI, and don’t get me wrong, AI is disruptive,” Pitaro said, “but to your point, I see it as disruptive in a good way, kind of pushing the sports fan experience forward. I do not see this as displacing jobs.”
Courtesy: Derek Futterman, Barrett Sports Media
ESPN Digital has finished first in the U.S. sports category for 31 consecutive months, reaching 122.3 million unique fans this past September and generating 686 million engagements on social media. The company is the most-followed brand on TikTok and has assembled rosters of users for its Creator Network, which will be returning in its third iteration next year. Kaitee Daley, who was named the senior vice president of digital, social and streaming content as part of the content organization restructuring at ESPN, revealed the news while speaking at the conference. Daley also expressed that these platforms can help drive viewership of events on linear and streaming platforms, contributing to overall audience expansion.
“We know that following ESPN on one social platform only lifts usage intent, especially for our 18 to 24-year-old demo, so I would say it’s more about that top-of-funnel awareness and that lifting of usage intent when it comes to off platform to on platform,” Daley explained. “But I’ll also say that our ESPN app has [an] incredible streaming experience, and we do want people to be there watching our full games when we have those available, especially come next fall.”
In reflecting on his tenure at ESPN, Pitaro cannot pinpoint one initiative or venture for which he is most proud. The ESPN Edge program, however, is at the top of his list, and he does not take the ability to partner with corporations for granted. Deriving new ideas and prognosticating future developments has helped ESPN carry out its mission statement powered not only by technology, but through the imagination, passion and persistence that fuels its auspicious path forward. With Flagship rapidly approaching, the company is not leaving cable distribution in the rearview mirror but simply adding a new passenger along the way, broadening its foundation amid the modern media ecosystem and promising an even brighter tomorrow through productive collaborations.
“We love to partner at ESPN,” Pitaro said. “If you look at how we operate, a lot of our business is dependent on partnership, meaning partnerships with the leagues, the college conferences, but it extends beyond content. It extends to technology…. We know that we can’t do it all. We definitely cannot, and so we are very much excited about partnering with the folks in this room to create that next gen sports experience.”
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The Bay Area duo have been on the air together for 35 years. News of the show ending is the second major development for Cumulus Media San Francisco. The company’s sports station KNBR earlier this week parted ways with Tom Tolbert and John Lund.
Barrett Media’s sources conflict as to whether or not both hosts were not renewed, laid off or ending the show due to one host retiring.
“Lamont & Tonelli” did not address any plans for the future and the station has not announced plans to fill the morning slot.
The final song played was Pat Travers “Boom Boom (Out Got The Lights).”
The cast members, including an emotional Bone Program Director, Chasta Michaelis, thanked each other before Lamont said simply, “Bay Area, Thanks.”
This story is developing. We will add further details once they become available.
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20 months after filing for Chapter 11 Diamond Sports Group has emerged from bankruptcy. Congratulations to them and glad that whole ordeal is over with. However, similar to the bankruptcy cases in radio, I have a spoiler alert for you – if nothing significant changes they’ll just eventually end up back in the same spot.
So, here we have another situation where a company has blown through billions and now needed the courts so they could bail on so much money owed to creditors you can’t even comprehend it in your head. Everything you will see from Diamond Sports Group and owner Sinclair will look like everything is great. Fresh, new books to work off of. It’s all puppy dogs, rainbows and ice cream.
I tried to follow along over the last year and a half plus, and there was something I noticed never took place. I never heard anyone address whether or not DSG or FanDuel Sports Network, formerly Bally Sports, formerly FOX Sports, will actually get any better.
I only have access to the regional sports network where I live, however, I have traveled enough to have checked in on the other networks as well. Generally, I have seen the same thing. The game broadcasts are good, and the rest of the programming is terrible.
It’s been so obvious these properties overspent on the play-by-play deals and had absolutely no money left for any other programming. Now, if that works financially, ok I guess that makes sense. But wouldn’t it make more sense to build more programming around the local markets and make it a real destination for the local sports scene, versus just tuning in for games?
It isn’t even a thought when searching around for something to watch. If a Cardinals or Blues game isn’t on the Midwest version of FanDuel Sports Network, there isn’t anything they have ever aired outside of a game that I would want to watch. I can catch poker on plenty of channels if I want to watch.
This is where I get really angry about traditional media. I have said to anyone who will listen that radio couldn’t have screwed up the whole podcasting thing any more than it did. Instead of recognizing from the get-go that the industry had the talent, the equipment, the sales infrastructure and anything else it needed to create digital content, it just sat by and aired ‘podcasts’ which were just show replays. Others came in from outside the industry, followed by people leaving the industry, to create content and steal listenership from radio.
It’s the same with television and the RSNs under Diamond Sports Group. Maybe something is happening in your market, but with all the money tied up into these team sponsorships, you would think they would be creating a ton of content. They have the access and again all of the things needed to do it. However, it’s legacy media and they don’t think that way. It’s just how can we keep doing the same thing over and over and expect new and better results.
I hope I am wrong and secretly there is a plan for the Diamond Sports Group properties to do something other than just exist as they did when this all started 20 months ago. However, I am not going to hold my breath. History is the best indicator of the future, and this history says we will continue to watch the games on FanDuel Sports Network, but probably not much else.
The Best/Worst Thing I’ve Heard/Watched/Read Recently
Driving home from visiting two of my daughters at college, I had the chance to listen to the Kansas City Chiefs game against the Denver Broncos on the radio. I wanted to recognize the group of Mitch Holthus, Danan Hughes, Josh Klingler and Dan Israel who really do a great job.
The broadcasts are really well done and flow about as well as you can expect from an NFL game. Starting from the pregame all the way through the postgame, the team does a great job of making you feel like you are at the game.
Mitch Holthus is outstanding on play-by-play, I am a huge fan of Danan Hughes as an analyst no matter the sport and Klingler and Israel support the two announcers incredibly well. Israel has been the Executive Producer for the Kansas City Chiefs Radio Network for many years, and he has great chemistry with his crew.
Kansas City Chiefs games air on 96.5 The Fan in Kansas City and the broadcasts can be heard by clicking here.
Earlier this week Peter Schwartz profiled Doug Karsch from 97.1 The Ticket in Detroit. Schwartz wrote about how Karsch grew up in the area and when he landed on the station it was his dream job. Then he landed another dream job when he started working on University of Michigan broadcasts. Later, Karsch would become the play-by-play voice of the Michigan Wolverines.
It is great to see someone like Doug having great success in his home market. I also liked what he said about his style of play-by-play:
“I don’t have big booming pipes, so I don’t have that traditional play-by-play voice, and it seems like more and more play-by-play roles are being carved out for guys like me but I damn well better be interesting and I damn well better be prepared.”
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As the election aftermath and storylines continue to unfold and we start looking at some of Donald Trump’s recent cabinet selections, one stood out to me above the rest: Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.
Many have criticized Hegseth, insisting he’s “just” a TV host who isn’t ready for a job of this size. However, we know that Hegseth served the country for 20 years, was awarded the Bronze Star twice in Iraq and Afghanistan, and was previously the executive director of Vets for Freedom and Concerned Veterans for America.
And let’s be honest, his TV gig on FOX News certainly played a big role in him landing this job. He’s not the next Secretary of Defense without the exposure of that job.
But this is not a bad thing, and there’s no reason for him to apologize. In fact, it’s a great reminder that many of our on-air jobs can be pathways and translate to other professions outside of media. And in a time when we are seeing an unfortunate number of layoffs around the industry, this is meant to be an uplifting message heading into the holidays.
Oh, and you don’t need to be Pete Hegseth, host of the most popular weekend morning cable news show, to take advantage of this.
If you have any kind of tenure in your current, or possibly recently finished, on-air position, you likely have some amount of market equity that you can leverage for various opportunities. This could be getting yourself onto boards of non-profits and other organizations in your market, where you can rub elbows with major business leaders in your community. This allows you to build your rolodex that can help your on-air product, or, if the worst comes to fruition, be a resource for other opportunities.
Your role on the air is viewed positively by many in the community. You may not view yourself that way, but the microphone you speak into daily gives you an element of authority that others in your city can’t buy, no matter how hard they try. An attorney can have all the billboards in town and buy all the commercials he or she wants, but will never be able to connect one-on-one with an audience like you do for hours every day.
There’s power and tremendous value in that, and we as an industry do not give ourselves enough credit for.
So, while your job is unlikely to lead you to being the next Secretary of Defense, Hegseth’s appointment should be a reminder that having a consistent media presence gives us a gravitas that is still viewed very favorably by many outside our immediate industry, especially if you’re good at what you do.
The Hegseth story should also serve as a reminder that you never know who is watching or listening. While we know President Trump is a big fan of FOX News, he clearly likes the work of Hegseth, or, let’s be honest, he would not have gotten the job he’s about to embark on.
And while we’re on the topic of transitioning from media to other jobs, let’s not forget that President Trump, for all his successes, was a media star before his venture into politics.
Our ability to communicate effectively and build strong personal and professional networks will help separate our on-air product from our competitors, while also providing great opportunities for a future, either by choice or not, in many other walks of life.
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RIF’ed. On the beach. Let go.
It’s kind of comical in a sad way that we have so many expressions for being laid off in radio, some of which are specific to the industry (which I found out the hard way when I said “on the beach” to a civilian and they didn’t understand). And there’s the sardonic joke that you’re not really in radio until you’ve been laid off at least once.
Regardless of how long you’ve been in radio, losing your job – especially not by your own choice – is a traumatic experience, and while you may grow more protective armor each time it happens, it’s still never something you can completely get used to.
Having been through a run of unemployment myself earlier this year and also talking to a number of radio folks over the years who’ve been let go, I can commiserate that suddenly having lots of time on your hands is not great. So, given this latest round of cuts, here are some tips to help those impacted through this difficult time.
Tip #1: Take time to grieve the loss.
Radio has some of the most dedicated, involved, and invested people in any industry. We’re in radio because we believe in it. We love it. A lot. This is not a line of work people just fall into because it’s there and available. And that means that we get emotionally invested in our work, especially given the public-facing aspect and listener connections you can form.
So, when that’s suddenly taken away, there’s a sense of loss and mourning – and not just because your income and health benefits are gone. Despite what people say about work not making you who you are, there is a sense of purpose and identity in being in radio (or any line of work); it’s what you spend a good portion of time and energy doing, and you likely take pride in doing a good job.
It’s worth taking the time to acknowledge and process that loss. Go through the emotions rather than just diving straight into action. Reacting straight out of an event like losing your job can cause you to make frantic blunders that you could avoid if there was some time and mental processing involved. But if your emotions are still raw, you might say or do things that could feel right in the moment because you’re hurt and feeling exposed rather than giving yourself the space to work through things and compose yourself – and I don’t mean in a couple of hours.
Tip #2: Be thoughtful and intentional about your next step.
If you’ve had enough, there are ways to leverage your radio skills. I will always advocate for transferable skills, but you just need to figure out how best to present them in ways that appeal to more general audiences.
In terms of my own transition out of radio, I’ve always referred to my career being based in different aspects of audience engagement. That’s gotten me into various corporate gigs involving that common thread.
Audience engagement lends well to fields like Marketing, Corporate Communications, Public Relations and Branding. You know how to get an audience’s attention – especially in a short amount of time, given the PPM mandates – and spur them into action.
Been a PD? You have people-management and team-management skills. Worked on your station’s social media page? Social media skills, obviously. Sales and finance collaborations are generally looked upon favorably in business, as is the ability to manage a budget (or do a lot with very little budget).
It’s all about how you present your skills. Which leads me to my next tip….
Tip #3: If you’re looking at a non-radio line of work, “de-radioify” your resume, elevator pitch, and interview answers.
Much like any industry, radio has its own language. But if you’re trying to get out, you need to translate Radio-speak into something that’s accessible to others.
Rather than increasing cume and TSL, talk about the percentages by which you grew and engaged the audience. Ditch the phrases like “quarter-hour maintenance” and speak more generally about how you used research and data to make changes to your presentation, which had a favorable effect on your brand. Use company names instead of call letters.
It may take some work, but being able to talk about your accomplishments in Business-speak instead of Radio-speak will help you in the long run if you are looking at a non-industry job or career.
Tip #4: It’s not just what you know; it’s who you know.
By all accounts, this is a strange job market – one of the strangest in a while. Unemployment is low overall, but professionals are taking much longer to find their next job. The hiring pendulum has swung back from where it was during the pandemic when you could throw a stack of resumes off a highway overpass during morning rush hour and have a new job with a 25% pay increase by lunchtime.
Companies are much more willing to hire someone who comes personally recommended than just someone who simply applied via the Jobs portal on their website. And in some cases, some companies might be quietly looking to fill a role without posting it externally.
Work your network – and not just your professional network. When I was unemployed, it was hard as hell to admit that I was out of work, but when friends and neighbors asked me how I was doing, I shrugged and said, “Well, I was laid off, and I’m looking for a new gig.” Telling a random neighbor led her to ask what line of work I’m in and then respond, “Oh, I think we’re looking for someone who does what you do!” I got into the interview pipeline and was inches away from an offer before things took a left turn, but that had nothing to do with me.
My point is: You never know what’s going on at your friends’, relatives’, or neighbors’ companies, and they could know about something that could help you. Plus, many companies also offer referral bonuses, so their employees are more willing to recommend someone because it might lead to a small bonus.
At the same time, make sure your LinkedIn profile is updated and compelling. Don’t spray everyone with connection requests, but certainly connect with people you know so you can leverage their networks. If you see someone works at Company X, where they just posted a job you’re interested in, reach out and ask for a referral. Ask a friend or trusted connection for an introduction if they’re connected to someone at a hiring company.
Radio will always hold a special place in the hearts of those who’ve done it. It’s impossible to get it out of your system. But over the past few years, I’ve heard more and more people compare it to an abusive relationship where the other person takes and takes and gives nothing in return. When it’s not fun anymore, and you don’t get as much out of it as you’re putting into it, is it really worth staying?
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Absolutely, it’s my pleasure!
I heard that when I thanked my Sales Manager for helping me print a report or solve a problem. He let me know it was okay to ask for help and that I was welcome to come back. But now I can’t come back.
Dean Canter passed away unexpectedly last weekend due to a heart attack in Frisco, Texas. The bees will have to go elsewhere for a while. If you worked with Dean or don’t know him, read this Radio Ink profile written about him a few years ago—Dean Canter-Sales Manager of the Week.
Dean was the type of manager you wanted to share success with and learn from failure. He had experience working in large markets, handling national business, and in the trenches with local direct clients who needed big ideas. He worked in LA radio for iHeart, CBS, and Cumulus in Dallas for the last four years as KPLX/KSCS GSM.
His Dad, Bernie Alan, was also a radio lifer, and he was so proud of him. Dean used optimism to ask for bigger deals and was very tactful when he had to pivot. You never dreaded meeting with him; you looked forward to getting help. When you needed a rate or detail on a promotion, you would look into his office to see if he was available, and more likely than not, he already had someone in there. The Honey Pot was a sanctuary, bustling with activity, but as Dean reinforced, he always made time for another bee.
One sales rep told me she needed to have a sales conversation with Dean and tried 11 times in one day to catch him, but he was always with somebody else. If you are a manager, are you a honey pot for your bees, nurturing their growth, or are you a bee using your stinger to get others’ attention? Both styles can be effective, but all love one, while the other is respected.
Dean asked about your personal life, didn’t keep track of you coming and going, and encouraged time off. He figured out proposals with you that would sell and would go with you on the call if you wanted him to. He was helpful, not judgmental. He would be thrilled if you won. He remembered to ask about how your time off went. When you were done getting answers from him, he often started laughing and telling stories about his Los Angeles Dodgers or his kids, one of whom, Michael, works for Katz as a Senior Account Executive.
He loved music and attended concerts, country, alternative, and rock; he loved them all. His wife, Jenny, was his rock and true partner; he even tattooed it on his wrist. He watched the Dodgers win the World Series while Face Timing family and friends. He was proud of his work, the award-winning stations, and the talented on-air people he represented. He had the rate card memorized and knew his digital terminology. He was in the office by 7 AM and didn’t leave until 5:30 or later. He was loyal to his boss, longtime friend, and Queen Bee, Dawn Girocco. You see, Dean was a worker bee just like us. He protected his Queen Bee and let you know it.
He gave people chances to grow and asked for help. There will be no replacement for Dean Canter. Only inspiration. Please pass this article on to a honeypot in your life. They are crucial to us bees, who are buzzing with potential, ready to pollinate new ideas and help others grow. We need that sweet spot to rest, rejuvenate, and get nourishment before returning to buzzing around. Absolutely, my friend, it was MY pleasure!
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After the Boston Celtics hoisted the Larry O’Brien Trophy victorious as champions of the NBA, the sports media industry was focused on conversations surrounding the future of live game broadcasts amid consequential rights negotiations. While these meetings resulted in 11-year agreements with The Walt Disney Company (ESPN/ABC), Comcast (NBC/Peacock) and Amazon (Prime Video) reportedly worth a collective $77 billion, these contracts do not begin until the 2025-26 season.
As this was transpiring over the summer, Tim Legler observed that there was a lack of feedback and conversations with his agent ahead of the expiration of his contract. Legler, an NBA analyst for ESPN across game coverage and studio programming, had not gained clarity about his situation and later discovered that the company was engaging in a substantial restructuring of its content organization.
Burke Magnus, the president of content at ESPN, announced the new management configuration in late August, altering the responsibilities of various personnel in an effort to ensure the continued long-term success of the outlet. Although Legler had worked at ESPN for 24 years and demonstrated an ability to thrive through content innovation and technological development, he was now negotiating under the modified outline.
Over the years, Legler’s contracts had usually commenced and concluded in mid-October, concurrent with the start of the NBA season, but discussions about an extension would typically ensue five to six months prior. The timing coincided with the NBA Playoffs, oftentimes when Legler is his busiest and is appearing across studio programming to break down the latest action.
“It makes sense, and I never want to get deep into the summer when everybody kind of goes away for the summer from the NBA, and now I got to go all summer and have this doubt in my mind,” Legler said. “I’ve got a family – these things are important to me. This year was different because there was this reorganization coming that none of us really knew about, so it was very quiet [in] April, May, June, July.”
Once the enigma of the ESPN content structure and NBA media rights deal diminished in scope, the company met with Legler pertaining to his contract six weeks ahead of its expiration. At the beginning of their meeting, he expressed the impending nature of his deal and how he had never gone this late without a resolution. ESPN management informed Legler that he was of value to the network and considered a priority, divulgement that he felt rendered reaching an agreement on a new contract more likely.
“You just want to hear that they get you, they value you, they respect you and you are a big part of their plan going forward,” Legler said. “That’s all I needed to hear, and from that point on, I kind of knew where this was going to go, and then it was just a matter of working out all the details.”
One of the key points Legler communicated was a desire to become a regular game analyst without giving up his studio work. While he had previously called games on radio and television, he had not been utilized within the commentary lineup as frequently in recent years, demonstrating his value to bringing comprehensive analysis and breakdowns across the studio shows. Throughout the process, Legler remained realistic and thought about other opportunities in the marketplace should the conversations prove fruitless, viewing his aspiration as an imperative aspect of a deal. Once it became apparent that ESPN would agree, the two sides swiftly worked to draft and finalize an agreement.
“Other than being a player, it’s the only real job I’ve ever known is being in media and really being at ESPN, really from the time I retired from the league,” Legler said. “So, it’s family to me, it’s a second home to me and I wanted to stay there desperately, but I also very much wanted to expand my role and to do something that I think my skillset lends itself to, which is to be a game analyst.”
Longtime ESPN NBA game analysts Mark Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy were affected by corporate layoffs last year when The Walt Disney Company sought to eliminate $5.5 billion in costs as it reorganized its business under three core segments. Play-by-play announcer Mike Breen, who has called a record 19 NBA Finals, received a contract extension a few months later and started working with new partners Doris Burke and Doc Rivers. At the halfway point of the new season, the Milwaukee Bucks hired Rivers as its head coach, leaving a vacancy in the broadcast booth.
JJ Redick, who was working with Ryan Ruocco and Richard Jefferson in the secondary broadcast booth, was added to the lead team and subsequently called the NBA Finals. Eight days after the NBA Finals concluded, the Los Angeles Lakers announced that it had hired Redick as its 29th head coach in franchise history. Rather than entering the new season with a new analyst, reports have indicated that ESPN is exploring numerous potential configurations, one of which could include Legler. Although Legler is surmised to be up against competition both within the existing ESPN talent roster and from outside entities, he is focused on growing with each outing and highlighting the teams.
“These aren’t random acts that you’re watching of athletic ability and greatness,” Legler said. “There’s a lot that goes into it psychologically, athletically [and] schematically, and I try to do that in as concise a way as I can that makes you understand better what you’re watching, either going forward in that particular game or as an NBA fan in general the rest of the season, and hopefully the rest of your life watching basketball.”
Upon the completion of calling a game, Legler reaches out to Mike McQuade, who was named the executive vice president of sports production under the reorganization, to inquire about his thoughts. McQuade, a 37-year veteran of ESPN, is someone who Legler trusts with his discerning feedback. In addition to familiarizing himself with the next two teams and reviewing action around the league, Legler ensures he implements McQuade’s suggestions into his repertoire before returning to the microphone.
“I just think that was one of the smartest things ESPN’s done in a long, long time putting him in the position he’s in, and one of the things I knew would happen right away is more feedback on an ongoing basis of your work,” Legler said. “There would be long periods of time in the past when I’d be doing my thing throughout the course of the season doing studio work where you’re not getting much of that, and not enough, I ever felt like, and I feel like Mike is such a detail-oriented person, and his goal – he’s got so much experience in production and producing content – a person in that position, I think that’s important.”
Legler seeks to balance circulating detailed information and lighthearted revelry while also establishing rapport with his broadcast partner. Since he is not currently transfixed to a given broadcast team, he is collaborating with a variety of announcers in the early portion of the season. Three of his first four games were alongside Dave Pasch, someone with whom he last worked 18 years ago. Beginning with his season-opening broadcast, which also happened to be the first regular season game in the history of Intuit Dome, Legler has ascertained subtle nuances in Pasch’s technique and continues to try and stay out of the way, when necessary, without interrupting.
“There were a couple of times when I thought he was tailing off, and so I was ready to follow up on what he had just said and then he continued to talk, and I ended up just slightly, maybe not even detectable to you watching, I started to talk when he was talking because it’s just reps, right?,” Legler conveyed. “It’s any person that you have dialogue with, you get to know them over time, so reps help a lot.”
The fractionalized media ecosystem is replete with choice, granting consumers unparalleled optionality and raising the competition for attention. As more consumers opt to cut the cord and switch to over-the-top and on-demand streaming services, many networks have enacted plans to prioritize direct-to-consumer distribution across digital platforms. Despite the pay TV penetration rate continuing to diminish, ESPN studio programs have amassed larger average audiences and bolster multiplatform engagement. Legler has frequently appeared on Get Up and First Take to synthesize the game through discussion and debate, contributing his insights as both morning shows garnered record-setting viewership metrics last year.
“When I’m on a studio show, a lot of reason of bringing me in there [is to] give me something analytically to break down in terms of video presentation, again, to make people smarter, and that’s kind of become my expertise in using the touchscreen and being able to tell a story from a game based on two plays,” Legler said. “Very hard to do, and it takes a lot of time to find those two plays, but that’s what I try to do every time I go into a studio and I’m going to have a conversation like that.”
At the same time, Legler is participating in content outside of ESPN including co-hosting the ALL NBA Podcast with Adam Mares. Furthermore, he occasionally hosts programming on SiriusXM NBA Radio, although he does not have as much time in his schedule due to his color commentary obligations. Part of the value proposition, he explained, comes in the ability to expound on points and take part in extensive analysis free of traditional time restrictions.
“I think there’s more platforms than ever to be able to disseminate your information and disseminate your content and bring your quality to it,” Legler said. “There’s just more opportunities out there, more avenues, and I think that’s where I’ve really expanded here in the last few years particularly is having other opportunities besides just being in the studio breaking it down.”
He has to now carry that shooting performance and see if the momentum gets him through a game 5 when there's going to be heightened pressure, heightened reaction to everything he does. It's a different element of of just overall awareness."@LegsESPN on KAT's pressure at home pic.twitter.com/DkeoiaTWpf
Regardless of Legler having to travel to broadcast games, he has enjoyed the journey and its itinerary leading up to tip off. Rather than loathing the voyages, he embraces the ability to sit courtside, extrapolate elements of play and appeal to basketball fans.
As Legler moves forward with ESPN, he aims to capitalize on the momentum of basketball and achieve his goal of completing his career as the best analyst the network has ever had on its NBA coverage. Having the ability to reinvent himself and shift his role more than two decades into his tenure is a meaningful prospect, and he is focused on making the most of every chance to thrive. In the end, he ultimately aspires to become the person others recommend to others if they want to learn the most about the league.
“The adrenaline and energy of going to the arenas now is something I’ve missed, and I’m getting now a heavy dose of that, and I absolutely love that,” Legler said, “but what it comes down to for me always is I’ve got just a deep passion for life, and that’s what I kind of swing my feet off the bed every day and they hit the floor, my eyes open and I’m ready to go attack the day.”
